“Unto Thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent Thee. ... Why hidest Thou Thy face from Me?” (Psa. 88:13-14).
Many times when we pray, God does not give us an immediate answer, but exercises and enlarges our own hearts while we are “praying in the Holy Ghost” before He gives us that which we have prayed for. There are other times when our prayers are not answered because of unjudged sin in our lives, for “if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Surely “the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” Disobedience to God’s Word cuts off our fellowship with God, for “he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination,” while “the prayer of the upright is His delight.” Could it be true of us that “ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts”? So, “when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive; neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
We are to pray in the Spirit,
With hearts freshly cleansed by the Word;
We may then expect His answer,
While deep heart peace prayer affords.
Jude 20; Psa. 66:18; Isa. 59:1-2; Prov. 28:9; 15:8; James 4:3; Mark 11:25-26.