Keys to Answered PrayerSample

Why Prayers Sometimes Seem To Go Unanswered

Yesterday we discovered the key to answered prayer: faith!

Just as important as building faith is understanding what destroys it.

Jesus says in Matthew 7:7-8:
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

This seems clear enough, right? But if this is true — and we know that God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19) — why do we still often see that our prayers go unanswered?

James 1:6-7
"But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord."

Here, James doesn’t beat around the bush: those who doubt will receive nothing from the Lord. Not because God punishes us, but because doubt blocks faith, and we receive by faith. That sure is confronting. Doubt seems to be an enemy of faith, yet how often do we still allow it to play with our thoughts? If you can relate to this, choose to break ties with doubt and shake it off today. Instead, confidently expect a future filled with answered prayers!

We’ve seen that faith is the most important thing we can develop in our lives. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith, it is impossible to please God, and in Luke 18:8, Jesus asks whether He will find faith on the earth when he returns. Faith is a big deal for God. That’s why doubt is so dangerous: it destroys faith — the very thing that pleases God.

It’s heartbreaking: billions of prayers go unanswered and are fruitless just because of doubt and unbelief. This doesn’t have to be the case.

God can and wants to answer every prayer! That’s why He gives us keys to effective prayer in His Word, such as in 1 John 5:14-15:
"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."

This is how you can be sure that your prayers will be answered! But did you notice this promise comes with a condition? You must pray according to His will.

We’ll look at this in more depth tomorrow!

Reflection:

• When will our prayers not be answered?
• When will our prayers be answered?