WHY HAS GOD NOT ANSWERED YOUR PRAYER? (PART 1)
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." - Matthew 7 verses 7 to 8, King James Version).
There's something about answered prayers: they bring us the fullness of joy. Jesus said, "ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." (John 16 verse 24).
Matthew 7 verses 7 to 8, cited above is one of those verses of Scripture that have given us much to worry about. Going by what the Lord Jesus said, we shouldn't have problems receiving when we ask; neither should we not find or have it opened to us when we seek or knock, respectively. This is so because the Lord Jesus said "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Matthew 7 verse 8).
But in our Christian experience, there have been times when we asked and we didn't receive, when we sought and we didn't find, when we knocked and it wasn't opened to us. This is in spite of the Lord's Word of assurance that "every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Matthew 7 verse 8).
If we take Matt 7 verses 7 to 8 for what it says, it means that God always answers our prayers. In other words, God doesn't say no to our prayers. Simply put, everyone who asks receives!
But how come that in practice we don't always have it played out as the Word says? In other words, how come that we've all had negative experiences concerning moments that we prayed and asked for something that didn’t come to pass? What's the reason for this?
Basically, there are some reasons why this is so.
1) Oftentimes, we ask wrongly. Asking wrongly can preclude us from receiving.
"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." (James 4 verse 3).
This means that we must ask according to God’s Word or will for us. First, If your prayer is for something that isn’t part of Christ’s atonement, then it means that you are asking "amiss". In other words, what you are asking for is outside of what God has provided for us. In His atonement, the Lord provided all kinds of good things: joy, peace, restored relationships, healing, prosperity, and much, much more. These are the things you should ask for!
We should ask for things that are in line with His will for us.
"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." (2 Corinthians 1 verse 20).
Again, the Bible says that "if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." (1 John 5 verses 14 to 15)
This accounts for instance, why if you ask for someone else’s spouse, God won’t grant your request because such a request isn't according to His will or promises for us. It's not a request provided through Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. God is life! He’s not going to kill someone else's spouse because you prayed and asked Him to, so you could marry him/her.
When we ask according to God's will, He hears us and we know that we have received the petitions that we desired of him.(1 John 5 verses 14 to 15). Isn't this as saying that "everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."? (Matthew 7 verses 7 to 8). This is so because God doesn't expect us to ask Him for anything outside His will or for anything that is not covered by Christ's atoning sacrifice.
Apart from asking "amiss", it's possible to ask and not receive because we asked that we may consume it upon our lusts. (James 4 verse 3).
To be continued!
PRAYER:
Dear Lord, thank You for letting me know that You are willing to answer my prayers always. Thank You also for letting me know why You will sometimes not answer my prayers.