Why Is God Silent to our Prayers

Some prayers don’t get answered the way we expect and that can shake you, even when you love Jesus and want to live faithfully. We get honest about that tension and walk through a biblical framework for why God may be silent, why he may delay, and why “no” can actually be protection. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re praying wrong, this conversation is designed to bring clarity without making prayer feel complicated or performative.

We break it down into clear categories, starting with God’s will and God’s timing. We talk about how to recognize God’s will by reading and studying the Bible, then shaping your requests around Scripture and what God actually promises: wisdom for the day, rest for the weary, and the fruit of the Spirit like patience, gentleness, and self-control. We also contrast instant gratification with the kind of long-term spiritual growth God is often working in us, using Abraham’s patient waiting as a steadying example.

From there we look inward at motives and faith. James warns about selfish prayer, so we examine how pride, comparison, and cravings for “stuff” can distort what we ask for. We also confront doubt and “fake faith,” because unanswered prayer can expose what we truly believe about God’s power and goodness. Then we talk about persistence, including a story that illustrates how close you can be to an answer when you’re tempted to quit, and a testimony about praying for a loved one’s salvation for years without giving up.

We close with relational and moral obstacles like unconfessed sin, unforgiveness, and mistreating others, including our spouse, because Scripture is clear that these can hinder our prayers. Listen, share with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave us a review or a question so we can keep the conversation going.

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Transcript

Purpose And Welcome

Mike 0:05

Brothers and sisters, God did not send his son to die on a cross so we could wander aimlessly through life. He had a purpose for us. To do his work, submit to his will, and glorify his name. Join us on this journey. A journey to eternity.

Luisa 0:31

So welcome to the show. I'm Luisa.

Mike 0:33

And I'm Mike, and this is episode 60 of the Journey to Eternity Podcast.

Luisa 0:38

In every episode, we help Christians use God's word to navigate everyday life in a sinful, fallen world.

Mike 0:45

So hey, babe, welcome to episode 60. It's a great day to be alive and doing the Lord's work.

Luisa 0:51

Absolutely, babe. I am so grateful that the Lord has given us grace to do this podcast.

Mike 0:56

Amen. So in the prayer meeting this past Wednesday, we talked about unanswered prayer.

Luisa 1:02

And boy, that was a great prayer meeting, babe. A great teaching moment for us all.

Mike 1:06

And it was so good that Pastor Micah said we should do a podcast on it. And I said, wow, that is a great idea, but I forgot that we had already done one. And while it dampened my enthusiasm for just a few minutes, your encouragement, babe, told us we should do it anyway.

Luisa 1:23

Yes, because knowing how to pray God's will is key for answered prayers, babe.

Mike 1:28

Amen. Now, episode 26 in October of 2022 seems like a long time ago. And while we are talking about the same thing, this is a completely different take on it. We are going to take a biblical look at why God may not answer a prayer. But before we get started, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity to open your word and have a conversation about it. We ask that you would open the hearts and minds of our listeners in a way that would lead them to grow in their walk. Help Louisa and I to speak your truth plainly and clearly so that lives would be changed and your name would be glorified. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Luisa 2:10

So let's have a quick show of hands. How many people listening today have unanswered prayers?

Mike 2:15

Ah, I can see all the hands going up. Well, I really can't. But our hands are up. And a question we may have, even as Christians, is why hasn't God answered our prayers? Because God doesn't owe us anything. No, he sure doesn't. The only thing he owes us is eternal judgment. And on this side

Why Unanswered Prayer Happens

Mike 2:36

of glory, we will never really know why. But the Bible has many scriptures on unanswered prayer.

Luisa 2:43

And it is possible that some of the reasons in the Bible will give us an understanding of why.

Mike 2:48

So today we have three main categories, and within them we will have some of God's reasons backed up with scripture.

Praying God’s Will Through Scripture

Mike 2:56

So category number one is our prayer request contradicts God's will or timing. So let's talk about God's will. The best way to get an answered prayer is to pray according to his will. So how do we know God's will? Well, we might have to read and study our Bible. Right. Because he reveals it in his word. So some examples of praying according to God's will might be praying for wisdom. Now, when we ask for wisdom, we're asking God for discernment on how to navigate life rather than demanding a specific outcome.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Right.

Mike 3:30

How many times do we pray and we say, God, I'm going into my day today, God, and I really want this to happen.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Right.

Mike 3:36

And sometimes it happens, sometimes it don't, but I don't think that's the correct way to pray.

Luisa 3:41

Right. I think the correct way to pray is praying scripture, using the promises and the commands in the Bible as the foundation for your requests.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Right.

Luisa 3:50

Matthew 11, verses 28 says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Mike 3:57

Amen.

Luisa 3:58

And that's laying our burdens down at his feet.

Mike 4:01

We might be looking at our day, and we might say to him, Lord, whatever your will is for this day, Father God, let it be done. God never reveals to us what our day is going to look like. It's really unknown to us. Right. So when we're praying for our day, and I do this every day in the morning in the car as I'm driving to work, I say, God, the work day always has its troubles, Father God. But give me wisdom on how to handle them, Father God. So I'm not asking him for a specific outcome. I'm not saying, well, God, make my day go smooth today. Well, yeah, it might go smooth, but uh most times it doesn't. So I'm really just asking God for wisdom. God, how do I handle this when this happens, Father God? Lead me and guide me. Help me, O Lord, to honor you in whatever I do in my day today. So this is how you pray within God's will.

Luisa 4:50

And I think that it's always so important to start your day in prayer because we don't know what our day is going to look like. So taking it to the Lord and asking for wisdom, his wisdom is important.

Mike 5:02

Another way you spoke about using the promises and commands in the Bible, this is how you know that this is God's will, because that's part of his revealing. So we might walk into a day and we oh we're not feeling great, we're we're we're burdened with things, we have stuff going on for us, and we really need peace and calm in our life. So you open up the Bible and you look at this, Matthew 11, verse 28. And you're asking for rest. We need God, I need peace in this situation. God, I need peace. So he's telling you, come and lay these burdens at my feet. Right. If I try to hold them in myself, if I try to figure them out for myself, it's not gonna happen.

Luisa 5:41

You're not gonna have peace, you're gonna have strife.

Mike 5:43

Right. So he's telling you how to do this. Right. Lay these burdens at my feet, and I will give you rest. How simple, man? It's simple. It's a prayer. It's a prayer, and that's how you get your prayer answered. Another way you can do it is by praying for character and love. So let's look at the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So now you look at these things. We could pray for these things every day, and we know that this is God's will. God wants this for all of us. So, Lord, please let us have joy today in our marriage. And the Lord's gonna look at that and say, Yeah, I'm gonna give them joy in their marriage.

Luisa 6:25

And you can ask, God, give me self-control at work with my boss.

Mike 6:30

Yes. And when you look at it, that's what God's will is. He wants you to have self-control in all situations.

Luisa 6:37

Oh, you could say, God, help me to be gentle with my child today.

Mike 6:41

Yes, yes. And that's a perfect prayer. And the Lord will grant that prayer for you. It works for all of the fruit of the spirit. So if you pray according to his will, you can't miss.

Luisa 6:52

So in 1 John 5, 14 clearly states it. And this is the confidence that we have taught him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Mike 7:03

Right. Our prayers must align with God's purposes to be filled. Amen.

God’s Timing And Patient Waiting

Mike 7:08

So now let's talk about God's timing. Right. Hebrews 6, 14. Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 15 says, and thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.

Luisa 7:22

Okay, so human desires focus on immediate relief, babe.

Mike 7:26

God's divine perspective priorities is long-term spiritual growth. So let's look at the difference there. As human beings, we want everything right away. We want this thing that we call instant gratification.

Luisa 7:38

And that's the world that we live in. We live in the world where there's people don't have patience to wait for anything.

Mike 7:43

Right.

Luisa 7:44

We want it yesterday because that's the mentality, that's the flesh, that's who we are.

Mike 7:49

Now, Abraham had to have patience. If he was looking for something to happen right away, that wasn't going to happen. Abraham didn't see a lot of the things that God promised him. But if you really think about it, our focus today is always on how fast can we get stuff, how fast can we have it? I want it now. And God is saying, wait, you must have patience.

Luisa 8:10

I mean, think about how we order online.

Mike 8:13

Right. Right?

Luisa 8:14

You pay extra because you want it the next day. Or you want it in an hour, whatever it is. That's horrible. And that doesn't teach us patience. It just teaches us to be selfish and want things that we want and not what God has planned for us.

Mike 8:28

Right. So when it comes to our prayer, we're expecting an answer right away from God, but He may delay the answer. And a delay is often a period of preparation rather than a rejection.

Luisa 8:40

Right. So it teaches us to be patient and waiting on the Lord.

Mike 8:44

Because some of the things that we want right now, we might not be ready for them. And God sees that, okay? He's He's looking and He's saying, I don't know. If I give them this now, it's not going to go well.

Luisa 8:55

And that's that preparation part that you're talking about here, because God prepares us for everything, even for ministry. Right. Okay, a lot of people, I want this, I want to do that, I want to be part of that. And God's like, you're not ready for that. I have to prepare you for that.

Mike 9:07

Grow you. Yes. So sometimes a delay is okay. But what about when God rejects your prayer? Because sometimes He says no. Right. Just as a loving parent denies a child a harmful request, a no protects the petitioner from unseen consequences. So we've talked about this before. How sometimes God blocks stuff. Right.

Luisa 9:29

He blocks stuff and we are sitting there, let's say we're in traffic, and you know this happens to us all the time. We're sitting there and we want to get to where we want to get to. We're going to be late. Where we don't want to be late, and Mike doesn't like being late. And when Mike doesn't want to be late, then Luisa cannot be late. So now I'm sitting there saying I know he's stressed out. Now I'm going to be stressed out. But then it just comes to me. And I say, and I said I've said this to you, and you know I have. I said, babe, you know what? God is in control. Right. There's a reason why we're in this traffic. There's a reason why we're not going to get there when we're going to get there. So we just have to trust in the Lord and we just have to pray, Lord, whenever you want us to get there, get us there.

Mike 10:06

Right. So you think about all the things that haven't happened for us, and you know, it was God saying no. And he had a reason behind it because he knows what's before us. So God's will and timing might be the biggest reasons we have unanswered prayers. But now we get to the good stuff.

Luisa 10:23

Let's get it. Okay.

Motives Matter When You Pray

Luisa 10:25

Category two is internal motives and the condition of our heart.

Mike 10:30

Now, Louisa always says Check your heart every day.

Luisa 10:36

I do. I'm like a broken record with that. I say that to so many people. I talk to my daughter, I talk to my granddaughters, I talk to people at work that understand, and I talk to my husband.

Mike 10:48

Yes.

Luisa 10:49

Check your heart, babe.

Mike 10:51

We always must ask ourselves: what is the motive for our prayer?

Luisa 10:56

Right. James chapter 4 and verse 3 rebukes us. You ask and do not receive because you act wrongly to spend it on your passions.

Mike 11:06

Amen. So selfish prayer is a barrier between God and us.

Luisa 11:10

Believe it or not, it is.

Mike 11:12

No, I know it's okay. So think about all the ways that we pray sometimes, all right? And God's looking at us like, are you kidding me? So sometimes we pray for personal luxury, all right. Things of this world. Right. Pray for things of this world. All the all the the great things we want. Wealth, we want health, we want houses, money, jewelry, whatever, cars. Think about that. And and and we've heard people pray like that. Yeah. And God is looking at you and He's saying, uh Listen, I believe that God knows if we need a car.

Luisa 11:44

I mean, when we went through what we went through and we lost our first car, when the car burned up, God knew we needed a car and he blessed us with another car. But me and you didn't sit there and pray 24 hours a day. God, give us a car, God give us a car.

Mike 11:58

Really, in fact, like we have one car. Right. So it God, you know, we don't go and ask God for a second car. We we do very well with one. Right. So when you pray for these luxurious items, this worldly stuff.

Luisa 12:12

It's the motive behind it.

Mike 12:14

Yes. Yeah, I want it for me. For me, for me. Another thing that sometimes we we can pray in a prideful way. Right, thinking we are worthy. Right. Worthy of what? Yeah, exactly. We want this, God, because I'm so good. All right. That's a real reason why God won't answer a prayer, because we think we deserve stuff that we really don't. We can have covetness. We want what other people have. So we low, the guy got a house next door. I want to get a house like him, you know, like I things like that. We we shouldn't pray uh in a covetous way because we feel like we're lacking in stuff. So God is is not gonna answer a prayer like that. And I know that sometimes people want to impress other people, so they'll ask for God for to do something.

Luisa 12:59

Remember we were in our old church and and they kept some asking us what everybody used to come to me all the time and say, Oh, Louisa, when are you and Mike gonna buy a house in Long Island? Everybody in the church has a house in Long Island. And I found that so strange because I'm like I don't want a house. Because we lived in Queens. The church was in Queens. And I was comfortable, I'm comfortable in our home. This is the home that the Lord has given us, and I'm very comfortable, and it's our home. And I don't want a house because I don't wanna, I don't wanna moan a lawn. I don't want to, I don't wanna clean extra rooms. But this is what I'm saying. But I didn't want a house because I don't want a house.

Mike 13:37

We didn't want it because everybody else had it.

Luisa 13:39

Right. And I saw that there was a pattern of that, and it was just so annoying to me. It was like, no, I don't need a house. I'm sorry. I have I I have a home. And there's a difference between a home and a house. Our little apartment here is a home.

Mike 13:52

Yes. Okay, so you could have a big old empty house and and God might give you that, and then you'll be stuck, okay? So, right. So we we you have to be really careful trying to oppress us.

Luisa 14:02

Yeah.

Mike 14:03

You have to always check your motive about your prayers to God. So another block

Faith Versus Doubt In Prayer

Mike 14:08

to our prayers is doubt and unbelief. And here comes James again, chapter one and verse six. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Luisa 14:23

So do we say we have faith, but inside we don't? I think that's fake faith. Fake faith. Yeah. There's such a thing as that, I guess. I know there is.

Mike 14:33

There's a lot of people that say they have faith, but inside they're really not, they're really not feeling it. So we have to really have unwavering faith. When we come to God and ask him for something that is really within his will, we have to have unwavering faith that number one, he has the power to answer that prayer. And sometimes we might think that the prayer is too big for God.

Luisa 14:56

Oh man, but we serve a big God. You know that. And I pray big. There is nothing. I don't believe in praying little prayers. I pray big prayer because I know I serve a mighty big God, and God hears our prayers. And thank you, Jesus.

Mike 15:09

You have to know that there's nothing that's too big for him.

Luisa 15:12

Right.

Mike 15:12

Or do we not believe he'll do it?

Luisa 15:14

Right, and that's unbelief. Right.

Mike 15:16

So God will answer any prayer that is within his will.

Luisa 15:20

Right.

Mike 15:21

And all we have to do is learn how to pray it that way.

Luisa 15:24

And we have to learn how to be patient, and like we talked about before, be patient and wait on the Lord.

Mike 15:29

Right.

Luisa 15:30

Because I pray it today doesn't mean it's gonna happen tomorrow. Right. It doesn't work that way.

Mike 15:34

It's a big deal. Okay. So, and that brings us into this last category.

Persistence And The Long Wait

Mike 15:39

And that is lack of persistence. Amen. Many individuals give up praying before God is ready to answer.

Luisa 15:47

Oh, and that's sad.

Mike 15:48

It's very sad. So this is a a story I heard years ago, and it's it's a secular story, but it tells about a miner who was he was in a shaft mining for gold, and he kept digging, he kept digging, digging, digging, digging, and wasn't getting anywhere, didn't find anything. And finally he just said, You know, there's no gold here. And he gave up. But the sad fact was that after digging all that time, the gold was only about a foot away under the rest of the rock. And if he'd have just kept digging, he'd have found that gold.

Luisa 16:24

Right. And we must pray consistently and persistently. Matthew chapter seven and verses seven through eight confirms that acts and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who acts receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be open.

Mike 16:46

Amen. So just like the the man that was mining for gold, you never know that it's right around the corner. Right. So talk about Shanikwa's salvation.

Luisa 16:57

Oh, yeah. That that's one thing that I know that always kept me strong in prayer, because no matter what Shanika and I went through, and we went through some stuff, and you know that. And I just remember there were times when I just never stopped praying, even though she was in the situation she might have been in, even though we were in the situation that we were in, even though we were tired, even though I was fearful, even though I was frustrated, even though I didn't see any change, even though I wanted it, but it didn't happen. What God taught me then, babe, and that was 20 years of um praying for her, praying that the Lord will save her soul. And there was something in me that just kept on saying, God is faithful.

Mike 17:50

Yes, and we have to remember that right there there's a lot of people, including myself, who pray for unsaved family members that pray for people that we we want to come to the Lord, and we just have to keep praying.

Luisa 18:05

And I think we just we really think that we are the ones that can change them, and that used to come up for me. I'm a mother, why is she not gonna be able to do that? I'm not doing enough. Right, I'm not doing enough. Why is she not listening to what I'm saying to her? I mean, she was an adult, she wasn't a child. And I remember just in my quiet times, I just in agony and frustration and fear, I knew who I who I served. Yes, I knew that I served the mighty God, and I knew that I had a relationship with him, and I knew I can pour out my my pain and my sorrow and my everything that was going on for me. I used to pray and you used to hear that. Yes, yes, I just never wavered. I never wavered because I just knew that God's will will be done.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

Right.

Luisa 18:51

And thank you, Jesus, for saving her soul. Right. And it just makes me sit back and think now, wow, God, you really did hear the cries of my heart. Yes. Of of asking you, Lord, like do something with her. I remember I used to pray. I used to pray so many crazy prayers sometimes, and then I used to pray God's word, and then it was just a lot. But I just know that God tells us to continue to pray and don't stop. And I never gave up, and I am so grateful that I didn't, and he gets all the glory.

Mike 19:23

Amen. So if you have a family member or somebody that you want God to do a work in, keep praying. Keep praying, don't give up because your answer might be just another prayer away. So our third category is relational and moral obstacles.

Sin And Unforgiveness Block Prayer

Luisa 19:43

And this is about sin. Sin. Sin. Sin. We are all sinful creatures, but here we are speaking about unconfessed sin.

Mike 19:52

Unconfessed sin. So harboring or hiding willful wrongdoing creates a spiritual barrier that disrupts communication with God.

Luisa 20:01

So Isaiah 59, 2 warns us, 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.

Mike 20:14

Right. So if you're in sin, God is looking at you and saying, I'm not answering that prayer until you talk about confession. Confession is really the key to reopening that line of communication with God. Now we do it in church service. Right. And I think this is really a nice thing to do corporately. So in our church service, we have a time of silence.

Luisa 20:38

And I love that.

Mike 20:39

I know you do.

Luisa 20:40

I do. You know, I just love, love, love that quiet time, just sitting, meditating, and confessing to the Lord what's in my heart.

Mike 20:50

Right, because that time of silence is purposeful. And when you're sitting there in that, you really should be confessing your sins. You really should be coming to God and saying, God, I know I'm I'm miserable, ugly, right, and I have all these sins. Please forgive me. Be specific with him. Right. And I know you know we don't get a whole lot of time there, but still you can you can get started.

Luisa 21:10

And and listen, the Holy Spirit just leads you into that confession. Or we're all filled with the Holy Spirit, and in that quiet time, it just can't be wasted.

Mike 21:19

There's other times in the service where we, as a congregation, we read a statement of confession, confessing our sins to God and asking him to forgive us and being in a state of repentance. And I know you love that. I do, I love that. And and both of them are are good. So we kind of go back and forth on those. But really, it's the most important thing about either one is that you want to be right with God when you're sitting in his house. Amen. You don't want to just show up where you're off. You're off. And we've done we've gotten to church off sometimes. Sometimes in the morning, we've we've had a disagreement in the car on the way to church.

Luisa 21:56

And then I'll look at you and say, Really? Are we acting like this before we go to church? Or you're looking at this. At me and say, really, babe? Yeah, really. So we have to clean that up. Yes. Okay. So very important that we're mindful of that.

Mike 22:07

When you can sit down in the pew and and the service starts, you want to get right. Use that time as an opportunity to go to God and ask Him for forgiveness to cleanse your heart. And it's so important, babe, to come into the communion table clean. Communion only happens once a month, but that doesn't mean that every week we can't be getting clean with God. But the communion table is very important. And even the pastor, when he prays before the communion, he's telling us to come clean, to cleanse our hearts. We have to go to God and we have to really be right with God in our hearts.

Luisa 22:41

We have to be right. We have to confess and we have to just tell God really what's in our hearts and we have to ask for forgiveness.

Mike 22:47

Amen. So I'll tell you a story about me for unconfessed sin. I really struggle to pray when I have unconfessed sin. I I know I do a lot of praying in the van as I'm I'm driving, and there are days when I know I'm really have a lot of sin going on, and and I find it a struggle to pray.

Luisa 23:06

It should be a struggle to pray.

Mike 23:08

I really find it like I can't talk to God. It's like I want to speak to Him, but like, oh God, like I know, I know, I I know I got all this sin. And I have to confess it. Right. And until I do, and sometimes I'll I'll I'll stay in my sin.

Luisa 23:24

Right, you'll linger in it.

Mike 23:25

And then what happens to prayer? There's no prayer. Right. There's no hope for answered prayer. There's no anything. So I have to go to God and I have to confess and ask Him. So a specific sin that will block our prayers is unforgiveness for others. Right. And that's holding those grudges. Right, or having bitterness in our hearts.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

Right.

Mike 23:43

You know, sometimes people get offended and then they hold a grudge and then they avoid you. Yeah, they might not talk to you. And sometimes it happens to us too. We might get offended, all right? We're not exceptions to that rule. So sometimes we'll like somebody will say something and we'll, you know, take offense to it. And we don't think we do, but really that offense is deep in our heart. And God knows it. He does. And then we might try to pray, and then God is gonna say, Well, you better get over that and clean everything up. So it's important to really like cleaning up your life and your sin is such a a way to get your presence.

Luisa 24:21

But that's again comes back to searching your heart. Right. We know what's in our heart, we know there's unforgiveness there, we know there's bitterness in there, we know that there's something ugly from the world in there.

Mike 24:32

Right.

Luisa 24:32

You know, so Mark 11 25 refers specifically to personal prayer.

Mike 24:38

And it says, Whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your father also, who is in heaven, may forgive you your trespasses. Right. So how can we expect God to answer our prayers if we have unforgiveness in our hearts?

Luisa 24:54

Right. So that's that's not asking other people to forgive us. Right. We have to be able to go to somebody and say, Did I offend you in any way? Or if I know I offended, I'm gonna go up to the person and say, I'm sorry, I know I offended you, please forgive me.

Mike 25:11

So if you want to pray according to God's will, ask him to give you a forgiving heart.

Luisa 25:16

Amen. Our last example in this category speaks about how we treat others.

How You Treat Others Matters

Mike 25:22

Amen. So are we kind and compassionate to others? Ask yourself that question. Right. And I'm talking about both believers and unbelievers. Yes. Are we loving and serving them? Or do we look down on people? Maybe we are rude or standoffish, or maybe we cause trouble. Ah so this refers to all people, right? Not only people you like, not only people in the church, but we have co-workers and friends. Right. We have family members, we have children and parents.

Luisa 25:58

And we have especially our spouses.

Mike 26:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

Yeah, I know. Go ahead, babe. Bring hard like that again, okay?

Mike 26:06

Well, the fact of the matter is, is sometimes we treat our spouse more harshly than we treat other people. So, yes, we treat a lot of people harsh, but sometimes when it comes to our spouse, we're we're a little extra on it.

Luisa 26:19

And I think that we just take our spouses for granted. Like, you know, they understand and they know I didn't really mean it like that. Right. And they know I'm having a hard day, and they know that this is my personality. So, you know what? I'm not gonna ask him for forgiveness because he's my husband. Absolutely not.

Mike 26:37

Exactly. So when we think about this, all these things like are we kind and compassionate to others? Are we loving and serving people? This is how we have communion with God because this is what he wants for us. This is his will. Right. So when we're the opposite of that, that's not in his will. And again, he's he's looking at us like, what's wrong with you? Right. He's looking at us.

SPEAKER_02 27:00

How many times do we sit there and we say to ourselves, God is looking at us saying, What is wrong with you two?

Mike 27:05

Like, really, especially in our marriage.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

And we we say that to each other.

Luisa 27:08

We're we're just very vocal about that because sometimes we have to say that out loud because God is watching us and saying, Okay, enough. First Peter 3:7 warns the husbands.

Mike 27:20

Says, likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. He specifically talks about prayers being hindered. So this ought to tell you you have to treat your spouse right.

Luisa 27:44

And I want to talk to the wives. I really want to talk to the wives right now, and I think that we have to really understand that women pray. And I'm not saying that men don't pray, but I'm just talking to the wives right now. There are a lot of things on our plates that we pray about, okay? Because we're moms, we're wives, we're sisters, we're sisters in Christ, and we're friends, and we pray, we pray about a lot of things, but if we uh my prayers will be hindered when I'm praying for our grandchildren as say, if me and you are not right. Right. Okay? If I'm not treating my husband correctly at home and I have unforgiveness for you, or I'm not asking you for forgiveness, and then all of a sudden in that same space, I'm like, oh, I gotta pray for Lila. Oh, I gotta pray for Leah, I gotta pray for Schneeko, I gotta pray for Jessica. Right. And I go into my prayer room and I start praying to God, leaving you the way unfinished, right? Leaving you in a way that's unfinished because that God clean up. Right. There's the mess that's not cleaned up, but then I go into my prayer room and I just, hi God, it's me, your daughter. How are you? Lord, and it's not that's not how God expects us to exactly.

Mike 28:58

So if you look at that scripture, yes, it's for husbands in reference to their wives, right? But it's also for wives in reference to their husbands, but also for us in reference to everyone. Yes. All right, so don't take the specificity of it and think that it doesn't count for everyone.

Luisa 29:15

Right. We always have to clean up anything that we have that's out of order of God's will with anybody.

Mike 29:20

Amen. So let's recap what we have talked about today, and we'll invite you to consider if any of these relate to you and your prayer life. God may not have answered your prayers because you are not praying according to his will. You must align your prayers with God's purpose.

Luisa 29:38

You are not patient. God's

Bonus Reason And Final Invitation

Luisa 29:41

timing is not our timing.

Mike 29:44

You pray selfish prayers. Check your motives about how you are praying. You doubt when you pray.

Luisa 29:51

Unbelief will block all your prayers.

Mike 29:54

You give up on an unanswered prayer. Your prayers should be consistent and persistent.

Luisa 30:00

You have unconfessed sin. Pray a prayer of confession before you pray for anything else.

Mike 30:07

You have a heart of unforgiveness. Ask God to help you with bitterness.

Luisa 30:13

You mistreat others. God watches how you treat even the least of his people.

Mike 30:18

Amen. So as we draw this to a close, there is one more bonus reason why God may not answer your prayer.

Luisa 30:26

And that is because you did not ask.

Mike 30:29

Amen. So, babe, we really got to talk about this. There are people that just don't pray.

Luisa 30:35

And I think people have to learn to start creating a habit of prayer.

Mike 30:40

Amen. So it might sound harsh, but there are a lot of people that God doesn't answer a prayer because they just don't pray it. Right. Now, there are people that call you and ask you to pray, and that's all well and good. Um if somebody calls me and asks me to pray, I'm praying for them. Right. I don't care what it's about, I don't care what it is, I'm gonna pray. But we have to ask, is that person praying for their own need?

Luisa 31:05

Is that person I find that I find that a lot of people, I I pray for a lot of people and like you, I'm gonna pray because that's what God calls me to do. But sometimes I find people really don't have their own prayer life. So I'm gonna use again myself as an example. If I don't pray for my husband and then I'm asking somebody else to pray for you, that's not gonna work.

SPEAKER_01 31:26

Amen.

Luisa 31:27

Like I'm gonna pray for my husband, and I'm gonna welcome other people praying for you because I'm gonna be vulnerable to enough to say, you know what, please help me. And my husband needs prayer in A, B, C, D. Or my daughter needs prayer in A, B, C, D. But I've already prayed for you. And I've already prayed for her. Yes. But I'm gonna welcome the extra prayers from everybody else.

Mike 31:46

Exactly. And some people kind of just think it in their mind, and that's not a bad thing, but have you really cried out to God with an earnest prayer, with your honest releasing of the burden that's going on for you?

Luisa 31:59

Because God really wants to hear from you. He does. Okay, He wants to hear that cry of whatever it is that's going on for you. Only that cry can come out for me. You can't pray for me the way I'm praying for you. Exactly. So we invite you to pray to God that he will grow your desire to pray and pray according to his will.

Mike 32:17

Amen. You don't have to make this complicated, it's not about being elegant, and it's not about long, drawn-out prayers.

Luisa 32:23

So God just wants you to talk to him, to cry out to him, to come to him with the burdens that he tells us not to carry.

Mike 32:33

Right, right. Just do it. In Matthew chapter 14 and verse 30. Peter prayed the shortest and most desperate prayer in the Bible. As he walked on the water, he took his eyes off Christ and began to sink. He cried out, Lord, save me. And Jesus answered that prayer. So let's pray.

Luisa 32:58

Father God, once again we come humbly before you and thank you for this episode about prayer. We ask you to move the hearts of every listener to understand the importance and privilege of prayer. Give us all the love of prayer. We thank you for this gift of communion with you, and we thank you for the Holy Spirit who leads us and guides us in prayer. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Mike 33:23

So that wraps up episode 60.

Luisa 33:26

We thank you for listening. We invite you to leave us a comment or a question by going to our website at JTEPodcast.org.

Mike 33:36

That's JTEPodcast.org.

Luisa 33:40

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Mike 33:52

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Luisa 34:16

And as always, please support us by sharing this podcast with a friend or on your social media page.

Mike 34:22

Till next time, we wish you God's blessing as you navigate everyday life in a sinful fallen world.

Luisa 34:28

May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.