Spirit Daily recently ran this great article on prayer. Enjoy!
WHEN GOD DOESN'T ANSWER, IT MAY BECAUSE HE WANTS YOU TO BE WHO YOU REALLY ARE
There's an old saying on how God answers prayers.
It's in one of three ways:
By saying "Yes."
By responding, "Not yet."
Or, by saying: "Wait, I have something better."
We can take that last one unto eternity!
When you pray and receive no answer it can be because what you request will cause you harm or doesn't fit with your higher calling. It doesn't coincide with how God wants to form you. It's not in His timing. We are trying to force things (and we know what rushing things can do). We can start with that: God responds only to prayers that bring you toward full realization.
There are other reasons why prayers aren't answered.
You may need to pray in a different way.
Perhaps, you need to pray more extensively (and with greater faith).
You may need to pray more from the heart -- really reach up to Him.
You may need to fast.
It may also be due to a block:
There can be blocks in your life preventing your prayer from "piercing the clouds," and these blocks can be from sin, negativity, or jealousy -- in your heart or directed against you.
Did you ever notice how hard it is at times to pray for others?
When we can't pray for ourselves, or someone else -- when it's like butting your head against a wall -- you need to step back, reflect on the issue, ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit, check your true inner feelings (for whomever you are trying to pray), and ask that the obstacle is lifted, from them or you. Cast the block away. How often we forget to remove obstacles! The result is frustration.
Before Jesus raised Lazarus, He wanted them to remove the stone from the tomb. He wanted them to take action. He wanted them to act in the natural -- and then He acted in the supernatural!
The same is true in your life: when prayers are not answered, it can be because God is waiting for you to remove the stone, to cause an opening, to step out of your "comfort zone," to take your feet out of the muck of worldliness. Are you too focused on things? Do you still compete? Do you want something (or someone) to boost your "ego" (which is the false self)?
All prayers "count." All are heard. God may apply them elsewhere. As we started out by saying, He has various reasons for "holding back."
-- It may be because what you want will do direct harm. Think back on your life and realize how things may have turned out (and what you may have become) if you had gotten the things you so earnestly wanted.
This is especially true with relationships: the wrong one keeps you from being who you really are. ("Wait, I have something better.")
-- Or a prayer may go unanswered because we are still "worldly." We try to have it both ways. We feature ourselves as "religious" but also grounded in the secular. (Forget the stock market; there will be no hint of it in Heaven).
-- It may be because we are in sin. When there are bad habits in our lives (including sloth), a barrier may form around us.
Prayers are heard when they are totally unselfish. How often are our prayers unselfish?
Seek to love and glorify God in all things and watch miracles unfold! There may be the need for release. You may have to let go of something. Open your heart and you open the tabernacle.
-- Lastly, recall that some trials are in His Plan for us -- and bring us to our essence. The Lord answers those prayers that take us to our true selves, not the selves we contrive through worldliness. He wants you to be who you really are. Only then will you know peace.
To do that, He must sometimes strip things away or deny them.
God has His fingerprints on you. He wants you to reach your destiny. How often we stop ourselves! How often we create a block through artificial concepts of happiness.
Knock the barriers down. Cast them out.
Pray with fervor.
Cry out (from the heart)!
Learn from your failures.
Realize with great hope that God knows we will make mistakes on this earth and desires mainly that we learn from them.
WHEN GOD DOESN'T ANSWER, IT MAY BECAUSE HE WANTS YOU TO BE WHO YOU REALLY ARE
There's an old saying on how God answers prayers.
It's in one of three ways:
By saying "Yes."
By responding, "Not yet."
Or, by saying: "Wait, I have something better."
We can take that last one unto eternity!
When you pray and receive no answer it can be because what you request will cause you harm or doesn't fit with your higher calling. It doesn't coincide with how God wants to form you. It's not in His timing. We are trying to force things (and we know what rushing things can do). We can start with that: God responds only to prayers that bring you toward full realization.
There are other reasons why prayers aren't answered.
You may need to pray in a different way.
Perhaps, you need to pray more extensively (and with greater faith).
You may need to pray more from the heart -- really reach up to Him.
You may need to fast.
It may also be due to a block:
There can be blocks in your life preventing your prayer from "piercing the clouds," and these blocks can be from sin, negativity, or jealousy -- in your heart or directed against you.
Did you ever notice how hard it is at times to pray for others?
When we can't pray for ourselves, or someone else -- when it's like butting your head against a wall -- you need to step back, reflect on the issue, ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit, check your true inner feelings (for whomever you are trying to pray), and ask that the obstacle is lifted, from them or you. Cast the block away. How often we forget to remove obstacles! The result is frustration.
Before Jesus raised Lazarus, He wanted them to remove the stone from the tomb. He wanted them to take action. He wanted them to act in the natural -- and then He acted in the supernatural!
The same is true in your life: when prayers are not answered, it can be because God is waiting for you to remove the stone, to cause an opening, to step out of your "comfort zone," to take your feet out of the muck of worldliness. Are you too focused on things? Do you still compete? Do you want something (or someone) to boost your "ego" (which is the false self)?
All prayers "count." All are heard. God may apply them elsewhere. As we started out by saying, He has various reasons for "holding back."
-- It may be because what you want will do direct harm. Think back on your life and realize how things may have turned out (and what you may have become) if you had gotten the things you so earnestly wanted.
This is especially true with relationships: the wrong one keeps you from being who you really are. ("Wait, I have something better.")
-- Or a prayer may go unanswered because we are still "worldly." We try to have it both ways. We feature ourselves as "religious" but also grounded in the secular. (Forget the stock market; there will be no hint of it in Heaven).
-- It may be because we are in sin. When there are bad habits in our lives (including sloth), a barrier may form around us.
Prayers are heard when they are totally unselfish. How often are our prayers unselfish?
Seek to love and glorify God in all things and watch miracles unfold! There may be the need for release. You may have to let go of something. Open your heart and you open the tabernacle.
-- Lastly, recall that some trials are in His Plan for us -- and bring us to our essence. The Lord answers those prayers that take us to our true selves, not the selves we contrive through worldliness. He wants you to be who you really are. Only then will you know peace.
To do that, He must sometimes strip things away or deny them.
God has His fingerprints on you. He wants you to reach your destiny. How often we stop ourselves! How often we create a block through artificial concepts of happiness.
Knock the barriers down. Cast them out.
Pray with fervor.
Cry out (from the heart)!
Learn from your failures.
Realize with great hope that God knows we will make mistakes on this earth and desires mainly that we learn from them.
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