How Can Our Prayers Go Unanswered?
As demonstrated by the
following scriptures, this question has been asked for many
centuries.
Job
31:35 (NIV) says “Oh,
that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defense—let the
Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing.”
Psalm
13:1 (NIV) says “How
long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your
face from me?”
Habakkuk
1:2 (NIV) says “How
long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out
to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?”
To
answer the question “How
Can Our Prayers Go Unanswered?”,
consider the following.
answer the question “How
Can Our Prayers Go Unanswered?”,
consider the following.
7
REASONS WHY GOD MAY NOT BE
REASONS WHY GOD MAY NOT BE
ANSWERING
YOUR PRAYERS
YOUR PRAYERS
Reason
# 1: You Have Not Asked
# 1: You Have Not Asked
James
4:2 (NIV) says “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.”
4:2 (NIV) says “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.”
Matthew
7:7 (NIV) says “Ask
and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the
door will be opened to you.”
Reason
# 2: You Have Unconfessed Sin
# 2: You Have Unconfessed Sin
Isaiah 59:1-2 (NIV) says
“Surely
the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to
hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your
sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”
“Surely
the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to
hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your
sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”
1
Peter 3:12 (NIV) says
“For
the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive
to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do
evil.”
Reason
# 3: You Really Don’t Believe
# 3: You Really Don’t Believe
James
1:6-8 (NIV) says “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.
That person should not
expect to receive anything from the Lord.
Such a person is
double-minded and unstable in all they do.”
1:6-8 (NIV) says “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.
That person should not
expect to receive anything from the Lord.
Such a person is
double-minded and unstable in all they do.”
Reason
# 4: You Have Wrong Motives
# 4: You Have Wrong Motives
James
4:3 (NIV) says
“When you ask, you do
not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend
what you get on your pleasures.”
4:3 (NIV) says
“When you ask, you do
not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend
what you get on your pleasures.”
Reason
# 5: You Have Unresolved Conflicts
# 5: You Have Unresolved Conflicts
Matthew
5:23-24 (NIV) says
“Therefore, if you are
offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother
or sister has something against you,
leave your gift there in
front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and
offer your gift.”
Mark 11:25-26 (NIV) says
“And
when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive
them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
Reason
# 6: You Have An Uncompassionate Heart
# 6: You Have An Uncompassionate Heart
Proverbs
21:13 (NIV) says
“Whoever
shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be
answered.”
Reason
# 7: You Are An Unresponsive Husband
# 7: You Are An Unresponsive Husband
1
Peter 3:7 (NIV) says “Husbands,
in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat
them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the
gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
Peter 3:7 (NIV) says “Husbands,
in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat
them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the
gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
Some
Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
1.
When you pray and your request is not
according to God’s will, God
says
“NO”.
When you pray and your request is not
according to God’s will, God
says
“NO”.
2.
When you pray and your request
is according to God’s will but the
timing is wrong, God says “WAIT”.
When you pray and your request
is according to God’s will but the
timing is wrong, God says “WAIT”.
3.
When you pray and your request
is according to God’s will and the
timing is right,
God says “YES”.
When you pray and your request
is according to God’s will and the
timing is right,
God says “YES”.
1
John 5:14 (NIV) says
“This is the
confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything
according to his will, he hears us.”
Don’t
Give Up – Resolve Your Issues
Give Up – Resolve Your Issues
And Keep Praying!
End
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