Dangers In Unanswered Prayer

If unanswered prayer continues in a congregation for a while, it can create a chill over everything else happening in the church.

If this happens, we can become like a child who doesn’t get their way and continues to ask for the same thing over and over again.

Jaylyne, my daughter, and her asks.

If we continue with unanswered prayers, it will confirm the natural unbelief in our hearts.

Unbelief was actually the first sin.

It was the unbelief in what God told Adam and Eve about the tree that lead to the disobedience of eating the fruit from the tree.

An unanswered prayer can also lead to the idea that religion is unreal.

There isn’t anything tangible to which religion can be referred.

If you say the word lake, you think of a body of water.

If you say star, you think of the little points of light at night.

What do you think of when you say the words faith, belief, God, or heaven.

There isn’t any image of reality that we can refer to.

When we pray, and pray, and pray for something and it seems like it is going unanswered, it goes to the natural part of our hearts that says religion isn’t real.

The worst part of when prayers go unanswered and we get discouraged, we allow Satan to take possession of the field.

When the military faces a loss, it not the wounded men, nor the loss of face to the enemy. It’s that they know the enemy has taken over ground the used to be ours.

We like to think we always have the Devil fighting to hold his position in our lives. However, all it takes is a little beach head of an unanswered prayer for him to help us to start questioning everything in our lives when it comes to our faith.

When we allow this to happen in a church, it causes the work of God to stand still.

Exploring with Tozer

We need to realize that unanswered prayers cannot only stimy God’s work in the church, but also our personal lives.

We need to be careful this doesn’t happen to us. We also need to be careful that we don’t try to take over God’s job.

We need to consider when we aren’t having a prayer answered if our motivation for that prayer is correct.

James 4:3 ESV

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Another cause could be sin. We need to take a serious look at our personal lives and ask the Spirit to convict us of any unconfessed sin.

Psalm 66:18 ESV

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

John 15:7 ESV

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

A walk of obedience to the Word in the power of the Holy Spirit is critical to seeing answered prayer.

There are times that God may also delay answers to prayer to see how we react.

Look at Job and how he reacted to God. At first, he was frustrated, but ends up talking about his faith in God.

Job 23

Job 23:8–12 ESV

“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

In a church or a person’s personal life, there should be answers to prayer.

If there is an extended time of unanswered, once again, we should ask the Spirit to search our hearts and expose any impure thoughts in our hearts.

Once the sin is revealed, we to confess it, accept His forgiveness, and move on in His will.

If we don’t, it will continue to track of unanswered prayer.