Questions Campers Ask Part 12- Why doesn't God always answer my prayers?

Q: Why doesn’t God always answer my prayers?

A: There are two verses most people have in mind when they ask this question: “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22) “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14) So we see in these verses that God promises to answer prayer, but we also see that there are three parameters within which God answers prayer:

Requests…
-Must be asked in faith
-Must be asked by a repentant heart
-Must be according to God’s will and timing

So then, there are three reasons why God may not be answering your prayers:

One- God doesn’t hear your prayers. God will not hear your prayers if you have not turned from your rebellion against God to trusting Jesus for Salvation, or if you are a follower of Jesus and you have sin in your life that you will not confess or turn from. We see this in the following three verses: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” (Psalm 66:18) “The Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2) There is one thing you must remember, though. “But on this one will I [God] look: On him who is poor and of a contrite [repentant] spirit, and who trembles at My Word.” You do not have to clean your act up before you come to God, admitting you are a sinner in need of His Son Jesus’ sacrifice to pay for your sin. If you are truly repentant (sorry for disobeying God), God will hear you and answer you, forgiving your sin, and giving you eternal life.

Two-You are not asking in faith. “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 he will receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:6-7) If you continue to pray, doubting that God can change anything, He may answer once to show you His power and make His glory known, but don’t expect him continue to answer your prayers. He won’t.

Three-God IS answering but not with the answer you want to hear-‘no’ or ‘wait’. Three biblical stories come to mind that illustrate each of these answers. When David’s son became ill, David begged God to save his life, but God had other plans and said no. When the Israelite slaves cried out to God in Egypt, he heard them, but answered, ‘wait’; the timing wasn’t yet right to where God would receive incredible glory. When Peter was in prison facing death, God answered the apostle’s prayers with a ‘yes’ and miraculously freed Peter. God will do whatever will bring Himself the most glory and us the most good, even when we don’t understand at the time.

Once we are sure we are praying within those three parameters, we can pray with confidence, as I John 5:14 says, knowing that God will do what is best!