5 Reasons Why God May Not be Answering Our Prayers

1. Are you right with God?

“God, I trusted you, I prayed in faith, I waited, and I prayed some more, but you didn't answer. Why?”

Are you right with God? Have you accepted him into your heart? If not, You can learn how to do that here, but if you have Christ in your heart, then do a deep study of your relationship with Him.

God looks on the heart. He knows what’s good for us, and for those we pray for. If he first knew Jeremiah before he formed him in the belly, he certainly knows everything about us. Time to re-frame that question: “God, am I doing something wrong? I don’t see your answer, but I know you’re there.” Our God is a loving, forgiving God, who washed us clean with his blood. Pray that HIS will be done in all situations. If his will isn’t done, then trust me, it’s going to be a catastrophe. God’s will is perfect, ours is not! “Lord I trusted you and you let me down. You didn’t answer me.”

It's quite possible that He may—or already has—answered your prayer in a different way.

I recall in 2020 when Hurricane Sally hit our area. I'd prayed for protection, but we lost our back fence and part of our roof. I'd prayed earnestly to God, acknowledging the awesome power of His weather. I prayed for minimal damage and saftey, but suffered damage anyway. My first thought was "why didn't he answer, or hear my prayer for safety?"

After a few days, I stepped back and re-examined my prayer: He did answer, and we were kept safe. The damage we suffered wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been; Insurance covered it all, and only a small section of the roof was damaged. My wife and I realized then that God was telling us "your roof is nearly 18 years old. I think it's time for a new one." (Ok, so He didn't say it quite like that, but you get the point). We decided afterward to get a new roof.

I learned a new lesson from that experience: always trust God! Since then, I've fine-tuned my hurricane prayers to include others, and for minimal damage to other peoples' homes. I pray for safety, and zero, or, very little loss of life.

2. Sin

Take a moment to re-examine your heart: how is your sin life? Are there any cherished sins, or sins you can't give up? Are you perhaps desiring to have the freedom to live your old lifestyle hoping for a blessing? These things can happen to all of us because we are slaves to sin. The Apostle Paul knew this, and his own weaknesses quite well says this in Romans 7:14: For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.. This is why we need God so desperately.

Psalm 66:18: If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: Plain and simple, our re-living old sins gives God a set of good set of earplugs when it comes to hearing our prayers.

Be thankful for the life you have now, and the person you've become in Christ, as opposed to the person you used to be. It's important to acknowledge just why Christ died for us. If I re-visit an old sin then I crucify him all over again! Past sins have baggage: they're packed with old lifestyles, old thoughts, old feelings, and all of the things that dragged us down. Question yourself if an old sin plagues you: At what point in my life is Christ not enough? Why did I accept Him into my heart to begin with? Lord, what led me to you in the first place?

If you're sinning too much, or re-visiting old favorite sins, then something is lacking in your spiritual life. This is the time to call on The Holy Spirit to help you through these times. God will help you if you come to him, and ask him for help:

"Father, I feel my sin life is out of control. I need you to help me to focus on you and on my spiritual life. I commit myself to you Father, and I ask you to help me to overcome my sins. Please help me to strengthen myself and my faith, and let me live my life as you would have me live it."

3. Have you forgiven everyone?

Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Have you forgiven everyone completely? One of the toughest things in this life can be absolute forgiveness. “I have forgiven this person, but if he gets hit by a bus tomorrow, it’ll be his problem.” This isn’t forgiveness. This is an acknowledgement of separation from a person.

Separation from people who cause problems in our lives is a healthy thing, but when it comes to forgiveness, we have to wipe not only their slates clean, but our internal slates as well. In your heart say this to that person who has wronged you: “You owe me nothing.” This means they don’t owe you apologies, they don’t owe you debts, they don’t owe you the time they’ve disrupted, or damaged your life; You’ve forgiven them. You’ve let them go.

"But I truly hate this person!" Really? Whenever feelings like this come over me, and I feel in my heart that I truly hate someone for what they've done, I create what I call the car accident scenario: What if that person was badly hurt in an accident? Would you try to help them, or would you let them die? If your answer is "I'd let them die", (and I truly hope it isn't), then you need to re-examine your heart. However, if you would do what you could to help that person, then that's not hate; that's just dislike. All of your old wounds can be healed by the wounds of Jesus Christ. He will create in you a new heart. Look what the Lord promises in Ezekiel 36:26: A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Jesus teaches us to love everyone. There’s a difference between loving someone and liking them. I can love my enemies as the Lord has taught; that doesn’t mean I’m going to like them, or respect the things they do. It just means I love them because they are God's children, created in His likeness. I love everything that God loves. Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

3. Anger

Anger can be a real problem in a Christian's life; it feels all-consuming, as if there's no way out. Anger leads to feelings of resentment, being left out, not expecting answers to prayers, and worse yet, it sets us off the walking path with Jesus.

Are you angry at someone, or something? Is your heart filled with anger or wrongful thoughts? If your cup runneth over with anger, then there's no room to add the Holy Spirit. Let the Holy Spirit come in and do the work in you. Take a prayer inventory: Are you right, I mean really right with God? Even if God isn't answering your prayers is your faith strong? Don’t be afraid to ask him. “Lord, how am I doing?”

Once you ask God how you are doing, are you really sure He will answer? How strong is your faith when you pray? Are you just tallying up enough prayers to say you prayed and didn’t get answers? Example: If I call the DMV, I know in advance it’s going to be a struggle; I’ll wait on hold forever, and if I do get someone on the line, they’ll probably transfer me to another person who doesn’t even know the answer to my question.

If we pray to God with a defeatest attitude like that, then that’s not faith, just an expectation that He will not answer you. Do you have a “I’m angry at God” attitude? “So much for God! I asked, He didn’t answer.” Look what it says in John 4:48: Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. Also, recall what it says in: Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

4. God's Time is Not Our Time

Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Sometimes we need to step back for a second and re-examine what He’s doing in our life. You may pray for God to remove an obstacle in your life while he’s waiting for you to find another way around it.

Have patience! I like to think about Abraham, and that he was 99 years old when God gave him the son that was promised to him. Ecclesiastes 3:11: He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. God isn't going to send us a text when He's answered, or getting ready to answer us. This is where faith comes in.

5. Your Prayers Are Not in Keeping with God's Will

Some things we pray for just aren't good for us. The simple fact is that God has given us all something that is NOT good for us: our free will to do whatever we choose. Often, we choose the wrong way. God knows what's best for us, and if it's in His will, then He will answer.

Perhaps your prayers are too self-indulgent, and not what God has planned for you. James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Are you praying for a new Dodge Challenger? Praying for vacation money? God is not a genie in a bottle. Some things are good for us, some things are not.

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