Hindrances to answered prayer (6 parts)

[ClassicChic]

(Sharing an email I received)

Hindrances to answered prayer (1)

'He shall call upon Me, and I will answer...' Psalm 91:15

When a nightclub opened on Main Street, a church which was only a hundred yards away organized a 24-hour prayer vigil. They asked God to burn the club down. Within a week lightning struck and it burned to the ground. The owner sued the church, which denied responsibility. After hearing arguments from both sides the judge said, 'It seems that wherever the guilt may lie, the nightclub owner believes in prayer, while the church doesn't.'

The first hindrance to answered prayer is prayerlessness. Sounds simple, but our prayers are not answered when we don't pray. Saying we believe in prayer is not the same as praying. James writes: '...you do not have because you do not ask' (James 4:2 NKJV). We must take the time to ask God for what we want and need. Sometimes we process situations in our minds, or talk about them with our friends, or wish, or hope, but we don't pray. Thinking, wishing, hoping, and talking with others is not prayer; only prayer is prayer!

When we have a need or a situation that concerns us, we're only praying when we talk to God about it. God is waiting for us to make requests of Him in prayer. He never gets tired of us coming to Him! He is able, willing, and ready to act on our behalf, but only if we pray. Jesus said: '"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened"' (Matthew 7:7-8 NKJV).

 

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Hindrances to answered prayer (2)

'Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence.' Hebrews 4:16

The second hindrance to answered prayer is lack of confidence! When we understand that as God's redeemed children we have the right to approach Him at any time, we are able to overcome the enemy's attempts to make us feel condemned. As a result we become confident in approaching Him. We no longer say to ourselves, 'I know God can do it, but I find it hard to believe He will do it for me.' We think such thoughts because we don't think we're worthy. Jesus has made us worthy!

When we come to God, we can count on Him to be merciful to us. 'Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.' Grace means God will give us what we don't deserve if we're confident enough to ask for it. We ask in Jesus' name, not in our own name. We're presenting to the Father all that Jesus is, not all that we are. We're nothing without Jesus! God is willing to do more than we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). So we need to exercise faith, and avail ourselves of all He can do by asking confidently.

Helen Poole writes: 'My four-year-old daughter would always pray before she went to sleep. One night she prayed and prayed; her voice getting softer, until only her lips were moving. Then she said, 'Amen.' I said, 'Honey, I didn't hear a word you said.' She replied, 'Mummy, I wasn't talking to you.'

When you understand that you have the right to talk to God, and that He listens to every word, you pray with confidence.

 

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Hindrances to answered prayer (3)

'If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.' Psalm 66:18

The third hindrance to answered prayer is sin! Lillian Pearsall says: 'When I was a telephone operator, a customer talked overtime on a long-distance call from a pay phone. Even with my friendly reminders, he refused to deposit his overtime coins. Instead he slammed down the phone, irate and verbally abusive. A few seconds later he was back on the line somewhat calmer. 'Operator, please let me out of the phone booth; I'll pay, just let me out!' Apparently he had locked himself in and mistakenly thought that I had control over the phone booth's doors. He gladly paid the overtime charge, and with my advice, gave the door a hefty kick and set himself free.'

Unconfessed sin locks us in and shuts God out. If we have hidden sin in our hearts, we cannot pray with confidence that God will answer. However, if we ask Him to reveal our sin, He will. When He does, we must deal with it if we want to keep the lines of communication open. If God reminds us of a situation in which we didn't do the right thing, we can't just sweep it under the rug; we have to acknowledge it and receive His forgiveness. What we call 'little things,' grow into sinful habits and lifelong patterns.

So when God reveals our sin we need to repent and stop what we are doing. We need to take Him seriously - immediately! This means doing everything within our power to make sure our relationship with Him is unobstructed. That way our prayers will be heard and answered.

 

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Hindrances to answered prayer (4)

'...if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.' 1 John 5:14

The fourth hindrance to answered prayer is praying outside of God's will. The Bible says: 'Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us and...we know...that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.' One of the best ways to make sure we are praying according to God's will, is to pray according to His Word. Use a verse, a passage or a principle from Scripture to back up what you're praying, for God says, '"...I am ready to perform My word"' (Jeremiah 1:12 NKJV).

Sometimes there are things we want to pray for, but we aren't sure whether those things are God's will for us according to Scripture. In this case we simply need to ask God to give it, if it's His will to do so; and to help us to be satisfied with His decision. St. Augustine said, 'O, Lord, grant that I may do thy will as if it were mine; so that thou mayest do my will as if it were thine.' D L Moody said, 'Spread out your petition before God, and then say, 'Thy will, not mine, be done.' The sweetest lesson I have learned in God's school, is to let the Lord choose for me.'

When we pray in harmony with God, we will have what we ask for. We may have to wait, because God's timing is part of His will, but it will come. We can say, 'I may not see it yet, but God has promised it to me, so it's on the way.' And if God doesn't give us what we ask for, He will give us something better, if we walk in faith and keep a good attitude.

 

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Hindrances to answered prayer (5)

'...you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives...' James 4:3

The fifth hindrance to answered prayer is wrong motives! At a birthday party, it came time to serve the cake. A little boy named Brian blurted out, 'I want the biggest piece!' His mother scolded him: 'Brian, it's not right to ask for the biggest piece.' The little guy looked at her in confusion and said, 'Well then, how do I get it?'

If you have the wrong motives, your prayers won't be answered. A motive is the why behind the what. In prayer, the reason we pray is much more important than the words we say. Having a pure heart that loves God and loves people, is always an acceptable motive to the Lord. Selfishness is unacceptable; revenge is unacceptable; manipulation and control are unacceptable; jealousy is unacceptable; pride is unacceptable. In fact, anything that is selfish is an unacceptable motive.

A W Tozer writes: 'The labour of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking ill of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to whom you must be loyal, there will always be those who will delight in insulting your idol. How then can you hope to have inward peace? The heart's fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, will never let the mind rest.'

To pray effectively we must purify our hearts on a regular basis, especially when we find ourselves wanting 'the biggest piece.' We need to examine our motives. Taking a look at them will be painful, but it must be done if we desire to see our prayers answered.

 

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Hindrances to answered prayer (6)

'...without faith it is impossible to please God...' Hebrews 11:6

God longs to be believed! The Bible says: 'Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he...rewards those who earnestly seek him.' Faith is a powerful spiritual force. It's the thing God responds to. But we must expect our faith to be challenged. The enemy will cloud our mind with doubts and fears. When he does, we need to examine our heart and see what it says.

We can believe God's Word in our heart, even when our mind questions it. So we need to stand on what's in our heart, not on what's in our head. We must not believe our doubts; we must challenge our doubts and believe God! Sometimes doubt begins with distraction. When we're distracted from God's promises, we start to doubt. As we think more and more about our problems, our faith begins to waver. We must focus like a laser on God's promises, His power and His willingness to work on our behalf - and merely glance at our problems. We don't deny their existence, but we refuse to pay too much attention to them.

James writes: 'But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways' (James 1:6-8 NKJV). We must be anchored to what God says, and not drift all over the place when our circumstances begin to change.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

 

[Blessed2bless]

Thank YOU! This is timely for me....

 

[MissMeWithThatIsh]

Great post. The hindrance of "what's in your heart" rings true to why I haven't had the sucess in weight loss I wanted.

 

[kayte]

these are ..Bob Gass?....I think...
I love Bob Gass....he's very wise and practical and down to earth
He's the first and primary online email I look to

thank you for sharing him....

The first hindrance to answered prayer is prayerlessness. Sounds simple, but our prayers are not answered when we don't pray. Saying we believe in prayer is not the same as praying. James writes: '...you do not have because you do not ask' (James 4:2 NKJV). We must take the time to ask God for what we want and need. Sometimes we process situations in our minds, or talk about them with our friends, or wish, or hope, but we don't pray. Thinking, wishing, hoping, and talking with others is not prayer; only prayer is prayer!

guilty as charged

 

[aribell]

Very true. Really good post.

 

[ackee walk]

This is timely for me. Thanks for posting this!

 

[Highly Favored8]

thank you will come back to read it.

 

[**Tasha*Love**]

Awesome post Cherokee! I truly believe in praying for God's will to be done in my life!! If I let God take complete control and I follow Him, how can I go wrong? God loves us and only wants the best so I know that His will is best for me. I love surrendering to God and watching His will unfold!!!

'Spread out your petition before God, and then say, 'Thy will, not mine, be done.' The sweetest lesson I have learned in God's school, is to let the Lord choose for me.'

 

[VincyLongLocksWanted]

What a "coincidence"! I just learned about this in church and a few days later I stumble upon it here!