What could make a person's prayers unacceptable to God?Matt. 6:5: "When you pray, you must not be as the hypocrites; because they like to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the broad ways to be visible to men. Truly I say to you, They are having their reward in full." (Also Luke 18:9-14)
Matt. 6:7: "When praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words."
Prov. 28:9: "He that is turning his ear away from hearing the law [of God]—even his prayer is something detestable."
Mic. 3:4: "At that time they will call to Jehovah for aid, but he will not answer them. And he will conceal his face from them in that time, according as they committed badness in their dealings."
Jas. 4:3: "You do ask, and yet you do not receive, because you are asking for a wrong purpose, that you may expend it upon your cravings for sensual pleasure."
Isa. 42:8, Dy; Matt. 4:10, JB: "I, the Lord ["Yahweh," JB; "Jehovah," NW]: this is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things." "You must worship the Lord your God ["Jehovah your God," NW], and serve him alone." (Also Psalm 115:4-8, or 113:4-8 second set of numbers in Dy) (Prayer is a form of worship. If you pray before graven things, or images, is that going to please God?)
Isa. 8:19: "In case they should say to you people: `Apply to the spiritistic mediums or to those having a spirit of prediction who are chirping and making utterances in low tones,' is it not to its God that any people should apply? Should there be application to dead persons in behalf of living persons?"
Jas. 1:6, 7: "Let him keep on asking in faith, not doubting at all, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and blown about. In fact, let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from Jehovah."
Also see:
The Power of Prayer (Specifically the second heading, "Not All Requests Are Granted"; w00 3/1 pp. 3-4; Watchtower Online Library)
How Should We Pray to God? (g 2/12 pp. 12-13; Watchtower Online Library)
Prayer - Links to Information (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
PRAYER (Insight-2 pp. 667-671; Watchtower Online Library)
Draw Close to God in Prayer (What Does the Bible Really Teach?; JW.ORG) Addresses the questions: To whom should we pray? Must we assume a special position or posture when praying? What may we pray for? How long should our prayers be? How often should we pray? Why should we say “Amen” at the end of a prayer?
Would God listen to the prayer of someone else on a person's behalf more, or would it be the same as if the person prayed for themselves? (Search For Bible Truths)
(To those who are not Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs), please remember that if you are looking for the authoritative information about the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society's (WTBTS) Bible-based beliefs and practices, you should look to our OFFICIAL WEBSITE at http://www.jw.org/en. Numerous publications as well as the New World Translation Bible (NWT) and the very useful Watchtower Online Library can be found there.)
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