“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” — Matthew 7:7 (NLT)

This verse is one of the most well-known in Scripture: Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you.

Many believers have held on to God, believing Him for one thing or another, yet they see no change in their situation. Some have fasted—combining dry fasts with white fasts—and still, nothing happens. Some have even given up on God, saying He doesn’t answer His children like they’ve been told.

Rev. Dr. Olubusayo Folarin always teaches us that God always gives an answer—either yes, no, or wait. But many times, believers are not in tune to discern God’s response. They’re completely consumed by their own requests.

While God may be answering with yes, no, or wait, some receive no response at all—because the entire time, they’ve been praying for the wrong thing. They are praying amiss.

A story was once told by a prominent preacher about 25 years ago. He was in the healing ministry, and through him, God had healed all kinds of sicknesses and diseases. At one of his crusades, a woman came forward carrying a child. But when he looked at the baby, he noticed the child’s face looked far more mature than that of a baby.

He asked the mother what was wrong, and she said the boy wouldn’t grow. He was already four and a half years old. The preacher’s heart went out to the boy, and he prayed for his healing. But within his spirit, he knew nothing had happened.

Disturbed in his spirit, he began seeking God’s face over the boy’s matter. For days, he continued to pray throughout the week-long crusade—but still, nothing happened.

Finally, he pressed deeper in the Spirit, and on the last day of the crusade, God spoke to him. The Lord told him that what the boy needed wasn’t healing—because from birth, something was missing in his brain that was essential for growth. The preacher called the mother forward again and told her what the Lord had revealed. She confirmed that this was exactly what the doctors had told her.

This time, the preacher didn’t pray for healing. He prayed for a special miracle. And that was the breakthrough. The following year, he returned to the same church—and the boy had grown fully to match his age.

This is how some believers persist in prayer—pressing for the wrong thing—and God remains silent, not because He doesn’t care, but because they are praying amiss. Without discernment, that boy’s condition might have remained the same.

Child of God, even in the place of prayer, you need discernment to pray according to the perfect will of God. For “ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you” to manifest, you must not pray amiss. Otherwise, your prayers may remain unanswered.

Ask that the Spirit of God gives you utterance—even in the place of prayer—and reveals God’s perfect will to you, so you don’t labor in prayer over what God has not ordained.