The Study Corner    

[bibleblock]Philippians 4:6-7[/bibleblock]

Why do we pray?  Is it because the Bible says to?  Partly, yes, but it goes much deeper than that to me.  Prayer is a privilege.  Prayer is a direct line of communication and communion with our Father, the God of all creation, being facilitated by the perfection of his Trinitarian being.  The Spirit helps us convey our prayers even when all we can let out is a sob and a tear, or we are so confused and scared we don’t know what to say to God.  Our Lord Jesus Christ takes the prayers of an unholy sinner and covers them with his blood and forgiveness making them worthy to present to His Father.  Our Father God receives these prayers as a loving Father who listens to His children in pure and perfect love.  I pray because I want to talk to my Father in Heaven, not only out of Biblical commands, but also out of Joy that I am allowed unlimited audiences with the highest authority in the Universe.

Is there anything that can hinder our prayers?  There certainly is.  This is not an all-inclusive list, but I will try to list some of the Biblical conditions for prayers to be answered, but remember all things are up to God and his plan, not your wanton desires.

1. Obedient Child of God:  Obviously, the first hindrance in praying to God the Father would be that we must be his children.  Truly, being one of his elect, covered in the grace provided by Jesus on the cross, is a requirement to consistent meaningful communication with God.

[bibleblock]1 John 3:21-24[/bibleblock]

2. Sin:  God will not answer the prayers of those who cherish sin in their heart.  Does this mean he won’t listen to sinners?  No it means that there is requirement to repent of our sins and he will pour out mercy on us.  We must admit to God that we know what we have done is sin by His law and standards.  We mustn’t try to keep any portion of our sin hidden in your heart.

[bibleblock]Psalm 66:18[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Isaiah 1:15-18[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Isaiah 59:1-2[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Proverbs 28:13[/bibleblock]

3. Lack of Faith:  The faith I’m talking about here is the faith that God has heard our prayer and the answer is on its way.  Don’t pray asking for his help, and throw in the classic phrase “If it is Your will” because this is just an expression of doubt.  In doing so we are providing a scapegoat for ourselves, so if we don’t see the answer immediately in the way we expect then we just say, “It must not have been his will” and go on about our day placing the blame on God not on ourselves where it belongs.  People seem to find it easier to believe that prayers weren’t answered purely because God willed it.  While His grace and glory come before anything we want, we must learn to know that an answer to a request does not always come in the manner we expect it to.  Part of the reason many Jewish people reject Jesus as their promised Messiah is because He didn’t come in the way they wanted.  Even though God was perfectly faithful to their cries and pleas in His plan, it wasn’t done in the way they wanted or expected so they rejected the Messiah.  We too have a tendency to reject God’s answers to our prayers when they don’t come as we want or expect them to come.  See Matthew 21:21-22; Mark 9:21-24; 11:22-24; Hebrews 4:16; Hebrews 11:6; James 1:5-8.

[bibleblock]Jeremiah 17:5-8[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Matthew 17:19-20[/bibleblock]

4. We Do Not Ask:  We see something that we view as God’s work (which it may very well be) to do and go to it with our own planning, in our own strength, and at the time and place we think is best.  The result is a job poorly done at the wrong time and our needs are not completely supplied. God does not open doors until we knock. We do not find God’s will because we have not sought God’s will. And we do not receive His blessing because we have not asked.

Our asking also should be specific.    We don’t go to the pharmacist and ask for medicine, we ask for a specific medicine.  If you want specific needs met, then pray for specific needs.  God’s not there just to take our order and deliver it, but He does delight in blessing His children when they come with the proper heart.

[bibleblock]Luke 11:9-10[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]James 4:2[/bibleblock]

5. Wrong Motives:  Sometimes our requests are not answered because we have the wrong motive (or heart) behind our prayer.  God does not listen to our own selfish requests meant to satisfy our flesh and worldly desires.  Making requests of God with the wrong motives, is asking beyond our needs.  God promises to supply our needs whether great or small.  A big screen TV or other fancy new gadgets are not a need.  Requesting beyond our needs is usually not honored by God.

[bibleblock]James 4:3[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Matthew 6:5-6[/bibleblock]

Your motive behind your asking should be to bring glory to God and to express your love Him.  Everything you receive comes from God.  Everything is His.

[bibleblock]1 Corinthians 4:7[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]John 14:13-14[/bibleblock]

6. Not Praying in God’s Will:  We can approach God in great confidence knowing that when we pray according to His will, He hears you and will answer you.

[bibleblock]1 John 5:14-15[/bibleblock]

Since God want only the best for you, He does not answer prayers that would do you or His will harm.  He knows what is best, and we know that time and time again we fail to make wise decisions.  Knowing His will does not mean you will see His entire plan laid out before you in some special way.  He has provided us with the Holy Spirit and His word to reveal His will for us and His kingdom.  We must constantly and prayerfully ask that He will reveal His will in our lives.  It means we must pray, “Lord, I want your perfect will for me and my family.” It involves asking, seeking, and knocking, for God reveals Himself only to those who are willing to do His will.

To pray “If it is Your will” and to pray, “Your will be done,” are two entirely different prayers.  The first is a prayer of doubt and should never be used.  But in requesting “Your will be done,” is asking God to reveal His will in regard to the thing asked.  Learning God’s will involves changing our thinking, our emotional responses, and our desires.  We are told to be transformed, not conformed. (Romans 12:2)

[bibleblock]Matthew 7:21[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]1 Thessalonians 4:1-5[/bibleblock]

7. Unforgiving Spirit:  Forgiveness of our sin is dependent on how we forgive the sins of those who have sinned against us.  The measure we use for others is the measure that God uses for us.  Having a judgmental and unforgiving attitude can be yet another cause of unanswered prayer.

[bibleblock]Matthew 5:43-48[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Matthew 6:12[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Matthew 6:14-15[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Luke 6:37-38[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Ephesians 4:32[/bibleblock]

8. Lack of Praise, Thankfulness, and Love:  The language of God’s Kingdom is praise and thanksgiving not complaint and whining.  When Israel complained in the wilderness, God answered their prayers and also punished them for their distrust and complaining.

[bibleblock]1 Thessalonians 5:16-18[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]1 Timothy 2:1[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]1 John 4:7[/bibleblock]

9. Failure to Resist Satan:  God wants you to pray.  Therefore, Satan does not want you to.  The Deceiver will do all in his power to hinder your prayers.  He knows that your prayers are more powerful than any of your good works.  Satan would rather have you do almost anything other than pray to God.  Whether you think so or not, there is a real war going on between God’s Kingdom and the kingdom of darkness.  You are called to fight against the kingdom of darkness and against its spiritual forces.  Too often we try to fight against the results of his attacks, and not to fight him and his plans.  This is a battle that you must fight in the full armor of God and become skillful in the use of the offensive weapons God has given to you.  These offensive weapons are the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, and praying in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

[bibleblock]John 17:15-17[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Ephesians 6:10-13[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]1 Peter 5:8-9[/bibleblock]

10. Praying to Other Gods:  Some Christians are seeking and even receiving answers that are not from God.  They get them from astrology, horoscope, Ouija boards, transcendental meditation, palm readers, séances, etc.  Our God is a jealous God.  Attempts to seek out answers from other sources will cause God to turn His face from us.  He alone is the truth.  He alone is our God.  Even reading your horoscopes for fun can hinder your prayers.  See Exodus 20:3-4; Deuteronomy 18:9-14; Ezekiel 14:1-11.

[bibleblock]1 Corinthians 10:19-22[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]2 Corinthians 6:14-18[/bibleblock]

Attempts to find healing by use of New Age medication, charms, folklore superstitions, witchcraft medicines, pilgrimages to holy places, will make God jealous and He will not listen to your prayers. God may make use of medicine and medical advances, but He expects these to be used with liberal amounts of prayer to your heavenly Father. You should pray for God’s will in your illness and also call the Elders of the Assembly to lay hands on you when you are ill.

[bibleblock]James 5:14-16[/bibleblock]

11. Not Waiting On God:  If we do not receive an answer the first time we ask, we should pray again. And if we do not have an answer the hundredth time, we should go on praying until we do get an answer. If we request something and stop praying, forgetting what we asked for, God will also forget and not answer our request. The women who asked Jesus to heal her daughter would not give up until her plea was answered. When Daniel prayed for understanding, God sent a messenger the same day, who was hindered and arrived twenty one days later. If Daniel and given up before the messenger arrived his prayer would not have been answered. Let us not grow weary but be constant in prayer. Luke 11:5-13; Luke 18:1-8.

Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane prayed three times concerning God’s will, and Paul prayed three times concerning his thorn in the flesh. These are examples to us that we must continue to pray until we receive an answer from God. Not that we pray only three times, but to pray until the Holy Spirit reveals that the prayer has been heard and the answer is coming. Jesus’ parable about the persistent widow teaches us that we should always pray and not give up. Sometimes our prayers are not answered because we stop asking, seeking, and knocking.

12. Refusing to Do Our Part:  You cannot sincerely pray, “Your kingdom come” unless you are doing what God desires you to do to hasten the coming of His kingdom. As a servant of your Lord you cannot say, “Lord, do this or that.” Servants say, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” The satisfaction of a servant is to see his Lord satisfied. You may see a work someone else is doing and desire to do the same, but it is not yours to do until God assigns that work to you.

[bibleblock]Matthew 7:21-23[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Luke 17:7-10[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]John 12:25-26[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]1 Corinthians 15:58[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Romans 12:6-8[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Proverbs 3:27-28[/bibleblock]

13. Stinginess in Giving:  One of God’s principles is that you do not receive until first you have given. The measure you use in giving to others is the measure God uses in giving to you. If you sow nothing, you reap nothing, and if you sow much you will reap a bountiful harvest. Also, if you do not listen to the cry of the poor, God will not listen to your prayers. See Luke 6:38; Colossians 9:6-11; Galatians 6:7-10.

[bibleblock]Proverbs 3:9-10[/bibleblock]

[bibleblock]Proverbs 21:13[/bibleblock]

14. Repetition:  Repeating the “Lord’s Prayer” in a worship service or reading a printed prayer is not true praying.  Prayer is communication with God in our words for specific requests, with thankfulness for specific blessings, and praising God for specific things He has done.  Too often we pray the same general prayer, repeating them daily, weekly, monthly, or as often as we pray.  This is not prayer. See Ecclesiastes 5:1-5.

[bibleblock]Matthew 6:7-8[/bibleblock]

15. Believing God Is Obligated:  Some Christians believe that God is obligated to answer their prayers because they are faithful in attendance, tithing, Bible reading, praying, and doing good.  Doing all these things does not obligate God to answer us.  Our works do not give us a claim on God that He must provide our needs or give us all the things on our “want list.”  Our prayers are answered because of our relationship with Jesus.  Only when we are in Him and He in us can we approach God with our requests and expect answers.  Our attitude should be the same as Habakkuk’s, who said he would rejoice in the Lord regardless of what happened.  See Habakkuk 3:17-18.

[bibleblock]Daniel 9:18-19[/bibleblock]

16. Family Relationships:  God has revealed to us, in the Scripture, what He expects of families and the relationships between its members. In God’s sight the family is holy and He hates anything that destroys it. Therefore, Satan will attempt to destroy all strong family ties. When we fail to abide by God’s rules in family relationships our prayers are hindered.

[bibleblock]1 Peter 3:7[/bibleblock]

17. Lack of Time:  I find it strange that while we have time to watch TV, eat out, play games, and work on hobbies, we say it is so hard to find time to our God and Creator.  When you pray your mind wanders, the telephone rings, someone comes to the door, you remember the wash needed to come in, or you are suddenly reminded that the yard needs to be mowed.  This is the work of Satan.  He purposely creates these obstacles to keep us from our prayer life with God.  We MUST find time to pray.  If we wait until we have free time to pray, then we will be waiting until the grave.  All who desire to make improvements in their prayer life must make time by setting aside a period for prayer.  We even must use that time to sometimes beg God to protect our prayer time so that our enemy can’t try to take it away from us.

Also, we must pray without ceasing. Pray for your children as they leave for school. Thank God for His provisions as you prepare meals. At work thank God for the job; pray for His blessings for the company, your boss, and fellow employees. When you lay awake at night, pray for those the Lord’s puts on your heart. As you meet those you love, thank God for them. If you meet a person who irritates you or has hurt you, pray, “Lord, give me the attitude you want me to have toward this person.” When tempted to sin pray for relief and protection. In all things, at all times, continually communicate with your heavenly Father. See Luke 18:1-8.

[bibleblock]Ephesians 6:18[/bibleblock]

18. Not Praying In Jesus’ Name:  The night Jesus was arrested He spent considerable time instructing the disciples. Seven times He told them to begin praying in His name. Praying in the name of Jesus means that you have been given the power and authority of Jesus to do the work of God. All authority has been given to Jesus, which in turn has been made available to us. Therefore there is no excuse for not accomplishing the work of God. Whatever task God has assigned you, you can do with the authority of the name of Jesus.

In baptism, you were buried with Christ in the name of Jesus. Demons are cast out in the name of Jesus. Peter healed the lame man in the name of Jesus. His name has not changed. The authority is still there in His Name. So, today you can do the same in the name of Jesus.

Just adding the words, “In the name of Jesus” to the end of your prayers does not suffice. To pray “in the name of Jesus” means you are making your request to God by the authority of His Son to whom all authority has been given. Jesus only gives this authority to those who know the will of God and pray accordingly. Your will must be in complete harmony with the will of the Father. God’s will is that you become like His Son. When you remain in Jesus and His words remain in you, you will know His will. Then, you can ask whatever you wish and it will be given you. You cannot seek wealth, health, prosperity, success, ease, comfort, spirituality, or fruitfulness for our own enjoyment, advancement, or prosperity. Prayers that are answered are those that bring glory to the Father. See John 14:13-14; John 15:16; John 16:23-24.

[bibleblock]Luke 18:10-14[/bibleblock]

“Some persons say they cannot bear to spend one hour in quiet solitude; they have nothing to do, nothing to think about. Surely no Christian will ever talk like that, for if I can but give him one word to think of—Christ—let him dwell on that forever; let me give him the word Jesus, and only let him try to think it over, and he will find that an hour is not enough, and that eternity is not half enough time to utter our glorious Savior’s praise.” – Charles H. Spurgeon