God knows we love Him and knows He answers our prayers – yet sometimes the timing can be frustrating! Job, David, and Habakkuk all found themselves expressing frustration over how long it would take before they heard a response – their cry being: “How long shall I call upon You, yet You do not hear” (Psalm 13:1).
Let’s examine some reasons for why your prayer might not be answered by God.
Table of Contents
1. You’re asking for something that’s not in harmony with His will
God may be unanswering your prayers because your desires don’t align with His will. God wants you to ask for what’s best for you – He knows this better than anyone – so it’s crucial that you seek His will at every turn.
Example: If you pray to God to change someone’s free will, that request won’t be fulfilled. He can still influence people, but He cannot force anyone into making decisions; He gave mankind free will in His creation of humanity as opposed to being an oppressive tyrant.
God knows your desires and fears before you were even formed in your mother’s womb, so when praying don’t just say, “please” and “thank you”. Instead, open up your heart to Him.
Also, Jesus never taught us to think of God like an endless well of blessings or an impersonal Santa Claus; He taught us instead to submit ourselves fully to His will no matter what (e.g. Mk 8:34). So if your prayers seem unanswered by Him, try looking at it from His perspective instead.
2. You’re asking for something that’s logically impossible
There are various definitions of the term “impossible.” Something is logically impossible when it violates logic’s laws; for instance, asking God to make a square circle would be asking an impossibility; on the other hand, its definition can also be relative. For instance, God could never create something from nothing because doing so would violate conservation of matter law and cause irreparable damage.
Therefore, if you ask God for something which is logically impossible, He won’t help. For instance, changing someone’s free will is an unreasonable request that He will refuse.
3. You’re asking for something that’s selfish
At times when we ask God for things it can seem as if He owes us. When He fails to grant what we desire we may accuse Him of being selfish but the reality is that our needs do not represent His needs – God is self-sufficient in Himself and created humanity to share in his joy and perfection. While He loves answering our prayers He does not take pleasure from answering those whose life goals focus solely on entertainment rather than holiness – it would be like a child asking his parents for candy without taking into account finances, allergies or health conditions!
