How to Get

Your Prayers Answered

by
Norvel Hayes

HARRISON HOUSE
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Unless otherwise indicated,
all Scripture quotations are taken from
the King James Version of the Bible.

09 08 07 06 30 29 28 27 26 25 24

How to Get Your Prayers Answered

ISBN-10: 0-89274-215-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-89274-215-8
Copyright © 1981 by Norvel Hayes
P. O. Box 1379
Cleveland, Tennessee 37311

Published by Harrison House, Inc.

P. O. Box 35035
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74153

Printed in the United States of America. All rights

reserved under International Copyright Law.
Contents and/or cover may not be reproduced in
whole or in part in any form without the express
written consent of the Publisher.
 How to Get
Your Prayers Answered
Have you ever w ondered why your
prayers aren’t answered even though you
have prayed for months, or sometimes
years?
I used to wonder about this myself. I
would say, “I don’t understand You, Jesus.
Why don’t You answer my prayer? I’ve got
to have this, but it’s not coming to pass.
Why don’t You answer my prayer?”
One day as I was reading the Bible, the
Lord began to bring this message into
focus. He began to unfold it right before
me. Today I can see it so plain — just as if
it had always been a part of me.

How To Approach God

The Lord is so good to us. He gives us
different ways to approach H im and
different ways to receive things from Him.
1
What I am going to share with you here is
one of the most important truths in the
Bible, and it’s actually one of the easiest
ways I know of to receive things from the
Lord.
Many people won’t go to God until the
very foundation of their life has crumbled
before them. Then because they have no
place else to go, they go to God.
This is one of the best times for God to
get hold of a person’s life—when the cir-
cumstances of his life have crumbled and
his heart is broken. God would like to get
hold of us before that, but most people just
won’t go to God until they have to. They
want to figure out everything for them-
selves.
If we will go to God with an open heart,
ready to receive, He will be able to come
into our lives and do what He wants to do
with us.
The Bible says that God will reward
those that diligently seek Him. (Heb.11:6.)
You can’t seek God just a little bit and
expect to find all the “ goodies” from
heaven. They don’t come that way. Your
2
prayers will never be answered that way.
You will have to diligently seek Him.
The most important thing is h o w y o u
ask God for something—the kind of words
you use when you speak to Him. When
you pray, you are not talking to me, or to
the pastor of your church, or to a friend—
you are talking to Jesus.
He doesn’t look at you from the outside,
but from the inside. He doesn’t hold your
past sins against you. (The devil does, but
Jesus doesn’t.)

Be Sincere
Because He looks on the motives of
your heart, you have to approach Him in
the right way. You have to be sincere.
Jesus said, . . . out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speake th (Matt. 12:34).
When you start talking, Jesus will know
right away the condition of your heart.
Many times, Jesus doesn’t like the way
we pray.
You may say, “But I’m humble when
I pray. Sometimes when I pray, I even
get on my knees and cry.”
3
 That doesn’t make a ny difference.
Jesus still won’t answer your prayer if you
pray wrong.

Hear and Understand

Let’s look at the book of St. Matthew,
chapter 15, beginning with the 10th verse:
And he (Jesus) called the multitude,
and said unto t he m, Hear, and under-
stand:
Not that which goeth into the mouth
defileth a man; but that which cometh out
of the mouth, this defileth a man.
Then came his disciples, and said unto
him, Knowe st thou that t he Pharisee s
we re offe nde d, aft e r t he y he ard t his
saying?
Many people are offended when they
hear the Gospel straight from the pages of
the New Testament. They are offended
when you tell them what the New Testa-
ment says about speaking in tongues.
They say, “We don’t teach that in our
church,” but it doesn’t make any differ-
ence what they teach in their church. It’s
what the Bible says that’s the truth, not
what anybod y t eaches in a church.
4
 The disciples said, “You offended them,
Jesus.”
In verse 13, He answered them and
said, Eve ry plant, which my he ave nly
Father hath not planted, shall be rooted
up. You can have all kinds of teaching in
you, but unless God planted it there, it
won’t do you any good.
You might as well get rid of everything
that’s not in the New Testament—regard-
less of how many relatives you have who
believe it that way. Just go ahead and
read the New Testament for yourself.
Believe what you read and act on it. You
can receive it from Almighty God yourself.
It won’t do you any good to go around
and find out what everybody else believes.
If you do, you’ll hear 40,000 tales —and
all of them will be different!
But God’s Word won’t change. It won’t
change because God doesn’t change. Jesus
stays the same all the time, and His Word
stays the same. Every morning when you
pick up the New Testament, it will be the
same. It stays steadfast all the time, and
it works all the time.
5
 What does Jesus have to say about
people who are offended by His Word?
“Every plant that my heavenly Father has
not planted will be rooted up.”
Then in the 14th verse He says of the
Pharisees, Le t them alone: they be blind
leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead
the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Is that plain enough?
Jesus was saying to His disciples, “If
they are offended at My sayings, let them
alone. Stay away from them. They are
blind. If you mess around with them,
you’ll be blind, too. You won’t be able to
see, and both of you will fall int o the
ditch.”
The n answe re d Pe ter and said unto
him, Declare unto us this parable (v. 1 5).
In other words, “Explain this parable,
Jesus. Tell us what You mean.”
And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without
understanding? In other words, “What’s
the matter with you guys? You’ve been
with Me for a long time—don’t you under-
stand yet?”
6
 You know, I believe most of us are just
like Peter. We are yet without under-
standing. I imagine if Jesus walked into a
church service these days, He would prob-
ably say something like this: “You people
are robbing yourselves. Are you yet
without understanding of all the things in
the New Testament that are for you? Are
you yet without understanding of all the
things I’ve told you in My Word?”
You could ask Him all kinds of ques-
tions, but He would always answer you
with a scripture and say, “I’ve told you in
My Word.” It’s not good enough for us just
to be hearers of the Word. God wants us to
be doers of the Word, not hearers only.
(James 1:22.)

Speak the Word

In verses 17 and 18 Jesus says: Do not
y e ye t unde rst and, t hat what soe v e r
entereth in at the mouth goeth into the
belly, and is cast out into the draught?
But those things which proceed out of the
mouth come forth from the heart.
7
 What shape is your heart in?
How have you been talking?
Have you been talking faith, or have
you been talking doubt?
Have you been talking love, or have
you been talking in a way that the love of
God can’t work?
Those things, Jesus said, which proceed
out of t he mout h come fort h from t he
heart; and they defile the man.
For out of t he he art proce e d e v il
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornica-
tions, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
The se are t he things which defile a
man: but to e at with unwashen hands
defileth not a man.
Then Jesus went thence, and departe d
into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon (vv. 18-21).
It’s not what you eat that defiles you,
but what you say. It’s what comes out
your mouth that causes all the trouble in
your life and discourages you from receiv-
ing from Almighty God.
8
 Check Your Motives
Verse 22 says, And, behold, a woman of
Canaan came out of th e same coasts, a nd
cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on
me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daugh-
t e r is grie v ously ve x e d wit h a de vil.
Her daughter was possessed by devils,
so she approached Jesus for help.
Do you know what it’s like to live in a
house with someone who is possessed
with devils? It isn’t pleasant. I don’t care
how much you love that person from the
natural standpoint, it still isn’t pleasant.
When you love Jesus and want to give
your life to Him, it isn’t pleasant to hear
someone close to you curse God and act
like the devil himself.
This woman who approached Jesus
knew exactly what that was like. She
cried out, “Have mercy on me, O Lord; my
daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.”
Verse 23 says, But he answered her not
a word. Jesus wouldn’t even talk to her.
9
 Does that surprise you?
Don’t you think that was a very humble
way for her to approach the Lord? She
came crying to Him, but He wouldn’t even
talk to her. He wouldn’t pay any attention
to her.
Why?
Because her motives were wrong.
She was crying, “Have mercy on m e ,
Lord,” not, “Have mercy on my daughter.”
Jesus looked on her heart as she cried,
“Have mercy on me, Lord. I’m living in
torment because my daughter is vexed
with a devil.”
Jesus didn’t answer. He wouldn’t even
talk to her.
What does the Bible say He did ?
He answe red her not a word. In every-
day language, that means He wasn’t even
talking to her. She was praying selfishly
and Jesus wouldn’t listen to her.
Let me ask you a question: Are you a
parent with a wayward child—a child who
doesn’t know the Lord?
10
 Here J esus gives you t he secret to
getting your child back in tune with Him.
Now if you don’t do it, it won’t be Jesus’
fault. It won’t be anybod y’s fault but
yours.
You have probably spent many hours,
praying for your child. When he first
started going against your teachings, I’m
sure you felt like all the blood had been
drained out of your body. You probably
felt like a failure. I know how you felt
because I’ve been there. Sometimes you
really feel sorry for yourself.
The only reason your child is wayward
is because of the power of the devil. The
only reason your child is like that is
because the devil has tempted him and
led him astray. It doesn’t make any differ-
ence whether he is involved in drinking or
dope or sex. In any case, the devil has
taken over and caused your child to be
separated from God.
You’ve prayed and cried and wept. You
can’t understand why God won’t answer
11
your prayers. Why won’t He a nswer?
Maybe your motive is wrong.
When you ask Jesus for something self-
ishly—if you have only yourself in mind
when you pray—He won’t give it to you.
Maybe you are living in torment.
Maybe you are being buffeted by some-
thing and want to be released from it.
When you pray, God looks inside you and
sees your heart. It is no trouble for Him to
look inside you; He made every part of
you. He is interested in you, and He knows
whether or not you are interested in
making Him your God.

Spend Time With God

The number one thing God wants is to
be your God and have you be His people. It
would be so easy to receive things from
God if you would open yourself to Him and
let Him do what He wants in your life.
If you want to please the heart of God,
place yourself before Him and let Him
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work His perfect will in your life. Just be
like putty in His hands.
Sometimes you need to shut yourself
off from “religious activities.” Sometimes
you need to shut yourself off from witness-
ing and teaching. Just go to God when no
one else is around.
You shouldn’t spend all your time going
to meetings. You need to spend time loving
and worshipping God, telling Him how
much you love Him.
Don’t allow yourself to get caught up in
religious activities without putting Jesus
first place in your life and worshipping
Him when you are alone in your prayer
closet. Don’t let any work—I don’t care
what it is—take so much of your time that
you aren’t able to shut yourself off from it
to worship Jesus. If you do, you’ll cut your-
self off from the blessings of Almighty
God.
The more time you spend in your prayer
closet, worshipping Jesus, the better
warrior you’ll be when you get outside.
13
 Let God Be #1
So often we run around in our own reli-
gious Christian life, doing this and that at
the church, trying to help people; but we
don’t spend any time alone with God. It’s
like we are partly lying to the people. We
tell them how important Jesus is in our
lives, yet He really isn’t occupying that
number one spot. Sometimes our God is
religion and church, not Him.
God doesn’t want your d uty to be
number one in your life. He wants to be
number one. Don’t push Him over to the
side and do all the work for God without
taking time to worship Him. If you do, you
are lying—to yourself and to Him.
You can work for Jesus 15 hours a day,
but if you don’t take the time to spend
even 15 or 20 minutes in private worship
of Him, you are lying to yourself. He really
isn’t your number one God.
We are supposed to worship the Lord
with all our hearts. Luke 10:27 says, Thou
14
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy s trength, and with all thy mind; and
thy neighbour as thyself.
Many times we miss God by getting our
lives so involved in going to church and
working for Jesus that we grieve His
heart. I know we are going to be judged on
the day of judgment by the works we do;
but many people are trying to promote the
Kingdom of God in the wrong way. They
do it from an intellectual standpoint and
from a labor standpoint. God is not
pleased with that.

Let Him Love You

One day as I had just finished taping
some radio broadcasts, the Spirit of the
Lord came upon me in a sudden manifes-
tation. During that time the Lord revealed
to me what was wrong with the world.
These were the words He said to me that
day: “People make Me complicated. All I
want them to do is let Me love them.”
15
 We don’t let the Lord love us much.
We’re too busy. I get guilty of this myself.
If you let the Lord love you, then His love
can go from you out to others. You can
have more understanding and more
patience about things when you let the
Lord love you.
Many people might think, “Well, the
Lord loves me anyway.”
That’s not what He is talking about.
If you would bow down to H im and
worship Him in your prayer closet, then
His power would come on you and melt
your heart. He would begin to love you,
and you would begin to love Him back.
All Jesus wants you to do is let Him
love you. He wants to take you in His
arms and love you. He wants to manifest
Himself to you. He wants His pure love to
flow down through your body and into
your mind, just as if you had taken a bath.
If you don’t spend any time before Him,
it’s hard for Him to get you still long
enough to love you. He loves all of us in a
16
general love, but that’s not good enough.
He wants to boldly show you how much
He loves you.
His love will melt you down until you
can have comp assion on drunks and
thieves and prostitutes. With His love in
you, you can see people in a different
light. You can see what sin and the devil
have done to them.
If you will let God love you, you won’t
always just go to Him with the big moun-
tain in your life.
If you have been praying for things and
not getting any answers, start letting
Jesus love you. Start worshipping Him
and loving Him, telling Him how you feel
about Him:
“Jesus, You’re the Lord of my life. I
thank You that You died on the cross for
me. I worship You, Jesus, and praise You
because my name is written in the Lamb’s
Book of Life. I worship You, Jesus. I praise
Your wonderful name. I hold Your name
above all names that are on this earth.”
17
 It’s a good thing to be involved with a
church and with God’s work; but the greatest
thing you will ever do is shut yourself off
from the world and spend time with Jesus—
just y o u and Him. Jesus wants y o u—just
you alone. Spend time worshipping Him,
and you will learn more about His beauty
than you have ever known.

Worship Has Rewards

This woman in the 15th chapter of
Matthew had to learn these things the
hard way. Again, verse 23 says, H e
answered her not a word. And his disci-
ples came and besought him, saying, Send
her away; for she crieth after us.
But, of course, Jesus loved her. He
knew she was in trouble. He didn’t want
to turn anybody away troubled, but she
had to learn a lesson. You see, God has
His own standards. We have to come His
way; we can’t come our way.
He answered His disciples and said, I
am not sen t but unto the lost sh eep of the
house of Israel (v. 24).
18
 Now notice her second approach to
Jesus in the 25th verse: Then came she
and worshipped him. She said, “I worship
You, Jesus. I love You.”
As she was worshipping Him, she was
saying, Lord, help me. She knew there
was help in Jesus.
There was no worship involved in her
first approach—when she cried out, “Lord,
have mercy on me.” That was a selfish
prayer. She wanted to be relieved of the
thing that was causing her so much
trouble. She wanted to be relieved, but
there was no worship in her plea. That’s
why Jesus wouldn’t talk to her.
But when she came the second time,
she was worshipping Him as her God,
and He found favor in what she was doing.
When God finds favor in the way you
believe and talk and act, He will move
for you.
When she came to Jesus the second
time, He gave her a little test to see how
sincere she was. He wanted the right
words to come out of her mouth. He
wanted her to talk right.
19
 Verse 26 says, He answered and said,
It is not meet to take the children’s bread,
and to cast it to dogs.
In other, words, He was telling her,
“I’m a Jew, and I came for the children of
the house of Israel. You’re out of a differ-
ent coast, from a different tribe. It’s not
right for Me to cast the children’s bread to
dogs.”
Then verse 27 says, A nd she said,
Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from t he ir mast e r’s t able .
After she worships H im, she says,
“Jesus, You are my Master, and I’ m
willing to eat even the crumbs that fall
from my Master’s table. I’m willing to
take anything that you have to give me. I
worship You, Jesus, because You are my
Master.”
Do you know what He did for her?
Verse 28 says, Then Jesus answered
and said unto her, O woman, great is thy
faith: be it unto thee e ven as thou wilt.
And her daughter was made whole from
20
that very hour.
Jesus spoke the Word and it happened.
The devil left her daughter, and she was
made whole. Why? Because her mother
pleased God.

Stand Steadfast In Faith

As a parent, you have spiritual author-
ity over your child. It doesn’t make any
difference if your child rebels. I know
because I went through this for a time
with my daughter.
God dealt with me strongly about this
one day. He said:
“Son, I want you to understand some-
thing: There is no power on earth greater
than My power—no power!
“Your daughter doesn’t have the power
and the faith to get out of the trouble she
is in. It will have to be done by your faith
in Me.
“I can set her completely free through
your faith, but your faith concerning her
has b een wavering a l ittle. You have
21
started wondering about when I am going
to do it. That is none of your business.
I don’t need your help. All I need is your
faith. I have to have your faith before My
power is even available to move on your
child.
“Every time—not just part of the time,
but every time—your faith wavers, it cuts
off My power from dealing with her. You’re
her father, and your unwavering faith will
bring My power out of heaven and upon
her life to set her free.
“But your faith wavers from time to
time concerning her complete freedom.
Sometimes you even wonder if I am going
to do it. When you waver, My power stops.”
That’s the reason Hebrews 11:6 says
that without faith it is impossible to
please God. You can’t please God without
faith. You m u s t have faith. He wants you
to recognize Him as your number one God.
He wants you to know that He will work
in your life. But to know that, you must
spend time with Him and get to know
Him.
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 If you will stand with an unwavering,
steadfast faith, you can keep your child
out of the hands of the devil. If your child
is away from God now, you can bring him
back to God.
If you will spend time worshipping the
Lord through faith, the devil can’t destroy
your child. There is no way the devil can
destroy any of your children if you will
follow the Lord and listen to His instruc-
tions.

Confession Brings Possession

When I was holding a meeting in one
church, a woman suddenly stood up in the
audience and challenged me. I had been
telling them that God would do anything
for them if they would let Him.
She said, “Brother Norvel, you’ve been
telling us for two or three days how much
the Lord loves us and that God would do
anything for us. What about our situa-
tion? My husband and I have a 17-year-
old daughter that we love with all our
hearts. About six months ago she just
23
walked off from the house one day and
never came back.
“Brother Norvel, I’ve prayed and
prayed and prayed. Doesn’t God know
where she is?”
I said, “Absolutely.”
“Will He show me where she is?”
I said, “Sure, He’ll show you where she is.
“Well, as I’ve been sitting here listen-
ing to you, I’m beginning to see something
I’ve never seen before. I feel like God
requires something of me other than what
I’ve been doing.”
“Well,” I said, “your faith can bring her
in. You can speak her back into existence,
back into your presence. I’ll teach you how
to do it if you want me to.”
“I’ll d o anything you say,” she
answered. “Just tell me what to do, and
I’ll do it.”
“Okay. Jesus said in Mark 11:23, F o r
ve rily I say unto y ou, That whosoe ve r
shall say unt o this mountain, Be thou
removed, and be thou cast into the sea;
24
and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall
believe that those things which he saith
shall come to pass; he shall have wh atso-
ever he saith.
“Now, according to James 4:2,3, you
have not because you ask not; and when
you ask and receive not, it’s because you
ask amiss.
“I can imagine how the d evil has
treated you—how he has thrown darts of
doubt into your mind about your daugh-
ter. He’s probably told you over and over
that she’s been kidnapped and killed. He’s
probably told you all kinds of things.”
She said, “Yes, he has. Sometimes I
think she will call; then I’ll begin to doubt
and start thinking she’s dead.”
“Well, you can speak her back into your
presence if you’ll believe that those things
which you say will come to pass. You can
do it b ecause this Scrip ture says you
can—and it’s the truth. God can’t lie.
“I’ll pray with you; then I want you to
say this every day: ‘Thank You, Jesus, for
25
showing me where my daughter is. Thank
You, Jesus, for having her contact me.’
“Don’t ever say anything else. Just
keep it up every day. Keep firing down
that same line. Then God will move on her
heart. He’ll have her get in touch with
you. Your faith in His Word will cause her
to do this. Her soul can be rescued through
your faith.”
She said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
A few months later, I was back there
ministering, and that same lady stood up
and said:
“You know what you told me, Brother
Norvel, that if my faith didn’t waver, the
Lord would move on my daughter?
Sometimes I would do that day after day
after day. The devil tried to tell me it
wouldn’t work, that it was too simple, that
my daughter was dead. But I wouldn’t
listen to him.
“Every time I got to the point where I
was about to d oubt, the Lord would
remind me of what you told me. Those
words would ring in my head and I would
26
say, ‘No! I’m not going to doubt! I’m not
going to doubt!’
“Then one day the phone rang, and it
was my daughter on the phone! Not only
that, but she was under conviction and
crying. We drove over, picked her up, and
brought her here to church. She gave her
life to the Lord and Jesus baptized her in
the Holy Ghost. She’s sitting right over
there.”
When she told me that story, I was
really blessed; but God added a bonus—a
supernatural bonus. The Spirit of the
Lord came on that young girl. She got out
of her seat and walked very slowly up to
me. She put her arms around my neck and
just held on.
The Spirit of God was all over her. For
about ten minutes, we just stood there
together, weeping.
You know, all the money in the world
can’t buy that experience from me. It was
glorious—an experience I will never
forget.
27
 Be A True Worshipper
Jesus said, The hour cometh, and now
is, whe n t he t rue worshippe rs shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth:
for the Father seeketh such to worship
him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in
truth (John 4:23,24).
If your prayers aren’t getting answered,
maybe you should check and see how
much time you are spending before the
Lord in worship and praise.
Set yourself to be a true worshipper.
Put aside time for the Lord. Put Him first
place in your life. If you do—I promise
you—you will see your prayers answered.

28
 Norvel Hayes
Norvel Hayes is a successful
businessman, internationally
renowned Bible teacher, and
founder of several Christian
ministries in the U.S. and
abroad.
Brother Hayes founded N e w
Life Bible College, located in Cleveland, Tennessee,
in 1977. New Life Bible Church grew out of the Bible
school’s chapel services. The Bible School offers a
two-year diploma and off-campus correspondence
courses. Among it’s many other out-reaches, the
church ministers God’s Word and hot meals daily to
the poor through the Ne w Life Soup K it che n.
Brother Hayes is also the founder and president of
New Life Maternity Home, a ministry dedicated to
the spiritual, physical and financial need of young
girls during pregnancy; Campus Challenge, an evan-
gelistic outreach that distributes Christian litera-
ture on college campuses across America; S t r e e t
R e a c h , a ministry dedicated to runaway teens
located in Daytona Beach, Florida; and Children’s
Home, an orphanage home and education center
located in India.
Known internationally for his dynamic exposition of
the Word of God, Brother Hayes spends most of his
time teaching and ministering God’s deliverance and
healing power in churches, college classrooms, con-
ventions and seminars around the world.
For a complete list of tapes and books
by Norvel Hayes, write:
Norvel Hayes • P. O. Box 1379 • Cleveland, TN 37311
 Books by Norvel Hayes
Don’t Let the Devil Steal Your Destiny
How to Live and Not Die
Worship
The Blessing of Obedience
The Chosen Fast
Confession Brings Possession
How To Get Your Prayers Answered
Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled
Misguided Faith
The Number One Way To Fight the Devil
What To Do for Healing

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