1. The prayers of the person who ignores God's word will not be heard.

Proverbs 28:9 He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

2. The prayers of the person who continues in sin will not be heard.

Psalms 66:18 If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

3. The person who neglects the needs of others will not be heard.

Proverbs 21:13 He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.

4. The prayers of the undecided, impulsive, and temperamental will not be heard.

James 1:6-8

But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

5. Having wrong relationships will hinder our prayers from getting through to God.

I Peter 3:7

You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.

1. We don't understand the implications of what we ask.

2. We are not fully committed to God's will and therefore are not spiritually prepared.

3. God has a sovereign plan higher than our plans and thoughts.

4. We don't fully know our own heart and would misuse the thing we ask for

"If the stars appeared only one night every 1000 years, how we would marvel and appreciate them." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)