Does God always answer Prayer?
FAQs (020)
God promises to hear our prayers and answer them. Jesus said that when we ask, we will receive, and that God gives good gifts to those who ask him (Matt 7 v 1-11).
Never the less, some things can prevent our prayers being heard or answered.
- Keeping sin and not confessing it prevents God from hearing us
(Isaiah 59 v 1-2).
- Not obeying what God tells us to do can prevent us
receiving his answers
(1 John 3 v 21-23).
- Not forgiving
other people prevents God forgiving us
(Matt 6 v 14-15).
- Asking with bad motives, or not asking at all, blocks God's answer.
(James 4 v 2-3).
God may also answer our prayers in a variety of ways. He may say Yes and give us exactly what we ask for. He may also say Wait and give us what we ask for later, in his time. He may also say No which is still an answer, though possibly not what we want to hear. Sometimes we may understand why God says No, and sometimes we may never understand. But because he is a loving God we can trust him to know what is best for us.
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