Dear May:

I am sorry to hear about your situation. There is no such thing, however, as unanswered prayer. God hears all prayers and answers all prayers. The answer to our prayers may not be want we expect or want, but all prayers are answered.

God is the perfect Father. Like any good father, he will not bail out his children from every trouble. To do that the father fails to teach his children to be responsible for their own actions and to accept and learn from the consequences of their actions.

Thus, in the first measure, if our debt or unemployment was based on bad decisions we made, then we must accept the consequences of our actions. God will not necessarily repair those situations, but He will help us through them. He may also teach us something about the faith as we walk through the valley.

If the problem is beyond our control and from no fault of our own, the problem is a result of happenstance, other people's sin, or from natural causes. These are the consequences of a fallen world.

Again, God will not necessarily clean-up the mess for us, even when the mess is from no fault of our own, but He will help us and direct us in how to clean the mess ourselves. He will help us to cope and survive through the trial.

You are being tempted to think that God does not love you. God does love you. He loves you so much as to allow himself (the 2nd Person of the Trinity) to humilitate himself by becoming human and then to voluntarily be tortured and put to death. He did this for us.

God tells us in 1 Cor 10:13 --

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.

God is not a liar, thus His promise here is true and can be relied upon. You know for a fact that you can get through this because God said so, He said that you will not be tempted beyond you capacity. You can trust that.

God may be answering your prayer by allowing you to undergo these hardships so that you may experience a great spiritual treasure. If nothing else these trials are a test of your faith and devotion.

God will take care of you, but he will do it in a way that is best for your soul.

It is hard to practice this. Abandonment and resignation to God's will is a very hard thing, but we are called to do it, and we can do it if we work hard and try.

We have a pamphlet that talks about what it means to resign oneself to God's will and prayers that go along with it.

Keep your eyes are Jesus and not on the storms around you. As you focus on our Lord, he will lead you to safety.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary