Do you have UN-Answered Prayer? Why?
Everyone of us at one time or another have asked the question why did God not answer my prayer. There are many reasons listed in the Bible as to why he does not answer and if we read, absorb and apply what the Bible says, then we should have answered prayer.
But here is the problem. We, and I use “we” referring to the majority of people who claim to be a Christian, use God like a vending machine and only pick up Bible, attend Church or pray only when trials and tribulation come. The majority of the time we ask for him to bail us out of a situation, when if we asked him first, he would have told us NO don’t do it. But like spoiled brats that wont take no for an answer, we do it anyway and must suffer the consequences. Those consequences are chastisement and UNANSWERED prayer. We also ask for stuff out of Lust, Greed and Covetousness. God WILL NOT answer those prayers either.
Jesus made this promise to us in Matthew 21:22 “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” However, it is conditional and despite the Lord’s willingness to answer prayer, it is obvious that most prayers go unanswered. Why? The following are reasons why prayer goes unanswered.
There are three reasons from what I can see in scripture that are the reasons for unanswered Prayer.
- You are Unsaved meaning you do not acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior and have chosen to reject him.
- You have confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior and are still deep in sin refusing to give up the worldly ways.
- What your asking him for stuff HE knows is not what you need and is not in his will for your life.
1. Being unsaved – Jesus is NOT your Lord and Savior
God only hears the prayers of those who trust and seek him. The only time God answers the prayer of an unsaved person is when they cry out to him in repentance and accept his son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Bible clearly says that God will not answer prayer requests of those who are not saved nor will He even listen to their prayers
Hebrews 6:11 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
In the Believers Life who is out of the will of God
Psalms 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”
John 9:31 “Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.”
1st Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.”
If we do all that God asks us then and only then will he answer our prayers.
John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
1st John 3:22 “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”
Answers to prayer come when we seek his will and please the Lord with our life.
2. UN- Confessed Sin in One’s Life
There is no doubt that sin will disconnect you from God’s blessings and answers to prayer.
Psalm 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”
1st Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”
1st John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
All acts of rebellion and disobedience to God is considered sin.
1st Samuel 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”
The only way to rid all sin is to confess it to God and ask Him to forgive you, and then he will hear you. We all have sinned and must search our hearts to see if there is anything there that is not pleasing to God. Its not what we consider sin, its what God says is sin!!
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
3. Asking out of selfishness, greed or worldly things that are not in his will for your life will hinder and is Sin.
James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
Our motives in our prayers are of concern to the Lord. Are they just selfish requests for something you want? He desires to help us in our time of need, but is not obligated to answer prayers which will merely feed our fleshly desires and lustful pleasures. Our desires need to be his desires. You must find the will of God in your life and then his desires become YOUR desires
James 4:7-10 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
4. Asking for something that is in God’s will
1st John 5:14-15 “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.”
God will only answer those prayers that are in His will. When we ask anything that is in His will, we can have assurance that those requests can be granted to us. God’s will is revealed through His Word, the Bible. Anything promised by His Word is His will, and we can be confident that He will honor our prayers based on His Word.
You must have Faith that he will answer you. We cannot please God without faith. Prayer is not begging God. It is believing God and His Word and if you don’t know what his Word says, how can you have faith?
Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
James 1:6-7 “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;”
Sometimes when we are stubborn, God will teach us a lesson and may allow our requests to be answered. I have been there many times and don’t want to be there ever again.
Psalm 106:12-15 “Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.”
Listen to this 4 Part Series from David Borg on Prayer
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