Why is God not listening to your prayer?

God's love is unconditional because He loved us when we were still sinners.....we cannot force it to apply to Him listening to our prayers.....He does not always listen to our prayers...there are conditions to it....

1. Isaiah 58:4: Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

These people expected God to hear their prayers because they were praying and fasting. The chapter goes on and on giving reasons why God will not listen to them and giving the conditions in which He will listen to them. 

You cannot disobey His commands and expect the show you put up for others to move Him.....just because you prayer the loudest...fast the longest....raise your hands in worship....do  not think all that will move Him...only until you understand His good and perfect will, then you will know what is pleasing to Him and this requires Him transforming your mind.....

2. James 4:3: When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Why are you asking God for what you are asking Him? So that people may praise you? so that you can revenge? so that you can prove a point to someone? If your intention is not right then am sorry...God will not listen to what you are telling Him....check your heart....and align your desires to His desires....

3.1 Peter 3: 7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

We see another condition that God gives to husbands, they are urged to treat their wives well so that their prayers are not hindered. So to the married guys, God will not listen to your prayers if you are cheating on your wife, mistreating and abusing her. Go and repent of these things and turn away from your ways and treat her as Christ commanded...then God will hear your prayers....

4. James 1:6-7:   But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

Do you believe you will receive what you are praying for? Do you really trust God to come through for you in your situation? Well...if you do not...you need to believe because if you do not then do not expect anything from God......You have to trust that He is more than capable of coming through for you when you ask.....

5. 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Underline the word IF, it shows a condition is placed, that only when the people who are called by His name will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways.....only then will He hear them from heaven and answer their prayer.......

So, no you cannot expect to live your life the way you want to and run to God when you need something and expect Him to act like a magician to grant you your wishes......you should repent of your sins and follow His commands.....

In conclusion.....

James 5:16: Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Proverbs 15:29:The Lord is far from the wicked  but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

So you want your prayers to be powerful and effective? aim at pursing righteousness which starts with you confessing your sins and following His commands......

Its time for us to change our view of God, we need to understand that, He is ALL-MIGHTY, SOVEREIGN, ALPHA AND OMEGA, He deserves our very best and total submission....truth is He does not need you to pray to Him or acknowledge Him for Him to be God...He remains God.....and if we cannot see that we are the ones in need of a Savior then indeed we need saving........ and our view of prayer needs to change...

ARE YOU FOLLOWING CHRIST?

"Repeat this prayer after me and you will be saved"...that is what the preacher said and I followed the instructions......this was back when I had just joined High school ....I repeated that prayer every year whenever a 'good' preacher came to school to preach....then I finished my High School education......

Oh boy! This is when the rubber met the road....transitioning from living in a regulated environment full of girls to a world where I did not have anyone telling me to be somewhere at a specific place and all the boys around.....mama mia! I went on to enjoy life and 'experiment'....which led to a lot of heartache and pain ...but what was constant was a feeling of emptiness that never went away for like 6 years...I tried to take the feeling away by getting into relationships thinking that is what I needed.....PAUSE

...remember I had said that prayer that the preacher asked me to say and I knew I was saved and going to heaven but why did I not feel different? why did I not walk away from compromising situations? why did I go to places that you would not expect to find a Christian? why? Wasn't that prayer enough? why didn't my life look any different?

Fast forward...to when I was 23 years old...when the feeling of emptiness was at its peak! I was in a 'good' relationship with a 'good' guy...we looked cute together...everyone said we were meant to be.....but why was I so unhappy? why did I always feel like I chose that man over God?......

I mean...I heard the preacher say that once you say that prayer you are saved....and you will go to heaven but in my heart I knew I was heading to hell....

The day, I truly gave my life to Christ...........

This is how it looked like:

1. I walked away from my then boyfriend, because I was living in sin.......it broke my heart

2. I repented to God my sins and never looked back again...this was so hard!

3. I started spending regular time with God in prayer and reading His word

4. God put this blog in my heart and I wrote the first post ( this one) and scriptures flowed into my mind

5. I changed the music I listened to and the movies I watched....

So what is the difference?

The first time, I only said a prayer but I never truly repented.........the first time I did not think following Christ would cost me my life.....I just thought I would go back to how I lived....

So what does it mean to follow Christ?

1. Denying yourself

Math 16:24: Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

This means you will have to go against your feelings.....your comfort....your normal way of life...in short it means you will have to forget yourself and focus on pleasing Christ.

It means you will have to let go of certain relationships, you will have to stop going to certain places and you will have to change...you will have to change the music you listen to , the books you read and the movies you watch........and in some places it would mean losing your life for His sake....

2. Making Christ first

Luke 14:26: If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even their own life--such a person cannot be my disciple.

Definitely, He did not mean for us to literally hate them, but in the sense that....if you are to be His disciple you have to put Him first above ANYONE else in your life........in the way that you will always choose to follow His commands above pleasing anyone else.....

3. Spreading the good news

Luke 9:59-60: And He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God."
This means more than anything else, the most important thing for you as a Christian is to proclaim the good news.....this should always be something that comes first...that moves you everyday to make it your aim to spread the gospel........

At the end of this life I would hate to be told:- (Actually my biggest fear is to be told this)

Matthew 7:21-2:Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!

Many of us live in the illusion that being a follower of Christ means we only get to say a prayer and then we go back to living our 'perfect' lives where we live our lives the way we want.....claiming we believe in Christ.......but it takes more than just believing ...our lives have to change!!!

So no...you do not qualify to be a Christian just because you repeated a certain prayer...you only become one when you repent of your sins( completely turn around) and follow Christ...when you deny your self for His sake......

Look at the lives of all the people who had an encounter with God from....Abram to Abraham( father of faith) , Moses, Paul,......the disciples all these people...their lives changed and it showed that they are living for God more than they are living for themselves....

I do not write this because I am there but to urge you to make it your aim everyday to die to yourself so that Christ may live in you.....go beyond just believing that He died for you and live it out......

DEAR FUTURE HUSBAND-PART 2

I share this to encourage anyone who is about to give up on waiting on the man/woman God has for them....

To remind you that God has not overlooked you and He has not forgot about you...

To remind you  not settle for anything less than a relationship that honors God....

To remind you that in His right and perfect time He will allow you to meet and if you let Him make the choice for you, He will give you His best for you.....

To remind you that.....when that person comes they will be worth the wait and you will be glad that you did not give up on the wait.....

To remind you to not compare your life to others..that it does not matter if your friends, colleagues...etc are getting into relationships and are getting married because God has unique plans for you.....

To remind you that true love still exists despite being hurt before and despite the negativity around the topic...

To remind you that no matter what you have done in your past...God is able to make you new and you can start over.....

To remind you that it is possible in this day and age to honor God in your relationship and it will be worth it!!!

Sometime back, I wrote a letter to my future husband here before I met my future husband (okay...we were just acquaintances but you know what I mean..I had no idea it would be him and neither did he ). One of the things that I had asked for was a guy who is goofy and I will be able to laugh  with him ALOT!.......and then I met him.....

Here goes part 2.........

Me: Remind me to ask you something when we meet (insert sweet name)

Grey: Okay (insert sweet name)

Grey: If its  you asking if you can be my wife, its a yes (smiley face)

Me: You mean I do not have to apply???

Grey: Not at all (insert sweet name).....

Lol, then I went ahead and wrote my CV just in case I needed to apply (thy shall not judge) The first post acts as a cover letter

Here it is:

Curriculum Vitae

Name: Enid Nzisa *****

Date of birth: 05-03-1990

Religion: Christian

Nationality: Kenyan

Marital Status: Single

Email: enid@ihavemyeyesonyou.com

 Phone no: 0711234567

Education Background

01-01-2007- Present: Phd in Cleaning and Cooking 

01-01-2003-Present: Masters in Home making

05-03-1990- Present: Bachelor’s Degree in Femininity

Relevant Experience:

05-03-2016-Present: Grey’s Fiancee: Duties and Responsibilities

• ·        Praying for Grey daily
• ·        Laughing at Grey’s jokes
• ·        Encouraging Grey
• ·        Going out on dates with Grey
• ·        Praying together with Grey
• ·        Smiling at Grey when he looks my way
• ·        Cycling with Grey
• ·        Hiking with Grey
• ·        Hanging out with Grey’s family and friends
• ·        Holding his sweater as he looks through his bag
• ·        Calling him sweet names
• ·        Blushing when he calls me sweet names
• ·        Recommending outfits for Grey
• ·        Attending weddings with Grey
•          Watching football with Grey

08-08-2014-05-03-2016: Grey’s girlfriend: Duties and Responsibilities

• ·        Holding Grey’s hand as we walk
• ·        Giving Grey side- hugs
• ·        Going for picnics with Grey
• ·        Cycling with Grey
• ·        Hiking with Grey
• ·        Laughing out loud at Grey’s jokes

18-12-2013-08-08-2014: Grey's Friend: Duties and Responsibilities

• Replying to texts
• Laughing at Grey's jokes 
• Pretending not to notice Grey

Other qualifications:

• ·        Member of All saints Cathedral
• ·        Owner of a KRA pin
•          I  have goals (includes: relationship goals, meal goals, children goals, house goals, and husband goals-You..tihihihi)  

References

1.     My mother:

Teacher at home

Tel: 0721987654

Email: enidsmum@shewillloveyou.com

2.     My Pastor

Spiritual teacher

Tel: 0711234567

Email: passie@hewillgiveatestimony.com

3.     My neighbor

At home

Tel:0767543278

Email: neighbour@isayhiandsharefood.com

Lets hope my application gets accepted...........