When you pray, do you feel that Yahweh God Almighty is ignoring your prayer? After all, prayer is communication with Yahweh; it’s a two-way conversation. So when it seems that his prayers are not being answered, there may be good reasons for it.

There are obstacles to prayer, things and behaviors that will prevent answered prayer. Here, let’s briefly review some of these obstacles, so that we can learn how to remove them from our lives.

Disbelief

“But let him ask with faith, without any doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, pushed by the wind and shaken. Because that man does not think that he will receive something from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all Their paths”. (James 1:6-8, WEB)

When we pray to Yahweh, we need to have the right heart attitude of faith. Yahweh is Almighty, and his very name means “He Who Chooses to Become”, meaning that He has the ability and power to be and do whatever He wants. When we ask for something but doubt if He can grant the request, we are treating Him as if He does not have the power to do what we ask.

Not praying according to the will of God

Jesus, the Son of God, taught us to pray: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

We need to pray for Yahweh’s Kingdom to come and wish for His will to be done on Earth, as it is in His heavenly home. His Kingdom encompasses all of his will for us.

When we pray without taking God’s will into account, we are praying with the wrong motives: “You ask and you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, to spend it on your delights.” (James 4:3)

We must first seek the Kingdom of God; make it our number one priority. His kingdom is the answer to all our needs, and he is the solution to all our problems. When his Kingdom comes, we will have everything. Jesus promised: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [material necessities] it will be given to you also.” (Matthew 6:33)

Our relationship with our Heavenly Father is like any relationship between earthly parents and children. Not everything a child asks for will be granted by his parents. Parents respond to requests based on their will and promises. This is done in the best interest of everyone. Likewise, Yahweh grants our wishes only according to his will and his promises to us. May he be assured that his will for us is purely good.

Before we can ask according to God’s will, we obviously need to know what His will is, don’t we? So where can we find out? Well, in the Bible, of course! Take a copy of the Bible, read it and study it. Take note of God’s will and promises, and then pray according to them. (And if you need help studying and understanding the Bible, just reply to this newsletter and I’ll be more than happy to be your Bible study partner!)

Do not abide in Jesus and his words

We know that we need to seek God’s will, and part of that will is that we abide in Him and His Son. To “remain” in God and Jesus is to live in them doing his will, following his teachings and words. When we ask for something and we don’t do what Yahweh wants, it shows that we are asking for selfish reasons, without considering God’s will.

Jesus promised us: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7)

Do not pray in the name of Jesus

Jesus told us to pray in his name: “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be full.” (John 16:23, 24)

Praying in the name of Jesus does not simply mean that we conclude our prayers with “In the name of Jesus Christ I pray.” Rather, it also means praying with the qualities of Jesus Christ, since “name” also denotes someone’s characteristics and essence. We must be like Christ when we go before Yahweh in prayers: humble, faithful and loving.

praying hypocritically

Jesus denounced those who pray only to show off: “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they like to stand and pray in synagogues and on street corners, to be seen by men. Most of the true I tell you, they have received their reward (Matthew 6:5) The hypocrites will receive the reward they crave, the praise of man, but they will not receive the reward of true value: that comes from God.

In order for our prayers to be answered by Yahweh, we must pray humbly, with sincerity and sincerity of heart, and according to God’s truths as presented in the Bible. We must pray in secret: “But you, when you pray, go into your inner chamber and, shutting the door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you in public.” (Matthew 6:6)

While praying, we must be fervent, without using meaningless repetitions, such as memorized prayers, chants or mantras: “When praying, do not use vain repetitions, as do the Gentiles, who think they will be heard for their talk. Therefore do not be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him (Matthew 6:7-8).

Not forgiving others

Is it right to ask God to forgive our sins when we ourselves do not forgive others?

Jesus told us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)

So, before praying, we should achieve a peaceful mind and not hold grudges in our hearts. When we forgive the evil that has been done to us, we will be able to ask God for forgiveness for our own evil, because “if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matthew 6:14)

Selfishness and lack of compassion.

“He who covers his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry, but he will not be heard.” (Proverbs 21:13)

abuse of your spouse

You, husbands, likewise, live wisely with your wives, giving honor to women as the most fragile vessel, as co-heirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (1 Peter 3:7)

pride

“There they cry, but no one gives an answer, because of the arrogance of wicked men.” (Job 35:12)

sin of any kind

As you can see, any sin prevents you from receiving an answer to your prayer from Yahweh.

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that he cannot hear; but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, so that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2)

Yahweh said, “When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you pray many prayers, I will not listen to you. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourself clean. Remove the evil of your deeds before my eyes. Stop do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Judge the orphan. Advocate for the widow. (Isaiah 1:15-17)

“He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” (Proverbs 28:9)

“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.” (Proverbs 15:8)

Therefore, before God answers our prayers, we must remove each and every sin from our lives. How can we avoid and deal with sins? We do it through the experience of being born again.

demonic obstacles

Although sins are a great hindrance to prayers, the righteous, those who wholeheartedly dedicate their lives to seeking God’s will, may experience delayed answers to their prayers due to satanic hindrances. For example, the great prophet Daniel did not receive God’s answer to his prayer until twenty-one days later due to demonic obstacles:

“Daniel, very beloved man, understand the words that I speak to you, and get up, because now I feel you… Do not be afraid, Daniel, because from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and humble yourself before your God, they were heard your words; and because of your words I have come. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was with me twenty-one days; but behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I stayed there with the kings of Persia.” . (Daniel 10:11-13) The one speaking to Daniel here was an angel. Since only spirit beings could hinder an angel, we know that the “prince of the kingdom of Persia” was an evil angel whom we call “demon”.

The apostle Paul reminded us: “For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness in this age in the world, and against spiritual wickedness in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

Yes, our main enemies are demonic forces, evil spirits that do the will of their leader, Satan the devil. Satan and his followers go to great lengths to go against Yahweh. From Daniel’s experience, we can see that Satan has organized his evil force in the form of “principalities”, where a demon rules over a specific region of the Earth, like the “prince of the kingdom of Persia” mentioned in the book of Daniel. These are the “principalities” that Paul spoke of.

Therefore, we must be strong, stand firm in our faith, and constantly trust God to help us drive away evil spirits. We must be persistent in our prayers. Jesus urged us to persistently pray to God. (Luke 18:1-8)

Jesus promised, “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7: 7-8)

So keep asking, seeking and knocking according to Yahweh’s will, and He will answer you in His own time!

One last word…

Many times Yahweh answers our prayers not exactly the way we expect. Sometimes we may not even realize that He has answered us. Other times, He will not respond to us when our desires conflict with His will. But Yahweh will always do what is best for us. So even if we don’t get everything we want, we will always, always get the best.

And the best of the best is a sacred and intimate relationship with Yahweh. Pray that you can develop such a relationship with Him. Seek His face, and you will find Him!

Yahweh said: “For I know the thoughts I have about you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. You will call on me, and you will go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and you will find me, because you will seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:11-13).