Unanswered Prayers?

Just something kind of cool before I begin, did you know Psalms means Praises…neat right? I love the book of Praises. Anyways I’m in my living room, reading God’s word in the book of Psalms and I came across a powerful powerful yet convicting words in Psalm 3:4-5 “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil, with You the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all who do wrong.”  My purpose for writing this is to ask you; when you pray do you feel like your prayers are going unanswered? If you will, may I suggest couple of reasons why you feel you may be going unnoticed by God.

Verse 3 says, the wicked cannot dwell with God, and He hates all who do wrong; the Hebrew word for hate is “sane”, which means to be shunned, or to be an enemy of. You see when we sin; God shuns us until we repent of our sins. Before Jesus we were separated from God because of our sin, but when Jesus died on the cross He became the bridge between man and God. Jesus the precious Lamb was crucified for our sins. God said He can’t dwell with the wicked, well if you have sin present in your life, He won’t answer your prayers. The best prayer to say was given by the Son of Man in Matthew 6:9-13, which is also known as the Lord’s Prayer. The very first part of the prayer is Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Hallowed in Greek is hagiazo, which means, “to be set apart, holy.” You see our God is a Holy God and to be in His presence we have to be blameless, which means we need to ask forgiveness from God our Father. Verses 11 Jesus says you need to forgive others as Your Father in heaven also forgives you. Matthew 6:14 says if you don’t forgive men when they sin against you, then your Heavenly Father won’t forgive you of your sins. Yikes, how dreadful!

Another reason your prayers may not be answered is you’re not praying for God’s will to be done. Meaning, you’re praying selfishly. Here’s an example of a selfish prayer, “Dear God, I’d really like to have a brand new car, you know, one that drives fast and looks good. I mean you do want me to be happy right? And God if you wouldn’t mind giving me some more money, you know, so I can afford a new car. Also just one last thing, Susie was talking smack about me to some of my friends, would you mind getting her back for me? Thanks a bunch, much love xoxo”

The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:10 Jesus said we need to prayer for God’s will to be done, as it is already is in heaven. Pray to be humble, selfless, to do your job to the best of your ability and with a good attitude that represents Christ, to deepen your love in Christ, that your heart would be open to His word and truth. Listen, it’s okay to pray for earthly, things, but make sure it is not for selfish ambition. We’ve already read how God ignores the arrogant, so come to Him on bended knees! He’s the King of kings and a Holy God; not your personal genie or Santa Clause. James 4:3 has this to say about prayers with wrong motives, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures". 

Beloveds, God loves you and wants to chat with you; remember you are His child and He is your dad, so communicate with Him on a daily basis and with a pure/clean heart.

Precious ones, always ALWAYS pray in Jesus name and His will be done, because His name holds the power. James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” A righteous man is one who fears the Lord. What does it mean to fear the Lord? According to Proverbs 8:13; God says to fear the Lord is to hate all evil.

If you still feel like your prayers are going unanswered, ask God to show you the sin that is blocking your communication from Him. Or maybe if a particular prayer isn’t being answered, that is actually your answer which would be a “No”. He knows what is best for you. As humans we don’t know what the next minute holds, but God Almighty knows when our last breath will be. Ask God to feel His presence and reveal Himself to you, because the closer you grow to God, I promise your life will drastically change.

Just a friendly neighborhood reminder: Pray daily, multiple times even the Lord’s Prayer. That is Jesus’ perfect prayer for mankind to God.

I’ll end with this beautiful verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”