Keep Praying

 

Yesterday morning God challenged me to pray for revival. I did. The devil didn’t like it. He spent the afternoon assaulting my thoughts to the point that I forgot what I’d been praying for. By the time I recognized this was a spiritual attack and connected to Satan attempting to thwart those prayers, I wondered how God could even listen to me over that barrage of unholy thinking. 

Today the Spirit took me to my books on prayer and I did a search on hindrances. The first discovered comment said, “The difficulties most often complained of as hindrances to prayer may be traced back to want of love.” I could see the connection to my battle, but also the answer. Remembering God loves me totally, relentlessly, without stopping or needing me to be lovable. Knowing this removes that hindrance and draws me into a deeper desire to pray, to talk with Him. Want of love can stop prayer, but knowing His love motivates it.

Other clues about hindrances to prayer also describe problems I’ve had that keep me from praying. One is this: “He who is too busy to pray will be too busy to live a holy life.” Being busy is almost a disease in the lives of many Christians. We joke about it, complain about it, yet as my hubby often points out, most of our busyness is by choice.

Even so, life’s duties can become pressing and crowd out prayer. One author says: “This way of hindering prayer becomes so natural, so easy, so innocent that it comes on us all unawares.” If we will allow our praying to be crowded out, it will always stop us from prayer. Satan rathers ‘we let the grass grow on the path to our prayer-chamber than anything else.’ 

Lack of prayer indicates a “Gone out of business” sign on my life. It can also mean I’m living for some other name than God’s and to somebody else’s glory, likely my own. In the early church, the apostles understood prayer as their most important business: 

And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:2–4)

 For them, prayer was the priority, not an opening and closing remark whenever they met together. I’ve also realized how putting prayer first changes the day, yet doing it remains a challenge. Besides my own lax, that devious enemy works to stop me.

He didn’t stop Daniel. His enemies had a petition that meant death for praying, but “When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.” (Daniel 6:10) This got him tossed into the lion’s den, yet God delivered him. Little wonder the NT says this: 

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) 

I need to be alert, but also persistent and obedient because many hindrances to prayer are related to disobedience. For instance:

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. (Proverbs 21:13)
If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. (Proverbs 28:9)

The Bible also points to pious activity for personal gain (Isaiah 58:1-14, Matthew 5) and most of all, unconfessed sin (Isaiah 59:1-3, Zechariah 7:12-13, Psalm 66:18, many more)

For me, busyness, selfish desires, or feeling as if my prayers bounce off the ceiling because God doesn’t care about what I care about (lack of His love) are hindrances. I have dozens of books on prayer but reading them does not remove any obstruction. The only way to do it is by praying.

PRAY: Jesus, You are loud and clear. Protect me from the enemy’s lies and other obstacles as I go to prayer. . . .   

Why prayers are not answered…

After USA election results came in, some will rejoice and others will wonder why God did not answer their prayers. Today’s devotional reading offers a simple reason: lack of faith. But this is not the only reason that God does not respond to requests. Several sources group the reasons, such as this example:

• Spiritual sins - doubt, hypocrisy, pride, flippancy etc.
• Poor relationships - rudeness, unforgiveness, malice, anger, wrath, divisiveness.
• Major sin - things categorized as doing evil indicating no faith or walking in the flesh
• Praying amiss - lack of persistence, not fasting, not using Jesus' name etc.

Unconfessed sin is a major reason. When I fall short but fail to agree with God and neglect 1 John 1:9, I cannot assume God will answer me: “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” (Psalm 66:18) The psalms are filled with verses about God hearing those whose life is righteous.

Lack of faith is also a problem. Hebrews 11 says that people must believe in God and that he rewards those who seek him. If this is my issue, my lack of faith must also be confessed. Since faith comes by hearing the Word, then I need to be diligent in reading it! The lack of Scriptural knowledge has done more damage to prayer than anything in the church. As Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

Poor relationships cover a wide spectrum, mostly obvious. One is plainly stated but often ignored:

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (1 Peter 3:7)

I’m not a husband, but as the “likewise” in this passage points out, I have a responsibility to be respectful with a gentle and quiet spirit, paying attention to my hubby’s leadership. While this is not a popular teaching, doing what God says in my marriage makes a huge difference in my prayer life too.

Of course God isn’t hearing prayers if major sin is present. His priority is my obedient faithfulness to walk in the Spirit and demonstrate the life of Christ to those around me. If not, my prayers are not at the top of His list. He is going to deal with my sin first, either by exposure, trials, or conviction. I better listen if I want Him to listen. My behavior is God’s priority.

I can pray wrongly too. One obvious example is not praying at all. James 4:2 says, "You don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it.” This passage goes on to add another: "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures.” God isn’t interested in granting me my selfish I-wants or prayers that come from the wrong side of being double-minded.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:5–8)

If faith is right, and my life is right, and I’m keeping short accounts, then delays are not necessarily a denial of the request. God's timetable may be different from mine. I know He is more invested in the outcomes than I am. An example from Jesus: If an unjust judge would answer the request of an unconnected widow, how much more will a loving, righteous, generous God hear the prayers of His chosen ones. God is my heavenly Father. I are not coming before a tyrant; I are coming before a friend who is also my heavenly Father. 

Jesus also said, "Ask, and it will be given. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened." He reminds me that a good father knows how to give good gifts to their children. How much more does God love to bestow the Holy Spirit on those who ask? Being filled with the Spirit in my praying is vital. It begins with confession and is followed by obedience:

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:16)

This is the passion that comes from loving the Lord, my God, with all my heart, mind, and soul —  and praying with fervent trust in what God will do.

PRAY: Jesus, as I go to prayer today, may I speak to You in demonstration of complete faith and total trust — and in the power and zeal of the Holy Spirit. May You grant me the words to say and eagerness to look forward to Your responses, even exceedingly above all I can ask or imagine.  

Maintaining Spiritual Sensitivity

Being saved from sin involves seeing sin and having God forgive and cleanse it. The process is like pruning a tree. The arborist first uses an ax to remove dead branches, the obvious. Then he uses a small saw to rid the tree of branches that do not bear fruit. Finally, he takes a smaller pruning knife and cuts off the little things that interfere with its health.

This illustration also shows how Christians tend to put sin in categories even though sin is sin, regardless of how it is identified. Any sin is a serious issue with God. For one thing, it puts a barrier between me and full fellowship with my Lord. He wants to hear my prayers of confession before other requests and my cleansing is more important to Him than my prayers for other people.

However, there is a wonderful remedy for sin and for the way I feel when I sin. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). As soon as I realize it and want to be rid of it, God is quick to show mercy. Not only does He forgive and cleanse (1 John 1:9) He also comforts me.

Satan, the enemy of my soul, wants the opposite. He wants me blind to sin, enjoying it rather than mourning over it, arguing with God about it (‘It really isn’t so bad. Everyone does it.’) and certainly not repenting or enjoying comfort and full fellowship with God. He knows that my prayers have great power when my sins are confessed. So does Satan.

Being aware of sin is both easy and hard. David took another man’s wife and had that man killed. His sin was a big, dead branch and he could say, “My sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3). Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6:5) He saw the holiness of God and realized he and all people did not measure up.

Peter didn’t think Jesus’ knew anything about fishing but obeyed anyway and caught fish. He said to Jesus, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8) when he realized the Lord is never wrong, but he had argued that He was. Paul called himself “the chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15), aware of his sinfulness and that he did not earn or deserve God’s mercy.

Today is Good Friday. We call it good because this day we remember the enormous price Christ paid to free us from sin’s bondage. The gospel is a constant reminder that I am a sinner, saved by grace but nonetheless bought with a price. This keeps me in a place to see and mourn over my sin.

My sin affects others too. While it is not always an excuse for those who sin, it can be part of their lost condition if I have selfishly disobeyed God in my relationships. Not only that, the NT says,

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:15–16)

Unconfessed sin keeps me from praying in faith. It could also prevent those who need my prayers from being forgiven, healed, and experiencing God’s power. Sin ruins everything. How vital to confess deliberate sin, pride, presumption of grace, and taking ‘little’ sins lightly for even those will dull my spiritual senses and give my enemy an opening to lead me farther from God and the experience of His goodness.

Jesus, I thank You for the comfort and joy You give when sin is confessed and I turn from it to You. Guard my heart. The psalmist prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23–24) On this day of gazing at the cross and focusing on Your amazing sacrifice, reveal anything that hinders my walk with You.

MORE: Remember Saul’s sin described in 1 Samuel 15. What excuses did he make? What happened because he did not mourn over what he had done?