What happens with unanswered prayers - Rethink

Recently we've been reconsidering many of the things we thought we understood regarding doctrine and faith. We have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern. We have deemed this our “Rethink.”

Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?

It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.

Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.

We should note that we are not Bible scholars, but we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to understand the Word of God.

Introduction

Prayer is sometimes difficult for Christians. We know we are to pray without ceasing (1Th. 5:17), pray with faith (Ja. 5:15), and persist in prayer (Lk. 18:7). Jesus had a lot to say about prayer, and did a lot of praying Himself. Yet for many, prayer is perfunctory, powerless, and shallow. If they pray at all.

And, few Christians seem to really understand the nature of prayer.

Now, someone might just try to gut his way through his commitment to prayer, but we think the Holy Spirit brings a burden of prayer to Christians and empowers them to persevere in prayer. This is a work of the Holy Spirit, not the will of man. It seems to us that the people we observe to be powerful pray-ers do not gut their way through their prayers, they are passionate. They are delighted to pray. They pray things that other Christians wish they could pray. There is a dimension to their prayer lives that other Christians aren't able to attain, or even, to comprehend.

Perhaps part of this is the paucity of teaching from the pulpit. We have found that when there is teaching on prayer it is often superficial and base. Many churches do not teach on prayer at all, sometimes because their doctrine is that God doesn't respond to prayer. 

And we also have observed that prayer in church is often a second thought. Prayer in church is frequently done only by the the "professionals." Prayer meetings are sparsely attended, and what little prayer there is doesn't seem to get answered.

Another reason Christians don't pray is they haven't sought the Holy Spirit. A Spirit-filled Christian learns to pray in the Spirit (Ep. 6:18). This does not mean praying in tongues, it means praying according to the Spirit's desires. Prevailing prayer is Spirit led, Spirit empowered prayer.

The last reason is, Christians aren't dedicated to prayer because of unanswered prayer. So many people do not get answers to their prayers. In fact, they are often told that God will mostly respond with "no," if He responds at all. They are told that prayer is a one-way street, and God does not speak in return. They are told that prayer doesn't change anything.

Thus the average Christian finds nothing compelling about prayer.

Ministering Before the Altar

There is a dimension to prayer we have not considered until we were reminded of a passage in Revelation:

Re. 8:1-5 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.

5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

We would surmise that the angel is the Angel of the Lord, Jesus, because this angel is ministering before the altar: he always lives to intercede for them (He. 7:25). This angel is separate from the seven angels, he's handling the prayers of the saints. He's in charge of them. These prayers go up to God from the angel's hand. He doesn't get commanded to do any of these things. He simply acts.

The Censer 

This censer is filled with prayers. They are likened to a sacrifice, that is, an offering to God that pleases Him. These prayers are mixed with incense and are burned as a pleasing aroma. 

These prayers are on fire. 

Your fiery, Spirit-filled, passionate prayers are pleasing to the Lord. They are much more than a rote exercise, they are the most powerful thing on earth. We might think that other things like Bible study, sermons, offerings, or serving are the most important things we do as the Church, but none of these things compare to Spirit-filled prayer.

Notice that the censer has fire added to it from the altar. Not only are the prayers burned with incense, supernatural fire is added to them. The prayers of the saints are combined with the fire that burns the sacrifice. 

Stop and consider the magnitude of this. You might remember that Israel offered sacrificial animals upon the altar in the temple to atone for sins. The earthly altar was but a copy and a shadow of the heavenly altar (He. 8:5). It is the fire of heaven, from the real altar, that is added to your prayers. 

We don't even understand the kind of power at work here. 

James writes:

Ja. 5:15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Did you notice that the prayer offered in faith will not only heal a sick person, it will effect the forgiveness of sin? Your prayers, infused with the fire from the altar, are much more than rote recitations from a prayer book. They carry the power of God, way beyond what we might have thought they do.

On Earth as it is in Heaven

Now, the fire-filled censer is hurled to earth. Your prayers do not stay in heaven. The things lifted to heaven come back to earth with power. This means the accumulated fiery prayers of the saints are indeed answered, perhaps all at once as the fire spreads throughout the earth. 

Then we read that right after the censer is hurled to earth, various signs, wonders, and judgments are unleashed:

Re. 8:6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

Our Spirit-filled prayers unleash the judgments of the Last Days. The Last Days, the period of time in which we live, was prophesied by Joel and repeated by Peter at Pentecost:

Ac. 2:17 "In the last days," God says, "I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 

It's all there. The poured out Spirit (enabling the saints to manifest the filling of the Spirit, inlcuding Spirit-filled prayer), signs and wonders, the judgments, and the glorious return of the King of kings. And a promise: And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Fearful events, a powerful church, and a revival like the earth has never seen. 

That is the result of praying in the Spirit.

Conditions for Answered Prayer

• Pray according to His will: 1Jn. 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
• Pray with faith: Mt. 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
• Pray in reverent submission: He. 5:7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
• Pray with thanksgiving: Ph. 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
• Pray in Christ: Jn. 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
• Pray in the name of Jesus: Jn. 16:23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
• Pray in the Spirit: Ep. 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

Conclusion

This is why prayer needs to stop being given the back seat treatment. This is why churches, pastors, and congregants need to seek the Holy Spirit's anointing and filling. Prayer is so powerful it will usher in the Day of The Lord. Prayer represents the fulfillment of Jesus' instruction to pray, "Your kingdom come."

Your prayers are not unanswered, they will be returned to earth with fire. There has never been a time where prayer has been so crucial to the purposes of God.