Why
wasn't my prayer
request granted?
By George Desnoyers
There are several places in the Bible where it is promised that God will grant whatever we ask in prayer. Here are some:
Matthew 7:8 says, “For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
Mt 18:19 says, “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”
Mt 21:22, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Lk 11:9-13: “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
Jn 14:13-14: “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”
Jn 15:16, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”
Jn 16:23, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.”
There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of “weasel words” in those promises, themselves.
Priests and ministers need to be ready with a good answer when a communicant in his/her church raises the potentially embarrassing question, “why didn’t God grant my prayer request?” In some cases, remember, people will have prayed for things KNOWN FOR SURE to be the will of God, even things for which they have been specifically told by scripture and/or the Church TO pray. When I was a child, at every mass the priest, under the direction of the bishop, exhorted the congregation to “pray for the conversion of Russia.” [I bet a lot of the more mature readers will remember that; I believe the direction actually came from Pope Pius XII, because it happened everywhere.]
What you need to remember about the promises that your prayer requests will be granted is, there are plenty of escape clauses. The rule is this (and it’s a good rule to remember throughout all your life): you need to read the whole contract, including the fine print.
Below are just some of the Biblical escape clauses to which priests and ministers can point. I present them in no particular order, but a few will be very familiar to readers because long-time church-goers would likely have heard them dozens of times. Some of these texts are frequently used as clubs, to beat people into feeling inferior when they ask about why their prayers went unanswered. By the use of this technique the pastor hopes to rest assured that the same people will never raise the embarrassing question again.
Requests made in prayer are not granted because of:
Sin - Matthew 7:21-23; John 9:30-33, esp. v. 31; James 5:14-16; Isaiah 59:1-8, esp. v. 2; Isaiah 1:10-15; Proverbs 15:8.
Disobedience – 1 John 3:21-24, esp. v. 22; Proverbs 28:9; John 9:30-33, esp. v. 31.
Failure to do things pleasing to God – 1 John 3:20-24, esp. v. 22.
Failure to abide in Christ – John 15:1-10, esp. v. 7 (See 1 John 3:24).
Not receptive to God’s word – Zechariah 7:11-13; John 15:7; Proverbs 1:24-31.
Not praying in truth – Psalms 145:18; John 4:22-24; Proverbs 1:24-30, esp. vv. 28-30; Matthew 23:14.
Not in faith – Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:19-24; James 1:5-7; James 5:15.
Selfishness – James 4:3.
Not in accord with God’s will – James 5:14; Matthew 6:10.
Not fervent, earnest, sincere – James 5:16-17; Matthew 23:14.
Pride, absence of humility – Job 35:9-13, esp. vv. 12-13; Ecclesiastes 5:1-3; 2 Chronicles 7:14.
Lack of forgiveness – Mark 11:25-26; Matthew 6:12.
Lack of repentance – 2 Chronicles 7:14.
One praying not a worshipper of God – John 9:30-33, esp. v. 31.
Prayer rash, foolish, not thoughtful – Ecclesiastes 5:1-3.
Lack of mercy and compassion – Proverbs 21:13; Zechariah 7:8-14, esp. vv. 9, 11, 13.
Idolatry – Ezekiel 8:7-18; Jeremiah 11:9-11; Ezekiel 20:1-31, esp. vv. 1-8 and 30-31; Jeremiah 14:10-12.
Contemptuous toward God – Ezekiel 8:17-18.
Bad attitude toward wife – 1 Peter 3:7 (see also Matthew 5:21-26).
Profane life, mixing holy and unholy – Malachi 2:11-13.
Cruel, exploitive, corrupt leaders – Micah 3:1-4.
Prayer too late – Luke 16:19-31; Matthew 7:21-23.
No attitude of thankfulness – Philippians 4:6 (see 1 John 3:22).
May 4, 2008