Prayer Problems

As many of you know, PRAYER, is my Word of the Year.  One of my biggest quandries is why sometimes God remains silent in response to our prayers...

Sometimes our prayers go "unanswered" or rather we get a "no" or a "wait" answer from God.  Many times the reason has to do with that God's timing is different from ours...He is working out His perfect plan which may not be on our timetable.

Then there are other times...

in which God doesn't answer because there is something that we need to deal with.  Many of the below ideas come from the book, Too Busy Not to Pray.  So here are some prayer problems that we might have...

1. Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Isaiah 59:2  Plain, ole sin may be the culprit to why God seems not to answer.  By confessing them to Him and whoever else we have offended, we can then open up the "prayer lines".

2. If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24  This one verse has really played out in my life.  I have had two major relationships in my life that haven't been reconciled because the other person refuses to make it right.  So I have made it my life goal to reconcile with those that hold things against me.  I go so far as to even apologize for hurts that may not have been totally my fault.  Now, you may think that is a little odd...but sometimes we hurt others even when we are doing the right thing (like moving away from a relationship that is unhealthy).  If I find out that a person is holding a grudge against me for something like that I will go to them and acknowledge the pain.

3. When you ask you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3 Sometimes our motives for asking things in prayer are just plain selfish.  God is not always going to answer those prayers in the affirmative.  Our hearts are so deceptive that we ourselves don't see the selfishness in our requests.  There has been many a time that I have had to ask God to show me my selfish side.

4. If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard. Proverbs 21:13 God is not going to show us compassion if we don't show it to others! We need to be willing to reach out to others in their tough situations.

5. If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must no expect to receive anything from the Lord. James 1:5-8 Sometimes it is just a plain lack of faith! We can't see around the problem...it is too big and when we turn our eyes off God, He becomes too small to deal with it.

So I ask myself, "What is blocking my prayers?" "Where does the problem lie?"