The Prayers God Ignores

The Bible has a lot to say about prayer. We have examples of prayer like the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, the prayers of David recorded in Psalms and much more.

We have teachings from the Old and New Testaments about how to pray, when to pray, where to pray, what to pray for and what NOT to pray for.

We have examples of God answering prayers immediately, delaying his answer, saying yes, saying no, and even granting something better than what asked for.

Thankfully, we even hear about prayers God ignores. What can we learn from these passages from Scripture about why prayers will sometimes go unanswered?

[Deu 1:42-46 NIV] 42 But the LORD said to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’ “ 43 So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the LORD’s command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah. 45 You came back and wept before the LORD, but he paid no attention to your weeping and turned a deaf ear to you. 46 And so you stayed in Kadesh many days–all the time you spent there.

[Deu 23:5 NIV] 5 However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.

[Psa 66:17-20 NIV] 17 I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. 18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; 19 but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. 20 Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!

[Mat 23:14 NASB] 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

[Jas 1:5-7 NIV] 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

[Jas 4:1-3 NIV] 1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

[1Pe 3:7 NIV] 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.

It’s worth noting that in the moment, a delayed answer to prayer may feel lot like a rejection of prayer. What will you do when that happens? What will you force yourself to remember?