Why doesn't God answer prayers?

Prayer is mind-blowing. On top of the whole salvation thing, we have been invited to bring praise and thanksgiving before God in a way that is both freeing for us, and acceptable to Him in this life! More than that, we have been told to petition our desires to God, and assured that He will bring them to fruition. We have been released in spiritual gifts, commanded to heal, to prophecy, to perform miracles. How amazing is that!! I can't even understand free will vs predestination, and now God tells me I can change things supernaturally, through the Holy Spirit?! May we not loose sight of what a privilege prayer is.

However, regardless of our religious disposition, most of us would agree that God doesn't answer a lot of prayers. For an atheist, or even a deist, the explanation is simple; God never answers prayers because He either doesn't exist or does not intervene in our universe. Even among Christians, some adhere to the position of Cessationism which argues that spiritual gifts ceased with the early church apostles, and with the completion of the New Testament canon.

The trouble is that none of these positions really explain why, as it will appear to most Christians, "prayer sometimes works". Of course the fact that some petitions come to pass and others don't doesn't mean that there is a God who is answering prayers. One would expect the same result praying to a teapot. But what if you know beyond reasonable doubt that God has, on occasion answered your prayers, but many other times He simply has not?

The mainstream view talked about most in Christian circles seems to be the idea of "God always answers prayers. Sometimes 'Yes', sometimes 'No', and sometimes 'Wait' ". But the implication here is not usually that God tells you the answer, simply that you deduce the answer from what happens. At this point alarm bells should be ringing. After all, what other options could there be? And how do you know the difference between God saying 'Yes' and saying 'Wait'? This system practically tells us nothing about prayer, other than apparently suggesting that God doesn't talk back.

Before I go on, it's worth pointing out that I'm as much ranting at myself as anyone else. Sorry if it comes across as accusatory! Also this is a seperate question to the whole "Why does a loving powerful God allow evil to happen." Check out "The problem of evil" or "Free will vs Predestination" for that!

Anyway, a lot of prayers these days are along the lines of "please bless this person", "may they feel refreshed in the morning", "draw them closer to You", "show me your will", and "please give me strength/wisdom/authority/health/wealth/a six pack". They seem cheap, placebo-loaded and very petitionary. They tend to either be egocentric, simply up-building, or virtually untestable. Which is convenient, as it doesn't require God to do anything much at all.

This is a far cry from the radical, concise, and authoritative prayer lives described throughout Scripture. The men and women of God who would spend most of their prayer time proclaiming Gods sovereignty, or wrestling with His will, and then would heal and prophecy and perform miracles. It was certainly God working through them in these things, but they released the spirit with their actions. There was groaning, crying, shouting, passion and sheer relentlessness in their "quiet times"!

It would perhaps be wise of us to remember that the Lord's prayer began, not with a shopping list, but with adoration; "Our Father in Heaven, hallowed by Thy name". Jesus intended this prayer to be a generic framework from which we can learn how to pray, but this prayer is still more specific than most of our prayers today. After exaltation comes a radical sentence: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as in Heaven".  We have to bear in mind here that God's will for Jesus involved scourging, crucifixion and separation from Himself! Do we pray for God's will to be done, our too easily want Him to fit His will around our petty desires?

This is a prayer from someone desiring God's will above their own, and announcing their complete surrender to Him in all they do. God is proclaimed sovereign over all things, and is adored rather than flooded with all of the wants and needs of the one praying. It is prophetic and spoken in faith, rather than reading like the wish list of a spoilt child.

I am not saying that petition is not a vital part of prayer. There is simply more to being in communion with God than asking Him for things. In Psalm 27, David praises God, declaring "One thing do I desire, the thing I seek the most, is to dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life". Can we say that with David? If you looked at the transcripts of your prayers from the past month would you find the predominant theme to be seeking God's presence? Too often we'd find the predominant theme simply being that with which our flesh is most interested in at the time.

It is clear that we are supposed to pray a lot - "Pray without ceasing" - 1 Thessalonians 5:17,
and that some of this prayer should be petitionary - "Brothers, pray for us" - 1 Thessalonians 5:28, and that God answers believers prayers - "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it shall be yours" - Mark 11:24.

So what is going wrong? Why are our prayers not being answered all of the time?

Proverbs 15:29 says "The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayers of the righteous" and James 5:16 says "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working". To be righteous means to be made right before God. To be seen as holy and blameless in His presence. This comes when we accept Jesus as our saviour, as He intercedes for us, before God.

It is also apparent that our motives must not be convoluted. "When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And you Father who sees in secret shall reward you." - Matthew 6:6. Praying with other people is great, but there are so many potential hidden agendas (social status, therapy, encouragement, manipulation) that are not necessarily bad, but that dilute the potency behind your prayers. Prayers in private serve no purpose other than communication with God.

Coming before God with requests should also be taken seriously, and carried out with reverence. "Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears ... and He was heard because of His reverence." - Hebrews 5:7

It seems clear from Scripture that those close to God will have their prayers answered. We cannot view prayer as a big lottery, where some people just seem to have the knack while others don't. Those who walk close to God have authority in prayer, and so our response to God not answering our prayers should not be "Why is God not doing what He said He would?", but rather "What is it that I am doing wrong that is getting between me and God?"

It is worth also mentioning that withdrawing any grudges we have is important to do before we pray: "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone..." - Mark 11:25, and that some things require fasting in conjunction with prayer: "This kind does not come out expect by prayer and fasting" - Matthew 17:21, though this appears to apply in fairly specific circumstances.

Residual pride, or independence, can stand between us and God. Isaiah 44;3 says "I will pour my water upon him that is thirsty, and flood the dry ground." If we already consider ourselves satisfied without God then how can He be expected to answer us? One cannot pour water into a cup that is already full.

Perhaps we are simply not praying enough. Paul says in Phillipians 4:6: "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God." God encourages us to not just tell Him our requests, but to make them known to Him, to keep knocking. This is not because God is senile and needs reminding over and over. Neither, I believe, is it merely so that we can "show God" how important it is to us. Just as the act of expressing adoration completes, as well as communicates, love between two parties, as we dig deep in prayer the issue takes root more deeply in our being.

Wrong motives can also hinder our authority, as is made clear in James 4:3, "You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts", as can lack of love and generosity: "Who so stopped his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard"- Proverbs 21:13.

Of course sometimes the cliché answers are spot on. Sometimes it is simply not God's will. Often God's timing is not our own. In fact too often we fail to notice when God does answer our prayers! The take home message is that God has empowered every one of His disciples with spiritual authority when we pray. Sometimes we wont see answers to petitions, healings, conversions etc. But if we struggle to think of any times when God has unambiguously answered our prayers then something has gone wrong. And it's probably not God's fault.