Powerful, Purifying and Persistent Prayer pt. 3

Barriers to Praying pt. 2

Feelings- hard to pray when you are caught up in your feelings.

Shame- 2 Samuel 13:1-20

2 Samuel 13:1–20 NKJV

After this Absalom the son of David had a lovely sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. Amnon was so distressed over his sister Tamar that he became sick; for she was a virgin. And it was improper for Amnon to do anything to her. But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Now Jonadab was a very crafty man. And he said to him, “Why are you, the king’s son, becoming thinner day after day? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.” So Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me food, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’ ” Then Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let Tamar my sister come and make a couple of cakes for me in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.” And David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Now go to your brother Amnon’s house, and prepare food for him.” So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house; and he was lying down. Then she took flour and kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes. And she took the pan and placed them out before him, but he refused to eat. Then Amnon said, “Have everyone go out from me.” And they all went out from him. Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, that I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them to Amnon her brother in the bedroom. Now when she had brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” But she answered him, “No, my brother, do not force me, for no such thing should be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing! And I, where could I take my shame? And as for you, you would be like one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you.” However, he would not heed her voice; and being stronger than she, he forced her and lay with her. Then Amnon hated her exceedingly, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Arise, be gone!” So she said to him, “No, indeed! This evil of sending me away is worse than the other that you did to me.” But he would not listen to her. Then he called his servant who attended him, and said, “Here! Put this woman out, away from me, and bolt the door behind her.” Now she had on a robe of many colors, for the king’s virgin daughters wore such apparel. And his servant put her out and bolted the door behind her. Then Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her robe of many colors that was on her, and laid her hand on her head and went away crying bitterly. And Absalom her brother said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother; do not take this thing to heart.” So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house.

desolate, desolated, desolation…

astonished

laid waste

destroy

wondered (Confusion)

be astonished

distressed

Deserted, empty, dismal, depressing, bare

Genesis 3:6-8 “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

Unresolved emotional trauma/pain.

Psalm 55:1–8 NKJV

Give ear to my prayer, O God, And do not hide Yourself from my supplication. Attend to me, and hear me; I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily, Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon me, And in wrath they hate me. My heart is severely pained within me, And the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, And horror has overwhelmed me. So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. Indeed, I would wander far off, And remain in the wilderness. Selah I would hasten my escape From the windy storm and tempest.”

Psalm 55:16-17 “As for me, I will call upon God, And the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.”

Broken Relationships

How you see your earthy father/parents affects how you see your heavenly Father.

Sometimes we have an unrealistic view of our fathers/parents.

We build them up to be something they really weren’t, because we wanted them to be that.

No father is perfect.

Story- Woman who came forward to an altar call.

Pray with me and repeat these words...”Father God.

No response.

He wanted to make sure she heard him. I want you to say the words I say. “Father God.”

No response.

He asked if everything was ok.

She pulled her hoody back to reveal a very bruised and beat up face.

“I don’t want to hear anything about a father.”

Hard for me to pray- Dad. Good man, but didn’t know how to communicate or show love because he had never received that.

It’s been a struggle for me to communicate with God. I’m still working through some stuff there.

That’s not my Dad’s fault. He could only give what he had received.

Other broken relationships can affect our prayers.

1 Peter 3:7 “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.”

Unforgiveness/Hard heart

Hard for me to pray for Heather- Heather had broken up with me. I went to her to tell her that a friend of ours had died. Harsh response.

Emotional issues that we may or may not realize are there can block us from praying or praying effectively.

Are you willing to give Holy Spirit your heart before you give Him your words?

Busyness

Challenge:

Ask someone to pray over you for the purpose of having Holy Spirit reveal any wounds or issues in your heart that may be blocking your prayer.

Follow that up with doing something about it. Ask Holy Spirit what you need to do in order to be healed of it. If you don’t get anything…talk to someone you trust and ask them what they think you should do.

Pray hardest when it’s hardest to pray!

If you don’t want to pray then get ready to watch the Devil play!

Pray