Psalm 91:15 "When they call to me, i will answer them; when they are in trouble, i will be with them. i will rescue the and honour them".
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 4:3).
We must the take 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).We must the take 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.
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 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.’
We no longer say to ourselves, ‘I know God can do it, but I find it hard 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 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.
The third hindrance to answered
prayer is sin! 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.
More Reading: John 17: 13-26
More Reading: John 17: 13-26
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