Shall we? We are going to look now on why prayers go unanswered. We've been looking at supplication, asking God for things, but now we are going to address why prayers go unanswered. Let's go the Lord in prayer, shall we? O Lord God, this is your holy word. We are your servants. Give us understanding that we might know your testimonies. You have prayed, O Lord, sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. Use your holy, eternal, inerrant written word to set us apart this day to your service and to your glory. Show us now great and mighty things which we do not know. The sower sows the word. Let not your word go out and return empty, but accomplish that purpose for which you have drawn us together and for which you are now sending it out. Protect us from Satan who will snatch your word. Protect us from the world's cares and the delight of wealth and the passion of other interests which enter in and choke your word. Protect us from a wrong reaction to difficulties and discouragements and persecutions which make our hearts hard and unresponsive to your word. Rather, plow out now the hard ground of our hearts, O Lord. Give us good soil that your sown word might send roots downward and their bare fruit upwards. Unshield now the sword of your spirit, O Lord. Cut to the dividing point of bone and marrow, soul and spirit. Judge now the thoughts and intentions of each heart gathered here. spread your word before us as a banquet table oh lord grant grace that we might eat of the rich meat and drink of the sweet milk of the great doctrines of your word give us the heart of the prophet who cried to you thy words were found and i did eat them and thy words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. O LORD, we live in a dark and a wicked age. Broad is the way, and many are on it, which leads to destruction. Make your word a light to our path. Make your word a lamp to our feet. Show us that narrow way that you would have us run. And Lord, as we run in the paths of your commandments, enlarge our hearts, that in loving you, we might be more obedient to your written word. Drop your word against our lives as a plumb line, oh Lord. Grant grace that we might see how we deviate from its high and holy purposes. Make your word to us a mirror, O Lord. Grant grace that we might not be as those who look and go away and forget, but make us active doers, not forgetful listeners of your holy word. O LORD, because of our fealty to You, because of our undying love and devotion to Your Son, our resurrected Savior, we pledge to You our total submission to Your holy, eternal, inerrant written Word, and we pledge to You our unquestioning obedience to all of its commands. In the name of our Lord and resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Great, guys. We're going to look now at unanswered prayer. What are some reasons that God does not answer prayer? Now, let's begin, though, by reaffirming that we can bring any prayer to God. Dr. Arnold, if you would look up Hebrews 4, 16. If you would do that, please. And, Pastor, if you would look up 1 Timothy 2, verse 5. Hebrews 4.16, 1 Timothy 2, verse 5. Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need. And now grace is the definition of grace is receiving what is not deserved. The definition of mercy is not receiving what we do deserve, which is judgment and hell. So, as Christians, we can boldly approach God's throne, and we can look to find grace, what we do not deserve, and mercy, and not receive what we do deserve. We will receive mercy, not receive God's judgment. And we do this in the name of Jesus. Pastor, if you would read 1 Timothy 2.5, please. Let's see, let's unmute you. 1 Timothy 2.5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. So we are able to go into God's presence in the name of Jesus boldly. And God wants us to do this. He desires fellowship with us. But we do that as His children and as His servant. He is not our servant that we send on errands. So we are free to ask Him for anything without fear of being judged. But that doesn't mean that we are going to give anything. We are going to receive grace and mercy. Who is in charge? The one making the request or the one fulfilling the request? The one fulfilling the request. So let's look at Luke 22, 24 through 27. Luke 22. And Dr. Arnold, if you will look at Luke 9, 23, please. Loop 22? Mm-hmm. Okay. 23 to 27, you said? 24 through 27. Okay. Loop 22. Sorry. I don't know. Okay. And 24 says, a dispute also arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the one who serves. For who is the greater, the one who reclines at table, or the one who serves? Is he not the one that returns that table? But I am among you as the one who serves. And here Jesus is giving us an example of being a servant leader. But he is not our servant. Mark 10.45, the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10.45. So Jesus came among us as a servant but we must never forget that he is a servant in the way that a benevolent father, a benevolent Lord, a benevolent King serves his children or his country. But he is not our servant. Luke 9.23, Dr. Arnold. Luke 9.23 says that, uh, who? Well, then he said to them, if anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, pick up his cross daily, So, it is our responsibility to follow Jesus, to deny ourselves, and to take up the cross and follow Him. But many people in their prayer life seem to have this backwards. They think God is supposed to be following them and answering their prayers as they sing God on errands. and they can become indignant or even angry at God, even questioning the existence of God if God doesn't do what they tell him to do. Now there are some reasons then for unanswered prayer. Deuteronomy 1, 41-46 Then you said to me, we have sinned against the Lord, we will indeed go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us. And every man of you girded on his weapon of war, and regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country. And the Lord said to them, say to them, do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you, otherwise you will be defeated before your enemies. So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead, you rebelled against the command of the Lord and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill countries. The Amorites who lived in the hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and crushed you from Seir to Hamra. Then you returned and went before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to your voice nor give ear to you. You see, prayer that is in direct disobedience to God's word will not be answered. So it's imperative for us to know what the will and word of God specifically says when we are taking our request to God. If you are unhappy with your wife and you ask God to give you a different wife, God will not receive that prayer. He has already said in Ephesians 5.25, love your wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. He has already told us in Malachi 3 that he hates divorce. is already told us that we are not, in Malachi, that we are not to break the covenant that we made with God in marriage. We have already been told in Genesis, in the Gospels, in the Epistles, that when God is joined together, let no man separate, that the two become one flesh. They leave their father and mother. So, God is not going to answer the prayer to give you a different wife. But there's a danger when we do not know the Word of God and we do not know that we are asking for something that is not His will. And that danger is 1 John 4 1 1 John 4 1 Dr. Arnold, would you read 1 John 4.1 please? 1 John 4.1 says that Dear friends, do not delude every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets are from other spirits. Yeah, God the Holy Spirit is not the only spirit There are many false spirits, and we are exhorted to test these spirits, to discern whether the spirit is from God or not. And the danger of not knowing God's will is that we can be deceived into thinking something is God's will by the leadership of a false spirit. Pastor, would you read 2 Corinthians 11, 2 Corinthians 11, verse 14 please. 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 verse 14 Second Corinthians 11 14 It says no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light So if we don't know the Word of God and we are looking for leadership of the Spirit Any spirit can lead us anywhere God the Holy Spirit says there's a way that seems right to a man whose end is the way of death. We can even think, hey, this seems right to us. Just as it seemed right to Israel. They said, well, God in the past had told us to go up, so we're going to go up. Moses said, no, don't go up. Now it is not God's will. They said, well, it was God's will before, we'll do it. But it wasn't God's will. So prayer that is in direct disobedience to God's word will not be answered. If we persist in asking something that is in disobedience to God's word, Satan will be happy to grant it to us, even in a miraculous way. Job 14.5, this is number two, since his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and his limits you have set so that he cannot pass. The preordained will of God will cause God not to answer prayers. He's already preordained certain things. One is our death. Hebrews 9.27, it's appointed for men to die once and after that comes judgment. God has set the number of months and there are limits which we cannot pass. Nothing has gone wrong when someone dies and goes to heaven. that should not create in us a crisis of faith. You know, if I am fortunate enough this week to die and go to heaven, and you are unfortunate enough to have to stay on the face of the earth, this sinful body on this sinful planet, well, you know, just be patient, you'll get to go to heaven too. But don't feel sorry for me, I'll probably be feeling sorry for you, that you are not in heaven with me. We all die by organ failure. Either by disease, such as cancer, by trauma, such as an automobile accident, or we die when our organs simply just wear out. We all die by organ failure. If, by faith, God heals all organ failure, then who's in heaven? Well, the people without faith. That's upside down Christianity. By faith, we do not stay out of heaven. By faith, we go to heaven. and when it is God's will for us to go to heaven we are going to go to heaven and you won't want to stay here on earth because God has a reason for doing things so if someone is sick and you're praying for them to get well and instead they die and go to heaven don't have a crisis of faith that is the greater miracle and that is why they became a Christian to go to heaven and now they're getting to go to heaven and all the Christians are having a crisis of faith. No, that's upside down Christianity. It's all backwards. We should rejoice when someone goes to heaven. Now, we can grieve at the loss of fellowship, but we do not despair. We are happy for them, even though we will miss them. Psalm 66, 18. If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear. So, clinging to wickedness will cause our prayers not to be answered. This passage doesn't say, if I sin, God won't hear my prayers, because we all sin. But notice this person is regarding wickedness in his heart. He knows it's there. He knows it is sin. And he is clinging to it. God will not answer his prayers because God wants to bring him to repentance. God wants this person's success spiritually. So God is not going to judge him, but God will discipline him. And one of the ways God can discipline us and bring us to repentance is by not answering our prayers. Hebrews 12, verse 10. Dr. Arnold, would you read that please? I'm going to make you work today, Dr. Arnold. I'm going to designate you my Bible reader. Now God is not going to judge us. He has already judged Jesus in our place. But God will discipline us and in verse 10 He disciplines us for a reason, and when he disciplines, it results in something. So we look at why he disciplines us first, and then what is the result. What is God's motivation in disciplining us there, Dr. Arnold? The other question is holiness. Okay, yeah, and that's the result. You're exactly right. but when it says He disciplines us for something for us, what is it? Yeah, He disciplines us for our good. So we don't have to worry when I sin, what bad thing will God do to me? It will be good. It may be painful, but it will be good, and it will result in us being more holy, more like Him, which results in riches in heaven. So God does not want to be answering our prayers and blessing us when we are clinging to known wickedness. He will be disciplining us, bringing us to repentance so that we can grow spiritually. It is for our good. Now we'll look next, number four, at Proverbs 15, 8 and 29. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. but the prayer of the upright is his delight. The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous." Now, we have the righteousness of Christ. We have, when we receive Christ, Christ comes to live in us. Revelation 3.20 Behold I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice I will come into him and he with him and he with you. We have Christ within us. In Colossians 2 verse 9 it says all the fullness of the Godhead, the Trinity, dwells in Christ bodily. And we know that Christ is in us, Colossians says. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 119, for it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him. And verse 20, and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him I say whether things on earth or things in heaven. So, God does not view us as wicked. When he looks upon us, he sees the righteousness of Christ which has been imputed into us when we receive Christ. But God will not receive the prayer of the wicked by any means. Whether Muslim, Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, Hindu, Buddhist, it does not matter They are under the judgment of God and God does not receive the prayers of the wicked. So when somebody tells me, well I quit praying because God never answered any of my prayers, one of the first things I want to do with a person who has become dismayed over his prayers is to share the gospel with him. To find out if he is sincerely a Christian. there is only one prayer one action of the non-christian which god receives and that's found in john six john six twenty eight therefore he said to him what shall we do that we may work the works of god now that's a good question isn't it what are the works of god let tell us so we can do that and jesus said this is the work of God that you believe in him who he has said that's the work of God so in James when we read faith without works is dead we understand that the work of God is to believe so belief without receiving Christ is dead Faith without belief in Christ is dead. People can put their faith in many things, but we place our faith in Christ and God does not hear the prayer of the wicked. Proverbs 21, 13, He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered. A heartless response to those in need will cause our prayers to not be answered. Now, there do exist professional poor. We have them here in America. And they make their living by begging and they make a very good living at it. We're not talking about them. We're talking about widows, orphans, Those people who are genuinely disabled, those people who are poor through no action of their own, and they are crying out for help, and we should help them. Proverbs 28.9, he who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination. So the lawless person, whether in relationship with the Word of God or with secular laws, God will not hear their prayer. Christians, there is the expectation of God that Christians be law-abiding citizens and a good example to all. that we should never suffer for breaking the law. Let's look here at 1 Peter 3, verse 20. For what credit is there if when you sin you are harshly treated? You endure it with patience? But if you do what is right and suffer, If you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. And if you are suffering for Christ, you are in God's favor, God is listening to your prayers, and God is rewarding you. But if you are simply being lawless, God is not going to receive your prayers for deliverance of the consequences of your lawlessness. I remember I was invited to speak at a student meeting within the evening, so I drove over to this campus. They told me there was a classroom building, a classroom in a building where the meeting was being held. A student met me and this ministry escorted me over there. There were about 20 or 30 students in the classroom. They had a table set up with a podium and we sang. They made some announcements, then they turned it over to me to speak. About halfway through my message, a campus policeman came and said that there had been a complaint that people were meeting in this building and it was closed and no reservation had been made. Well, it turns out the student leader who was responsible for reserving the room didn't get around to it. So he just opened it up anyways. And we were all kicked out. Well, some of the students began talking about persecution and I said, we are not being persecuted. This has resulted because of sin. We can't pray and ask God to deliver us from this policeman who's doing his duty. Whoever the student leaders are should go to the policeman and ask forgiveness of the fact that he had to spend his time correcting Christians when he should be going after the lawless. So God is not going to hear the words and prayers of lawless people. I know when I was teaching seminary before a test, I would say, well, let's pray before I administer this test, and I would pray, Lord, some people have worked very hard at studying. They have been very faithful in class attendance, reading their assignments, doing their homework, and studying. I pray that you would honor that and give them good grades. Others have been lazy and have not been working hard. I pray that you would not cheapen the sacrifice of the hard workers by honoring those who did not work hard. Well, I know that there were some students there who were indeed lazy. They were too spiritual to study and I know that they just prayed before a test that God would just bless them and allow them to make a good grade without studying. Well, that's lawless. They are being lawless. and the person who turns away his ear from listening to the law, whether it's the classroom standards and responsibilities which I've set down or whether the university standards or the Word of God, God is not going to hear those prayers. Isaiah 115, so when you spread out your hands in prayer I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. Violent murderers are those who allow injustice to result in the death of another. God is not going to hear their prayers. Corrupt politicians, corrupt policemen, who if they did themselves do not murder their corruption, allows murder to take place. Drug dealers, even though they may not personally murder something, their drugs end in death. Doctors who perform abortions, doctors who perform euthanasia of the elderly, doctors who perform euthanasia of people that they consider mentally deficient, God will not hear their prayers, those whose hands are covered with blood. Isaiah 59, 1-3 Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor is his ear dull that he cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, your fingers with iniquity, your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness. Those who know and practice wickedness, God will not hear their prayers. And I believe this is specifically talking about non-Christians. They have made a separation between you and God. And we know in the bridge illustration, we see that separation is so clear. is clearly illustrated. Sin, death, and judgment have made a separation between man and his desire for God's love, the abundant and eternal life. And only Christ can allow us to cross that chasm from death to life. john five twenty four truly truly i say to you here's my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life he does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life and when we are born again when we become a child of god that separation is brought to an end but until then But until that point, God does not hear the prayers of those who know and practice wickedness. Jeremiah 7, 9, and 10, will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, offer sacrifices to Baal, walk after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house which is called by my name and say, we are delivered, that you may continue to do all these abominations. And God does not hear the prayer of the man who is knowingly living a double life, the unrepentant hypocrite. whether it's adultery, fornication, pornography, drunkenness, any type of vice, violence, thievery, whatever it is, follow language, living one way during the week and then coming into church on Sunday and praying for deliverance, God is not going to hear that prayer. The hypocrite thinks purely by his words and by claiming verses he can receive the blessing of God. But Joshua 1.8 says, this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate upon it day and night, that you might be careful to do all that is written in it. Then you will make your way prosperous. Then you will have good success. And those in the Pentecostal charismatic movement, those evangelical mystics who want to claim the verses that deal with the blessing of God, while ignoring those verses that say the blessing of God is predicated upon obedience to the Word of God will go away empty handed. We are not free just to claim verses on blessing and ignore the contingencies John 15, 7. If you abide in me, and my word abides in you, then ask whatever you will, and it will be done for you. We are not simply able to quote that verse, ask whatever you will, and it will be done for you, because the Bible doesn't say that. The Bible says that if we abide in Christ and His word abides in us, that we can ask whatever we will. Hypocrisy is condemned by God. Habakkuk 1, 1-3, How long, O Lord, will I call for help? How long, O Lord, will I call for help and you will not hear? I cry out to you, violence, yet you do not save. Why do you make me see iniquity? Why do you cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me. Strife exists and contention arises. And we know that the righteous can get caught up in the judgment of the wicked. As God's hand of judgment falls upon the world before the return of Christ, things will become steadily worse. I tell the men in my men's Bible study that there will be a great revival and Jesus is not coming back anytime soon. Or, Jesus is coming back soon and there is going to be great persecution. But the prophecies are clear. and no amount of prayer for peace and prosperity will thwart the ongoing march of the prophetic judgment of God upon the earth before Jesus comes. And we as the righteous can be caught up in that. Now the good news is, is founding James. In James 1 verse 12, blessed is the man who perseveres under trial for once he has been approved he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. And there is great excitement and joy when we are caught up in trials of which are none of our doing. Because if we endure If we, like Job, cry out, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him, in Job 13, 15. If even when the Chaldeans come down and destroy everything, when we are ill, When fire falls from heaven, when tornadoes and storms strike and destroy everything, none of those things were as a result of Job's actions, and God blessed his faith. And there will be a crown for us, for those who endure such things faithfully. And that was what Habakkuk faced. God's hand of judgment was falling upon the nation of Israel. And here's this nice guy. Habakkuk. He was a prophet. And he was forced to see violence and the iniquity that was around him and the wickedness. And then the destruction and violence that God was bringing upon Israel. The strife and contention. And so what was his application in chapter 3 verse 17? And this is in my prayer notebook. And by God's grace, I, like Habakkuk, will say, Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olives should fail, and the fields produce no fruit, though the flocks should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exalt in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." No matter how bad things are, we can rejoice in our salvation and praise God for that, no matter how bad things are. In Matthew 4, 7, Jesus said to him, on the other hand, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to test. you shall not put the Lord your God to test. God will not answer a prayer whereby we seek to test God. Are you a good God? Are you a sovereign God? Are you really there? No, God feels under no burden to prove himself to us, to prove his character to us, to prove his power or his miraculous ability to us. if during this bible study i sent an email to the office of the president and said i have a bible study and there are people here who don't believe you're president i'm going to ask you to make an appearance right now do you think the president would stop what he was doing and fly to houston to prove himself no how much more will god judge us for those types of tests. He's not going to answer those prayers. We are commanded not to put the Lord God to test. Hand in hand with that are signs and fleeces. Rather than trusting in the written word of God to trust in a sign or a fleece, Matthew 12, 38 and 39, then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, We want to see a sign from you. But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. And we should remember that. It's a very dangerous thing to ask God for signs because Satan is able, any demon is able to perform a sign. If we are looking for a fleece, a sign as to whether something is God's will or not, we should remember 2 Thessalonians 2 9 that is the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan with all power signs and false wonders and with all deception of wickedness. We should remember the admonition of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in His great Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapter 7, verse 22, Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? In your name cast out demons, in your name perform miracles, and I will declare to them, I never knew you. Any demon can perform a sign or a wonder, and we can be led astray. God will not answer that prayer. In fact, he rebukes people who test God or who ask for signs. Rash prayers will not be answered. Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus, her sons, with her sons, bowing down and making a request of them. And he said to her, what do you wish? She said to him, command in your kingdom that these two sons of mine may sit on your right and your left. But Jesus answered, you do not know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup I'm about to drink? And they said to him, we're able. But they thought they were going to be drinking from the King's cup that first the wine taster would taste. But to be on the right and the left of Jesus would be to take the place of the two thieves on the cross. And God did not answer this rash prayer. He had a plan for these two disciples. And that plan was not to be crucified on Jesus' right and left. So, we should realize, Matthew 4, 7, God is not going to answer a prayer that tests God. Matthew 12, 38, 39, nor is God going to answer a prayer that presents a fleece to God. And we need to remember that any demon can do a miracle. And so, if we begin asking for signs that God would prove who He is, or signs that God would show us His will, a demon can provide that for us. We should remember that God will not answer our rash prayers, but to me, this gives me great confidence. If I thought God was going to answer every prayer of mine, I would be afraid to pray. I want to present my prayers to God, but then I always want to say, but don't do this if this is not best for me. John 15, 7. If you abide in me, and my word abides in you, ask whatever you will, and it will be done for you. If we are not abiding in Christ, or his word is not abiding in us, or both, then God is not going to answer. those prayers. God's answer to prayer is going to be predicated upon that it is God's will and in accordance with God's word which are synonymous. 2 Corinthians 12, 7-10 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn of the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Concerning this, I implored the Lord three times that I might leave me. And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I would rather boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am in content with weakness, insults, distress, persecution, difficulties. For Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. You don't want to get to heaven and find out you don't have any riches in heaven, any crowns in heaven, because every time God was going to take you through something difficult to refine your faith, to make you stronger, that the end result would be riches in heaven, that He answered your prayer and you remained a weak, fat, pudgy little baby all your life. You don't want that. God is not going to answer prayers to deliver us from suffering when it is His will for our life. First Timothy 2.8, Therefore I want men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and distinction. When we are part of distinction or wrath in the church and ministry, God is not going to answer our prayer. And it behooves pastors to remind their congregation and many street leaders to remind the people in their ministry that God wants men who are praying to do so without wrath and without dissension. James 1 5-7 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." Now remember, this man is asking for wisdom. a verse in my prayer notebook, Psalm 119, 125. I am thy servant, give me understanding that I may know thy testimonies. And I have been praying this since my earliest years as a Christian when I first started leading a Bible study back in 1971 and put together a prayer notebook. So we ask without doubting but we don't just ask for anything without doubt. Here, we're asking for wisdom, like Solomon did. We're asking in accordance with the word of God, not to spend things selfishly upon us. James 4.3, you ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures. God will not answer prayers when we are not thinking of the glory of God nor the kingdom of God, His Church, but rather simply ourselves. God is not an ATM machine and we have the pin number, that's the magic verse, Jesus' name. No, God has a plan for us, we are His servants to do His will. God is happy to grant our prayers when we are seeking his glory and the promotion of his kingdom, your honor. When we pray as Paul did in Romans 10.1, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they might be saved. God is happy to answer those prayers. 1 Peter 3.7 You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way as with someone weaker, since she is a woman, and show her honor as a fellow heir in the grace of life. Why? So that your prayers may not be hindered. Any type of emotional abuse, any type of physical abuse, any type of neglect of your wife materially, We want to come to God with our requests, but God has questions for us. Why are you taking better care of my daughter? Why are you abusing my daughter? I entrusted her to you for your care, for care and comfort, and yet you never come home. You were never with her. God's not going to answer the prayer of the neglectful husband, the abusive husband. First John 3.22, and whatever we ask we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. When we are indifferent to the commandments of God, when we are indifferent to pleasing God, God becomes indifferent to our prayers. Not because he ceases to love us, but because he knows that is not best. I insisted that children were expressed thankfulness to their mother. I insisted that they obeyed their mother. If they didn't, I disciplined them, not because I ceased to love them, but because I wanted what was best for them. Proverbs 31, 28. Her children rise up and bless her. Ephesians 6, 1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Verse 2. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise. Verse 3. That it may be well with you, and you live long on the earth. And I wanted it to be well with them. I wanted them to live long on the earth. Therefore, verse 5. Verse 4. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Therefore I disciplined them and instructed them, not because I had ceased to love them and simply wanted to persecute them and make them angry, but because I did love them and wanted what was best for them. 1st John 5, 14 and 15. This is the confidence that we have before Him. That if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know He hears us in whatever we ask, we know we have the request which we have asked for Him. Prayers are not answered if they are not God's will. That seems so simple. God differentiates between our will and his will and so should we. We are on a life long quest to not be conformed to this world but to be transformed. John 17, 17 says, sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. And what we desire is the word of God to transform our lives so that our prayers will conform to the will and word of God. And if it is not God's will, we don't want God to do it, do we? Can you imagine the chaos Just think of something as simple as the weather. Let's see, Jesus stilled the storm. If you have the faith of the mustard seed, you'll be able to do this as well. Okay, let's see. I have enough faith. I can start manipulating the weather. So there we are in Lagos or in your one day. One man wants it to snow. Another man wants it to rain. Another man wants fire and lightning and hailstones to fall on the city to bring it to repentance. Another man wants sunshine. Another man wants drought to bring it to repentance. Another man wants a flood. Another man wants, wants, wants. Think of the chaos. And that's just one little area. Think of the chaos in the church. Think of the chaos in your life. If anybody could pray anything for you, and God would always do it, know God is going to do His will. And the glorious thing is that we can boldly approach the throne of grace and receive grace, mercy, and help. But we do not get to tell God what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. That's upside down Christianity. He tells us what, how, and when. And we call upon Him to bless us as we seek to serve Him. We ask God to watch over us, to protect us, to bring glory to his name. And we ask others to pray for us in the same manner. That brings us to next week which is intercession. 2nd Thessalonians 3 verse 1, Finally, brother, pray for us that the word of God would spread rapidly and be glorified just as it did with you, and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men, for not all have the faith. And that's what we want. That's what we want to pray for ourselves and for others. God would be glorified. God's Word would be glorified. Our lives would be conformed to the Word of God that we would be preserved to minister and to serve Him should it be His will. So here are 21 reasons that I've collected over the years during my reading program of why God doesn't answer prayer. It's by no means exhaustive. If you have a thought that comes to mind, a verse that comes to mind that does not come under the heading of one of these 21 subjects, then please send it to me. I'll add number 22. Or if you have a good cross-reference, go ahead and send it to me. I am more than open to it. But what we get out of this study on why God does not answer prayer is first to reflect on our own life and make sure that our prayer life is not hindered or stunted by known sin, by our own actions. The second is to reflect and rejoice in the fact that since God will only do His will We can with boldness and confidence bring anything to Him and He will sort it out for what is best for us. May God add His blessing to His Holy Word. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.