Why prayers go unanswered

God is impartial by nature

"God, with His divine impartiality, could not have made any one child better than any other. Originally, He made all souls equally in His image." With that equality came freedom of will and the power to reason and act.

Suffering therefore cannot be a divine verdict. "He would never punish us; we cannot 'offend' Him: He loves us all, saint and sinner, alike. It is we who punish ourselves through our own wrong use of reason."

Ignorance, in this book, is "the supreme sin — the greatest sin of all": not wickedness, but the sleeping man's belief in his own smallness.

Every today was decided yesterday

"Every 'today' in one's life is determined by his actions 'yesterday,' and every 'tomorrow' depends on the way he handles and lives his 'todays.'" The law of cause and effect applies to everyone, without exception.

This is also why flattery cannot work: "How could God be moved by flattery or praise to change the course of His own immutable laws?"

And it explains the widespread confusion Yogananda notes — people pray in trouble, credit God when relief comes, and lose faith when it does not, without ever learning the law that governs the outcome.

What to do when nothing comes

The instruction is unsentimental: "Do not despair or grow despondent. Never say that you've become resigned to your fate." Try again "with increased effort after each failure."

An unanswered demand points to something correctable — past action, or "some defect in your way of asking" — not to a whimsical God.

He also distinguishes need from want: "Sometimes it is better that they not receive what they think they want. A child may reach out and even want to touch a flame, but the mother … will not grant that impulse."

Watch this teaching

Nayaswami Jyotish on the cosmic law that governs results — the reason prayers do not always bring an immediate answer.

What Is the True Meaning of Dharma?