Not necessarily, there are many things that get in the way of a person’s answered prayers, from the reality of what you truly believe, your faith, meaning have you really accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Do you really believe that the Lord will heal you?
Most people who say they believe in God, only say they do because of social pressures to do so. These people, never pray to God during their day to day lives. They only pray to God when they are in trouble, otherwise God is scarcely part of their vocabulary.
Most people believe in the concept of God, they subscribe to the notion that if you are a good person you will go to Heaven.
This good person belief is based on an individual’s concept of right and wrong, good and evil, this concept has nothing to do with God at all. The first requirement in praying to God, is that you have to believe in Him, not a concept of Him, which requires a relationship.
Santa Claus is a concept, he is not a real person, therefore, anyone can be Santa Claus. But there is only one God, who is not a concept. He is a Spirit, tangible, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient with Aseity and is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth.
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).
“For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
The second requirement is that you must know that God has given you faith in the first place, in order to be able to believe in Him.
“God has dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).
What is the measure of faith?
“if you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed” (Matthew 17:20)
A mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds in the world. A grain of a seed that small is barely visible to the naked eye. To put this in context, if you have ever had a job and went to work trusting that whoever it was, you were working for would pay you on payday, you have the measure of faith.
The most common reason for unanswered prayer outside of these mentioned, is simply not praying effectively, or correctly. Despite popular belief that there is no right and wrong way to pray, all the biblical evidence is to the contrary.
The next thing we must consider is that since we have faith to start out with, how do we grow that faith practically?
The only way to grow your faith is by hearing the word of God.
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17)
The easiest way to grow your faith is to read the Bible out loud to yourself.
You’ll notice that God will talk to you more through the Holy Spirit. This will translate into peace of mind and better decision making on your part.
The Practical Application
Faith is used to believe something initially. Hope fills in the gap during the time between what we believe God for and the manifestation of it.
Faith is the tangible aspect of the actions on our part, while we are in the process of believing. Faith is an action word. To have faith is to do something.
Hope in the gap is the thing that helps us see progress, even minor advancements along the way can provide hope. But the progress, is not what we are using our faith for, nor is the progress answered prayer.
The Keys to a Prayer of Faith/Petition
Mark 11:24 ‘Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them’.
The key is “WHEN YOU PRAY”. When asking God for anything, you should first be sure that He can hear you by cleaning the slate, ask for forgiveness of your sins up front.
Repent of any sins you have committed.
Ask for what you want, but be very specific.
Be certain that what you are asking for is in God’s will. Not something outside of His will, like winning the lottery, killing your enemies, covering up a lie for you or asking for someone else’s wife or husband, stuff like that.
Believe in the moment that you are praying to God. Not before or after. “WHEN YOU PRAY”
It is to say, that while your in the presence of God, you believe that you are in His presence and that He is listening to you when you speak. The essence of your faith in the moment.
Ask Once
Religious teaching suggests that you should ask God over and over again as though God is hard of hearing, but thats not biblical.
“But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him” (Matthew 6:7-8)
“Ask in faith, nothing wavering” (James 1:5-8)
God is a God of order, no matter our individual complacency or reduction in spiritual standards. God is not like us. The way we speak to God should have order. Consider the detail that God is actually concerned with.
The construction of the Ephod (Exodus 28:4-43) and the requirements to come into God’s presence is an example of the little things God cares about. It is true, that all these requirements were under the law, but the larger point is that God is the same now as He was then.
“For I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6)
“Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8)
The covenants that God makes with man are accommodations. They have nothing to do with God’s requirements with respect to His character. That has not changed.
When we speak to God we do this in the form of prayer, with that in mind, there are basically six forms or types of prayer and they all have specific ways they address needs, which means there are rules to making these prayers function more effectively.
First, let us consider a few words associated with prayer.
Meditate: The word “meditation” in Hebrew is “Siyach”, meaning an utterance, babbling, communication, complaint, talk, prayer, converse with oneself aloud.
To pray is to “SPEAK” not “THINK” to oneself, If you are praying you have to open your mouth and speak. You must move the air with your voice, no matter how slight. You cannot think a prayer, there is no scripture to support that. As traditional and widely done as this is, it is simply not biblically based, if you thought you were praying by thinking, you aren't.
This simple adjustment makes all the difference, its like trying to watch a new television while its still in the original packaging. You have to unpack it, hook it up and have power in the room to get it to work. We have no problem preparing for things like this, but we don’t give God the same consideration, but we ask God for so much more…
When God created the Heavens, man, the world and all thats in them, He did not think any of it into existence, He spoke it. “and God said” (Genesis 1:2-29).
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, Jesus did not say, when you pray “think” He said when you pray “say” (Luke 11:2). When Jesus prayed Himself, He spoke aloud,
“These words spake Jesus and lifted up His eyes to Heaven, and said” (John 17:1-26).
When Jesus prayed to the Father to raise Lazarus from the dead, He spoke,
“Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father I thank thee that hast heard me” (John 11:41-44).
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays and speaks aloud v39 (Matthew 26:36-45).
In every occasion, speaking is required in prayer, there are no examples in scripture to support it being done any other way. Praying silently is a religious tradition and nothing more.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21) - Not the thoughts
Again, the first rule of engagement in prayer is to speak it, there is no biblical basis for doing it any other way.
The six types of prayer and they all have rules that apply, for more details check out our types of prayer post here at Quora or at http://www.behindthefaith.net/ar...
- Faith or Petition Prayer when your asking God for something - (Mark 11:24)
- Prayer of Thanksgiving - (Revelation 7:12; Philippians 4:6)
- The Prayer of Agreement - (Matthew 6:14-15; 18:19; Mark 11:25-26)
- Intercession (Romans 8: 26-27)
- Consecration and Dedication (Luke 22:41-42)
- Binding and loosing (Matthew 18:18; Mark 16:17-18)