Why Prayer is Not Answered - Part 2

Have you ever prayed for an urgent need but did not receive an answer? If so, it's time to look at the possible reasons why earnest prayer was not enough.

The Word of God tells us, "If ye abide in Me and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." (John 15:7.) This seems to be a very clear answer. Every believer feels he is abiding in Christ, but there are nuggets of truth here to consider. To "abide" means to continue in a particular condition, attitude, relationship,to agree to remain steadfast or faithful and to continue without change. This is a picture of truly abiding in Christ! This scripture also tells us "and if MY WORDS abide in you" THEN ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."

When God's Word abides, stays and remains in us the Word becomes life! If you have been consistent in reading the Word, it is consistently revealing the power of God to your inner man and consistently building confidence in God's promises, provisions and leadership, and your faith is growing. When faith is growing, truth is becoming steadfast and the scriptures are coming alive. It is then that you feel you can believe God for anything...and God honors that faith with His answers to prayer!

Faith grows through abiding in the Word and meditating on the Word until the full impact of His Word becomes strong in the core of your being! That's the inside story of truly abiding in Christ. That is why some believers' prayers are answered more than others. God has no favorites but He does show favor to those who abide close enough to feel the impact of His Word such as John 15:7.

There are other reasons why prayer is not ansered:

1. SIN. Sin is disobedience to the known Word of God. The wages of sin is spiritual death or separation from our relationship with the Lord, therefore sin will prevent answers to prayer. We do not sin in general terms so we cannot ask, "Lord, just forgive me for anything and everything!" No, we sin in specific ways, so we must acknowledge and confess the specific sins we know we have committed, and then ask for forgiveness.

2. UNFORGIVENESS. People who have been wounded often find it difficult to forgive and allow healing to restore them. The Word of God is our Guide in all things. The scripture says, "If ye forgive, your heavenly father will forgive you, but if you forgive not, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you." (Matthew 6:14-15.)If a person has not forgiven others and has not been forgiven by God, he will not be able to enter heaven. Doctors are now discovering that sicknesses (even cancer) are often caused by a wounded heart. Unforgiveness invites infirmities and weakness in the physical body. Notice Jesus did not suggest you had to pretend nothing happened or that you were not hurt. He just said forgive and you will be forgiven. The deeper truth here is that when we truly forgive, we have given the issue to the Lord. When He has received it unconditionally from us, then He will begin to work on everyone else who was involved in the matter, and it will be solved.

A few months ago, a Christian couple had a big misunderstanding and their discussion became so heated that the husband stormed out of the home angrily, got in his car and while driving he was in a head-on collision and died. When he died, he appeared at the gates of heaven but Jesus would not let him enter. "Why?" he asked. "I've served you diligently all my life, Lord." But Jesus told him, "You had an argument with your wife and did not forgive her. You cannot enter here with unforgiveness. Go back! Make it right!" And life returned into the man's body. When he gained consciousness and saw his wife with tears, standing by his side, he immediately asked her to forgive him and they were reconciled. Later, this man wrote this true testimony for the world to read and added: "If you forgive, your heavenly father will forgive you, but if you forgive not, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you. (Matthew 6:14-15. The decision is yours." If you feel there is unforgiveness in your heart, obey the Word and forgive so that your heavenly Father will forgive you and your prayers can be answered!

3. IGNORING THE PROMPTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. The Holy Spirit was sent by the Jesus to lead us into all truth and to bring growth and development in our walk with God. Sometimes we pray "Lord, use me. Let me have an assignment to work for you." Some people forget their prayer quickly, but the Holy Spirit doesn't. He watches for an opportunity for you to be blessed by having a part in Kingdom work! When the Holy Spirit then begins to put a need before you and prompts you to do what He asks, but you ignore His prompting, you have grieved Him. The first one or two times you did not obey that prompting, you may have felt something like a "prick" in your heart, reminding you that you did not obey. The next time He would give you an assignment, you may not have felt the prick but you knew something was not right because your prayers were not being answered. Return to your altar! Repent! Ask the Father to forgive you for Jesus'sake and ask Him for another assignment; then be sure that you do not ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit again but do what He put in you heart. When you obey again, you will notice your prayers will begin to be answered again.

4. UNBELIEF AND DOUBT. Unbelief is a sign that a person does not believe that God means what He says. Doubt is usually an honest question causing a person to desire more informaion or clarification. Doubts can always be resolved by consistent reading of the Word of God and prayer because the Holy Spirit came to teach us all things and He will teach you as you read the Word and pray. Remember: "If we ask anything according to His Will, He heareth us." We know He came to teach us, so we only need to ask and He will help/enable us to understand truth. As truth is revealed, we will have faith to believe for the answers to prayer.

5.BEING OUT OF GOD's WILL. The peace of God is always the predominent factor that let's a child of God know he is in the Will of God. When you feel troubled while pursing a specific plan, you will usually learn quickly that you did not inquire if it was God's will for you or not and usually everything that could go wrong will go wrong.

Getting ahead of God instead of waiting for His timing, unholy relationships that would take you away from your experience with God and/or being unequally yoked together with unbelievers (II Corinthians 6:14), or misplacing scriptures in order to find a way to fulfll ungodly plans, will only lead to darkness of soul and remove your peace. If you find yourself in one of these situations, return to the Lord. Repent! Ask for forgiveness and then do the will of God that your prayer be not hindered!

Many years ago, my Mother had a friend who had a very good marriage. But one day this friend met another man who swept her off her feet and she contemplated divorcing her husband and remarrying. My Mother show her from scripture exactly what God's Word taught: "The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth...." (I Corinthians 7:39.) but she would not listen to counseling. In the meantime it had not rained in Miami for many months and the drought was severe. One day my Mother's friend said she prayed if it would rain on a Thursday, she would know she would have God's permission to divorce her husband and marry her new friend. Guess what! After many months of drought, it did rain on Thursday so the friend divorced her husband and married the new man. From that day, there was no peace in her heart but guilt. In the end she did repent but she lived in sadness until she went home to be with the Lord. Being out of God's will, will alwys hinder the faith needed to believe God for answers to prayer.

Watch for signs that might help you know why some of your prayers are not being answered. The Word of God has stood true through centuries, "Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you!" Many answers are still waiting for God's people! Your answer is still coming!_________________________________________________

Said the Robin to the Sparrow,
"I should really like to know...why these anxious human beings rush around and worry so!"
Said the Sparrow to the Robin,
"Friend, I think that it must be...that they have no heavenly Father such as cares for you and me!" He careth for you! Dare to believe!