We all know that just because we want something, it doesn’t mean that we will get it—even if we really want it and it is something that is good for us and for those around us. But we wish for things all the same.

Prayer feels different though. Prayer is not simply wishing. It is asking an all-powerful and all-loving God for good things. We often take our requests to God and expect that he will answer. We ask for healings, for jobs, for friends to be saved. After all, Jesus said that if we have faith, we can ask for mountains to be moved. But people stay sick, jobs don’t come, and friends stay away from God. What happened? Don’t we believe?

Most of us wrestle with prayer, especially when they seem to go unanswered. We offer the following pages to help you walk through the sometimes difficult relationship of faith and prayer.

Our Daily Bread