Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh;
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear,
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh;
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.
In one of our hymns there is a line which runs, “Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.” The writer’s thought is patience in waiting when our prayer seems not to be answered. The answer may be only delayed. Sometimes it takes a long time for God to give us the answer we seek. We can think of several possible reasons.
Perhaps the thing we seek cannot be prepared for us at once. God does not work unnecessary miracles. The economy of supernatural acts is to be noted in our Lord’s life. He had all power and could do anything. Nature’s limitations set no trammels for him. He could have changed water into wine whenever he wished to do so, but he did it only once. He could have make bread from stones, but he never did. He wrought a number of miracles, but he did thousands of deeds of common kindness when there was no necessity for supernatural acts. Some of the prayers we make could be answered at once only by miracle. It is not the will of God to give us the answer in that way, and so he requires us to wait while he prepares it for us in a natural way.
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