Proverbs 1:27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: 30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
This passage describes for us some of the reasons why our prayers may go unanswered at times. God takes delight in the prayers of His people, and He is always willing to help us in any difficult circumstance that we may encounter, but when we despise His counsels, and set at nought His reproofs, then it will be unreasonable of us to expect Him to deliver us, if no confession and repentance is made. The Bible teaches us the sacred truth that God is not obligated to reverse the natural laws of cause and effect, and even if at times He delivers us from presumptuous sins and actions, He would have us understand that this is done solely at His discretion, for He has never promised in His word to deliver anyone who deliberately chooses to walk contrary to His bidding. This sacred truth must be understood clearly by all Christians, for it enables us to manage our expectations in a reasonable and scriptural manner. Let's read:
Psalms 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
The teaching that has become so popular in modern Christendom, which causes people to believe that God answers prayers when we knowingly violate any one of His precepts, does not have any scriptural precedent, and thus causes many Christians to harbor unrealistic expectations as it pertains to answered prayer. Furthermore, it is never a good thing to call upon God's name when we know that we plan to do evil. Jacob experienced this first hand when he deceived his father Isaac in the matter of the birthright, and the personal and spiritual concerns he then voiced, need to be understood in the broader context of receiving answers to prayer. Let's read:
Genesis 27:6 And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying" ...... 8 "obey my voice according to that which I command thee. 9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats" ..... 10 And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. 11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: 12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. 13 And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.
Now it is worthy of note that although they ended up going through with the deception, they did not expect a blessing, but a curse, and their expectations were not unreasonable, for after they had deliberately planned to deceive Isaac into bestowing the birthright upon Jacob, it would be ludicrous to expect God's approval of their actions. The same is true when we deliberately plan to walk contrary to any of God's laws or instructions. For us to ask His blessing on something He has cursed is the equivalent of blasphemy, and this should never ever be encouraged or practiced.
For instance we have thanksgiving day coming up in a few weeks, and many families across the land will celebrate the day by feasting on swine and liquor, items that have been proscribed in the scriptures, as far as human consumption goes. Now if at the thanksgiving table we were to ask God's blessing on the swine and the liquor which He has already forbidden, we cannot reasonably expect an answer to our prayers, and like Jacob and Rebekah, we might as well expect a curse rather than a blessing.
As Christians we should be very careful not to make a mockery of God by courting His favor when we know we are doing wrong, for this destroys the sincerity and truth which should characterize all of our communion with Him. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which reminds us of the prerequisites of answered prayer, and it is the will of God that we serve Him in spirit and in truth, in everything that we do. Let's read:
Psalms 24:3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
May God add His blessing to the study and practice of His word. "Good night" and God bless!