(Jer 33:3 KJV) Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great
and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
One of the statements that I continually hear from Christians, both in
the media, in person, or on line that “God didn’t answer my prayers.”
Millions of Christians pray every single day and if what they pray for does
not come to fruition, they claim that God did not answer certain of their
prayers.
First of all let me start off by stating that if you are an unbeliever,
whether one who opposes Christianity or one who is a member of a church,
then God will not hear your prayers because prayers are heard through the
ministry of the Holy Spirit.
(Rom 8:26-27 KJV) Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:
for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. {27} And
he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because
he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
According to Romans 8:26-27, the Holy Spirit intercedes on behalf of the
saints. Those who are unsaved do not have the Holy Spirit.
(Rom 8:9 KJV) But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
The unbeliever is spiritually dead and because of that lives only in the
flesh void of the Holy Spirit. The spiritually dead have no ability to pray
proper prayers and have them interpreted by the Holy Spirit since they do
not have the Spirit. Many people go to church but are unconverted and that
places them in the same category as any other unbeliever. If they become
saved, then they are made alive unto God and will have a living relationship
with God with the ability to have their prayers heard.
(Isa 59:1-2 KJV) Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it
cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: {2} But your
iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid
his face from you, that he will not hear.
(Psa 66:18 KJV) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not
hear me:
Both of these sets of verses teach a major principle. While Isaiah was
aimed at the nation of Israel at a time they were embracing idolatry and
other ungodly practices and Psalm 66:18 is aimed at both the saved and the
unsaved, they carry the same principle and that is, anytime one has sin in
their life, it will affect their prayer life. That principle goes for both
believers and unbelievers. Can Christians pray to God for something with a
pack of cigarettes in their pocket? Can a person in a cult pray to a generic
god? What I mean by generic god is that many cults and false religions teach
that God is the God of all religions and there are many pathways to God.
This is absolutely untrue because the Scriptures outright reject that.
(John 14:6 KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and
the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus is the only way to the Father and the promise of the Father is
the giving of the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 1:4-5 KJV) And, being assembled together with them, commanded
them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of
the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. {5} For John truly
baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many
days hence.
Now this article is not about believers and unbelievers and answered
prayer but is specifically aimed at the Christian who expects God to answer
all their prayers. It is a total misunderstanding to believe that God does
not answer all prayers and we will see why. We are going to look at four
ways in which God answers all prayers. In our beginning verse, Jeremiah
33:3, God states that we are to call unto Him and that “He will answer.” He
did not say that He may answer but that He will, and I am sure that you and
I can easily take God at His Word.
Direct
The first way that God answers prayers is directly. We may pray for
something and if it is in the will of God then God will grant the petition.
(1 John 5:14-15 KJV) And this is the confidence that we have in
him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: {15}
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of him.
Delayed
The second way God answers our prayers is when He says yes, but He
brings the answer in His timing which may be different than ours. Probably
one of the best examples in Scripture for the delayed answer is that of
Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist.
(Luke 1:13 KJV) But the
angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy
wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
Zacharias must have been praying for a son and finally he is told that his
prayer has been heard and he will have a son. He was not told when this
would happen, but that it would.
Disguised
Probably one of the best disguised answers to prayer in the Bible is
found in 1 Samuel 17. This where the army of Israel was facing the army of
the Philistines.
(1 Sam 17:16 KJV) And the Philistine drew near
morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
Goliath had taunted the Israelite army for forty days and there was no one
who would challenge Goliath. David was the youngest son of Jesse and he
dispatched David to the valley of Shochoh where the battle was taking place.
(1 Sam 17:17-18 KJV) And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now
for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and
run to the camp to thy brethren; {18} And carry these ten cheeses unto the
captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their
pledge. Jesse was just dispatching David to send food
to his brethren and some cheese to the commander. It never crossed Jesse’s,
David’s, Saul‘s, Eliab’s or any of their minds that little David would be
the answer to their prayers to deliver them from the taunting giant of Gath.
Yet, it would be David, through the power of God, who came as the answer to
their prayers to have victory over the Philistine. Could you imagine the
consequences they would have faced if they sent David home right away and
would not allow him the opportunity to face Goliath? The answer to their
prayers were in a teenage boy and not the mighty seasoned warriors of
Israel.
Denied
Here is the reason why Christians claim that God does not answer their
prayers. The reality is that “no” is an answer. When we were younger and we
asked our parents for something and they said no, that was an answer. It is
not the answer we want to hear but it is an answer and we better realize
that “no” is a part of the Christian life. When God says “no” it does not
necessarily mean that you are asking wrongly or in selfishness but your
request is not God’s will for you and therefore you need to accept the
reality that God has denied your prayer. It does not mean He is angry with
you, but he is just protecting you because he sees the future and you don’t.
Summary
We have looked at four ways that God deals with prayer and in every
instance, God gave an answer. God answers every prayer we pray but we do not
like to take “no” as one of the main answers. Once we accept the fact that
“no” is an answer, we will begin to realize that God takes our prayer life
more serious than we do. We can always count on Him to answer our prayers,
even if He said “no,” because it is an answer!