Unanswered Prayers
Why do our prayers stay unanswered sometimes?
Someone who says God is sovereign, shall discover that God can be entreated. This changes God’s plans.
Someone who says that the Bible promises us that our prayers will be answered, will discover that with those promises come conditions that should be met.
This study is about obstacles. Sometimes there is something in between our prayers and the fulfillment of those prayers. God would like to respond, but it doesn’t happen… yet.
God Can Block Answers to Our Prayers
It happens that God doesn’t respond to a prayer because it doesn’t fit in His plan, or because it isn’t for our good, or because He is waiting for the right timing.
15 After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground.
22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.
2 Samuel 12:15-16 and 22 (NIV)
David had committed adultery and fathered a child with a woman who was not his wife, and furthermore killed her husband afterwards. Through the prophet Nathan, God told David that the child would not live. God was determined, and a week of fasting and praying and crying didn’t change anything. But David kept praying anyway, because he knew that His God is merciful.
In this example, God is determined. He wants to respond to a prayer, but it takes longer than we would like. Just like Abraham, who waited 25 years on the promise that he would receive a son. By knowing God better, we will start to learn how to pray according to God’s will. And still, when we are unsure, we may trust on His goodness, just like David did.
Satan Can Block Answers to Our Prayers
Is Satan blocking our prayers? That sounds terrible. Here are several examples from the Old and New Testament.
10 A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.
12 Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”
Daniel 10:10-14 (NIV)
Daniel prayed and God answered. Immediately! He sent an angel with an answer. This angel arrived three weeks later, because Satan tried to intervene. He doesn’t succeed, but we do need to have patience. Here, Satan merely delayed the answering of the prayer:
17 But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. 18 For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way
1 Thessalonians 2:17-18 (NIV)
Paul wanted to visit his brothers and sisters in Thessalonians so badly, but every effort seemed to fail. He discerned that this was due to plans that were devised and implemented by Satan.
God is always stronger. His will be done, always! Hold on to that, keep persevering, just like Daniel and Paul. They both received insight into what was really going on behind the scenes. We may also ask for that insight.
We Can Block Answers to Our Prayers
God can stop answers to our prayers out of good intentions and Satan can stop answers out of bad intentions. Perhaps the biggest cause of unanswered prayers, is our sinful nature. We will look at 4 examples.
1 - Sin
We read in Isaiah 59:1-2 that sin prevents God from ‘reaching us’. This passage probably talks about sin we deliberately persist on doing. When we ask God to make clear to us if unanswered prayers are the result of certain sin, He will tell us. If it is so, confess your sin, work on it, and ask for help.
2 - Division
Inner division is a second block, which we read in James 1:6-8. Does God really exist? Does He want to answer our prayers? Read Hebrews 11:6, which says that we must believe that God will reward those who truly seek Him.
3 - Desire
We also block answers to our prayers by our desires for worldly pleasures (desires and passions). We read this in James 4:3-5. Our motives play a role in this. Do we live for the world and for ourselves, or do we have God's honor and plan in mind? God wants our devotion one hundred percent.
4 – Relationships
1 Petrus 3:7 tell us that how a man treats his wife- or vice versa- is directly related to how God responds to our prayers. God considers the relationship between the husband and wife of such high importance, that it is a reflection of our relationship with Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:32).
Of course, all relationships are important, not only the relationship in a marriage. Almost all sin is connected to relationships between people. Furthermore, 1 John 4:20 tells us that you can’t love God and hate your brother at the same time. Our relationships with people, with our brothers and sisters, and with our partner reflect on our relationship with God. This is why the answering of prayer can depend on those relationships.
God can use the absence of fulfillment to point out something that He wants us to work on.
