"Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect and the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
Prayer is our life line. I want to share with you some ways that our prayers can be hindered. (You will understand that the hindrance is our problem and our cause, not God’s.) According to 1 Peter 3:7, bad family relations can hinder our prayers. Husbands are to treat their wives with respect, or their prayers will be hindered. I think that this is true of all family relations in principle. Our spirituality can be gauged by how we treat family members. If we are nice to everyone else but act like tyrants at home, God sees it and is not pleased. If the wife demeans and belittles her husband, she is not doing what the Bible tells her to do. If children do not obey their parents, they are not doing what the Bible tells them to do. If parents are harsh on their children without real love, they are not doing what the Bible tells them to do. We must try to keep things right within our families. According to 1 John 5:5, ignoring the will of God can hinder our prayers: “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” To me, this is the bottom line on prayer. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10: “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” Being in the will of God is absolutely necessary in all matters in the Christian’s life, and answers to prayer are no different. There are people who say that if you pray in order to accept the will of God, you lack faith. To the contrary, I think it means that we are taking our faith in the sovereignty of God seriously. When we petition God in prayer, our goal should not be what we want but what God wants. Mark 11:24 indicates that lack of belief can hinder our prayers: “Therefore I (Jesus) say unto you, what things soever you desire when you pray believe that you receive, and you shall have them.” (When you read this, don’t forget the discussion on 1 John 5:5 about the will of God. ) Belief, or faith, is the key that unlocks the door to prayer power. We do not cross our fingers and pray, expecting God to answer our prayers. When we pray, we should open our hearts to God in profound trust that He will hear our prayer and answer according to what He deems best for us. I have found that in most of the answers that I have had to prayer, the answers were always for the best and brought victory into my life. It is of utmost importance that we believe that God hears and answers our prayers. There are other hindrances to prayer but these are among the most common hindrances. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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