Hindrances to Prayer

The apostle James speaks of a hindrance to pray, which could be one of our greatest hindrances. Let us look at James 1:5-7.

"5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;"

We see here that God loves to give to all without finding a reason not to give. Yet, James says, our unbelief hinders God’s answer to our prayers. If we doubt, we should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Faith is being certian that God will give you what you ask Him. God knows our hearts and minds. He knows if we are asking in full faith. Where does faith come from? Can we talk ourselves into having faith? Not usually, faith comes from God and His Word.

Matt. 13:54-58 says, "54Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they asked. 55"Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" 57And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor." 58And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith."

They didn't receive their miracle because of lack of faith. They lacked faith because they looked at the vessel instead of the one who sent the vessel. How true this can be of us. When our eyes are not fixed on God, we will lose faith.

Another hindrance to our prayers is a lack of knowledge or understanding of the will of God.

James 4:3 - "3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

Many times we pray and don't receive what we ask for because we are asking what we want, not what God wants. Often we do this in ignorance.

Another hindrance to prayer is pride. Let us look at Luke 18:9-14.

"9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about[himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
13But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.14I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Of these two men, the one God heard and gave what he asked for is the one who humbled himself before God. God doesn't owe us anything, and if we come to Him with this attitude, we shouldn't expect to receive anything from Him.

Unforgiveness is another hindrance to prayer. Let us look at Mark 11:25-26.

"25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Our relationship to the Father is intertwined or connected to our relationship with our brother in Christ. If our relationship with our brother or sister in Christ is not right, it will be a hindrance to our prayers.

Another relationship that needs to be right before God in order for God to hear our prayers is our relationship with our wife.

I Peter 3:7 says, "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers."

This goes two ways. If our relationship with our spouse is not good, it will be a hindrance to our prayers.

A real big hindrance to our prayers is the sin in our lives. Sin breaks the line of communication. A life of sin separates us from God.

Isaiah 59:1-2 says, "Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear."

You may be wondering why God may not be answering your prayer. It could be because you are living a sinful life. No one is perfect, God knows this. We don't have to be without sin or perfect to receive the answer to our prayers, but the more we sin, the greater the separation and greater is the chance of God not hearing your prayer. Take note that He did not say iniquity, but iniquities. An accumulation of sins hinders God in answering our prayers.

One who continues to disobey God willingly is in rebellion. Rebellion brings God judgement and unwillingness to listen.

Jeremiah 11:10-11 says, "10 They have returned to the sins of their forefathers, who refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their forefathers. 11 Therefore this is what the LORD says: 'I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them."

The prayers of those who don’t obey God’s Word is an abomination to the Lord.

Proverbs 28:9 -"9 If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable."

Wow! I hope that we never find ourselves in this situation.

Well, praise be to God, He desires to restore those who have fallen and turned away from Him. Therefore, He has given us a very specail promise in I John 1:9.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Look at your own life and ask God, what is hindering the answers to your prayer. God loves His children and wants to give them good gifts.