Why does God NOT answer prayer?

Why does God not answer my prayers? Have you ever asked that? Probably everyone who has ever prayed has! All Christians want to pray regularly, but somehow we don’t. The will and desire is there, yet guilt (rather than prayer) usually results. Our next step can then be to conclude that God does NOT answer prayer at all, (except for the prayers of very holy people, who of course do not really exist now that Mother Teresa has died!)  Our last step can then be to conclude that God probably does not exist (to quote our buses!) Therefore a God who does not exist cannot love me and answer my prayers! This then resolves the problem of my unanswered prayer, or should I say the lack of my prayer life!

Having an underlying view that God  does not really exist and guilt, are really not helpful to the Christian who longs to pray but does not know where to start. Actually, most of us do not pray because of the rubbish we have been told about prayer NOT because God does not answer prayer. So the first thing is to remove the rubbish and then to pray anyway!

Where do I start? PRAY is the answer. Here is the first prayer to pray

“God help me to get rid of the rubbish and guilt about prayer and to pray.”

This admits that we cannot do it without God, which is vital to prayer. We will fail at prayer without God’s help. At the heart of the Christian message is humility and weakness. How many of us have been told “you must pray a lot every day” but however hard you try you find you fail? We cannot pray without God’s help - we were designed to be dependant on God.

Secondly PRAY! Here is the second prayer,

Now we have accepted that it is not us who answers prayer but God. A quote from Mother Teresa to help us, “God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try”. God does not require that our prayers are all answered, just that we pray. We wrongly decide that no immediate answer means we are bad at prayer, rather than God has simply said wait or no.

Thirdly PRAY! Here is the third prayer.

 It is only out of God’s love that we can be effective in anything. Christian effectiveness is not measured in success as the world knows it. Back to Mother Teresa , “I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.”  We think we should have super strength but God meets us where we are and reveals His love. Only out of God’s love can we act. Just a warning though, love is not so much a warm feeling but a truth and action revealed on the cross.

When released from guilt, a need for success, self strength and when we simply respond to God’s love, prayer starts to happen. Like any language, prayer takes time to learn.

If you struggle to know what to pray I am gathering e mails to send around specific urgent prayer needs in our church family. Remember no guilt if you do not pray for some! However I promise to send around answers as well and nothing builds pray faith but specific answers to specific requests.