Give me your best reason prayer doesn't work?

Question

I'm not talking stupid "give me money" type prayers i'm talking real prayer.

Answer 1

The reason prayer doesn't work, is because people pray selfishly.

The first requirement of real prayer is: Purity of Motivation.

The second requirement, of equal importance, is: Earnestness.

Real prayer is not a request, it is an act of entering into communion with the Divine, within ones self.

True prayer is in conformance with the attitude: "Oh Lord, i want nothing at all for myself. Oh Lord, not my will, but Thy will be done".

So you see, prayer is in actuality, an act of surrender to the Divine.

If you pray in this way with real sincerity and earnestness, your prayers will surely be answered.

Answer 2

Best reasons prayer doesn't work hmmmm, I'd saying praying for that which will bring you more harm than good, not believing that your prayer would be answered, being disobedient to God - we are all sinners but the one who repents is the best of people, directing your prayers to other than God (i.e. the stars, moon, angels, prophets, etc.), not being sincere in your prayer, not being patient when it does not happen over night, not praying during your times of ease, not being thankful to God, I could go on and on.

I guess you can include doing something stupid such as inflicting pain on yourself (i.e. dropping a rock on your foot?) anyway some will belief now and ALL will believe later. I see one person said how can one believe in 'a' God and sadly many people feel like that but yet if they were in an extreme situation they would find themselves calling out to God usually "Oh God", not a prophet, the sun, the moon, human who has walked the earth or anything else. Anytime you are in an extreme situation you call out to God in your native language but later go back to worshipping prophets, rocks, the moon, or believing there is no god.

Answer 3

If God answered all prayers. Then where would we be??? There would be no need for "Faith". How can all or even most prayer's be answered? They might actually contradict each other!

You may ask for your grandfather to be saved from cancer and yet his death and inheritance maybe an answer to a cousin's need for scholarship money to study theology (or evolution)? Not a great example but just kind of a rough idea how things MAY work. We don't and can not understand all.

He has a plan and will answer his prayers if they fit in to his plan's.

Answer 4

Prayer does not make things happen. It's you the individual, your environment or nature which make things happen. Prayer is like hope or a wish. By themselves they don't do much if not followed by action. If you jump from an airplane without a parachute, all the prayers in the world will not be able to save you.

Answer 5

Because if you have any ability to observe at all, you will see that God doesn't serve out justice often or very fairly at all. Getting your way and being on God's "good side" might make some people think they are 'blessed' but the truth of the matter is that everyone is given unequal distribution of crap.
Where you have the fortune to be born on this globe, what timeframe of history, and what kind of government you have has more of an effect on individual's quality of life than each of their "prayers" do.

Answer 6

Look at what life was like for human beings for the past 40,000 years. People lived for an average of 30-40 years. More than 50% of children died before age one (until about 100 years ago!). I look at thousands of children permanently blinded by parasites they get from playing in creeks in underdeveloped countries.

Then I look at children of modern developed countries, of any religion. I see that they live until their EIGHTIES!! Have all their teeth for a very long time. Have excellent health, etc... And I see that this has nothing to do with religion or god. It is medicine and science. So was it god's plan that hundreds of generations of people would suffer and die in their 40's and suddenly in the 19th and 20th century, everything would get better? Prayer didn't make any of these changes, science did.

Answer 7

When you pray do you expect a time limit? Are your prayers for the good of all considered? Who says your prayers arent answered? Maybe not the way you expect at the time , but it doesnt mean God doesnt hear you. I believe all prayer is heard and considered and granted in God's time not ours.

Answer 8

It may not "work" because
1 impure motives
2selfishness
3God doesn't hear your prayer because of sin in your life that you refuse to deal with
4you do not have Jesus as your "LORD"
5it may not be Gods best timing or purpose .We serve him, He doesn't serve us
6we ask in prayer then immediately doubt God.(would YOU help someone if they asked you then right after said you would never do it in a million years and doubted you had any intention of helping or caring?

Answer 9

It may not be in Gods will. Or maybe you don't believe strong enough that God will answer it. If you even doubt it a little he wont answer. another reason could be you aren't persistent with asking it. And last sometime God wants to see what you are willing to do to get him to meet you in your need. sometimes you have to quit sitting around and praying. You have to get up and start to do something about you situation and pray while you are busy working on it. God likes to see you do somethings on your own. This is when He gives you the strength to get through it.

Answer 10

The answer would be the same either way. Prayers that don't get answered are those that are made for selfish reasons or poorly framed.
some of them will be answered at a latter date when you really need them to be answered..