REASONS PRAYERS ARE NOT ANSWERED AND SACRIFICES NOT HONOURED (1)

Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines…
– Song of Solomon 2:15

Truly, the Bible says, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). However, we all know that this is not always the case. There are many times we might have fervently asked, sought, and knocked at the door of God or man for one thing or the other without being granted.

For the next few days, we will be looking at reasons some of our prayers and services to God are neither answered nor rewarded:

1. IGNORANCE

The first reason some of our prayers are not answered is because of our ignorance. The LORD says in Hosea 4:6a that ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge’. While most of us know this scripture very well and quote it quite often in our discourse, we nonetheless fall victim to its veracity. It is amazing to see the zest with which we go all out to seek something, and then how we truncate our own efforts or chances of getting it by our actions or inactions, done in ignorance. There are two ways ignorance robs us of rewards and answered prayers.

a) Self-sabotage: Oftentimes, we are diligent in our supplications to God about something and even do all we could to ensure that we get our heart’s desire. But little carelessness in a seemingly unrelated or unimportant matter may foil our chances of getting what we have long sought the face of God for. A wrong thought, a wrong statement, a wrong action, or a wrong indulgence entertained when it did not seem to matter can prevent our much sought-after blessing from being delivered to us.

We all know that the earth is spherical in shape. However, what is not general knowledge is the fact that life itself is cyclical. What this means is that even as the earth orbits or goes round and round, so do our thoughts, words and actions revolve around the ultimate entity that is our being. Therefore, there is nothing like “it does not matter”, “it does not affect…”, “it does not relate to…” or “it is not important to…” in the cycle of life. Every single thought, word, and action impacts on our state of being at any point in time.

Nurturing evil thoughts and intentions towards someone, saying the wrong thing to or about someone, or doing wrong to someone may not seem to be connected to what we are seeking the face of God (or man) for, but the truth is they in fact affect it and may be the reason we do not get our desire at times.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!