Why doesn't God answer my prayers?
Does God really mean it when
He says that He will give us what we ask for? Bible texts come to our minds,
such as Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it
shall be given you"... Will He
really answer when we call? Isaiah
65:24: "Before they call, I will
answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." Why doesn't God
answer my prayers? Does God answer prayers? Have you ever asked the question,
why doesn't prayer work? Why at times does it appear that God ignores us when
we pray to Him? Many have prayed for God to intervene and solve a problem that
they are struggling with, but sometimes God‘s apparent answer is silence.
God knows what’s best
Even when we feel that God is not
answering our prayers, you can always know God is a God of love. The Bible
tells us He loves us: John 3:16. '"For
God so LOVED the world" Jeremiah 31:3, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love."God
created us and knows infinitely more than we know. He knows what is best for
us, and what would not be good for us. If you have children, when they were
very small, sometimes they asked for things that would not be good for them, or
would harm them. For good reasons sometimes parents do not always give their
children what they ask for, when they ask for it. Parents give them what is
best for them.It is the same way in our prayers to God. God gives us what is
best for us. We are God’s children and He gives us what is best for us, and at
a time when it is best for us. Our lives must be right with God before He can answer
our prayers.
Do it the right way
God has certain conditions that must
be met before our prayers can be answered. One of the first, is we feel our
need of help from Him. Isaiah 44:3 says, “For
I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.”
The heart must be open to the Spirit’s influence, or God’s blessing cannot be
received. One cannot pour water into a cup that is already full.
Have a right heart
If we have cherished sins in our
lives, and refuse to give them up, or if we are doing things we should not be
doing, and are disobeying Him, we cannot expect Him to answer our prayers. He
cannot answer our prayers if we have sins in our lives that are unconfessed or
if we are hanging on to cherished sins. Also, if we refuse to forgive others
who have wronged us, God cannot hear us. This is not saying you can earn God’s
favor to answer your prayers, it will always be Jesus’ blood that makes us
worthy; but we do need to do our part if God is going to work in our lives.
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 unto 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, “spake a parable unto
them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint."
His time, His will
God is a God of love, and He is
interested in every detail of our lives. He hears our prayers, and answers
every sincere prayer if we meet His conditions. We must not expect that every
answer will be "yes", since we are sinners and do not always ask what
is best for us. Sometimes His answer is "No’ and sometimes it is
"wait." We need to end each prayer with, "Not my will but thine
will be done." Even if we are sincerely doing God’s will, and to the best
of our ability, following His will for us, He may see that it is best for us
not for Him to say "yes" at this time. We must continue trusting Him,
regardless of His answer at the moment.
God's timetable is not the same as
ours. He knows better than we do when the best time for our prayers to be
answered is. God is eternal and does not measure time as we do. 2 Peter 3:8:
"But, beloved, be not ignorant of
this one thing, that one day is with the Lord 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 any thing according to his will,
he heareth 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.
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.
If we have faith and sincerely trust
God, we will not be concerned as to whether the answer is "wait" or
the answer is "no" or "yes." We must just trust, and wait
and see if God in His timing will see fit to answer as we have requested, or
perhaps He has something better in mind for us. Remember your prayer should end
with "not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42). "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and
lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He
shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5,6.
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