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REASONS FOR UNANSWERED PRAYER

 

Some people like to pray with no conditions. They want God to be a heavenly genie who, when called by prayer, must grant any request they make. They find some encouragement in the fable of Aladdin and his lamp as they strive for this level of control over God's power in their prayer life.

The reasons why people neglect or avoid prayer are understandable. Everyone has times when prayer seems like too much work for no apparent reward. But if you want your relationship with God to deepen over time, you need to communicate with Him regularly. There are no rules about how many times a day or a week you need to pray if you want to see God's answer. But the more time you spend with someone, the more well-known and safe you will feel. The more often you bring someone into life situations that are important to you, the better you understand how they think and react. This is true of a friend or spouse, and it is also true of God. God wants you to know Him in a way that will change every aspect of who you are. Prayer is one of the ways He chose to do this.

 Despite all the evidence that prayers don't work the way they're meant to, prayer is still what most people do when they have nothing to do in terrible, scary, or painful situations. And if that gives them even a modicum of comfort and hope in times like these, so be it. Here are some reasons of unanswered prayer:

1. Unconfessed Sin: God is perfect and cannot tolerate sin in you. If you knowingly tolerate sin in your life, it pushes God away from you. As a result, it renders your prayers powerless. The good news is that when you confess a sin, God forgives it and it goes away. At this point, your relationship is restored and your prayers take on their power. Your past actions may still have consequences, but the sin itself is forgiven. Your whole life is a process of purification. You must make sure that there is no unconfessed sin in your heart when you pray, as this will certainly be an obstacle to effective prayer.

2. Lack of Faith: Lack of faith has an incredibly negative impact on your life. Without faith, prayer has no power. A double-minded person is emotionally divided, as if he had two souls. This condition makes a person unstable and unable to hear God or accept His gifts.

3. Disobedience: If you want to grow in your relationship with God, you must learn to obey. If your mouth says that you believe, but your actions do not back up that belief with a strong act of obedience, this shows the weakness of your faith. Obedience should be the natural result of faith in God. He who obeys God trusts Him; whoever trusts Him obeys Him.

4. Lack of transparency with God and with others: When you confess your sins, which requires you to be completely open, God can heal and cleanse you. You experience spiritual, physical and emotional recovery. In addition, your openness helps others because it shows them that they are not alone in their difficulties.

5. Unforgiveness: Forgiving and being forgiven are inseparable twins. When a person refuses to forgive another, he harms himself, because the lack of forgiveness can take hold of him and make him embittered. And a person cannot enter into prayer with bitterness. Forgiveness allows you to make your heart not only right, but also bright. Forgiveness is essential for your spiritual, mental, and physical well-being. Unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, hatred, etc. — all these are obstacles on the way to love for God. They enslave you with a life of suffering to the point that it affects your physical health. If there is something that you have not been able to forgive, you can start by asking God for the mercy of wanting to forgive because He commands you to do so. He will free you from your bondage.

6. Wrong motives: Another obstacle to effective communication with God is praying with selfish desires and wrong motives. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong intentions. When your motives are wrong in prayer, your prayers have no power. Sometimes even knowing your own motives can be difficult.

7. Disregard for others: One of the added benefits of prayer is that it helps you learn to love others. It is impossible to pray for a person to hate or criticize the one for whom he is praying. Prayer breeds compassion, not rivalry.

8. Unsurrendered will: A person whose will is surrendered to God has a relationship with Him. There are great advantages in surrendering your will to God. First, God promises to answer your prayers and fulfill your requests. Second, you can receive the power of God.

9. Undue control: If you view prayer simply as a means of gaining a certain level of control over your life and the world — as a means of influence — then you will inevitably be troubled by prayers that seem unanswered. But if you view prayer primarily as an ongoing conversation with God, then you will realize that there really is no such thing as unanswered prayer. If prayer is primarily a conversation between you and God, then His promise to always listen may be the answer your heart needs most. Prayer can change people's lives by changing their environment — bringing them into the better, illuminating the one they are in, and even giving them faith, hope and courage in the face of unbearable circumstances.

10. Against God’s plan: It is true that God already knows everything that will happen until the end of eternity. He knows the big events and small moments of each of your lives, and nothing is beyond His control. So it is a mistake to think of prayer as a way to change God's plan or change His direction in a given situation. However, even in situations where the prayer itself seems unanswered, the prayer itself can have a powerful impact. Prayer can leave an impression that lasts long after you have moved on.

Whether you realize it or not, you are dependent on God even for your next breath. It is God who sustains everything in existence. Everything you have is a gift from Him, and He expects you to be good stewards of what you have received. When you are worried about what you need, you must first turn to God. When you put God first in your life, he will help you make the right decision about what you really need. You will reach your potential for happiness in this life when you discover God's specific plan for you by asking Him every day for help in prayer and keeping the commandments He has given you to guide you in the right direction. Whether you are praying for yourself or for another person, you acknowledge that someone else — God — is the centre of the universe. You recognize that He needs to change something in you or in the situations that you offer Him. You transfer control to someone else i.e. God. Everyone craves control to one degree or another. Some simply believe that they are in better control of the situation than others. Prayer allows you to acknowledge before God that He belongs to the driver of your life.

 

 

ASTONISHING BENEFITS OF PRAYER

 

Imagine that you are not alone in a difficult situation, and that someone is with you through it all, who is there for you every moment you need, just to comfort you, show you love, and tell you what to do next. Wouldn't it be much easier to go through the situation that you face alone? Here's how prayer helps you!

1. Prayer is one of the main ways to connect with God. Prayer promotes a sense of connection, whether with a higher power, what a person considers important in life, or their values. When you are constantly connected with the Lord, it is much easier to follow His voice and stay in His will for you! In prayer, you are talking to Him. Through prayer, God transforms your heart so that having your requests fulfilled becomes secondary to feeling truly known by God and precious to Him. You receive strength from God Himself. Prayer connects you with God and all His goodness is available to you! When you believe in God and pray to God, you are never alone! You are blessed with an endless, never-failing, constant love from Him. Prayer is a wonderful part of this connection with Him. Incorporating prayer into your life is almost effortless! You can always connect with the Lord, wherever you are, whatever you do, or whoever you are with. When you are constantly connected with the Lord, the effect of prayer in your life is endless. You are always healthier, happier and rooted in His love.

2.  Prayer develops and strengthens a relationship with God. Prayer is above all a relationship with God who loves you, is interested in your welfare, and is close to you. Through prayer, you develop a trusting relationship with God. You do not pray to an unknown god who is far away from you. You must praise God every day throughout the day for his favour. He wants a personal, intimate relationship with you so that you can know his kindness and experience his goodness. One of the best benefits of prayer is that it is simply communication with God. He is with you just as if He were here on the earth. Your relationship with Him is a relationship just like any other and the more you just spend time in His presence and talking with Him, the closer you will feel to Him and the stronger your relationship will be. The best thing about prayer with your Heavenly Father is that he always speaks to you if you are willing to listen.

3. Prayer helps you make the right decision. When you pray, you can be sure that the Holy Spirit hears you and can give you the wisdom you need for everything! The heart of the Lord should always be leading and guiding you towards decisions that will bring you abundant life and happiness! Prayer gives you direction in life. How wonderful it is to know that you can be sure that God will lead and guide you. When you hear His voice in prayer and listen to His guiding voice through the Word of God, the Lord is surely there to guide you in life! Move boldly, for there is a hand above that will guide you.

4.  Prayer allows you to be present. Miracles can happen through prayer and faith. Prayer invites God into your daily activities. Your God is personal and longs to be with you even in your mundane daily activities. But when you remember that He is always with you, that He sees your heart and wants only your communication, you can connect with Him anywhere. Avoid temptations by the effect of prayer. Remaining steadfast in prayer and the Word of God and renewing your mind in God will always help you avoid temptation. He will always lead you away from temptation and keep you abundantly in His abundant life if you follow Him.

5.  Prayer helps reduce anxiety. It's so hard to be anxious when your thoughts are on God! God has offered you a life of peace and without burdens. One of the benefits of prayer is that no matter where you are or whatever situation you find yourself in, you can always stop, pray, and ask the Lord to give you peace. Prayer combined with meditation on God's word is the best remedy for anxiety!

6.  Prayer allows your hearts to meditate on His truth. You gain more confidence through prayer. When you pray to God, you can confidently stand against whatever the world throws at you! Prayer helps to understand the will of God. When you pray, you allow your hearts to align with the will of God. His desire is always for you to be at peace, have good things and live in the abundance of His grace and mercy! Prayer and communication with Him always leads you to rely on His understanding and not your own. You are praying that you will make a commitment to both the Lord and yourself to spend more time each day in prayer. You can be sure that your relationship with the Lord will grow and that your heart will open to Him.

7.  Prayer can be a reliable source of self-soothing and self-comfort when a person is in pain, coping with a loss, or dealing with traumatic circumstances. Prayer can also be useful as a form of concentrated mental motivation to achieve personal goals. Prayer can also help people focus on the welfare of others. And, of course, when a person finds himself in a hopeless or helpless situation, with no real options, no clear solution and no workable form of relief, then prayer is the thing to do in order to make one feel like one is doing at least something in the face of dire circumstances. It is clear that people pray because it makes them feel better, or gives them hope, or makes them feel love. But when it comes to prayer as a form of asking for something from a divine source and then receiving it, there is simply no empirical evidence that such a mental message to an invisible deity works.

8.  Prayer is the process by which you learn to trust God. He patiently listens to you. He takes your requests seriously. He then puts everything in the context of the bigger picture that only He can see. In prayer, you use your will to come into alignment with the will of God. God knows better than you what the end results of each situation will be. It's easy to accept this idea when it doesn't involve a personal situation in your life, but the test of faith comes when God asks you to trust Him with something or someone that matters to you.

9. Prayer changes lives because it calls on the power of God to manifest itself in a given situation. It can change your life, because even if you don't see divine providence coming from it, the very act of praying sets your heart on God's. You can start seeing things through His eyes. With an open heart, you may even be receptive to an answer that isn't exactly what you asked for, but that's all you need to strengthen and improve your spiritual walk and move into a deeper relationship with Him. Unanswered, delayed, or otherwise met prayer is an opportunity for learning, sometimes even more rewarding than getting the desired answer.

10.     Prayer creates a safe space to process your thoughts and feelings. You communicate your real feelings about the situation. You are under the shelter of God — under His protection. Over time, when you pray, you will feel that in moments of fellowship with God, you can become your true self. You believe that God is with you. If you are not happy to admit that you are talking to the floor or ceiling when you pray, you believe that someone is listening to you. The more you trust the presence of God's Holy Spirit when you pray, the more you will learn to trust Him for results.

To sum up, Prayer is a way to invite God to join you in life's challenges. You are inviting the Holy Spirit to do what He was placed in you to do. You understand that the world does not begin or end with you. Depending on someone else for your needs is humiliating. When babies cry or scream, usually someone will come and meet their needs. It is easy to allow prayer to become too focused on registering complaints or requests or demands.

 

THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE PRAYER

 

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective, and that the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer. Praying according to the will of God is essentially praying according to what He wants. The strength of your faith not the length of your prayers, that pleases Him to whom you pray, so you don't need to impress God with your eloquence or intelligence. After all, God knows what your needs are even before you ask.

Prayer is a channel of communication with God, and for you to communicate effectively with Him, you need to determine who He is to you. If you see God as a master, you treat and talk to Him as a tough boss. But if you see Him as a father, you will treat Him and talk to Him as a child would talk to his father. It is very important to determine your level of relationship with God, because this will affect your state of mind and the way of approach in prayers.

In addition to knowing your relationship with God, you need to know and practice the following steps on how to pray effectively:

1.  Pray in faith: Without faith, it is impossible to please God who alone can do the impossible. Refuse to doubt, if any. Many times after prayers, the enemy will come to test your faith. He will send thoughts of scepticism to make you doubt whether God will do what you have requested Him to do. At this stage, you need to steadfastly resist the devil's suggestions for as long as he persists.

2.  Pray persistently: In fact, pray without ceasing. One of the conditions to effective prayer is that you don’t give up. Believe that God will answer you. Doubting that God's will to answer you will not produce any result; no matter how long you pray and cry out to Him makes the prayer ineffective. So, you have to trust that He will answer you in order to get results. If you persist in prayer, you can be sure that it will be heard. It may be answered in the way you hoped for, or you may find that God has a different plan, more consistent with the coming of His kingdom.

3.  Meditate on God’s words: You need to know and meditate on what God says about that issue you want to pray about. This will strengthen your faith in God and His willingness to answer you. The Word of God concerning this matter will become very real to you. Also, it will drive away any form of fear, doubt, or disbelief that will try to keep you from getting answers.

4.  Pray from a righteous heart: A clean conscience is a condition to answered prayer. It is important that you confess your sins to the Lord. If you see evil in your heart, the Lord will not hear. Get rid of hindrances to answered prayer. You need to deal with everything the devil can use to accuse you before God. These include unforgiveness, bitterness, unconfessed sin, etc. God is a just judge, and if you harbour any of these, you will not get your answer.

 5. Pray from a grateful heart: Start prayers with thanksgiving and praise. You must enter God's presence with thanksgiving and praise. Do not rush to begin to declare your request to God. First appreciate God for who He is and for His goodness to you. You must first praise and glorify God before asking for anything from Him.

6.  Pray according to the will of God: An important condition to prayer is that it is prayed within the will of God. You can pray all you want, with great sincerity and faith. God wants you to remind Him of His words, not of how badly the devil worked against you or your loved one. When you pray according to the will of God, He hears you, and whatever you ask, He will do for you.

 7. Pray for the Sovereignty of God and for all human beings: Pray to the divine Father. You don't pray to false gods. Giving priority to the Kingdom of God is one of the conditions of prayer. The promise is that God will supply all your needs, not all your desires. There is a difference. Pray for good things. You don’t always understand or recognize what is good, but God knows, and He is eager to give His children what is best for them. Always pray first of all that the will of God be done on earth, and also for all people. This is good and acceptable in the eyes of God. This condition of prayer might seem obvious, but it is important.

8.  After making your request known, believe that you receive: When you have made your requests known to God, you must believe that God has already answered you. Believing that you have received before you see the result shows that you actually believe in God and His ability to give you the desired results. This is an important step in how to pray effectively and get results.

9.  End with thanksgiving and expect a physical manifestation of your answer: Thanking God at the end shows that you believe everything is decided and done. Your expectation should not be interrupted. You will get what you expect. So, wait for the manifestation of what you have asked of God.

10. Declare your victory: Announcing your victory draws God's attention and puts nature to work in order to secure your results. Say as often as you can and to as many people as possible who will listen to you that you believe that God has answered your prayers.

Many people get frustrated and disappointed when they pray and don't get results. And it's not God's will for you. By following the steps above on how to pray effectively, you will be sure to get results. God wants to answer your prayers. Even when the answer seems to be delayed, God will surely fulfil it. So the next time you talk to God, practice these steps and the answers will knock at your door.

PRAYER AS A CHALLENGE

 

Since ancient times, a strong and pervasive belief in the efficacy of prayer for the living and the dead has reinforced the notion that consciousness is not limited to the physical body. Prayer can bring about changes in the physical circumstances of the living. Prayer follows the scientific view of things by focusing on two broad categories of prayer: petitionary and intercessory. In petitionary prayer, you ask for something for yourself; in intercessory prayer, you pray to a higher power for the good of others (living or dead).

When you pray for others and for yourself, you ask a higher power to bring about a certain outcome. This is what distinguishes prayer from positive thinking. Positive thinking includes nothing more than one's own mind, one's own desires, but petitionary and intercessory prayers are placed in the context of a higher power. For this reason, positive thinking does not fit into the category of prayer, although it is often confused with it.

Whether it be a petitionary or intercessory, prayer clearly challenges the mechanistic view of the world. According to this view, there is no way that thoughts that go on in your head, which create at best small electrochemical disturbances that are barely noticeable a few inches from your head even with a highly sensitive device, can possibly affect someone or something at a remote distance.

The answer to prayer depends on the power and will of God, not on the petitioners. God does not depend on the number of prayers or geographic distances, but answers at different times and in ways that are not always expected by those who pray. The answer to prayer may come in the form of increased ability to cope with sickness and tragedy, not necessarily in acts of miraculous intervention or healing.

If you were practicing positive thinking, or some of the more focused forms of petitionary prayer, you could use telepathic explanations, and if it were a prayer that affects physical objects, you could say it's psycho-kinesis. But such explanations only serve to replace one set of explanations, which lie outside the scope of modern mechanistic science, with another set. There is nothing in mechanistic science that could allow simple thoughts inside your mind, expressed in the form of prayer or positive thinking, to affect things at a distance. It just can't happen.

The key to understanding prayer as a scientific phenomenon requires abandoning the idea that the mind is somehow located inside the brain. If you believe that your mind is limited by your brain, then since what happens in your brain happens in the privacy and isolation of your own skull, no one else can be affected by it. By their very nature, however, minds are seen as fields, and mental fields are seen as the basis for habitual thought patterns. Mental fields go beyond the electromagnetic patterns of the brain and interact with them. Thus, mental fields can affect your body through your brain. However, they are much larger than your brain and, in some cases, extend for great distances.

Once you have the idea that the mind can spread through these mental fields and over great distances, you will have a means of communication through which the power of prayer can work. You are no longer dealing with a purely mechanical system in the brain, with no way to link the brain and the observed effect, for if this were the phenomenon of effective prayer, it would have to be dismissed as a fallacy or a coincidence. However, with the mental field, you have a medium for a range of connections between you and the people, animals, and places you know and care about with the rest of the world. When you pray, these expanded mental fields will be the context in which prayer could work non-locally.

If everything in nature is organized by fields, and if mental fields are a more subtle kind of fields, you don't have a sharp dichotomy - you have fields that operate through fields at all levels of reality. Thus, the problem of mind and body ceases to be a sharp dichotomy. The act of prayer has several benefits that have a positive effect on both the person who is praying and the recipient of the prayers. There is compelling scientific evidence that faith and prayer can help you become healthier physically, mentally, and psychologically.

Successful prayer depends to a large extent on the ability to concentrate - the ability to free the mind from distractions and direct it in one direction to what you want. Just as the scattered rays of the sun can be gathered with a magnifying glass to create an intense burning force, so the subtle yet powerful energy hidden in thoughts, feelings and spoken words may be gathered into a powerful prayer through a specific method of concentration. Vast reserves of mental power may be tapped through concentration, a power that can be used in any outward or inward endeavour to experience one's unchanging relationship with God.

People who pray benefit from a sense of emotional support. Imagine that you carry a backpack hour after hour. It will start to feel incredibly heavy. But if you can hand it to someone else to hold it for a while, it will feel lighter when you pick it up again. This allows you to mentally set aside your burdens for a while and rest. People who turn to God as a partner or collaborator in their lives have had better mental and physical health outcomes, and people who are angry with God feel punished or abandoned, or who shirk responsibility and rely on God to find solutions have worse results. It's like having a loving relationship with your partner.