What do you do when you feel like prayer is not working?

Question

When you have prayed for something but heaven seems shut, and there is no answer in sight.

Answer 1

Let God's will be done
if it is meant to be then it will
if not then let go

Answer 2

I start examining my true expectations & motives.
Also, that my prayer itself is in harmony with Jehovah' requirements, so that he will hear it. If not, it will be like I'm dialing a wrong telephone number, leaving a message, then expecting a response from the person I only thought that I had reached.

Prayers That Are Heard By God
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20020908a/article_01.htm

"You Must Pray This Way"
The Lord s Prayer Its Meaning for You
- What Is God's Name?
- God's Will to Take Place on Earth
- Prayer and Our Physical Needs
- Our Prayers and Forgiveness
- Help to Pursue a Righteous Course
> Faith in God Essential
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2004/9/15/article_02.htm

The Power of Prayer:
> - Not All Requests Are Granted
- - A Time for Spiritual Healing
God Does Answer Prayers:
- - Modernday Examples
> - What If You Feel Unworthy to Pray?
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20000301/article_01.htm

Does Praying Do Any Good? :
- Why do People Pray?
- Does Anyone Hear Prayers?
- Are All Prayers Heard?
WHY Should You Pray?
- Prayer Can Solve Problems
- When All Prayers Will Be Answered
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20001115/article_01.htm

Answer 3

The following items will cause prayers not to be answered:

What are you praying for? James 4:3 says you will not get an answer to your prayer if you are praying to fulfill your own lusts.
Ex. You cannot pray to be with a man/woman who is married no matter how right it seems.

If you harbor unforgiveness, If you are arguing with your wife/husband

Doubt/lack of faith. Praying for something that does not line up with God's word.

Not living a godly life/ not repenting(repent doesn't mean "my bad" it means to turn away from & stop doing sin)

Also, sometimes God doesn't answer prayer by speaking to you. If you are in debt, there might be a credit workshop at church. If you don't have a job, there might be a job fair on Monday.. Etc. Also, utilize the resources God has given you. Sometimes a friend has an answer to your dilemma.

Answer 4

First, look if there is anything in me that may be an obstacle for me to have "contact" with God (of course, I am assuming you are praying according to the Bible, nothing that is bad or sinful). For instance, unforgiveness, unrepentance (I have sometimes to look up in prayer, and then God makes me to remember something that was wrong, but I wasn't aware of), pride, or any known sin.
Then, I ask God if there is something I am doing I shouldn't do, or if there is something I should do, that I am not doing.

Then, if I have peace in my spirit (now, I am OK with God), they I continue praying, and ask God why the answer is not coming.
Sometimes it is just a matter of praying a lot, with fasting, until you get in your spirit a confirmation that God will answer your prayer. Then, even if you don't see anything different, you know (and have to believe in faith) that the answer is coming. Remember Daniel, he prayer for 21 days before he got the answer, because there was spiritual opposition.

Sometimes God will ask you to be patient. Maybe I am not prepared for the answer, or there is something I am not aware right now of, that makes that what I want wouldn't be the best, at this moment.

Anyway, with the time, looking backwards, you will see that everything is for good, if you love God and stay faithful to Him

Answer 5

Dear friend for everything you are to prepare yourself . What do you think , that through your prayer , you can become a Noble Laureate?
You have to do endless work , prepare yourself to reach the goal and then pray for your success. It is also not necessary that even after your hardest effort , you may reach the desired . So you have to believe yourself and you have to believe a higher self , who makes the success a possibility.
But believe in this , that whatever is happening , is happening for your good only , which can only be seen on a hindsight.
So do your work and sincerely pray for the same . If it does not work , do some self retrospection and try again. If this still does not happen , then may be it is time to totally change your approach and goals keeping in mind your own limitations. Because you are only the best judge to yourself.

Answer 6

God is the regulator of our life. If he has given u a desire, he will fulfill also. As ur prayer is not being answered, u have to do a bit of introspection that u r not uttering any negative words like " I don't know whether this prayer will be answered or not?, I don't achieve whatever I may do." Just remain light, go to a park, watch children playing, watch a comedy, stop being too serious about life and laugh openly, u will see that when u remain all the blockages in ur life will also go. Further practice positive affirmations and creative visualisation labout ur desire. If u r looking for a job/house/marriage, just visualise the situatio as u want it to be and affirm by saying Thank u God for granting me the best of job, house, wife or husband. U HAVE TO BE CAREFUL IN UR DESIRE THAT U R NOT ASKING MALICIOUS THINGS FOR OTHERS AS GOD WILL NEVER DO THAT. Any negativity in ur desire, for which u r praying will revert on u only.

Answer 7

I feel that I lack hope and I start to pray to hope for the better.

The only thing which makes u say that its not working is 'Lack of hope'.

So I do things which i love the most and involve with people, listen to the music and see the better things that the world has given me like the beauty of nature, the smile of an innocent child, the dreams of an aspiring youth, the experience of the experienced, the sunshine, the moonlight, the dew drops in the morning on a green lush lawn, the jumping puppy, the hopeful day...... and all the good things of life(just think of it and list it down in my mind) and as you will notice that you don't lack nothing and you just have to wait for that moment of your life to get what you want and you will forever be in delight that something is on your way....

Answer 8

brian: Sometimes, the answer to our prayer is NO and God's silence CAN be an indicator of that. Conversely, unanswered prayer can mean that the answer is "not yet". God has a plan for each and everyone of those He has called and chosen to be priests [Christians], (see: First Book of Peter, Chapter 2, verse 9) in service to Him. Brian, don't trust feelings per sec, concerning prayer because feelings can be deceptive at times.

Answer 9

sometimes God works in his own timing... a thousand years to us is a day to the lord...and he is more interested in building your character then always giving you what u want...remember god is out side of time and eternity so we might thing that prayer is not being answered but it is...things have to move around down here first like if ur praying for a new house example you have to wait for the person to find you the house to actually get hired and then get the job as a relator and then find you the perfect house...things fall into place like that...so dont give up! ur prayers will come to pass

Answer 10

I would like to share with you my theory on prayer. Why sometimes it does not work.

Why should God solve our problems? Is it God's fault that we are in this situation? What have we done to solve our problem? God is not an instrument to be used to solve our problems. God has given us everything we need so that we can live in peace and be happy. He knows what we need before we even ask. Does this mean we should not pray anymore? Of course not. When we pray, we should just let go and let God be God.

Peace and every blessing!

Answer 11

Yes, this do happen, when you have prayed for something but nothing goes your way. Then, I only pray to God to answer the question. But reply comes, don't worry, just go and leave everything to me. I will take care of everything.