6 Reasons Your Prayers Might Not Be Getting Answered

Reasons Your Prayers Might Not Be Getting Answered

We have all been at a place where we have prayed for one thing or another, and we have not received an answer from God – and this might be for various reasons. (If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:11 NIV) 

Remember that God is a good Father who delights in giving good gifts to His children; with that said, He will not provide you with something that might derail you or harm you. Not to say that what you are praying for is terrible – but some principles govern what we pray for and how God might answer those prayers. 

There are many reasons why God will not answer your prayer at a particular time, which I want to discuss in this blog post. Let us look at the six reasons your prayers might not be getting answered. 

Praying Out Of Season – (There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under the heavens: Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV) 

One principle that most churches do not teach is that everything happens in God’s timing and seasons. That is why most often, you will hear Jesus say that “my hour has not come.” (Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come. John 2:4 NIV) When you know that everything God does has timing and seasons, you will recognize if you are praying in season or out of season. If you are praying in season, within a short time, your prayers will be answered according to God’s will. Still, if you are praying out of season, you will pray and pray and pray, and God will not answer that prayer – because you may not be ready for what you are praying for, and God sees that, but we might not see that we are not prepared, but God is Sovereign and sees everything – and we can say this about marriage. A lot of people pray for marriage when they are not prepared to handle the responsibility it brings. So praying for marriage out of season will leave your prayer unanswered. If God has promised you marriage, He will bring your spouse to you in the appointed time – never early or never late. 

Praying Out Of Will – (This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 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 what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15 NIV) 

God is waiting to hear from us and to answer our prayers, but this principle is similar to my first point – in that God will answer prayers in His perfect timing and His perfect will. If we pray out of the will of God, our prayers will go unanswered because, again, God is Sovereign and knows what is best for us. If we are praying for something out of His will for our lives, He will not answer it – most often, God may speak to you and ask you to wait so that He blesses you with something better than what you are praying for that time. 

Motives Behind The Prayer Is Wrong – (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 NIV) 

This one is a kicker. The Lord wants us to check our hearts and motives before coming to Him to ask for something. The human heart is naturally wicked, but God works on it when we have a relationship with Him – although from time to time, we might act like spoilt children who want what they want. And we are prone to ask for things out of selfish reasons, or we want to show off to people, or we might want to spite someone or compete with someone – and God will not condone behavior like that if we are praying and asking for things with wrong motives. So before you go to God with a request, check your heart and motives before you ask for something. Ask yourself if what you are asking God for is to satisfy your flesh or bring glory to God. this could be Reasons Your Prayers Might Not Be Getting Answered

You Have Unforgiveness In Your Heart – (leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:24 NIV) 

So in this verse, Jesus is telling us to go and reconcile with anyone who has hurt us, then we can offer our gift. God will not accept your gift (prayer) if you have not forgiven people who have hurt you. Jesus talks a lot about forgiveness in His teachings. It is a vital principle in the bible. God can not use a lot of people because of the unforgiveness that they carry in their hearts. The enemy knows that and causes many people to be stuck because of the unforgiveness in their hearts. God wants us to come before Him with clean hearts. Jesus tells us to love one another, and that is the most important commandment, so how can you obey that law if you refuse to forgive. 

Forgiveness can be difficult, and it is why I tell people not to try to resolve it on their own but to invite God into the situation and ask God to help them forgive and release the hurt and pain from their hearts. Do not let the enemy steal your joy and purpose because of the unforgiveness in your heart. When you sincerely forgive people who have hurt you, you will begin to see the move of God in your life and the changes in your life. 

Sin – (We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. John 9:31 NIV). 

I think this verse is straightforward and cuts to the chase. If you have sin in your life, God turns His face away from you and will not answer your prayers. Imagine, as a parent, you tell your child to clean his room, and you come back from work to see the room still untidy, but your child comes and tells you that he wants money to go shopping. I am sure you will tell your child to clean his room first before giving him money to go shopping because he has disrespected you. So likewise, we disrespect God when we go against His commands. God is not happy with us when we ignore His commandments (when we sin), but we come to Him to ask for something. First, repent of your sin (clean up your room) then you can ask God for what you want. We should pray to God and ask Him to help us live an upright life. God delights in the lives of the godly. (The Lord directs the steps of the godly.

    He delights in every detail of their lives. Psalm 37:23 NIV)

Unbelief And Doubt – (If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes. Mark 9:23 NIV) 

(But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6 NIV) 

One of the enemy’s strategies to keeping God’s children in delay and bondage is unbelief and doubt. When unbelief and doubt overtake you, it also means you are worried and anxious; and Jesus tells us not to worry about anything, and Paul tells us not to be anxious. As children of God, we have to live in a state of joy and thanksgiving. That might be difficult when everything around us is falling apart – but focus on God, meditate on His promises, continue to thank Him daily, and the atmosphere will begin to shift. 

To overcome worry and anxiety, look for Bible verses that speak to your particular issue and pray and meditate on them over yourself day and night. When you first start, it might seem as if nothing is happening, but as you continue, you will see the hands of God begin to move in your situation. this could be a Reasons Your Prayers Might Not Be Getting Answered.

This last point is a bonus point and is not necessarily a reason, but many people miss their answered prayers because of it. 

Your Answered Prayer Did Not Come The Way You Pictured it – Most often, when we pray, we have an idea of what the answered prayer should look like to us, but God answers in His way. 

Maybe you are praying for a job, a spouse, a house; God will answer your prayer and bring what you asked for but not just the way you pictured it – so you have to be on the lookout when you pray. Ask God to open your eyes to see when He answers your prayer; so you will recognize your blessing. 

So these are some of the Reasons Your Prayers Might Not Be Getting Answered.