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Anger
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What Hinders us?
Alexander White once said, “If you want to humble a man, ask him about his prayer life!”
Why?
commands us to pray without ceasing, so why do we struggle to pray?
I must admit that I am first preaching to myself this morning.
As I prepared this sermon, preparation came with great conviction.
So with that being said, “I want to look at five hinderances to our prayers.
Before we look at the hindrances, let’s define what true prayer is.
According to John Bunyan, “Prayer is sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised, or according to His Word, for the good of the church, with submission in faith to the will of God.
So what hinders you from pouring out your heart to God in prayer?
The first hindrance to our prayers, we seek the wrong thing.
We seek the benefits of God and not God Himself which will lead to discouragement.
You treat God like a big cosmic vending machine.
I remember a story about a nurse.
She met a family because the grandmother had been hospitalized on her floor.
She walked in the room one day to discover the family getting ready to pray over grandma.
She asked if she could join them and they said sure.
She remarked how the family prayed with faith and zeal for God to heal grandma.
She prayed several times with the family.
Then one day as she started her shift, she discovered grandma had died.
She went into the room to offer her condolences, she asked if she could pray with them one last time.
She was shocked by their response.
They said no, they said they were done with God because He did not heal Grandma… This is a difficult example of how we can lose sight of seeking God and begin seeking only His benefits.
Remember our John Bunyan quote?
As you pour out your hearts in prayer, you proclaim the promises of scripture for the good of the church, with submission to God’s will.
So was the family wrong in what they prayed?
No absolutely, not.
We pray every week for people and their physical needs.
God calls us to bring those requests to him.
So where did the family praying for grandma fall short?
They did not submit in faith to the will of God.
This is tough.
But if we believe God is sovereign and all knowing and all loving we have to trust Him even when we don’t understand why He allowed the opposite to happen that we prayed for.
If you made it to movie night on Friday, this reminds me of Sherman Smith’s testimony.
He said he was around believers in college, but he said their faith didn’t accomplish anything in the christian’s life.
He said the so called “Christians” talked the way he talked, they watched what he watched, they went to the same parties he went too.
So if nothing was different, then what was was the point of being a christian?
Then Sherman got drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL and he met Ken Huthkins, who played for Seattle and was a Christian.
And Sherman thought yeah ok we will see.
We will see if you are any different than anyone else.
And during a game Ken injured his knee and word made it back to the sidelines his career was over.
And when Sherman made it back to the locker room he was shocked.
There was Ken with ice on his knee, his NFL career over which would have divested the vast majority of players and there sat Ken with a huge smile on his face and said “Sherm I can’t wait to see what God has for me.
Because nothing in this life happens that is not filtered through God’s hands.
How powerful is that, to have that attitude?
That no matter what trial we are facing, to realize that God is not caught off guard, He is in complete control and what ever is happing He allowed it, and that we can trust Him in it.
And when we don’t understand why he allowed something, but to know that He is in control and He has a plan what a difference that can make in our lives.
One of the hardest funerals I have ever attended was for my cousin.
She was 33 years old and died of cancer.
She loved the Lord and left behind her husband and her son.
Why would God take one of His followers so young.
Why will her son grow up without a mommy?
I don’t know.
Human wisdom will never give a satisfactory answer.
But I can tell you one thing.
At her funeral When her parents and husband stood on the stage and sang the song Only Jesus that we sang earlier.
It was very powerful and her mom told me she knew there were people there that didn’t know the Lord.
So while we were all left wondering why, we must remember that that event was filtered through the loving hands of our Father in heaven and we must trust His heart while we submit to His will.
Another good example from Scripture of someone desiring the gifts of God and not desiring God Himself is found in Acts.
Simon the Sorcerer saw Peter and John laying hands on people and they would receive the Holy Spirit.
Simon the Sorcerer was very impressed with this power.
He desired the power so much that he offered Peter and John money for them to give him the power.
You see he wasn’t seeking God.
He wanted what God could offer.
An example of the correct attitude is found in Job.
Remember Job was wealthy and very blessed.
He was a righteous man but what happened to Job? Listen to chapter 1,
Job was wealthy and lost it all but above that Job lost all seven of his children yet he would not curse God instead did you catch his reaction?
Job tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground to what?
He fell to the ground to worship?
Or compare the psalmist prayer in Psalm 42:
Did you hear the psalmist heart?
He describes prayer as pouring out his soul and what is his desire?
His desire is God, not what God can do for him.
No his soul pants for God like the deer pants for water.
The second hindrance to prayer is confidence in ourselves.
I am very guilty of this one.
I go about my day quote “handling” everything that I can on my own, and only turn to God when I encounter a problem that I determine I can’t fix on my own.
I don’t know if you have ever experienced this or not, but I have found myself facing a situation or a decision and I am asking everyone their opinion.
What they think I should do and at some point I realize that I haven’t prayed about it.
I have asked a lot of friends and family and fellow Christians… Not to say that asking other is bad but I never asked Jesus what I should do.
I never prayed for wisdom.
James 1 says,
The Biblical example that comes to mind is David when he faces Goliath.
How many people thought that it was a good idea for David who was just a boy to face Goliath who was a seasoned warrior?
No one but David.
Why was David willing?
Was he full of self confidence.
Did he think that he was the best slingshotter in all of Israel?
Let’s read 1 Samuel 17:32-37
So where was David’s confidence?
Was it in himself and his abilities?
Did David say I have killed a lion and I have killed a bear and I will kill Goliath… No David said that God gave the lion and the bear over to him and that God would give Goliath over to him.
David’s confidence was in the Lord not in his own abilities.
The third hindrance to our prayer is our love for our sin.
We often think of our desires being to strong and that is why we sin and why we can’t break free from them but I tend to agree with C.S. Lewis.
He says,
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak.
We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinte joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
We are far too easily pleased.”
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