Podcast Summary

Lakepointe Church with Josh Howerton
Episode: 5 Reasons God is Not Answering Your Prayers | Investigating Jesus
Date: March 1, 2026
Host & Speaker: Pastor Josh Howerton

Overview

This episode dives deep into one of the most difficult and practical questions for Christians: "If Jesus is real, why didn't He answer my prayer?" Pastor Josh Howerton teaches from Luke 11, unpacking the access to God in the New Covenant, and explores five biblical reasons God may not be answering prayers. Blending biblical history, practical theology, humor, and personal vulnerability, Josh brings hope and direction for listeners wrestling with unanswered prayers.

Main Themes & Structure

1. Celebrating Obedience and Church Response

• Reflects on a previous sermon about marriage, divorce, and remarriage and celebrates the obedient response of over 60 couples deciding to get married, leading to an upcoming mass wedding.
  • Quote: “I'm really proud of our church … you guys just love the word of God.” (03:04)

2. God Absolutely Hears Prayer—But What About the Unanswered Ones?

• Personal stories and biblical anecdotes of God answering prayers, miraculous healings, and prophetic experiences alongside poignant examples of prayers that appeared to go unanswered.
• Memorable moment: Humor about being asked to pray for a puppy, which tragically died later that day.
  • Quote: “True story, that puppy got hit by a car that night and died. … The family never asked me to pray for anything ever again.” (11:57)

Key Insights & Discussion Points

A. Foundations: Understanding Prayer and Access to God

[17:50+]

• Luke 11 & The Lord’s Prayer

  • The disciples only ask to be taught how to pray, not how to preach or heal: “Teach us to pray.”
  • Jesus introduces "Father" (Aramaic: Abba/Dad), which is revolutionary in Jewish context.
    • Quote: “Pray … Dad. Now here's why this is a big deal. … children have access to their parents nobody else gets.” (21:04)

• Old Covenant vs. New Covenant: Who Gets Access to God?

  • Old Covenant: Mediated through priests, with access limited depending on one’s role.
  • New Covenant: Direct access for all God’s children through Jesus.
  • Illustrated through detailed explanation of the Temple's structure and a creative “thought experiment”—a Gentile woman being led by the hand through each barrier into God’s presence, culminating in, "It's okay, you're with Me."
    • Quote: “Now you can just walk right in.” (33:49)
    • Key Scripture: Hebrews 10: “Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place … by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain… let us draw near to God with a sincere heart.” (35:40)

B. Five Biblical Reasons God May Not Be Answering Your Prayers

[39:56+]

1. Broken Relationships

• Broken or unforgiving relationships can hinder prayers.
  • Scriptures:
    • Mark 11:25 – “Whenever you stand praying, forgive… so that your Father may forgive your trespasses.” (40:53)
    • Proverbs 21:13 – “Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.”
    • 1 Peter 3:7 – Husbands treating wives without respect can hinder prayers. (“How you think you're going to mistreat one of my daughters and then ask me for stuff? Are you crazy?”)

2. Unconfessed (Cherished) Sin

• Not sin itself, but cherishing/protecting/excusing sin impairs the quality (not category) of relationship with God.
  • Quote: “Sin matters. Sin does not affect the category of our relationship with God, but it definitely affects the quality.” (44:00)
  • Scripture: Psalm 66:18 – “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

3. Wrong Motives

• Praying selfishly or for personal pleasure, rather than God's will or glory.
  • Quote: “God does not exist to serve us. We exist to serve him.” (47:16)
  • Related to: The Lord’s Prayer—first, “Hallowed be your name … your kingdom come.”
  • Scripture: James 4:3 – “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.” (48:40)

4. God Actually Is Answering—But Not How You Expected

• God’s ways are higher. Sometimes the answer looks very different, or is delayed, or is His presence instead of a changed circumstance.
  • Job’s Story: Suffering, no direct answer, but receives the presence of God.
  • Personal Application: Eight years of praying for a biological child, only to later adopt.
    • Memorable quote: “Every time my three adopted children run to the door and say, ‘Dad’s home,’ I don’t know why God didn’t answer that prayer, but … I’m glad he didn’t.” (53:52)
    • “Sometimes some of God’s best gifts are unanswered prayers.” (Garth Brooks, quoted at 55:10)

5. God Wants You to ‘Go Again’—Keep Praying Persistently

• Parables and biblical examples (Luke 11’s parable of the persistent neighbor; Elijah praying for rain) encourage persistence.
  • Key Instruction: The present active imperative in Jesus’ words: “Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking.” (58:45)
  • Scripture: James 5:17 – “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours … he prayed again, and heaven gave rain.” (1:01:55)
  • Story: Elijah sends his servant seven times to look for rain—even after six times of seeing nothing, Elijah says, “Go again.”
    • Quote: “Between God’s promise and God’s payoff, there’s always a process. And that process is prayer.” (1:05:32)
    • “Go again, go again, man—because … someday you’re gonna see something, and it’s gonna be small. … But something small can become something significant when God blows on it.” (1:07:23)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On access to God:
  “If any of you snuck into my house and then snuck into my bedroom at 10pm … you’d be getting two in the chest, one in the face … but if my son does it, it’s different. Why? Because children have access to their parents nobody else gets. Jesus is saying, that’s how we pray.” (27:53)

• On broken relationships and prayer:
  “How you think you’re going to mistreat one of my daughters and then ask me for stuff? Are you crazy?” (42:56)

• On personal hopes and God’s purposes:
  “God doesn’t exist for me and my comfort and my glory. I actually exist to pour out my life as a drink offering to Him for His glory and His purposes.” (48:30)

• On persistence:
  “Between God’s promise and God’s payoff, there’s always a process. And that process is prayer.” (1:05:32)

• On God’s mysterious answers:
  “The answer to Job’s prayers was not an explanation—it was the presence of God.” (52:08) “I don’t know why God didn’t answer that prayer, but every time that happens, I think, I’m glad He didn’t.” (54:09)

Timestamps to Important Segments

• 03:04 – Celebrating obedience: mass wedding announcement
• 10:00 – The struggle of unanswered prayer—stories from ministry and personal life
• 17:50 – The Lord’s Prayer and the revolutionary “Father”
• 23:10 – Old Covenant vs. New Covenant: Temple, access, and New Testament fulfillment
• 33:49 – Hebrews 10: new and living way to God, direct access
• 39:56 – Introduction to the Five Reasons Prayers Go Unanswered
  • 40:53 – Reason 1: Broken relationships
  • 44:00 – Reason 2: Unconfessed sin
  • 47:16 – Reason 3: Wrong motives
  • 52:08 – Reason 4: God is answering, but differently
  • 58:45 – Reason 5: Persistence—“Go again”
• 1:05:32 – Elijah & Gehazi: the process between promise and fulfillment
• 1:07:23 – Encouragement to persistent prayer: “Go again. … Something small can become significant when God blows on it.”
• 1:09:00 – Concluding ministry prayer for breakthrough and steadfastness

Conclusion & Practical Takeaways

• God hears every prayer, but numerous biblical reasons may impact the answer or its timing.
• Prayer is about relationship, transformation, and alignment with God's will—never just transaction.
• If you’re praying and not seeing results:
  1. Examine relationships and forgive where needed.
  2. Confess any cherished sin.
  3. Check your motives—are they about God's glory or your comfort?
  4. Trust God’s mysterious sovereignty—His ‘no’ or ‘not yet’ might be a better ‘yes’.
  5. Keep going! Persistence is biblical: “Go again."
• Most importantly, seek God’s face, not just His hand.

Memorable Final Blessing:
“Make us men and women of God who, like your word says, are steadfast in prayer, who are immovable, unshakable.” (1:10:50)

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