The Doors That God Does Not Open – When God Answers Prayer and When He Does Not

Newsroom (11/02/2025 20:10, Gaudium Press) The Bible states: “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he promised and not fulfilled? Has he spoken and not done?” (Num. 23:19). Since Jesus is God himself, why can’t we obtain certain things we ask for?

 

Consider that some do not believe God can answer their requests and therefore try to solve everything on their own. Consider also how there are those who believe that God should solve everything and satisfy all their desires. In the end, both end up frustrated, convinced that they do not have an open channel with God. But, if we weigh the balance, those who believe, ask, and receive nothing end up more disappointed than those who expect nothing.

We must give God all our needs, because He promised to care for us as He cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. The thing is, we are not always content to ask only for what we need, and we end up asking for things that will bring us more problems and complications than solutions.

 

If God is wise and infinitely good, why would He give us something we desire that He knows will harm us?

Often, unable to deal with the disappointment and emotional blackmail of our children, we end up giving them what they ask for, or even demand, which is not always good for them. But we cannot expect God to act the same way with us. He is not intimidated by our blackmail.

 

There are countless things we can ask Him for, and some we don’t even need to ask for, because He knows our needs. However, we often ask for the wrong things, which is why we don’t receive them.

Among the important and legitimate requests we can make to God are more faith, patience, resignation, strength to overcome temptations, and peace of mind. But we can also ask for the basics: food, shelter, clothing, money to pay the bills, peace of mind, health, etc.

 

Unless, for our growth and sanctification, we need to do without some of these essentials, we will receive them as easily as a bird receives its food and a passing blade of grass receives its own vigor and beauty.

 

In fact, our Lord Jesus Christ encouraged us to ask for these things. He taught us to pray for “our daily bread” and rejoiced in our humility in recognizing our dependence on God even in the smallest things. The problem is that we are not content to ask for “our daily bread.” We ask for bread with butter, cheese, meat, and even caviar.

We cannot treat God as if He were a genie in a bottle who exists only to satisfy our desires, whims, and cravings. Many people who claim to pray only know how to ask.

 

They get up early, kneel down, pray the rosary, even prostrate themselves before God, but in their prayers they hardly have time or words to give thanks, to acknowledge the greatness of the blessings they receive. They are eternally miserable, always asking for more and more.

 

And there are those who are selfish even in prayer, unable to pray for others, unable to ask for a benefit for a brother in need; helping, then, is impossible!

We must remember the example of the manna that God mercifully offered to the people in the desert. Each person could only gather enough for the day; anything beyond that would deteriorate, spoil, and be of no use.

 

How often do we desire to accumulate things, even things we don’t use and can’t share! And there we are, always asking for more, as if God’s sole purpose for existence were to indulge our whims.

Many ask, but not for the grace and blessings necessary to follow the right path and pass through the narrow gate. Instead, they ask for shortcuts and wide paths, open doors, prosperity, and endless tranquility.

 

And if they obtain these things, whether or not they come from God, they become carried away by pride, proclaiming how blessed they are, comparing themselves to, and even humiliating their brothers and sisters who have less.

 

They do not seek holiness or the salvation of their souls. Instead, they seek possessions and pleasures that distance them from Heaven and the things of God.

 

They knock, but if the door does not open, they pound on it, rebel, and, like those who do not ask because they do not believe, they end up losing their faith, if they ever had it!

These are the so-called “occasional Christians,” whose devotion is proportional to what they can get, and if they don’t get it, God is evil or doesn’t exist!

However, there are people who are not selfish, but righteous and pious souls who ask for legitimate things and still don’t receive them.

 

If you find yourself in this situation, do not complain, do not be discouraged, simply lean on God’s hands and believe that if what you asked for and sought did not come, if the door you knocked on did not open, it was for the good of your soul, and if it is God’s will, it will come at the right time, at the right moment, because He knows everything.

 

And above all, do not forget that we have the most powerful intercessor, the One who carried God Himself in her womb.

 

It may happen that we are rude when asking or lukewarm when seeking, and God does not answer us, not because we do not deserve or need that specific grace, but simply because our prayer does not even reach him.

 

In this case, there is nothing better than to rest our head on the lap of our beloved Mother and say to her: “Oh, my Lady, I need this grace so much, I need this miracle so much. Help me, my Mother, to bring my prayer to your Beloved Son, that he may grant it to me, if it is for my good and for the glory of his name.”

 

She will intercede and explain to Jesus what we cannot explain, and he will understand. If he does not grant us what we pray for, even in our misery, he will give us something different and infinitely better.

These are not just empty words, but reflections of someone who has lived long enough to say: Praise God for not giving me everything I asked for! That did not allow me to find everything I was looking for or open all the doors I begged for, because if I had gotten everything I wanted, I would have lost my way in life before reaching the halfway point of the long road I have already traveled!

 

Be patient! God will never fail to fulfill the promise He made to us. He will give us, allow us to find, and open up for us when we call, as long as these things do not open the gates of hell for us, from which we can never escape once we have entered.

 

After all, “if we, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him!”

If there are doors that God does not open, it is because He sees what is on the other side… He sees what we do not see.

 

By Alfonso Pessoa