Devotionals
Why are some prayers not answered?
Someone once shared with me how his prayers seemed to rise no higher than the ceiling of his house. He felt God had forsaken him. Do you sometimes feel like that? Well, there are a number of reasons why our prayers may seem at best, to be nothing more than a monologue. We will address some of them.
According to Isaiah, sin obstructs our prayers. “Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear (Isaiah 59:1,2).”
Sin is the fundamental problem. It is sin that, after all, caused man to be expelled from the cosmic fellowship of the unfallen worlds. The psalmist shades more light on the effects of transgression with the words: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me (Psalm 66:18).”
“He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination (Proverbs 28:9).” The word of God is sometimes referred to as the Law and the Testimony. He who despises the Law (Ten Commandments) despises also the Testimony (the rest of scripture). The two are inseparable. In them is found the Will of God.
When we pray at variance with God’s Will, our prayers will not be honoured. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts (James 4:3).”
How we relate to others has a direct impact on our relationship with God and prayer life. “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.” In Matthew 6:15 we read: “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
The message would be incomplete if I failed to mention one more prayer killer, and that is unbelief. James puts it this way: “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.”
What is the Remedy?
Listen to what Jesus says: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him (John 15:7; 14:21).”
The secret of answered prayer may also be found, in the tried and tested principle of perseverance. In Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable of a widow who perseveres until she gets justice.
Earnestness is another pre-requisite to answered prayer, as we learn from James 5:17,18. “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”
Finally, as someone so eloquently put it: “Prayer is the key in the hand of faith that unlocks the storehouse of Heaven.”
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).”
I thought I should add the story of Lazarus to underscore the importance of faith. When you read the whole chapter, you immediately notice how emphasis is placed on the need to believe in Jesus Christ.
“Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid.
And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin.
Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him (John 11:39-45).”
Jesus commanded the Jews to “remove the stone”. Is there a stone standing between you and God’s answer to your prayer, between you and your miracle? Could it be: the love of money, entertainment, pride, unbelief, your job, the lusts of the flesh, or friendship with the world? Whatever it is, the word is: “Remove the stone!”
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This reminds me of the warning in 1 Peter 3:7