When Prayers Go Unanswered: How to Keep Faith and Hope Alive

What do you do when you’ve prayed for years and nothing seems to change? Author Lauren Gaskill shares how to hold on to persistent faith, recognize God’s presence in the waiting, and keep hope alive when prayers go unanswered.

Maybe you’ve been praying for healing, restoration in a relationship, a financial breakthrough, or a change in circumstances that seems impossible. You’ve asked God to move, but months have turned into years. Over time, discouragement can begin to shape what you believe about yourself and even what you believe about God.

I recently explored these questions with author and speaker Lauren Gaskill on the Habits of Hope Podcast. Lauren is the founder of She Found Joy and the author of Until the Miracle Comes, a book drawn from her 14-year journey of believing God through chronic illness and seasons when breakthrough seemed painfully delayed.

Lauren shared honestly about persistent faith, the ways God has met her in the waiting, and what it means to experience joy and connection with Him even before the answer comes. Her story brought us back to something I’ve come to recognize about hope: it isn’t sustained by getting the outcome we’re praying for, but by God’s presence with us in the midst of our waiting.

That truth doesn’t make waiting easy, but it changes what we’re looking for while we wait. Rather than measuring God’s faithfulness only by whether our circumstances change, we can learn to recognize His presence, receive His care, and trust Him with the things we cannot control.
In This Article

Remember Who You Are While You Wait
Bring Your Whole Heart to God
Recognize the Lies That Steal Your Hope
Keep Praying When Your Faith Feels Weak
Learning to Live While You’re Waiting
Remember God’s Faithfulness When He Seems Silent
A Habit of Hope: Remember God’s Faithfulness

 
Remember Who You Are While You Wait for Answers to Prayer
When you’ve prayed for something for months or even years, it’s easy to feel as though your faith has failed. Lauren understands that struggle firsthand. Raised in a Christian home, she experienced childhood trauma that contributed to panic attacks and depression during her teenage years. Later, she faced significant physical health challenges, including jaw pain, fibromyalgia, and infertility. At one point, she was told she wouldn’t be able to have children.

Yet Lauren continued seeking God, believing Him for healing, and learning to stand on His Word even when her circumstances weren’t changing. She described how she believed God had encouraged her about becoming a mother, but the journey that followed was anything but instantaneous.

“I wish I could tell you that when He said that to me, everything was like—poof,” she shared. “But my story has really looked like literally standing on the Word of God and not backing down from it even when things aren’t changing in the natural.”

Over time, Lauren experienced healing in different areas of her life. Today, she and her husband have two young sons, but she acknowledges that there are still things she’s praying about. “I’ve seen one by one, little by little, I’ve seen healing in my life. And there’s still a few things that I’m standing for, but He who promised is faithful.”

As I listened to Lauren describe her journey, I thought about how easily discouragement can begin to shape our identity. When we’re struggling with something we cannot fix, whether it’s illness, financial stress, or circumstances beyond our control, we can begin to define ourselves by the problem we’re facing. We may feel powerless, forgotten, or even ashamed that we haven’t been able to move forward.

That’s why remembering who we are as sons and daughters of God is so important. Lauren shared a statement from her friend Nikki Weller that has become an anchor for her: “We are not children of desperation. We are children of promise.”

When we’re desperate for an answer, it’s easy to become so focused on what we need God to do that we lose sight of who He is and who we are in Him. Yet we are beloved children of God. We have a Father who is faithful, Jesus lives to intercede for us (Hebrews 7:25), and we have been raised and seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6).

Lauren emphasized that these aren’t simply truths to acknowledge intellectually. “Let’s not just say that. Let’s actually sit with that until it gets from here to here.” She was describing the difference between knowing something in our minds and allowing that truth to become part of how we actually live.

It’s one thing to know that God loves us, but it’s another to live from the secure place of belonging to Him when our circumstances seem to contradict what we’re hoping for. Discouragement may still come, but remembering who we are in Christ gives us something solid to return to. Our identity isn’t determined by our circumstances or how quickly our prayers are answered.

 

Bring Your Whole Heart to God with Persistent Faith
What’s happening inside us can shape how we experience what’s happening around us. What we think about ourselves, our circumstances, and God affects the way we respond to life’s challenges.

Lauren encourages readers to pay attention to what they’re feeding their souls. She uses the phrase “no more junk food” in her book—not as a warning against pizza or chocolate, but as a reminder to notice what we’re consuming mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Endless social media scrolling, discouraging messages, and thoughts that feed fear or anxiety can affect our outlook.

Philippians 4:8 encourages us to filter our thoughts, to dwell on whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and worthy of praise. But this isn’t about pretending everything is fine or condemning ourselves for having difficult thoughts. Lauren emphasized that we need the Holy Spirit’s help to recognize what’s happening in our hearts.

Her encouragement was to take inventory of what we’re consuming and the thoughts that arise, then bring those things before God and ask, “What do You have to say about this thing?”

I appreciate this invitation because it moves us beyond simply trying harder to think positively. Instead, we can bring our thoughts and emotions into conversation with God, asking Him to reveal what we’re believing and whether those beliefs align with His truth. What does He want us to pick up? What does He want us to lay down?

Lauren also reminded listeners that sometimes we need help from a therapist, physician, or other qualified professional. Seeking that support doesn’t mean we’re weak Christians. God understands how we are made and knows what we need.

 

Why Lament Is an Important Part of Faith
This willingness to examine our inner lives is also essential to lament, the practice of bringing our grief, sorrow, disappointment, anger, and unanswered questions honestly before God.

Sometimes we think strong faith means we shouldn’t feel distraught about our circumstances. We compare our struggles to those of others and tell ourselves that things aren’t really that bad. But as Lauren pointed out, two things can be true. Other people may be suffering deeply, and our own pain still matters.

Even Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35). In the garden of Gethsemane, He experienced profound anguish as He prayed to the Father (Luke 22:39–44). If Jesus openly expressed sorrow, why would we believe that our grief is somehow a failure of faith?

Lauren encouraged us to say the hard things to God. “Go before the Lord. Don’t stuff your sorrow.” God already knows when we’re angry, disappointed, confused, or hurting. We can tell Him when we’re struggling to understand what He’s doing and grieve the parts of our stories we wish had never happened.

Listening to Lauren, I thought about Psalm 139:23–24, where David invites God to search his heart and reveal what is within him. Sometimes we don’t even realize the depth of what we’re thinking and feeling. There may be deeper layers of grief, disappointment, fear, or anger beneath the emotions we recognize on the surface.

We need the Lord’s help to understand what’s happening in our emotions and discover the roots of those feelings. If we’re never willing to go below the surface, even with the Lord, we limit our willingness to engage in the deeper conversations that are often part of growth and healing. Lament gives us a way to bring our whole selves into God’s presence, trusting Him to meet us in the places where we’re hurting.
Recognize the Lies That Steal Your Hope
Long seasons of waiting can leave us emotionally and spiritually weary. When we’re exhausted, it’s harder to recognize the thoughts that are undermining our faith.

Lauren shared a vulnerable example from her own life. After experiencing healing in several areas, she went through another traumatic birth, and some of the struggles she thought were behind her began to resurface. The familiar feelings brought a familiar lie: “Nothing has changed.”

She found herself thinking she was exactly where she’d been ten or fifteen years earlier. But when she began looking back over her journey, she realized that wasn’t true. God had been working in her life, and real transformation had taken place. The return of familiar feelings didn’t erase the progress she’d made.

As Lauren described that struggle, I recognized how quickly the lie that nothing has changed can lead to an even more destructive belief: Nothing ever will change.

That is a dangerous place for our thoughts to settle because it attacks our hope for the future. When we begin believing that nothing will ever change, we may stop praying, stop expecting God to work, or stop recognizing the ways He’s already moving.

One of the most important things we can do is invite God to reveal the lies we may be believing. Sometimes those beliefs feel true because we’re exhausted, disappointed, or afraid, but feelings aren’t always reliable indicators of truth. We can ask, “Lord, would You open my eyes to recognize the lies I’m believing? Help me see what is true.”

Recognizing the lie is the first step. Then we can begin deciding what truth we’re going to stand on instead. Until we recognize what’s happening in our thinking, we may continue responding to those beliefs without realizing how much they’re influencing us.

Lauren described this as learning to move in the opposite spirit. When fear rises, she asks God to help her respond with faith, peace, and settledness of heart. When discouragement tells her that nothing has changed, she remembers the evidence of God’s work in her life. Rather than denying our emotions, we can allow God’s truth to speak into them.

 

Persistent Faith When Prayers Go Unanswered
Another lie that can creep into long seasons of waiting is this: I’ve already prayed enough about this.

When we’ve asked God for the same thing repeatedly, we may begin wondering what difference another prayer could possibly make. Lauren understands that exhaustion, but one of the biblical passages that inspired her book is the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1–8.

Jesus told this parable to teach His disciples that they should always pray and not lose heart. The widow continued bringing her request before an unjust judge until he finally responded. Jesus used the contrast to point His followers toward the character and justice of God. Persistent prayer isn’t about wearing down a reluctant Father. It’s about continuing to trust and seek the One who hears us.

Lauren also drew attention to accounts in the Gospels where healing unfolded in different ways. In Mark 8:22–26, Jesus ministered to a blind man in stages. In Luke 17:11–19, ten lepers were healed as they went on their way. These passages remind us that not every work of God unfolds in the same way or on the timeline we expect.

But what if we don’t have the strength to pray anymore? What if we’re so weary that we don’t even know what to say? Lauren encouraged listeners to sit with the Lord and admit, “I have nothing in me that has the strength to keep praying this. I need You to help me.”

We don’t have to manufacture strong feelings of faith before we can come to God. Romans 8:26–27 reminds us that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us when we don’t know how to pray as we ought. Hebrews 7:25 tells us that Jesus lives to intercede for those who come to God through Him.

Even when our words fail, we are not alone. Persistent faith isn’t about having endless emotional strength. Sometimes the most faithful prayer we can offer is simply, “Lord, help me.”

 

Learning to Live While You’re Waiting
One of the things I appreciate most about Lauren’s approach to persistent faith is that she doesn’t want us to spend our lives simply enduring the waiting on God. She wants us to experience God’s love, joy, and presence along the way.

In her book, Lauren uses the phrase “dancing on the waves” to describe finding joy and connection with God even when the storm hasn’t ended. When I asked what that looks like in real life, her answer was immediate: “It is all through abiding in Him, friends. You’re never gonna get a different answer from me.”

For Lauren, the ability to experience joy in the waiting comes from cultivating a love relationship with Jesus. She describes some of the moments when she has recognized His care as “kisses from heaven”—personal reminders of God’s kindness and love. During her long journey of waiting, she experienced repeated moments when she saw rainbows at just the right time. For her, those rainbows became reminders of God’s promises and encouragement to keep trusting Him.

I loved hearing how God used those moments to encourage Lauren’s heart. The reminders of God’s care may look different for each of us, but her story invites us to become more attentive to His presence. As Lauren said, “He is the prize. The things that we’re praying for, they’re important. But He IS the prize.” She went on to emphasize that, above all, our relationship with Him is the prize.

That perspective doesn’t minimize our needs or desires. It helps us remember that the deepest gift of our faith is our relationship with God Himself. Romans 15:13 offers a beautiful prayer for this kind of life, asking the God of hope to fill us with joy and peace in believing so that we may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We don’t have to wait until every problem is resolved to experience the sustaining presence of God.
Surrendering the Outcome Without Losing Hope
Experiencing joy while we wait also means learning to release our expectations about how and when God should answer. As I mentioned to Lauren, when we deeply desire or need something, it’s easy for that particular outcome to become all-important. We can become so focused on the answer we want that we struggle to imagine life looking any other way.

Lauren acknowledged how difficult surrender can be and shared a simple prayer that has helped her: “All of the things I don’t understand, I let go. I leave them all in Your hands.”

After the traumatic birth of her first son, Lauren struggled with postpartum depression and couldn’t imagine having another child. Later, she believed God was speaking to her about a daughter, even dreaming about a little girl and sensing a particular name. But when she became pregnant again, she learned she was having another boy.

Lauren had to return to that prayer of surrender. Today, she sees her second son as exactly who their family needed, even though she may never fully understand that earlier experience. Her story reminds us that we don’t always interpret God’s guidance correctly or receive the answers we expected. Yet we can continue trusting His character when we don’t understand His ways.

Lauren also reflected on how the long process of healing had changed her heart. “If God would have zapped me, I don’t know if my heart ever would have gotten healed.” Looking back, she could see that God had been doing deeper work in her life throughout the journey.

Sometimes we’re so focused on the change we want in our circumstances that we don’t recognize the transformation happening within us. That doesn’t mean every delay has an explanation we can discover or that every painful experience was something God wanted us to endure. But we can trust Him to meet us in the process and continue His work in our lives. Surrender isn’t giving up hope. It’s releasing our need to control the outcome while continuing to trust the One who holds us.

 

Remember God’s Faithfulness When He Seems Silent
Near the end of our conversation, I asked Lauren what she would say to someone who desperately wants to experience God’s presence but feels as though heaven is silent.

Her answer was refreshingly honest. Even now, there are areas of her life where she senses God’s guidance clearly and others where she hears nothing. But she has made an intentional decision: “I’m not going to let the silence of this present moment convince me that God doesn’t care, that He’s not doing anything.”

Lauren sometimes uses Post-it notes to remind herself of this truth. One simple reminder says, “Remember God’s at work.” Even when she feels spiritually dry, she chooses to remember that God is present. She also returns to what she calls her “memory stones”—the experiences, answered prayers, and moments of faithfulness she has recorded throughout her journey.
A Habit of Hope: Remember God’s Faithfulness
When I asked Lauren to share one practical habit that has helped her hold on to hope, she pointed to her journals. Even in seasons when she doesn’t have much time to write, she tries to record meaningful moments with God. Later, she can return to those entries and see how He’s answered prayers, provided for her, or helped her grow.

Sometimes she discovers that God answered something she’d nearly forgotten she prayed about. And sometimes she sees prayers that still haven’t been answered. Both can be part of her story. As she explained, “You haven’t answered this cry of my heart, but You answered that one.”

That’s a powerful way to confront the lie that nothing has changed. We have a history with God, and remembering that history helps us face the future with hope.

During our conversation, I mentioned that journaling isn’t the only way to practice this habit. If you’re more of a list maker, you can keep a simple record of prayer requests and note when you recognize an answer. I’m sometimes guilty of forgetting that I even prayed about something. When the answer comes, I may not recognize it as an answer to prayer, much less remember to thank God for it.

Whether we keep a journal or a simple prayer list, the purpose is the same: remembering how God has been faithful in the past helps us hold on to hope for the future.

That thought led me to another Habit of Hope. When we’re waiting for an answer, it’s natural to ask, Why hasn’t this changed? It’s an understandable question, especially when we’re hurting or exhausted. But what might happen if we began asking God a different question: How are You meeting me here?

This shift doesn’t dismiss our desire for change or mean we stop praying for breakthrough. Instead, it turns our attention toward God’s presence. Rather than focusing only on what hasn’t happened, we begin looking for what God is doing right now. We can ask Him to help us recognize His care, receive His comfort, remember His promises, and trust Him with the next step.

The answer may not come instantly. We may still have questions, disappointments, and circumstances we cannot resolve. But as we continue turning toward Him, we learn to live with a growing awareness that we’re not waiting alone.

If you’re in a long season of waiting today, you don’t have to pretend that you’re not disappointed, weary, or afraid. You can bring your questions, your grief, your prayers, and even your doubts to God. As Lauren reminded us, Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). We can ask Him to strengthen our faith, especially when we feel forgotten or struggle to recognize His love.

Lauren encouraged us to begin by getting alone with God and honestly telling Him where we’re struggling to believe, asking Him to reveal Himself and strengthen our faith. Drawing from her encouragement and the truths we’ve explored together, perhaps your prayer today might sound something like this:

Lord, I want to believe that You’re good. I want to trust You with this situation, but I’m tired of waiting. Help me remember what is true. Show me how You’re meeting me here. Give me the faith I need for today, and help me leave tomorrow in Your hands.

 

As I shared with Lauren, hope is not sustained by outcomes. It’s sustained by God’s presence in the midst of our waiting. Faith doesn’t have to be perfect. We just need to keep turning toward God with our questions, our prayers, and our waiting, trusting Him day by day.

Hope for today, and let God take care of tomorrow.
Listen to the full conversation
Hear my whole conversation with Lauren on the Habits of Hope podcast, available wherever you listen to podcasts. If it encourages you, ask the Lord who needs to hear it today, and send them the link.

 
Scriptures to Ponder While Waiting on God
Keep these close while you wait:

Hebrews 1:3 – He upholds all things by the word of His power
Hebrews 10:23 – He who promised is faithful
Ephesians 2:6 – Seated with Christ in heavenly places
Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34 – Jesus lives to intercede for us
Romans 8:26–27 – The Spirit intercedes when we don’t know what to pray
Proverbs 23:7 – As he thinks in his heart, so is he
Romans 8:1 – No condemnation in Christ Jesus
Philippians 4:8 – Think on whatever is true, noble, and lovely
Psalm 139:14 – Fearfully and wonderfully made
Matthew 7:7 – Ask, seek, knock
Romans 14:17 – Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit
John 16:13 – The Spirit guides us into all truth
Jeremiah 29:13 – Seek Me with all your heart
John 11:35; Luke 22:44 – Jesus wept and was deeply troubled
Psalm 139:23–24 – Search me, O God, and know my heart
John 16:20 – Sorrow turned to joy
Luke 18:1–8 – The persistent widow
Mark 11:23 – Speak to the mountain
Mark 8:22–25; Luke 17:14 – Healing that unfolded over time
Hebrews 13:8 – The same yesterday, today, and forever
Romans 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace
Hebrews 12:2 – The author and perfecter of our faith
Genesis 16:13 – El Roi, the God who sees
Psalm 27:13 – Goodness in the land of the living
Romans 8:28 – All things work together for good

Friend, if you’re walking through a hard season, hold on to hope for today, and let God take care of tomorrow.
About Lauren Gaskill
Lauren Gaskill is an author, speaker, and founder of She Found Joy, a ministry dedicated to helping people encounter Jesus and be transformed by His love. Her book, Until the Miracle Comes: Finding Victory in a Faith that Won’t Quit, draws from her personal journey of persistent faith through chronic illness and seasons of waiting.

Connect with Lauren at laurengaskillinspires.com, on Instagram @lauren.gaskill, or through her She Found Joy Podcast.
About Ginger Harrington
Ginger Harrington is a Christian author, speaker, and co-host of the Habits of Hope Podcast. She is the author of Holy in the Moment: Simple Ways to Love God and Enjoy Your Life and the creator of faith-inspired resources through The Deeper Life Co. on Etsy. Through her writing, speaking, and podcast, Ginger encourages women to cultivate daily rhythms of faith and hope, grow closer to God, and live with greater spiritual purpose.

*This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.

Habits of Hope welcomes guests from across the body of Christ, and each guest shares from their own faith journey and perspective.

This article also includes personal stories about physical health, mental health, infertility, trauma, and finances. These stories are shared for encouragement only and are not medical, mental health, or financial advice. God works differently in every story. Please talk with your doctor, a licensed counselor, or another qualified professional about your own situation.