Communication Barriers

Introduction:

Prayer is the amazing line God has provided for direct access to His throne. Truly, it is a resource we should avail ourselves of continually. Sometimes, however, we jam this line of communication and prohibit our prayers from being answered.

It is the Lord’s delight to give us what we ask of Him in prayer. Like David, we should all pray, “O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.”

Like David, we should all pray, “O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.”

1. Quitting

A. Answered prayers always take time. Many faint before the ANSWER gets there. While we are waiting, we get discouraged and give up. Jesus said, DON’T GIVE UP.

“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”

B. God answers immediately when we pray but it may take time for the answer to reach to the seeing world. Daniel prayed for an answer, and it took 21 days before he got it.

“Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

2. Unforgiveness.

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire when ye pray believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 25 And when ye stand praying forgive if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

A. Harboring UNFORGIVENESS in your heart will hinder your prayers and hold you captive.

B. Don’t let someone else stop your prayers from being answered. Turn it loose, let it go, you have done crazy things too.

3. Unconfessed Sin

A. Just as unforgiveness can hinder our prayers, so can sin in our lives that we have refused to confess before God.

“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; not is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”

B. We need to examine our hearts to see if unconfessed sin stands as a barrier between us and God.

4. Lack of Faith

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”

A. As children of God, we must stay focused and not waver about what it is that we are praying for.

B. Abraham’s Testimony

Martin Luther said, “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.”