Why Are Some Prayers Unanswered?

Have you ever asked God "Why?" Ever wonder why your prayers sometimes seem unanswered—or at least not answered in the way or in the time you hoped? We believe God's promises are real and true, so how can we explain unanswered prayers—which seem to contradict God's promises? There can be a number of explanations from the Bible. Here are several factors to consider if your prayers seem to be falling short.

1.  God may not answer when we pray for the wrong things. As we draw close to God and abide in him, our prayers first should seek to hear from God and then to line up with his will and purpose.

• Romans 8:26 — ...We do not know what we ought to pray for...
• 1 John 5:14-15 — ¹⁴This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
• Matthew 26:39 — Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
• James 4:15 — ...you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
• Psalm 37:4 — Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. [When your focus and pleasure are found in God, your heart's desires will be in line with his purposes.]
• John 15:7 — If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. [When Jesus' words live within you, your requests will be shaped by his ways.]
• John 14:13-14 — ¹³ "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." [Praying "in Jesus' name" is not a formula to be followed—it provides guidelines for our requests that stem from our relationship with Christ.]

2.  God may not answer when we ask for the wrong reasons. Right motives and appropriate attitudes create an environment where God can work.

• Matthew 6:5-6 — ⁵ "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
• James 4:3 — When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
• Mark 10:38 — "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"
• Luke 9:54-55 — ⁵⁴When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" ⁵⁵But Jesus turned and rebuked them.

3.  God may not answer if our relationships are broken. Healthy relationships and marriages provide a solid foundation for relationship with God.

• 1 Peter 3:7 — Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
• Matthew 5:23-24 — ²³Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
• Matthew 18:19-20 — ¹⁹ "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
• Mark 11:25 — "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

4.  We may feel our prayers are ignored when we become impatient waiting for God's timing. Some answers—like a garden—take time to develop and grow.

• Psalm 74:9 — We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be.
• Habakkuk 2:3 — For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.
• Luke 21:9 — "...do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away."
• John 11:5-6,21 — ⁵Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days... ²¹ "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
• Galatians 4:4 — But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son...
• 2 Peter 3:8 — But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
• Psalm 6:3 — My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long?
• Luke 24:26 (LB) — Wasn't it clearly predicted by the prophets that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his time of glory?

5.  We may feel our prayers are ignored if we lack persistence to press the matter before God. Casual, flippant prayers are ineffective; praying without persistence reflects a lack of dedication to partnering with God.

• Galatians 6:9 — Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
• James 5:16 (NKJV) — ...The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
• James 5:17-18 — ¹⁷Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
• Luke 11:8-10 (NASB) — ⁸"I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. ⁹So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened."
• Luke 18:1 — Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
• 1 Peter 4:7 — ...Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

6.  Our prayers may go unanswered when we are not committed to spiritual warfare. Prayer is more than spiritual work; it is war in heavenly places.

• Matthew 17:21 (NASB) — "But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."
• Mark 9:28-29 (NASB) — ²⁸When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, "Why, could we not drive it out?" ²⁹And He said to them, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer."
• Ephesians 6:12 — For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
• 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 — ³For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
• Daniel 10:12-13 — ¹²Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. ¹³But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia." [These are words of an angel, explaining a spiritual power—a "prince"—who resisted God's work.]

7.  Our prayers may not be answered when our faith is weak. Unbelief and doubt will limit the release of God's power in our lives.

• Hebrews 11:6 — And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
• James 1:6-7 — ⁶But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord...
• Matthew 17:19-20 — ¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" ²⁰He replied, "Because you have so little faith... Nothing will be impossible for you."
• Mark 6:5-6 — ⁵He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. ⁶And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
• Matthew 13:58 — And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
• Mark 9:23-24 — ²³ "‘If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." ²⁴Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
• Hebrews 3:19 — So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
• Luke 9:40-41 — ⁴⁰ "I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not." ⁴¹ "O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."
• Romans 4:18-21 — ¹⁸Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." ¹⁹Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. ²⁰Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

8.  Our prayers will be ignored when we have unconfessed sin in our lives. Sin creates a spiritual barrier between us from God.

• Psalm 66:18 — If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
• 1 Peter 3:12 — For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer...
• Isaiah 59:1-2 — ¹Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
• Ezekiel 14:3 — "...these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?"
• Jeremiah 14:10-12 — ¹⁰This is what the LORD says about this people: "They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins." ¹¹Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people. ¹²Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them..."
• Jeremiah 7:16-17 — ¹⁶So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. ¹⁷Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
• Jeremiah 11:14 — Do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.

9. Our prayers may lack power if we do not pray in the Spirit. The limitations of the flesh—our human weaknesses and perspective—can prevent us from praying with power and anointing.

• Ephesians 6:18 — And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
• Romans 8:26-27 — ²⁶In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. ²⁷And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
• Matthew 6:7-8 — ⁷ "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
• Mark 14:37-38 (NASB) — ³⁷And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? ³⁸Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
• Galatians 5:17 (NASB) — For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another...

10. Prayers may go unanswered when God uses troubles or trials to accomplish spiritual growth. God is more concerned about our spiritual welfare than our earthly comfort.

• 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 — ⁷To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
• John 11:4,14-15 — ⁴"This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." ...¹⁴So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
• James 1:2-3 (NASB) ²Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, ³knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
• Psalms 106:13-15 (NKJV) — ¹³They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, ¹⁴but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert. ¹⁵And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul. [An example where people insisted that God give them their own way, but they suffered spiritual consequences as a result.]

11. Prayers may not be answered because God has a better plan than our limited thinking can dare to ask. God may shut one door to open up something even better than for what we had asked.

• Ephesians 3:20 — Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...
• Acts 16:7-9 — ⁷When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. ⁸So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. ⁹During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."