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Greetings, Brothers and Sisters. If you want to understand why God is not answering your prayers, please read the following article. We have sufficient time to view YouTube videos, social media messages, and so on...... Please spend some time reading this if your future is important to you. Did you know that the devil is more knowledgeable than you and understands how to convince you to avoid God and refrain from Praying. May God bless you as you read in the name of Jesus. |
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Is God serious when He says He will give us what we ask for?Bible texts come to our minds, such as Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it will be given to you"... Will He really answer when we call? Isaiah 65:24: "Before you call I will answer, while you are still speaking, I will hear." |
Does God respond to prayers?Have you ever questioned why prayer doesn't work? Why does it appear that God sometimes ignores us when we pray to Him? Many people have prayed to God to intervene and solve a problem they are facing, but God's apparent response is silence.Why do we sometimes experience silence from God? Is God cruel? Does He just like to mess with us? Or are there other reasons and greater purposes in God’s mind that we don’t know about? |
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Job knew this experience well. So did David, a man after God’s own heart, who prayed in the Psalms, “How long, O Lord?” (Ps. 13:1)! Habakkuk the prophet also cried, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?” (Hab. 1:2). Don't dismiss these frustrated cries—the dual authorship of the Scriptures means that these prayers were written not only by Job, David, or Habakkuk, but also by the Holy Spirit Himself. When you feel alone in the dark, God knows your frustration and gives you words to pray,
Thankfully, there are some easy answers when you feel as if God isn’t receiving our prayers, Let’s look at them.
1. It could be you’re not a child of God. (Unbelievers) This may sound obvious or even cruel, but God has no obligation to answer the prayers of unbelievers (Psalm 34:15, 17; Proverbs 15:8, 29; John 9:31; 1 Peter 3:12). He may answer, but He has not obligated Himself to do so. The only prayer an unbeliever can be certain God will answer—and answer immediately—is a prayer of faith and acceptance of His Son, who died on the cross and rose again, as the basis for forgiveness of sins. One of the scariest truths found in the Bible is that many people think they have saving faith in Jesus Christ but actually don’t. Jesus warned about fake believers in Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” People like this may have grown up in church, know all the right answers to theological questions, be the first to arrive at church on Sunday, and act like Christians outwardly. But they remain unbelievers, and thus God has no obligation to listen to their prayers. Does it pain you to know you have sinned against a holy God? Do you put your trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins? Keep your faith and trust in Jesus—He turns no one away who comes to Him in faith and repentance.
2. Unconfessed sin But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. – Isaiah 59:2 James tells us that the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. (James 5:16) If, however, we don’t find ourselves in a righteous state, we are praying ineffectively. The good news is that we can made righteous as soon as we confess our sins! 1 John 1:9 tells us that when there is sin in our lives God will cleanse us from all unrighteousness the moment we confess it. Then we can approach a Holy God with boldness and confidence (Hebrews 4:16) because of what Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross.He makes us righteous! He makes our prayers effective.
3. Wrong motives As Christians, there are a couple of reasons God may choose to delay or deny answering our prayers. In these cases, He is waiting on us.
The easiest way to avoid wrong motives is to consider whether the request is selfish or not. For example, “Lord please give me a Ferrari” is a selfish prayer. We must ask according to God’s will and not our own. What is God’s will? The Bible has a lot to say about that.
4. Wrongly Treated Others (Family conflict) If breaking the Greatest Commandment, by not loving God (see Matt. 22:36–38), can hinder your prayers (as the last point taught), it shouldn’t be a surprise that breaking the second Great Commandment, by not loving others (Matt. 22:39), can as well. This is essentially cherishing sin in your heart (see Ps. 66:18) regarding your duties toward other people. The Bible explicitly identifies the marriage relationship as one place where this may happen. Peter shows us that if there is marital conflict our prayers will be hindered. Peter is particularly addressing the fact that husbands were to honour their wives. 1Peter 3:7 says, “Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.” At first this seems kind of random. Why would God hinder the prayers of knucklehead husbands? The reason is that He wants to lead them to repentance so that they will better care for their wives and honor Him more in their marriages. (While this is not explicitly stated in Scripture, I think that if a wife does not fulfill her role in marriage, her prayers have the potential to be hindered as well, because she is likely treasuring sin.) The Bible is also explicit in saying that our prayer also may be hindered when we do not offer forgiveness and reconciliation (see Matthew 5:23–24; Mark 11:25; see also 1 Tim. 2:8) or when we neglect our duty to the poor (see Prov. 21:13).So men, love and honour your wives, not only will your prayers be more effective, but your overall (Matthew 15:38) satisfaction in life will increase drastically.
5. Prideful The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector found in Luke 18:9–14 contrasts two postures that we can take toward prayer. The Pharisee strutted around like a spiritual giant, flexing his spiritual muscles and praying, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get” (vv. 11–12). He approached God on the basis of his works, not God’s mercy. But God doesn’t want us to pat ourselves on the back for how good we are; He wants humble hearts from us that understand our continual need for grace. That’s what the tax collector’s prayer reflected: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”. Jesus’s conclusion to this parable sent shock waves to those who were listening: God accepted the socially unacceptable tax collector’s prayer while rejecting the admired Pharisee’s self-righteous prayer. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted”. But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:“God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.” – James 4:6 Pride was the first sin ever committed. (Isaiah 14:12-26) It separates us from a loving Father who wants to know us and answer our prayer. How do you get rid of pride? It’s a choice. You must choose to submit your will to God and trust that His will is better than your will. Pride says, “I know what’s best for me.” Humility says, “Not my will, but yours be done.”
4. Doubt But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. – James 1:6, Faith is always a key component to prayer. During Jesus’ time on earth we saw him attracted to faith, yet there was a city where he couldn’t perform any miracles because of people’s doubt and lack of faith. When we come to God in prayer we have to believe that God can actually do the very thing we’re praying for.
5. Embracing Sin Just as a child’s deliberate disobedience grieves his or her father, our sin grieves God (see Eph. 4:30). The psalmist wrote, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Ps. 66:18). Our sin shapes the attitudes we have about God and our motives for praying. Living in sin is the opposite of loving God, for “the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil” (Prov. 8:13). Proverbs 28:9 says this truth in a different way: “If one turns away his ear from hearing [God’s] law, even his prayer is an abomination.” If you find yourself treasuring sin and avoiding God’s Word, repent! And then ask Him to create in you a clean heart and a right spirit (see Ps. 51:10). Confess your sins to God, and to a trusted friend, and start praying again.
6. Lack of Faith Prayer without faith isn’t prayer; it’s talking to ourselves. Don’t forget that “without faith it is impossible to please” God (Heb. 11:6). Impossible doesn’t come with qualifiers. Faithless prayer displeases God. James 1:7–8 says that the doubter “must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” When we go on autopilot during prayer and merely recite words while thinking about something else, we lack faith. When we ask God for something legitimate but are convinced that He won’t answer, we lack faith. The same is true when we pray in order to be seen by others—we put our focus on the reactions of people instead of on God. Instead of praying this way, simply look to your heavenly Father and trust the promises of His Word, which help to stir your faith (see Rom. 10:17), and speak to Him.Trust God, even though it may seem like prayer doesn't work. Even though it may seem like at the moment He is not near and has abandoned you.
7. Not the right time (His time, His will) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 Just because we haven’t received an answer to prayer doesn’t mean it’s a no. Sometimes, it’s not yet. My boys really want to drive our car, but my answer is a hard ‘no’ until they are old enough. I want them to eventually have independence and enjoy things like driving, but it would be irresponsible for me to let them drive now. God knows what’s best for you. Trust that He knows what’s best and that His timing is perfect.So let’s say we are living for Christ in our attitude and actions and praying according to His will. What do we do when all systems are go, but the answer still hasn’t come?You keep praying. God's timetable is not the same as ours. He knows better than we do when is the best time for our prayers to be answered. (See Hebrews 6 :13-15). God is eternal and does not measure time as we do. 2 Peter 3:8: "Beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." In the story of Abraham, God promised a son to Abraham. But Abraham became impatient when Sarah didn‘t bear him a son, so he took his wife’s servant as his wife. Abraham tried to solve the problem in his own way and the result was disastrous. We are still seeing the results of his mistake today. God eventually answered his prayer at the time when He saw it was best for Abraham.For God to give us what we ask for, we must ask "according to His will." Faith cannot take the place of "asking according to God's will." 1 John 5:14, "…if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." If you do not ask according to God's will, it is not real faith in God. If God's answer is "No" we still must be willing to wait patiently, and trust God to answer in his own way and in His timing. It may be that the delay is to see how seriously you are willing to pray. God may delay answering your prayers in order to give you far more than you’re asking for
7. God Wants To Give You More Than You’re Asking For. If God is able to answer (and He is), and if He has promised to answer the prayers of His children (and He has), then the delay in the answer—we must know—is not that God is apathetic or absent. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think . . . to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. —Ephesians 3:20–21 In the final analysis, it may be that God desires to give you more than the simple answer to your prayer, making the answer—once it is received—all the more sweet. Our relationship with God is a beautiful one that can grow and change. If you are looking to feel closer to God, consider embarking on a journey of God's Word.
8. Pray without ceasing One of the reasons we feel our prayers are not being answered, is because we stop praying. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says it best, "pray without ceasing." Paul is more direct in Philippians 4:6, “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” In reality, we should not be worried so much about if God hears our prayers – He does and He does care. What we should be worried about is if because of temptations, hard times, and trials we get discouraged, and give up praying. In Luke 18:1, Jesus, “spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart."
9. You never asked You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. – James 4:2
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There is a significant difference between God rejecting our prayers for the reasons stated above and God not answering our prayers. There is no such thing as an unanswered prayer for a Christian, in my opinion. God is the perfect Father, and we are His beloved children. What earthly father would reject his child's pleading? It's not a good one. And yet, what earthly father always responds to his child's request in exactly the way that the child desires? A person who is either short-sighted or lazy, or both. But our heavenly Father is good and not blind or lazy. He is always interested to grants our wishes. God always answers our prayers, but not always in the time or manner that we prefer. His responses could be "Yes," "No," or "Wait."The wait is the most difficult part. I can usually handle a no. Waiting for answers to life's deepest prayers, on the other hand, hurts. Faith in God's love and sovereignty creates fertile ground for persevering prayers. Thank you for taking the time to read this article. May God bless you and answer all of our prayers in Jesus' Mighty Name, Amen |