Two Christian men lived near each other. The first was a farmer. Since there had not been any rain for several weeks, the farmer got up one morning and prayed for rain. His next-door neighbor was also up early, but he was praying that it would not rain, because he was taking an unsaved friend fishing that morning.¹ One person’s prayer was answered, the other one was not. Is answered prayer just like rolling dice? You know hope that sevens come up? Or is there some truths from the Word of God which we can act on to help us build a quality prayer life and get the answers God promises in His Word?

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• There are many prayers which Christians pray that go unanswered.
• Out of the midst of the failure, many Christian fables have arisen.
• These misconceptions are quoted with such regularity until many believe that they have scriptural origin.
• They say a lie told often enough will eventually be perceived as truth.
• That goes for partial lies too.
• Some individuals will even fight you along this line if you try and dispel the myth.
• Here are just a few apostate ideas which have risen from the ashes of unanswered prayer.
  • “Sometimes God says yes, sometimes He says No, and sometimes He says wait awhile.”
    • Mark it down, if you have this philosophy, and I say philosophy because it’s not scriptural, you will only get prayers answered SOMETIMES.
    • Is that what your goal is for your prayer life?
    • Are you satisfied with a sometimes encounter with God?
  • “It must not be God’s will.”
    • These believers NEVER get answers to prayer.
    • You always have to start out with God’s will.
    • God’s Word is His will.
    • So, if you don’t have a Bible verse as a foundation for your request, your prayer is just a leaf blowing in the wind.
    • You’ve never heard a person who stood on the Word and received ever say it must not be God’s will.
    • People who get answers know better.
  • “It’s a hard way.”
    • In other words, God not answering is part of life.
    • And life is hard, life is tough.
    • Years ago there was a commercial that just stuck in my head.
    • It was a chicken commercial by Perdue.
    • The tagline was ‘It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.’
    • I don’t know about tough men and chicken but you can bet that’s what makes things hard is not knowing how to receive.
    • Jesus Himself said it when He said, ‘My yoke is easy and my burden is light’ in Matthew 11:29.
    • Anything connected to Jesus is supposed to be easy, not hard.
    • The hard part comes when we do not obey the admonition of Jesus He gives to us in the verse before.

Matthew 11:28–29 (ESV) — 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

• In today’s post, let’s see what one of the reasons is that Christians fail to receive from God.

One Reason Why We Fail to Receive Answers to Prayer

Lack of Knowledge of God’s Prayer Truths

• As you peruse the pages of holy writ, you will come upon passages which give us clues and remedies to the disease of unanswered prayer.
• Isaiah has several of them.

Isaiah 5:13 (ESV) — 13 Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst.

• Captivity comes from a lack of knowledge.
• Bondage comes from not knowing the freedom we can walk in when we come to Jesus.
• This lack of knowledge leads us to prison despite our best religious intention.

Isaiah 1:3 (ESV) — 3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

• The ox knows his owner, and the jackass his master’s crib, but God’s people sometimes have no clue.
• Isn’t it a shame when an ox or a common jackass has more spiritual sense then we do?

Isaiah 27:11 (ESV) — 11 When its boughs are dry, they are broken; women come and make a fire of them. For this is a people without discernment; therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them; he who formed them will show them no favor.

• In all these passages we see the same thread, ignorance, lack of knowledge, misunderstanding, and no discernment all lead to a place called Nowhere.
• But, it can get even worse than this.

Hosea 4:6 (ESV) — 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

• Sometimes unanswered prayer isn’t just caused by a lack of knowledge, sometimes it’s caused by a rejection of knowledge.
• That is you came to the same intersection with knowledge, you had a potential divine moment or encounter and instead of embracing it, you waved at it as it passed by.

Call to Action:

Holy Spirit knowledge from the Throne of God is your friend. God gives it to lift you into places of fruitfulness and blessing. Jesus said it and we need to embrace His words along this line. He said ‘If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask what you will and it will be done unto you – John 15:7.’