Have you ever wondered, “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” It isn’t because He’s not listening or He doesn’t care. Here are 6 Biblical reasons why God doesn’t answer prayers every time.
Have you ever prayed fervently for something or someone — only for God to completely ignore your unanswered prayers?
Perhaps you’re praying for unanswered prayers right now, and you’re wondering, “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers? Does prayer work?”
It’s completely frustrating when God hears our prayers then doesn’t answer them, isn’t it? Especially when there are so many encouraging Scriptures about answered prayer.
Scripture about Answered Prayer
After all, the Bible doesn’t include just one Scripture about answered prayer. It has several Bible verses that assure us: God answers prayers!
Take a look at these Bible verses about answered prayer, for example:
- Mark 11:24
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
- 1 John 3:22
“And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”
- 1 John 5:14-15
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
- John 15:7
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
- John 14:13-14
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
These Bible verses about answered prayer assure that God hears our prayers, God answers our prayers… He is truly a God who answers prayer.
So why doesn’t God answer prayers? Why do these Scriptures about answered prayer not ring true in our lives? Why are we left wondering, “Does prayer work?” “Does God hear our prayers?” and “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers when I ask?”
Why do we still have so many unanswered prayers?
Does Prayer Work? Why Doesn’t God Answer My Prayers?
The good news is: God answers prayers. BUT… there is a catch. And it all depends on how you look at it.
For example, if you are wondering “Does prayer work?” “Does God answer all prayers?” or, more specifically, “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” you can think of it one of two ways:
You can say: “No, God doesn’t answer all prayers. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many unanswered prayers…” And that’s totally understandable. Unfortunately, there are many prayers we pray that will never be answered the way we want them to.
OR you can say: “God answers prayers… BUT God answers prayers in His own time and not always in the way we ask. Just because I’m still wondering why God doesn’t answer prayers doesn’t mean He won’t ever.”
It’s all about your mindset.
You see, we typically think of God giving us one of three answers: Yes, No, and Not Yet, and only one of those answers to unanswered prayer is acceptable to us!
Yet, this fantastic article on ways God answers prayers lists 14 (!) different ways God answers prayers, including:
- Yes, But You Aren’t Paying Attention
- The Substitute Yes
- The Partial Yes
- Are You Sure?
- No, But Refocus
- No, But You’ll Thank Me Later
- No, And Stop Being Ridiculous
So if you’re wondering, “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” chances are He either already has or is currently working on it. God hears our prayers and God answers prayers. We just don’t always notice or like the answer.
6 Biblical Reasons Why God Doesn’t Answer Prayer
So if God hears our prayers and God answers prayers, why doesn’t God answer prayers the way we want Him to? Why does He say “No,” leaving us to wonder, “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?”
It isn’t to be mean or because He doesn’t care. Here are 6 reasons why God doesn’t answer prayers the way we want.
(Perhaps if you understand the specific reasons why the God who answers prayer hasn’t answered your prayer, your unanswered prayers won’t seem so bad.)
1. You Are Asking For The Wrong Things
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” –1 John 5:14-15
In this Scripture about answered prayer, we are assured that “if we ask anything according to His will … we have the requests.” That’s a powerful promise! It’s important to note, however, that our requests have to be in accordance to His will.
We can’t just pray for whatever we want and simply tack “in Jesus’s name. Amen” on the end. And we can’t pray for things that are contrary to God’s will for our lives or contrary to His will for other people’s lives either.
For example, if you pray for a certain promotion or job opportunity, and God has already decided someone else needs the opportunity more, the answer will be “no,” “not yet,” or “here’s something else instead.”
Again, this isn’t because God doesn’t care about our unanswered prayers. It’s because He knows much more than we do, and His way is always best.
Instead of asking “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” perhaps you should ask, “What does God want me to pray for in the first place?”
Key takeaway: Rather than always praying for what YOU want, pray for what GOD wants.
For example, “God what do YOU want me to pray for today? What plans do YOU want to accomplish, and how can I help bring YOUR plans to fruition?” or at least a good “if it’s your will God, let it be so.”
Or you can simply let your needs be known and ask Him to guide the situation however HE thinks best.
2. You Are Asking For The Wrong Reasons
“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” –James 4:3
Just the other morning, I saw an article online where someone was trying to prove that God doesn’t exist because they couldn’t pray for everyone in the world to not have cancer and have it magically happen immediately.
How ridiculous.
God is not a genie, prayer is not a magic spell, and God does not answer to us as though we were His boss, giving Him orders!
If you are using your prayers as a way to test whether or not God is real, is good or can be trusted, those are not God-honoring prayers. If your prayers all center around helping yourself get ahead or making your life more comfortable or pleasant, those are not God-honoring prayers. And we can’t be surprised when God doesn’t answer prayers like these.
Sure, He might. But I can’t imagine they are top on His priority list.
Maybe the reason you’re still wondering, “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” is because you’re praying with selfish, self-centered motives. (It happens to the best of us!)
Key Takeaway: Examine your heart before you pray.
WHY are you asking for the things you are? Are you hoping to build yourself up? Or are you truly seeking God and His will for your life no matter what?
3. There is Sin in Your Life
“We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.” –John 9:31
This Scripture about answered prayer makes a lot of sense to me. If we refuse to listen to God, why should He listen to us? How can I be angry at God for not answering my prayers if my life is full of sin?
Sure, He might answer our unanswered prayers. OR He might use the situation as a wake-up call we’re desperately needing.
Would you really blame Him?
Maybe instead of asking “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” the question we should really be asking is, “Why aren’t I listening to God?”
And this counts for sins you’re consciously aware of, as well as sins you have committed in the past and forgotten all about. Plus, even generational curses you may have on you and your family due to the sins or addictions of your parents/grandparents.
That’s a whole different topic that’s too much to get into today, but it is a factor.
(See also: Deuteronomy 1:45, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Job 35:13, Psalm 34:15, Psalm 66:18, Psalm 145:19, Proverbs 15:29, Proverbs. 28:9, Isaiah 1:15, 1 John 3:22.)
Key Takeaway: We can’t refuse to listen to God, then expect Him to answer all our unanswered prayers.
4. You Don’t Have Enough Faith
“And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.” –Matthew 21:21
How amazing would it be if we could seriously tell a mountain to move and it would do it?
(Or a chocolate fudge brownie to appear and it would — that’s probably what I’d do! lol)
You know, I’ve been wondering lately why the early apostles had so much power to make miracles happen, and yet we don’t see miracles happen nearly so often today. I think I have a guess as to why: We don’t have the faith the apostles had.
When I pray for things, I *hope* they will happen, knowing full well that they might not. I certainly don’t go around loudly proclaiming things and speaking things into existence. And yet, this is exactly what the apostles did. And it worked.
So if you’re still wondering “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” it may be because you don’t truly believe God answers prayers.
Key Takeaway: Ask yourself: “Do I truly believe that God hears our prayers and God answers prayers — even when when God doesn’t answer prayers the way I’d like Him to?”
5. You Aren’t Listening
Man, we Americans are busy people. Always running from place to place, doing a hundred things at once. Kind of makes it difficult to take time to stop and truly listen for God’s still, small voice, doesn’t it?
So, what if God has given you the answer to your prayers but you’ve been rushing around so much you didn’t even notice?
(Or perhaps, you DID hear His answer, but you didn’t like it very much, so you just keep asking and asking, hoping to hear something else instead)
Have you taken time in the still and quiet to really listen to His voice? Or are you too busy rushing around trying to solve all of your problems yourself, without so much as stopping for a minute to hear from Him?
Instead of asking “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” maybe we should try asking, “Has God already answered my prayers and I missed it?”
Key Takeaway: When God doesn’t answer your prayers the way you hope, don’t forget to listen for the answer He’s giving you instead.
Related: Struggling to Read the Bible Consistently? Here are 7 Reasons Why
6. You Haven’t Asked
What if, when the Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing,” God expects us to do exactly that?
The truth is, most of us spend FAR more time talking about our problems or asking “Does prayer work?” than we spend taking our unanswered prayers to the God who answers prayer!
Have you prayed about your problems as much as you’ve talked about them?
And once you asked, did you wait and allow God the time and space to actually do something about them? Or did you just barge ahead full steam, trying to find a solution to your problems yourself, without Him?
Perhaps the question isn’t “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” or even “Does prayer work?” but “Why aren’t I patient enough to wait for the God who answers prayer?”
Key Takeaway: Don’t give up when God doesn’t answer your prayers right away. Keep praying and seeking HIS will for your life!
So Why Doesn’t God Answer My Prayers?
Okay, let’s recap real quick! Does God answer all prayers?
Yes, God hears our prayers and God answers prayers… BUT God answers prayers in his own time and in His own way.
According to the Scripture about answered prayer we read above, God answers prayers when…
- You ask for the right things.
- You ask for the right reasons.
- You have removed the sin from your life.
- You believe with all of your heart that God can answer your prayers.
- You are actually listening and patiently waiting for an answer.
- You are sitting down and spend quality time with God asking for what you need.
BUT just because God hears our prayers and God answers prayers in His own time, that doesn’t mean He always says “yes.”
Sometimes God says “No,” “Not Right Now,” or “Not in the Way You’d Hoped.”
And when God doesn’t answer prayers the way we’d hoped, it’s up to us to trust that God loves us, His way is best, and He knows what He’s doing.
When was the last time you were disappointed by unanswered prayer? Have you ever considered why God doesn’t answer prayers the way you hoped?
5. You Aren’t Listening for the Answer – this resonated with me today. Though I pray fervently for specific things in my life, I do not make time to sit still before the Lord. Thank you for this reminder! God does speak, but have I allowed him time to speak to me? WOW!
So glad that this post spoke to you today 🙂 And don’t feel bad – that’s one step that’s alllll too easy to overlook, even as important as it is!
Thank you for this article! (Thank you Jesus). It gave me a new perspective on how to pray. I didn’t realize how selfish my prayers really were until I read this article. It was unintentional but still selfish. I see kingdom opportunities arising. I was also a complainer for a season. So glad Holy Spirit helped me out of that. That is not who I am, but I had allowed Satan a foothold. That’s very dangerous, like you state in your other blog. God bless you! Sister in Christ.
Yeah, it’s something we ALL fall into from time to time. Good thing it’s pretty easy to fix once you’re aware of it! Always room to grow 🙂
Could you, Brittany, or anyone that may understand point three please explain this a little more in depth? I read this same statement on another site some time ago. The author there said that God does not answer or even hear prayers from sinners. I have to say that when I read that I was stopped in my tracks. It was such a blow to me to think that God has not heard one single thing that came out of my mouth, mind or heart my whole life…ever. We are not and can never be perfect or sinless. There is an endless list of sin and I cannot for the life of me think of how to purge all of my transgressions in order to be able to talk to God. I have to say that this topic has literally been life altering for me. I know that God doesn’t abandon us, yet I have felt so alone spirituality. I am truly unable to put into words how this has left me. Once more, although I have never been overly religious, I DO believe in our Lord and love him with everything I possibly have. I want to be a better servant to God, I want to be a better person and was beginning to start my path of transformation. When I read this I did not know how on earth to proceed. Many of those in my family are Catholic (I was baptised an Episcopalian and am not Catholic, but Methodist) and I attended Catholic school and I never recall ever hearing God’s Law on this. I do still pray and speak to God, but I feel like every word is falling on deaf ears and Satan is throwing one heck of a celebration.
I am forever grateful to anyone who can please help me with this.
Hi, Krista. There is some truth to that, BUT it is taken very much so out of context. Allow me to explain a bit more.
It all has to do with the condition of your heart toward God, NOT the number of sins you have committed in the past. So, for example, if you were a non-Christian who had heard about God but who refused to believe and submit your life to Him — well, why would God listen to you if He refused to listen to Him? (This is not to be mean or punitive, but it just makes sense). However, if a non-Christian were to come before God honestly and humbly, then yes, God would absolutely listen.
The same for Christians, if you are truly committed to God and walking with Him, then He will absolutely listen. But if you are set on disobeying and doing things your own way, then why would God answer your prayers?
This does not mean that we will ever be perfect or never sin. That’s impossible of course. But if we willingly choose to continue in sin even if we know better, it absolutely does put a distance (of our making) in between us and God and make our prayers less effective.
But the good news is, the second we change our ways and return to Him, He absolutely returns to us, and we find He had been pursuing us all along, even when we had been set on going against Him the whole time.
Does that make sense?
And sin is also just one reason. So if you know of something in your life that God has asked you to do and you have refused, then start there. Ask for forgiveness and walk in obedience. But if you pray about it and you absolutely can not think of a single thing, then the issue may be something else entirely.
Does that help?
The sacrifices of God are a {o} broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
(o) Which is a wounding of the heart, proceeding from faith, which seeks God for mercy.Psalm 51:17
How bad do you want it? And what sacrifice are you will to make. (In time, in the seeking etc)
Many people should start asking how can they help THEMSELVES. Once you start taking care of your own things – or at least try to do that – it’s much easier to ask for God’s help as well!
I love that! I realize that I often know the answer but I am waiting for some fiery sign from God to reassure me. Go with my gut.
Ah, just don’t expect that God will do all the daily chores for you. Work on your life, your relationship, your work relations yourself – and then come to God asking for what you cannot as a person.
I am 35 years old, and consider myself a good person. I do not try to harm anyone else, in fact, I try to help others as much as I can (sometimes at my own expense). As I write this, I know there are others out there that have had many more troubles (in quantity and severity) than my own. However, that does not take away from my struggles. Throughout my life, there seems to be a constant stream of obstacles to overcome, starting when I was 2 years old. I’ve had broken bones, 2 heart surgeries (and still have hanging over my head that it may have to happen again someday), 2 back surgeries, 2 surgeries on my arm after a car accident that was not my fault, have lost a few relationships, and never been able to find one that allows for me to get married and have children (which is a lifelong dream of mine; especially since my one sibling that passed away never had children, my parents rely on me to become grandparents; and now with my heart health not even sure if I will be able to have a child since it has been so long.) After one relationship in particular (I was engaged), my life seemed to fall apart even more, financially and emotionally. My brother (1 year and a half older than I; and my only sibling) passed away December 2012 unexpectedly. The very next morning (less than 12 hours after finding out about my brother’s passing) I had to go to court to finish my bankruptcy case where I was to lose my house amongst other things. Also, lost my house after working 3 jobs for 2 years, and just could never seem to get ahead. Talk about exhausted on top of everything else!! That was 5 years ago, and I have steadily been trying to pull myself through with SEVERAL requests/pleas to God over the years for help. I have picked myself back up financially as best as I can. I have been going to therapy for a year. I have been continuing in my path to help others, which I have done regularly even when it doesn’t feel like I am getting any help. I falter in my faith on occasion, but it feels like that only happens after quite some time with no response or help from God. I always go back to God. I am starting to feel my faith dwindle though. Kind of like you explained how he feels about some of us (that if we don’t have faith in him he doesn’t listen; well I have faith and he isn’t listening; so why would I continue to talk to him if he isn’t listening). Some of my prayers are selfish, and some are for me but so that I can help others. I would think those would be the requests God would grant if anything… I just don’t know how much longer I can really actively try to talk to God and to do his work if I am being ignored and/or unheard. Is there any suggestions you may have so that my faith doesn’t continue to fade? I love God, and want to follow him. I don’t expect a magic bean to fall from the sky, and know it takes work on my part, but I feel like I have been putting in the work (I read, write, talk to him, help others, help change things about myself to grow) and have not been getting results. I just don’t know what else to do.
I feel the same as you do. I rarely hear God and am let with my own devices. It always seems that those who want to hear God the most never do or have to jump through hundreds of hoops whereas others don’t. I really don’t know what to say except to keep trying…every dog has it’s day.
But I do wish I was special enough to hear from God…when I don’t but everyone else can I just want to give up.
Just know others feel the way you do.
Lindsey,
I feel your pain, and am so sorry you have experienced all you have. However ,in your post you said I consider myself to be a good person. None of us are good and the bible clearly states that in luke 18:19 and Mark 10:18 Jesus said “ Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” This might be a clear thing that you need to repent of! I know it is hard and not easy, but none of us are good. We can’t be without Jesus! Trying to is good, but we will need his help! And when we say we are good and God (jesus) says we are not then we make God a lier! I have had struggles all my life too but when God showed me this my relationship with him opened up and things changed. I still have struggles but they are with him more and not by myself. When he shows us something to repent of and we agree with God, our relationship is stronger with God!
I just don’t get it. I asked God for my birth certificate and a job but he dosesn’t hear me. I have been asking for 2 years now and still no answer. I don’t know what to do anymore
I do not know everything but I do know that God commands us to repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will guide you in living your life in a way that is pleasing to God.
To those of you who are discouraged by the reasons listed above.
Keep in mind that Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years for God’s provision.
King David ran for his life from Saul praying for about 13 years.
These are only a couple of examples. The answers stated above are discouraging and
many times incorrect. Do not be discouraged, the Lord is working out His plan for your life
and THAT may be why it has not come to pass. It is always good to go to the Lord and ask if there
is anything obstructing his answers, but because he hasn’t answered yet, it does not mean that you
are doing anything wrong!
I have been praying for a real boyfriend/husband for years and God has not answered, why?
Not meaning to offend by my comment… but honestly every answer is just an excuse. 1. I’m asking for something that is personal and only makes sense as a father without his son… SO IT CAN’T BE WRONG.
2. Goes right along with number 1… 3. Yes, we all do and the bible is clear that all have sinned and fall short, no man can cast the first stone, filthy rags… so it is impossible for me or anyone else to be perfect enough to earn God to answer our prayers… 4. I don’t have enough faith…. honestly the mere fact that I am praying is faith to me, mustard seed!!! I believe God can do anything but He doesn’t and that’s why Christians don’t practices their belief. If God answered prayer, can you imagine what the world would be like? This one makes me mad cause I fight everyday to push through and have faith. 5. I hear that small voice and honestly I can not deny that it has been right on before…. but then I hear it all the time and I am afraid to trust it…. 6. I never stop asking or seeking answers…. exactly why I am here!!!! Bottom line, it seems that people who do evil things always win when people try to live according to this book called the BIBLE we lose…. It hurts because I want to believe it’s true and it works… Been a christian 31 years and I must say…. looking back, I am disappointed.