Recently, God taught me a lesson about Himself. I was reading Man: The Dwelling Place of God, by A. W. Tozer, where he addressed the issue of prayer. He talked about a notion passed around by believers that God always answers prayer. Tozer makes the case that this is not true; it’s not only bad theology, it’s a lie perpetrated by Satan to misdirect believers. More about that shortly.
James 4:3 tells us about prayer, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures”(NIV). Instead of “pleasures,” the KJV reads a little stronger using “lusts.” The Apostle John explains, “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him” (1 John 3:21-22 NIV). The Apostle also quotes Jesus saying, “if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7 NIV). So, according to Scripture, there are two qualifications you must meet to receive answers, from God, for prayer.
First, review your motives. Your intentions for asking must be right. You cannot ask, expecting to receive, if your objectives are self-serving. In other words, get your motives straight.
Second, make sure you are doing what you, as a believer, are supposed to be doing. That is, obeying God’s commands. What are His commands? Those are summed up by Jesus in Matthew 22:37-39, “… ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39 NIV). Let’s not forget Jesus’ command to us, as well, found in John 13:34, where Jesus says to his disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34 NIV).
As was stated earlier, Satan uses the lie that God always answers prayer to misdirect believers. He uses it to direct the believer away from the fact that perhaps God hasn’t answered the prayer because the believer isn’t obeying God’s commands. Satan’s lie precludes the believer from surmising that perhaps God didn’t answer the prayer because there is sin in the believer’s life. You must ask, “am I obeying all of God’s commands?” Weigh your obedience to God.
So, the two things that can result in unanswered prayer are: self-serving motives, and lack of obedience to God. Observing these, of course, won’t guarantee that God will grant your prayer request, but it is the proper way to approach the situation. It puts the request within the realm of “Your will be done,” rather than, “my will be done.” And this is the proper attitude with which to approach prayer, as taught by Jesus, “This, then is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:9-13 NIV).
Now, my friend, go forth and do likewise.
On the Road to Emmaus 