6 Reasons Prayers Are Not Answered

Prayer is one of the only ways to communicate with God and also the major way. It is a two way conversation which means; both parties involved (God and man) are supposed to be active in it. God is always active and expects us to also fellowship with Him in the place of prayer. God hears every prayer, but does not answer every prayer. Why then?

“O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.” Psalms 65:2

So many people have been praying, but have not seen answers to their request. This cannot be God’s fault, but ours. If this is our fault, we have to find solutions to it.

DOUBT:

Doubt is a heart condition that disbelieves in the ability of God to do that which he has requested. It is a condition of double mindedness. When we pray and still have doubts in our hearts, we activate impossibility and never receive answer to our prayers. God only respond to FAITH.

James 1:7, “For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8: A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

UNFORGIVENESS:

When we live in grudges and unforgiveness, we set the stage for unanswered prayers. You cannot come to God with bitterness against another person and expect God to answer you.

Mark 11:25, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your

trespasses.”

SELFISHNESS:

This is also called self centeredness. When prayer is made with this mind set, it meets opposition. When we make requests and all in our hearts are to satisfy ourselves without others in mind, we get a No from God.

God blesses us so that we can become channels for His blessings.

James 4:3, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

OUTSIDE GOD’S WILL:

God works by principles and therefore does not break it for anyone. When we pray outside the will of God, no matter how fervent our prayers are, we will not receive answers. For our prayers to be answered, we must pray according to His will. The will of God is found in His Word.

1John 5:14, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:”

UNCONFESSED SIN:

This a is major setback in prayers. We are not going to speak so much about what sin is, but only to highlight the truth that; if you come to God in prayer, it is important to come to Him without sin. I’m in no way saying that a person with sin cannot come to God, but rather not pray and hide his sin. CONFESS!

Psalms 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”

INGRATITUDE:

This is the lack of proper appreciation or thanks for a favour received. When we receive a promise of a gift from someone, we tend to appreciate their kind gesture even before the promise is delivered. In the place of prayer, it is important for us to so our gratitude unto God, because our request will be looked upon favourably.

Phil. 4:6, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

Beloved, God is more willing to answer our prayers than we are willing to pray in line with His will. The above points are not all that militates against our prayers, but if we can work on them sincerely, we shall see a lot of breakthroughs in our prayer lives.