14 March 2025
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The Secret of Answered Prayer and Why Many Prayers Are Useless and Unanswered
Matthew 19:17
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Luke 13:3
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Proverbs 28:9
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
Deuteronomy 11:26–28
26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
Isaiah 59:1–3
1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
1 Samuel 15:22–23
22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Isaiah 56:1
Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
Isaiah 58:6
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Isaiah 1:15–20
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
John 15:7
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
1 Peter 3:10–12
10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
1 Corinthians 7:19
Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
Exodus 20:4–6
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Joshua 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Hosea 6:6
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Blessings of Obedience:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deuteronome%2028%3A1-14&version=LSG
Curses of Disobedience:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deuteronome%2028%3A15-68&version=LSG
Why It Is Often Useless to Pray for Certain Families or Persons to Receive the Goods of God Without Their Repentance
Luke 13:3
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
This kind of prayer very often represents what I call sardinard Christianity. A Christianity in which God is not our Master, but our servant, who fulfils our wishes in exchange for a few prayers or some money. No, my God does not work like that. The God of Jesus Christ is our Master — not the other way round.
See why this prayer is problematic. Imagine you have a child, and you tell him what he must do to receive your blessings, gifts, and benefits, and what he must not do. He chooses to do exactly what he must not do, then at the end of the day comes to ask you for blessings, gifts, and benefits. Would you not be more inclined to give him the whip? Is this not similar to mockery, in addition to disobedience?
If you want to pray for your families, pray first that they may repent and enter into obedience. Repent on their behalf, and ask them to repent. What God expects before giving his blessings is repentance and obedience. Understand that there is a framework for God’s promises. When you operate outside this framework, the thing you are most entitled to expect from Him is punishment. Understand well the parable of the prodigal son, which I will illustrate here in a simplified way.
You have a child, and you tell him that as long as he is under your roof, he will not be assaulted, and rain will not fall on him. He leaves your roof, and departs without your consent. Once in the street, it begins to rain and he is soaked. Instead of returning home, he prays to you to stop the rain from falling on him. While out there, he is assaulted, and he prays to you that he may not be robbed. Would you not take him for a madman? This is unfortunately what many prayers illustrate.
In such prayers, we see neither the repentance of the one praying for himself or for his family, nor prayer that the families may repent. Only requests to God — this “great servant supposed to fulfil their desires”. It is also because many are in this false Christianity that, seeing their prayers unanswered, they think they must return to spirit worship, to the dead, to ancestors, or to communion with magicians and sorcerers, or the use of fetishes.
Understand why Jesus Christ, in his prayer, said:
John 17:9
I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Luke 15:11–24 (Parable of the Prodigal Son)
11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
What God expects from many, in order to answer their prayers, is that they act like this prodigal son: that they return to the Father’s house (God), repent sincerely, and remain under His roof, in obedience. Then they will see and understand the grace of God.
So you who have read this: if you have not yet come out of sin, repent, return to the house of God, and see your new life.
For more information:
https://amourroyaumeetjusticededieu.org/