Spiritual Disciplines-Roadblocks to Answered Prayer Part 2

Last week we began looking at the Roadblocks to answered prayer. We looked at the 1st 4: Next Slide

1. The Roadblock of Prayer-less-ness .

Remember from 2 weeks ago the visual illustration of prayer being our way of plugging into the Power Source. We have everything we need at our disposal, but if we don’t go to God in prayer, it is as if we have the power cord hanging near the outlet but not plugged in. Next Slide

2. The Roadblock of Wrong Motives .

Always keep in mind that our motive when we pray is never to be the fulfillment of our own selfish desires. Instead:

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Our desire when we pray should be that when God answers our prayer, His reputation is enhanced.

John MacArthur notes; “Prayer is not for me to get what I want or for you to get what you want. Prayer is that the majesty of God be glorified.”

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3. The Roadblock of Sin .

In many cases we know full well of unconfessed sin in our life.

It’s that relationship that we know full well isn’t pleasing to God, but we don’t want to give it up.

It’s the websites we frequent on the internet when we don’t think anyone is watching.

It’s what we watch on TV or the movies we go to.

I’m sure many of us could add to the list of our known unconfessed sins.

But there can also be unconfessed sin’s that we may not be aware of, and our challenge last week was to really seek God, asking Him to open our eyes to any unconfessed sin in our lives, and to confess any sin’s He brings to your mind.

One thing that came to my mind as I was reviewing my notes and thinking through this particular roadblock is that if God does reveal an unconfessed sin, if that sin includes something that hurt someone else, we may also need to go to that individual.

Let’s say, for instance, I belittled Pam in front of her family on Thanksgiving Day. It wouldn’t be enough for me to just confess that sin before God and think I was done with it. Really I would have a couple steps still to take to make things right.

I would need to go to Pam and ask for her forgiveness.

I would need to go to any of her family members that were present.

The reason that just confessing to God and going to Pam was not enough is that generally when you are confessing sin, your confession needs to be as public as your sin. In the case of my illustration, my sin was against Pam but it was in the presence of her family, therefore I needed to go to both Pam and her family.

I said generally because this may not always be the case, but more often than not, the confession needs to be as public as the sin.

4. The Roadblock of an Unforgiving Spirit .

The last road block we looked at last week was the roadblock of an Unforgiving Spirit.

We looked at Mark 11:25 which says;

“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” Mark 11:25

We discussed the fact that as believers in Christ, those that have been forgiven by God of way more than we deserve, that we should be the quick to forgive our brothers and sisters in Christ, yet far too much of the time we harbor great bitterness that can be crippling.

But there are also times that the bitterness we are harboring, our unforgiving spirit, is aimed at those who do not know Christ.

Remember last week when I mentioned Steve Kramer? Steve was a part of our youth ministry in Oregon and he was born with Cerebral Palsy. Steve was a Sportscaster for a local CBS affiliate where we lived. One of the other Sportscasters was a good friend of mine and my racquetball partner and his name was JK. One day, when I was having lunch with Steve, he mentioned that several of his co-workers, including JK were really offending him with the language they were using, which included taking the Lords Name in vain. He wanted to know how he should handle it. Our conversation after that went something like this;

I asked: Steve, have these co-workers come to the point where they have put their faith and trust in Christ.

He replied: Not to my knowledge.

So if they are not believers, what does the Bible say they are in regards to sin?

Well the Bible says that they are slaves to sin.

So you are expecting individuals whom the Bible declares as slaves to sin to behave as if they had surrendered their lives to Christ. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. When you get angry with them for the language they use, it does little to nothing in bringing them to Christ. But if you love them in spite of their language, that has the potential to impact them in significant ways.

Church family, I bring this story up for a very important reason. Last week we primarily addressed harboring an unforgiving spirit towards other believers and how that can do great damage to the cause of Christ. Well the truth is, much of the time our unforgiving spirit is aimed at those who do not know Christ. It could be a family member, co-worker, friend, but they have done something that has hurt us. As a result bitterness has taken root in our hearts. In our minds, they should come to us an apologize, and you know what, you are probably right. Could it be though, that you are expecting a slave to sin to behave as if they had surrendered their life to Christ? Perhaps they will never apologize to you. But your bitterness and unforgiving spirit are not only hurting you, they are also making it next to impossible that you will ever reach them for Christ.

Let me ask you a question, does the Great Commission say that we are to; Next Slide

“Go therefore unto all of those who have never offended us, those that have never wronged us, have never hurt us or our families and make disciples”?

No, but it does say: Next Slide

Matthew 28:19 ESV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Let me ask you another question. How many people were at the foot of the cross apologizing to Jesus when He shouted “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”?

As far as we know there was no one at the foot of the cross seeking forgiveness, yet Christ was seeking it on their behalf. The point is; Next Slide

There is nothing that says we need to wait for an apology before we forgive.

In fact Scripture patterns for us on several occasions, forgiveness being granted long before an apology was ever given, and there are even examples of someone coming to faith in Christ after they had been forgiven though they had not apologized.

By the way, I am not saying that when you forgive, especially in instances where forgiveness was never sought by the one that wronged you, that you also give them blanket trust.

Let’s say you have someone close to you that needs a car and you have a car that is almost brand new that you sell to them. The agreement is that they pay you $150 per month for the car until the car is paid off. The truth is, your monthly payment is more than that, but that is all they can afford at the time. And let’s say they make 1 payment but nothing after that. Sometime later, as God gives you the grace, and sometimes He has to give you that grace over and over again, but sometime later you forgive them. Just because you forgave them, does not mean you’re going to “sell” them another car. They are going to have to earn your trust before you go out on a limb for them again, and they may never earn your trust again, but you still forgive.

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A forgiving spirit can accomplish many things;

It can soften the heart of one who is not a follower of Christ and may even result in them coming to the point of placing their faith and trust in Him.

Forgiveness and bitterness can be crippling to the one refusing to forgive, whereas forgiveness is hugely freeing to the one granting forgiveness.

A forgiving spirit can remove a roadblock to answered prayers.

That brings us to the next Roadblock to Answered Prayer.

Roadblock #5 Next Slides

5. The Roadblock of the Wrong Treatment of your Spouse .

We see this highlighted in 1 Peter 3:7 Next Slide

“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.” 1 Peter 3:7

Now before you wives breath a sigh of relief since this verse addresses only the husband, don’t forget Peter has just used 6 verses to address the wives and only 1 to address the husband, and the use of the word “likewise” pretty much lumps both relationships together.

However, right now I want to speak primarily to the husbands. When Peter writes “showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel” The Greek word he uses for honor is used in other Greek literature for the respect one would give to a king. Basically husbands, we are being instructed to love our wife and treat her in an understanding and compassionate way. And why does Peter give us this instruction? so that your prayers may not be hindered.

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“Unity in our homes is a prerequisite for power with God.” Chip Ingram, with Living on The Edge Ministries

When our marriage isn’t what God wants it to be, when I as a husband am not loving to my wife, when I am not treating her with honor, when the wife is not treating her husband with respect and submission, when these things are not happening in our marriage, then we are putting roadblocks between ourselves and our relationship to God and those roadblocks can often times prevent God from hearing our requests.

Now ladies, let me address you for a moment. Though it should not be this way, statistically there are more wives who have a solid growing relationship to Christ than husbands. Often times your husband may not even have a relationship to Christ and in many instances if they do, there may be some major issues that are affecting their spiritual maturity. Many times your temptation may be to withhold submission and respect from them. You have been praying and praying for them to change and they refuse and quite frankly they don’t deserve your respect as far as submission, no way!

Could it be that the submission and respect that you are withholding from your husband, by the way-2 things that are commanded by God, could it be that your withholding is the very thing that has become a roadblock to your prayers including your prayers that God would transform the heart of your husband?

And husbands, could your lack of love, and may I remind you that love is not just a word you say to her when you are heading out the door to go to work or before you go to bed at night, love is the daily giving of yourself to meet her needs, it may include helping clean the house or doing the dishes and many other things we as husbands tend to consider a part of the wife’s duty in the marriage. Could it be that your lack of love, your dropping the ball in giving your wife the honor she should be receiving is the very thing that has put a roadblock between your prayers and the Ear of God.

Chip Ingram goes on to say;

“Why would God hold up your prayers? Because He is more concerned that the wife and the husband have the kind of relationship that models the love of Christ, than He is giving you what you’re asking for.”

Couples, how are things in your relationship? Wives, are you submitting to your husband? Husbands, are you loving your wive as you should, showing honor to her? Is your mutual relationship modeling the love of Christ, not just for others to see, but even more important for one another to see for your children to see? Or: Next Slide

Are there things in your relationship with each other that are putting up a Roadblock to answered prayers?

Are there things in our relationship with each other that are putting up a Roadblock to answered prayers?

This brings us to the last Roadblock to answered prayers, Next Slide

6. The Roadblock of stinginess in our giving .

Now just so you’ll know that I didn’t add this with an ulterior motive, please note the offering has already been taken!

The truth is;

There is a direct correlation in Scripture between the power of prayer and the generosity of our hearts. (Chip Ingram)

We see this addressed in Proverbs 21:13 Next Slide

“Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will call out himself and not be answered”. Proverbs 21:13

When we turn our back on needs God places before us, we cannot expect He is going to listen to and answer our prayers. Now please understand me here, I am not saying that we should be giving out cash at every street corner where we see a beggar. In most instances we probably shouldn’t.

What I am saying is this,

I believe that we turn our back on a lot of opportunities God has placed before us to meet others needs without ever giving a thought and without uttering a single prayer to God for His direction.

Remember when we looked at 1 Thessalonians 5:17 which says; Next Slide

“pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Show video “From scammer to saint”

My challenge to all of us this week is, before we turn a blind eye to the needs of others, seek the face of God to see if this may just be a need He has placed before us. And if it is, give joyously.

So there are the 6 Roadblocks to Answered Prayers.

Are any of these Roadblocks are present in my life?

1. The Roadblock of Prayer-less-ness .

2. The Roadblock of Wrong Motives .

3. The Roadblock of Sin .

4. The Roadblock of an Unforgiving Spirit .

5. The Roadblock of the Wrong Treatment of your Spouse .

6. The Roadblock of stinginess in our giving .

I’d like to give one more challenge before we leave this morning. Take you notes from the last two Sunday mornings and review them throughout this week, and while reviewing them, pray, seeking the Lord to see if any of these Roadblocks are present in your life.