“I’m just frustrated that we can’t seem to get pregnant. We’ve been trying for such a long time, but God still hasn’t answered our prayers.” Jennifer wiped her eyes. “It’s just not fair! One of the women at work says if she gets pregnant, she’ll have an abortion. But I’d give anything to have a baby. I feel like God isn’t listening.”

Scott held Jennifer and said, “You know I want a baby just as much as you do, right?”

“I know,” Jennifer said. “But should we even bother to keep praying about it? It’s been four years now and still no baby.”

“The Bible says we need to be patient,” Scott said, “to wait on God’s timing and to trust Him. Let’s keep praying, knowing that God hears our prayers even when we feel like He’s not listening. God may want to grow our family through adoption. Why don’t we ask Him?”

Jennifer nodded. “You’re right. God may answer our prayers in a different way than we expected.”

Sometimes God answers prayers almost before the request has left our lips. But other times we may feel He is ignoring them. Or maybe His answer is no, or we don’t hear Him, or we just don’t feel He’s responding. But don’t ever stop praying. God does listen to all of our prayers and answers them in His own time and in His own way.

Sometimes the answer to your prayer may look different from what you were expecting. But God knows our hearts, and He knows what each of us needs in our lives so we can fulfill His purpose for us and impact others for His kingdom.