God detests the prayers of a person who ignores the law. (Proverbs 28:9 NLT)
This is a very powerful warning in the Word of God. But before anyone jumps to the conclusion of why someone’s prayers don’t seem to be answered, let’s take a quick panoramic view of prayer:
First and foremost, God’s ‘will’ plays the most important role of whether or not a prayer is answered:
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10 NKJV)
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14 NKJV)
Second, there are times when God may not think something that we pray for is best for us, but He may allow it as a lesson to be learned:
Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. (Matthew 19:8 NLT)
That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness.” (Hebrews 3:7-8 NLT)
Third, God’s ways are infinitely higher than our ways:
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV)
Forth, not all afflictions and woes are caused by Satan:
Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. (John 9:1-3 NKJV)
Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them. (Matthew 8:14-15 NKJV)
Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. (Matthew 8:2-3 NLT)
Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life. (Ecclesiastes 7:14 NLT)
Fifth, sometimes we forget that things occur just because we live in a fallen world:
Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. (Romans 8:20a NLT)
Sixth, God Himself will use sickness, disease, and even death to chastise His people:
For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. (1 Corinthians 11:29-30 NLT)
Seventh, God is able to do anything in His strength and nothing is impossible for Him:
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20 NLT)
Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” (Matthew 19:26 NLT)
Eighth, revelation is divinely given only when the Holy Spirit deems it necessary. We are never to speak or do anything presumptuously and claim it is God:
But when she came to the man of God at the mountain, she fell to the ground before him and caught hold of his feet. Gehazi began to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone. She is deeply troubled, but the Lord has not told me what it is.” (2 Kings 4:27 NLT)
And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. (Acts 16:18 NKJV)
Ninth, faith is a key ingredient that must be exhibited:
And so He (Jesus) did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:58 NLT)
Tenth, obedience must be exercised:
But his (Naaman’s) officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed! (2 Kings 5:13-14 NLT)
“But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron.” (Deuteronomy 28:15, 23 ESV)
Eleventh, sin is an impassable road block:
We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship Him and do His will. (John 9:31 NLT)
Twelfth, holiness is required for our prayers to have a sweet aroma in God’s nostrils. Along with Psalm 141:1-3, this also brings us back to the verse at the very beginning of this article:
God detests the prayers of a person who ignores the law. (Proverbs 28:9 NLT)
God, come close. Come quickly! Open Your ears—it’s my voice You’re hearing! Treat my prayer as sweet incense rising; my raised hands are my evening prayers. Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips. Don’t let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company. (Psalm 141:1-3 MSG)
So how should we go about praying?:
1. Making sure we are living a holy and sanctified life.
2. Making sure we are obedient.
3. Seeking Holy Spirit discernment and revelation of what we are praying for, making sure that we are never presumptuous.
4. Going boldly before God’s throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16).
5. Praying with confidence and believing God can do anything, no matter how impossible it looks.
6. Asking that above all, God’s will be done.
7. Praying persistently (Luke 18:1-5) until we feel release in our spirit (2 Cor 12:8-9).
8. Praising God in our prayers with thanksgiving, mingling it amongst our petitions in humility.
In conclusion, I am appalled by the lack of humility there is in the way prayer is portrayed by the showman ministers and circus ministries on TV and the internet. They reek with human presumption, rather than Holy Spirit discernment. They defend their antics by accusing those, who show by Scripture otherwise, as having lack of faith. They claim with brashness that someone will be healed and have prosperity in order to further their ministry, but in reality never are healed or get out of financial debt. These hucksters are fortunate that the punishment set forth in the Old Testament is no longer carried out:
“But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.” (Deuteronomy 18:20 ESV)
As we part, keep in mind:
“God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it.” — John Wesley
Annointing 