Hey, everybody, welcome to Ask Me Anything where Pastor J.D. Greer answers your questions. I'm Matt Love,

and we have got a bonus episode for you this week. So go ahead and check this out.

So in the book, 12 truths and a lie, we consider different reasons why God may not be answering prayer.

What we see in Jacob's life is a really big one. So let's just say this is number one.

Maybe you've not yet prayed long enough. Maybe there's a little bit more of the night of wrestling

ahead. What I want to tell you is don't give up, friend. You're praying for your kid to come back.

You're praying for a relationship to be healed or reconcile.

Don't give up.

Hold on to that heavenly man and say with Jacob,

I will not let you go until you bless me.

It reminds me, again, of Martin Luther's definition of effective prayer.

Effective prayer means catching Christ in his own words and then wrestling

with him until he fulfills them. Hold on to God, cling to him in desperation through the darkest

hour of the night saying, God, why aren't you doing this yet? God, you promised good to me.

And God, I want to see your goodness manifest itself in this situation.

Listen, y'all, God feeling distant, I promise you it's just an illusion. He's testing your faith

in his goodness. He's seeing how quickly you'll give up on him, how quickly you'll turn away from

him to something else, or how quickly you'll just conclude that he doesn't

exist or he's not trustworthy. To press on, my friends, press on. Some answers are only given after a night

of painful wrestling. Don't give up. After all, you're praying to the God who went through the darkness

of Gisemone and the pain of Galgotha, the cross for you, I can assure you he's listening.

Let me give you a handful of other reasons. You may not be receiving an answer to prayer that are worth

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