Prayer Precedes WK-5

The third hindrance to prayer—the thing that blocks prayer—is internal. Remember, a hindrance is not the same as resistance. Resistance comes against us from the outside; a hindrance is something within our own life that keeps us from praying freely.

If you have an offense toward somebody, that is not necessarily a spiritual attack. It may be a spiritual opportunity—an opportunity to overcome pride, resentment, or what I sometimes call ingrained individualism. We say, “This is just who I am. This is how I was raised. Nobody is going to change me.” Then someone comes along who is not like us, and we begin butting heads. That is not always Satan. Sometimes that is us, and we need to change.

Worldly Distractions and Compromises

That change is difficult, but it is also a divine opportunity to become the person God is creating us to be. God is cutting away the old self. These hindrances are internal realities, and the third hindrance to prayer—the thing that blocks communication between heaven and earth—is worldly distractions and compromises.

So much of the Christian life today is filled with worldly distractions and little compromises. The basic meaning of holiness is to be set apart. If you look at the nation of Israel, everything about them was designed to be set apart. Yet their set-apartness became a source of insecurity. In 1 Samuel, they looked at the nations around them and said, “We want to be like them. They have kings; we want a king.”

Israel felt insecure because they were different, and they chose Saul—an insecure leader whose desire to be liked, accepted, and recognized eventually became his downfall. The American church often wrestles with the same insecurity. We want to be like the world. We want people to step into church and feel nothing different, nothing confronting, nothing that presses on the old self.

I am not talking about creating artificial barriers or making people feel unwelcome. But when someone enters the gathered presence of God’s people, they should sense that they have stepped into something different. The Holy Spirit should be free to awaken conviction—not human shame, but the holy realization that something in me needs to change.

Worldly distractions pull in the opposite direction. They teach our hearts to long for Egypt. Israel began saying, “It was better back there. We remember the meat. We remember the food.” They had forgotten the slavery, abuse, torture, and death. The flesh has a way of remembering Egypt’s menu while forgetting Egypt’s chains.

Worldly cares are frequent and mischievous hindrances to prayer; care confuses the mind and puts the heart away from pleading, while faith gives peace that leaves the soul clear for prayer. Earthly pleasures, especially dubious ones, are the worst hindrances; whatever is not of faith is sin and will hinder your prayers. Worldly sorrow equally hinders prayer—when grief becomes rebellious repining, the tears damp the powder of prayer, and such sorrow represents flat rebellion against God’s will. — Charles Spurgeon, “Hindrances to Prayer”

Spurgeon gives us three expressions of worldly distraction and compromise: worldly cares, doubtful pleasures, and rebellious sorrow.

A. Worldly Cares

Worldly cares are entertainment, amusement, responsibilities, and fleeting pleasures that encumber the Christian life of prayer and ministry.

Many of these things are not sinful in themselves. However, they become dangerous when our heart begins to live for them. We say things like:

“I want life to be easier. I want the bigger house”. Even if the payment means I can’t tithe.

“I want my weekends to be relaxed, and church keeps getting in the way”.

“I want to be around my old friends without feeling the pressure to live differently. I want to laugh at the jokes, participate in the gossip, and stop pushing against the flow.”

· Then we go to God in prayer and feel the weight of what we allowed.

· We feel conviction because we spoke about someone in a way that did not honor God.

· The mind is confused because our heart is divided.

Faith creates peace and leaves the soul clear for prayer, but worldly care fills the soul with competing loyalties.

Have you ever reached a moment of ministry and realized your spirit felt far removed from the things of the Spirit? You were trying to serve, lead, or pray for someone, but you could not seem to hear God clearly. You may have become so wrapped up in a hobby, a television series, your home, your lawn, your work, or another ordinary interest that your mind was no longer attentive to the life of the Spirit.

Again, these things are not necessarily sins. I am not talking at first about pornography, alcoholism, addiction, or sexual immorality. I am talking about being so in love with this present life that our minds are removed from the life that is more real than reality. Worldly cares fill the mind with noise, stop the heart from pleading, and steal our inner peace.

World Cares Fill The Mind With Noise

Luke 10:40–42 NASB95

40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Mary was seated at the Lord’s feet. In that culture, sitting at someone’s feet described the posture of a disciple. Paul said he was educated at the feet of Gamaliel.

Acts 22:3 ESV

3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.

Mary was taking the place of a student of Jesus, a role ordinarily reserved for men in that culture. Jesus affirmed her right to learn from Him: “This will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:42)

This passage affirms the place of women as students, but It also shows us that worldly cares—even good and necessary ones—can pull us away from the posture of a pupil in the presence of the Lord. Martha genuinely needed help. The house was full. Food had to be prepared. Work had to be done. Yet Jesus said the most important thing was to sit at His feet.

The Lord pressed this truth into my own life several months ago. I had a packed schedule and was preparing for an upcoming teaching. My thoughts were not together, and I felt pressure to open the computer and get to work. The Lord said, “If you will take an hour and pray, I will make sure you know what to say.” So I prayed. I never did get all my notes together, but in the moment the Lord supplied what was needed.

When we pull away—even from good things—and put ourselves at the feet of Jesus, God will take care of what concerns us. That is why we say, “Even if I do not get anything else done, I am going to pray today”. Even if the law is not mowed and every note is not written, I am going to pray before I walk into the office or stand before God’s people.

Worldly Cares Stop The Heart From Pleading

Luke 21:34–36 NASB95

34 “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; 35 for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. 36 “But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Notice that Jesus warns about the heart. A person’s heart can become intoxicated with the things of this world. It may be something as ordinary as becoming overly consumed with the lawn, the house, an event, or the next purchase. The activity may be innocent, but the heart becomes drunk with it, and prayer becomes distant.

Worldly Cares Steal Your Inner Peace

Philippians 4:6–7 NASB95

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We are often anxious. How will I pay that bill? How will that person respond? Will the event come together? Will the ministry team be staffed? Will something go wrong on Sunday morning? Anxiety fills the mind and steals peace.

I wonder how many anxious prayers I have prayed when, if I had first surrendered the anxiety, God might have led me to pray for something else. Anxiety can keep us from hearing the heartbeat of heaven. Worldly cares are real concerns, but we put them on too high a pedestal and allow our hearts to crave them, fear them, and become controlled by them.

B. Doubtful Pleasures

The second expression is doubtful pleasures. Spurgeon described a doubtful pleasure as:

Any sin that leaves us feeling unfit for prayer and Gods presence.

That definition gives us a vivid picture. I am talking particularly about willful sin—those actions we know violate the conviction God has placed within us.

Doubtful Pleasures Act as Heavy Weights on the Soul

Hebrews 12:1 NASB95

1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

The writer of Hebrews distinguishes between a weight and a sin. There are real weights in our life that can eventually lead us into sin. We can become so anxious for something, so emotionally attached to something, or so hungry for something that it clings closely and begins to control us.

Scripture tells us to lay those things aside. That requires a choice of the will: “I will not allow this to cling to me. I will not allow this to weigh me down. I will not allow it to become so heavy that I feel unable to pray.”

There were seasons when temptation weighed heavily on my own life. At times I had to make a physical movement to create spiritual movement. I had to get out of my pajamas, put on my clothes, drink some water or coffee, leave the room, walk, and pray. If I stayed in the same posture and environment, I could not get my mind free. Sometimes laying aside a weight means physically getting up and walking away from it.

The weight may be a temptation, a relationship, a longing to be in a relationship, a financial concern, or even a physical appetite. Whatever form it takes, we have a responsibility as followers of Christ to lay it aside and run the race God has set before us.

Doubtful Pleasures God Against the Rule of Faith

Romans 14:23 NASB95

23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Sometimes people say, “I think God may be asking me to lay this down, but I am not sure.” If you already sense that a practice may be hindering your walk with God, do not keep pushing past that uneasiness. It is possible to become calloused even toward something Scripture clearly addresses. We say, “I know the Bible says it, but I do not feel convicted.” The absence of a feeling does not overrule the Word of God.

Paul also teaches that even a legitimate liberty should be surrendered when exercising it causes another person to stumble.

1 Corinthians 8:9 NASB95

9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

Doubtful pleasure is not only about whether I can justify an action. It is about whether the action proceeds from faith, protects my communion with God, and strengthens the people who are following my example.

Doubtful Pleasures Turn Into Hidden Sins

Psalm 32:3–5 NASB95

3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.

Hidden sin is a strange phrase because it is never hidden from the Lord. David says that when he kept silent, his body wasted away. Hidden sin keeps us awake, leaves us exhausted, and creates what I would call spiritual and emotional heartburn.

Stella and I have experienced disagreements that were not resolved before bed. You wake up the next morning and feel the heaviness before you even remember all the details. The same can happen between parents and children, friends, co-workers, or ministry partners. Unresolved sin drains the soul.

It is like being locked in hand-to-hand combat with heaven. God says, “Deal with this,”and the flesh says, “I will not.” All day and all night the spirit and flesh remain at war. That is why hidden sin leaves us feeling unfit for prayer. The Spirit says, “Deal with it,” while the flesh says, “No.” God is not unaware of our other requests, but He keeps bringing us back to the obedience in front of us.

C. Rebellious Sorrow

The third expression is rebellious sorrow: bitterness, shame, offense, anger, and resentment. This is a compromise because we try to keep a little bit of Jesus and a little bit of the flesh. We say, “Lord, I will believe in You, but I am going to keep my bitterness. I will worship You, but I will hold on to my offense.”

Rebellious Sorrow Fights Against God’s Holy Will

Hebrews 12:15 NASB95

15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;

To fall short of the grace of God is to resist the divine enablement God gives us to do His will. God provides the grace, tools, and strength to fight bitterness, shame, offense, anger, and resentment. Yet we can refuse His help and say, “I do not want to use those weapons.”

When we reject grace, a bitter root is planted. That term “bitter root” comes from the Law of Moses in Deuteronomy 29:18.

Deuteronomy 29:18 NASB95

18 so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 12

root of bitterness Refers to someone who is idolatrous. This agricultural metaphor recalls the description of useless land in

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 12

[The] Root of bitterness comprehends every person (compare

Once that root is in the ground, we do not get to choose all the fruit it produces. I can plant Kentucky bluegrass outside, but if I neglect the ground, I will still get clover, crabgrass, Johnson grass, and dandelions. A neglected root produces according to its nature. Bitterness does the same thing in the soul.

We cannot fight against God while claiming to participate in holy warfare against Satan. We cannot serve both armies. If God is giving grace to forgive and we refuse it, we are no longer merely fighting the person who hurt us; we are resisting the God who is trying to free us.

Rebellious Sorrow Fights Against God’s Holy Will

2 Corinthians 7:10 NASB95

10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Sorrow is unavoidable in a fallen world. The question is not whether we will experience sorrow, but what our sorrow will produce. Godly sorrow leads to repentance and salvation without regret. Worldly sorrow fixates on what we did not receive, how unfairly we were treated, what someone else possesses, or what we believe life owes us. That sorrow produces death.

Rebellious sorrow works against God because it refuses the redemptive purpose of grief. It keeps rehearsing the wound instead of surrendering it. It prefers resentment to repentance and therefore kills the fire and power of prayer.

Rebellious Sorrow Kills the Fire and Power of Prayer

Mark 11:25 NASB95

25 “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.

For a moment, put a period after the first command: “Whenever you stand praying, forgive.”Jesus emphasizes that opportunities for offense will never disappear. There will always be another reason to become angry, bitter, or resentful. Therefore, every time we stand to pray, we should also stand ready to forgive.

When we plant our feet in resentment and then attempt to pray around it, God keeps pointing back to the offense. We say, “Lord, provide for the church. Bring healing. Give us breakthrough.” The Lord says, “Forgive. Deal with what is in front of you.” Bitterness can even affect the body, yet we sometimes ask God for healing while refusing the grace that would uproot the bitterness.

If there is an area where you cannot seem to gain victory—an obstacle you cannot move, a breakthrough that will not come, a habit that will not break —the first place to look may be the heart. Is there unforgiveness toward yourself? Toward God? Toward a family member, co-worker, team member, or leader? Is there hurt, offense, anger, resentment, bitterness, or shame? If there is, it is hindering prayer. Jesus connects forgiveness directly to the posture of prayer.

Partner With the Light

The purpose of this teaching is not condemnation or shame. The point is not to leave saying, “I am a horrible leader, or Christian.” The hope is that the Holy Spirit will shine a light and we will finally say, “That is why. That is what has been happening in my prayer life.”

When the Holy Spirit illuminates something, we have a responsibility to partner with the light. We cannot cover it again. We must let the light expose the hindrance and then deal with it.

If one of these three areas resonates with you, respond today:

•  Lay down the worldly care that has crowded out the presence of God.

•  Walk away from the doubtful pleasure that leaves you feeling unfit for prayer.

•  Uproot rebellious sorrow by receiving God’s grace and choosing forgiveness.

As soon as we decide to deal with a hindrance, resistance may come. We become distracted. We practice creative avoidance: “I was going to call, but I got busy. I was going to send the message, but I forgot. I was going to delete it or throw it away, but something came up.” Often that simply means we avoided the obedience God placed in front of us.

We have a responsibility as Christians—and especially as Christian leaders—to work with the Holy Spirit to resolve these things.

Before you move on with the day, take time to say, “Lord, I will address this today. I will not let another moment pass before I obey You.