O What A Savior

I found this article (I did not write this)….but i would like to know what you think about it??….Do you agree…Do you somewhat agree?…Do you somewhat disagree??? or do you disagree totally?

Posted By: wormwood

Do you realize there are prayers God will not hear? First, lets look at prayer for a moment. I have been convicted in my life because of the foolishness in the way I have prayed in the past. How many times do we pray and then within 2 min forget entirely what we have prayed? How often do we pray for the sake of prayer…because it is expected? What do we normally pray about? Most times it revolves around someones health, or job, or family problem. I find myself that I am more apt to pray when I am in a pickle than when things are going well. Now, I know we are to present all our requests to God, but that does not mean God hears them (and by hears them I mean receives them and is willing to respond). The instruction to present everything to God assumes we approach God properly..which we often do not. Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6 not to pray like a hypocrite or pagan.

Hypocrites pray with others as their audience, not God. The Pharisees prayed so people would see them pray and not because God hears. Jesus said they will receive no reward from their prayers because they already got what they are looking for. Is that the case with us? Do we get what we asked for the moment we pray (fulfill an obligation, go through a motion, show others we pray, gossip, calm our nerves) or are we really looking for the Living God to move his hand in response? How often do our prayers sound like calls on a psychic hot line? General, vague, unexpectant and easily forgotten? Do we really pray as though the Holy One is listening? Are we willing to persevere or is our prayer a religious hurdle?

James says that you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives (James 4:3). Did you know that God doesn’t hear when you ask for stuff that is not his will? Now, let me take a moment on this because this is an important issue. Gods will is not an ambiguous or shifty thing. I do not believe it revolves around where you live, what job you have or what you are to eat for lunch. Scripturally, if you look up God’s will you will find it is almost always in relation to things like how you live, rather than where you live. Character is more important to God than particular decisions (unless they are moral choices). Now certainly God wanted people to make particular decisions in Scripture, but God always made that clear to them. I dont think we have to worry if God wants us to move to another place that we will somehow not be able to discern his will on the matter. No, God’s will is your sanctification (being made holy or righteous) 1 Thess. 4:3. So praying for God’s will to be done is to pray for goodness, holiness and righteousness to prevail..and that starts with the person praying for God’s will to be done. So, I ask you…what do you pray for? Is it for your glory, your comfort, your kingdom…or Gods? Are we willing to endure loss and difficulty that God’s name be hallowed, his kingdom advanced and his will be accomplished in our lives? I think there is a reason Jesus teaches his disciples to start their prayers, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” God’s glory..that should be the thrust of our prayers and lives. Yes, God cares about our lives, but there are bigger things going on in the world and if we cannot see past our own agenda, we should not expect God to bless our prayers. Do we pray as if God is stupid or deaf? Are we trying to wear God out to get our way or do we approach one who already knows what we need before we ask?

Finally, God does not answer prayers that come from incongruent lives. Jesus said, if you do not forgive others their sins, God will not forgive yours. In sum, dont ask God for that which you will not give to someone else. We should be able to ask God to deal with us as we have dealt with others. 1 Peter 3:7 says that God will not hear the prayers of men who mistreat their wives. James 5 says that the prayers of a righteous man availeth much. God does not hear you if your life does not match your words. Now that is not to say we are to be perfect…of course not. But we should be ready to try to make things right with others before we expect God to make things right with us. Interesting that our prayers must begin before we get to our closets. We must determine that as we need forgiveness, so we must first strive to be gracious and kind to others just as we want God to do for us.

So here are prayers God will not hear. 1) Prayers that do not really focus on him as the sole audience. 2) Prayers that are self-seeking and neglect his knowledge and greatness. 3) Prayers that are double-minded or inconsistent with the person who prays them.

If you want to have God hear you…pray to him and only him. Don’t use your prayer to advise or teach someone else in the prayer group, to gossip, to look religious or to just go through the motions with mindless babble. If you want to have God hear you seek his glory above your own and his plan above your pleasures. Lets go to God as undeserving servants, not as greedy dictators. If you want to have God hear you go to him as someone who is striving to do for others as you want him to do for you. Dont be cruel, greedy, unkind, and unforgiving and expect for God to treat you with love, mercy, grace and acceptance. Christs blood has given us an amazing gift to go before the Holy One with all our petitions and problems, but let us not abuse this gift. Pray to God as though he is God to you. Pray for me that I may do this as well.