Prayers

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Can prayers be hindered? Yes they can. When you experience unanswered prayer, sometimes it could be because time is not yet for the thing to come to pass but more often than not, other factors could contribute to the silence from heaven.

Apart from unconfessed sin (1 John 1:9), unforgiveness (Mark 11:25), unbelief (Mark 11:24) and wrong motives (James 4:3) as hindrances to prayer, when we are outside the will of God, our prayers are hindered.

Some examples of being outside God’s will are:
(a) INGRATITUDE (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
(b) CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD (Romans 12:2)

• From Luke 5:12-16 I noticed that at the end it says Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. I gathered that CROWD(S) can be a hindrance to prayer.
• The story about the 2 sisters Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42 has always stuck in my mind. Martha had too much BUSYNESS going on. This could be a hindrance to prayer.
• In my personal life, I have discovered that CLUTTER (untidy mess/mass or even too much noise) both in my mind and around me hinders prayer.
• PERFECTIONISM – I used to be one of those people who had to pray for a specific length of time, in a specific way (and in the KJV English) to feel like I have indeed prayed. Then I discovered that sometimes my prayers hit the ceiling and I also learned that perfectionism was a form of idolatry. Idolatry is definitely being outside God’s will and of course a hindrance to prayer. See Ezekiel 14:3 (NIV) “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? The New Living Translation says: Why should I listen to their requests?
• STINGINESS is another reason for unanswered prayer. If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered. – Proverbs 21:13
• LEGALISM – when motivated by a sense of obligation rather than privilege. Approaching prayer from a law viewpoint rather than from grace is a hindrance. When we intentionally pray in the name of Jesus according to John 14:14, we successfully remove this obstacle.

May God help us grow deeper in our faith and experience answered prayer always.

I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. – Mark 11:24

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