Pear-shaped or prayer-shaped?

Gary Clayton looks at the reasons why God doesn’t answer our prayers and the reasons why He does

I remember a prayer event I once attended, which began with a talk about how hard it is to pray. It was then followed by an exhortation for us to pray. That exhortation was followed by a prayer that we’d be able to do so.

The leader then asked what we wanted to pray about and, having been supplied with a shopping list of our prayers, he committed everything we were about to pray for to God. Finally, after he’d done so, we prayed.

Unfortunately, the room had only been booked for a couple of hours, so, by the time we started to pray, it was more or less time to stop.

Perhaps you’ve experienced something similar…

There have, of course, been numerous books dedicated to the subject of prayer, as well as countless conferences, courses, seminars and sermons. But, since I only have about 750 words to talk about prayer, I’m aware that I’ve already taken up 165 words just introducing the subject!

First, let’s take a look at why the Lord might not answer our prayers.

Some of the reasons could be:

• Disobedience: ‘If anyone turns a deaf ear to My instruction, even their prayers are detestable’ (Proverbs 28:9).

• Unbelief: ‘But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord’ (James 1:6-7).

• Faithlessness: ‘Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him’ (Hebrews 11:6).

• Sinfulness:‘Even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of My sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow’ (Isaiah 1:15-17).

• Not asking: ‘You do not have because you do not ask God’ (James 4:2).

• Asking wrongly: ‘When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures’ (James 4:3).

• Bad relationships: ‘And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them’ (Mark 11:25).

Now I could end there, leaving us both miserable and unmotivated. So, before reaching the end of the article, let’s look at why God, in His infinite kindness, goodness and mercy, does indeed answer our prayers.

Scripture tells us:

1 Peter 3:12 – ‘The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer.’

John 9:31 – ‘We know that God… listens to the godly person who does His will.’

James 5:16 – ‘The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.’

John 15:7 – ‘If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.’

Mark 11:24 – ‘Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.’

Matthew 21:22 – ‘If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.’

John 16:24 – ‘Until now you have not asked for anything in My Name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.’

1 John 5:14-15 – ‘If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him.’

In other words, we can pray and be heard because God’s ears are ‘attentive’ to everyone who ‘does His will’. So, if this is the case, we can be confident that God will give us what we ask if we ‘remain’ in Him; are ‘righteous’ (i.e. right with God); ‘know that He hears us’; and ‘believe’ that we’ve ‘received it’.

That said, God will only grant our request if we ‘ask in Jesus’ Name’. This means asking on behalf of Jesus’ purposes and plans, and for His glory rather than our own. It also means asking from right motives and ‘according to His will’.

Although I know I’ve barely scratched the surface, my hope and prayer is that some of this will be of help to you when you pray.

As a friend once put it: “If our response to life’s challenges is properly prayer-shaped, then things in life are less likely to go pear-shaped.”

Gary Clayton works for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).

To learn about MAF’s work visit www.maf-uk.org