Sermon Central
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Hindrances To Effectual Prayer
Contributed by Kenneth Trent on Jul 19, 2003 (message contributor)
Summary: Prayer is such a vital part of the Christian life that we need to be mindful of some things that are hinderances in our prayer life.
HINDRANCES TO EFFECTIVE PRAYER
"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
I Peter 3:12
James 5:16 tells us that "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." Let us consider some things that hinder effective prayer.
I. THE LACK OF FERVENCY IN OUR PRAYERS:
"Fervent: marked by great warmth of feeling; exhibiting deep sincere emotion; impassioned." The casual, careless, ritualistic prayer will avail little, if anything at all.
II. THE HINDRANCE OF SIN IN ON ONE’S LIFE:
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Psalm 66:18. "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear." Isaiah 59:2.
Sin usually falls into one of three categories:
Commission: occurs when we transgress any of God’s “thou shalt nots” as in eight of the Ten Commandments, etc.
Omission: occurs when we fail or refuse to obey God’s “thou shalts” such as “love thy neighbor as thyself”; “seek ye first the kingdom of God”; “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now in this, saith the Lord of hosts…”.
Disposition: pride, arrogance, a haughty or unforgiving spirit. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6.
III. THE HINDRANCE OF SELFISHNESS IN ONE’S LIFE:
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." James 4:3.
The religious world, the same as with the secular world, has an overdose of "Vitamin I". We live in the "me" generation, but we can "come out from among them and be separate" if we put God first.
IV. THE HINDRANCE OF UNBELIEF:
"But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. Let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; for that man is double-minded, unstable in all his ways." James 1:6-8.
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6.