If anyone tells you that God ‘always’ does answer prayer do not believe that! God always wants to answer prayer, sure enough, but the truth is that He cannot always do so. Why? Because of our sins which hinder God from answering our prayers. You must understand that even though God delights in answering our prayers, He cannot always answer these because of our disobedience to Him and His commandments. It grieves God when we sin and it grieves Him whenever He cannot bless us. He rebukes us for our own good.
“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”(Heb.12:5-6)
From above mentioned Scriptures you see that when God rebukes us, it is because He loves us. The same goes for unanswered prayer. Whenever our prayers go unanswered it is because in His love for us, He wants us to correct our sins, so that He can answer our prayers again. It is therefore imperative that we learn to become aware of our need of repentance whenever we sin! Now let’s take a look at some hindrances to prayer:
1. Unforgiveness
Jesus clearly told us that whenever we want to pray we ought to forgive our debtors (Mt 6:12, Mk 11:25). Only in this way can God forgive us too. If we forgive those who have hurt us, we will be forgiven by God for our sins. We must have a forgiving heart. Furthermore we must clear all hatred, anger and hurt we might have towards someone (Mt 5:23,24) before we start to even pray. In this way our prayers will get answered. God simply cannot answer a prayer if we are not forgiven by Him.
You may ask yourself why God wants us to forgive first before we go before Him in prayer. Many of you may have been deeply hurt by someone, and in your mind it is only too natural that God would punish them for the pain that they have inflicted upon you. Harboring unforgiveness opens the doors in our lives to many sins. It also opens the doors for wrong praying. We might pray for the destruction of so and so because we feel they deserve it. We must understand one thing very clearly: we are not enabled to judge fairly. Our judgment is always biased by our own emotions. That is why the only rightful and fair judge is God. He judges us for what we are and not for what we deserve.
So if you harbor unforgiveness, resentment, hatred, anger, rebellion etc against someone, go before God first and forgive them. Only and only in this way, you will be forgiven also. You cannot receive a blessing from God when you yourself are not forgiven because of your unwillingness to forgive. If you struggle with unanswered prayer, it might be due to unforgiveness. Search your heart and find out.
2. Idolatry
“Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?”(Ezek 14:1-3)
Idolatry is not only the use of hand made idols which are contrary to God. Idolatry is anything that might be in your life that goes before God. You see, you must put God first in everything that goes on in your life (Ex:20:5:3-6):
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me”
Beloved friends, this means that God must come first and foremost in your life. If you love your spouse or your children or even yourself more than you love God, you might find your prayers go unanswered. Furthermore, if you think to highly about yourself, or if you exalt your pastor or minister more than God, your prayers will go unanswered for sure, because that is mere idolatry. Any thing, any way or any form of idolatry in your heart that takes the place that God ought to have in your life, will be a hindrance to your prayers. Many people possess lucky charm objects which they hold on to because these bring them luck. These are idolatry and will most certainly oppose all of your prayers!
Ask God to reveal to you if you harbor any form of idolatry in your life or in your heart. If so, repent of it, and you might find your prayers being answered sooner than you expecT!
3. Sin in one’s life
“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame”(1 Cor 15:34)
We are called by God to live in righteousness. Righteousness means to live justly. To live justly thus means to live without sin. You might ask yourself now, how is it possible for me to live without sin? Well, let me amaze you and tell you that it is possible to overcome sin. You do that through knowledge of the Word of God and fellowship with Jesus Christ. When you were converted to Jesus, sin lost its power over you! Jesus took your sins with Him on the cross. He shed His precious blood for you in order for you to become cleansed, in order for you to overcome sin. Sin lost its power over you! Now the choice is yours, as to whether you want to sin or not. You are now an overcomer through Jesus Christ and that also goes for your flesh (sin):
“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as othersBut God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”(Eph.2:2-5)
Some people have difficulty to lay aside sin. Sin can be very enticing you know, and rightful living, that is, living according to what God expects from us, can be very hard at times. It is not always easy to not to give in to sin. Our flesh yearns for sin and our hearts fight against it. This is not always easy. Nevertheless we are called to be holy because God is holy (Lev 11:44). To become holy we must sanctify ourselves with the precious blood of Jesus. His blood redeems us from our sins, it cleanses us. If you want God to answer your prayers you must make an effort to confess and lay aside those enticing sins. You cannot expect God to overlook them and still answer your prayers. You must confess all of your sins. I usually confess also my sins of which I am not aware of. Sometimes we sin even without us knowing that we sin. This is because we are not always aware that something that we do hurts others or is sin indeed. Everything that hurts others is a sin! You must therefore also confess your sins which you are not aware of. Ask God to bring them into your mind, He is faithful and will do so.
Furthermore God sees as sin the things we must do and do not. This means that if we know that God tells us to do something or if He tells us not to do something, and we disobey Him, it is sin and thus a hindrance to prayer. " But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away"(1 Jn1:9)
“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”(Jas 4:17)
Many a person thinks that they are perfect and do not sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us(1Jn1:8)
That I call utter blindness. We all sin, whether we like it or not. We may not want to sin, but it is very hard for us to live without sin. This might sound contradictable with what I have written above, but it is not so contradictable as you might think. God gave us the power to overcome our sins, right? However, we are beings that are led by our emotions. Sometimes events in our lives can trigger us into such an emotional state that we give in before we have thought the better of it. In this way we might react in a sinful manner and thus sin. A good example is this. You are very tired after a day of hard work and someone comes up to you with a harsh tone. Instead of being patient you explode into a rage and jell back. That is a sin. If you have your good day, you might behave differently but on a bad day you react in a sinful manner. These things happen to all of us at some point or another in our lives. The clue here is that you must acknowledge that you have sinned.
In order to find out what God sees as sin and what is acceptable to Him you must start to study the Bible. This is imperative, especially for answered prayer. In this way you will learn to understand God and to search and know His will. If you pray according to His will you might find that your prayers are being answered!
4. Unwillingness to love your brethren
“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil” (1 Cor 13:2-5)
Oh how truthful these words of Paul are. Have you ever looked carefully around in your surroundings or even looked within your Church? If you have, have you seen true love there? I am very sorry to say that I see this less and less in Churches and society today. In society although it is not acceptable, is more understandable, but in Church? We strive to gain the gifts of the Spirit, we try to build an image of a cheerful and honorable giving Church, but the truth is that there is no real love for the brethren there. Our giving, our charity is selfish. We do it because God expects it from us. We do it in order for God to bless us. But does God bless us in this way? Does God answer our prayers if we give without a cheerful heart? The answer is of course NO.
The charity that Paul speaks here is agape – love. The love God expects us to have for one another. If your heart is turned cold but outwardly you keep the appearance of it being otherwise, you must not expect God to answer your prayers. How can He? You must have a genuine love for your brethren! This love also is manifested whenever you give for charity. If your love is genuine, you will give with a joyful heart full of love, because you know you’re your money will do someone good. T
hat is why you are told to be a cheerful giver. However, a stern warning must be in place here. Do not give without considering to what or to whom you are giving! Many a gift ends in the minister’s own pocket. Another warning must be given also. If you just give in order for God to give you back, you will find yourself waiting and waiting, maybe throughout all of your life. God expects us to be charitable, but He wants us to do so with an honest heart. It must be heartfelt. If you give to God in order for God to give you back to make you prosperous, you are giving with a double minded heart. God does not like that. You must give out of a well meaning heart.
If you really have Jesus in your heart, you will find yourself with an honest and truthful love for your brethren. Only Jesus and the Word of God can do that. A good example is the apostle Paul who genuinely loved his brethren. He loved all of them. He prayed for them, he suffered for them. That is pure love. Take a look at an even bigger love. The love of Jesus Christ for you. He died completely innocent on the cross for you! He did that out of love for you. Surely that must count for something in your love? I know it does for mine. He died even for those unlikable people. He died for us all. We have to love all people with the same love that Christ had for us. Only in this way will God bless us with answered prayers.
Furthermore, the Bible tells us that our knowledge of Jesus Christ increases if we harbor love in our hearts. If we do, we are profitable in our lives for the benefit of the Kingdom of Heaven. If we do not posses this love, we are blind and thus unprofitable. That is very important. You must realize that God blesses you with much knowledge about His Kingdom when you feel real heartfelt love for your brethren. The more knowledge you gain from Him, the more blessed your life will be. That is without a doubt a certainty.
“And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins”(1 Pet 1:7-9)
One way of obtaining this kind of love is by forgiving others. Unforgiveness stands in the way of love. Every Church will have its nicer people and its unlovable people. People who are easy to deal with are not difficult to love. The challenge, however, lies with those who are difficult to love. You must also learn to love them. Many a times, the things you do not like about someone else are the things you hate about yourself. If you want God to answer your prayer, search in your heart and see if your love for your brethren is genuine.
5. Bad treatment of a husband or a wife
This is a very important one, and at the same time it is a very neglected one. Many Christians do not take heed of this warning:
“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving hon our unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered”( 1 Pet 3:7)
God sees marriage as very holy and because He sees it that way, we must behave towards our spouses in a holy manner. This means we must respect, honor and love our spouses. Only and only in this way will God answer our prayers. Spouses who treat their spouses badly will not see their prayers answered. This means not only physical abuse but emotional abuse also. If you put your spouse continually down or you criticize her or him continually that is a lack of love and respect. This is a sin against God.
Also the continual strife that is rampant in many Christian homes today is a hindrance to prayer. I am sorry to say that the secular world has in fact very much invaded the Christian home today. Christian couples struggle and fight to get their own way and rights, and whilest doing so, do not realize that they not only give a bad example to their children, but that God is very much displeased by their sinful attitude. Many a family suffers from lack of peace, godly guidance and godly presence in their lives because of such attitudes. Have you ever wondered why it is so important to have the peace of God in your life? It is because this peace will keep you and your family from turning into sin and away from God. You must understand that God wants you to be happy. He wants to bless you and your family. But He cannot do it if sin is rampant in your life and in your family’s life. You must understand that.
It is so very important that you raise your children with the Bible and teach them biblical truths from early childhood on. Only in this way you will give them the right set of morals they need to have a blessed life later on in their lives. You must also try to live your own life according to the Bible, will you ever want to be blessed by God. We all need God and we all need His blessings very badly in our lives. None of us can live without Him, none of us can do without His blessings. Therefore we need to start within ourselves, correct our errors and pray to God to show them to us, then apply His love and peace and teachings to the rest of the family. Every beginning starts with oneself. To expect others to change first is not only unrealistic but it is ungodly as well! Family harmony is essential for answered prayers!
6. Disobedience
Oh how often do we not disobey God? How often do we not put our fleshy desires before God? How often do we not choose to disobey God in order to indulge in our desires? Often enough, we deceive ourselves by saying that we will just do it this time, only once. Disobedience grieves God, dear friends. He hates it, for disobedience belongs to the enemie’s territory. He is the one that disobeyed God, who rebelled against Him. God does not want His children to be disobedient. He wants to bless us!
“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ef 2:2)
Disobedience is an evil spirit who entices you to behave that way. He tries to keep us from God. By doing so he steals our blessings that might come our way if we would obey God. Furthermore, disobedience stirs up God’s wrath. Nobody would want to fall into the hands of the living God (Jer 10:10). The history of the Old Testament has shown us only too well how vengeful and wrathful this can be. Therefore make a choice today, try to be obedient to Him in all your ways. Only and only in this way, can He bless you by answering your prayers.
“Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience”(Ef 5:6)
If any of you is deceived by wrong teachers or by anyone who teaches that God is only love and He will never punish you, you might find yourself tasting God’s wrath sooner than you would want to! Do not be deceived. Sure enough, God is love, but He is more than capable of wrath. He punishes His children for their disobedience (Heb. 12:5-6). He never lets our sins pass away just like that. If we confess them, He will forget them, but only, if we confess them! Not otherwise. Do not let yourself be deceived! If you live in disobedience unto God or if you know that you are openly disobeying God, repent for it now, make haste and see if your prayers will be answered now.
7. Praying with the wrong motives
Did you know that any prayer that is not according to the Bible is in fact a form of witchcraft?This might surprise you, nevertheless it is true. Many a Christian prays to God and asks Him to punish others for their trespasses. Many a Christian prays to God to avenge them. You must know that are in no position to do so! You are not even allowed to do so. You should bless them, not pray against them.
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”(Matt 5:22) This practice of praying to God to judge and punish others is a practice that is very much practiced in Churches around the globe today. Nevertheless this is against Scripture. God is the only one who has the right to judge and to avenge us. We are called to forgive and bless our enemies or those who hurt us. It is therefore a sin to pray prayers like this. These kinds of prayers are often enough, prayers done by people who harbor jealousy and anger or hatred in their hearts. Besides being overtaken by jealousy, they often like to be in control. These kind of people often think that they have the right to judge others. Sad to say that they never give themselves a thorough look to see if they are in a position to judge others fairly! They always criticize others, often finding fault with others but never ever looking at themselves back in the mirror. If they would they might find themselves with a huge surprise. Surprise, surprise, you are not perfect, you are not allowed to pray those things!!
The sad thing about this is, that it is not God who answers these prayers, but Satan. These prayers are his territory. Whenever he can do mischief or hurt a Christian, you need not ask him twice. He is all ears from the beginning and only too willing to answer those prayers. Christians who pray these kinds of prayers often think it is God who has answered their spiteful prayers, while He has not! This not only puts them in their eyes on top of everybody, for they think that God has answered their prayers, and in this way has satisfied their need for justice; but they open the doors open wide for Satan to come and take hold of their lives! Be not deceived dear brethren, God does not and will never answer these kinds of prayers.
8. Praying using vain repetitions
"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking”(Matt 6:7)
Now this is something that is very common among Catholics. They pray and pray using vain repetitions. However, it is not only Catholics but many other religions that use them as well. Even some Christians do it while praying. God does not like vain repetitions. I bet you did not know that vain repetitions can get you into a trance. Well, it is true. It is the same as with some kinds of music, which tones are played over and over again. Once this happens, it becomes a doorway, a way for you to fall into a trance. Mantras for example, which are widely used in yoga, use repetitions to get you into a trance. Whenever you are in a trance, you will be at the mercy of demons. You will not have control over yourself anymore. You come under hypnosis. We all know that hypnosis gets you into a position where you cannot exercise any will over yourself anymore. You are at the mercy of others. That is why God hates repetitions!
Furthermore, vain repetitions are a sign of unbelief. If you pray to God and you ask Him whatever you need in prayer, and you believe that He does hear you, you have no need to use vain repetitions, because you know for a fact that He has heard you!
9. Trusting you minister more than God
This is something that concerns me greatly. What I see in churches more and more is that ministers are taking the place of God in people’s hearts. The worst part of this is, that ministers are not correcting this! They fear that if they do, they might loose their congregation and thus a source of sure income for the Church. This not only tells u something about the state of affairs of such a minister’s heart, but it also tells us that this minister has no trust in God whatsoever that He shall provide for his needs (Phil 4:19). Instead these ministers thrive on the adulation of their congregation. That is wrong! If you feel such love for your minister and you believe everything He says, even more than you believe God, you might find your prayers unanswered! You must always double check what your minister says with the Bible. In this way you will not only keep yourself from erring, but you will learn so much about the Bible from yourself. Every minister, no matter how well intended can err. That is only too human. You must always look up everything they say in the Bible, check if this is correct. Put your trust in God first. I am by no means saying that you cannot trust your minister, I am only saying that you must trust God first and foremost!
Remember this warning from God: “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart department from the LORD”(Jer 17:5)
10. Not trusting God that He will answer your prayers
“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.”(Jas 1:7-8)
People who waver while praying have not trust in God whatsoever. They pray and hope that God will answer their prayers. Well, let me tell you that hope is not good enough. When you come to God you must believe that He hears you, you must have faith that He will answer your prayers.
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”(Heb 11:6)
God blesses those who have trust Him(Jer 17:7). How can He not bless you if you turn to Him in prayer. When you do so, you are putting yourself at His mercy. God will never ever disappoint you for turning to Him. But if you lack faith while you come to Him, this is a hindrance to your prayers being answered. Think about his for a while: If God loved you enough to sacrifice His only and beloved Son, who was completely innocent on your behalf, out of mere love for you, why do you waver if He will answer your prayers? One caution must be given though. Your prayers must be biblical. Before you even go to God in prayer you must look into the Bible and see what God says about your need. Then you are well prepared to enter His courtroom and make your requests known.
I HOPE I HAVE GIVEN YOU SOME INSIGHTS AS TO WHY YOUR PRAYERS MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN ANSWERED YET. HOWEVER, I WANT TO GIVE YOU ONE MORE SOUND ADVICE: “WHENEVER YOU PRAY TO GOD, YOU MUST PRAY THAT HIS GLORY WILL BE MANIFESTED. YOUR PRAYERS MUST BE DONE IN SUCH A WAY THAT GOD WILL ALWAYS BE GLORIFIED. YOU WILL FIND THAT YOUR PRAYERS WILL BE ANSWERED IN SUCH A WAY. WHEN GOD IS GLORIFIED, YOUR FAITH AND THE FAITH OF OTHERS INCREASES. THAT IS WHY YOU SHOULD PRAY IN SUCH A MANNER.