In our last episode, we talked about the mystery of unanswered prayer. There are times when God, in His sovereignty and love, chooses to say “No” to our requests.

However, the Bible also tells us that our Father loves to say “Yes” to His children. So, why is it that so often we pray and pray, and nothing seems to happen? Where’s the problem?

All too often, the problem is with us. We’re the ones who torpedo the process. 

In this episode, we’re going to look at eight “prayer busters” the Bible warns us about. 

1. Failure to pray -“You do not have because you do not ask God.” James 4:2 
2. Unconfessed sin - “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. ” Psalm 66:18
3. Unresolved conflict - "If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there…go and be reconciled to your brother…” Matthew  5:23-24
4. Uncaring attitudes -“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.” Proverbs 21:13
5.  Improper motives - “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:3
6.  Improper timing - "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1
7. Inadequate faith - “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like the wave of the sea… that man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.” James 1:6-7
8.  Inappropriate requests - “…if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us…” I John 5:14 

If the request is wrong, God says, “No.”

If the timing is wrong, God says, “Slow.”

If you are wrong, God says, “Grow.”

If the request is right, the timing is right, and you are right, God says, “Go.”

Text: various

Originally recorded on September 26, 2004, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN