Finding God through Unanswered Prayer

Proof that God exists abounds through logic, science, and the testimonies of millions whose prayers have been answered. But what about when God seems to be silent? Or keeps saying no? Or doesn’t seem to care at all?

I have wrestled with this question at different times in my life. The most agonizing struggle was during a particularly troubled time in my life. Two friends had died sudden deaths, one through homicide. I was dealing with betrayal and abandonment from others, disappointed and disillusioned by people who claimed to be Christians.

As I faced a world where every trace of God seemed to have disappeared, I set out to discover, to prove for myself, if He existed or not. I determined that I was not just going to drift away from the church; I was going to make a definite decision one way or another.

One commitment I made to myself: I was going to continue attending church and participating in all the same activities. My reasoning was that if I wanted to know if God existed, hanging out with people who claimed to know Him might be one way to get an answer to my question.

I also started reading everything I could find by authors who offered proof that God exists. While I understood the logic of the arguments, what was holding me back were my feelings about my circumstances. When I got to the point of being honest about my questioning, I realized what I was stumbling over. The question was not “Does God exist?” The problem was I didn’t want to believe in a God who didn’t care about my pain.

At one point as I was searching, I heard someone speak of how God revealed Himself to her, in the form of waves of love. “This would be a good time for that to happen to me,” I thought. But the silence from Heaven continued.

Over the next few months I raged and argued, demanding answers from God, why did I suffer so? What was the purpose? Finally one night, as I was praying, I told God I knew He was there, that I didn’t understand why such pain came into my life, but I would trust Him.

Wave after wave of what only can be described as love rolled over me, and I knew. God knew my pain, He was with me in all of it, and this side of heaven, I won’t fully understand it. Looking back, while I wouldn’t wish my experience on anyone, but I wouldn’t trade it, because of that unmistakable proof that God exists.

My demands to know why were lost in the overwhelming presence and love of God. He has loved me with an everlasting love. Small children are angered or confused when their parents refuse them something, or even cause them pain, as in taking them to the doctor for shots. When they grow up and their minds mature they understand that all along their parents had their best interests at heart. We can be assured that God will take all of our circumstances and bring some good out of them.

So if you are searching for proof that God exists. If you really are looking for scientific proof, then read books on that subject. If you are looking for practical experience with God, then pray. Ask Him not just for your needs, but for direction. Then act on it, and wait for the results. If you are looking for assurance of God’s love, read the Psalms and learn how God cares for those who suffer and struggle. Don’t ask God for anything but for Him to show you His love for you.

In any case, the Bible promises that if we seek God, we will find Him. So ask Him to reveal Himself to you. He will do it, and you will have proof that God exists.

Finding God through Answered Prayer

People striving to find proof that God exists often are not satisfied by the logical or scientific evidence. While they may agree that logically God exists, they are longing for something more.

“So what?” they might ask. “What difference does this make to me? How does this help me in my everyday life?”

My friend Igor from the Soviet Union was one such person. He had concluded through science and logic that God must exist. But those were just sterile facts, without much relevance to his life.

Then Igor was sent to fight in Afghanistan. While he didn’t even know that what he was doing was called prayer, he asked God (whoever he was) to preserve his life. For two years, Igor flew daily missions in a helicopter. Even on days the helicopter was shot full of holes, Igor was never injured.

On his return home, Igor tried to find a Bible so he could learn more about the God he was convinced had saved his life during the Afghan War. This was no easy task in the Soviet Union! In the end, he read books written by atheists, since they quoted a lot of Scripture.

The more he read of bits of the Bible in the atheistic books, the more it impressed him with its beauty and power, as opposed to the weak arguments of its critics. Through his reading, he gained some knowledge of Jesus Christ and Christian doctrine, that he was a sinner and needed to repent. Over and over, in science, in logic, in philosophy, in Afghanistan, and now in the pages of the Bible, he met God. His research gave him theoretical knowledge of God, his experience in Afghanistan gave him practical knowledge of God, and his Bible reading taught him the truth that God cared about him personally and that Jesus is His Son. He had found the right conclusion just like he knew when he solved a mathematics problem correctly—there can only be one true answer. Igor no longer had any doubts. He had found proof that God exists.

There are many people, like Igor, who called out to God and received the help they asked for. When they faced a circumstance and received assistance that can only be called miraculous, they knew that God exists.

It’s important to remember that God doesn’t always respond in the way we expect or would prefer. Often what He brings is better than we expected; sometimes it’s not what we wanted but what we needed.

But what about prayers that don’t seem to be answered? Couldn’t the argument be made that unanswered prayer proves that God doesn’t exist? Part 3 explores that question and the proof that God exists that is found on an emotional level.

Finding God in Logic and Science

At one time or another, nearly every person seeks proof that God exists—or doesn’t. But not every person is looking for the same kind of proof. Some are looking for logical or scientific evidence. Others are seeking proof through practical experience. Still others want to be convinced on an emotional level.

Hundreds of books and articles have been written offering scientific or logical proof for God’s existence. A seeker could spend years trying to read them all. One of the best summaries of one person’s search for logical and scientific proof was told to me by a friend of mine who grew up in the Soviet Union.

Igor accepted what he was taught in school, that there is no God. But later, as he began to study science, he realized that atheism had serious logical and scientific problems. He didn’t understand why the Soviet scientists didn’t see the major contradictions in their theories. Or maybe they were just ignoring them. There was no evidence to prove their theory; there was no way to verify their conclusions. This wasn’t like mathematics, where you could check the calculation, or physics, where you could run an experiment to prove or disprove the theory. No one could go back in time to observe the process. And the answers they gave were shallow, never enough.

One of Igor’s friends, Misha, was asking the same questions. Together they pondered creation, looking for answers in science, in logic, in philosophy, in eastern and Hindu thought. One frosty day Misha and Igor were walking in the forest, discussing the mysteries of creation. “Now we know that no scientist argues with the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics, right?” Igor asked.

“That’s right,” Misha answered. “We all know that the amount of energy in the universe is constant; it can neither be created nor destroyed.”

“And we know that the form of energy is constantly changing, so that less and less of it is available. The result is that everything is naturally wearing down.”

“And left to itself, everything is becoming more disordered. Maybe the next time Mama tells me to straighten up my books I should tell her it’s just the Second Law of Thermodynamics at work!”

“Seriously, Misha! Every system in nature moves from the complex to the simple, wearing down, becoming more random and less complex. The only exception is when there is an introduction of energy into the system.”

“So our friends the atheists would have us believe that life starts very simply out of nothing, and all by itself gets more and more complex!”

“Which is completely opposite to all the laws of nature! Laws that have been verified in the lab over and over by many scientists!”

“So they take their theory of evolution, don’t bother to explain how it can be in violation of the laws of thermodynamics, and tell us to believe it on the strength of a tooth or a bone they dig up somewhere. With no more evidence than that.”

“See that log hut? Logically, we must assume that someone built it.”

“That’s right. We have no data from our experience to suggest that a hut can come into being by accident.”

“And living things, fish and animals and people, are much more complicated than a hut.”

“People used to think that the cells in our bodies were just bits of matter. Now they know they are not so simple. First they said cells were like factories, then like computers. Now there is nothing they can compare with them; they are just too complicated, more like a miniature universe. And we are to accept the idea that the first one-celled living things just mutated out of some chemicals in the sea that were struck by lightning?”

“Would they also have us believe that lightning hitting a garbage dump would produce a television set?”

“I read in a probability textbook that the chances of a live cell appearing from nothing are less than for a monkey to accidentally type a word-perfect copy of Hamlet.”

During their walk, they found a tiny six-inch snowman perched on a fence post. Igor asked Misha, “Where did this come from?”

He grinned before replying, “Of course, it evolved.”

“Yes, some storm winds must have accidentally created it!”

Igor concluded that creation must have a creator; he still had no idea of his identity.

For many people, however, proof from logic or science will never be enough. Part 2 of this series will explore proof that God exists through practical experience.