When Prayers Go Unanswered

This week has been one of those weeks where I'm topic-free.
No motivation.
No idea what to write.
No inspiration.
I kept putting off writing this post because I just didn't know what I would say.
Or rather... I didn't want to say what I felt laid on my heart to.
The topic I felt laid on my heart to talk about this week is the title of this post: 'When Prayers Go Unanswered'.
The reason I didn't want to talk about it is because I didn't know what to say, and I didn't want to get too personal.
But I couldn't shake the topic idea out of my head no matter how hard I tried, so I'm stepping out in faith and trusting God wants me to cover that this week.
I think it's safe to say that we all have moments in life where our prayers go seemingly unanswered.
Where you're praying for weeks, months, even years, and there doesn't seem to be any change.
Maybe it's a family member or friend who's wandering from God. You pray for them every day, but they only ever seem to get further from Him.
Or maybe it's a dream you're praying for. You pray over and over again, but you start to lose hope that the dream will ever become reality.
Whatever it is, whether it be one of those examples, or something else, like healing, a financial miracle, or guidance; it's hard to keep praying when you're losing hope that He's listening.
I don't know how personal this is going to get, but I want to be real with you guys.
For a very long time, there have been three things I'm praying for that seem to go unanswered.
1. For a friend of mine to have a heart shift
2. Details involving a dream of mine 
3. Guidance 
Every day I pray for this friend, this dream, and guidance.
I ask God to reveal Himself to this friend, but they only ever seem to wander further away.
I ask God for the specific details regarding this dream, but an answer to that doesn't seem to exist.
I ask God for guidance, but I still have no idea what He wants me to do after high school.
Maybe you can't relate to those examples, but fill in the blank with whatever it is you don't seem to see an answer to.
I could be very cliché and say that every prayer is answered, sometimes it's just not in the way we expect, and I do believe that's true... 
But for the times when you really wish God would just explain to you what that hidden answer is, I hope to offer some encouragement.
As I've been waiting for answers to these prayers, I've been asking God to speak to me and to give me ears to hear it.
Not audibly, though I do wish I could hear that, but just through every day life in ways that I know it's Him.
I felt led to read through Isaiah 43, and have been reading it every day for the past week.
There were three verses that stood out to me as a huge comfort, and I'd like to share them with you.

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." -Isaiah 43:2

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." -Isaiah 43:18-19

Those verses have been a reminder to me that God is doing a new thing. All these seemingly unanswered prayers are going to make sense one day. Maybe not in this life, but one day. He has a reason, and He is making a way in the desert for us. He is the way.
It also reminds me that we were never promised an easy life.
It stinks to hear, I know. 
But this life actually promises troubles. 
A lot of them.
But God promises that through the waters, the rivers, the fires... He is with us.
He knows how it feels, believe it or not.
He knows how much this pains you, it pains Him too!
But He is right there with you, listening to every word.
There's one more verse I want to close this post on, and that is simply:

"All my longings lie open before You, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from You." -Psalm 38:9

He knows. 
He is with you, and He knows. 
And He will wipe away every tear that you've cried.
When prayers go unanswered, take heart.
He's still listening.