Hello my lovelies! Have you ever wondered why God answers some prayers and not others? Or have you ever felt like God is not listening to your prayers? If so, today’s post is for you! I just finished reading How I Know God Answers Prayer by Rosalind Goforth. It is filled with incredible testimonies of God’s power and generosity to His children. And, in this book, Rosalind shares a list of secrets to answered prayer. Starting with her list and adding some ideas of my own, I wrote today’s post.

Keep reading for 7 secrets to answered prayer.

1. Being God’s child

First, if you want God to answer your prayers, you have to be His child. The precious promises of the Bible are reserved for those who have been born again into God’s family. How can a person be born again? It’s elegantly simple.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Romans 6:23

If we measure ourselves by the 10 Commandments, we are all sinners. Who has never told a lie, stolen something, or disobeyed their parents? All of us have sinned. The Bible tells us that God’s punishment for sin is death- not just physical death but also being separated from Him forever after death, in a place of punishment called Hell.  

But God doesn’t want any of us to be in Hell. That’s why He sent Jesus to die on the cross and take the punishment that we deserve. Because Jesus paid for our sins, we don’t have to be punished. God offers us forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus.

How can we claim that? We need to turn from our sins (repentance) and believe on Jesus alone for salvation. The Bible says in Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…”

To learn more, you can read my personal story of faith.

2. Obedience

Now, after you have become God’s child, the next key to answered prayer is obedience. In 1 John 3:22, John writes, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”

If God isn’t answering your prayers, ask yourself, “Am I obeying all that I know God wants me to do? Did God tell me to do something that I haven’t done?” If the answer is yes, go do it! God wants to bless you and answer your prayers, but you need to walk in obedience if you want His ear.

3. Being humble enough to confess and turn from sin

One of the biggest obstacles to answered prayer is sin in our hearts. The psalmist wrote in Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” What does “regard iniquity” mean? It’s an old-fashioned way of saying “allowing sin to continue in my life without confessing and turning from it.”

If you want God to hear and answer your prayers, be serious about fighting sin in your life. Don’t snuggle with the serpent of sin and pretend that everything is okay. Fight it, flee it, and learn to hate the sin that nailed Jesus to the cross.

In addition to confessing sins against God, be ready to ask forgiveness for the sins you have committed against others. According to Matthew 5:23-24, we should prepare for worship by making amends with others that we have wronged. Have you hurt someone or sinned against them? Be humble enough to confess it and ask their forgiveness. This will open the door for God to answer your prayers.

4. Asking in God’s will

As humans, we have a very limited understanding of reality. We are bound by our own prejudices, limited understanding, and human perspective. But, from His throne in Heaven, God knows exactly what is best in all situations, for His greatest glory and our greatest good.

That is why we should always seek to pray for God’s will, not our will. We must learn to ask, “God, what is Your will in this situation?” We ought to search the Scriptures to find principles about God’s will that apply to our specific situation. When we pray, we should ask the Holy Spirit to guide our prayers and show us how and what to pray for. And we ought to always pray, “Not my will, but Your will be done.”

When we have sought God and discovered what His will is, then we can confidently pray for it. 1 John 5:14 tells us, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:”

In addition, this is what praying in Jesus’ name really means. It means asking in agreement with God’s will, in Jesus’ name, as His representatives on earth. According to John 14:13-14, Jesus promised to answer all prayers like this.

When we pray, we must seek to ask according to God’s will, not our own desires. This is one of the secrets to answered prayer.

5. Seeking God wholeheartedly

Even more than He wants to hear our prayers, God desires to have a relationship with us. He wants us to seek Him wholeheartedly. He wants to have first place in our hearts. One of my favourite quotes about seeking God is,

“To fall in love with God in the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him the greatest human achievement.”

Saint Augustine

And, when we seek God with all our hearts, we will find far more than answers to our prayers. We will find the greatest gift of all…knowing God as our Father.

(Note: I do not endorse all of the theology of Saint Augustine, but I appreciate this quote.)

6. Faith in God

Have you ever doubted that God was really interested in answering your little prayers? Or have you doubted that He was capable of doing something? This lack of faith will block answers to prayer.

If you feel that your faith is small, don’t give up. Instead, pray like the father in Mark 9:24 and say, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Confess your unbelief, and choose to believe that God can and will answer your prayers in the best possible way.

Faith is not measured in feelings. Instead, it is a conscious choice to believe God, regardless of feelings. And it’s one of the most necessary secrets to answered prayer.

7. Persistence

Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.

Maybe that unsaved relative is one prayer away from accepting Christ. Maybe your “impossible situation” is three prayers away from a complete miracle. Or maybe your answer is being delayed by major spiritual forces, as Daniel’s answer was (see Daniel 10:13).

If you are still breathing, this is no time to quit. Keep on praying until you see God’s answer! Ask Him to change or redirect your prayer if it is not in accordance with God’s will. But never give up, never lose heart, and never quit. God hears your prayers, and He delights in answering the persistent prayers of His children!

Let’s Chat:

Which of these secrets to answered prayer have you found helpful in your own life? First, you need to make sure that you have accepted Jesus to save you from sin and that you are God’s child. Next, you need to walk in obedience and be humble enough to confess sins and ask forgiveness. Another key to answered prayer is asking in accordance with God’s will. To have your prayers answered, you need to have faith in God, seek Him wholeheartedly, and never give up praying. If you are meeting these conditions for answered prayer, then you will have God’s ear!

And you can check out Rosalind Goforth’s book here!

Happy praying!

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