WHY DOESN'T GOD ANSWER MY PRAYERS?
“So, I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9)
We've prayed so long and so hard without any results. There is great assurance that he hears every prayer. He has made everything beautiful in its time. The longer a prayer is delayed, the more perfect it will come forth at last. The deeper the silence, the louder the answer.
"So, I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (Luke 11:9)
We pray, but get no answers. We've prayed so long and so hard without any results. "Doesn't he see my needs?" "Doesn't he care about me?" "If God's ear is open to my prayer, and I pray diligently, why is there such little evidence of His answering?"( Things go on as usual—nothing happens). "How long must I wait?" Is there one certain prayer you have been praying for a long time that has not been answered?
The devil's final strategy in deceiving believers is to make them doubt the faithfulness of God in answering prayer. Satan would have us believe that God has shut His ears to our cry and left us to work things out for ourselves (reference - joesebeth community). Let us be careful not to charge God, as did Job, with being slothful and unconcerned about our needs and petitions. Job complained, "I cry out to you, but you do not answer me; I stand up, and you do not regard me" (Job 30:20). His vision of God's faithfulness was clouded by his present difficulties, and he ended up accusing God of forgetting him. God rebuked him soundly for it.
The first thing you need to be assured of is that God knows your needs before you even ask (Matthew 6:8). He cares unequivocally about you. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11). We have great assurance that he hears every prayer.
"In my distress, I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. " (Psalm 18:6).
DOWNLOAD THE SERMON HERE - https://mountzionblog.org/why-doesnt-god-answer-my-prayers/
Below are some of the reasons why our prayers are not answered:
1. Our prayers can be hindered by a secret grudge lodged in the heart against another. If you know that someone has a legitimate grievance against you, how can you sincerely approach God in prayer? Uncorrected problems with brothers are extremely detrimental. Christ will not deal with anyone with a wrathful and unforgiving spirit. We are commanded to "lay aside all malice, envy, and evil speaking, and as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word" (1 Peter 2:1, 2). Lift up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. Our prayer may be hindered—by lying in any sin we commit against God ("If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear"-Psalm 66:18") or, in wrath, by not forgiving our brother or sister ("And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."-Mark 11:25-26).
Remember the Lord’s prayer, "Forgive us, as we forgive others."
2. Our prayers are not answered when they are not in accordance with God's Will. We can pray for whatever we want, as long as it is God's will. "If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us" (1 John 5:14). The disciples were not praying according to God's will when they prayed with vindictiveness and revenge. They petitioned God, "Shall we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" Jesus answered, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of" (Luke 9:54, 55). Daniel prayed the right way; first, he went to the Scriptures and searched out the mind of God. Having gotten clear direction and sure of God's will, he runs to God's throne with a mighty assurance;" And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer" (Daniel 9:3). We know too much about what we want and too little about what he wants.
3. Our prayers are not answered because of our lustful and worldly desires. God always hears our prayers. He loves us and wants the very best for us. But we don’t necessarily understand and pray for what is the very best for us. Our prayer purposes are wrong when we ask for blessings for the use and encouragement of our worldly desires. "Ye ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lust" (James 4:3).We pray to wear good clothes to gratify our pride and not glorify God. If we seek anything that we may serve God with, we may expect that he will grant our heart desires. He sees the beginning from the end, and he has many things to teach us. We can plan our lives and think we have everything under control. But as we see in Isaiah 55:8-9, God’s thoughts are often different than ours. As humans, we are drawn towards seeking earthly things that will pass away (temporal) but neglect the heavenly things that are eternal (Matthew 6: 19-21). But God’s thoughts are to transform us from our earthly human tendencies and create something divine through our situations in life.
If God doesn't give us what we are asking for, we have to remember that He has a good plan and a purpose for everything in our lives, and He only wants the very best for us. He is looking at everything from an eternal perspective.
Our time on earth is meant to prepare us for eternity. God cares about our physical needs, but he is infinitely more concerned about our spiritual needs and growth. Our purposes must be right during prayer.
4. Our prayers are not answered when we tell God how He should respond. Those who tell God how and when to answer actually limit the Holy One of Israel because God will not deliver the answer through the front door and they will be unaware of His presence through the back door. They trust only conclusions and not promises. God will not be bound up by time, manner, or means of answering; He will forever do exceedingly, abundantly more than we ask or think of asking. He will answer with health, or grace that is better than health. He will send love, or something beyond it. He will deliver, or do something even greater. Just because our prayers are not answered exactly when or how we want them should never cause us to lose confidence in the heavenly Father.
One of the most important things we can do to ensure that our prayers are heard and answered is to strengthen our faith in God and trust Him to answer our prayers in the best way for us. Leave your requests firmly anchored in his powerful arms and patiently wait for an answer.
5. Our prayers are not answered because of a lack of faith. A lack of faith can certainly hinder one’s prayers. James declares that "we must pray in faith, don’t doubt" (James 1:6). He describes the doubter as being like the restless sea. He has two minds—one of faith and the other of doubt. Hence, he shall not receive his requests from the Lord.
" Prayer is the bow, the promise is the arrow, and faith is the hand that draws the bow and sends this arrow with the heart's message to heaven. The bow without the arrow is of no use, and the arrow without the bow has little worth; and both (arrow and bow) without the strength of the hand serve no purpose. The Christian benefits from neither the promise without prayer, nor prayer without the promise, nor both without faith.
Unbelieving fears rob the believer of joy and confidence in God. God does not hear all prayers; he hears only believing prayers. Prayer is the only weapon we have against all the fiery darkness of the enemy. That weapon must be used with great confidence, or else we have no other defense against Satan's lies. In a world of doubt and confusion, how can we have confidence that God is truly listening and responding to our prayers? Please have faith in God.
6. Our prayers are not answered because of pride. No one is qualified to approach the great God of the universe with a spirit of smugness. "He is the Lord, God Almighty" (Genesis 17:1) and "We are but dust" (Genesis 3:19). "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). While we are to pray with truly humble hearts, a balanced view acknowledges that, due to the work of our great high priest, Jesus Christ, we may draw near "with boldness to the throne of grace" (Hebrew 4:16).
Arrogance can negate prayer. Humility will bless it.
7. One of the reasons we feel our prayers are not being answered is because we stopped praying. "Pray without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We should be rest assured that God hears our prayers. 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".
"He has made everything beautiful in its time." (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Let that sink in. If you can only hold out until the time is right, God is prepared and ready to make this season of waiting beautiful. Sometimes God’s timing does not align with our timing. "In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." (Philippians 4:16). Please keep praying.
8. If we don't spend time learning God's word and obeying what we learned, we should not expect God to answer our prayers. King Solomon says in the book of Proverbs that prayers made from a hardened heart are an abomination to God. "If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination" (Proverbs 28:9). God gives us His word so He can speak to us. If we disobey what he teaches, he will not answer our prayers.
9. There are many things that we will never know, or understand, the unsearchable things of God... things like, "why are some people healed and others aren't?" "Why are some people spared from tragedies while others aren't?" ....
We need to know that when our prayers aren't answered, it doesn't mean that we are necessarily doing something wrong. Sometimes we can be doing everything right. Remember, when we are living a life that is pleasing to God, we are more of a target for the enemy. We live in a fallen world and there is evil in this world. God created this world to be perfect, but sin entered in. Yet God is blamed for many things that are not His fault. God made a way for us through Jesus, and God does promise to work all things together for the good of those who love him. He will redeem what the enemy has planned for our harm. What the enemy hoped would be a stumbling block to our faith, God will turn around and redeem and use for our good and His glory.
The longer a prayer is delayed, the more perfect it will come forth at last. Also, the deeper the silence, the louder the answer. If God is delaying, it simply means your request is gaining interest in God's bank of blessings.
"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. " (1 John 5:14-15).
James Dina (james@mountzionblog.org)
July 23,2020
https://mountzionblog.org/why-doesnt-god-answer-my-prayers/
References
1. https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/1597-6-reasons-why-some-prayers-are-never-answered (By Wayne Jackson)
2. http://www.hopeforthebrokenhearted.com/when-your-prayers-go-unanswered (by Debbie Kay).
3. Dmm Testimonies article on Joesebeth's Facebook community.
