PRAYERS THAT GOD DOES NOT ANSWER

This topic is certain to raise eye brows. Prayers that God doesn’t answer!? This goes against everything that is being taught today, at least in the majority of church meetings. Everyone is taught that God always answers prayers. In some circles, He answers by fire and even by thunder. It doesn’t really matter how outrageous the request may be, God will answer it. But the question is; does God answer all prayers?

The answer is a capital NO. 

If God answered all prayers, the world will be a different place certainly. Some people take Luke 11:9 out context and use it to teach that God will give you anything you ask.

“Ask and it will be given to you . . .” (Luke 11:9, N.I.V)

It’s tempting (and lucrative, for some preachers) to treat this nugget of Scripture as an ironclad promise.

Whatever you ask for — promotion, wealth, the spouse of your dreams — God will give it to you. Unless, of course, Luke 11:9 is part of a larger narrative in which Jesus has already told us what to ask for. After a brief episode in which he defends Mary over her sister Martha for choosing what matters most — being a disciple, a citizen of his kingdom — Jesus’ followers ask him how to pray. Jesus tells them to ask for things like daily bread, the advent of his kingdom, forgiveness for sin. Only then does he say, “Ask and it will be given to you.”

It’s not, “Ask for anything you want.” It’s more like, “Ask for my kingdom, and you will have it.” 1 John 5:14 says that if we ask anything according to his will, we know that he hears. And if we know that he hears us, we know that he would answer us. This means that the will of God must always be at the center of our asking. Luke 11:9 and other similarly taken out of context passages may seem to suggest that God gives believers the freedom to ask anything. But in reality, it isn’t so. Just as a good father wouldn’t give his child anything he wants, God would also not give the believer whatsoever he demands. He only gives what agrees with his will.

When God appeared to Solomon and told him to ask whatever he wanted and it would be given to him, it looked like a blank cheque. But really, it wasn’t one. Had Solomon asked for anything selfish, he would have been rebuked by God. But Solomon was wise. He made his request according to the will of God. And for that, he was recommended. The wise child of God today would understand that it is only what God has already decided to give him that he can request in his prayers. Because if we agree on something here on earth that God hasn’t agreed on in heaven, we would not be answered. With this, let us look at some prayers that God doesn’t answer.

1. OH GOD! KILL MY ENEMIES.

In almost all churches today, Christians believe that God can be a hired killer for them. They teach that God is ever ready to put a bullet in the head of whoever they have identified as their enemy. Well, God doesn’t use a machine gun to blow the heads of the targets assigned to him. He uses the Holy Ghost fire.  I am not the one bringing this up. The practice can be seen during prayer sessions in churches. Songs such as; ‘Holy fire consumed them’ and chants of ‘Die! Die! Die!’, are common feature. Books and songs have been written; conferences are organized and entire ministries have been built around the idea that God will kill anyone you spotlight as your enemy. 

But does the scripture teach that God would kill our enemies today? 

There is no indication in the Bible that God will kill anyone on our behalf. What about David who prayed to God to kill his enemies? You may ask. Or what of the Israelites who had God’s assistance in killing their enemies? The answer to both questions is pretty simple. The fact that God apparently killed their enemies doesn’t mean that he will kill ours today. 

The thing is; we are neither David nor the children of Israel. We live in different times and dispensations. David was a king. He was a politician in today’s term. And he had a lot of enemies. He inherited the throne after Saul’s death. And Saul’s family members still resented him. As God’s chosen King he could ask that the Lord who chose him to be King should deal with the enemy on his behalf. It wasn’t a selfish prayer as we see in many quarters today. Opposing David’s leadership was equivalent to opposing God himself. It was opposing the historical purpose of God who planned to bring the Christ through David and subsequently install him on the throne of Israel and use him to bring salvation to the world. The throne of David was not negotiable. God would deal with anyone who tried to thwart his purpose by attacking David. Hence he prayed that God would take care of his enemies. That’s not the case with us today. Besides, his life and prophecies foreshadowed the life of Christ. So it is not everything in the imprecatory psalms that was a direct reference to David’s personal life. Most of the imprecatory psalms were prophecies of the life and ministry of Christ. They cast those who will oppose him and highlighted their punishment. David was a type of the Messiah. Those who oppose Christ both during his earthly ministry leading to his resurrection would be punished by God at the end of days. As we can see, David played a very important role in salvation history. His whole life became intertwined and almost indistinguishable with God’s plan of salvation.

The same thing can be said of Israel as a nation. They were a theocracy. A theocracy is a government under God. They were God’s own country. God used Israel as a platform to develop his salvation plan which culminated with the coming of Christ. As such God personally fought their enemies or lent them a helping hand as they case was in Bible days. 

The believers living today cannot lay claim to the experiences of David and Israel. Salvation history was being developed through the lives of such people. Anyone God killed in the Bible represented an obstacle to the development of his plan of salvation. God is not going to kill anyone as an answer to someone else’s prayer today. His salvation plan has been completed. The mission of God’s people on the earth is to share the good news of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ. When John and James wanted to call fire from heaven on a town’s people for refusing to have Jesus come into their town, the Lord rebuked them and said they didn’t know what they were doing. 

I don’t think there would be a more appropriate way of describing people who actually expect God to kill someone because they asked. They don’t know what they are doing.

2. SUFFER NOT A WITCH TO LIVE. (Exodus 22:18)

God is not going to kill a witch on your behalf no matter how hard you pray about it. Praying sessions aren’t usually complete in many Pentecostal churches unless some time is spent calling on God to kill the witches that are stopping the people from fulfilling their divine destinies. 

Under the commonwealth of Israel witches were not allowed by law. God didn’t want them to live in his theocracy because witchcraft opened doors to demonic spirits. And God wouldn’t have his people meddle with evil spirits. So, God commanded that anyone caught practicing sorcery, divination or witchcraft was to be put to death. However, they were not killed through prayers. They were executed by law, just as any common criminal is executed in today society after having been tried and found guilty.

The believers today live in a new covenant. We do not have a constitutional government in the church today as they did in the old covenant.  Israel was a nation with laws, judges and executioners. The church today is not a country. It is a spiritual body scattered throughout space and time. Members of the church are located in all countries of the world. They live under different laws in those countries. Because of its nature and characteristics, the church has no power to try, convict and give someone the capital punishment as the case was in ancient and theocratic Israel. They are subject to the laws of such a country as they live in. Though witchcraft is a sin that is not allowed in Christianity, the church cannot kill witches even if it has proofs.  What it can do is hand such a person to the appropriate authorities. I believe that the church understand this very well. That is why they resort to killing the witches in their prayers instead. But that doesn’t make it right though. There are no Bible verses where New Testament believers are instructed to kill witches whether physically or spiritually. So trying to kill people we consider witches in prayers today is a clear waste of time. It is a practice that God has not commanded and would not be drawn into. Adulterers were also to be stoned to death under the theocracy of Israel. But churches today do not kill adulterers the most they do is give them a back seat in the church which is what the biblical practice should be.  Besides, the witch you’re asking God to kill may be the next Apostle Paul that will take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Imagine the early church had kill Saul when he was attacking the church. Where would the church be today?

3. FIRE ON GOD! COME DOWN!

Calling the fire of God down to destroy one’s enemies is a very popular concept in the churches today. Books and poems have been written on it. Songs on the fire have been written in their numbers and are used to set the mood during services before the fire is called down. 

The idea of calling fire down comes from Elijah’s episode where he called fire down to consume the two captains and their sets of fifty. (2kings 1)  

They take that episode and conclude to themselves that they possess the same stand before the Lord and ministry that Elijah had. So, they think they can also call fire down from heaven. 

But, do they have the same stand and ministry that Elijah had? Can they really call fire down to consume their enemies? If they could actually call fire down to kill their enemies, would it be biblical for them to do so?

First, no one alive has the same ministry that Elijah had. It is no doubt that we have the same stand before the Lord that Elijah as a child of God. But we do not have the same stand, power and ministerial assignment that Elijah had though he was a man just as we are. The fact that Elijah prayed and there was no rain for seven years and then prayed again and there was rain doesn’t mean that if we pray for there to be no rain it is going to happen. The fact also that Elijah called fire down to consume those soldiers doesn’t mean that anyone who takes himself to be a child of God or man of God today can command fire to come down. Before anyone can do that, they have to put together all the circumstance of Elijah spiritually, physically, geographically and historically. Since no one can put together those circumstances, it is fair to say that no one could replicate his miracles. Do not misunderstand me. I am in no way saying that you have to be Elijah in order for God to use you to do something great like he used Elijah. Actually God is ever ready to use anyone to bring his people to himself.

Secondly, the people who claim to have the power to call fire down can’t. Have you ever seen fire come down in any of their meetings? They can call the fire, sing fire songs and dance all night but fire never comes down. Have you ever seen someone who died as a result of fire coming down from heaven? Do you remember a set of people who called for fire all day in vain? Yeah! The prophets of Baal! I can’t help but draw a parallel between them and those who claim to have the power to call fire down but can’t even make ordinary smoke appear. Elijah prayed and fire came down because he had been sent to Mount Carmel by God himself. And God always backs his true prophets who serve his will. Some will say that the fire they are calling down is spiritual fire.

Finally, it wouldn’t be biblical to use the fire of God to kill anyone even if we could. There is no verse in scripture that commands believers to call fire down and destroy their enemies. When John and James wanted to call fire down from heaven to consume people, who had stopped Jesus from entering into their city, Jesus told them that they didn’t know what they were doing. Remember, Jesus also said of those who were killing him that they didn’t know what they were doing. Hence anyone who tries to call down fire to destroy some perceived enemies doesn’t just know what they are doing.

OH GOD! GIVE ME A JOB!

It may sound so unreal to say that God won’t answer a prayer or a job. It seems only right for him to want to give a job to his son or daughter who asks sincerely and with faith. After all we have been taught that God will give us anything we ask in faith. 

But is that really so? If that were true, why do we have millions of faithful believers across Nigeria, Africa and the world who are unemployed even though they are qualified? Could it be that it is none of God’s business whether you have a job or not? That may sound cruel. But it is a thought worth being considered if you look at certain factors. The thing is, jobs are not things that God can drop from the sky. Well, he could do it if he wanted to. After all God can do all things. But the truth is before a graduate can have access to a job, there must be a vacancy in a company or factory somewhere. And for there to be a vacancy in a company, there must first be a company or factory. And who build factories, corporations and companies? God certainly doesn’t. Governments and the private sector create the jobs people kneel in their rooms to pray for. What will happen if there are no job openings in companies and factories? What will happen if there are no factories that provide jobs? There won’t be jobs for you no matter how hard you pray. You prayers won’t be answered because there are no jobs available in the first place.

This is what people are asking God to do when they pray for a job. They are asking him to create companies in the country where there are vacancies and handpick them for the vacancies available in such companies.

When the Europeans colonized Nigeria, there were a very few Africans who were qualified for the many jobs that were available both in the civil service and the private sector. Hence, the white man begged African men to send their children to school. They even paid students who were willing to study and gave them scholarships to read in Europe. When they graduated, they were given good positions in the companies that were available. Their quality of life change and many more people embraced education. As time passed, the ratio of educated people increased so much so that it became greater than that of available jobs. This was even aggravated because new jobs were not being created by the new independent Nigerian government and former colonial companies were collapsing and going bankrupt. 

Every year there are hundreds of thousands of young people that are spewed out into a job market whose stalls are empty by universities, polytechnics, colleges of educations and other schools and vocational training centers. A great number of these youngsters are good Christians who would go into churches and pray for jobs while governments for many years have not done anything to increase the quality or quantity of jobs available in the country. So, it is out of place to pray to God for a job in a place like Nigeria. Not that it is proper to pray for jobs anywhere else in the world. 

God didn’t promise us jobs. He gave us the ability to create jobs for ourselves. So, we ought not to ask God for jobs since there are many things that God has put in us which we could use to make money.  When God created man, he gave him a job. The job is to cultivate, till and have dominion over the earth. The job hasn’t changed. Asking God for a job today is like telling him that we do not want the job he gave us from the very beginning or we are just displaying the fact that we are completely ignorant that God has already given us a job.

PLEASE LORD! CHANGE NIGERIA.

Another popular prayer topic we hear in churches and Christian gatherings is the plea for God to change Nigeria. This prayer is born out of the people’s aspiration for the country to achieve economic prosperity and political stability. Hence the slogan, “Only God can change Nigeria.” But the real question is this; does God promise in the Bible that he would help a country achieve prosperity and political stability? Well, there is no such thing in scripture as a promise to help a person achieve economic prosperity not to talk of a whole country.  But this has not stopped attempts by people to justify their faith in God changing Nigeria by using proof texts to prove to themselves that their expectations are not in vain.

A certain lady I had a talk with on the subject old me that Israel was a living example o how God could change a nation and make it prosperous. Many Christians like this lady believe that it is God that is making Israel prosperous and rich. But when you ask them how God was able to achieve such a feat, they have no answer for you. 

There is no nation or individual on earth whose prosperity was achieved through the help of God. Nations that have achieved greatness and prosperity have done so through hard work, good governance and management of state resources or exploitation and theft of the resources of other nations. Israel is not exempted from such practices. The US and Western Europe became rich through colonization, the slave trade, killing of indigenous people throughout the world and theft of their resources. 

Any country that wants to achieve a measure of security, stability and abundance must be ready to work because work and not prayer can bring prosperity.

Also, financial prosperity comes to individuals either through gifts, hard work, inheritance or theft. There is no man alive that prayed for wealth and was made rich as an answer to his prayers. God created a world that is filled with opportunities for all to make wealth. It is up to each person to extend his hand and seize his opportunity depending of course on the economic atmosphere created by the policies of the government in charge.

OH LORD! GIVE ME A HUSBAND/WIFE. 

A lady I know once told me that she wasn’t married yet because God hadn’t brought her husband to her yet. There are stories told by pastors and believers alike about how the wife or husband they married is God’s choice and gift to them individually. It is no problem to believe that one’s partner is God’s choice. This is because every human being is God’s choice in the first place. But to have a grandiose story that clearly details how God personally handpicked your wife or husband is plain ridiculous. But the church is replete of stories like that.

The truth is same as with asking God for a job. Just as God has already placed resources for our use on this planet, he also created men and women and placed them on this planet for us. Asking God for a spouse is like telling him that the ones he created so far aren’t good enough. So, he needs to make one especially for you. God has no special woman for anyone. He doesn’t need to give a woman to anyone. God has already given everyone that has or will ever live on the face of the earth a spouse. According to statistics, there are over 4 billion women and over 3 billion men out there. It is up to you to choose which woman or man you want to get married to. The Bible says that whosoever finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. Some people who understand this truth go ahead to get more than one spouse from themselves. Not that I am in support of such a practice. According to authority, there would soon be over two women for each man on the planet. But people who are ignorant of these numbers go around and teach that God has a specific spouse for his children, which is not truth. This is because if God had a special spouse for each of his children, some won’t have a spouse since the ratio on men to women is already disproportionate as indicated in current demographical statistics. This however is impossible since the same people teach that it is not the will of God for some people not to have a life partner. After all, God is the one who gives life partner.

God created men and gave them the ability to procreate. As long as someone is a man or woman, they are qualified to marry any other man or woman irrespective of their age, height, race, religion, culture or geographical location. It is up to the individual to weigh if there is enough chemistry to enable them live as husband and wife. I have seen pastors physically abuse the woman they claimed God had commanded them to marry. Another one went ahead to marry a man other than the one she claimed God had revealed to her in a vision. A brother very close to me married a wife after the parents of the one God had ordered him to marry opposed his union to their daughter. The stories are too many to be told.

In the beginning God commanded man to be fruitful and multiply which they did. As of now, there are more and more people in the world so that the resources aren’t enough to go around anymore if I may say. There are almost 7.5 billion people on earth. Experts project that by 2040 world population should reach 40 billion. With that, I think God is more than satisfied with how his command to populate the world had been followed and could care less that some sisters or brothers in the church somewhere can’t marry. This is taking into consideration the fact that the primary purpose for marriage is procreation according to scriptures.