Why Doesn’t God Answer My Prayers?

I think that most believers, at one time or another, have wondered that. The first and most obvious one might come from not having faith. Jesus does say in Luke 17:6, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.” However, in James 1:6 it says, “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” It is not the amount of faith, but that the faith is genuine. When someone, who has had no prayer life with God, prays that God would get them out of a tough jam, it is desperation, not faith. There are also times that we pray for selfish gain, like praying that our team wins at sports. (If both teams pray the same thing, one will get a "No".) We might pray for our failure to prepare, such as praying for a good grade, when we know we didn’t study. Others come before God with bargaining. God if You will only do this for me, then I will do such and such. Do you think that God really needs what we have to offer. If our faith is conditional, that really isn’t faith at all. Maybe what I am lifting up to God will have a negative effect, such as praying to win the lottery or some other prize. We either get so focused on the prize that we forget God or that we begin to think of God as One that is there for my wants. This is where praying can often be connected to the phrase “not my will but Yours be done”. Lord, I have confidence about what You can do, but I also am aware of my inability to ask for the best or correct thing. We have to understand that sometimes God, knowing all things, understands that our prayer might be better answered in another way. For example, if there is a believer who has been fighting with a disease, knowing that believers will go to heaven, is one’s passing in that situation, not a blessing? I must also note that God can completely heal that person of all health issues, should He choose. God also knows future events, so that taking a believer today, could spare them suffering in the future. So, pray with confidence, but also trust God’s judgement. Lord, help us to have unwavering faith, but trusts You fully. Put Your desire on our hearts and answer according to Your will. Amen