What should I do, if i constantly pray to God that he would help me not to compare myself or envy others but i feel like he isnt answering?

Hey,
Thanks for your question. First...DON'T QUIT ASKING. Many times we treat God like Burger King...but God's not Burger King (yes you can quote me on that one). He's not like a fast food restaurant meaning that He answers when we say answer and in the way that we want him to answer. He's also not like Santa Claus. God is the King of the Universe, the Creator of All Things He is the Creator and we are His Creatures. That means that sometimes we're called to be patient.

I've got a quick question for you that I ask myself when I'm in your situation. Can you think of a time in the Bible when God was silent and that His silence was discouraging?

What about when Jesus was hanging on the cross? Remember His words..."My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?" WOW. What do you think that the disciples at the foot of the cross were thinking? Then....Jesus died. It makes total sense that they scattered. They probably thought something like..I thought Jesus was God and now He's dead. Who is God? Does He listen. Have I believed a lie?

The great thing about that is that in the "silence" God was reconciling me and you to Him. Sometimes when God doesn't "answer" He's doing something bigger. He's causing you to trust more. And who knows....maybe 3 days later you'll see what was up. What I mean by that is that God is at work. The disciples knew that for sure when Christ was resurrected 3 days after His death on the cross. You can rest assured that as real as the resurrection is....He's REALLY working and hearing your prayers right now. So don't give up.

Sometimes we're really good at telling God how He needs to work for us and then using His Scriptures to prove it to Him. I encourage you to commit to praying something more like, "God...what are You trying to teach me? Will you please help me to understand it?" Continue to read your Bible for that is how God speaks to us. I heard someone say this past Sunday. Praying to God all the time without reading the Bible is like talking all the time and never letting the other person speak back. You haven't done anything wrong and God's not ignoring you, but I hope that the thoughts above have been helpful.

Please feel free to find me at church or email if you wanna talk more.

Love in God's way,
Derrick