1. “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).
God’s goal in answering our prayers is not our pleasure or joy. It is His glory, the expression of Himself, so that we might know Him.
1. “If I regarded iniquity in my heart, / The Lord did not hear” (Psa. 66:18; see also Prov. 15:8, 29).
The first barrier to prayer being answered is sin. If we regard iniquity in our heart, the Lord will not hear us. Regarded in Hebrew conveys a sense of being polite. If a person prays but regards, entertains, and is polite and deferential toward sin, rather than hating and refusing sin, God will not hear his prayer.
2. “Your iniquities have become a separation / Between you and your God, / And your sins have hidden His face / From you so that He does not hear” (Isa. 59:2; see also 1:15; 58:4; Micah 3:2-4; John 9:31).
Sin creates a separation between God and us and causes God to hide His face from us. If we do not forsake sin, God cannot answer our prayer.
3. “We have transgressed and rebelled... / You have covered Yourself with a cloud / That prayer might not pass through” (Lam. 3:42, 44).
Sin stirs up God’s wrath, and He covers Himself with a dark cloud so that our prayer might not pass through. If we live in sin, our prayer surely cannot reach God, be heard by God, or be answered by God.
False gods and idols provoke God’s jealousy, causing God to be unwilling to hear our prayer. We may think that we have left false gods and idols and do not have any false gods and idols, but we must realize that anything that usurps the place of God is a false god and idol in our heart. If this is our condition, God cannot be inquired of by us and, even less, answer our prayer.
1. “You ask and do not receive...Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:3-4).
The friendship of the world is enmity with God. Therefore, God will be unable to hear and answer our prayers if we are friends of the world and love the world.
1. “You ask and do not receive because you ask evilly that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3).
God will not answer prayers that ask inappropriately, that is, asking evilly that we may receive for the sake of our pleasures.
1. “When you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone” (Mark 11:25, see also v. 26).
Prayer is fellowship with God, and fellowship with God requires God’s forgiveness. Sin without God’s forgiveness causes our fellowship with God to be broken. Therefore, if we want to fellowship with Him in prayer, we must obtain God’s forgiveness of our sins. His forgiving of us is based upon our forgiving of others. If we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us. If we do not forgive others, God cannot forgive us, and we cannot fellowship with God.
1. “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you...first go and be reconciled to your brother” (Matt. 5:23-24).
If we have a problem with a brother, we cannot fellowship with God. The offering of our gift at the altar refers to fellowship with God. If we remember that a brother has something against us when we want to fellowship with God, we should first go and be reconciled to the brother to correct this problem. According to the Lord’s word, if a brother has something against us, we must first be reconciled to him in order to clear up the problem. If we do not do this, we will not be able to fellowship with God. We will not be able to pray, and God will not listen to or answer our prayer.
1. “He who doubts...must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6-7).
A principle for prayers being answered is faith. Faith honors and glorifies God; doubts despise and humiliate God, making it impossible for Him to answer our prayers. Even when we ask for something from man, we must have faith. If we ask for something with doubt, a person will not want to do anything for us. This is the case even more when we pray to God. Doubting causes prayers to be unheard and unanswered. It prevents us from obtaining anything from God.