Question: How do I know that God has answered my prayers without the physical manifestations? Especially after a long time of asking and trusting.

Answer: Dear T_____,

One of the greatest comforts that a believer can have is the assurance that God will not give him what he does not need. The Lord promises to give good gifts to his children. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Mt. 7:9-11)

This means that even if my requests are wrong, God can be counted on to only give us what is best for us at the time. He is much better about this than even our parents would be.

Let's suppose that you ask for healing about a certain physical problem. We know that God heals, and that he can heal in a variety of ways. I have seen healing take place right before my eyes. But if he does not heal, what can we say? Paul had an experience like this. He found that God was giving him something different, but better. This is what he says about "a thorn in the flesh":

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor. 12: 7-10)

Now, what should we say about answered prayer? Was Paul's prayer answered? I say it was, and in a way that is superior to being relieved of his initial problem. In this sense, I believe that all serious prayers of believers are answered in one way or another. But Paul did pray three times earnestly before he understood God's intentions.

The man, George Mueller, who lived in the 1800s in England, fed and clothed over 10,000 orphans without asking anybody but God for the money needed. He believed that he had seen over 50,000 answers to specific prayers. He stated often this plan for answered prayers: 1. Pray in the merit of Christ, that is, trusting in Christ only as the basis for being heard by God. 2. Pray only for items that you know to be for God's glory and your own good. 3. Continue in prayer. "It is not enough for a person to begin in prayer, or to pray a little, or to pray for a time in prayer, but he must continue in prayer until the answer is given." 4. Believe that you have what you have requested. In other words, have faith that says, "This thing is as good as here already." (Heb. 11:1) He said that as surely as these things are united in prayer, the believer shall have the request he has desired of God.

Of course, I don't know you personally, so I do not have even an opinion about whether or not you are a genuine Christian. Though God might hear the prayer of a person who is not yet a Christian, there is no guarantee of it.

That guarantee is for the true believer in Christ only.

Hope this helps.

Jim