Why won't God stop abortions? Unanswered prayers...

"I prayed for God to stop abortion and He didn't answer me!"

I’ve been spending a great deal of time on Twitter lately and following assorted hash tags asking for prayers to end abortion (among other things).  I to joined in with others praying for God to please stop this horrible butchering of babies. 

On the phone with a friend, we were discussing the question “Why doesn’t God answer our prayers to end abortion?”  We go into why doesn’t God stop murder, rape, war etc… but that gets into God not micro-managing people - we do have free will. 

The question in my mind is where does human free will slap up against the power of prayer?  Which is stronger?  Why?  How do we get God to hear our prayers and answer them?

I certainly can’t speak FOR God, but I can look at what God has to say about prayers being answered and those that go unanswered from the Sacred Scriptures.  So I began searching and reading my bible to see just what it had to say about unanswered prayers.

There are some things we need to remember when we question why our prayers are not being answered…

1) God answers our prayers when our prayers are part of His Divine Will.  You might have a great prayer request, but if God has another plan... He's going with His Divine Will because that is always what is best for us.

1 John 5^{14 "}And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. ¹⁶ If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one—to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. ¹⁷ All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal."

2) Our prayers can go unanswered because we ask “wrongly”.  Are you asking for selfish gain or for good?  Does what you want from God harm you (your soul) or anyone else if you get your desire?  Don’t expect God to answer you if you are praying ‘wrong’.

James 4
4 “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? ² You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.”

3) Have you FIRST placed your soul’s salvation above your other cares?  God’s first concern is our salvation- our relationship with Him.  Have we repented?  Have we humbled ourselves to God?  Have we been living in sin and praying to God to answer our prayers without a thought or concern to how we’ve offended God with our sins?  In James 4:8 (below) Sacred Scripture tells us to FIRST draw near to God- that means repenting and making God our FIRST priority (the First Commandment).  Once we have our relationship right with God, then we know how to pray according to God’s Will and not our own.

This goes to all the Catholics out there who vote/d for pro-choice politicians because you think one human being has the “right” to butcher pre-born human beings.  You’ve got the blood of innocents on your hands.  It also goes for all the Catholics who support/use birth control, support gay marriage etc. because you've fallen for the propaganda that "the Church has no business in our bedrooms" - it is not the Church who decides what is sin and what isn't- it's God.  So basically if that is your argument, you've just told off God.  The Church teachings God's Will, it does not decide what is a sin and what is not. Remember that when the devil's minions are spoon feeding you evil and you're lapping it up.  What God’s Holy Catholic Church teaches is the Word of God – people in the Church (be they laity or clergy) ALL need to repent from sin and fight to resist all evil temptations.  

When we sin, we are purposely doing evil- the devil’s bidding rather that our Lord’s Will.  Recall when Satan tempted Jesus in the Gospel, Jesus did not fall.  We need to stand firm against temptation.  The devil tells you abortion and birth-control is not a sin, God through His Holy Catholic Church tells you they are sin…who do you follow?  Before you answer that, know your salvation depends on it.

Do you weep over the direction your nation has found its self in?  Do you weep over your own offenses to God?  If not, you should be.  God says we should be weeping and mourning over all our offenses against God (James 4:9).  If you go into and out of the Confessional without shedding a tear, you might need to spend more time contemplating sin and its effects on your soul and your relationship with God. (I strongly suggest reading the lives of the Saints- start with the Divine Mercy by St. Faustina).

James 4 (continued) ^4 “Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, “God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,

“God opposes the proud,

    but gives grace to the humble.”

⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” -end-

Nations of people who do evil must repent if they want God to listen to them and receive answers to their prayers.  If you are continuing in sin, refusing to repent, do not EXPECT that God will cater to you in your filth.  He won’t.  He will not even listen to your prayer requests until you FIRST repent and return to Him.

Isaiah 1^15 “When you stretch out your hands,
    I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
    I will not listen;
    your hands are full of blood.
¹⁶ Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
    remove the evil of your doings
    from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
¹⁷     learn to do good;
seek justice,
    rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
    plead for the widow.” -end-
     

 John 9 ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will."

John 9:31 does not mean that God does not hear sinners prayers repenting- of course He does!  What it means is God will not answer the prayers of unrepentant people.  Sin separates us from God, to get closer to God means we have to repent and turn from sin. 

So for all the Catholics (and other Christians) out there who are praying for an end to abortion in our nation and wondering “WHY hasn’t God answered our prayer?”, first consider your own relationship with God.  Put God first, repent, worry for your own soul’s salvation FIRST and then know that God always listens to His people and He will answer your prayers.  Put your love for God and faith in Him first, by showing you can and will live your life as He desires you to.  Repent from all your sin, stop doing the devil’s bidding and start living every moment for God in all areas of your life.

Then you will be God's people and God will answer your prayers.