REASONS FOR UNANSWERED PRAYERS

You may probably wonder, what is going on, I have prayed and prayed over and over but nothing seems to be happening. You may start raising thoughts like; is there really a God or I'm I just wasting my time in prayer. Just to remind you, there is a Sovereign God out there in Heaven and He answers prayers. There are many reasons people's prayers are not answered and I will state this problems along with the solutions. Below are the problems and their solution.

1.) YOU ARE AVOIDING THE PALACE PROTOCOLS

God is a King and every King has a Palace which He dwells. Consider the Kingdoms of the earth, before you see the king, there are certain protocols you must pass through before you can see the king. For example in Yoruba Land, a guy has to lay low to the ground and greet the king. This is a palace protocol. If the guy does not do it, there is nowhere he will be allowed to speak with the king. The palace guards will throw him out. The same thing applies to the Kingdom of God, there is a protocol you need to pass through before you can access God (the King).

When you are about to pray, just note that you are about to speak to a Holy God. Confess your sins with genuine repentance and ask God to wash away your sins with the blood of Jesus. Your sins are surely going to be forgiven when you come by the blood of Jesus no matter what the sin is.

'It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of His name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: 'THERE IS FORGIVENESS OF SINS for all who repent'.'

LUKE 24:47 (NLT Bible)

There is a sin the blood of Jesus never cleanses; blasphemy against the Holy-Spirit, I will discuss about this sin another time. Don't just cleanse yourself alone, also apply the Blood of the Lamb on the environment to purify it.

Worship and praise the Father. God loves praise and worship, make sure not to rush or get distracted so the Angels don't shut you off. Praise and worship is very necessary.

'Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth! Sing about the glory of His name! Tell the world how glorious He is'.

PSALM 66:1 (NLT Bible)

 After worshipping the Father, welcome the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of supplication, He will help you pray very well by leading you to pray in accordance to God's own will (through praying in the Holy Ghost- speaking in tongues).

'And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts know what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will'.

ROMANS 8:26-27 (NLT Bible)

After welcoming the Holy Spirit, you can then get into the asking God for what you wanted. Make sure not to avoid this protocols unless the angels will shut you out before you even start. Never just rush out and start praying without following the protocols of the Palace. Even on earth, you cannot just bash into a King's Palace and start complaining to the King, the guards will throw you out before you can say the first word. If this can happen on earth, how much more in Heaven.

After praying, thank God for answered prayers because this is the most important part of prayer. Thank Him for He has heard your prayers, because when once He has heard, His answer is always YES.

2.) YOUR UNBELIEF

This is very dangerous, it can hinder your prayers no matter how many times you cry unto God. Before you even think about nearing God's throne, you must first of all belief that He is Almighty and all powerful and Supreme over every other power.

'And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.

HEBREWS 11:6 (NLT Bible)

Yes, God is Almighty and all powerful but He does things in response to your faith. If you believe Him for $ 500, He will give it to you. If you believe Him for $ 5,000,000, He will surely give it to you because He is a rewarder of those that sincerely seek Him. He has all the answers you will ever need, but your unbelief is the major force that hinders your prayers, make sure not to doubt. If you doubt, you have already hindered the prayer yourself before you started praying. You must learn to hold on to strong faith and everything is possible.

'Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE".'

MATHEW 19:26 (NLT Bible)

3.) YOU ARE NOT PRAYING ACCORDING TO WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE SCRIPTURES

There is something you should understand, God does not answer prayers because you just cried in prayer, He answers His words. As God's word is powerful in God’s mouth, that is how His words are also powerful in your mouth.

'The rain and snow come down from the Heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.

It is the same with my Word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it'.

ISAIAH 55:10-11 (NLT Bible)

The word of God never fails because God watches over it till it is fulfilled. There is something called praying according to what is written in the scriptures; It is taking what is written in the Bible (what God said) and using it as your topics of prayer. Every time you want to pray, take God's word to Him in prayer, there is no way He won't answer.

'I will worship toward thy Holy Temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name'.

PSALM 138 (KJV Bible)

God has put His word above His name, when He speaks, He watches over it until it comes to pass. For example, If you are sick, check in the Bible for a scripture that deals with sickness, like ISAIAH 53:5 (KJV Bible)

'......with His stripes we are healed'.

This scripture is referring to Jesus on the cross. He suffered and was flogged so you could be healed. He took your sicknesses upon His shoulders. Take this scripture in prayer and hang on to it, God will surely answer your prayers because He said it. Let me use an earthly activity to explain why God surely answers His word: Let's say you are in High school and your school sends you a notification for you to pay your fees in a week time, you then reported to your dad and he said," meet me in 3 days time and I will settle you". I tell you the truth, when you get back to your dad after 3 days, he will surely look for a way to settle you just because he had said it and also to safe-guard his reputation as a man of his word.

How much more God, He is a God of His word, He is no man that he should repent of a promise He had made (He does not lie).

'God is not a man, so He does not lie. He is not human so He does not change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?'

NUMBERS 23:19 (NLT Bible)

I will give you an assignment, find out a scripture for every difficult situation you think there is and always use this scriptures in prayers. I have already given you one, ISAIAH 53:5, if you are sick, just remind God of His word that says '....with His stripes we are healed'. Use this to pray and see God heal you.

4.) DISTRACTION

It is very bad to be distracted when you are praying, because it will shut you off from the Father.

'For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth'.

JOHN 4:24 (NLT Bible)

Prayer time is strictly not distraction time. Some people, while praying, they are thinking about food, money and lots of crazy things. It's almost as if their mind just says to them; "hey, you have not eaten lunch, you did not complete that chat, you have not done this and that". All this things result in distractions disconnecting the person from God.

There are various solutions to this problem one which is closing your eyes. It is no joke when you see people close their eyes during prayer. When you close your eyes, it disconnects you from the environment. When you don't see, your mind never reacts.

Another solution a lot of people don't really know is listening to soft Christian tunes while praying. Believe me, I have tried it, at least I do concentrate more as the soft tune just keeps playing. Soft tunes also helps to calm me down from all the days activity that would have raised constant thoughts in my mind leading to distractions. I prefer to use an ear-piece because it completely disconnects me from the environment as noises from the environment would cause distractions. There is another alternative to this, find a very quite location or an isolated place and pray.

'Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray'.

MARK 1:35 (NLT Bible)

Learn from Jesus, He always moved to a quite place where He would not get distracted by anything. Distraction kills the prayer before you even start.

5.) ASKING WRONGLY=FOOLING AROUND IN PRAYER

Let's say you need a job, can you go to your Mayor and be asking him for food when you need a job. He will give you the food indeed but you won't get the job. Why do you mess around when you need something from God?

'Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.....'.

MATHEW 7:7 (NLT Bible)

When you have a need, take it to God in prayer and make sure not to fool around. If you need a wife, ask God for a wife and don't be fooling around saying, "Lord, if it be thy will, give me a wife", you won't get your wife. There are certain decisions God allows you to decide exactly what you want. You are the one that will place the demand; "God please give me a good wife".

Can you expect your Mayor to come and be asking you if you want a job. You are the one that will file your case to him requesting for a job. When you are sure of your needs, make sure not to try and fool around with the Lord but file your request to Him in prayer. Remember, "ask and you shall receive what you ask for", not what you are fooling around for.

When you go shopping with your dad, you don't say, "dad, is it thy will for me to buy that shoe", you make the request, "dad I want that shoe". Your dad can then advice you, "that is a good shoe, I will get it for you" or he might say "no, it is a counterfeit product, let's look for another one, but if you insist, I can still get that counterfeit one for you".

Take your need to God and let him give you divine wisdom on what to choose exactly, never fool around in prayer.

You only say; "if it be thy will" if you are praying a prayer of dedication; Offering yourself for God to use you in His missions. You end such prayer with; "Father, not my will, but let thy will be done".

6.) LACK OF HUMILITY

There is how you approach God with humility that He is greatly moved to answer your prayers quicker than you even expected. There is how you approach God with arrogance and pride that the angels shut you off and your prayers are not answered.

'And He gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble".'

JAMES 4:6 (NLT Bible)

To approach God with humility, be very meek and gentle as you approach Him. Whatever your social status, put it behind you because God is a respecter of nobody but he favors those with humility.

7.) YOU ARE NOT A BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN OR YOU ARE LIVING IN SIN

If you are not a born-again Christian, don't even bother yourself trying to pray, because it is an abomination. The only prayer God will answer from you is your prayer of repentance. Only born-again Christians can connect to the Father in spirit and in truth. If you are confused about what being born-again means, read my post on THE FALL AND REDEMPTION OF MAN. After you are a true born-again Christian, you can then connect to the father successfully. You cannot stay inside sin and be accessing holiness, you need to get rid of your disobedience before you can arrest every other disobedience using the name of Jesus.

'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 Bible)

Another part of the scriptures confirms this,

It's your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, He has turned away and will not listen anymore.

ISAIAH 59:2 (NLT Bible)

You cannot be in sin and be hoping to connect with God. You need to repent first and become a born again Christian before you can connect with Him in prayer.

I have explained seven (7) mistakes you keep on making which is why your prayers are not answered. No matter how many times you do the wrong things, you can never get positive results. No matter how many times you point the back of a gun at a target, you can never shoot at the target, what you have to do is to turn the front of the gun to point at the target and then shoot. Start practicing the right methods of prayers to reap positive results. The only way to get better in prayer is to pray more.

“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem……”

ZECHARIAH 12:10 (NLT Bible)

Please before you close this page, pray that God should pour upon you the Spirit of Grace and Supplication, this is the Spirit of prayer, it will help you to pray effectively. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you in Jesus name. Amen

UKEMEKE-ABASI AKPAN EKPO

DOMINION CITY IKOT EKPENE