Dear Friends, we know we have a loving, merciful and compassionate Father in heaven who longs to have a close relationship with us. Prayer is the channel of communication between God and mankind. All of us long for our prayers to be answered. Jesus has promised us in John 14:14 – If you ask anything in my name I will do it. However, we know sometimes though we pray sincerely and fervently, our prayers are not answered. I came to understand through a message I heard recently, the most important hindrances for our prayers to be effective. I would like to share them with you, so that we can overcome and put away these blocks from our life.
Cherishing sin –
Psalms 66:18
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.
If we have committed any sin, we need to confess and repent before
we start praying, for God to hear our prayers.
Lack of faith – Mathew 21:22, 1 John 5:14.15
And whatever things you ask in prayer, believe and you will
receive.
Now
this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything
according to His will, He hears us.
When we pray believing that God will hear and answer our
prayers we will receive the answer. There are three ways in which God answers
our prayers. Sometimes, the answer is Yes,
and we can see our prayers answered immediately or within a short time,
sometimes the answer is to Wait- then we need to hold on to our faith and wait
patiently for God to work, and sometimes the answer is No- then we need to
accept that what we prayed for is not according to God’s will for our lives,
because He knows what is best for us. We need to accept by faith that God has
heard our prayers and will answer us according to His will and time.
Lack of knowledge of
God’s word – John 15:7
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it
shall be done for you.
We need to read Scripture diligently and
regularly so that we become familiar with God’s word. When we spend more time
with God in prayer and reading the Bible, we will be able to relate to God’s
desire and will for our life. Our prayers will then be answered as we will be
praying according to God’s will and
plan.
Bitterness – Mark
11-,25
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything
against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you
your trespasses.
When we pray, we need to ensure that we do not
hold any grudge or bitterness within us. We need to forgive anyone who has
wronged us, so that we can ask God’s forgiveness for our own sins. We will have
the confidence to pray boldly with faith when we come before God with a clear
conscience.
Wrong Motives –
James 4:3
You
ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
If
we pray with selfish or wrong motives, God will not answer our prayers. God
searches our hearts and minds. If our prayers are not aligned to God’s word and
are against His teachings, our prayers will not be answered.
Respect wives – 1
Peter 3:7
Husbands,
likewise, dwell with them with
understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and
as being heirs
together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
Above verse is especially written for husbands! If men do not
love and respect their wives, their prayers may not be answered.
We can be certain that
we have a loving God who longs for us to worship and pray. Prayer is a two way
communication. It’s not only talking to God about our problems, and desires, it’s
also listening to Him silently. Sometimes when we pray earnestly about a
particular issue, God answers through a thought which comes spontaneously,
catching us unaware, and we know in our heart that we have received the
solution to our problem. When we draw closer to God, we will learn to
distinguish His voice and counsel.
Dear
friends, let us strive to build up our prayer life effectively by following
God’s standards for prayer, and proclaim boldly as written is Psalms
66:20
Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!
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