I suspect that every follower of Christ has wondered at different times why God has not answered their prayers. I know I have.

God has three answers to prayer:

• “Yes” God answers your prayer.
• “No” God has another plan. 
• “Wait” God will bring about His answer at the right time.

But there is a reason that prayer may not be answered: some promises in God’s holy word are non-conditional but others are conditional. It is the conditional promises that I want to reflect on in this post.

Conditional promises have an IF – THEN outcome.

As Charles Stanley wrote: “fulfillment of an unconditional promise rests solely with the Lord. One example is God’s covenant to never again destroy the entire earth by flood.  Genesis 9:11 

However, regarding a promise that is conditional, fulfillment depends on certain requirements being met. The transaction can be expressed as an “if-then” statement. 

Examples of some Bible verses that we see this transactional fulfillment of a promise are as follows:

James 1:5-7,  if we request wisdom from God by asking in faith without doubting Him, then He will give it generously. 

Matthew 6:32-33,  if we seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness, then everything we need will be provided. 

Romans 10:9, if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and we believe that God raised Him from the dead, then we will be saved. Reading this from the negative, we understand it this way: if we don’t confess or believe then we will not receive salvation. 

1 John 1:9, says that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins. The assumption is that if we don’t confess we cannot expect forgiveness to automatically take place. 

Matthew 6:14-15, if we refuse to forgive others their sins against us, then our Father will not forgive our sins.

John 15:4, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

If we want God to use us and make us fruitful, then we must remain in Him.

Revelation 3:1, …I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. (God gives a warning:) 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, (then) I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

Revelation 4,5, Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 6 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.

God tells them to repent and goes on to say that if they overcome, (then) they will be worthy and dressed in white and will not have their names blotted out of the book of life. The understanding is that if they don’t repent, then they will not be worthy and their names will be blotted out of the book of life.

The scriptures tell us that we can receive, but the condition is that we have to ask. It tells us that if we have faith, then we can see results, but the condition is faith.

Matthew 28:, (the promise)“Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (The condition) Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” 

When Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you” He meant that we are to submit ourselves to Him every day in every way. A yoke was made of wood, hand-carved to fit the neck and shoulders of the animal to prevent pain or discomfort. In ancient culture, the word yoke was a term that was used to describe submission. So when someone was described as being yoked to someone or something, it was communicating the idea that he or she was in submission to that person or thing.

When there’s a condition, we must satisfy the requirements He has set. When we find ourselves still waiting for God to keep a particular promise, we need to check the context for a condition. Ask ourselves if we are carrying out our part. If so, then fulfillment is certain, however, we must remember that the timing is always in the Lord’s hands. 

Our personal relationship with God is entirely by God’s grace. He makes promises to us out of his great kindness and love. However He promises his gracious gifts with certain conditions attached -these we are responsible for.

 A fundamental condition of our salvation is: if  I am- or you are- to be saved by His grace, then we must accept the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood, which was shed to pay the penalty of our sins.  Jesus died in my place and in your place.

We put our trust in and believe in Jesus and obey Him. His gift of salvation is free and when accepted, He calls us to take up our cross and follow Him.