When Answered Prayers Fall Apart

Sometimes, life happens and answered prayers aren’t as solid as they seem…

Here’s what I mean:

Earlier this year I bought a new Bible. My everyday Bible was extremely worn, and I am getting older and needed a larger font. I did a ton of research and chose a Bible. When it arrived, I added Bible tabs and dug in with excitement.

But the excitement didn’t last.

I absolutely hated the Bible tabs. The Bible was heavy and bulky. It was a different translation than my old one (which I chose because it’s what our pastor reads from on Sunday’s). And really, it wasn’t something I looked forward to reading. Which made me feel awful.

I prayed a lot before choosing my new Bible, but I still got it wrong.

It left me feeling conflicted.

Related Post: When Best Laid Plans Fall Apart

My old Bible was falling apart, so I didn’t feel like I could go back to it. Thus, earlier this month I invested in a new, new Bible and I’m so glad I did!

I didn’t add the dreadful Bible tabs.

I am working on transferring all of my notes and highlights (which I didn’t do with the last one).

For the first time in months, I look forward to spending time in God’s Word again.

But part of me felt guilty for needing to replace the one I told everyone about earlier this year which reminded me of a conversation I had with one of the other Candid Gals this summer.

When Your Praise Report is No Longer Praise Worthy

“What do you do when your praise report is no longer praise worthy?”

I was talking with a Candid gal about something she had went through where she praised God for a miracle in her life… only the miracle turned out to be temporary. She wasn’t sure how she should address it since she was so public about how great God had worked in the situation.

God had answered prayers. He came through in a big way. Only the blessing didn’t last. The situation that was resolved, deteriorated again. The breakthrough fell through.

Can I just say that I totally got where she was coming from?

Chronically Hopeful

I have been suffering chronic migraines since 2017. In 2021, they finally figured out what the root cause was and I had a procedure that “cured” them. A blood patch that sealed the hole in my spine that was leaking spinal fluid. I still had regular headaches, but I made a huge deal about being migraine free. I was stoked.

Only, the pain relief didn’t last.

I’ve had multiple blood patches since then, each one bringing short-lived relief. One lasted a year, while another lasted less than a week.

Then, in January of this year, they started me on a new migraine medication called Qulipta. I was skeptical that it would work, but, in conjunction with the blood patch, I was 100% pain free for the first time in years.

I felt like dancing in the streets.

Literally.

You better believe I gave God all the glory.

But again, the pain relief was only temporary.

Once my body adjusted to the medication, the pain eased back in.

I hated to tell people who had rejoiced with me that I was in agony all over again.

I thought God had answered my desperate prayers to end my suffering, but I was let down… again.

Click Here to Read My Migraine Story

Have You Ever Been There?

Have you ever praised God for answering your prayer, only to end up right back where you started?

I felt like my testimony to God’s goodness was shattered.

How could I tell others that my pain returned without casting a shadow on God’s goodness?

When Answered Prayers Fall Apart, Praise God Anyway

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” Job 1:21

That month of no migraines was awesome. The fact that the pain came back doesn’t negate the praise for the time I was pain free. God gave me those pain free days, and then He took away my relief. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. That’s a fact of life.

I love the following quote from Nancy Guthrie’s book, Hoping for Something Better:

When we choose to praise God for His goodness, despite His allowing what we would not describe as good into our lives, that is a sacrifice of praise. When we praise Him for His sovereignty, even though we don’t understand the whys of His plans, that is a sacrifice of praise.

In the summer of 2017, roughly a month before my migraine changed my life, I was hiking in the mountains of Colorado with our youth group. We went on a seven mile hike up a mountain side. At one point, the trail leveled out, the trees cleared, and we got a beautiful view the valley below.

We stood there in awe of God’s creation.

But we didn’t stay there.

We drank some water, and after we rested up a bit, we started hiking further up the mountain.

An Oasis of Hope

I’ve come to see that that’s how life is sometimes.

Just because my head hurts again, doesn’t mean that God is no longer good. He is still worthy to be praised.

I’m mixing metaphors here, but God gave me an oasis in the middle of the desert of pain that I’ve been in for seven years. That oasis wasn’t a mirage. It was there. I was able to breathe deep and refuel my soul. But then I had to move on.

My migraine journey hasn’t come to an end. And it might never come to an end on this side of eternity.

I don’t know what you’re going through, but I do know that while life is hard, God is always and only good. He is worthy of our praise, even when our answered prayers fall apart.

Join the Conversation

Have you ever had a praise report fall short after giving God all the glory? Or have you had something similar happen where you were excited about something only have that excitement fizzle out and leave you feeling conflicted? Any answered prayers that fell apart?

We’d love to hear from you.

Join the conversation in the comments below.