Unanswered prayers

[B-A-C]

Prov 28:9; He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.

It's sometimes easy note that even 'non-Christians' pray sometimes. Perhaps God hears the prayers of the ignorant. But those who deliberately disobey God...
even their prayers are an "abomination" to God. There are people who call themselves Christians, but they don't really live like it, I wonder if God think's those
prayers are an abomination also?

The word "prayer" is not mentioned in the first seven books of the Bible. The first time it's mentioned in 2 Samuel, chapter 7.

2Chron 7:14; and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

This is a popular verse, frequently quoted by Christians. It says here, if they turn from their wicked ways... "then" I will hear from heaven. It seems if they continue in their wickedness, God won't even hear their prayers.

Matt 23:14; ["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.]
Mark 12:40; who devour widows' houses, and for appearance's sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation."
Luke 20:47; who devour widows' houses, and for appearance's sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."

Some people are unaware, that by making "pretense prayers".. making a good religious/pious showing around other people, they will receive a "greater" condemnation. Greater than what?
Another frequently quoted verses is for married men.. ( yes, I guess that includes me )
1Pet 3:7; You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

I guess I always pictured the prayer channel being like the internet, you type it, and immediately about a second later God sees it. But it seems some things can hinder prayers. Treating your wife badly is one of those things.

It seems even God has limited patience for pretend believers.

Isa 1:12; "When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?
Isa 1:13; "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.
Isa 1:14; "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.
Isa 1:15; "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
Isa 1:16; "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil,
Isa 1:17; Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.

There are some situations where God will not listen to peoples prayers, even those who say they know Him. This thread isn't about orphans and widows ( at least not directly ).
But Isaiah 1:17; is much like what James says in James 1:27;

 

[B-A-C]

Dan 10:12; Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.
Dan 10:13; "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.
Dan 10:14; "Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future."

This is controversial because there is some debate on who the "prince of the kingdom of Persia" is. A man? A fallen angel? A demon? Satan himself? In any case, this being prevented the angel from coming to Daniel
and answering his "words" ( it's not called a prayer here, so is there a difference? ) This Persian prince blocked the angel/messenger for 21 days. In today's society 21 days is a long time time to wait for an answer to a
prayer. We get impatient if we have to wait 5 minutes at a fast food restaurant. It says that Michael, ( who is called an angel in other passages ) came to help the messenger after 21 days and they eventually prevailed
over the prince of Persia. ( I vaguely remember a video game called "Prince of Persia" ) It seems this is spiritual warfare on a high level. Sometime spiritual warfare prayers take a little while to be answered.
I wonder if some of us give up a little too quickly? Is there more power in a greater number of saints praying? More power in intercessory prayers among the saints?

Again, I don't want to get off track here, but why was this prince of Persia blocking this messenger? He was going to tell Daniel about "the latter days" and "future events". The end times of the current age.
Now why... do you suppose, Satan wouldn't want people to know about this?

 

[B-A-C]

Jer 7:9; "Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known,

Now maybe you don't murder, or offer sacrifices to Baal, but do you steal? Do you commit adultery? Do you make false vows and promises?
I know people who call themselves Christians who do these things.

Jer 7:10; then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered!'—that you may do all these abominations?
Jer 7:11; "Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," declares the LORD.

It seems that someone else... someone important in the New testament, also called His Father's house "a den of robbers". What goes on in the church matters to God.

Jer 7:12; "But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
Jer 7:13; "And now, because you have done all these things," declares the LORD, "and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer,
Jer 7:14; therefore, I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.
Jer 7:15; "I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim.
Jer 7:16; "As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you.

God tells Jeremiah, these people are so evil, I don't even want you to pray for them. I won't even listen to those prayers.

Jer 11:12; "Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster.
Jer 11:13; "For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.
Jer 11:14; "Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

It's bad enough when God won't hear the prayers of the wicked. But it's doubly bad when He says He doesn't even want anyone else to pray for them. Is there any hope for them at this point?

 

[KingJ]

There is A. Having you prayers reach God and then B. Having your prayers answered by God.

You have properly explained A. But for B to take place we need to consider two things. 1. Is said person a Christian or not and 2. Faith.

1. A non Christian has not got a 'Father' God answering their prayers. This can impact many types of prayer requests. A Christian has a Father God, Christians are children of God. As such, their Father will help them with all their needs.

Example. If my child asks for bread, I will say ''no, you have already eaten too much today, here is a salad''. If a stranger at the gate asks for bread, I will give him the bread he is asking for.

2. Without faith it is impossible to get God to move on any topic. Now, we need to always specify what faith is needed and acknowledge the fact that as a Christian, you already operate with a high level of faith 'in' God.

Faith one needs is a belief in God's ability to perform the request and His good nature to honor the request. A Christian would already have both of these types of faith at a 10/10 level. As such, when a Christian's prayer is not answered, things can become a bit complex.

In the example above, faith for a non-Christian can be likened to a stranger making the effort to come to the gate and ask for bread. He came with a belief that you were there and had a real expectation of you being good and giving some bread. For a Christian, well they are already in the house and have full access to the kitchen. As such, your Father will look at you a bit puzzled if you had to ask for bread. The first thing He would want to tell you is that you and Him truly need to spend some more time with each other and get to know one another. This is why scripture says, 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge' in Hos 4:6.

 

[B-A-C]

Jeremiah also wrote another book in the Bible called "Lamentations". Lamentation isn't a prophets name. The book is called this, because it's about "lament".

The online dictionary defines lament as -- "a passionate expression of grief or sorrow.".

Jeremiah says the following...

Lam 3:8; Even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer.
Lam 3:44; You have covered Yourself with a cloud So that no prayer can pass through.
Lam 3:56; You have heard my voice, "Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, From my cry for help."

This is one of the greatest prophets of the Bible, saying God isn't listening to him.
Now of course eventually God does listen after a period of time. Much like Daniel, Jeremiah had to do some "extra" things before God listened.

Dan 9:3; So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

I don't recall anywhere in the New Testament where sackcloth and ashes were still "a thing", but fasting is mentioned a few places.

 

[Beetow]

A friend at work once asked me if I'd ever gotten anything by means of prayer. I
told him no. The thing is: I don't pray like that because God can't be expected to
grant folks their requests when their piety is unsatisfactory; so I avoid trying His
patience.

● John 15:7 . . If you abide in me, and my words abide in you; ask whatever you
wish, and it shall be done for you.
_

 

[Curtis]

Jas 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Jas 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
Jas 1:7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

Faith is a must to have when asking for things from the Lord.

Jesus said......

Mar 11:24 "So I tell you, when you pray for something, believe that you have already received it. Then it will be yours. (NiRV)

You can not get what you don't believe you already have.

So, not getting your prayers answered is because you never believed you already received it when you prayed.
Unanswered prayer is getting exactly what you expected. You expected nothing so you got nothing.

 

[Brad Huber]

I have gotten alot of prayers answered positively. Not even half of what I ask for in prayer, but I pray almost constantly, so merely by the number of requests, an atheist would say, that those affirmative responses were simply a numbers game. Its not really. People misunderstand God's answers usually, the why of why they didnt get what they prayed for. If I prayed that someone dies, should God kill that person? Our God, my Father, love His children in that He only gives us what will truly help us, He wont give us bad gifts. Not even death is a bad gift, and not suffering either. Our inability to recognize whats wisest for us and those around us, should tell you that we should leave the best answers to prayer in God's wise hands. And what we think helps us or those we prayed for wont always work out the way that is best to bring all into the best result due to said action or lack thereof. I suppose I could give you an example if you need one, but my guess is that you will think its not the same as the situation of prayer results being less than whats best.

 

[Beetow]

● Eph 1:4-5 . . He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ,
in accordance with His pleasure and will

There are important differences between adopted kids and foster kids.

The latter have no inheritance rights, they have no right to be known by a foster
father's name, they have no right to a foster father's love, they have no right to
address their foster father with a filial vocative like dad, pop, or papa; and they
have no right to a place in his genealogy.

Plus, foster care is temporary. Older kids eventually age out of the foster system
and the State ceases to assist foster fathers to continue providing for them. At 18
the older kids are legally adults in my country, and the responsibility for their
providence is upon themselves. Ouch!

Adopted kids' circumstances are so, so much better. They are legally just as much
an adopted father's children as his biological offspring. Ergo: adopted kids have
inheritance rights, they have a right to be known by their adopted father's name,
they have a right to their adopted father's love, they have a right to address their
adopted father by a filial vocative, and they have a right to a place in his
genealogy.

Plus, adoption is permanent. Older kids don't age out of their adopted homes so
they always have a family support base to fall back on should their circumstances
become difficult. (cf. Luke 15:11-24)

Not every Christian is related to God as His kin by adoption. But those in that
envious position aren't left to guess at whether they are or not.

● Rom 8:15-16 . . For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again,
but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba!
Father!" The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

A tragic case in point is Mother Teresa. For virtually the entire five decades as a
missionary, Teresa felt not the slightest glimmer of The Lord's presence. I'm talking
about 50 years. Her feelings of abandonment were so strong that she eventually
began doubting there's a God out there, and if there is one, she wasn't sure He
even liked her and might even be disposed to quite condemn her. That poor soul
went to her death without the slightest assurance she would be safe on the other
side.

Point being: Teresa was deprived the Spirit's witness per Rom 8:16. That being so,
then I must assume Teresa left this life on her own instead of in God's care.

NOTE: Abba is neither English nor Greek; it's Aramaic. The word means father, but
not as an ordinary noun. Grammatically, it's a filial vocative. For example: when
I'm puttering around out in the garage, and my son and his mother are in the
kitchen talking about me, then "dad" is merely an identifier that informs my wife
who my son is talking about. But when my son wants to get my attention and calls
out: "Dad, come inside." then the same noun becomes a filial vocative.
_

 

[Curtis]

The word “adoption” is made up of two words. “Ad” which means “to” and the word “option” which means “choose”. Together they mean “to choose” the Lord God “choose” us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be his sons.

 

[Beetow]

.

The word “adoption” is made up of two words. “Ad” which means “to” and the word
“option”

The New Testament's Greek word for adoption is huiothesia (hwee-oth-es-ee'-ah)
which basically means placing as a son.

* To my knowledge, there is no New Testament Greek word for placing as a
daughter.
_

 

[Curtis]

* To my knowledge, there is no New Testament Greek word for placing as a
daughter.

Probably because......

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.