Matt 17:19-20“19Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
It is obvious that it is not everyone that prays that obtains answers. When our prayers are not answered or our needs are not met, we ask and wonder why.
Here are some reasons prayers may not be answered:
• Doubt (unbelief). Doubt is believing or seriously considering an opinion that is contrary to the Word of God. If Satan can convince you that something different from what God has said is true, he is through with you.
• Fear. Fear prevents a lot of people from acting on the word. For instance, if you are afraid your salary is small and insufficient to meet your needs, you will not pay your tithe. You do not believe that God will fulfil his promise. All fear is rooted in unbelief. Whenever you are afraid, it is because you doubt a particular promise. So you see fear and unbelief go hand in hand. Fear gives access to the devil to operate in your life while faith gives access to God to operate in your life. While faith delivers the promise of God, fear delivers the opposite.
• Asking wrongly. James 4:2-3“2Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” Because they ask wrongly. This verse deals with two things: the method of asking and the motive for asking. People often talk about the motive but leave the issue of the method. Most believers are ignorant of the operations of faith. They are ignorant of how faith works.
• Asking with the wrong motive. We said earlier that love is the greatest motivator. A selfish person really cannot make it far. Envy for someone else can motivate some people to asking the Lord for certain things. God does not respond to such prayers.
• Asking for something the Word of God does not permit. Some people have met me and asked me to pray that God will touch their rich uncle or someone to give them one of their cars or a huge amount of money. That is covetousness. Thou shall not covet thy neighbour’s property. An unmarried woman once asked for prayers for the fruit of the womb. God will not reward fornication with a child. That is not the kind of prayer you are permitted to pray. We must ask something that is in accordance with his will.
• Outright sin and disobedience to the word of God
• Lack of interest in Kingdom business. Matt 6:33 “33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” The issue here is that of priority. When Kingdom promotion becomes your addiction, you become free of the affliction of poverty.
But this is the promise of God: Mark 11:24 “24Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
You cannot know what you don’t learn and you cannot master what you don’t practice. If you don’t know what faith is and how to grow and use it, you will remain a wretched and a frustrated Christian.
Once you understand how faith works, you can obtain anything and everything you want from God.