John 14:13-14
Why Don’t I Always Feel God’s Presence?
"Why didn't You answer my prayer, Lord?"
John 14:13-14 "And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it."
"God, what's up with my prayer?"
"Well, that preacher's prayer certainly didn't work tonight!"
"God, why don't You do that every time?"
1. Maybe it’s because you have a broken relationship.
Mark 11:24-25 "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
You cannot say you love God if you hate your brother.
Then you begin to ask God to answer your prayer.
2. Maybe you have wrong motives when you pray.
James 4:3 "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."
Proverbs 13:11 "Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, but he who gathers by labor will increase."
Proverbs 16:2 "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit."
3. Maybe you don’t believe God will do it.
Mark 9:21 "Jesus asked the boy's father, ‘How long has he been like this?' ‘From childhood,' he answered."
Mark 9:22 "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
Mark 9:23 "' If You can?' said Jesus, ‘Everything is possible for him who believes.'"
We know that our faith matters.
"I can't believe what I'm hearing. Here we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and a pastor who doesn't!"
"Lord, Your will be done."
James 1:6, 7 "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything
4. Maybe God had something different in mind.
1 John 5:14-15 "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him."
“If we ask in confidence and it’s according to His will.”
"That's okay, God. You know what's best."
"This is for your good and not for your harm. I'm telling you that My grace for you is sufficient for your greatest needs."
Prayer is not so much about my wants as it is about learning to desire God's will.
That's where God desires for us to be.
“If He doesn’t, I still believe.”