What Is Unanswered Prayer?

   In this chapter we will look at the difference between unanswered prayer and obstructed prayer.

   Is there such a thing as unanswered prayer?

   Some people seem to think so, because recently I found this quotation: "Many of our prayers are not answered, and for this we should be grateful." In one sense, that is true. But whoever wrote that was speaking of the foolish and unwise things we are apt to ask for in our human ignorance.

   I am sure the Lord, in His great loving wisdom, sifts all our requests, and the ones which might harm us are not answered according to our asking. Because of His care over us, all that may seem disappointing will in the end be beneficial. I believe this, because I am learning more and more about what He is like. God is greater by far than any idea or concept man could possibly conceive in his little mortal mind.

   However, there are prayers which are "unanswered" because they are hindered. They could be answered, and some day they may be answered, but for a time they are held up by some obstacle. The heavy snows in Chicago held up morning traffic this past winter for six hours. But when colliding cars were hauled away and the snow plow got through, the flow of traffic went on.

   Is there a chief obstacle which may hinder our prayers? Jesus mentions lack of forgiveness a number of times in references closely connected with prayer promises. The text doesn't really state plainly that unforgiveness will keep our

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prayers from being answered, but it is strongly implied. Jesus says, "When you stand praying, forgive . . ." and, "If you do not forgive, neither will your heavenly Father forgive" (Mark 11:25, 26).

   I'd like to mention three qualifying conditions for answered prayer in the gospel accounts. All of them are stated in the positive (but there is a negative meaning implied).

1. That we should ask in His Name (John 16:24).

2. That we should let His words live in our hearts (John 15:7).

3. That we should not be discouraged if we do not receive an immediate answer, but we should keep on asking, keep on knocking and keep on believing (Matthew 7:7, 8).

   Let us examine the meaning of these three conditions.

   1. In His Name means "presenting all I AM" (Amplified). All of the character of Jesus Christ is set forth in His Name. This means all of the character of God. What we ask, then, should be in keeping with what He is like, and a request unlike Him cannot be granted to us.

   2. To let His words live, or abide in us, as a condition for answered prayer, means that we let Him live right in our hearts. Jesus Christ is Lord. He contains His words. This is a vital union of two hearts, the one living within the other. Such oneness would produce a unity of purpose. So how could one ask for anything that was not right and pure and good?

   3. To have our prayers answered, we must keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, for this is the continuing action of the Greek verb in Matthew 7:7, 8 and also of Luke 11:5-13, the story of the man who wanted bread at midnight, and kept asking until he got it. Don't give up. Don't get discouraged, keep asking. Why? The only reason I know is that prayer changes me because I am in His presence, and then I either begin to change my

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requests, or I become able to cope with my circumstances which may or may not change.

   So there are no unanswered prayers in one sense, because if we ask for what we want in His Name, and we are living in Him, and we keep on asking, the answer will come. It may be yes or it may be no, but God sends it, and it will be the best.

   We do understand, however, that some answers to our prayers are delayed, and this is because God answers them in His way instead of in ours.

   But hindered or obstructed prayer is a very real thing and is not the same as unanswered prayer. When we are not living in Christ or letting Him live in us, there is always a reason. John, in his first epistle (I John 3:21, 22) tells us that if our hearts are guilty because we are not watchfully observing His suggestions and plans for us, our guilty hearts will keep us from coming boldly to God. And our guilty hearts will keep us from asking and receiving what God wants to give us (Amplified).

   This explains how unforgiveness or resentment toward another can hinder our prayers. Unforgiveness on our part automatically creates guilt in us. If I cannot love my brother whom I can see, how can I love God whom I cannot see? (I John 4:20) Love of God and love of our fellow man go together. I will love God only as much as I love the person I dislike the most. The kind of love God commands us to have is a genuine caring about what happens to the other person. It doesn't necessarily mean being attracted to him. It means caring about what happens to him.

   As long as I am blinded by an unforgiving spirit toward my brother, how can I see God? There is blessedness for the pure in heart, for they see God. Lack of forgiveness is the equivalent of an impure heart. Resentment and unforgiveness are the roots of many diseases from which people suffer intensely. Only God can heal an unforgiving heart.

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Forgiveness is the ultimate proof of love, both of God's love and of our love to one another.

   Love goes into action to make the first move. Love does not wait for the other person to come first. Love does not wait for the other person to take the blame and reach out first. These are some of the ways of love.

   To be unforgiving is rebellion against God. He wants to forgive our sins, but Jesus says again and again that we must forgive others when we pray, so that our Father can forgive us our sins. To refuse to do this is rebellion. All rebellion is initially against God. All sin comes under that word, "rebellion." No matter what it is, it is some kind of self-assertion which is leaving God out. It is some kind of defiance, open or secret, which resists the authority of Jesus Christ in one's life.

   Rebellion would be a real obstacle to having one's prayers answered, wouldn't it? And this is sin. And so there it is. Sin is the only thing which hinders one's prayers from being answered. And what will we do about that? What can we do? Confess our sins? Die to sin? Or carry with us a partial-condemnation all day long, day after day, because we are "not all that God wants us to be?"

   I had a strong sense of rightness in going ahead with this chapter, because for many long impossible years I tried to be free from sin. I tried to die to sin. I tried to confess it all. I tried to believe it was all gone. Now, with great relief, I know I am a sinner being saved. I am not doing it myself. I have been saved, I am being saved, and I shall be saved. And He is doing it all. I know that Jesus Christ, by His death and by His life, is my righteousness.

   I want to give you one of my favorite Bible verses on this subject, regarding what to do about sin in one's life. For me, this was the answer, and showed me how Jesus Christ is taking full responsibility for my life.

   The Amplified New Testament is clear on Romans 5:10. "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God

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through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved [daily delivered from sin's domination] through His [resurrection] life."

   All the known or unknown rebellions of my life are being taken care of through the power of Jesus Christ's resurrected life. I know, too, that He expects me to cooperate with Him in bringing my will under His control, so that all these rebellions can be stripped of their dominating power. When, face to face, I am alone with Him in prayer, and His love is pouring over me, somehow it is possible to hand over to Him the specific thing that I wanted to manage myself.

   And you, my tender-hearted, overly conscientious friend, can rest in Him, too, so that your prayers will be answered, and so that you do not need to continue condemning yourself.

   Who is he that condemns? Do you know the answer to that question? Do you condemn yourself? Oh, yes, we do, in a way that helps us turn positively to Christ. But the morbid, negative daily condemnation which is sapping the life out of you, and keeping you from receiving all He wants to give you, is wrong. Because He has already died for you. The Christ who died for you and rose again is the only One who can condemn you. And He does not (Romans 8:31-39). He loves you. He loves you more than you are loved by anyone else in this world or in the next. God loves you. The Son of Man is come not to condemn but to save (John 3:17).

   When you do find something that condemns you, bring it at once to His feet, and it will be transformed. Because all the fruits of the Spirit are sins transformed. Resentment is changed to love. Sadness is changed to joy. Unbelief is changed to faith. Rebellion is changed to acceptance. These are simply the gifts which accompany the Giver. Where He is, and where He lives, are all the good things

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He wants to give to us. We don't pick faith out of the air, or off a limb.

   Jesus Christ is our faith.

   There is, of course, the possibility that you don't want to be changed in some area. That could really put an obstacle in front of your prayers, and they might have to wait some time for an answer. And yet, here again, God is so great and His love so strong that He knows why we balk at something, and He lets us sulk or pity ourselves, while He in His eternal goodness keeps on giving and giving. And who can question Him? Who can say what He should do or what He shouldn't do? The fact remains,

God loves all people.

All people are sinners.

Therefore God loves all sinners.

   It is true no matter from what angle you approach it. God loves you, as you are, in your rebellions, in your sins, and He loves you eternally. The proof of this was a Man on the cross, an historical fact, already more than nineteen hundred years old and yet ever true. Because this Man lives today!

God so loved . . . that He gave

His only begotten son . . .

And he died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake (II Corinthians 5:15, Amplified).

Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking it will be opened (Matthew 7:7, 8, Amplified).

Chapter Ten  ||  Table of Contents