Why Prayers Aren't Answered
August 30, 2007
If you only read what the Bible had to say about prayer, i.e. without commentary, or tradition, you would, undoubtedly, conclude that God wants to answer our prayers. You would conclude that prayer is in fact, a sure thing, a certainty. You would conclude that answered prayer was guaranteed. Here, try it and you'll see what I mean, Matthew 7:7-8, Psalms 91:14-15, Matthew 21:22, Matthew 18:19, John 16:24, 1 John 3:22, 1 John 5:14.
And yet we seem to have great difficulty getting our prayers answered. Then, when we fail to receive the answer, in order make ourselves feel better about our lack of results, we invent all manner of theological or philosophical explanations for our prayer failures.
You can't know God's will.
You just never know what God will do.
It must not be God's will.
God is sovereign so it's wrong for us to try and hold him to his promises.
The promises related to prayer just apply to spiritual things.
God always answers but sometimes his answer is no.
God always answers but in his own time.
But none of these answers satisfies. And none of them provide what we really want, i.e. the asked for thing.
Why aren't our prayers answered?
Because all the promises God makes in the Bible are conditional.
The promises that God makes with respect to answering our prayers are conditional. They have conditions attached to them. That means we have to do something in order to receive the answer. In effect God says to us: I will do "X" if you do "Y." If we meet the condition we inherit the promise. If we fail to meet the condition we won't receive the answer. It's up to us. Whether or not we fulfill the condition depends on us.
Here's an example:
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
The text plainly states that God will answer our prayers for wisdom. Not only will he answer our request for wisdom but he is described as being a liberal giver. He gives more than enough. He's not a penny pinching, tightwad kind of God. He's a God of too much. He's a God of surplus. He's a God of overflow. He's not an accountant God, carefully measuring out every drop. He's the kind of God who keeps pouring until your cup runneth over. He's not the kind of God who gives just enough so that he can't be accused of not keeping his promise. He's a God who does exceedingly, abundantly, above all we could ask or think.
While this scripture refers specifically to prayers for wisdom I believe the principle it states applies to all prayers. The scripture tells us that when we ask for wisdom, "…it shall be given to us." Not a whole lot of equivocating going on there. "It shall be means…": it will be, means: it's going to happen, means: it's certain to be given. That's great news. That's exciting. Our answer is guaranteed. We can be sure to receive once we ask.
And then surprise, surprise, the very next verse starts with the word, "But…"
James 1:6 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. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
Here's a condition plainly set forth. Even though the Bible clearly promises us that God will liberally give us the answer; receiving the answer is conditioned. There's a condition that we must meet if we're going to receive the answer. God will give it, but. We must meet the "but" in order to receive what God clearly wants to give us.
That this condition applies to all kinds of prayers not just those for wisdom is apparent from the last part of the passage: For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. So not just wisdom but anything we ask of God.
What is the condition, "…ask in faith nothing wavering." This means that we are to ask confidently expecting to get what we asked for and continue in our confidence, in spite of evidence to the contrary, until the answer comes. Don't waiver after you ask. Maintain your confidence. Stick with it until your answer comes. If you fail to meet this condition then you shouldn't expect to receive anything of the Lord.
Do you suppose you can ask with confidence and continue in that confidence without wavering if you can't be certain what God's answer will be? The only way to ask with confidence is to know what the answer will be before you ask. The only way to keep from waiviering, in your confidence, after you ask is to be certain that God said yes to your prayer. Not being certain as to what God will do with our prayer is the very definition of doubt.
Can you see how so much preaching and teaching undermines our confidence in prayer and as a result guarantees our prayers won't be answered?
Can you see that receiving the answer depends more on us than on God. God wants us to have the answer, but we can keep from receiving it, if we fail to ask in faith, if we waiver. Meet the conditions and the answer is guaranteed.
I like that. I like it that it depends on me instead of on some unknowable slot machine in the sky. I like it because it means if I have the diligence and the tenacity I will receive. Answered prayer is a certainty. Not a gamble, not a flimsy wish, but a sure thing.