Hello @TLCRAIG12 and welcome to our friendly community. I can understand your frustration about not receiving lives, especially when you send them. There could be several reasons. One is that some of your friends are no longer actively playing the game and o they don't receive your requests. Another could be, if someone is a lot further ahead of you, they may not be checking the friend request on a regular basis - and haven't noticed someone has requested a life.
I suggest you go to one of the Facebook groups that are focused on this game and ask for friends who will be willing to send (and receive) lives. I did that and now I am able to get at least a few lives on a fairly regular basis.