In Psalm 21:2 King David reports that "God has granted him the desire of his heart and has not refused the requests of his lips." Some people make the error of thinking that prayer is a sort of automatic machine where you put in a request and the answer will shoot out. David enjoyed close communion with God but there were times of great silence. David cried out, "My God, my God why have you deserted me?" Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?" (Psalm 22:1).
Someone asks God to do something and He doesn't seem to respond. What is happening here?
God may not respond because of your actions / attitude
When you ask you do not believe and you doubt
"But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord" (James 1:6,7). You must offer a prayer in faith. "The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well" (James 5:15).
You may not be prepared to forgive others
You may be asking God to forgive you but you are not prepared to forgive others.
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14,15). Luke 6:37 states it simply when it says, "Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
You ask for something with the 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" (James 4:3). Our aim in life should be to live in harmony with God and when we put our pleasures first our inner peace evaporates. The bible says "Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God" (James 4:4).
A husband may have the wrong attitude towards his wife
"Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers" (1 Peter 3:7).
Sin may be blocking your prayers
"Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow" (Isaiah 1:14-17). The bible says, "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2) and conversely that "the prayer of the righteous man is powerful" (James 5:16).
What you ask for is not God's will
Paul asked God to take away what he referred to as "a thorn in his flesh". It was not God's will to do this. God wanted Paul to see that His grace was sufficient and that, when he was weak, Christ's power could then rest on him. "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). God was saying to Paul, "Don't look at the problem, look at me and draw in the power that I provide in Jesus Christ."
God says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-11). God's way is always the best. It is a fact that some of the things that seem good to us are not good for us! We need to be in harmony with God.
God may be going to answer - be patient!
The bible tells us to be "patience in affliction, faithful in prayer" (Romans 12:12). We may have asked God for something but we have become impatient. We may simply have to be patient and wait for God to answer. We need to recognize God as one who knows all things and approach him with much humility, patience and a willingness to listen and learn, as there is much we don't understand.
Humans (like you and me) try to avoid suffering at all costs. God knows better.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance" (James 1:2).
"All kinds of trials have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold ... may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:6,7).
Sometimes a parent knows that it is better for a child to go through an unpleasant situation than to take the easy way out. The same is true for our Heavenly Father. God knows that to develop our character we must have trails.
God may want you to go through an unpleasant situation so you in turn can comfort others in a similar situation.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts me in all our troubles, so that I can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort I myself have received from God" (2 Corinthians 1:3,4).
God has answered but you won't follow what he tells you
In becoming a Christian
A person may want to become a Christian and is praying to God. But the person may not be willing to repent (turn away from) their sin. The bible clearly says we must "repent, then turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out" (Acts 3:19). The prayer of a person to become a Christian will not be honoured if they do not repent. You may be trying to live the Christian life and you have not been 'born again'. If this is a possibility for you, go to the beautifully presented website "You Destiny ...Your Choice" by clicking on the banner below.
Responding to what God tells you
A person may have prayed and received an answer from God. However, they do not like the answer and will not follow what God tells them. We must be obedient and act on what God says.
In Exodus 14 we read of a most dramatic event. Moses led the largest migration in history - the escape of one and a half million Israelites from Egypt. They reached the Red Sea with the Egyptian army coming over the horizon. Moses started to pray and God's answer was startling. God said to Moses " Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through on dry land" (Exodus 14:15,16). Moses obeyed, the water opened up and the people crossed in safety. There is a time for prayer and a time for action! Sometimes God is waiting for you to act on what He has already told you to do.
PRAYER
My Heavenly Father, I thank you that there is nothing that I cannot share with you. I can do without many things Lord, but I cannot do without you. Please forgive me that often my trust is in other things, plus you. Take my secret disappointments and confusion and help me do your will and trust you fully.
