ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH JESUS

Divine promises and human frailty: why OUR prayers are withheld

Common is it to hear along the path and other sites numerous recriminations against our God. Many accuse him of being blind to their predicaments and others again of being deaf to their cries and prayers. They paint an image of a God who is deaf, dumb and blind and who shows little or no concern to their predicaments. On the other hand, we read and have biblical knowledge of God whose perfect definition is love (1 John 4:8), who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son for its salvation (John 3:16) and who promised to be with us always (Matthew 28:20). At this point we are faced with the question of fidelity (who isn’t doing what the right way). From an objective point of view one can notice the fact that beyond the number of those who recriminate against God there are numerous others who rejoice in the abundant blessings got from our God. God in his infinite goodness and constant love has promised and like his Word confirms it, he “watches his words to accomplish it” (Jeremiah 1:12) implying he cannot fail. The sacred writer of the letter to the Hebrews affirms that “he is the same yesterday today and tomorrow and he never changes”. He is the same God today who performed all the miracles in the past generations and still the same who promised to answer when we call unto him in prayer (Isaiah 58:9). The one who said “if you ask anything in my name I will do it” and who affirms that with Him “all things are possible” (Mark 10:27).  But then why do our prayers remain unanswered when he promised to answer them? Many at times, the breach comes from us and our weaknesses. A number of things can prevent us from experiencing the goodness of God in our lives. When we step out of the presence of God, it becomes difficult for us to experience the blessings of God. It’s true that God still sees us but because we aren’t where he placed us, it becomes difficult for us to receive all that he pours out. When God walked in the Garden of Eden to visit Adam and Eve he noticed they weren’t at the usual meeting point and that prompted the famous “Man where are you?” question. Same goes for all who have walked away from the place where God placed them. They may say good prayers but because they are off-track, the answers doesn’t reach them. It is in this light that the Sacred writer urges the believers not to “forsake the gathering of the saint” (Hebrew 10:25). Someone may be doing all that is required of a Christian but because he left his original track (his first love) his prayers might not receive the required response. St John in his Apocalypse paints the picture of a community that is faithful and suffers for Christ but yet Christ had a reproach against them “the loss of their love” (Apocalypse 2:2-5). This situation often gets worst when the separation is caused by sin. SIN is one of the things that makes our prayers turn around. We might pray and fast but God will be far from our prayers. God is neither deaf nor short to rescue us but our sins separate us from him (Isaiah 59:1-3). Sin is a capital impediment that prevents our prayers from getting favourable responses and this is so because when a sinner stretches his hands to pray the Lord closes his eyes and the more he prays the more the Lord refuses to listen (Isaiah 1:15). The eyes of God are too holy to behold sin (Habakkuk 1:13) and that’s why St Paul says let the men lift up holy hands. Holiness is very important in the process of prayer and expectation from God. Closely linked to sin is unforgiveness as well as all the other vices that directed towards the neighbour. You cannot expect God to do unto you what you refuse to do unto others who look unto you. To receive you have to give and as you give God does same to you (Luke 6:38). This goes a long way to say that we need to put away every vice related to selfishness so that we can have our prayers answered. Another thing which is not the least is the MOTIVE behind our prayer. One can be a faithful Christian and obey all the commandments but still have his prayers unanswered. Such may happen because the motive behind his prayer is bad (James 4:3). St James sounds it loud that you can pray for something and do not get it because of a bad motive. Beyond all these reason there is a very common one known as DOUBT. Doubt is the contrary of faith and praying in doubt is preparing not to receive anything from God (James 1:6-7). People who doubt are indirectly telling God they aren’t sure he is able to answer them or do it for them. And it should be noted that anything that does not come from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). Eradicating doubts in prayers become an imperative for a favourable answer. Doubts are very common in our lives and they grow in there and very few people give concern to them; but in actual fact they are the highest hinderers of our prayers. Several other things may act as a hindrance to the answering of our prayers but no matter what they are, it should be noted that they hail from our human weaknesses and frailty. We can always work them out or even eradicate them so that our relationship with God can be beautified and made fluent so that we can drink from the rivers of his pleasure and see light in his light (Psalms 36:9-10).    
In Corda Matris
  Friar SOH AARON. llc