There are times in our lives when I think the Lord says, I gave you bread, but it wasn’t the kind of bread you wanted and because you keep thinking about the kind of bread you wanted you’ve turned my bread into a stone. I gave you a fish, but it wasn’t the flavor of fish that you wanted, and you’ve turned the fish into a serpent. Or I gave you an egg, but I cooked it differently from how you ordered it, and you think I’ve given you a scorpion.
S. Michael Wilcox, “When Your Prayers Seem Unanswered”
I feel quite often that my prayers go unanswered. But are they really unanswered?
I don't think Heavenly Father just ignores us. He's not petty. He's not vindictive. He doesn't get hurt when we don't talk to Him. He does not react the way that you and I do and sometimes we assume that because we react a certain way that others do too.
There are two reasons that cause us to assume we're not being answered. One, is because we're not listening correctly or fully. I've mentioned that before.
And, two, because we already have the response that we THINK we should get and we are focused only on that. We are looking for a certain kind of bread and we don't get that kind so we just assume it's a stone instead. That focus on the one thing and not opening our mind up completely, where something else comes could come out of the periphery, is called a scatoma. I mentioned this before too.
So we need to learn to be open to any kind of bread or fish. Full sincerity of heart means that whatever kind I get is what I'm going to trust that I need.