Have you ever wondered why your prayers aren't answered even though you have prayed for months, or sometimes years?

I used to wonder about this myself. I would say, "I don't understand You, Jesus. Why don't You answer my prayer? I've got to have this, but it's not coming to pass. Why don't You answer my prayer?"

One day as I was reading the Bible, the Lord began to bring this message into focus. He began to unfold it right before me. Today I can see it so plainly—just as if it had always been a part of me.

How To Approach God
The Lord is so good to us. He gives us different ways to approach Him and different ways to receive things from Him. What I am going to share with you here is one of the most important truths in the Bible, and it's actually one of the easiest ways I know of to receive things form the Lord.

Many people won't go to God until the very foundation of their life has crumbled before them. Then because they have no place else to go, they go to God.

This is one of the best times for God to get hold of a person's life—when the circumstances of his life have crumbled and his heart is broken. God would like to get hold of us before that, but most people just won't go to God until they have to. They want to figure out everything for themselves.

If we will go to God with an open heart, ready to receive, He will be able to come into our lives and do what He wants to do with us.

The Bible says that God will reward those that diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6). You can't seek God just a little bit and expect to find all the "goodies" from heaven. They don't come that way. Your prayers will never be answered that way. You will have to diligently seek Him.

The most important thing is how you ask God for something—the kind of words you use when you speak to Him. When you pray, you are not talking to me, or to the pastor of your church, or to a friend—you are talking to Jesus.

He doesn't look at you from the outside, but from the inside. He doesn't hold your past sins against you. (The devil does, but Jesus doesn't.)

Be Sincere
Because He looks on the motives of your heart, you have to approach Him in the right way. You have to be sincere. Jesus said...out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Matt. 12:34). When you start talking, Jesus will know right away the condition of your heart.

Many times, Jesus doesn't like the way we pray.

You may say, "But I'm humble when I pray. Sometimes when I pray, I even get on my knees and cry."

That doesn't make any difference. Jesus still won't answer your prayer if you pray wrong.

Hear and Understand
Let's look at the book of St. Matthew, chapter 15, beginning with the tenth verse:

And he (Jesus) called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?

Many people are offended when they hear the Gospel straight from the pages of the New Testament. They are offended when you tell them what the New Testament says about speaking in tongues. They say, "We don't teach that in our church."

But it doesn't make any difference what they teach in their church. It's what the Bible says that 's the truth, not what anybody teaches in a church.

The disciples said, "You offended them, Jesus."

In verse 13, He answered them and said, "Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up." You can have all kinds of teaching in you, but unless God planted it there, it won't do you any good.

You might as well get rid of everything that's not in the New Testament, regardless of how many relatives you have who believe it that way. Just go ahead and read the New Testament for yourself. Believe what you read and act on it. You can receive it from Almighty God yourself.

It won't do you any good to go around and find out what everybody else believes. If you do, you'll hear 40,000 tales—and all of them will be different!

But God's Word won't change. It won't change because God doesn't change. Jesus stays the same all the time, and His Word stays the same. Every morning when you pick up the New Testament, it will be the same. It stays steadfast all the time, and it works all the time.

What does Jesus have to say about people who are offended by His Word? "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up." Then in the verse 14 He says of the Pharisees, "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind." And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

Is That Plain Enough?
Jesus was saying to His disciples, "If they are offended at My sayings, let them alone. Stay away from them. They are blind. If you mess around with them, you'll be blind, too. You won't be able to see, and both of you will fall into the ditch."

Then answered Peter and said unto him, "Declare unto us this parable" (v. 15).

In other words, "Explain this parable, Jesus. Tell us what You mean."

And Jesus said, "Are ye also yet without understanding?"

In other words, "What's the matter with you guys? You've been with Me for a long time - don't you understand yet?"

You know, I believe most of us are just like Peter. We are yet without understanding. I imagine if Jesus walked into a church service these days, He would probably say something like this: "You people are robbing yourselves. Are you yet without understanding of all the things in the New Testament that are for you? Are you yet without understanding of all the things I've told you in My Word?"

The Word Is (Still) The Bottom Line
You could ask Him all kinds of questions, but He would always answer you with a scripture and say, "I've told you in My Word."

It's not good enough for us just to be hearers of the Word. God wants us to be doers of the Word, not hearers only (James 1:22).

Source: How To Get Your Prayers Answered by Norval Hayes
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers