MANY CHRISTIANS appear to be tired of offering prayers to God these days because they do not receive answers to their prayers.
Many are now convinced that God does not answer prayers or perhaps He does not even exist.
Thus, many have become faithless, hopeless and despondent. They occasionally pray just to please people or to cover up their faithlessness.
The reality, however, is that while many mock God for not answering their prayers, others praise and thank God for answering their prayers.
Dear reader, God is true and real. And He answers prayers. You only need to know the reasons why God does not answer your prayers.
I present below some of the reasons why many believers do not receive answers to their prayers as they should.
First, they fail to abide in Christ Jesus and also have His Word abide in them (John 15:7).
Second, they pray in the flesh instead of in the Holy Spirit (Jude 1:20). God is a Spirit and so those who pray to Him must offer their prayers by the inspiration, guidance and motivation of the Holy Spirit.
We receive inspiration of the Holy Spirit to pray through meditating on the goodness of God, the Word of God, heaven, the love of God and the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross.
We are also inspired to pray when we sing songs of praise and worship to God from our heart.
Finally, we are motivated to offer prayers when we read or study the Bible meditatively.
Third, many Christians do no receive answers to their prayers because they fail to pray to God in faith (James 1:5-7; Mark 11:24).
Fourth, they fail to pray according to the will of God (1 John 5:14-15).
Fifth, pray with wrong motives for the purpose of satisfying their pleasure (James 4:2-3).
Sixth, they are harsh with their spouses especially wives (1 Peter 3:7).
Seventh, they are proud (James 4:6).
Finally, they indulge in sin or unrighteousness (1 Peter 3:12).
You can see from the factors above that we do not receive answers to our prayers, because we fail to do the Word of God, obey the Word of God or keep the commandments of God.