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  HINDRANCES TO PRAYER
  by Pierre Chiasson
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Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of surrendering to God,
acknowledging His kingship, and the need for genuine prayer. It
addresses hindrances to prayer such as sin, lack of faith, ignoring the
Word of God, pride, losing heart, and the significance of setting aside
dedicated time for prayer in solitude.

Topics: "Surrender to God", "The Power of Prayer"
Scripture References: Matthew 6:6, James 4:6, Luke 18:10, James 5:16, John 15:7, 1 John 5:14, James 4:3, Luke 18:1

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon emphasizes the importance of surrendering to God,
acknowledging His kingship, and the need for genuine prayer. It
addresses hindrances to prayer such as sin, lack of faith, ignoring the
Word of God, pride, losing heart, and the significance of setting aside
dedicated time for prayer in solitude.

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CONTENT
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Father we come in the name of Jesus Christ and we acknowledge our need
of you Lord. We acknowledge oh God that you are King of Kings and Lord
of Lords and that where we have the privilege of conversing with you the
creator of the universe. So we bow before you Father we give you thanks
that you would even regard us oh Lord and yet not only regard us but
love us and not only love us but lift us up to yourself.

Lord you're not like someone who passes by and maybe has a little bit of
pity on some poor beggar on the street and gives him a little bit but
Lord you've given yourself completely away to us that we might be lifted
up. You were broken and humbled and you became far less than a beggar on
the street especially in the eyes of men and yet you did it to save us.
So we worship you, we thank you, we welcome you into this meeting
because without you we can do nothing.

The best of words will fall to the ground and bear no fruit in our lives
without the working of your spirit. I acknowledge this oh God and look
to you to have mercy to speak into our souls and to Lord transform us
more into the likeness of Jesus. So open our ears and our hearts and let
the seed of the Word of God find rich soil to grow in tonight in Jesus
name.

Amen. Hindrances to prayer. Some of these subjects we've covered in the
little sessions we've had on prayer some of these verses but I thought
it would be a good thing for us to go through some of the hindrances to
prayer that we can experience in our lives and I suppose if it was the
first thing I was to ask you what would be the greatest hindrance to
prayer you'd probably agree that it would probably be sin.

That sin in our lives can have a tremendous dampening effect on prayer.
That's not to say that of course we know that an unbeliever has no
recourse on the basis of coming on the even the righteousness of Christ.
At first God does hear sinners cries because of his goodness and mercy
but he makes it clear that if we want to have an effective prayer life
effective communion with God we have to have communion with God and sin
breaks that communion that vital connection in relationship with him.

Psalm 66 18 says if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not
hear. That's pretty strong words isn't it? If I regard iniquity in my
heart if I'm aware of sin in my life and I don't deal with it the Lord
will not hear. You know in the world and I think I've mentioned this
before but you see it on Facebook all the time I need help I need prayer
and lots of people put the prayer emoji or symbols up and praying
praying praying praying and you know I have to say that I'm a little bit
skeptical of how much actual praying is happening.

It's become more of an expression thoughts and prayers whatever it is
and I think I've mentioned this a lot when I sell somebody I'm gonna
pray for them first thing I do is pray for them because if I don't I can
forget but I wonder how much real praying is going on in the world and
even how much real praying is going on in the church. I think I've
already mentioned and I but I bears mentioning again that sometimes
prayers don't get past the ceiling. I don't want my prayers to just go
to the ceiling and that's it.

I want them to go into the ear of God and here it says the Lord will not
hear. So when it comes to prayer if I would you say it's a good idea for
a little bit of search me Oh God Psalm 139 and try and try me see if
there's any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting that we
need the Spirit of God to say a humble heart that says Lord show me if
there's sin in my life because what's the point if I'm going to deal
with and not deal with sin the Lord will not hear. Isaiah 115 says this
when you spread out your hands I will hide my eyes from you even though
you make many prayers I will not hear.

Your hands are full of blood wash yourself make yourselves clean put
away the evil of your doing from before my eyes cease to do evil. This
passage goes on to say come now let us reason together though your sins
be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like
crimson they shall be as wool. Here it's so graphic it's not just you
know some casual praying person this is someone who is making many
prayers in other words there there's a fervency there there's even
perhaps a zeal in prayer which is I'm not hearing you I'm not hearing
you because you're living wickedly because your life is wicked this is
where the world has adopted one and I don't say all of the world I know
there's other people that say you know prayers are stupid and everything
like that there's a great swath of people in the world who believe in
prayer but holiness no so they want prayer without holiness they want
prayer without a vital living connection with God they want prayer as a
backup as a as a rescue plan for when there's a crisis in their life
that's very common it really is and a lot of people believe in prayer
but there's no really understanding of prayer and therefore there's
there's such a hindrance to prayer in their lives because there's no
connection with God and there's a sin in our lives I mean without the
Lord without salvation the God is not under any obligation to answer any
prayer he has obligated himself to answer prayer if his according to his
will and if we are if if we are living right we are abiding in him but
he's not under any obligation now God is merciful and I would never go
to the unbelievers and say don't pray because sometimes God will answer
prayer to testify to them as I think I've mentioned a verse before in
Romans says the goodness of God Romans chapter 2 is to lead you to
repentance so God will be gracious at times and even answer the prayers
of unbelievers to speak to their lives and say I'm really here but it is
not just to leave them in there getting answers and and not walking with
God it's to bring them to the place of repentance that's the passion of
God and we find again in Isaiah 59 1 behold the Lord's hand is not
shortened that it cannot save nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear but
your iniquities have separated you from your God your sins have hidden
his face from you so that he will not hear now most of the instructions
that I'm reading here weren't to the pagans they were to the house of
Israel they were that's that's who they were too so it is not that they
were not aware of the living God and it's not that they didn't have a
testimony of the power and the majesty and the might of the living God
they had received so much of the oracles of God already I mean Isaiah
was a prophet to them he was sent to them to prophesy and basically God
told them you're gonna prophesy to these people and they won't listen to
you so I'm sending you but they're not gonna listen to you and so this
is part of his challenge here to them and so I think it bears well for
us to think about that not only just a thing about lost people because
for the most part they're just living in ignorance but the people of God
us the people of God ought not to be we can't use the excuse of
ignorance of these things we know that if we don't walk right with God
that it's going to have a great hindrance in our lives but when crisis
comes oh we're ready to pray we're ready to pray even as God's people
but all that we would have asked the Lord yes give us clean hands and a
pure heart listen to this Psalm 24 3 who may ascend into the hill of the
Lord or who may stand in his holy place and then he gives some
qualifications he who has clean hands and a pure heart who has not
lifted up his soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully you can see that
song we sung earlier give us clean hands from this passage in Psalm 24
who can come into the presence of God it says you need to have clean
hands and a pure heart someone who is not worshiping at another altar
and who has not lifted up his soul to an idol now do any of us qualify
in ourselves for this thank God for the Lord Jesus Christ because Christ
is ascended Christ has come into the holy place on our behalf but that
doesn't mean that we are not to be holy it means we are challenged to be
holy and we can have clean hands and a pure heart we can have we can
forsake idolatry we can forsake our lying ways and we can cast ourselves
on the mercy of God because we have forgiveness of God so even though
sin may be a hindrance it doesn't have to be a hindrance because what
does the Lord do he forgives sins but if I continue on in sin and think
I have a prayer life there's something wrong there's a there's a real
problem it's a hindrance to prayer that person shall receive blessing
from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation that is
the one who has clean hands and a pure heart that can only come from
Jesus okay it's humbling Matthew 5 23 says if you bring your gift to the
altar and that means you're coming into the presence of God and then
remember that your brother has something against you leave your gift
there before the other go to your way first be reconciled to your
brother then come and offer your gift now there's this sense here that
you can't be out of fellowship with your fellow believers and be in
fellowship with God God's not interested in that his passion is that we
walk with him but we cannot walk with him if we do not walk with the
people of God there's a there's a great disconnect there if there's some
division here don't think that there's going to be unity here we are
it's impossible because the church is called the one I mean the family
of God what else is the picture the body the bride yes but also the very
body of Christ so I cannot say I'm connected to the head but I'm not
connected to the arms and the feet and everything else I can't I have to
realize that my standing with my fellow believers isn't is vital and
important first John emphasizes that doesn't it if we don't love if we
say we love God we don't love our brother we are liar the truth's not in
us it's not true you can't do this so the seriousness of sin is
important for us to understand when it comes to prayer if we are
unwilling to deal with these kinds of issues then we are unwilling we
are we are not going to have an effective prayer it's a great hindrance
and it's a great tragedy because many are walking in these places and
sometimes it just leaves me boggled my mind boggled at how people can
live with such a disconnect and still think you know me and Jesus we got
our own thing going you know I don't need the church or I you know
whatever or somebody's hurt me and I'm done you know and whatever it is
and finding themselves contrary and disconnected from fellow brothers
and sisters and that doesn't mean that every professing Christian is
going to be willing to be involved in any reconciliation with you that
may not be the case there's nothing you can do about that but you want
to make sure that your heart is right in the matter that there is not
something that you haven't dealt with personally with someone else of
course we have the passage in Mark 6 14 which says in the prayer still
turn to our father if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly
father will forgive you if you don't forgive him in their trespasses
neither we have father forgive your trespasses so again here if I hold
the grudge towards someone then and I come to God and I'm looking for
his mercy in my life and I'm unwilling to grant mercy to someone else
you're not going to get the answer that you want from God he's not going
to you might think you've got it but you don't have it because you're
holding a bitterness in your own soul of your own heart towards someone
so sin is serious it is always deadly serious and it has a tremendous
effect because prayer is actually the expression of your communion with
God we take prayer out and you have no communion with God it is is the
very expression of your relationship with God is wrapped up in the word
prayer yeah it's it's relational it's your it's your method of
relational communion with God and if that's shut down what do you
actually have there's no abiding there's no everything comes to a
screeching halt in our lives so what happens if we don't deal with these
kinds of issues then we're cold and hard and dead and we might go to
church we might sing choruses we might praise and all kinds of things I
think I told you this lady had once approached me and she said I don't
understand it she said all week long she said I hate my husband and I
hate my kids she said I can't stand them they drive me crazy but at
least when I go to church and I I get in the presence of God oh she said
the worship and the praise and all she said I feel the presence of God
there and I had to graciously tell her no you you're not feeling the
presence of God you're not worshiping God she was like first very
insulted that I would say such a thing I said you cannot live in hatred
of your own family and think that when you get there I said you're
having an emotional experience and you can have emotional experiences
and feel like you're in the presence of God but that isn't the
confirmation of being in the presence of God what you're feeling it is
the truth that sets you free and the truth is that if you're living in
hatred of your own family there is no way that you're worshiping God for
one hour a week while you're hating your family the rest of the week
said that's not the case so you need to understand that otherwise you're
deceiving yourself and thinking well at least I have this no you don't
even have that that's not easy to say to someone because she thought at
least I have this and I had to say no you don't have this you need to
deal with what's going on here you need to deal with reality and that's
pretty clear from the scriptures I don't think I was making something up
in there I was making it very clear and I took her to scriptures to show
her that reality and hopefully there was some change for her in that so
sin it's a huge thing it's not a small thing it has a tremendous effect
we know that Christ died for our sins as a Christian we know that the
judicial punishment for sins has been dealt with but fellowship
fellowship is so vital if you're a true believer you want fellowship and
there is no fellowship with God if we are going to continue on and say
there just is there and sadly there are probably many who thinking they
have fellowship with God continuing to walk in sin who are not really
saved at all they don't even have the judicial punishment dealt with
because there is no willingness to deal with the fellowship issue
there's no willingness to deal with sin as I said on Sunday resurrection
Sunday that we're we've risen to a whole new way of life and that we're
called to live resurrection power we need the power of God the power of
God is available the resurrection power of God is there and there has to
be some kind of transformation you can't just think our sins are all
forgiven and I can live any way I want it's not possible another aspect
of a hindrance to prayer is to choose to ignore the Word of God Proverbs
28 9 says this one who turns away his ear from hearing the law even his
prayer is an abomination isn't that powerful whoa that's not like vague
that is so explicit that if we choose to ignore the Word of God turn
away your ear from the truth of what God says even his prayer is an
abomination to God it doesn't impress God at all what do you think of a
verse like that isn't that kind of shocking yeah well yeah they don't
even know what the Bible says but even the people of God yeah you know
it's amazing how many people do not read the Bible and profess to be
believers they choose everything else but the Word they don't read it
they don't study it they don't look into it and so they turn away their
ear from hearing the Word of God even your prayer is an abomination well
this is this is pretty strong stuff isn't it and you know whether for
myself it makes me realize oh God let me pursue you let me hear from you
let me hear this let's not just think about some other person but let us
consider these things in our own lives because you can neglect the word
can't you you can get into a lot of other things and you can even be
zealous about those things but do not ignore the Word of God but oh I
pity the person who professes to be a believer ignores the Word of God
goes on his way and then thinks his prayers are are going before the
throne of grace and they're not even get his prayers an abomination of
God he hates it he despises it what abomination is a strong word it
brings the idea of absolute abhorrence to it don't want to hear it it's
awful it's something ugly and awful you ever think of God thinking
prayer is ugly and awful that's something to think about isn't it yeah
well before you're a believer it's one thing but people who are
professing to believers I I'm challenging people the people of God when
it comes to prayer here to realize I can't ignore the Word of God I
can't you know just walk away from God's word and realize and think that
everything is going to be good you can see in second Timothy 315 there's
plenty of verses that could use about the value of the Word of God in
second Timothy 315 and that from a child if you have known the Holy
Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith
which is in Christ Jesus it's so valuable God's Word it's profitable for
doctrine for reproof for correction and instruction in righteousness
that's the next verse it's profitable well no we realize that but but
when you have it and you ignore it there's something else remember that
the in Proverbs again it is to the people to the Jews to the people who
are who are chosen to call by God and then choosing to to to pray but
not to know I mean lost people are already under condemnation they can't
be under and more condemnation than they're already under in that
respect you're lost you're lost and even if they're praying it doesn't
matter until there's a you know heart prayer where the Spirit of God is
working and stirring their souls and drawing them to himself you mean if
you're lost you're lost but once you're a believer or professing
believer and you have the knowledge of the Scriptures and you ignore
them it's to our peril that such a thing would happen Johnny detrimental
and there's probably people out there but they go to church probably are
positive they're saved but the only Bible they might get is from
preaching exactly bother reading yeah yeah and there's so I mean you get
a lot out of someone preaching depending whom the preacher is however
there's so much in the word yeah and you can read it 200 times and learn
200 new things but if you're if you really want to be with the Lord I
mean that book is there it's really yeah what's that it's like your
telephone yeah yeah I mean you're hearing from God it is that's why I'm
often encouraged when you're praying pray with your Bible because God
speaks through his Word the Word of God is so vital and so important it
can't be no no one is going to walk with God in fellowship if they are
feeding on one sermon a week in church they're just not you just can't
get enough from that we need all that we can get we need to know the
truth because Johnny 32 says you shall know the truth and the truth
shall make you free there's a soul I mean we could spend a year study on
the value of the word but to understand that the word and prayer go
together there is no real prayer without the truth and we need the word
we need the revelation of God I often think what a blessing it is to
have the time to to and a discipline to read because when I was working
full-time I mean you know just flying flying rushing rushing so I mean
from 6 in the morning till 10 at night it's just rushing rushing yeah
and it's true and it's it's a discipline and it's not easy for sure but
it's but it is but it's not that hard if you have the time but I just
think of the people people who are working full-time and have a lot of
responsibilities and children and meals and transportation and
everything that goes with yeah it's a good point that I feel blessed
that I in the morning I can write it yeah but even for those who are in
that situation here's a little action that I often will say if you take
time for Jesus he will make time for you can we have enough faith to
believe that if I take this time even though my life is so grand and
busy if I take this time and somehow he will make time for me things go
better with Christ and so as busy as the day might be and the challenges
that come with it the Lord can smooth things and and give you more time
back than you ever gave up to meet with him and give you the energy
those that wait upon the Lord shall what renew their strength that there
is a renewed strength that comes from God and I believe that that could
be physical emotional mental strength where you can go through the whole
days I don't have time to read the word so I have to get all these
things done the strain of it the doing it on your own without depending
on God will cost you far more energy and time then if I actually take
time to be you have to speak more clout loudly and clearly you've also
told the story with the woman that had the family for half an hour she
was Anna Wesley everybody had to be quiet yeah yeah so we all have 24
hours in the day and I firmly believe that if we did if we take time for
Jesus time for his word that they'll be he'll make time for us I think
Don Curran's talk to a Saturday morning about discipline yes and
discipline too yeah like he says I get up at 6 in the morning so I have
enough time to read my Bible and then go on with what I have to do yeah
it is it is now the fruit of the spirit is self-control or self-
discipline because some of us are not very self-disciplined some of us
are erratic and I need the Holy Spirit and a dependence upon him that
drives me to the Word of God that enables me to do that some people have
their whole life as well it's very disciplined but but God can bring
discipline into your life by his power as I'm willing to yield to the
Spirit's power and control in my life I'm willing to yield to him in
that but if I'm unwilling to do that I'm with unwilling to meet with God
I'm well unwilling to get into the Word of God well that's a whole other
thing isn't it we will not find much freedom if we do not walk in the
truth and we won't walk in the truth if we don't know what it is or if
we're unwilling to read it and listen to it and I said before I think
I'm like a sieve I only hold so much and it most of it leaks out so I
need to be constantly in the word more you know constantly being filled
with the truth of God in my life so I mean there's a lot we could talk
about in terms of the word and memorizing scripture while it's just a
tremendous thing so often a scripture that you memorize will come back
to you and it will you you'll find it God speaking to you from that
memorized verse even with not having the word open in front of you or
not going to that particular verse he will recall verses that you
already have so yeah immerse ourselves in the in the Word of God I don't
think there's anyone that has an effective prayer life that is not
immersed in the word I don't think it's quite you know I mean I
understand in places where they don't have Bibles where they can't you
know and and God meets them where what they have with what they have but
when we have that availability and we don't we are missing the vitality
of prayer because you'll not have a vital prayer life there'll be a
great hindrance to prayer if I am not willing to be in the truth of the
Word of God so the ignoring the Word of God is to our peril another
hindrance to prayer is unbelief James 1 5 says if any of you lacks
wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without
reproach and it will be given to him but let him ask in faith with no
doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed
by the wind do you ever find this verse challenging I do is unbelief
easy to be there for let not that man suppose he'll receive anything
from the Lord he is double-minded man unstable in all his ways Wow it's
just you can almost feel like okay how can I ask with such faith with no
doubting because if I'm doubting I'm like a wave of the sea driven and
tossed by the wind and what does this verse make you feel like when you
read it well what's your reaction to that don't suppose you're going to
receive anything from the Lord said any comments well what do you think
what's the point of praying what about the man who said Lord I believe
my unbelief well when you read this let's look at what the prayer was in
the first place okay if you lack wisdom ask of God who gives to all
liberally without reproach and it will be given to him if you are
praying and you know that it is in the will of God then you are no
longer see the idea that praying in the will of God there are people who
get mad they actually get angry Christians who get angry when you say we
have to ask according to his will because they suddenly feel like if I'm
asking according to his will then that's so narrow I'm not gonna have
very much to ask as if the will of God was small when the will of God is
great there are many things that you can ask in assurance for as a
matter of fact can you ask for wisdom and be certain that you'll get it
how do you know it says it here he gives to all liberally and without
reproach and it will be given to him yeah so there are what this comes
back again and that's why I've tied this one in with the word because
the truth of God's Word I can go to the Word of God and there is much
that I can pray with absolute assurance that this is in the will and the
way of God and therefore I'm not living in the land of doubt I'm not
living in the land of doubt because I know this is what God has said and
I can take him at his word it is a place of actually believing that God
is who he is and says what he says is true so that's the position to
take in prayer now there are things that we are uncertain as to what the
will of God may be and in that respect we can ask him and ask him to
Lord show me we're way show me your will in this matter take me further
take me deeper in prayer in this matter so what he's speaking about here
is a doubt tossed like the wave and the wind and the waves because there
is an unbelief in the truth of who God is and what he has already
promised is that making sense to you if God has promised something in
his word I can take it him at his word and I can pray it without
wondering I wonder if this is in the will of God so often I will
encourage people and say wow why don't you go through your Bible and
find out how much of the will of God there is and start praying there
and when you start praying there you'll find you have lots to pray about
yes the promises of God and also what God has what the way of God who he
is what his character is like will he do this does he you know there's
so much about who God is yeah so to discover his will will bring us into
a place of prayer where unbelief is not the market I mean this is strong
words here he said don't suppose you get anything from the Lord he's
double-minded man unstable in all his ways this is like a real challenge
but the real challenge here is the fact that if God has promised
something I can take it to the bank I can pray it through with a great
confidence that he will do it so I would encourage you to grow in prayer
in this way to realize okay Lord unbelief is it it is a great sin
unbelief it really is it's it's it's at the core of lostness unbelief so
Lord take me into the place of faith in prayer of actually believing
what you say in your word there are many things that we you may have
uncertainties about and those things you can talk to God about them and
you can say like the man who said Lord I believe help my unbelief that's
just open honesty but when you know that something is in the will God
then there is no room for unbelief I have to take God at his word and if
I don't take him at his word I've already decided he's not gonna do it
I'm already living in the place of doubt I'm like a wave of the sea
driven and tossed by the wind no assurance but it is no assurance
because there is no foundation underneath this really expresses a lack
of foundation altogether here because we have much that we can be
praying about another hindrance to prayer this might seem almost obvious
you don't pray that's a pretty big hindrance to prayer you just don't
pray James 4 one says where do wars and fights come from among you do
they not come from your desires for pleasure that war and your members
who's he writing to he's writing professing Christians and he's saying
where did all this this this conflict come from do they come from your
desire for pleasure that war and your members that you you want you lost
and you don't have your murder and covenant cannot obtain your fight and
war yet you do not have because you do not ask you've abandoned prayer
and you thought that what you need and what you want is to be gotten by
your own conniving your own way of going about things so you're busy
trying to live your life without dependence upon God without calling on
the name of the Lord and so that means you're left up to your own
devices and your own devices are not good and they give an example of
all the wickedness that comes out with the manipulation and all the
things that you try to do to get things to happen the way you want them
to happen and no prayer you don't have because you don't ask now we'll
get into the rat asking for the wrong reasons but here the challenge
here is that you've abandoned prayer and you've trusted in your own
devices and this is the result of it so you don't pray so when you when
you think about this you don't pray you might say well that's not me I'm
afraid it is at times I'm afraid it is probably probably quite
frequently how easily do you become anxious and you're trying to figure
out how to fix something whatever it might be and you're not praying it
through we should be praying about how many things Philippians 4 6 says
what be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication
with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God now what's the
word the big word here in the context of what we're talking about mm-hmm
no no you're missing it no everything everything in everything you get
it yeah you see what I'm saying in everything oh there's a huge crisis
that's too big for me I need to pray we're good at that we know what to
do with that because it's beyond us but do we understand that everything
in life is beyond us and that means in everything prayer and there's I'm
focusing on the word everything here because the other ones are all true
to don't misunderstand me and the promise is the peace of God that
passes all understanding there's quite a difference in the promise here
and the action that we read in James 4 1 and 4 2 isn't there the action
in James 4 1 4 2 is all the wrangling and manipulation and the ugliness
of man trying to do whatever he can do for himself and then we find here
the actual peace of God that passes understanding guarding our hearts
and minds no anxiety over things now because it is by prayer and
supplication with Thanksgiving now the word Thanksgiving is actually an
expression of faith isn't it I'm thanking you Lord I'm asking but I'm
thanking you let your requests be made known to God in everything by
prayer so that will challenge you what to pray without ceasing first
Thessalonians 5 17 pray without ceasing in everything give thanks
there's a Thanksgiving again for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you or for you pray without ceasing do you pray throughout
the day are you constantly in prayer about everything that you're doing
Lord I'm going to the co-op so I pray so I talk to God about going to
the co-op I talked to God about whatever it is I'm doing we're working
up on the hill I pray I talk to God about it I ask him for wisdom what
to do you know put in a driveway and gravel and tractor or whatever
whatever you're doing bathe it in prayer pray without ceasing and then
of course you pray about some of them we call them the major things but
I'll tell you most of your life is made up of the minors not the majors
and if you're not praying in all of the minors then you'll just have
desperate prayers for the majors whenever they show up but in the
meantime you're not in communion with God we're meant to be in constant
communion with God pray without ceasing and so you don't pray I
challenge you and I challenge myself are you praying remember I told you
about the Bible school professor who when they would meet him in the
hall he would ask do I meet you praying yeah and some of them want to
avoid him yes I had to tell the truth do I meet you praying I wonder if
we met each other whenever we saw each other and do we ask what do I
meet you praying it might be a challenge right don't it isn't it often
that you're mulling over something in your mind you're mulling over a
problem a situation a circumstance and but are you praying are you
actually lifting these matters to before the throne of grace pray you
don't pray so you know sometimes you read this and you think about you
know James and your wars and fights and all the desires and everything
else here and you say well that doesn't apply to me yet you do not have
because you do not ask I think it does I know it applies to me I cannot
tell you that I'm always praying without ceasing but I can tell you that
even in recent days I've become more and more convinced of my desperate
need of God every single second of my life and I have found myself doing
a lot more praying without ceasing than I had in the past but there's
more I need to grow in praying without ceasing and to lift every matter
up to the Lord oh how easily we become tied up in worry and fear and
frustration and you know somebody says something and we feel like why
would they do that why would they say that what's the matter with them
and all of a sudden we are not praying instead we're thinking about
what's fix that person over there Lord and while we're saying that God
is saying you need fixing right now right now did you pray it through
have you prayed it through have you sought the Lord you know what I
thought this would be a half hour okay well yeah I I don't know if I'll
get through it all but anyway and then James 4 3 says you ask and you do
not receive because you ask amiss you ask for the wrong reasons you may
spend it on your pleasures you don't get answers to your prayers and
sometimes we don't because we're not asking the right things we're so
God doesn't is not guaranteeing that whatever you pray you're going to
get I mean there's people that think that but if you ask for the wrong
reasons you're not going to get it and so sometimes that's exactly what
happens it's a hindrance to prayer it's not even prayer you're not going
to receive it because you ask amiss you know for that you may spend it
on your pleasures you're asking for wrong reasons and many times and
this here just bang speaks to that whole wealth and prosperity business
and just just throws it out the window in one verse of scripture you
don't need a lot of verses to dispel the crazy notion that you know you
name it and then you claim it it's so far away from reality you don't
receive because you ask for the wrong reasons Lord doesn't always bless
you with what you want because he has a different plan absolutely and it
may be and I read may not be recalling this correctly but it seems like
I read some stories that people praying for this and for that it didn't
happen but what turned out is they were spared from something that would
have gone on they've been granted what they were looking for absolutely
I mean plans change and suddenly you say oh my plans have changed oh no
this is not what I had in mind and and and the when the Lord is
circumstances and it might be because somebody said tell her did
something or or put a blocker in your way and and you're you're mad at
them you don't realize God knows what he's doing here yeah he's I can
trust that God is sovereign even if somebody did something or meant
something for evil to me I can trust that God is sovereign and that he
knows what he's doing and he sees the proper outcome so I can trust the
Lord and so sometimes we may ask for things and God says no I'm not
doing that you know it's not gonna happen and it's for our blessing not
to hinder us asking for the wrong reasons another one is pride there
must be one before that is there yeah so pride is is a hindrance and
what is pride how does it reveal itself it focuses on on me it focuses
on me pride is a hindrance to prayer proud being proud is an independent
spirit when we look in their verse in the Old Testament where it says
the just shall live by faith the next half of that verse speaks about
the ugliness of pride pride is the opposite of faith it is the opposite
of it James 4 6 says but he gives more grace therefore he says God
resists the proud but gives grace to the humble therefore submit to God
resist the devil and he will flee from you pride will keep us from real
prayer we know the story Luke 18 10 I'm gonna go quickly two men went to
the temple to pray one a Pharisee the other a tax collector the Pharisee
stood and prayed with himself God I thank you I'm not like other men
extortioners unjust adulterers or even as this tax collector now you've
heard me say this before he prayed with himself I think the Lord has a
sense of humor I really do I think the Lord made it very clear he's
praying with himself he's not praying to God he's patting himself on the
back yeah well what a good boy am I right this is what he's doing and he
says I'm just so thankful I'm not like other people are he's not talking
he's not thinking about God he's thinking about himself and he has a
wrong view of himself and of course well the result of it was I have
that other verse here the result of it was our you skip on there Luke 18
12 next one two men women next no keep going down one more thank you I
fast twice a week I give tithes of all that I possess his whole focus is
on himself but the tax collector standing far up would not so much as
raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast saying God be merciful to
me a sinner and what did Jesus say I tell you this man went down to his
house justified rather than the other for everyone who exalts himself
will be humbled he who humbles himself will be exalted you can see here
one prayer was not heard and the other prayer was heard and then the
other one is not in God's will and that was in between my mistake that I
put up there for you you'll find it and yeah John 15 7 if you abide in
me and my words abiding you you will ask what you desire and it will be
done for you this is an incredible promise do you want to notice
something there's an ifs here isn't there it's not ask whatever you
desire it'll be done for you is it no if you abide in me and what my
words back to the Word of God again isn't it my words abide in you this
is this first conditional part of this verse is so rich grow there and
you will find your prayer life growing don't grow there and you'll be
frustrated with these promises that God makes about prayer you'll ask
what you desire and it will be done for you we want the second half
often without the first half of this verse John 15 7 1st John chapter 5
if you ask anything according to his will he hears us and we know that
he hears us we know they have it I don't have it we don't have the
petitions that we desired of him so abide means to remain in me to be
within me and my words abiding in you there's the promise so praying
outside of the will of God not a good plan right not in God's will and
that is again going back to the truth of the Word of God pride will show
itself here in that often if we are struggling with something James 5 16
confess your trespass your faults to one another pray for one another
that you may be healed the effective and fervent prayer of a righteous
man counts for much so sometimes pride will keep us going back to pride
for a moment from actually asking someone else to pray for us with the
struggle that we might have and that doesn't mean you're gonna stand up
in church and you know say I've had sexual fantasies about you know
somebody else in the church okay you understand what I'm saying actually
that happened during what's called the Oxford movement and people they
said well we need to be confessing our faults to one another so they
were doing this in a public meetings and before long the world came to
those services because they heard a lot of juicy stuff and they they
were coming to hear who's going to confess what next right so this is
talking this is in confidence with one another that you can trust
someone to lift the matter up in prayer and pray for one another that
you may be healed and then of course the great promise here the
effective and we've been talking about effective prayer basically
dealing with the hindrances that keep us from effective prayer and then
fervent prayer which means pressing on in prayer to God of a righteous
man it counts for much it produces much and then again we have James 4
10 here I'm gonna move over some of these verses humble yourself in the
sight of the Lord and he will lift you up and also another hindrance to
prayer is losing heart it's keep going not not persisting we talked
about prevailing prayer not a little while ago but the idea is that oh
nothing's happening so there's no point in praying anymore losing heart
prevailing persisting in prayer remember Jesus giving the examples of
you know your friend comes and he wants three loaves of bread and I
can't get up but he because his persistence he comes through don't lose
heart keep on praying you can stop praying when God tells you to know I
that's my my general rule for me is that I will keep praying for
something unless the Spirit of God makes it clear to me no point in
praying for this anymore maybe because it's answered that's happened to
people where you know that it's been answered or when when it's never
going to be answered God says no that's move on somewhere else but
otherwise persistent prayer before the Lord and you know keep looking to
him of course doing that self-examination so that we can say okay Lord
there's nothing in my heart that's hindering me from from talking to you
and the parable of the unjust just unjust judge is used here in Luke 18
one to encourage us in that direction so and the last one I don't have
it up here but I don't know why in my preparation I never I didn't
include it I meant to but it is where Jesus says when you pray go into
your closet and pray you need closet prayer you need time along with God
this is where you know the mention of discipline comes in you know
there's a public prayer is wonderful but you need to be praying and you
need to be setting aside time to pray that's why Jesus said go into your
closet now the only reason why we say that with your closet is so that
you're shutting everything else out right so you know that means don't
pray with Facebook on ding ding ding ding or you won't be praying for
long you'll be picking it up to see who's saying what to who or you know
those all those messages all those floods that are out there can be put
aside so that I have quiet time with God so that I am actually spending
time with God some would say well I'm a multitasker I can pray and then
I can do all these other things at the same time no that's not the thing
when Jesus said to go into your closet and pray in Matthew chapter 6 he
said it for a reason now he doesn't diss public prayer because we know
he prayed in public we know that the Saints of God prayed in public but
we also know there's a reason why he said it went to your closet it is
because there is a place a secret place with God a trusting place with
God that you need in your life and I need in my life don't neglect that
because that is the time when there is we're without distraction we
don't need the distractions of life so set aside time to meet with God
without those distractions and yes is it a challenge when you're busy I
can tell you I am a very busy person and it is always a challenge for me
it is the thing the devil will move at me the most is to set aside
praying set aside time individual time with God so we need that time
where we set aside everything else and seek the Lord don't ignore it to
your peril that will be a great hindrance in your life you will not have
much of a prayer life if you do not spend time in the presence of God
yes maybe I'm being too literal or maybe not but when I think of cloth I
spent a lot of time outside right in the woods whatever and I think of
talking to the Lord and so forth but that's a lot it's a lot that's not
the same as being kind of in a closet or in a room where you're not
distracted.

It can be I mean it depends on how your mind works but you know oh look
at that nice leaf over there oh look at that caterpillar going across
there you could be easily distracted but maybe you're not maybe I know
people say well my time to pray is when I'm out walking my time to pray
I'm not dissing any of that I mean when Jesus said with your closet and
pray obviously he is saying try to meet with God without distraction.
That's why I mentioned am I being too literal because if you're in a
closet or in a room where there's really nothing that can distract you
it might be better it might be better yes yeah it may very well be that
we could be missing something and we could find ourselves easily you
know distracted in other directions. You have to keep your mind clear
too and sometimes that's a struggle.

Yeah yeah at the best of times. In the middle of prayer to get your mind
moving on something else that you're concerned about will come up. Yeah
I know if you have a mind like mine my mind is always jumping from one
thing to the other like crazy so I need I need to shut out you know to
meet with God and you know there's enough goes on between my ears
without let alone there be something else to distract me from from the
Lord.

So I'm sure I have not covered all of this but I wanted to challenge you
and myself and I have been self-challenged tonight to watch out for
hindrances to prayer so that we might have a more effective prayer life
and what more do we want I mean if we don't have an effective prayer
life where are we going really you know what else is happening. Prayer
moves the arm of God and without prayer we can have a lot of activities
but is there real life you know how much real life is there. The Lord be
gracious to us and give us hearts to pray.

Yes. Amen.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/X2MKJGOblP0.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/pierre-chiasson/hindrances-to-prayer/
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