Your unspoken cry has come up before the Lord who hears in secret, and there is comfort in this, that when the poor and needy seek water and there is none and their tongue fails for thirst, the Lord will hear them, the God of Israel will not forsake them. He needs only to know your need and He will supply, for to have a hearing from God is to have everything, since He is a prayer hearing and a prayer answering God.
Do not be dismayed because some have mocked your prayer or made light of it, even comparing your need to Moses at the Red Sea. That same God who divided the Red Sea is our God forever and ever, and is at this hour as mighty as when He overthrew the horse and his rider in the mighty waters. Yet we must not pray ignorantly, but with the understanding and with the spirit, so that we may clearly know what we are praying about. Get the promise and then offer the prayer, and the prayer will be answered as sure as God is God. Praying without a promise is like going to war without a weapon.
Therefore search yourself and breathe the prayer, Search me, O God, and try me, and know my ways, and see if there is any evil way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. The best place in which to find a prayer is to find it in your heart. When the Lord has taught you His truth and drawn near to you, prayer will spring up as corn springs up in the furrows. He Himself puts prayers into the hearts of His people, and when you go down to look for a prayer you find it lying on the floor of your heart ready for you to use. Even wordless prayers are heard in heaven. A silent heart prayer, a groan that cannot be uttered, is heard patiently by Him who is long suffering toward His children.
You say, I must believe my prayer has already been answered. Learn rather to leave these things with God and go on with your praying and your believing, and all shall yet be well with you. Faith does not dictate to God how or when He shall answer, but trusts Him to answer in wisdom and love. Jacob prayed and his prayer was answered, but it was not answered in the way he expected. He wrestled and was touched and went on limping when the sun rose over Peniel, yet for all that he did get his prayer answered, and the angels of God met him. So the Lord may answer you otherwise than you have planned, and yet give you the very mercy you need most.
Be earnest and importunate, and grow more earnest in both faith and prayer. Give up all dependence anywhere but upon God, and let your cry grow more and more vehement. He has heard your cold and broken prayers before, even when you have wept over them afterwards, and He has multiplied mercy. He heard your first prayer when you asked Him to have mercy upon you and blot out your sin, and He will hear you still if you come through Jesus Christ alone, for there is no other name by which we are saved, and no other plea but His blood and righteousness. Plead the Everlasting Covenant, plead what God has already done for you, and ask Him to conform your desires to His holy will.
If your unspoken request concerns any relation or course of life, ask the Lord not to bless what is contrary to His Word, but to make you holy and submissive to it. Marriage is His ordinance, a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and all intimacy outside it is forbidden for your good and His glory. True mercy will lead you away from sin and toward Christ, that you may be preserved from all evil. Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust, is a prayer He will never despise when offered in present faith, for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
Therefore I commend you to Jesus, in whose Name alone we pray. May He have mercy upon you, forgive your sin for His sake, cleanse your heart, and do unto you according to infinite wisdom rather than according to your present feeling. When the vessel is empty, Heaven's fountain will fill it. Wait upon Him, trust Him, and you shall find that you are heard when answered soon or late, yes heard when you have no answer yet, and kindly answered even when refused, for He treats His beloved well even when He keeps them waiting for their good.
