14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.

Answered prayer.  It’s the desire of everyone who prays. James tells us the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available, dynamic in its working.  Yet too often, it seems our prayers go unanswered. Traditions of men have developed unscriptural doctrines to try and explain the lack of results.  They’ll say you’re not righteous (mis-defining that term as living right) or “sometimes God’s answer is no”, or God’s trying to teach you something, you’ll just have to wait.

None of those things are true, according to the bible. We know, also from James, that we have not because we ask not. We ask and receive not because we ask amiss. This is of course, not an exhaustive list but some of the most common I’ve encountered and sometimes been guilty of myself.

1. The Pitiful Prayer

You know the one. It’s where you give God a litany of how bad things are, how desperately you need what you’re asking for and how He should feel sorry for you and grant your request. He IS touched with the feelings of your infirmity but if God was moved by pity, you’d be in line behind every third world country on earth.

2. The Negotiating Prayer

This is where you try to bargain with God.  “God, if You’ll….then I’ll….  Ah if only you had done the last ten things you promised trying to get your way.  He knows the end from the beginning.  You can’t con Him with empty promises.

3. The Blackmail Prayer

Oh, this one is really good. You try to threaten the All-Powerful One.  “God, if you don’t…

then I will or will not…  Right. Like you even mean it. Even if you follow through on what you’ve threatened for a little while, you’ll be back. Who else loves you like He does and where else are you going to turn for help?

4. The Pious Prayer

Or as I like to call it, the Pharisee prayer. Either you’re praying in public so others can hear --- (buzzer sound) --  pride and self-righteousness much? Or worse yet, you use Elizabethan English trying to impress God with… what?  He knows the state of your heart and what you really believe.

5. Then there’s the worst one of all – The Lazy Prayer

This is the one where you beg and plead God to do for you what He’s already done or what He’s left up to you to do. There’s no substitute for faith and taking the time to find out what He said, what He’s done, what belongs to you and what your responsibilities are.

It’s time to grow up. God has given us everything we need to live a blessed life in Him. It’s all there in His Word and He’s not going too violate it to accommodate you. If He ever did that, the universe would collapse. He will not be conned or manipulated any more than you would for your children. Read the instructions, follow them and get your prayers answered!

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom Jesus, and healing every disease and sickness. Matt. 9:35

I heard a minister say recently that “we don’t know why sometimes God doesn’t heal everyone.” What a load of hooey!  Why do people always blame God for their lack of results? To say that somehow God faileJed to heal anyone is to say He’s unfaithful, a respecter of persons who doesn’t keep His promises.  Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the very Word of God made flesh, the incarnate manifestation of the will of God the Father. Yet NEVER in scripture did he ever refuse to heal, procrastinate healing or fail to heal anyone who came to Him in faith.  If you think, wonder about or hear anyone make excuses or espouse that type of doctrine, you aren’t hearing the bible preached.

Not only do we have a general illiteracy problem in this nation but worse yet, this generation suffers from a biblical illiteracy problem. It’s time for the church to get off motivational sermons, feel good inspiration and personal kingdom building. We MUST return to sound  biblical doctrine, knowledge of the Word and the teaching of sound Christianity. The world is dying of hunger for it and nothing else will satisfy.

Frequently asked question example

Example answer to the question. Feel free to customize this content with the actual information you want to provide.

Frequently asked question example

Example answer to the question. Feel free to customize this content with the actual information you want to provide.

Frequently asked question example

Example answer to the question. Feel free to customize this content with the actual information you want to provide.