"If my prayer hasn't been answered, I must not be living right or close enough to God."
How it sounds in your head: People who get answers must have better quiet times, more consistent worship, cleaner lives. If I was really walking closely with God, He'd answer. The fact that He hasn't means there's distance between us and it's my fault.
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
-- Romans 5:8Religion makes answered prayer a reward for spiritual performance rather than a response to covenant relationship.
She compares her inconsistent spiritual disciplines to people who seem more 'on fire' for God and assumes their answered prayers are proof of superior righteousness she doesn't have.
A Gentile who didn't even know Jesus yet, just praying to the God of Israel with a sincere heart. An angel appeared and said 'your prayers and your gifts have come up as a memorial before God'—instant response to someone OUTSIDE the covenant, before he even knew the Gospel.
I REFUSE the lie that answered prayer is a reward for spiritual performance. IT IS WRITTEN that God loved me WHILE I was still a sinner, which means His response is based on His NATURE, not my maturity level. I am IN CHRIST, seated in heavenly places, as close to the Father as I can possibly be. IT IS WRITTEN that I am the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God in Christ—not sometimes, not when I'm performing well, but RIGHT NOW. The BARAK blessing is mine by COVENANT, not conduct. I receive my answers based on JESUS's closeness to the Father, and He's PERFECT. Breakthrough NOW.
Your Father isn't measuring how close you are before He answers—you're ALREADY as close as you can get because you're IN CHRIST, and Christ is IN the Father. When the Father looks at you, He sees Jesus, which means your access is PERMANENT and PERFECT regardless of how your quiet time went this morning.