Hindrances To Answered PraYeR

10.Failure to focus
Another reason prayers are not answered is that we do not stay focused when we pray and we are not diligent to keep our hearts connected to heaven before we know
It, we are saying words that have little meaning or we are distracted by the many pressures or activities of life We end up not concentrating on talking to God, not really paying attention to him.

The bible says in, Proverbs 4:25-27 (Amplified Bible)
25Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you.
26Consider well the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright.
27Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left; remove your foot from evil.
If we do want do receive from the lord- if we do want our prayer answered- we need to learn to stay focused not only in prayer, but also in life. We need to know what God has called us to do prioritize that, focuses on that, pray about that and watch as god answers our prayer and does great things though us.

Know what God has called you to do; be responsible for and pray consistently concerning those things No one’s prayer have as much effect on your life, family , and ministry as your do.

Paul told to timothy in; 1 Timothy 4:15 (Amplified Bible)
15Practice and cultivate and meditate upon these duties; throw yourself wholly into them [as your ministry], so that your progress may be evident to everybody.

He was telling him to stay focused. Prayer is like a laser beam. it is powerful, but you must stay focused in an area until the desired results are accomplished. Whatever God assigns you to do, stay focused! Focused prayer is powerful prayer!

11.Rebellion
Being rebellious toward authority will keep our prayer from being answered. A submitted heart which is the opposite of a rebellious heart is tender toward God and eager to obey Him. A rebellious person on the other hand will intentionally disobey. God does not bless disobedience.

12.Not caring for people in need
If we want our prayers to be answered , we need to be compassionate and kind to the poor.

Proverbs 21:13 (Amplified Bible)
13 Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor will cry out himself and not be heard

That verse speaks for itself if we want god to hear our prayers , we need to care for those who are less fortunate than we are

John 3:17-18 (Amplified Bible)
17 For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.
18 He who believes in Him [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation--he incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has already received his sentence] because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ's name.]

God has equipped us with compassionate hearts and we are told in

1 John 3:17 (Amplified Bible)
17 But if anyone has this world's goods (resources for sustaining life) and sees his brother and fellow believer in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live and remain in him?

This verse tell us not to close our hearts of compassion when we see need. Satan would like for our love to grow cold. As a matter of matter of fact, Mathew tells us that lover gown cold be a sign of the Last Days.

Matthew 24:12 (Amplified Bible)
12 And the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity,

The Best ways to combat hardness of heart and a stronghold of cold love is to stay active helping those who are less fortunate than you are Don’t ignore the need you hear about by closing your heart or letting your love grow cold instead, respond to them.

Isaiah 58:6-9 (Amplified Bible)
6[Rather] is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving] yoke?
7 Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house--when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your healing (your restoration and the power of a new life) shall spring forth speedily; your righteousness (your rightness, your justice, and your right relationship with God) shall go before you [conducting you to peace and prosperity], and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression [wherever you find them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and every form of false, harsh, unjust, and wicked speaking,



12.Un forgiveness
Un-forgiveness is probably the number one reason prayers are not answered .I would venture to say that more ground is given up in believer’s life through un-forgiveness than though anything else. God’s word contains may Scriptures that emphasize the importance of forgiveness which is nothing more than treating others the way God treats us I do not think we can fid any clearer biblical command to forgive than

Ephesians 4:32 (Amplified Bible)
32And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.

Because we live in fallen world full of people who are imperfect as we are , we cannot avoid being hurt offended victimized or betrayed We will have reasons to be angry but unresolved anger turns to bitterness and un-forgiveness and that will hinder our prayers In fact

Ephesians 4:26 (Amplified Bible)
26 When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down.

We simply cannot hold on to anger and harbor un-forgiveness in our hearts if we want God to answer our prayers

Jesus makes this point plain in Mark 11:25 (Amplified Bible)
25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and ]let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop.

In other words, whatever we have against anyone must be forgiven .No matter how major or how minor an issue seems, we have to let go. We do not wait until we feel like forgiving; we forgive by making an intentional choice a willful decision to left a matter drop. When we do, we make a way for our prayer to be answered .

13.Pride
First Peter 5:5 says that “God resist the proud , but gives grace to the humble We can see from the verse that pride is certainly a hindrance to answered prayer ! when we pray and ask for God’s grace in situation, pride will block it but humility will pave the ways for it When we’re proud we don’t think we need God or anyone else We feel self-sufficient :we are self-reliant We think we are better than other people Pride is very serious to God The bible contains may Scriptures that affirm this but one of the strongest is

Proverbs 16:5 (Amplified Bible)
5 Everyone proud and arrogant in heart is disgusting, hateful, and exceedingly offensive to the Lord; be assured [I pledge it] they will not go unpunished

Pride will keep our prayer from being answered and we must deal with our pride if we want god to hear and responds to us when we pray , We need to ask Him to show us areas in our heart swhere we are proud and we need to repent the best way to turn form a particular sin or stop an old attitude or thought pattern is to ask God’s forgiveness for it and to choose to develop the opposite attitude to behavior instead So when overcoming the sin of pride we need to ask god to help us develop humility and do everything we can to cultivate humility in our hearts We need to humble not only before God but also in our relationships with other people.

One of the best ways to practice humility is through confession.The first sentence of
James 5:16 (Amplified Bible)
16Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

Remember, God will resist those who have pride in their heart and their pride will hinder their prayers but God hears the prayer of humble hearts and sends his grace in response.

May we live in humbleness and in obedience to the lord. And let not the Hindrances To Answered PraYeR, come in our way in our relationship with the lord . For a strong walk with him, in this life. And for life to come.

Hindrances To Answered PraYeR

7 Worry
Another reason people do not have their prayers answered is that after they pray, they worry.

Philippians 4:6 -: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, presents your requests to God.

Anxiety, which is another word for worry, means spending today trying to figure out tomorrow or spending today fearing tomorrow

When we pray and then worry, we are not exercising trust in God . We are not fully releasing our burdens or needs to Him: we are taking them Back and working the over our minds. When we insist upon keeping our hands on the situations we pray about and not letting god have them completely, He does not have much freedom to answer our prayers, We say we trust God , but we want to have a backup plan in case God does not come through for us Worry is meditation on our problems, but we are told to meditate on God’s word not our problems

The opposite of worry and anxiety is peace , and if we re going to live in peace we need to learn how to live our lives one day at a time
Jesus says in

Matew6:34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Other words Jesus is telling us not to spend today worrying about tomorrow. All of our today’s have enough trouble- and we only have enough grace enough energy to deal with today. Just as each day has its own trouble, each day has its own supply of grace. God does not give us grace today to live tomorrow. We need to make the most of grace we have today, refuse to be anxious about tomorrow, determine to leave our prayers in God’s hands and not take our problems back by worrying.

8 Negative Confession
We can render our prayers ineffective with negative confessions when we allow doubt and unbelief to take root in our minds and than begin to speak negatively, we can hinder our Prayer. When we prayer and ask God to do something and then turn around and say,” I am afraid God will not come through for me,” that is a negative confession.
The words we speak are powerful, more powerful then we realize in fact,

Proverbs 18:21 -: Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

In other words, we will have what we say , so we need to be speaking positively not negatively

Isaiah 53:7 says about Jesus “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

He knew that he could thwart or delay God’s plan by speaking negatively at the wrong time, Sure, his trial were difficulty – unimaginable grueling –but he did not complain.
We nee to able to make the same statement about ourselves –that when we are going through hard times we open not our mouths We do not complain; we do not murmur; we do not speak ill of others, we do not doubt god with our words You see, our words do not exit independently of who we are. Instead, our words represent how we are because they reveal what is in our heart.

Mathew 13:34 -: Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

When our heart are full of doubt, we will make negative confession, but when they are filled with faith , our words will reveal our faith and trust in God .When God hears a prayer followed by a native confession , he does not respond , but when we hears a prayer that is accompanied with words that express confidence in Him. He delights to answer.

9 Lack of Gratitude
A lack of gratitude is a hindrance to answered prayer, why should god do more for us if we are murmuring about what he has already done ?by the same token, if we genuinely appreciate His goodness and have hearts that are thanks full for all He has done, he will be inclined to continue to bless us.
Thanksgiving keeps us focused on God On the other hand a lack of gratitude cause people to never satisfied an to talk about discontent. I do not thing anything opens the door of enemy to influence a person’s life like murmuring an complaining, because we are agreeing with him when we grumble, However, when we speak words of thanksgiving we are agreeing with god because the bible is full of Scriptures that instruct us to be thankful an not to complain. A thankful person is a powerful person, and when we are thankful god is able and will to do more for us than He has ever done before
We can “be “thankful even if we don’t’ practically feel thankful. We can feel wrong and still choose to do what is right. Until we learn this dynamic principal, there is no hope of
Truly walking in the Sprit.

The Apostle Paul, who knew much suffering during his life, and certainly had reason to complain about some of his circumstances, said this,

Philippians 4:11-12 -:11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

In other words we need to stay thankful in every situation no matter how we feel. True gratitude is not only being thankful when things are going well but also remaining steadfast when dealing with life’s struggles , obstacles and disappointments when god sees that we are thankful not matter what He can answer our prayer.

Hindrances To Answered PraYeR

4:Doubt and unbelief
We know that faith in god is the foundational to answered payer, so it stands to reason that doubt and unbelief-which are opposites of faith –will keep our prayers from being answered. Faith is a powerful spiritual dynamic, and it something God responds to and blesses. But our faith is not without opposition .Satan will attack our minds with doubt, unbelief and questioning, and when he does, we need to check in which our hearts and see what they say. We can believe something in our hearts even when our minds questions it, and we need to go with what is in our hearts and not with what is in our heads, We are not supposed to believe our doubts we are supposed to doubt our doubts and believe our God.

One of the keys to overcome doubts and unbelief is found in

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Who is the leader and the source of our faith .. and is also its finisher.
Many times , doubt and unbelief start with distraction, when we are distracted from God’s promises or God ‘s ability to come thorough for us,then we begin to doubt. We start thinking more and more about our problems or our challengers, and then our faith begins to diminish But we need to do what Hebrew 12:2 says to do and keep looking to Jesus.In order to resist doubt ad stay in faith ,we need to stare at Him, at his goodness ,at His ability to help us , at his love for us, and meagerly glance at our problems. We do not deny the existence of problems but we do effuse to pay too much attention to them
We have to remember that He is the source of our faith and he finishes what he stars-so there’s no reason to doubt .
The apostle James said tat when we doubt, we become double –minded and the double-minded man receives nothing he asks for from God because he is unstable in all of his ways.

James 1:6-8
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways

We need to decide what we have believe and not change our minds when our circumstances begin to waver, We need to remember that

John 11:40
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

Promises that we will see the Glory of god is seen only, if we believe!

5:Praying outside of God’s will
Not praying according to God’s will of course, keeps our prayers from being answered One of the best way to make sure we are praying in the will of God it to pray the Word as much as we can.
We will not find Scriptures that address all our needs or wants in detail but we ill find Scriptures that tell us God will meet our needs.
Sometime there are thing we want to pray for but we are not sure whether those thing are god’s will for us, according to scripture. In those cases we simply need to ask God to give it if it is his will to do so, and to help us be satisfied with his decision
One the other hand, there are other things we know to be part of god’s will because He does specify them in his Word.
When we pray in agreement with gods will we will have what we ask for, We may have to wait because god’s timing is part of his will.

6:Prayer with the wrong motives

James 4:2
You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

Your do not have, because you do know ask, or you do ask and yet fail to received, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives.
In prayer, the reason we pray is much more important that the words we say . God look at our hearts, and when He see an impure motive, He cannot answer prayer.
Having a pure heart that truly loves God and loves people is always an acceptable motive to the lord .Selfishness is unacceptable; revenge is unacceptable ;manipulation and control are unacceptable; jealously is unacceptable ,pride is unacceptable , In fact everything that is selfish and unloving is an unacceptable motive .
We need to be asking God to purify our hearts on a regular basis so that we can pray with the right motives , We need to honestly examine or motives. Taking a look at our motives can be painful, but it must be done if we truly desire to live before God with pure hearts.

Hindrances To Answered PraYeR

Prayer in simple terms is termed as the communication that we have with God.
Communication in layman’s language is exchange of thought and ideas between two individuals. Like a simple communication with you friends on a telephone or out in a park, there are many thing that can disturb that conversation, like noise, misunderstanding ect. Similarly there are some things that can act in ways of disturbances or hinders to answered prayer. Here are a few.

1: prayerlessness
I know this sounds simple , but our prayer are not answered when we do not pray
The bible says ‘You do not have, because you do not ask ‘
We have to ask for what we want and need,sometimes we work on situation in our minds or talk about them with our friends or wish or hope but we do not pray Thinking , wishing hoping and talking with others are not prayer; only prayer is prayer , When we have a need or a situation that concerns us, we are only praying when we talk to God about it
Did you know that God is waiting for us to make requests of him in prayer? Prayerlessness acts as a hindrances for god to open a door for us in our problems, or even from working in your lives and in the lives of your loved ones

2. Lack of boldness
Not only do we need to pray in order to have our prayers answered, we also need to pray, boldly , which means without fear and unreservedly Jesus has made a way for us to approach God with boldness because he made us righteous through His death on the cross, Because of what he has done for us, we can go to God with total confidence and pray unashamedly knowing that he loves us , hears us , and will answer our prayers in the best possible way So come to the Courts of his presence in boldness with your offering of thanksgiving , praise and supplications

3.Sin
Psalms says :’if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me” In other words sin that we are aware and refuse to deal with is a hindrance to answered prayer. None of us are perfect .We many all have something in our lives that displeases God , but it may be unintentional and we may not even realize it. Once God convicts us of sin and makes us aware of it, we must deal with it Otherwise we are regarding iniquity in our heart in that case God will not hear us.
If we have sin hidden in our hearts we cannot pray with confidence that god will answer.
When God reveals sin in our lives, we nee to stop what we are doing and repent, We need to revers him so much that we take him seriously and immediately! This means we do everything within our power to make sure that our relationship with him is clear an pure and unobstructed by sin Otherwise our prayer will go unheard and unanswered.

There are few more aspects that act as hindrance to answered prayer ‘God willing! ’We would be looking into them individually over this month. ‘May this help you in your prayer life and mine?