In spite of Jesus’ assurance in Matthew 28: 20, surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age, many do not feel his presence. Jesus said in Luke 11: 9, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you yet many do not realize these promises. God said in Psalm 50: 15, call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honour me. Psalm 91: 15 also said, he will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him.
It is not always that God answers prayer the way we understand the above promises. Isaiah 59: 2 says, your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. There are justifiable reasons why God sometimes remains silent to our prayer. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will continue to discuss the additional reasons why God sometimes appear silent to our prayers as follows:
When norms take God’s place
Our social norms and practices could also be a barrier to our receiving God’s attention. Leviticus 19: 11 says, do not deceive one another. We are misled to believe in questionable social practices, fake prophets and spiritual practitioners. Jeremiah 29: 8 says, do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. Such confusion and mislead us so we cease hearing from God. There is only one God who does not share his glory with anyone.
Jesus said in Matthew 24: 11, many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. We believe in signs and wonders but Jesus said in Mark 13: 22, false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. We are slaves to signs and wonders etc. believing they are of Christ Jesus whereas they are not yet blaming Jesus that he is distant. With a weak foundation in Christ, we subscribe to misleading arguments so Colossians 2: 4 says, I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. Do we practice the culture and norms of heaven?
When we hurt the faith of others
Since creation, God has not changed or varied his standard of purity. James 1: 22 says, do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. In spite of God’s grace, he wants us to do what scripture says in order to experience his presence. 1Corinthians 8: 9 says, be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. We are not to hurt the faith of the weak in our selfish pursuit. Paul said in 1Corinthians 9: 22, to the weak, I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
We cannot mix morality and immorality because it is socially permissive. James 3: 11-12 asks, can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? … Can fig tree bear olives, or grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. The liberty which Jesus brought does not permit loose life or semblance of it such as the clothes we wear, our appearance, our utterance, and habits we share with others in common. Romans 15: 1 says, we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2Corinthians 11: 3 says, I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s canning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
When we pray without the Holy Spirit
Prior to Jesus’ departure into heaven, he said in John 14: 26, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. It is the Holy Spirit who teaches and leads us how to pray in accordance with God’s will. Acts 13: 2-3, while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Does the Holy Spirit know us? We pray amiss without him.
Paul wrote in Romans 8: 26-27, we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. We pray the wrong prayer at the wrong time and ask for the wrong things with the wrong attitude using the wrong language. Ephesians 4: 30 says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Only the Holy Spirit knows the appropriate approach for his intercession and answered prayer.
When we abuse or misapply God’s grace
The Lord is quoted in 2Corinthians 12: 9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” God gave us his grace to placate our sins for unintentional sin. It was also given for us to have the strength to withstand temptation without falling. It was never intended as a panacea for sin and asking for forgiveness later. We however misapply God’s grace using it as justification for our subscribing to our avoidable sinful deeds and weakness. Prayer based on such abuse may be delayed or not answered.
Isaiah 26: 10 says, when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord. God’s grace has always been abused long before the coming of Christ Jesus. Paul also asked in Romans 6: 1, what shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Asked differently, he said in Romans 6: 15, what then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Is our prayer based on grace sincerely? Galatians 6: 7 says, do not be deceived: God is not mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Reflection
Only God is perfect. 1John 1: 8-10 say if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. The only way to break the ice is through confession and righteousness. Proverbs 15: 29 says, the Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous. What is our standing with God? James 5: 16 says the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. May we evaluate our deeds by the Holy Spirit.
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, help us to be sincere with ourselves in confession so that by your blood, we may be cleansed from all our iniquities; and by your Holy Spirit, our prayer may by your grace be effective and powerful. We pray in your blessed Holy name, Amen!!
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