"Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear" (Isaiah 65;24, KJV)
"Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things, that you have not known" (Jer. 33:3, ESV).
Ephesians 5:17 tells us not to "be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Yes, it has been granted unto us the right to know God's will and it is our esteemed privilege to seek it and our joy to do it even as David delighted in the will of God (cf. Psalm 40:8) and was called a man after God's own heart. We must know God's will to pray in the Spirit and the only prayers that He is obliged to answer are those according to His will (cf. 1 John 5:14). James tells us that we ask and do not receive because we ask amiss--not according to God's will, with wrong motives of our own pleasures (cf. James 4:3). It is a sin to be lax in this godly discipline, a sin of omission.
The whole joy of prayer is prayer in tune with God's will and in sync with the Lord, or being on the same page as the Divinity. The "whole purpose of prayer is prayer" and to attain to the throne room of God and approach the throne of grace with boldness (cf. Heb. 4:16). The primary reason many do not pray is that they don't know God's will and are not seeking it. Also, you will never know God's will if you are unwilling to do it and go where it may lead; thus surrender is a key to prayer as we pray in relinquishment, "Thy will be done [Matt. 6:10]." The easy yoke Jesus was talking about, as opposed to the Law of Moses, was to know, follow, and do God's will in the filling of the Spirit.
God reserves the right to nix our prayers and to decline any will of our own that is interposed on His divine plan and will. God isn't in the business of naysaying for naught but must honor the harmony and perfect will that has His glory in mind--the end result of all is to the glory of God. There are many reasons God may refuse to answer according to the way we see things in our limited reality: He knows the future and time is no essence to Him; we don't know what is good for us, but our Father does; God is not our "genie" and doesn't exist to do us favors; God's wisdom trumps ours; and sometimes God is just saying "Wait."
Finally, it is the love of God that puts divine restraint on Him to always give us what we want. God may not answer the way we want because of a lack of faith, because this is the primary condition of prayer along with asking in Jesus' name or what is consistent with His nature and will glorify Him accordingly. The spirit of unforgiveness closes the door until we seek reconciliation with our brother.
Primary reasons God doesn't answer our prayers are that we fail to meet the conditions of prayer: Jesus said, "If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7). Familiarity, even continuing in the Word (cf. John 8:31) is a prerequisite to knowing God's will, and thus of prayer! One often overlooked the conditions of prayer are obedience and fellowship, for the Lord will not hear us if we regard iniquity in our heart or are willfully disobedient (cf. Psalm 66:18; Ezek. 8:18).
It is an exercise in futility to fight or attempt to manipulate God and insist on your own way; God may grant it and say, "Okay, have it your way!" (Psalm 81:12, NASB, says: "So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk in their own devices.") This is what we don't want, believe it or not, because our way is of chaos and will not result in blessing--the Father knows best and we ought to trust Him! When God says "No" we must accept it as the grace of God and His refusal is always merciful, as a doting parent withholds candy from a baby.
The problem we have is that we are captives of time, and "time and tide wait for no man" (Sir Walter Scott); however, God is independent of the time-space continuum and sees and knows all, and is the only one in position to answer prayer wisely. We must realize that most of our prayers are self-serving if we don't commit to God's will and we pray with strings attached, wanting something out of God. When God says "No" we shouldn't feel disheartened, for the Father said "No" to Jesus at Gethsemane, much to Jesus' dismay. We all have to accept that God knows best and relinquish ourselves--without being fazed or dismayed in our faith--and we should never react or waver because of a negative answer.
One chief reason that God doesn't answer our prayers is that we give up and resign to accept fate, as it were. "We should always pray and not lose heart" (cf. Luke 18:1). That is, persevere or be persistent! The point Jesus made in the Sermon on the Mount is that we should keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking (cf. Matt. 7:7). Cotton Mather prayed for two or more hours every day for twenty years, and the revival he prayed for came the year he died.
And so, it seems that sometimes God isn't' saying "No" to us, but testing our patience and waiting till the time is right. Only He knows when the time is right and the future is in His hands according to His timetable, not ours. Knowing God's will is paramount; for if you knew that all that happened to you was to the glory of God, and ultimately served to the advance of the gospel, wouldn't you rejoice and be glad? Aren't you glad that sometimes God had something better in mind for you? If God answered all our prayers as we wanted, we'd soon mess up our lives if God were to always say, "Okay, have it your way!"
The motivation to pray is not to get something out of God or to get what we want, but to allow God to display His glory. We don't pray to get our will done in heaven, but God's will done on earth, it is said. The joy is in praying or enjoying fellowship and in the secure knowledge that He hears us, not that an occasional prayer is nixed or denied. Nevertheless, rejoice that God hears you and has inclined His ear to your petitions and that He even answers one of them is a "bonus" or fringe benefit of knowing Him.
The essence of prayer, then, is aligning ourselves with the will of God to achieve His glory. So get in harmony with God and it will be no problem when He says "No." Your prayers will avail with God, and accomplish His glory and will when you meet all requisites for praying in the Spirit. The miracle and wonder are that He is inclined to hear us and answer any of our prayers, not that He refuses one petition. We must realize that fact that prayer is not some abracadabra or mantra to get our "wish list" accomplished by following some formula that God is obliged to obey. There is some type of protocol like praying to the Father, in the name of the Son, in the Spirit (per Eph. 2:18) and know that God is no debtor of man and will answer all prayer that glorifies Him and is according to His plan. Soli Deo Gloria!
"Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things, that you have not known" (Jer. 33:3, ESV).
Ephesians 5:17 tells us not to "be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Yes, it has been granted unto us the right to know God's will and it is our esteemed privilege to seek it and our joy to do it even as David delighted in the will of God (cf. Psalm 40:8) and was called a man after God's own heart. We must know God's will to pray in the Spirit and the only prayers that He is obliged to answer are those according to His will (cf. 1 John 5:14). James tells us that we ask and do not receive because we ask amiss--not according to God's will, with wrong motives of our own pleasures (cf. James 4:3). It is a sin to be lax in this godly discipline, a sin of omission.
The whole joy of prayer is prayer in tune with God's will and in sync with the Lord, or being on the same page as the Divinity. The "whole purpose of prayer is prayer" and to attain to the throne room of God and approach the throne of grace with boldness (cf. Heb. 4:16). The primary reason many do not pray is that they don't know God's will and are not seeking it. Also, you will never know God's will if you are unwilling to do it and go where it may lead; thus surrender is a key to prayer as we pray in relinquishment, "Thy will be done [Matt. 6:10]." The easy yoke Jesus was talking about, as opposed to the Law of Moses, was to know, follow, and do God's will in the filling of the Spirit.
God reserves the right to nix our prayers and to decline any will of our own that is interposed on His divine plan and will. God isn't in the business of naysaying for naught but must honor the harmony and perfect will that has His glory in mind--the end result of all is to the glory of God. There are many reasons God may refuse to answer according to the way we see things in our limited reality: He knows the future and time is no essence to Him; we don't know what is good for us, but our Father does; God is not our "genie" and doesn't exist to do us favors; God's wisdom trumps ours; and sometimes God is just saying "Wait."
Finally, it is the love of God that puts divine restraint on Him to always give us what we want. God may not answer the way we want because of a lack of faith, because this is the primary condition of prayer along with asking in Jesus' name or what is consistent with His nature and will glorify Him accordingly. The spirit of unforgiveness closes the door until we seek reconciliation with our brother.
Primary reasons God doesn't answer our prayers are that we fail to meet the conditions of prayer: Jesus said, "If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7). Familiarity, even continuing in the Word (cf. John 8:31) is a prerequisite to knowing God's will, and thus of prayer! One often overlooked the conditions of prayer are obedience and fellowship, for the Lord will not hear us if we regard iniquity in our heart or are willfully disobedient (cf. Psalm 66:18; Ezek. 8:18).
It is an exercise in futility to fight or attempt to manipulate God and insist on your own way; God may grant it and say, "Okay, have it your way!" (Psalm 81:12, NASB, says: "So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk in their own devices.") This is what we don't want, believe it or not, because our way is of chaos and will not result in blessing--the Father knows best and we ought to trust Him! When God says "No" we must accept it as the grace of God and His refusal is always merciful, as a doting parent withholds candy from a baby.
The problem we have is that we are captives of time, and "time and tide wait for no man" (Sir Walter Scott); however, God is independent of the time-space continuum and sees and knows all, and is the only one in position to answer prayer wisely. We must realize that most of our prayers are self-serving if we don't commit to God's will and we pray with strings attached, wanting something out of God. When God says "No" we shouldn't feel disheartened, for the Father said "No" to Jesus at Gethsemane, much to Jesus' dismay. We all have to accept that God knows best and relinquish ourselves--without being fazed or dismayed in our faith--and we should never react or waver because of a negative answer.
One chief reason that God doesn't answer our prayers is that we give up and resign to accept fate, as it were. "We should always pray and not lose heart" (cf. Luke 18:1). That is, persevere or be persistent! The point Jesus made in the Sermon on the Mount is that we should keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking (cf. Matt. 7:7). Cotton Mather prayed for two or more hours every day for twenty years, and the revival he prayed for came the year he died.
And so, it seems that sometimes God isn't' saying "No" to us, but testing our patience and waiting till the time is right. Only He knows when the time is right and the future is in His hands according to His timetable, not ours. Knowing God's will is paramount; for if you knew that all that happened to you was to the glory of God, and ultimately served to the advance of the gospel, wouldn't you rejoice and be glad? Aren't you glad that sometimes God had something better in mind for you? If God answered all our prayers as we wanted, we'd soon mess up our lives if God were to always say, "Okay, have it your way!"
The motivation to pray is not to get something out of God or to get what we want, but to allow God to display His glory. We don't pray to get our will done in heaven, but God's will done on earth, it is said. The joy is in praying or enjoying fellowship and in the secure knowledge that He hears us, not that an occasional prayer is nixed or denied. Nevertheless, rejoice that God hears you and has inclined His ear to your petitions and that He even answers one of them is a "bonus" or fringe benefit of knowing Him.
The essence of prayer, then, is aligning ourselves with the will of God to achieve His glory. So get in harmony with God and it will be no problem when He says "No." Your prayers will avail with God, and accomplish His glory and will when you meet all requisites for praying in the Spirit. The miracle and wonder are that He is inclined to hear us and answer any of our prayers, not that He refuses one petition. We must realize that fact that prayer is not some abracadabra or mantra to get our "wish list" accomplished by following some formula that God is obliged to obey. There is some type of protocol like praying to the Father, in the name of the Son, in the Spirit (per Eph. 2:18) and know that God is no debtor of man and will answer all prayer that glorifies Him and is according to His plan. Soli Deo Gloria!
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