--- title: "Who in the Bible Had Unanswered Prayers: Hannah, Daniel, Abraham, Elijah, the Syrophoenician Woman and Others, Person by Person" description: "People in the Bible who asked for years, or were refused: what each asked and what the text records next." url: "https://biblenudge.com/blog/who-in-the-bible-had-unanswered-prayers" lang: "en" published: "2026-09-11" modified: "2026-09-11" author: "Cal Hewitt" tags: ["unanswered prayer","psalm 13","hannah","daniel"] image: "https://biblenudge.com/og/blog-who-in-the-bible-had-unanswered-prayers.jpg" alternates: es: "https://biblenudge.com/es/blog/personajes-de-la-biblia-con-oraciones-sin-respuesta.md" --- # Who in the Bible Had Unanswered Prayers: Hannah, Daniel, Abraham, Elijah, the Syrophoenician Woman and Others, Person by Person [Cal Hewitt](https://biblenudge.com/about/cal-hewitt)Published September 11, 2026 - unanswered prayer - psalm 13 - hannah - daniel ![Who in the Bible Had Unanswered Prayers: Hannah, Daniel, Abraham, Elijah, the Syrophoenician Woman and Others, Person by Person](https://biblenudge.com/blog/who-in-the-bible-had-unanswered-prayers/featured.jpg) Somebody asked on Reddit's r/TrueChristian, ["is there a story about a person whose prayers go unanswered or unfulfilled?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueChristian/comments/dg6i1u) A Reddit post on r/Christianity asked, ["I understand delays are necessary sometimes, however why should an answer be delayed for years, and suffering continue?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/gqgxtf) And on Reddit's r/OrthodoxChristianity, one person wrote, ["I feel like I’m just talking into the void."](https://www.reddit.com/r/OrthodoxChristianity/comments/1ssbfzz/anyone_get_the_feeling_that_prayer_feels_one_sided/) Scripture (the Bible) has many. Each is told in the same order: what they asked, what the text records next, and what that gives you now. Start with yours: - **A child:** [Hannah, Zechariah and Elizabeth](#for-a-child) - **Somebody else:** [Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Jeremiah](#for-somebody-else) - **Told it is held up:** [Daniel](#told-the-answer-was-held-up) - **To be let off, or taken:** [Elijah, Jonah, Moses](#to-be-let-off-or-to-be-taken) - **Refused, or given another way:** [David and others](#refused-or-given-another-way) - **Still asking "how long":** [four voices](#still-asking-how-long) ## If you only have a minute ### A prayer to borrow [Psalm 13:1-2](https://biblenudge.com/context/psalm-13-1-2), which asks "how long" four times. ### Something to do Pray verse 1 with your own count of months in it. ## Psalm 13, for anyone still asking Bible Nudge's passage for waiting is [Psalm 13:1-2](https://biblenudge.com/context/psalm-13-1-2), in the World English Bible: > How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me? It is a short prayer of complaint that asks "how long" four times and turns toward trust while still asking: "But I trust in your loving kindness. My heart rejoices in your salvation." It gives you the question itself, in the words of somebody not yet answered. Write down what you have been asking for, and for how many months. Pray verse 1 with that number in it: "How long, Yahweh? Fourteen months." Then ask: what have you been waiting for longer than you expected? [When the answer to a prayer is no, or nothing](https://biblenudge.com/blog/when-the-answer-to-a-prayer-is-no-or-nothing) reads the psalm closely. ![An old hand water pump in a farmyard under a pale sky](https://biblenudge.com/blog/who-in-the-bible-had-unanswered-prayers/the-pump.jpg) ## Told the answer was held up Many who type "held up" mean Daniel. In chapter 9, Gabriel tells him, "At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out" (Daniel 9:23). In chapter 10, Daniel was "mourning three whole weeks." The messenger says, "from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard," and "the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but, behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me" (Daniel 10:2, 12-13). Answering somebody on Reddit's r/Christian, one reply said, ["Remember it took Daniel 21 days to receive his answer."](https://www.reddit.com/r/Christian/comments/yq0hz8) It added, "The issue was the angel bringing his answer was delayed by the principalities of that region where they fought for 21 days." The chapter gives you a man who kept praying and mourning for three weeks, told afterwards he was heard on the first day. ## For a child Hannah "had no children," and year after year at Shiloh, "Her rival provoked her; therefore she wept, and didn’t eat." She "prayed to Yahweh, weeping bitterly," and made a vow (1 Samuel 1:2-11). A later rabbinic reading on a [Sefaria source sheet](https://voices.sefaria.org/sheets/585822) says she asked for a son who would not stand out in body or mind. The chapter ends with Samuel born. Zechariah and Elizabeth "were well advanced in years" when Gabriel said, "your request has been heard" (Luke 1:7, 13), and Elizabeth conceived. Neither story counts the years they prayed. What they give you is the asking itself, tears included. [Bible verses for infertility](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-infertility) is written for anyone praying for a baby. ## For somebody else Abraham bargained for Sodom from fifty down to ten: "Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25). Chapter 19 says "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow." Shalom Paul, on [Sefaria](https://voices.sefaria.org/sheets/210641), says Abraham "valiantly attempted" to save the city, and Genesis Rabbah 49:14, on [another sheet](https://voices.sefaria.org/sheets/137457), ends it: "The Judge departed, the Advocate went away." Abraham asked, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!" and heard, "I have blessed him," with the covenant carried through Isaac (Genesis 17:18-21). Moses asked forgiveness for the golden calf, and the chapter ends, "Yahweh struck the people" (Exodus 32:35). Samuel mourned Saul until God asked, "How long will you mourn for Saul" (1 Samuel 16:1). Jeremiah, in oracles of judgment, was told three times, "don’t pray for this people" (Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:11). If you are praying for a husband, a child or a friend, Scripture keeps intercession at length, including where it went differently from what was asked. [Bible verses for a prodigal child](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-a-prodigal-child) is for a parent of a grown child. ![A half-knitted scarf on its needles in a basket of yarn](https://biblenudge.com/blog/who-in-the-bible-had-unanswered-prayers/the-knitting.jpg) ## To be let off, or to be taken Three people asked to die. Elijah, under a juniper tree, said, "It is enough. Now, O Yahweh, take away my life," and the text records sleep, food and water, and forty days to Horeb (1 Kings 19:4-8). Jonah, angry over Nineveh and a vine, said, "it is better for me to die than to live," and God asked, "Is it right for you to be angry?" (Jonah 4:3-4). Moses said, "I am not able to bear all this people alone," asked to be killed, and was given seventy elders (Numbers 11:14-17). The Bible keeps these words. If they are yours tonight, reach a person: 988 in the United States, 9-8-8 in Canada, Samaritans on 116 123 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, and [Find A Helpline](https://findahelpline.com/) everywhere else. [What the Bible says about burnout](https://biblenudge.com/blog/what-does-the-bible-say-about-burnout) reads Elijah and Numbers 11. ## Refused, or given another way David wanted to build God a house; Nathan said his son "will build a house for my name" (2 Samuel 7:13), and Chronicles says, "You have shed blood abundantly" (1 Chronicles 22:8). A Canaanite mother, often called the Syrophoenician woman, cried out for her daughter; Jesus first "answered her not a word" (Matthew 15:23), then came an exchange, and her daughter "was healed from that hour." The man freed at Gerasa begged to go with Jesus and was sent home to tell it (Mark 5:19). The mother of James and John asked for her sons' places and heard they are "for whom it has been prepared by my Father" (Matthew 20:23). When Lazarus was sick, Jesus "stayed two days in the place where he was" (John 11:6); [Bible verses for the loss of a brother](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-the-loss-of-a-brother) reads the chapter. These requests were turned, delayed or given a different task, and nobody who asked is blamed. David's infant son, Moses at the Jordan, Paul's thorn, Gethsemane and Psalm 88 are on [the no-or-nothing post](https://biblenudge.com/blog/when-the-answer-to-a-prayer-is-no-or-nothing). ## Still asking how long Asaph writes, "My soul refused to be comforted" (Psalm 77:2). Lamentations, amid Jerusalem's ruin, says, "when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer" (3:8; also 3:44). The souls under the altar ask "How long" and are told "that they should rest yet for a while" (Revelation 6:10-11). Jesus tells of a widow who "often came" to an unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8). They are company for an open question. [What the Bible says about suffering](https://biblenudge.com/blog/what-does-the-bible-say-about-suffering) reads Psalm 22. ## If you were told your prayers are blocked A Reddit post on r/Christianity said, ["Yet, we are warned in Scripture that if we have sin in our hearts, God will not hear our prayers."](https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/xslf0u) Another Reddit user there asked, ["why do Christian’s always just claim someone has a lack of faith when they’re suffering and praying yet nothing happens and their prayers go unanswered?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/1l5zw6f/) Each verse has a setting: James 4:1-3, quarreling readers asking "with wrong motives"; 1 Peter 3:7, husbands and wives; Isaiah 59:1-2, a prophet's charge against Israel; Psalm 66:18, a worshiper's testimony; 1 John 5:14, asking "according to his will"; Mark 11:20-25, faith, prayer and forgiving others. The [Catholic Catechism](https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_four/section_one/chapter_three/article_2/iii_filial_trust.html) says "Filial trust is tested - it proves itself - in tribulation" (2734) and asks, "Why do we think our petition has not been heard?" (2735). The Reformed [Westminster Larger Catechism](https://westminster1647.com/en/cmayor/3/q-how-are-we-to-pray/185) asks prayer "with humble submission to his will" (Q. 185). A [Pentecostal Holiness Association page](https://goodnewsministriesinternational.cw.center/when-prayers-seem-unanswered/) lists "wrong motives, unconfessed sin, lack of faith, or simply that God's timing differs from ours." The evangelical [Warren Wiersbe](https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/wiersbe-be-bible-study/problem-unanswered-prayer-vv-1-5) reads Psalm 13 as a faithful servant meeting silence. In a 2011 survey of 471 adults by [Julie Exline and Joshua Grubbs](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/009164711103900402), about half of those with negative feelings toward God after suffering met an unsupportive response when they told someone, including feeling "judged, guilty, or ashamed." [The no-or-nothing post](https://biblenudge.com/blog/when-the-answer-to-a-prayer-is-no-or-nothing) has a section for anyone told it was their fault. ## Anger, and whether to keep asking On Reddit's r/OrthodoxChristianity, one person wrote, ["The answer to our prayers for bodily healing was no and its hard not to feel angry with that answer."](https://www.reddit.com/r/OrthodoxChristianity/comments/1b2kuzh) In five US studies from 2011, [Julie Exline and colleagues](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21219078/) found anger toward God "measurable, widespread, and related to adjustment across various contexts and populations." [C. S. Lewis](https://www.basicincome.com/bp/files/Petitionary_Prayer_by_C.S._Lewis.pdf), in "Petitionary Prayer: A Problem Without an Answer," read to Oxford clergy in 1953, still wrote, "However low a place we may decide to give it in the life of prayer, we must give it some place." ## For a study or a sermon One row per person, the no's beside the yeses: Who | Asked | For whom | Passage | Recorded next ---|---|---|---|--- Hannah | A son | Herself | 1 Samuel 1 | Samuel born Daniel | Understanding | His people | Daniel 10 | Heard day one; messenger after three weeks Abraham | Sodom spared | Lot, the city | Genesis 18-19 | Lot out, cities overthrown Canaanite mother | Mercy | Her daughter | Matthew 15 | Silence, then healing Our suggestion: close the session by reading Psalm 13 aloud together. ## When it needs more than reading The [NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/feelings-and-symptoms/low-mood-sadness-depression/) says, "If your low mood does not go away and the things you’re doing are not helping, then you may need medical help." Try a family doctor (a GP in the UK) alongside a pastor, priest or rabbi. ## Where to go next If you are thinking of ending your life, reach a person tonight: [988](https://988lifeline.org/contact-us/) in the United States, 9-8-8 in Canada, [Samaritans](https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/) on 116 123 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, [Lifeline](https://www.lifeline.org.au/crisis-support/) on 13 11 14 in Australia, and [Find A Helpline](https://findahelpline.com/) everywhere else. Read [Psalm 13:1-2 with the verses around it](https://biblenudge.com/context/psalm-13-1-2) and pray it once with your own "how long" in it. [Bible Nudge](https://biblenudge.com/) can take a line in your own words and offer one passage with what surrounds it. [Find a passage](https://biblenudge.com/nudge). ## Words that come up here Tap a term to see what it means. **Intercession.** Praying on behalf of somebody else. ## Share this page If somebody you know is carrying this, the link goes straight to the passage and what surrounds it. Nothing here asks them to sign up for anything. [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbiblenudge.com%2Fblog%2Fwho-in-the-bible-had-unanswered-prayers)[Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbiblenudge.com%2Fblog%2Fwho-in-the-bible-had-unanswered-prayers&media=https%3A%2F%2Fbiblenudge.com%2Fblog%2Fwho-in-the-bible-had-unanswered-prayers%2Ffeatured.jpg&description=Who%20in%20the%20Bible%20Had%20Unanswered%20Prayers%3A%20Hannah%2C%20Daniel%2C%20Abraham%2C%20Elijah%2C%20the%20Syrophoenician%20Woman%20and%20Others%2C%20Person%20by%20Person) ## Related Articles - [Bible Verses for Infertility: How Long, and a Prayer Poured Out at Shiloh](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-infertility): Psalm 13 for the long wait, Hannah's prayer at Shiloh read closely, the other women in these stories, and what churches actually teach about infertility. - [When the answer to a prayer is no, or nothing](https://biblenudge.com/blog/when-the-answer-to-a-prayer-is-no-or-nothing): You asked for something specific and it did not happen, or nothing came back at all. Psalm 13 is a prayer still waiting for its answer, in the Bible. - [Waiting on God when nothing is happening](https://biblenudge.com/blog/waiting-on-god-when-nothing-is-happening): When a wait has no news and no date, and every day looks like the last: Psalm 13 on turning it over alone, every day, and on God seeming to hide.