There are many reasons that are given when prayers are not answered. It can be hard to know exactly why God has not answered your prayer if you are given many possible reasons.
Having your prayers go unanswered is discouraging. No doubt about that!
Today, I will compile all the many reasons why prayers are not answered into one so that when your prayer is not answered you automatically know the reason.
Why Prayers are not answered
God’s way of answering prayers
Before you get angry at God for not answering your prayer, it is important to understand how God answers prayers. Once you understand how God answers prayers, you will craft your prayer perfectly and God will answer it.
When a prayer is made to God, it appears to Him as a smell. Good prayers are a sweet smell to God while bad prayers are bad smell to Him. This is true and the book of Revelations 5:8 confirms it.
God hates bad smell just like we do. As a result, He has put in place mechanisms that ensure bad prayers don’t get to Him.
Bad prayers come in all shapes and sizes. Jesus gave an example of a good prayer and a bad prayer when He told the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector who went to pray in Luke 18:9-14.
From this, we can already tell why many prayers don’t get answered; they are bad prayers. Their smell is terrible and they never get to God. Angels stop them from getting to the Holy of holies.
God’s System of determining Good Prayers
I have mentioned above that good prayers are a sweet aroma to God and they get answered. I will now tell you God’s system of determining good prayers so that you understand how to make a good prayer.
God’s system of determining the nature of a prayer is made up of two parts; the law and grace. Every prayer is subjected to this system to determine whether it qualifies as a good prayer.
Every prayer that qualifies as a good prayer is passed on to God’s throne and it is answered. Every prayer that fails is discarded.
The Law of Answering Prayers
The Bible tells us in Psalms 97:2 that righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne. This means that for every Judgment that God makes from His throne is righteous and just.
Since God makes judgment over every prayer presented to Him, only prayers that are righteous and just get answered.
Here is a complex explanation…
A righteous person can make prayers that are not righteous. Such prayers will pass the initial test of determining good and bad prayers because God listens to the righteous. However, God will not answer such a prayer because it is not right and just according to His law.
A good example of this type of prayer is the prayer that King David made for God to heal the first child that he got with Bathsheba in 2nd Samuel 12:15-22.
King David was a righteous man and God used to listen to his prayers. But the prayer for the child begotten in adultery to live was an unjust prayer. As a result, God heard it but never granted it.
This explains why you can be a righteous person but when you pray God doesn’t answer you. It is not that God doesn’t listen to you but it is usually because God can’t do what you are requesting for because it is unjust.
To solve this problem, you need to understand God’s law so that you don’t make prayers that are against it.
Grace in Answering Prayers
God’s system of determining good prayers uses grace and mercy. Psalms 145:8 tells us that the Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
Because this is God’s nature, it automatically affects how He judges the prayers made to Him. Jesus showed us an example when He healed a man who had suffered an infirmity for 38 years in the book of John 5:1-15.
The man didn’t ask Jesus to heal him but Jesus understood His suffering and healed him.
Grace applies in the prayers we make in that God answers them not because they deserve to be answered but because He is a gracious God.
Jesus was justified to leave the suffering man in his condition but He chose to heal him out of His goodness.
A good number of the prayers we make don’t make sense but because God understands our predicament, He decides to help us anyway.
Grace applies based on the relationship someone has with Jesus. A more intimate relationship with Jesus means you will have a greater chance of having your prayers answered even if they are not particularly perfect.
This is why Jesus told us to pray in His name. God’s heart melts when you mention the name of Jesus in your prayer.
However, Jesus has to approve that you genuinely love Him for your prayer to receive grace. For this reason, believers who have an intimate relationship with Jesus get answers to their prayers.
Therefore, if you have a problem of prayers not being answered, grow your intimacy with Jesus.
Understanding the Answer to your Prayers
You may be complaining that God is not answering your prayers but you don’t understand that God has already answered your prayer.
If you know the law of God and you have a solid relationship with Jesus, every prayer you make will be answered. The only challenge may be understanding when God has answered your prayer.
There are prayers that God answers by acting Himself. This type of prayer does not require your intervention in any way.
An example in the Bible is the prayer King Hezekiah made when General Sennacherib planned an attack against Jerusalem in the book of 2nd Chronicles 32:1-22.
When King Hezekiah and prophet Isaiah prayed, the Lord sent an angel that killed the entire Assyrian army.
There are other prayers that require you to act. God answers this type of prayers by giving you information. You are expected to act on that information to get your solution.
An example of such a prayer is the prayer that King Jehoshaphat made in 2nd Chronicles 20. King Jehoshaphat did not know what to do when the Moabites and Ammonites attacked. He prayed to God and God responded by instructing Him to march against the Moabites and Ammonites.
As King Jehoshaphat and His people praised the Lord, God ambushed and defeated his enemies.
The last type of prayer is one that does not require any answer. This type of prayer is a solution in itself; once you pray, you feel peaceful and that is all you need.
A good example is the prayer Jesus made in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before He was crucified. He asked if the cup of suffering could be taken away but there was no response. He then accepted God’s Will and suffered quietly.
Why Prayers are not answered: Conclusion
Don’t just say your prayers have not been answered. Use the knowledge I have given you to determine why your prayers have not been answered.
Is it because you have overlooked a certain portion of God’s law in your prayer? Is it because you don’t have an intimate relationship with Jesus? Have you received an answer to your prayer but you didn’t notice it?
Until next time…Peace!