Faith, Obedience, and Answered Prayer

If one is not a Calvinist and a Postmillennialist, then we should expect weak and ineffectual prayer to be the result. The condition for answered prayer that Scripture puts before us is that we must ask, and in asking we must believe that God will give us what we’re asking for. If we do not believe that He is willing or able, then our prayers will accomplish nothing, Scripture tells us. Unbelief receives what it expects.

But Scripture also tells us that a life of holiness is also required, and if there’s a place where the American Church fails, it’s there. But unbelief and a lack of holiness go hand in hand. We sin, because we do not trust God. We do not believe He is Who He says He is, that His way and character are right and good, or that there are consequences for our sins. Belief, faith, is the root of obedience, and where there is no obedience, there is no faith. And where there is no faith, prayers are not answered.