10 Reasons Why Some Prayers Are Not Answered
NTRODUCTION:
Prayer is a communion between man and God. Prayer can be requesting for something or thanking God for something. Prayer may be speaking that is coming out from the mouth, meditating through the word of God or from speaking from the heart. The bible acknowledges us to pray without ceasing. Prayer can also be seeking God’s face to know more of Him, Prayer cannot be overemphasized because prayer is the only means we believers communicate with God, we can sing in form of praying, Prayers can also be done speaking in words. Prayer is an act so it can be done in so many forms. Prayer can be done through sowing towards a project or sacrificial giving, there is no special place to pray, prayer can be done anywhere as long as the spirit is connected with God. Prayer is the master key to commune with God. The bible says in Hebrew 4:16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need. Prayer is the mantle God has given us to speak with Him at any time.
In our topic today, we will be looking at 10 reasons why some prayers are not answered:
- PRAYING WITHOUT THE SCRIPTURES: Hosea 4:6a says’ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Lack of knowledge of the word of God will make one to pray without direction. For one’s prayers not to remain unanswered one must cultivate the habits of praying with the words of God. One must search the scripture and know what exactly the word of God is saying as regards one’s request, praying without knowing what the word of God is saying is like just praying into the thin air. The bible says in Psalms 138:2b “God honored His words more than His name. If we can pray and hold Him by His words, our prayers will receive heaven’s attention.
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Subscribe Now- LACK OF FAITH: Faith is a complete trust or confidence in God. Mathew 17:20 says ‘’ And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. If one prays without faith that God has heard the prayers, the prayers will remain unanswered, Because He sees our heart and He honors whatever we say or conceives in our heart, this is to show that whatever comes from the heart is what God honors the most not just what we say from our lips without faith. All things are possible unto him that has faith. It’s easy to lose faith in God, when one has been praying and praying over one situation and it seems not changing, but the truth is, as long as we don’t have faith in what only God can do, the prayer request will remain unanswered. Mark 11:24 ‘says Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. If we don’t believe in other words it won’t be ours, this is to show that faith is needed greatly to make our prayers answered.
- PRAYING AMISS: The purpose of prayers is not to make God do our wills but we must pray that His will must be done. When we don’t pray according to the will of God, the prayers will remain unanswered. We must pray in the spirit and not according to our flesh that is only when our prayers will not be unanswered. An example is someone trying to pray to God that he wants to relocate, meanwhile he knows God’s plan for him was to stay where he is and start up a business, we can see that this person already knows the will of God for himself but he is trying to lure God into what He did not plan for his life. This is why we must be sensitive and know when we are praying amiss so as not just to be wasting time in the place of prayers. The bible says in James 4:3 “when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
- PRAYING WITH UNFORGIVING SPIRIT When you are holding back someone in your heart, or someone has offended you or done wrong to you and you refuse to forgive or let go your prayers to God will remain unanswered. We must clear and do a thorough check of ourselves before going to God in prayers, we have to be sure we are not holding anyone in our heart, we have to be sure we have forgiven all those who has offended or hurt in one or the other, because that is only when God will hear us too if we forgive one another. Just like the bible says’ in Matthew 6:14 “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. As we all know that if God does not forgive our sins He will not hear us, so we must forgive anyone that has hurt us, so that God can forgive us and answer our prayers.
- PRAYING WITHOUT WORKS: Praying that is not backed with action is dead. James 2:14 “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? There are steps that must be taken to see one’s prayers been answered, if no step is taken nothing will happen it doesn’t matter how many hours one spend praying, or number of mountains one goes to, or poured one bottle of oil on one’s head in the name of anointing oil, nothing will happen. Imagine someone that is looking for a job, if the person keeps praying and does not go out to look for opportunities or problems to solve nothing will happen to that kind of man, that person will just be living a frustrated life. In a situation where a woman is praying for the fruit of the womb, the woman must also meet with her husband so that they can have sexual intercourse to make the woman seal her prayers for conception. You can’t be praying without a deliberate action; prayers must be backed by actions if we must receive answers to the prayers. Until you make extra effort to do something different, nothing changes by praying alone.
- PRAYING WITH BITTERNESS OF HEART: Romans 12:12 says” Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Praying with bitterness of heart automatically shuts heaven’s doors against one’s request. We must pray with a grateful heart when going to the throne of God to pray, this is when our prayers will be answered. Psalms 95:3 also says “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. God does not listen to a murmurer or someone with a bitter heart, we must come to His presence with joy and thanksgiving so that our prayers can be answered.
- DEAFNESS TO THE VOICE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: One’s prayer can remain unanswered if one is deaf to what the Holy spirit is saying. We must strife to hear clearly from God. Proverbs 28:9 says He who turns his ear from listening to the law, even his prayers are an abomination. In order for one’s prayer not to be unanswered one must be able to hear God clearly and know what to pray for and also what to do in order for the prayers to be answered.
- PRAYING WITHOUT OBEDIENCE TO THE WORDS OF GOD: Sin separates us from God. James 3:12 says “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.” This means the prayer of a sinner is an abomination to Him. Thereby God can never answer the prayers of a sinner except he or she is asking for forgiveness of his or her sins first. The Lord cannot behold iniquity, light and darkness cannot walk together. Sin will make heaven shut the door against one except the person is asking or praying for forgiveness of his or her shortcomings.
- LACK OF LOVE. You cannot pray without love in your heart and expect your prayers to be answered, you have to love and love from the heart. You cannot be praying to God and hate your next-door neighbor; your prayers will remain unanswered. Luke 6:27-28 says ‘But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. For one’s prayers to receive heaven’s attention we must love and love genuinely.
- WHEN ONE SEES PRAYERS AS MONOLOGUE INSTEAD OF DIALOGUE: Prayer ought to be a communication between man and God not just to ask and leave His presence. Mathew 6:7 says “And when you pray, do not keep blabbing like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. We must pray with open heart to hear and know what He is saying as regards our request, we must create an avenue to listen to Him while praying, we should not just keep talking and talking alone without allowing Him to speak too. We can also classify this as lack of concentration, in a situation where one is praying and just asking and asking and not knowing when He has answered or when He is trying to tell us what steps to take will hinder one’s prayer and it will make the prayers remain a prayer request instead of testimony.
