God delights in hearing and answering our prayers.  All His answers are the best fit for each situation.  If we honestly seek Him in all things and His words abide in us and we abide in Him we can ask for what we need.

There are times He will reveal to us obstacles to answered prayer rather than send an answer.  Some things that hinder His divine answer could be things like selfishness, unconfessed sin, idols, grudges, worry and pride.  The list varies from person to person.

God loves us so much that He wants to deal with these obstacles within our own selves to make more room for His love to flow.  When God reveals to us our guilt He provides forgiveness when we come to Him.  It is at that time He can begin a new work in us, cleaning us up and making us more like Him.  As our minds becomes more like Christ’s He can more freely work through us.

When we are guilty of many of the obstacles to answered prayer it can be discouraging.  Yet at the the same time it can be a welcomed encouragement that these are the things God will help us overcome.  Overcoming these things will draw us closer to Him.

Ephesians 1:7-9

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,  He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ

Daniel 9:9

But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him.