Unanswered Prayer

Have you ever prayed and felt like God didn't hear, or wasn't listening? It can be frustrating to continue praying over and over again about the same topic and seem to get no reponse from God. But we know we must not listen to what we "feel," but what we know to be true. And we know that if we are saved, God hears all of our prayers! That is a promise in Scripture. So even if it "feels" like we are talking to a brick wall, we must take a deeper look at our so-called unanswered prayers.
James 4: 2-3
First, we know that sometimes we don't recieve, because we don't ask. But sometimes we ask and still don't receive, but if we are asking with the wrong motives (with selfish desires) our request won't be answered either.

So what if have a good desire...good motives...and God is still not answering? I was reading a Spurgeon devotional yesterday about unanswered prayer and it was a refreshing reminder. God is not on our "time frame." We are commanded over and over again in Scripture to wait upon the Lord. We are commanded to persevere in prayer. As we struggle with "unanswered prayer," God is teaching us patience and strengthening our faith and conforming us to the image of His son. Then when the "delayed" prayer is answered, we are even more thankful and all the more blessed. Don't lose heart, but continue to pray for those "unanswered prayers."

Living Out My Faith

I guess this post is more of a question for all of you Christian bloggers out there.

Lately I've been thinking about my future and the direction my life is heading. I am 25 years old, so I am sure that's normal--evaluation can be a good thing. But here is where my confusion sets in. You see, I've always had the desire to be in full time ministry and even missions work has become more and more appealing to me as the Lord has been working on my heart over the last 5 years or so.

I am very content where I am. My singleness has given me an opportunity to serve in the church in ways I otherwise couldn't. I am so blessed to have the job I do. Working for a Christian ministry is truly a privilege.

I want to serve the Lord in the greatest capacity possible. But how do you chose between 2 good things. I find in my Christian walk, the hardest part is often not chosing between sin and righteousness...that's obvious. My biggest struggle is chosing between 2 or more "good" options. When the Lord seems to be still, not giving me any direction--it's almost impossible for me to know what He wants from me. I know when it comes to biblical decision making you must obey God's revealed will in Scripture and then after that we have freedom to decide from the desires the Lord puts in our heart. I don't know if it's time for me to pursue new things, or if I should continue things as I am and just be patient where the Lord has placed me right now. I want to be wise, I want to be discerning, and I want to please the Lord. And, I want to make sure that my goals and hopes are from God and that I am not being decieved by my own desires. Really I guess I just want to live out my faith!

So my question is...have you ever had similar feelings, struggles, throughts, concerns? How do you deal with it? Are there verses that have been an encouragement to you in those times?