Prayers fail (or seem to be ineffective) for a variety of reasons. Let’s take a look at a few possible causes:

1. We fail to approach God properly through praise.

Psalms 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

There is a proper way to approach God, and that is with thanksgiving and praise. The person who approaches Him with a “me-first” or unthankful attitude is unlikely to gain an audience with Him.

2. Confusing feelings with an acknowledgment from God

Sometimes we get an answer, but don’t realize it. Often people think that if they “feel” like God heard them, then He has. However, nothing in the Bible indicates that a “feeling” is a prerequisite for getting a prayer heard and answered. Jesus said the following:

Matthew 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

John 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

In each of the preceding verses, answered prayer was subject to faith, not a feeling. Never think that you haven’t been heard simply because you don’t feel any different.

3. Sin

This is one we don’t often like to talk about, but it’s probably the primary reason prayers aren’t answered. Isaiah said it like this:

Isaiah 59:1 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.

Clearly, sin can separate us from the presence of God. Before presenting your needs to Him, you first need to make sure your heart is cleansed through repentance.

4. Lack of persistence of faithfulness

Matthew 15 details the story of a woman whose daughter was devil possessed, and how she approached Jesus. Verse 22 says she asked Jesus for help for her daughter, but verse 23 says he didn’t answer her at all. This indicates that the first answer of God is sometimes no answer at all. He may want to test your faith and persistence, so no answer should not automatically be accepted as the final answer.

After being ignored by Jesus, the woman approached His disciples, who then asked Jesus to send her away. His response to their request is interesting:

Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

What is most remarkable about His response is the fact that He didn’t respond to their immediate request at all! They asked Him to send her away, while His response was to make it clear that He wasn’t sent to the Gentiles. In other words, His response had absolutely nothing to do with the disciples’ request! This indicates that He was now ignoring them (the disciples), perhaps seeking instead to draw faith out of the woman.

This implies that God sometimes answers “not now.” He was basically telling this woman that it wasn’t her turn yet. However, she was not satisfied with that answer. Her faith pressed through the second answer of God, and she fell at his feet to worship Him (vs. 25).

Keep in mind that Jesus still  had not sent her away. The disciples had begged Him to do so, but the woman apparently perceived His reluctance to get rid of her. Now Jesus reacts by basically insulting her:

Matthew 15:26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and cast it to dogs.

The third answer of Jesus in this story is “You’re not worthy.” Again, you have to read between the lines – Jesus did not send her away. He may have been probing deeper into her faith. It is also significant that this time she worshiped him (remember our first point concerning approaching God properly?)

What was Jesus really saying when He said, “You’re not worthy?” Perhaps He was checking her for pride. Pride gives up when asking God. Pride refuses to admit wrongs or sins. Pride refuses to lay on the altar before the Lord. Pride refuses to get its clothes dirty. But faith and worship will press through the first three answers of God to see a need met. The woman answered:

Matthew 15:27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.

And Jesus replied:

Matthew 15:28 …O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

It took her four answers to get the one she wanted, but faith refused to give up. Luke 18:2-8 and Luke 11:5-13 are two examples of parables in which Jesus taught persistance in prayer:

Luke 18:2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Luke 11:5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. 9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

The message of these passages is clear. God will reward persistant faith in prayer.

5. Lack of testimony

Jesus once lamented the fact that only one of the ten lepers returned to give glory to God for his healing. At the death of Lazarus, Jesus said:

John 11:4 …This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

So what does this mean? God works miracles for a reason – so that He can receive glory.

John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Notice that Jesus said that He would perform miracles so that the Father could be glorified in the Son. Our testimony is one type of fruit we bear for Him. When we fail to testify of what does, He gets no glory, so we aren’t bearing fruit.

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