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Pastor Ed Pruitt
The Power of Continuous Prayer
Part 3
Sunday May 06 2007
As we start this third and final part of our prayer series.
We find that there are seven reasons God doesn’t answer prayer.
I am sure that their more than seven, but we are going to deal with what I would call the seven basic or major reasons.
There is a right and wrong way to pray.
There is not a Baptist way and a Pentecostal way and a Methodist way.
There is only the right way and a wrong way.
The disciples came to Christ and said Lord, teach us to pray.
Luke 11:1
This very statement means that there is a right way and a wrong way to pray.
Let’s look at the first or what we will call the first hindrance to our prayers.
First of all, we do not ask!
Jesus clearly said, ask and you shall receive Matthew the 21st chapter, the 22nd verse.
In any form of life, if you don’t, ask a terrible thing happens.
Nothing!
Ask, do not attempt to solve your problem without God’s guidance.
Ask, do not visualize the answer.
Visualizing the answer in your mind is mind control.
Ask, do not stare into a crystal ball, that’s idolatry.
Speak your request and believe that God will answer.
Jesus said, For assuredly, I say to you, whoever, does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
Mark 11:22
First we have to ask and then we have to believe if we ever expect to see results in our prayers.
Let’s go ahead and read the rest of that read Mark 11:22 again. But let’s read Mark 11:22 through 25.
That scripture will give us the entire picture of what Jesus was saying about prayer.
In this chapter.
Mark 11:22-25
22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God.
23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.
25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.
So we can see that there is more to prayer than just asking we have to believe that we’re going to get it.
But first of all we need to also forgive anyone that we might be holding a grudge against.
Otherwise our father in heaven will not forgive us.
Faith and Forgiveness go together like a horse and carriage.
You can’t have one without the other.
This is the trouble that a lot of Christians have today.
They fail to ask God for their needs.
They might think that they ask but they are just assuming and that gets us in trouble every time.
Get into earnest prayer with God, let Him know the requests that you have.
Second, We find that we do not pray in Jesus name.
John 14:13-14 says, And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it
I will do it! That’s what Jesus is saying!
You do not receive answers to your prayer, if you pray in Mary’s name, or in Buddha’s name, or an Allah’s name.
You receive an audience in heaven, by using the name, that’s above every name, the name of Jesus Christ!
The power that’s in the name of Jesus is more powerful than you can ever know.
He continues right on to say that these greater things are the result of prayer.
“Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do.”
These verses have been so misunderstood.
A great many people have picked this up like a dog picks up a bone and runs with it.
They say they prayed and God just didn’t answer their prayer.
I’ve had Christian people tell me that they took that verse at face value.
They prayed and God didn’t answer their prayer.
They ask me what is wrong.
I tell them that they are reading something into the verse that is not there at all.
They need to keep on reading.
This is all tied into one package.
If ye love me, keep my commandments
[John 14:15].
Now let us consider what all three of these verses say.
What does it mean to ask in the name of Christ?
To pray in His Person means to be standing in His place.
It means to be fully identified with Him, joined to Christ.
It means that you and I are pleading the merits of His blessed Son when we stand before God.
We have no standing of our own before God at all.
He does not hear my prayer because I am Ed Pruitt, and He does not hear your prayer because you are who you are.
He hears our prayers when they are in the name of Christ.
This is not just a little phrase that we tag on to the end of our prayer closing with “in Jesus’ name.”
Praying in His name is presenting it in His merit and for His glory.
“That will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
A prayer that will enable God to be glorified in the Son is the prayer that He will answer.
So, when we pray in the name of Jesus and for the glory of God, we are not praying for something selfishly for ourselves.
We are praying for Him.
We are praying that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Also it depends on our obedience to Christ.
This promise is given to those who love Him, and the evidence of their love is the keeping of His commandments.
Love will be demonstrated by obedience to Christ.
An undisciplined Christian cannot say that he loves the Lord Jesus.
How are you doing in that area, friend?
Do you love Him?
Are you keeping His commandments because you love Him today?
We all need to recognize, friend, that obedience to Him is the evidence of our love for Him, and this promise is given to those who love Him.
Thirdly, We do not ask according to God’s will!
First John 5:14 says, now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His Will, He hears us.
Some people think that God’s will is mysterious.
It’s not!
Isaiah said, the way of the Lord is so simple a fool cannot err therein.
See Isaiah 35:8
God’s will is clearly stated in the Bible, and His will is consistent with his word.
Let’s examine God’s will in several different instances from His description of Himself in the Bible.
First we find that God is light.
We know from reading the word of God that God is light.
The priest described Jesus as a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.
Luke 2:32
Jesus is light!
That means, he is against darkness.
He stands against the occult which means, “that which is hidden”.
He is opposed to witchcraft and statism and fortune-telling.
He is opposed to horoscopes and mind control and the principles presented in the current adult and children’s literature that glorify witches and witchcraft.
Next we find that God is life!
He is word says, I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly John 10:10.
That means God is pro-life. He’s anti-abortion!
You don’t have to pray, if it be thy will, concerning abortion.
God’s word makes it clear abortion is murder.
Jesus Christ is the Way. He is the only Way.
He is the Way out for you and He is the Way in for you.
He has come to bring us an abundant life.
Next we find, God is peace!
He opposes fear and intimidation.
He opposes manipulation and control of your life by other people.
He opposes the torment that Satan tries to force upon you with fear.
He opposes anyone trying to manipulate your life.
Next we see that, God is love!
He opposes hatred and bitterness.
He opposes racial strife and anti-Semitism.
Genesis 12:3
3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
That’s God’s foreign policy statement toward the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.
Walk through the pages of world history, and you will find that the nation or man who cursed the Jewish people or Israel was brought to the swift judgment of God.
One the other hand if you bless Israel God will bless you.
Next we read that, God is forgiving!
If you bear a grudge or if you have resentment against another, you are out of the will of God.
If you rehearse bitter scenes in your mind and will not let them go come you are out of the will of God.
Mark 11:25 (NLT)
25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”
Next we find that, God is merciful!
If you’re as mean as a junkyard dog, you’re out of the will of God.
If you do not extend mercy, God will not show you mercy.
God is holy!
The word “holy” means pure.
You don’t have to ask God if you should read pornography on the Internet or watch it on HBO.
You don’t have to pray about going to X-rated movies or subscribing to Playboy magazine.
It’s not the will of God.
Get it out of your house and out of your life!
God is authority!
All that God does on planet Earth he does sure spiritual authority.
If you rebel against God’s delegated authority you’re out of the will of God!
He has made the father the head of the home.
And the mother submitted to the father.
And the children submitted to both mother and father.
Our generation has teenagers raising their parents, which is utter nonsense.
That is a dysfunctional family, as evidenced by the clear teaching of the word of God.
God is a giver!
Giving is the only proof that the cancer of greed is not consumed your soul.
God gave his only begotten son that you might have everlasting life.
His son gave his life, and his disciples gave their lives for the cause of the gospel.
The day is going to come when all that you have is what you have given to God.
What are you giving?
Two whom are you giving it?
The fourth hindrance is, we do not pray in faith believing!
Matthew 21:21-22 (NLT)
21 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.
22 You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”
Going to God without faith is like going to Wal-Mart without money.
Faith starts out before you know how your prayers are going to turn out.
Faith does not demand miracles.
Faith creates an environment where miracles are the only possible result.
The Bible commands have faith in God.
Mark 11:22
Note, that the Bible doesn’t say to try to have faith in God.
You try new foods. You try low-fat ice cream.
You may not like it but you try it.
You don’t try to have faith in God: you have faith in God.
As I’ve said over and over again, the God that you serve has never failed.
Therefore it does not require a great faith to believe that He will help you today with a crisis you are facing.
Fifth, We do not pray specifically!
Be specific with your prayer requests so that when you request is answered, you’ll know God sent it.
The Lord’s prayer gives us an illustration of this specificity: Give us this day our daily bread Matthew 6:11
Notice three of the four specifics of good journalism which every reporter has been taught:
who, what, when.
Give us is who.
Our daily bread is what.
This day is when.
Specific prayer is a prerequisite to answered prayer.
The Sixth hindrance is,
We do not remove confessed sin!
King David wrote in, Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity (which is sin) in my heart the Lord will not hear
When people think of the word repentance in our humanistic society, they see the word as a put down.
They think it is degrading and mean-spirited to ask them to repent.
But repentance is one of the most beautiful words in the Bible.
As I mentioned earlier repentance means to return in the highest point.
A holy God cannot associate with sin.
He’s made it possible for sin to be removed from your life with a simple prayer.
If you know that sin is in your life, ask Christ to remove it now.
Then you are ready for an adventure prayer that knows no limits.
Seventh, We do not forgive other people!
The word of God says and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Matthew 6:12
I talked about forgiveness extensively all throughout this sermon series.
I mention it here again because unforgiveness is a real stumbling block to answered prayer.
If you know you still haven’t forgiven some, go back to them and pray with them until you pray through the problem pray that God will empower you to forgive so you can be forgiven and your prayers can be answered.
Like bitterness unforgiveness will hinder your prayer by blocking your relationships with God and other people.
Unforgiveness can be an underlying presence in our lives, even when we don’t realize we’re harboring it in our hearts.
Have you forgiven everyone?
Is there anyone that still makes you angry every time you think about him or her?
These things can block your prayer life because you are nurturing and unforgiving spirit.
Ephesians 4:25-27 (NLT)
25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.
26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,
27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
Unforgiveness does not reflect the character of Christ, and it demonstrates ingratitude for the vast forgiveness God has extended to you.
You need to resolve issues of unforgiveness in your life if you want God to hear your prayers.
God gets excited when you get down on your knees.
He says look Angels here comes one of my children.
Were finally going to talk.
Get ready to carry back my answer to earth.
Listen to their requests and fulfill it according to their faith.
The power of continuous prayer is a precursor to great and mighty accomplishments.
If you do your part God will most assuredly do His.
