| HINDERED PRAYERS (part 9) by Julie Anne Hood |
| Have you ever felt like your prayers were going no higher than the ceiling? Or that God is not listening when you pray? You could be right. Your prayers could be hindered. There are a lot of things that can hinder our prayers. Pride is something that God hates and can hinder our prayers. Look at Leviticus 26:19 “And I will break and humble your pride in your power, and I will make your heavens as iron [yielding no answer, no blessing, no rain] and your earth [as sterile] as brass.” being heard. Now before you start saying, “But God hears all prayers”, you might just want to take a look at Proverbs 28:9 which says: “He who turns away his ear from hearing the law [of God and man], even his prayer is an abomination, hateful and revolting [to God].” We are to have respect for authority and when we don’t, we hinder our prayers from being heard. When we talk about those in authority, we are talking about children submitting to their parents, wives submitting to their husbands, and of course we know we are to obey the laws of the land. So the next time you show lack of respect for the law (like running a red light, jay walking, littering, etc.--when you are doing them on purpose), don’t be surprised if your prayers are hindered. Hebrews 13:17 says: “Obey your spiritual leaders and submit to them [continually recognizing their authority over you], for they are constantly keeping watch, as men who will have to render an account [of their trust]. [Do your part to] let them do this with gladness and not with sighing and groaning, for that would not be profitable to you [either].” So you see we need to show respect to our pastors even when we don’t agree with them. Proverbs 21:13 says: “Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor will cry out himself and not be heard”. How often do we ignore the poor when we have the ability to help? And then there is.... I Peter 3:7 which says: “In the same way you married men should live considerately with [your wives], with an intelligent recognition [of the marriage relation], honoring the woman as [physically] the weaker, but [realizing that you] are joint heirs of the grace (God’s unmerited favor) of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered and cut off. [Otherwise you cannot pray effectively.]” In this day and age where wives are being physically and/or verbally abused, is it any wonder their husband’s prayers are not heard? Mark 11:25 & 26 talks about us forgiving others because if we don’t, God won’t forgive us. We need God to forgive us so that He will hear our prayers. I hope you can see there are many things that can hinder your prayers from being heard by God. I mentioned only a few of them. If you don’t think God is hearing your prayers, please consider your life and your attitudes. Ask yourself, “Am I a person of pride?”, “How do I treat those in authority over me?”, “Do I obey the law?”, “How do I treat my pastor and his staff?”, “How do I treat the poor?”, “How do I treat my spouse?”, “Do I harbor unforgiveness in my heart?” If you can see your life or your attitudes are wrong, then ask God to forgive you and change. Make sure you are living in right standing with God so He can hear your prayers. Prayers are heard and answered everyday. Make sure your prayers are ones that are truly heard and not just bouncing off the ceiling! |
| Why Pray? Reasons (part 1) Persistence (part 2) Believing (part 3) Praise & Worship (part 4) Praying The Word (part 5) Sowing & Reaping (part 6) Listening (part 7) When God Says No (part 8) |
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