Why God will Not answer Prayer

 James 1:6-7 “Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavereth is like a wave of the      sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man suppose that he will receive   anything from the Lord.”

Luke 11:5-13 “yet because of his importunity (persistence) he will rise and give him as many as he needs.  So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (v.8b-10)

            It was Jesus who insisted on persistence.  God works in process, always perfect in its timing, but sometimes discouraging to us if our faith is not strong.  In Mark 4:26-29 he describes the growth of a seed, though the farmer does not know how it grows, as it seems to grow by itself, he none the less watches the blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head.  And when it ripens he puts in the sickle to reap his harvest.  The universal law of the harvest is that harvest comes after the planting, “in its season.”  The farmer knows to wait.  Waiting is part of the process for the farmer.  It is part of the process for all believers too.  In our day of instant everything we have lost the importance of waiting.

            Importunity (shamelessness in earnestness and perseverance in prayer) accomplishes much in our growth.  It strengthens our faith.  It establishes the need of waiting, of abiding and endurance (long suffering). It reveals our earnestness, humility, obedience, and patience.  We are to be "slow to anger" (James 1:19) but also slow to give up (see v.22).  We should keep asking, seeking, and knocking, until we get a clear answer from God.  He wants to give us a clear answer, but the process is very important to Him and to us.  Sometimes, a part of the delay we experience in prayer is the responsibility of divine wisdom.  The time is not right, or some other factors need to be in place.  Sometimes He must change us for God cannot perpetuate error or unholiness.  If He did that, the answer to prayer would itself be sin, and God cannot sin.  He will not allow our impatience to avoid the process.  The answer will come "in its season.".  If we sin, He will lovingly bring us back to a point where repentance will allow us to begin learning again and His grand and perfect plan for our lives will work out perfectly.  Don't give up.  Keep praying in faith. It is His process.  

            Sometimes God will not answer our prayers, only because we refused to wait with Him until the harvest time.  We too often give up too soon.  We must keep trusting, but also keep asking.  At the right time, in the right way, and for the right reasons, God will answer our praying.