Hindrances To Reciving An Answer To Your Prayers

HINDRANCES TO RECIVING AN ANSWER TO YOUR PRAYERS

Sunday 04/16/2000 am

I want to start by saying this morning that Prayer is the most important thing in our lives today!

We need to look at it this way, Jesus was born into this world totally without Sin in His life, yet He spent most of His time Praying.

You can read countless times in the Bible that Jesus went out to pray.

In fact His disciples if you read in Matthew the 6th chapter ask that He would teach them to Pray.

I think that even they were beginning to see the importance of prayer, and what it could do for you.

All of man receives benefits in Prayer, so therefore the whole man must be given to God in Praying!

Man to receive the benefits of Prayer must be all for God.

There can be none of this double sidedness in our lives and expect to get anywhere in our Prayer lives!

But back to what I was talking about in Jesus life, don’t you feel that if Jesus was born into this world free from Sin, and yet He spent His entire life Praying to the father, then how much more do we that are born in Sin need to make Prayer the largest part of our lives?

Now to get into our text this morning, turn with me first to;

1. James 4:3

3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

A selfish purpose in prayer, robs prayer of power. Very many prayers are selfish. These may be prayers for things for which it is perfectly proper to ask for.

Things that are the will of God to give, but the motive of the prayer is entirely wrong, and so the prayer falls powerless to the ground.

The true purpose in prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer.

If we ask any petition merely that we may receive something to use in our own pleasures or in our own gratification in one way or another, we ask amiss and need not expect to receive what we ask.

This explains why many prayers remain unanswered.

For example, many a woman is praying for the conversion of her husband, that he might give his heart to God and be saved!

That certainly is a most proper thing to ask; but many a woman’s motive in asking for the conversion of her husband is entirely improper, it is selfish.

She desires that her husband may be converted because it would be so much more pleasant for her to have a husband that would get up on Sunday morning and take her to church, and talk to her about church.

Or it is so painful to think that her husband might die and be lost forever.

For some such selfish reason as this she desires the conversion of her husband. The prayer is purely selfish.

Why should a woman desire the conversion of her husband?

First, that he should be saved, from a devils hell!

Second, God may be glorified; and that the furtherance of God’s Kingdom here on earth will be given.

God is the reason, He and He alone needs to receive the glory.

Too many times in our prayer life, we ask for things for selfish reasons!

Many people in church’s today will pray for a revival, that certainly is a prayer that is pleasing to God, and in line with His Will!

We need to know first of all and make sure that the underlying reasons behind these prayers are not selfish. A lot of people think that only God can see but we can see too if we look close!

They want a revival to see their church grow, to see more people come but why, to bring glory to God?

No they want to see their membership increased so that they can have power and influence in the community.

A lot of the churches today need to show growing numbers so they can stay in good standing with their headquarters, or like the Nazarenes do they have to pay for there franchise, just like Mc Donalds and Burger King do.

They seem to forget that the real headquarters is in Heaven and God is the boss!

You will find when people start to leave God out or put Him on a back burner so to speak things come to a standstill.

We should pray for a revival because we cannot endure the dishonor of God caused by the worldliness of the church, the sins of unbelievers, and the proud unbelief of the day.

We should pray for a revival so that God may be glorified by the outpouring of His Spirit on the Church of God.