Let's begin this study in prayer...
Psalm 17:1-6Hear, O Lord, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer-- it does not rise from deceitful lips. May my vindication come from You; may Your eyes see what is right. Though You probe my heart and examine me at night, though You test me, You will find nothing; I have resolved that my mouth will not sin. As for the deeds of men-- by the word of Your lips I have kept myself from the ways of the violent. My steps have been Your paths; my feet have not slipped. I call on You, O God, for You will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.
I. INTRODUCTION
In our previous study we reviewed the model that our Lord Jesus
Christ gave us with respect to prayer. As a reminder, let us read from,
Matthew 6:9-13
However, our Lord does not stop here for He also encourages us to
pray by assuring us that we will be heard and rewarded. And so, let
us begin this portion of our study by reading the following:
Matthew 7:7-11
QUESTION: How are we to ask and seek and knock?
Well, we find the key to our answer from what Jesus once said to the
Samaritan women.
John 4:21-24
QUESTION: What does this mean: "In Spirit and Truth"?
Well, in order to find out let us go and read from,
Romans 8:26-27
Oh, wow! This is exactly what we are looking for...namely, to pray in
God's will!
QUESTION: How do I experience this? How can I insure that my prayers
are inspired by the Holy Spirit and hence in accordance with God's
will?
Well, the answer to this question is for us to abide in Christ Jesus
and His Word. To see this, consider the parable of the vine.
John 15:1-8
Notice vs 7
QUESTION: How do I abide in Christ?
Well, let us find out by continuing with what Jesus said by reading,
John 15:9-11
As we reflect upon these scriptures, we begin to realize that perhaps
that within our lives we have not been abiding in Christ and hence we
can have hindrances that are preventing our prayers from being
answered. In fact, let us go and review some of them.
II. SOME HINDRANCES TO ANSWERED PRAYER
A. SIN AND UN-FORGIVENESS
In order to see how sin and un-forgiveness can/will hinder our
prayer life, let us read what God once said through Isaiah when
He (God) was chastising Israel for turning away from Him.
Isaiah 1:10-15
Notice: He would not even listen to their prayers.
However, we also find that God is loving, merciful and ready to
forgive. To see this, let us read on,
Isaiah 1:16-20
Thus, if we find sin and un-forgiveness in our lives, our Lord
Jesus Christ prescribes for us the following,
REMEDIES:
1. UN-FORGIVENESS
We are to forgive our brother before we come before Him. To
see this, let us begin by reading,
Matthew 6:14-15
In other words we have not abided in Christ so our Lord
provides us the following instruction,
Matthew 5:23-24
2. SIN
a. CONFESS TO GOD
To see this, let us read from,
1 John 1:5-2:2
In addition we find that we are to,
b. CONFESS TO ONE ANOTHER
James 5:16
We also find that the Bible teaches us that our prayers can be
hindered resulting from,
B. UNFAITHFULNESS TO OUR SPOUSES
In order to see this, let us read from,
Malachi 2:13-16
Notice vs 13 "...He no longer pays attention to your
offerings or accepts them with
pleasure..."
REMEDY:
1. WOMEN, SUBMIT TO YOUR HUSBAND
1 Peter 3:1-6
and,
2. HUSBANDS, HONOR YOUR WIFE
1 Peter 3:7
QUESTION: Suppose a divorce has already taken place... what then?
Well, for the Christian couple (i.e. two Christians) let us read
from,
1 Corinthians 7:10-11
And then the instruction goes on relative to a mixed marriage
(i.e. a believer and a non-believer).
There is also the issue of being,
C. SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS/SUPER SPIRITUAL
Luke 18:9-14
REMEDY:
Perhaps the best remedy for this situation is to remember the
following instruction that the Holy Spirit gave through Paul in,
Ephesians 2:1-9
Another hindrance that the Bible teaches us about is,
D. LACK OF FAITH (or) UN-BELIEF
To see this, let us read what had happened when Jesus returned
to His own country,
Mark 6:1-6
REMEDY: Key is in
Hebrews 11:6
And now with this in mind let us go and read about the withered
fig tree,
Mark 11:20-24
Finally, there is the issue of,
E. SELF INDULGENCE
To see this, let us read from,
James 4:3-4
REMEDY:
The key here is to seriously heed the following exhortation,
1 John 2:15-17
But Lord there are times when I have prayed and to the best of
my knowledge none of the above hindrances were present and yet
no answer ... why?
QUESTION: Have you persevered?
III. PERSEVERANCE
In order to teach us about perseverance in prayer, our Lord Jesus
Christ gave us the following parable,
Luke 18:1-8
In order to more clearly see the reason for perseverance, let us look
at some examples of why we must wait upon the Lord.
A. EXAMPLE OF DANIEL
1. THE SITUATION
Daniel 10:1-3
Notice vs 2 he mourned for three weeks.
2. THE ANSWER VIA A VISION
Daniel 10:4-14
Notice vs 12 from the first day Daniel's words
(i.e. prayer) was heard.
13 it took 21 days for the angel to come!
B. EXAMPLE OF PAUL
1. THE SITUATION
2 Corinthians 12:7
2. PAUL PRAYS THREE TIMES
2 Corinthians 12:8
3. THE ANSWER
2 Corinthians 12:9(a)
4. PAUL'S ACCEPTANCE
2 Corinthians 12:9(b)-10
What is really interesting here is that God's response to Paul
is not exactly what Paul had in mind. However, let us reflect
upon Paul's attitude when our Lord Jesus responded to his
(Paul's) prayer.
QUESTION: So what is the message? What is the lesson?
IV. THE MESSAGE
Colossians 3:1-17
and remember what the Holy Spirit says to us in,
Philipplans 4:4-7
Let's end this study in prayer...
Philippians 1:4-10In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-- to the glory and praise of God.
Read the book by John Sweet, Jr.
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