Hindrances to Prayer

SPEAKER B Jesus promised his disciples in Acts One eight, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all here and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Welcome to. You shall receive power. And here are your hosts, Ettienne McClintock and Colin Hone. SPEAKER C Greetings and a warm welcome to the program. It is Colin and my delight that you can join us again today on You Shall Receive Power where we are continuing our current series of programs featuring the book 50 Days Prayers and Devotionals to prepare for the Lateral Reign and Christ Soon Return by Pastor Dennis Smith. And Colin and myself both believe that the coming of the Lord is closer now than when we first believed. And there are many signs around the world that's showing us that there's a lot of agitation in the political world and even in the economic world, and even in the social world, in the social realm. And it's our prayer today that you will be blessed by this program. These messages are due for the time in which we live. They are very important and people need to give heed to the messages. And I'm convicted more than ever before, Colin, that these messages need to go out. The world needs to hear this to prepare the three angels'messages that go out, prepare the world for the return of Christ. But it actually produces two harvests. It's our choice in which harvest before the first harvest or the second harvest. The first harvest is the one we want to be, which is the one that is matured and ripened through the early rain and the latter rain. And that is all done by us surrendering to Christ. It's not of our works that anyone should boast, but it is done by the grace of God, through faith in the power of Jesus Christ and the power of His Gospel. But as we start, let's just open with a word of prayer and ask God to bless us as we study together. Gracious Father in Heaven, it's such a privilege that we have that we can commune with you through prayer, that we can have access right into the throne room of heaven through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Thank you for his righteousness. Thank you for his mediation. Thank you for creating this atmosphere where we can receive the faith that has been authored by Jesus. And Father, we're also grateful for the comforter that was sent, the Holy Spirit to represent you to us, to give us understanding, to lead us into all truth. And today, Father, as we open the Word, we pray that you'll bless the listener, that you'll bless Colin and myself. Shut us in, in your presence. Father, may we commune with you as you speak to us. We ask in Jesus name. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER C So, Colin, we're starting to wrap up our series of programs on prayer. And now we're going to look at something that's very interesting because I've had people say to me often, sometimes when they pray, they get distracted too easily or there's some things that just don't seem to gel with them too well. And we should be able to answer at least some of those questions or concerns that some people have in regards to things that may hinder their prayer life. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E So today's topic is on hindrances to prayer. So we've looked at various aspects of prayer. However, we can seek to enter into each of these aspects and yet our prayers may not be answered. Certain things in our lives can hinder our prayers from being answered as we would like. We want to pray, but lots of things are not answered sometimes. So there's certain things that can actually hinder our prayers from being answered. And I'm sure when we're in eternity with our Lord, we'll realize that prayer was perhaps the most important activity on planet Earth. Now, Satan knows this, so he will seek to interfere with our prayer lives any way he can because he knows the power of prayer. SPEAKER C Well, you look, if you want to break down any relationship, just impact the communication. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER C If you can take communication away from a marriage, that marriage is almost destined to fail. And it will be the same with our relationship with the Lord, the impact of communication, our talking to God, and it's not going to give us a relationship that we desire. SPEAKER E That's right. We need to have communications. And not only that, remember in our previous programs we looked at that when we're praying, we're actually releasing God's power on this earth that he works through our prayers. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E So that's how important they are. Yes, but unfortunately, there's hindrances to prayer. And so we're going to look at today what are the hindrances to prayer. And the first one I want to talk about is known sin. Okay, known sin. Now one thing I'm sure that every Christian would agree is known sin in life will definitely keep our prayers from being answered. For example, we look at the prophet Isaiah when he wrote in Isaiah, chapter 59, verse one and two, read that for us. SPEAKER D Sure. SPEAKER C It says, behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden his fate from you, so that he will not hear. SPEAKER E So we see there that there's a separation, right? Or our iniquities. Another word for iniquities is our sins. SPEAKER C Sins, that's right. SPEAKER E Have separated between you and our God. And it says again, our sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear us. You can see that unconfessed cherished sin will come between us and God answering our prayer. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER E And so we look at even John, the disciple John, he clearly understood this when he wrote in one John, chapter three, verse 22, and if you could read that out for us. SPEAKER C And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. SPEAKER D Wow. SPEAKER E So we ask to receive Him because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. Okay. So if our prayers do not seem to be answered, then it would be well that we seek God as the Psalmist did. So I love this prayer, and this is a dangerous prayer, okay. But it's a good prayer. I must be when I started praying this prayer in my own life, and it's taken from the book of Psalms, okay. Psalms 139. SPEAKER C A lot of the Psalms are actually prayers. They're songs, but they're prayers as well. It's a Psalm 139. Yeah, great psalm. SPEAKER E Well, song is a prayer and a prayer is a song. So Psalms 139, verses 23 and 24. SPEAKER C And it says, search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. SPEAKER E So here we are. We're asking God to search our hearts, right? SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E Our thoughts. And we're asking Him to know our heart and to see if there's anything wicked in us and lead me in a way everlasting. So I must admit, when I started praying for this prayer, god started revealing things in my life that he wanted to deal with. He opened up my mind, and that to there are certain things about my life that I wasn't even unaware of, I didn't even know. But I asked God to search my heart, because it says the heart is what? SPEAKER C Well, it's desperately wicked, as wicked above all things. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER C I think it's Jeremiah 17, verse nine. SPEAKER E So when you ask God to search that heart, he's going to reveal those things in your life, those unconfessed or cherished sins in your life, so that he can reveal them to you. SPEAKER D Sure. SPEAKER E And the great thing about when God reveals them to you is that you ask Him to remove it. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER C That's when the peace comes, because leading up to that, it's not always necessarily pleasant. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER C But the peaceable fruits of righteousness follow if you go through that process with God. SPEAKER E Exactly. So when we pray this prayer, we must then wait on the Lord to reveal if there's anything in our lives that needs correcting. And if he reveals something and he has revealed some things in my life, sometimes he's revealed it through my wife. SPEAKER C Yeah, that happens to me, too. SPEAKER E Funny about that. But he's revealed some things about my wife through my wife. I pray this prayer and all of a sudden, my wife will bring up something about my character that she's noticed. And the way I'm dealing with things, whether it's in ministry or work or family or friends. And she brought up something and it just hit me like a knife in the heart. I was like, oh, my gosh, you've just revealed something that I prayed, asked God to reveal. He's revealed it to you. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E And then I have a choice, don't I? SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E I have a choice. I can just ignore it or I can go to God and to the Lord in prayer and say, lord, I acknowledge this in my life. Please forgive me and please remove this from me. SPEAKER C And if God reveals something in your life, don't stay there. Flee to Christ straight away. When Peter was walking on the water and he felt pretty good about himself for a while until the boisterous waves and elements distracted him. Then when he started sinking, immediately he cried out, jesus, or save me, help me. And it says, the Bible says that Jesus was immediately there, reached out his hand and pulled him up. Don't wallow in self pity or don't get discouraged. Come to the Lord. Because we cannot save ourselves. It's very clear we've got to be saved by grace through faith. And the grace of God is sufficient. Because where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. God loves you. And in showing you these things, it even says to the Laodicean Church, which is one of the challenging churches out. SPEAKER E Of the seven God's Last Day Church today's church that we're living in. SPEAKER C Yeah, but he says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. So don't think because sometimes you feel that you've been convicted on something, don't get discouraged. It's because God loves you, showing something. And if you just surrender that to the Lord, you get into a closer relationship and a closer walk with God. There's greater blessings in store for you just by going through the process. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER C But the peaceable fruits of righteousness come when the surrender is made. Going through the conviction at the time can be unpleasant. And I can relate to the knife in the heart. SPEAKER E Colin yes. Because it's like you go, well, that's true, but your pride can get in the way. SPEAKER D Sure. SPEAKER E But if he does reveal something, we need to immediately confess it and forsake it. Confess it and forsake it. And so during this prayer, don't be quick to dismiss something that comes to mind as unimportant. Remember, we are all quite good at rationalizing our behavior, aren't we? We can all rationalize our behavior. So perhaps God will bring to mind someone we have wronged and we need to apologize to them. I've recorded that many times in my life where God has revealed something to me when I've done something wrong. And he's revealed to me, you need to go and apologize to that person. And that's not an easy thing to do. Because to admit you're wrong and say that you're wrong. And this can break down communication with one another. So it's hard to do that, though. And God may bring to mind some financial wrong that needs to be corrected. For example, whatever God reveals to us, it's vital that we be merciless. Merciless, in other words, with dealing with our own sins. You know what I mean? The Bible is clear that cherished sin will keep God from hearing and answering our prayer. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E I mean, let's read Psalms, chapter 66, verse 18. SPEAKER C And it says, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. SPEAKER E I mean, that's pretty clear, isn't it? SPEAKER C Very clear. SPEAKER E And iniquity again is sin. I regard sin in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. And so please note the Bible uses the word regard. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E All right. This is not speaking of struggling with sin because we're all struggling with sins in our lives. It's referring to a sin that we know is in our lives and we choose to continue in it knowingly. SPEAKER C Okay, so what does the word regard mean? SPEAKER E Well, it's referring to sin in our lives that we choose to continue in. It's not talking about struggling with sin because there's been things you might be struggling with, and there is a way that Jesus can overcome that. SPEAKER D Right. SPEAKER E It's really simple. We're going to talk about that in future, talks about how. But right now it's saying we're talking about we're asking God to reveal something, to search our hearts and to see if there's any cherished sins in our lives. SPEAKER D Okay. SPEAKER C So the word regard can also be substituted with the word cherish. So if you regard something high, regard for something, it's like cherishing. SPEAKER E It, it's a cherished sin. SPEAKER D Okay. SPEAKER E So if we find ourselves in that situation, we need to ask God to remove that desire for that sin from our hearts. So there might be things God's revealed to it. And you got to say, Lord, remove the desire for that sin in my heart because his heart is desperately wicked and we need a new heart. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E That's the real bottom line. We need a new heart. SPEAKER C We need that heart of stone removed and the heart of flesh put that right place. SPEAKER E Because we don't have ability to change our desires concerning sin. We don't have the ability to do it because of our sinful nature. Okay? Only God can do that. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C But he does it with our consent. So we got to agree to it. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER C I mean, God will do the work. SPEAKER E God gives us repentance. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER E And forgiveness. He even gives us amen. SPEAKER C Repentance, they're a gift from God. That's right, yeah. SPEAKER E Repentance isn't a gift, and so is forgiveness. And so we've got to ask tells us about Acts chapter 531. And if we ask Him, he will take that regard we have for any sins out of our heart that cherished or regard. That's what he's talking about. So let's be honest. It says in the Bible that the heart is desperately wicked and who can know it? In other words, man cannot know it. SPEAKER C No, we can't know it. SPEAKER E Yeah, that's god. SPEAKER C Jeremiah 17 nine. SPEAKER E Yeah, Jeremiah 79. We don't even know our own hearts. And many times our prayers are motivated for selfish purposes. SPEAKER C True. SPEAKER E Truly prayer is always aimed at glorifying. But true prayer is aimed at glorifying God. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E Whenever selfish motives are basis of our prayers, we will not receive an answer. And James confirms that in chapter four, verse three. James, chapter four, verse three. Could you read that? SPEAKER C Yeah, I'll read that from the NIV. This time it says, when you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives that you may spend it on what you get on your pleasures. SPEAKER E You see, we're asking with the wrong motive that we want to spend it on our pleasures. And so for example, you may be praying for a job promotion. So what is your motive when you're praying for a job promotion? Is it to make more money or to have more prestige? Or simply for ambition's sake, you want to self glory. These are all selfish motives. Instead, such a prayer must include the request that God's will will be done. Our goal should be better to serve God and glorify or serve God and glorify him. And so if the promotion will result in glorifying God, in other words, Lord, if this promotion will bring glory to you in some way, then please give me the job or allow the job so I can get the job. Then you'll want to get the advancement. See if God's going to glorify it's. Going to glorify God by answering that prayer. He'll answer that prayer, yes. However, if it will not give greater glory to God, then it's best you not get into it. Okay? SPEAKER D True. SPEAKER E Because we live in a materialistic society and it's easy to get caught up in the values of the know. We want more money, greater status, selfish ambition. We need to stay very close to God through the infilling of the Holy Spirit in order to avoid such motives. SPEAKER C That's true. SPEAKER E So for it is within our sinful nature to always seek self gratification rather than God's glory. Our sinful nature always wants to lift up self gratified. Self. And everyone can relate to that. Paul speaks about that man in Romans chapter seven. SPEAKER D Yes, he does. SPEAKER E In chapter seven, things I want to do I don't think do and the things I don't want to do that he does. SPEAKER C Yeah, that's true. Look, so I'm just going to ask a question here, Colin. So how can we know if our motives are selfish or not? SPEAKER E It's a good question. Okay. One way is to observe our reaction if we do not get what we want. SPEAKER D Okay? SPEAKER E So look at the reaction when you don't get what you want. For example, if we get angry when someone else gets the promotion that we think we deserve, then our motive is for selfish reasons. So it's your reaction to what happens. Right, okay. And such anger happens when self and pride have been wounded. It's usually over pride and self. It's always important to remember that God will direct us in our lives and work in ways to bring out what is best for us. And he says that in Psalm 75, verse six, and in Romans, chapter eight, verse 28. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER C And that Romans 828 says, for we know that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord are called according to God, works for. SPEAKER E All things for good. Even though it might not seem good at the time, he can work any situation amen. For good. Because you know why? God knows the future and he has insights into every situation. So some of you might feel is definitely good for us may not be as good as we think. Okay, all right. We might think, God, I really think this is good for me, but God can see the future. SPEAKER D Yes, he can. SPEAKER E And so are you noticing? It always comes back to trusting in God. Trusting in God. There's a wonderful book called Waiting on God by Dennis Smith, and I read that every year. And it helps me to realize that God's in charge and to wait on Him and that he's capable of bringing all things together to working all things to good when problems come in your life. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E So someone must feel definitely good is not as good as we think. God is our loving Father, and he'll always answer our request in ways that will be a blessing to us, but not always in the way that we want or that we think it'll be a blessing to us. He has ways and means that we can't even understand. SPEAKER C Sometimes God in his mercy will do something and we think, that doesn't sound good. That's not a good outcome. And I'm thinking of an example of the Old Testament story of King Hezekiah. Yes, he was on a sick bed, and then the prophet comes and tells him, because he inquires of God and says, yes, you're going to die. Then he pleads and pleads, Please, Lord. And then the prophet comes back. Lord has added another 15 years, but during that 15 years, he actually wanders away from God and he loses his salvation experience with God. SPEAKER E Wow. SPEAKER C He would have been better just to rest in the grave according to God's will at that time. So we're really careful what we ask for. I think at times the Lord knows the end from the beginning. And as you mentioned, Colin, I think it's so important, that element of trust. Do we trust God with absolutely everything in our lives? Because sometimes we trust Him with a fair whack of stuff, but we don't trust Him with all. Have we laid all our finances, our housing, our career, everything, our family, our relationship laid all on the altar of God, our reputation. SPEAKER E Or look at Joseph. Now, Joseph mustn't have thought that God was hand was over him when he was thrown into a pit by his brothers. And the next minute, what he sold as a slave, then he's working for his master in Egypt. And then the master's wife tries to have a relationship with Joseph. And he wouldn't do that because he didn't want to dishonor God. The next minute he hasn't done anything. SPEAKER C Wrong, he's actually done the right thing and he ends up in prison. He's in prison, reputations ruined. SPEAKER E So it just seems that things keep getting worse but through it all God could see the future and he also gave Joseph he could have dreams and interpret dreams. And so then we know the rest of the story where there was the baker and the butler and they had dreams and Joseph interpreted them. Then later on Pharaoh had a dream and I think it was the butler, the wine taster for the king or the Pharaoh. He remembered Joseph in jail and said, hey, I know somebody that can actually interpret your dream. Two years later, two years later and Joseph's probably thinking, isn't he, what's going on? But then eventually God could foresee that. And out of that, Joseph was promoted to be in charge of all of Egypt. And he was used by God incredible, to not only save Egypt from a drought, severe drought, that was going to wipe them out, but it also was going to wipe out his father, Jacob or Israel, and the twelve brothers, which were the future nation of Israel, where the Messiah was going to come through. So you see how God can see the future from the beginning and so. SPEAKER C His hand was in it all the way through. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER E So wherever you're at just trust in. SPEAKER C God, hang in there. SPEAKER E He can work on anything. SPEAKER C Rely on the Lord. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E Absolutely. So for example, an idol in our heart there's idols in our heart, right? And so an idol is anything we put before God, okay? Anything. Now it can include come in many forms. It could be money, time, appetite, affection, it can be family, okay? It could even be church. It can be so many things that. SPEAKER C Could be apparent, good things that's right. SPEAKER E That we put above God. And so idols in our heart will keep our prayers from being answered. And we can read that in Ezekiel chapter 14, verse three. SPEAKER C And it says son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let myself be inquired of at all by them? SPEAKER E Yeah. So should I let them inquire of me at all? He's saying it's hindering their prayers from them speaking to God. And so for example, money becomes an idol whenever we choose to disobey God in order to get more money? Yes, there's an idol, isn't it? If we choose to disobey God's revealed will in order to earn money by working, for example, he gives us Ten Commandments, and he says in that what's the Fourth Commandment? He says, Thou shalt not what? Work on the 7th day. SPEAKER C 7Th day? SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E Thou shalt not work on the 7th day. And so he said he's set aside it's sanctified. He's made it holy. He brought it in before even sin came in the world when he created the earth in the heavens. Six days he created on the 7th day he rested. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER E Hallowed it and sanctified it means he set it aside for holy purposes. The holy purpose was to spend time with Him, to remember Him as the creator of heavens and earth. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E It's a memorial of creation. Two things, by the way. A memorial of creation. You notice it's marriage. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E And what's the other thing? SPEAKER C The Sabbath. SPEAKER E The Sabbath. So what's under attack at the moment around the world and even in the country we live in, is they're going to attack both. SPEAKER C But the first one they're attacking is marriage at the moment. Marriage definition. And not only that, it's interesting that in those countries where they have redefined marriage, that there's been more persecution of people. They've lost some religious freedoms. People don't want to bake cakes for same sex marriages because it's against their personal religious beliefs. They get fined. Their first Amendment rights in the US. For example, are taken away. No freedom of speech or their businesses are shut down. People talk about the standard in the Scriptures, in the Bible. Then they get taken to tasks and they have to appear before court because it's now called hate speech. Freedoms are lost. And the discussion here in Australia at the moment is very pertinent and it's weighty because this is the beginning of sorrows, I believe. SPEAKER E Yeah, there's a lot of ramifications absolutely. Because of where we're going. But you can see that he instituted, for example, the other institution he put in was the Sabbath was to rest, and the whole Sabbath starts, remember? So the whole world's forgotten. God taken away. The commandment says, remember. Remember the Sabbath. They keep it holy. And so by working on the Sabbath okay, to earn more money. Or what about lying or stealing or cheating our employer? We then make money as an idol, and money is a God to many people in this world, including many professed Christians. And Paul gave us a very important warning concerning seeking riches. And it's found in one Timothy, chapter six, verse eight to eleven. Can you read that for us? SPEAKER D Sure. SPEAKER C It says, and having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. SPEAKER E Wow. And I love it how it says, but thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, goodness, faith, love, patience, meekness, which is all the fruits of the spirit. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E And so it's not a sin to be rich. You go throughout the Old Testament, there was many wealthy people, christians with money. SPEAKER C It's the love of money. SPEAKER E Christians with wealth can be a great blessing to others. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E And God's work if they use their abundance according to God's will. However, some well known Christian preachers would have us believe that God wants every Christian to be rich. Yes, well, the Bible just does not promise that. What the Bible does promise is that God's children will have the necessities of life. Remember in Matthew chapter six, it says seek what seek ye the kingdom of God. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER C Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And then all these things that you need, whether it be food or clothing or shelter, all these things will be added onto that's. SPEAKER D Right. SPEAKER E Also in Philippians, chapter 419, it says that as well. So just if you read the Bible also says that we should not seek to be rich. We are to serve God faithfully, and he will decide how much wealth will be a blessing to us. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E We leave that with his. You know, we can even make our spouse or our wife an idol by putting him or her above God. When Adam chose Eve above following God's will, she became an idol to him, didn't he? SPEAKER D That is true. SPEAKER C That's a good way of putting it, actually. SPEAKER E That may sound harsh, but God must be put first in our lives above all other relationships, because Eve came to Adam and said, hey, listen, take this. And he would rather he said, I mean, it sounds romantic. You know what I mean? In a sense, he would rather said, well, I'd rather die with you than to lose you. Not trusting God that God maybe could have created even a better Eve. I don't know what would have happened, but he should have trusted God, and he put Eve above, above God. So even a wife can be an idol or a child. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER C So look, we're right in the middle of our study then I think it'd be a good place just to go for a quick break. But when we come back, we can unpack this a little bit more and just look at what other things may interfere with our connection with God, our prayer life with God, and God's ability to bless us. So don't go away. We'll be right back. After a short break, you heard a. SPEAKER E Sample of the song Does Jesus Care? SPEAKER C Played by Henry Higgins. SPEAKER E Visit threeaben australia.org. SPEAKER C Au. SPEAKER E To purchase his CD near to the heart. SPEAKER C Well, welcome back to you shall receive power with Colin and Etienne. Just before the break, we were talking about those things that separate us from God and can have an influence in the prayer rife that could be detrimental to good, clear communication between us and God. And we spoke about career, we spoke about money and these things that can become idols. And just before the break, we even mentioned that even your spouse can become an idol if you put that before God. An example out of the Scriptures was when Adam decided that rather to be faithful and listen to the voice of God and what he said that he would go with the temptation his wife brought to him when she gave him the fruit and he also ate. SPEAKER E That's right. And the Bible confirms this in Matthew, chapter ten, verse 37, where Jesus says, he that loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Now, that could be a hard thing to do. I've got children and love your children and you love your children, but putting God above everything is what God's asking us to do. SPEAKER C Sure, and while it might sound difficult, the thing is, if you put God first, he pours his agape love into your hearts and you actually end up loving your family more. SPEAKER E That's right. So the Christian must put no one above Christ or Jesus in his life. And Satan's good at confusing the issues when it comes to family. He's really good at this. That's why we must be daily filled with the Holy Spirit and continually stay in close communion with Him. It says that in first thessalonians chapter five, verse 17. SPEAKER C I don't know if you got pray without ceasing. SPEAKER E That's right, pray without ceasing. Without ceasing. For example, if a Christian's wife chooses to go with her husband to a place that she knows is not a place of God would approve, then she makes her husband an idol. Do you see what I mean? Perhaps she's a new Christian and her husband wants her to join him and their old friends for a drinking party, right, the way they used to before she accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. She must say no. However, it is important she do it with a humble spirit, reassuring her husband that she loves him. SPEAKER D Yeah, that's true. SPEAKER C We've got to be wise in the way we deal with these things. SPEAKER E We can also make our children idols in our heart, okay? And I've been guilty of this over my life, of putting my children above God in many things, and it's been to their detriment by doing that. It actually hasn't been for their good by doing that. You think it is, but it actually ends up not being. For example, in Australia, sports are very popular in our country. Yes, they know. I grew up playing AFL and cricket and tennis, and Sport is like our God in Australia. SPEAKER C It's a big sporting country. SPEAKER E That's right. And so I've known Adventist parents that gave in to their wishes for their son and daughter, participate in some sporting event on the Sabbath, for example. On the Sabbath? SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER E And whenever we do that, when we yield to our child's wishes in opposition to God's revealed will, then we've made that child an idol. We've put them above what God has asked us to do. SPEAKER C You know, that is true. And the thing is, it is love in a sense, but it's love misplaced, because God is love. But if you break that down to the two great commandments, to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and then it says the second is like under to love your neighbor as yourself, which includes your spouse and your children. If you place God first, ultimately you won't make sacrifices that will inhibit your relationship with the Lord. But what this is saying quite often well, people will take the second commandment, which is the love for the fellow man, and place that first. But then they disconnect themselves from the God who's the only one, the only source of true love, which is agape love, which is actually self sacrificing love. SPEAKER E Absolutely. And I've known times when parents have done that and their parent kids have got so involved in sport that they've moved away from God. Okay? Now, I've known other parents, and I met this brother and sister in Russia, and she is an Olympian, a Seven Day Adventist. And she's an Olympian. SPEAKER D Right. SPEAKER E She represented Russia in the Olympics, in kayaking. All right. And she was a finalist. SPEAKER C I saw the photo on Facebook. SPEAKER E Yes. She was also a European gold medalist in her kayaking sport. And she was at this youth congress, and I just got talking to her, and her parents were Christians, and they brought her up very well. Very well. And to honor God, always put God first. And then about seven years ago, they became Seven Day Venice. They went to an evangelistic meeting, and they believed in the truths and God's word, particularly the part about keeping the Sabbath day holy, the 7th day. And so she had just was going to qualify. She was a European champion, and she had to go and qualify to represent Russia at the World Championships that are coming up soon. And she's telling me she wasn't able to go. And I said, Why couldn't you go and do this? She says, well, because they had the trials on the Sabbath. And so here is a girl, 26 year old, 27 year old girl who is a gold medalist, like Europe gold medalist, world champion, also representing the Olympics. But she put God above the world championship. SPEAKER C Praise the Lord for that faithfulness. What a great testimony to others. SPEAKER E And I said to her, well, someone actually said to her, was that a sacrifice for you? And she was actually quite offended in a way. She says, it wasn't a sacrifice. She said what God did for me on the cross through his son Jesus, that was a sacrifice for me to give up just kayaking for a gold medal, world champion gold medal and all that. That's nothing for what God did for me. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E And she says, it was an honor to be able to stand up for him. And I was just like, wow. That is such faith. That is putting God above gold. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E And it was just incredible story. SPEAKER D Yeah. Wow. SPEAKER E Yeah. So, for example, it could be sport, it can be anything. Another possible idol involves our health habits. Whenever we willfully disregard the laws of health, we put that health destroying desire before God. Now, Paul says in one Corinthians, chapter ten, verse 31, what did he say? SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER C It says, therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. SPEAKER E So what's he saying? To do all the glory of God. SPEAKER C That includes the eating and the drinking, everything. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER E And we to do to glorify God, all our thoughts and activities should be better enable us to have the character of Christ to be developed in us and revealed through us to others. For example, if we choose to yield to appetite in an area that we know goes against God's instruction, we make appetite our idol. So whatever we put above God and we know that, no, that goes against God's instruction, we make appetite an idol. SPEAKER C Look, and that's the place where our first parents fell. It was actually to do with appetite, but eating what they shouldn't have been eating. SPEAKER E That's right. So even anything we put again above God, and it can be appetite, it can be family, it can be sport, it can be work, can be money, it can be many, many things. I want to talk now about what's called a lack of generosity. So giving to help the needy, helping the needy, especially amongst God's people, is a biblical principle. Remember what Jesus said in Luke chapter six, verse 38? In Luke, chapter six, for verse 38. SPEAKER C Luke, chapter six, verse 38. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER C Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will it be put into your bosom? For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. SPEAKER E You see, God's is saying, whatever you give, that God's going to bless you. Okay? And it might be in blessings, in what you want it to be. It might be money, but it could be blessings in many other ways. SPEAKER C It could be health. SPEAKER E That's right. And God wants us to bless us richly. God loves us. However, if we're not generous with others, we hinder our prayers for God's blessings yes. What we receive from God, we are to use to bless others. You see? When we receive, we impart. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER E For example, one reason for working is to earn money to order, to help those in need. Ephesians, chapter four, verse 28 says that, doesn't it? SPEAKER C Yes, it says, Let him who stole, steal no longer, but rather let him labor working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. SPEAKER E See? SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER E God wants us to work and to be blessed so that we can help others. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E And for example, Proverbs, verse 20, or Proverbs chapter 21, verse 13 says, who. SPEAKER C Stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. SPEAKER E There you go. We're to help others in need. And so also, the Christian is clearly instructed in the Bible to support God's work. Yes, the Bible is saying, we're to support God's work, the Gospel, to go to the world. And so God brought in what's called the tithing principle. And he talks about in Malachi, chapter three, verse eight and ten, and it. SPEAKER C Says, Will a man rob God yet you have robbed me. But you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. And try me now in this, says the Lord of Host, if I will not open to you the windows of heaven and pour out on you such blessing that there is no room enough to receive it. SPEAKER E Wow. That's an incredible promise from God. What's God saying here, Ian? What is he saying to us? SPEAKER C Some people will say, Look, I can't afford to pay tithe or I can't afford to pay offerings. SPEAKER E What is tithe, though? SPEAKER C That's a 10th of your income. A 10th increase, basically. So whatever you generate, you give a 10th back to the Lord. That's to support the Lord's work and ministry. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER C And then, of course, the rest you can use as you see fit. But the fact remains is, if you give that money to the Lord, the Lord says he will bless you, and he'll bless you so abundantly that it'll be hard for you to receive it. There won't be enough room to receive it all. You'll be overflowing with blessings. SPEAKER E That's an amazing promise, isn't it? SPEAKER C It is a great promise. And of course, that blessing is latent. That power is latent until you receive it and believe it and expect God to deliver on what he does. SPEAKER E So our giving is to what, then? Is to be with a cheerful heart, isn't it? Would you give it cheerfully, not begrudgingly? Because I don't think God's going to bless us if we're doing it. Begrudgingly. SPEAKER C Well, that's right, yeah. I think two Corinthians, chapter nine there. I think, verse six, seven talks about the God loves a cheerful giver. SPEAKER E That's right. So if we give grudgingly to our needy brothers and sisters in Christ or to God's work, we need to ask God to change our hearts. Lord, change my heart and give me a spirit of generosity. And so I believe he'll hear such a prayer if we ask truly wanting Him to change us. Now, I want to talk about another thing called an unforgiving spirit. Okay, let's be honest. Most of us human beings are not a very forgiving bunch. We're not a very forgiving bunch human beings. And I believe this is a huge area in which Satan tries to hinder us all and attempt us to be unwilling to forgive those who have wronged us. Yes, in prayer. But Jesus is very clear about the necessity of forgiving others, isn't he? SPEAKER D He is. SPEAKER E Like, let's look at Mark, chapter eleven, verse 25 to 26, and it says. SPEAKER C And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you your trespasses. SPEAKER E Wow. So we're supposed to forgive others because how much have we been forgiven? SPEAKER C Well, that's true. SPEAKER E How much have we been forgiven by God? SPEAKER C Infinitely. SPEAKER E Yeah. And what has he forgiven us? Sins. And what does sin lead to? Eternal death and separation from God for eternity. SPEAKER C That's right, yes. SPEAKER E So he's forgiven us and what grace and forgiveness he's shown to us. And really, for what other people have done to us. There's nothing for what God has forgiven us, has he? Oh, that's true comparison. SPEAKER C And even the model prayer jesus says there that we are to pray that God is to forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER C Forgive us our trespasses, as the King James says, as we forgive those who have sinned against us. SPEAKER E That's right. And so we've got really no right to keep anger toward anyone no matter what they've done. And I'll be honest, I know there's some things that have been done to people that are horrific by other people. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E Abuses, physical abuse, sexual abuse, all sorts of abuses. But Jesus is saying here, and he gives a principle in Ephesians, chapter four, verse 26 to 32, where he talks about do not give place to the devil in your anger. Just read that. This is a principle in the Bible. SPEAKER C It says, be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor with working with his hands. That what is good, that he may have something to give to him who has a need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. But what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers and then verse 30 and do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender hearted forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. SPEAKER E And then you go, did you know the principle right at the start? It says, do not give place to the devil. In other words, when we hold on to our anger, bitterness, resentment, we're actually giving place to the devil in our hearts. SPEAKER D Yeah. Wow. SPEAKER E I write a passage, it's like this principle of war principle that we actually give a right and what's he want to do? He's came to seek and destroy us. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER E And will just destroy us. And I've seen people in my own family and people who've hold on to anger and bitterness and resentment and it destroys them. SPEAKER D It does. SPEAKER E It destroys their relationships with other people, with their bitterness and the anger and the resentment because of the unforgiving spirit. So Jesus has told us to given us a command to forgive others. Now, I want to give you some advice here. Even Jesus will give you forgiveness towards others. So when someone's hurt me or done something wrong to me and I'm finding it hard too, I don't want to forgive them. I just go to Lord and say lord, give me your forgiveness towards that person have hurt me and I ask you to forgive them. And I ask you to forgive me to holding on to anger, bitterness and resentment towards that person and ask you to bless them. And it's called the prayer of forgiveness. When you go through that prayer, it's amazing that Jesus will give you his forgiveness towards you, towards that person who've hurt you. It's another wonderful gift. SPEAKER C It is wonderful. And look and some people just seem to be harder to forgive than others. Some people, you don't really know them. Some people might struggle with it, but some go, oh, it's just someone I don't know. It doesn't matter if they've done something, I'll just forgive them. But if it's someone that's been really close to you that might have hurt you, whatever, that be a relationship issue or whatever, sometimes you got to spend a bit of time on your knees. Just get the Lord to change your heart because it may be hard and you might be struggling with it, but don't give up, don't despair. The Lord is able to give you that victory. And remember, as we read earlier, forgiveness is a gift from God. We find that in what was it? Acts, chapter five, verse 31, that he gave repentance and forgiveness of sins to men. So forgiveness, even in the ability to do it, is not something that we can naturally generate out of our own heart. It is a gift from God. It comes through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the blessing of the Holy Spirit on our lives. SPEAKER E And Jesus was our example. I mean, Jesus was whipped, he was put, a crown of thorns were put on him. He was spat on, he was abused physically, mentally, emotionally, and he was even stripped naked and hung up on a cross. And what does Jesus say? He's on the cross and they're abusing him. That he says, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they're doing. SPEAKER C Look, that is supernatural, that is not natural to man. It's a mind blower. SPEAKER E And Jesus promises to impart his forgiveness to us towards those that hurt us. SPEAKER C Stephen the martyr even said, father, do not lay this sin against their charge, don't charge them for it. SPEAKER E Jesus was living in him, that's why. SPEAKER C And Moses even as well, he said, Lord, don't blot them out. Rather blot me out of the book of life. He's willing to lay down his life on behalf of God. SPEAKER E Wanted to destroy Israel because they were just ten times it says they've disobeyed Him, and he wanted to start a nation over Moses, but Moses interceded for them. SPEAKER C That is the spirit of Christ living in people. SPEAKER E Yeah, that's right. And in Hebrews chapter twelve, verse 14 or 15, what does it say there? SPEAKER C It says, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord look in diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. SPEAKER E So you see, our bitternesses and our resentment and our anger and unforgiving spirit prevent us or are a hindrance to our prayer. I want to talk about marital conflict because for those who are married, even if you're in a relationship, there can be conflict. And Peter makes this interesting observation concerning the husband wife relationship and prayer. And he says this in one peter, chapter three, verse seven, and it says. SPEAKER C Likewise your husbands dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor to the wife as to a weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. SPEAKER E Wow, she's talking about husbands honoring your wife by the way you treat your wife could actually be a hindrance. It says that that your prayers not be hindered. So therefore, just the way we treat each other and having marital conflict, so wrong attitudes between husband and wives can hinder their prayers. So we also know that emotional, physical or sexual abuse is very destructive to a marriage and one relationship with God. A cross peevish attitude or the silent treatment when things don't go your way is a sin. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E An unruly temper, sharp cutting and hurtful words are wrong. Unrestrained sexual demands in the marriage as well as withholding proper sexual relationships from a spouse is very detrimental to the marriage relationship. And if we do these things, our prayers may be hindered. Now I want to talk about another one, another thing that can hinder. It's called doubt. SPEAKER C Which doubt is that the opposite of belief or faith, like unbelief or faith. Yeah. SPEAKER E Okay. So for example, whenever we pray, claiming a promise from God, right? So we've got a promise from God in his Bible. It's important we have the faith. We have faith that God will do what he says. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E And you can read that in Mark chapter eleven, verse 24 to 25 and James, chapter one, verse five to seven and one John, chapter five, verse ten, that basically God promises to do certain things. We need to believe and have faith that God will do what he promises he said he will do. And when we have doubt, it can hinder our prayers from being answered. We must believe that God will hear and answer our prayer. For example, we look at first John, chapter five, verse four, right? SPEAKER C And it says, for whoever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. SPEAKER E Yeah. So despite the evidences, we're to pray. And you can read that in Hebrews, chapter eleven. That's the faith chapter. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E They believed in the promises of God despite the evidences in their lives. So we're to ask in faith and believe that God will answer our prayer. But when we doubt, that can put a hindrance or it can really prevent God from hearing our prayer. SPEAKER C Absolutely. And I mean that faith chapter there, it actually says in Hebrews chapter eleven, verse six, that without faith it is impossible to please God. And it says that he who comes to God must believe that he is first of all, obviously acknowledging that God is our Creator redeemer sustainer and he exists. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER C And the second part is that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. SPEAKER E He's a rewarder of those who seek. That's God's words, isn't it? SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E He's going to rewarder who diligently seek Him. So prayer is a major factor in our victory over Satan and the attractions of this world. We just looked at what John said, didn't we? SPEAKER D Yes, we did. SPEAKER E So faith in God's promises through prayer brings us the victory. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E Prayer without faith brings us nothing. As James says in James one, verse five to seven. And I love what Ellen White wrote about the necessity of combating or combining faith with our prayers. And so I'm just going to read that. SPEAKER C Okay? SPEAKER E It's from the book Signs of the Times, june 18, 1896, paragraph eight. This is what she says the summing up of the benefit of prayer is the devotion that leads to faith in God's promises. This faith is the key that opens the divine treasury. So this is treasuring God that the faith in our prayers opens up. The treasury of God is the hand by which we appropriate to our use the richest gifts of god. The prayer of a contrite heart unlocks the treasure house of supplies wow. And lays hold of omnipotent prayer, a power sorry. This kind of prayer enables the supplement to understand what it means to lay hold of the strength of God and to make peace with Him. This kind of prayer causes us to have an influence over those with whom we associate. The prayer of faith is not listless, dry, and uninteresting. It wells up from a perfect and here it is. It wells up from a perfect trust and assurance and by its fervor makes manifest to the world, to angels and to men that you do believe in God and have made Christ your personal Savior. SPEAKER D Wow. SPEAKER E Yeah. He goes on to say, the Lord Jehovah accepts the argument that is presented in the name of His Son and places the resources of his merit at your command. It is our privilege and duty to bring the efficacy of the name of Christ into our petitions and use the very arguments that Christ has used in our behalf. Our prayers will then be in complete harmony with the will of God. Then it is that Christ closed the contrite suppliant with his own priestly vestments, and the human petitioner approaches the altar holding the holy censor from which ascends the incense of the fragrance of the merit of Christ's righteousness. So what's it saying there is that when we pray, it's mingled with the righteousness of Christ and it comes acceptable to the Father. SPEAKER C And we need that. We need Christ's righteousness to perfect our prayers and our petitions. Well, praise God for Jesus. I mean, just incredible that although we are fallen erring sinful human beings, he's able to perfectly present our petitions to the Father. But not only that, he's able to clothe us with his righteousness. He's able to impute our righteousness. And then the righteousness of God should be evident in our lives. We may not necessarily feel it at the time, but other people would see the love, joy and peace of God in our lives. SPEAKER E Yeah. And the bottom line is we want to remove the hindrances from our relationship with God, any hindrances with our relation with God. So I just want people to take courage. If you find yourself struggling with things in your life that you feel are hindering your prayers and we all have some things in our lives. We all struggle with things in our lives. Here's the good news god is willing and able to deliver you from them. He is able to remove anything that negatively affects your relationship with Him. He wants to remove them from you. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E And so whenever God reveals to you areas in your life where you have done or are still doing something is against his will, please don't let Satan discourage you. Simply do this. Ask God to forgive you and he will. One John, chapter one, verse nine. If we confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive our sins and just to forgive our sins. Not only to forgive our sins, but to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. SPEAKER C That's right. We should not forget the cleansing part. Let the Lord do the cleansing that he wants to do. SPEAKER E So then go to Him and ask Him to forgive you and cleanse you. Then let Him begin the process of changing you into the image of his son Jesus by daily being filled with His Spirit. And you can read about that in Ephesians, chapter five, verse 18, two Corinthians, chapter three, verse 18. SPEAKER C By beholding that's right. SPEAKER E By beholding Christ right, we're changing the. SPEAKER C Same image from glory to glory. SPEAKER E By the spirit of the Lord. Yes, by the Holy Spirit. That changes us into the image of Jesus. Also in faith, apply the principles of spiritual warfare, warfare in your battle with the enemy. Again Ephesians, chapter six, verse 1018. Apply these spiritual warfare in your battle because you know those who are ready to meet Jesus when he comes will be just like him, having gained in the power of the Spirit victory over every hindrance to their prayers. This will be the experience God is calling you today, and I pray that you will heed his call. Ask God to search your heart and ask God to change your heart. And if you do this, he's promised in God's word that he will do it. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER C Look, there's so much power in the word of God, there's so much power in his promises, but we are to receive it by faith. And we got to get rid of all those indirectances, whether it be idols as we mentioned before, or whether it be doubt and unbelief. But the encouragement is there that God, who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. We're just going to go to a short break for people to get our contact details and be right back straight after this. Thank you for joining us on You Shall Receive Power. If you would like more information about today's program or if you have any questions, please contact 3ABN Australia Radio by Phoning 024-973-3456. Or you can send an email to [email protected]. You can also contact us on our 3ABN Australia radio Facebook page. We look forward to hearing from you SPEAKER C Welcome back to you shall receive power. You are with Colin and Etienne and we've been talking about the importance of prayer, and we've done a number of programs on this now and we've been talking about those things that may separate us from God in regards to hindering prayer. So we just gave some encouragement there right at the very end. Colin, but maybe as a summary, what would you be able to suggest to us? SPEAKER E Well, we're talking about all the different aspects of prayer and I wondered, have you ever. Wondered what those Christians will be like who go through the time of trouble or the final tribulation and who are ready to meet Jesus. I think it's important to find out because I'm convinced that God is calling that very generation today. I believe that Jesus is coming soon. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E And so you and me and those listening to leave our spiritually weak, our latesty and lukewarm condition, I think it's time to get ready to meet our Lord. And so I believe that those who ready to meet Jesus will have a prayer life that is spirit led. They will be uniting persevering with other believers claiming the promises of God. I believe fasting will become integral part of their seeking God. And I believe their communion with God will be so close and intimate, they will often hear his still small voice and live a life under his constant direction. And I believe their communion with God will be of supreme importance to them. I believe they'll be 100% surrendered their lives to Jesus. And I believe their desire will be for God to remove every hindrance that might stand between them and God. And I believe when Jesus comes, there will be a generation of Enochs amen. Who have daily and moment by moment walked with God. They, like Enoch, will take the final step when Jesus comes and walk into glory to live with the Lord forever. They won't taste death. SPEAKER C Yeah, that's right. SPEAKER E They will walk straight into heaven. And I believe if you want to be part of that final generation, I believe God is calling that generation into existence today. Eddie. I believe God wants you to be among them if you're living when Jesus returns. And I challenge you, I challenge you to commit yourself completely to Him and hold nothing back. And I want to leave with these final words jesus is coming. Get ready. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER C Thank you for that, Colin. And thank you, dear listener, for joining us today. On. You shall receive power. Our study has been out of the book 50 Days Prayers and Devotionals to prepare for the latter rain, and Christ soon return. And that study was day number 24, Hindrance to Prayer. We pray that God would bless you as you continue your own personal study. And if you want a copy of this book, you're welcome to contact us based on those details that were just presented to you at the break. We look forward to catching up with you again next time. God bless. SPEAKER C You've been listening to a production of. SPEAKER E Three ABN, Australia Radio.