(Note: this page is intended for Christians; if you are not a Christian you are free to read but this page is not intended for you)
John 16:23
“...my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”
Even though Jesus did say we will get anything we ask for in his name and belief, looking through the rest of the Bible reveals that is not always true for all Christians:
Because Christians the apostle James was talking to asked God for things, but still did not get what they asked for:
James 4:3
“...You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive,…”
Why didn’t they receive? Was it because they did not pray in Jesus’s name? Was it because they did not believe they would receive it? No, James does not say this is the reason they’re not getting what they ask for (so we can assume they did ask in Jesus's name and believed they were going to get what they asked for) James points out an entirely different reason their prayers were not getting answered:
James 4:1-3
“…You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
So, this statement alone proves that not every single prayer in the name of Jesus in faith automatically gets answered! So, there is a limit to prayer being answer: even in the name of Jesus and in faith. And there are obviously certain conditions that have to be meet for prayer to get answered by God, so the question is what are those conditions and limits to God answering prayer?
Asking for something for the wrong reasons
James gives this as the reason for these Christian’s prayers not being answered like they should: They were asking God to give them a life of self-pleasure; particularly they were asking for fine and expensive items they really wanted just so they could use those items to selfishly live in luxury.
Why James does say right before this that they didn’t have things they wanted because they didn’t ask God in prayer to give it to them, he obviously does not mean asking for things just so we can live in luxury. This does not necessarily mean we can never ask for personal things we want or could enjoy, but it was to point out to these Christians that they were talking to God for the wrong reasons and that the wrong reason for asking for these things: it seems they were just talking to God in order to ask him for things to use for themselves rather than to just have a relationship with him and ask for things that matter more to him.
So therefore, if we pray for the wrong reasons other than trying to have a relationship with God or asking for something meaningful to him, then he most likely will deny that prayer.
Praying against God’s will
Another important factor of prayer being answered is if the thing being asked for agrees with God’s ultimate will: John says we can only have confidence that God hears (or considers/answers) our requests in our prayers if we ask for something that ultimately agrees with his will:
1 John 5:14
“...This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”
If God considers/will answer our requests only if they agree with his will then logically the opposite is probably true: If a request disagrees/is against his will then God will not consider/answer the prayer! So, this means even if you are asking for something in Jesus's name and believe you will receive it, if the thing you ask is against his will, he still might not give it to you!
Guilty of constantly living in sin
Despite being saved from God’s wrath when we became Christians, remember that God is still a holy God that hates sin of any type and though you as a Christian are forgiven and saved from Hell if your present attitude/behaviors are not in the right place (even if you are a Christian) this could cause God to react differently to your prayers and possibly even ignore them all together!
God still hears the prayers of sinning Christians (and really hears any human’s prayer directed to him for that matter) God himself reveals this to Isaiah that he was still able to hear the prayers of his people, but that was not the problem (or the reason why he wasn’t answering them) the problem was his people who were still praying to him were constantly were also sinning against him, since they refused to deal with their sin that they should have known was clearly offending him, he was ignoring their prayers in return:
Isaiah 59:1-3
“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear (your prayer). But your iniquities (sins) have separated you from your God (your sins have ruined your relationship with your God); your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear(He ignores your prayers).”
Isaiah 1:15-16
“When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; 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.”
So, he purposely chooses to ignore prayers from people like this, because of the sinful evil state they're in that they refuse to deal with the sin first.
While as Christians, we should not be trying to live in sin each day, there are specific sins that the Bible really points out that are connected to causing God to ignore our prayers, out of all sins that can do this, these are the main ones that will definitely cause God to ignore and not answer your prayers.
Refusing to forgive someone you should (forgiveness hypocrisy)
If you hold a grudge against anyone who has asked for forgiveness and you have not forgiven them like you should or even just refuse to forgive them before you pray to God, you need to realize this will cause some problems with your prayers as Jesus is quick to point out:
Mark 11:25
“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them,…”
He says the reason you should immediately deal with this is because God holds your sins against you until you forgive them:
Mark 11:25
“...forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
It’s important to remember if you haven’t forgiven someone like you should, God has not forgiven you of your sin and will probably treat your prayers like a sinner's prayer (he will basically ignore them). For more information on the importance of Forgiveness read “The importance of Christian forgiveness”.
So, if you're holding a grudge against someone that you should really forgive, you need to immediately stop praying and deal with the problem and forgive them!
If you are a husband abusing your wife
If you are a Christian husband abusing your wife/not showing her proper respect like God wants, your prayers will definitely be ignored (or hindered):
1 Peter 3:7
“Husbands,…treat them [wives] with respect as the weaker partner…so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
Because of this statement, Peter seems to be saying that if a husband does abuse his wife, then his prayers to God will be hindered (that is God will ignore and not answer his prayers because of this!).
So, deal with apologizing to your wife and treating her better first, then try to pray!
If your guilty of any of these sins, the only prayer you should be praying (and that God would really listen to) is a prayer repenting to God for your sin! But even if you're not guilty of any of these particular sins if you are guilty of anything you know God disproves of it will impact how God responds to your prayers! So, If you are guilty of continuing to do any sin the only prayer you should be praying is a prayer of repentance!
You don’t do what God wants you to do
Not only can sin cause God to not answer your prayers but also not doing what he wants you to do. Jesus’s prayers were always heard (all his prayers were heard and genuinely considered: but not always answered, because it was against God’s will) because of his humble obedience to God’s command:
Hebrews 5:7
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”
So apparently how much a Christian obeys God’s commands for them (wherever those commands are general commands in the Bible for all Christians or personal commands God has revealed to you personally just for you [like in a dream or vision or thought etc.]) it seems to impact how God will consider our prayers. So even if were not committing sinful actions if we are not obeying God’s commands for us like we should then God might ignore our prayers like he would a sinner's.
This is because disobedience is a sin for those who know what they should do, but purposely don’t do them.
James 4:17
“If anyone…knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
So, if you know you're not obeying God like you should you need to start obeying him then pray! If you're not quite sure if you are then you might want to ask God in prayer if you are (he will consider a prayer like this). If we are humbly obedient to him then he will definitely be very willing to consider and even answer our prayers.
The main conclusion
So, according to the entire Bible on the subject Jesus/God will only give us anything and everything we ask him for in prayer IF and ONLY IF we pray for the right reasons for right things, ask for something that agrees with his will, and really try to keep all his commands he asks us to keep AND also do what he asks us to do:
this is what John, one of Jesus’s most beloved apostles, says in a good summary of prayer being answered:
1 John 3:22
“...[we]…receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.”
A Christian who tries to do all these things is called 'a righteous person', and the Bible is pretty clear that a righteous Christian’s prayers are highly considered by God:
Psalm 34:15
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry (prayers);…”
This means he is pretty much going to answer all of them just like Jesus said he would, this is the reason a righteous Christians prayers are both very powerful and very effective:
because God is very likely to answer them all on their behalf!
James 5:16
“ The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
Why Many prayers will very likely be answered from the prayers of a righteous Christian, even then, there still seems to be some prayers that are still not going to be answered:
Prayers not answered:
Some exceptions to the rule
1st prayer not answered:
The freedom of the captured Christians
Shortly after Stephen was killed, some Christians were arrested by King Herod in order to persecute them:
Acts 12:1
“...King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.”
While not openly mentioned in this passage; after some of these Christians were arrested, its probably very likely these Christians who were arrested as well as other Christians who then heard about this immediately began to pray for their freedom:
and most likely they (including most likely, many of the original disciples of Jesus) prayed exactly the way Jesus told them too:
They prayed these Christians (or themselves) be rescued and freed from Herod in Jesus name, they prayed together in unity, they most likely were righteous God obeying Christians, and they most likely believed they would be saved from Herod and Jesus would definitely answer their prayers.
According to everything stated above, they did everything right in order to have their prayers answered, so according to everything stated above, their prayers should definitely have been answered…. However, that did not happen!
One of the captured Christians was one of the 12 original disciples; James: most likely the whole church was praying for him to be saved, yet instead their prayers were not answered, and James was instead killed:
Acts 12:2
“He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.”
Despite how they most likely did everything right, they did not get their prayers answered like Jesus said! This must have been a horrible crushing blow that most likely left them very confused, even though it is not mentioned.
Did these Christians not have enough faith? Were they committing some type of sin to make God not answer their prayers? Did they not pray in Jesus' name?
None of this seems to be the case why these prayers were not answered here: there is strong proof they were righteous Christians that did everything right and understood the correct way to pray because after this tragic event, Peter was then arrested, and most likely Herod would kill him too!
Acts 12:3-4
“...he proceeded to seize Peter also…After arresting him, he put him in prison,…”
But notice right after Peter is arrested, the church is now openly mentioned as ‘earnestly’ praying for Peter:
Acts 12:5
“…the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”
So obviously they knew how to pray and especially pray the way Jesus taught! And they were righteous Christians praying exactly the way Jesus told them to; because this time God answered their prayers and Peter was miraculously freed that night by an Angel:
Acts 12:6-9
“The night…an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. ‘Quick, get up!’ he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, ‘Put on your clothes and sandals…and follow me,’ the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison,…When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches…’”
God faithfully answered their prayers to free Peter! So, we know they were righteous God obeying Christians praying the right way just like Jesus said, but if this is all true as it seems to be then why did God not answer their prayers before to free James/the other Christians?
Let’s take a look at the next unanswered prayer to find out more:
2nd prayer not answered:
Paul’s affliction to be taken away
The apostle Paul begins to seemingly get attacked by Satan one way or another with a type of affliction that ends up tormenting him, he calls this affliction ‘a thorn in his flesh’:
2 Corinthians 12:7-8
“...I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me…”
But knowing the power of prayer very well; Paul began to pray for God to get rid of this tormenting affliction in his life:
2 Corinthians 12:7-8
“….I pleaded (prayed) with the Lord to take it away from me.”
And we can be pretty sure Paul did everything right:
He was a righteous God-obeying Christian so his prayers would definitely not be ignored by God, he definitely prayed in Jesus' name (he says to do this in many of his writings), and he most likely had plenty of faith that God would remove this affliction and it was practically already an answered prayer, and he possibly had other Christians praying for him as well:
He did everything right in his praying, so once again, according to Jesus, he should have definitely had this prayer answered!
However, the first time he prayed it was not answered, so he prayed two more times like this:
2 Corinthians 12:8-9
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.”
He was going to continue praying and doing everything right until God answered the prayer; So, this prayer should have definitely been answered, but it was not and unlike James’s death God directly speaks to Paul after the third prayer and tells him directly why he will not answer it:
2 Corinthians 12:8-9
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you (the prayer will not be answered), for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”
He prayed/asked God to remove this torturing affliction three times this way even though God considered his prayers, God ultimately rejected his pleas (prayers) and even told him he would not remove it because this satanic affliction was keeping him humble and his power would be displayed through his suffering, but his grace would help him through it.
So once again, Paul did everything right in prayer: he prayed in the name of Jesus, he believed he received it would happen, he was a righteous Christian and possibly other Christians prayed for this affliction to leave him too, but despite all this, God did not answer this prayer either!
does this mean that Jesus lied?
Not exactly, why it may seem like it a first, there is another very likely reason:
Why everything might be done right to answer a prayer on the praying Christian’s part, there is one other qualification that has to be meet before a prayer can be answered; and this is on God’s part:
What is asked has to be in God’s will in order to be answered
No matter if every other qualification is meet, if the prayer is not ultimately in God’s will, then God most likely will not answer it!
So, is this why God did not answer these prayers?
Yes, this seems to be the reason, because while God does not necessary explain why he rejected the churches prayer for James’s freedom, this is proven to be the case when God directly tells why he will not answer Paul prayers for a troubling affliction seeming to be sent from Satan to be taken away from him:
The reasons God gives for not answering his prayer, though he did everything right on his part, was because it was not his will to take away this tormenting affliction:
Because this affliction was making his power/strength though Paul more well known to others as well as keeping him humble and from becoming prideful.
2 Corinthians 12:7
“...in order to keep me from becoming conceited (prideful), I was given a thorn in my flesh,…”
for these reasons, he rejected Paul’s prayers; even though Paul/other Christians did everything right, God's will was to keep this affliction in Paul’s life so he would not get too proud, and his power could be on full display!
this was ultimately not God’s will to take this affliction by Satan away as he clearly tells Paul; his prayers were not answered because it was not God's will!
And this is very likely why James was not freed and ended up dying even though God’s does not say why: though the church probably did everything right, it was ultimately, for some reason, not God’s will to save him and rejected the churches prayers for him.
So, it is possible even if every qualification in prayer is meet and its is done right; you pray in Jesus’s name, you believe the prayer will be answered, other Christians agree with you in prayer, you are a righteous obedient Christian, does what God wants, and even asks for selfless things for the right reasons like saving a fellow Christian or removing a tormenting situation:
Ultimately if its somehow not in God’s will, the prayer despite all this will not be answered!
So, if God’s will is the ultimate key to having answered prayer every time, we need to really know God’s will:
Because while praying for your worst enemy's destruction is not God’s will, nor getting rich to live a life of luxury and leisure is definitely not either, however praying for more selfless or reasonable prayers like saving a captured Christian from a bad situation or being saved yourself from a terrible situation are not necessarily against his will:
Because the Bible does say God’s will is to save those of his people in trouble; and especially those who ask him to save them:
Psalm 37:39-40
“The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;…The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.”
While this is generally God’s will to save his people from trouble, this might not be his will for a specific case; like in the specific cases of James and Paul:
Because James was one of his people that was in very bad trouble from a wicked human (King Herod) and he trusted God and most likely called out to God (along with the rest of the church) to be saved from Herod:
Now we know it’s God will to save his people in trouble, so the righteous prayers of James should had been answered being in God’s will to save his people from the wicked, yet he was not!
So therefore, in this specific situation, it was not necessarily God’s will for James to be saved!
Paul was also one of his people that was in much torment over an affliction from a wicked spirit (Satan or possibly a demon) he also trusted God and called out for God to save him, yet he was not saved in this specific situation; even though it's in general his will to save his people, God will in this specific situation was to not get rid of this wicked spirit from tormenting his servant Paul.
So, what does all this mean?
It means ,even if something ,is in general, God’s will according to the Bible (like saving someone, healing someone, or asking for a troubling situation causing you or someone else tormenting or painful to go away), and you as a Christian do your part in praying exactly right; all the qualification above are meet; it is still possible that this specific prayer might not be in God’s will to answer and thus this prayer will be rejected and not answered (that might mean someone/you will still not be saved and might get hurt/die, someone/you might not be healed and might continue to suffer from the sickness/die, or even a troubling situation causing you or someone else torture or pain might not go away).
Understandably, when we pray for selfless or reasonable things that agree with God’s will to heal and save and he does not answer them, we can get very upset, disappointed, and possibly even question why God did not answer the prayer in return.
We can wounder if we had not meet a qualification that will hinder our prayers from being answered; and for some Christians that a legitimate question and might be the problem:
If you are lacking anything mentioned in the list above, then that very well might be why your prayers are not answered; if that’s the case do what you can to get what your missing and your prayers should be answered.
But for other Christians, you did everything right, but God just choose to not answer your prayers.
And for many this is, understandably, extremely discouraging and possibly may even make us lose faith or even question/get angry at God himself.
Though it might be hard for God not to answer our prayers, we have to resist thinking like this:
We have to understand wherever we completely understand it or not; God’s will has to be respected above everything:
because his will is ultimately for our ultimate good wherever it seems like it is at the time or not.
But for our part, though it may be hard at first, we can’t give up on God or prayer to him:
We have to keep on doing what is right; we have to keep praying to God to answer other prayers in Jesus name, others have to keep praying with you in agreement, you have to try to keep away from sinning, you have to still do what God wants you to do, and especially you need to keep believing you will get the prayers you have asked for, even if you don’t get it!
This is where faith comes in: Even when we might fell like we have had a huge letdown or disappointment from unanswered prayer, were are still to have faith that God didn’t answer it for our own good/someone else's good or even for a very good reason and it wasn’t meant to happen and are to continue on praying for other things instead:
And eventually guess what? If you keep on praying the right way for the right things eventually all those other prayers will get answered by God, They will be in the will of God in that specific situation and you just might see real miracles in your life, all because you did not give up when God choose not to answer a prayer.
Just like when the church probably had a huge letdown when James was killed, yet when the same thing happened to Peter they did not give up on God and the praying and continued praying for his freedom and God answered their prayers and saved him through a miracle!
So, in conclusion, why Jesus did say anything you ask for in his name (especially in agreement with another Christian in prayer and both believe the prayer will come true) would absolutely be answered, this obviously is not the case for all prayer: Biblical prayer still has limits and will not always be answered if certain qualifications are not meet. According to the entire Bible on the subject, only if all these qualifications are meet will Jesus/God ultimately always answer prayer.
So, it might be difficult, but if you try to do all these things, don't give up and pray then according to the Bible Jesus/God, if it's God's will to answer it, then he will faithfully answer all of your prayers.
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