The ‘why’ of prayer can sometimes be a lot easier than the ‘how’. In the last post I tackled a little bit of the ‘why’ of prayer. Today I want to jump into the ‘how’. If vibrant prayer was easy I think a lot more people would be doing it on a deeper level. Unfortunately there is a lot of unknownn about vibrant prayer, and not in the sense that it has been found wanting but in the sense that it has been found difficult and left untried. That is not to say that it is complicated, for in fact it is quite simple, so simple a child can grasp it. Yet though it is simple it also requires great discipline. Discipline worth pursuing for at the end of the day we want our prayers to be effective, yet so many times we leave things that can hinder prayer in our lives unchecked. And today I want to come at prayer from the backside and talk about things that may drain the power from our prayers. Below are a list of some habits/sins that can negatively affect our prayer life:
- Unchecked Sin
- Pride
- Distractions
- Impure motives
- Unforgiveness
Unchecked sin. 1 Peter 4:7 tells us that ‘the end is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers.’ When we allow faithlessness/sin to enter into our lives on any level it automatically begins to cloud the effectiveness of our prayer. Jesus said that if we ask anything in faith, trusting in God, then he will answer our prayers (Matthew 21:20-21). It is nonsensical to say that we both trust in God and are faithless/disobeying Him at the same time. Psalm 14 bears witness to the fact that only those who do right and are blameless may approach God. 1 Peter 4:7 urges us to live disciplined and holy lives so that our prayers would not be hindered and in turn can be powerful and effective (James 5:16). The good news is that where we might have sin God is continually calling us to repentance and allowing us to seek His grace. Repentance can happen in an instant. Don’t ever think that you are able to approach Gods thrown by your own merit. It is only through the merit of Christ who died for us that we are able to stand before Him (Hebrews 4:14-16). And that leads us to the next stumbling block to effective prayer…
Pride. Pride is a fairly straight forward offense to God. It is essentially a slow process of our attempt to usurp the throne of Christ in our life. James 4:5-10 tells us that God resists the proud. We must be very cautious of pride in our prayer life. If you get irritated when someone points out an unflattering quality of yours… Yep, you have pride. If you constantly defend yourself in conversations and/or recount stories in such a light that makes you look better than what you actually are… Yep, pride. If you are concerned about what people think about you… Pride. If you constantly judge others then pride is lingering in the background there as well. The solution to pride however isn’t thinking and speaking much lower of yourself. No, I believe God has made us to accomplish great things and be incredible people. And the opposite of pride is not low-self-thought but rather right-self-thought. You are not a worm, despised by God, unfit for any calling. No, you are a child of the king: forgiven, redeemed, intended for greatness by the author of Great. You are loved, and vibrant prayer begins with knowing who you are in Christ.
Distractions. One of my favorite passages about Jesus is found in all 3 of the synoptic Gospels where it says that Jesus retreated to lonely places often in order to pray ( Matt 14:23-26; Mark 1:35, 14:32; Luke 5:16, 6:12, 9:18, 22:41). I believe that this seemingly innocent barrier to effective prayer is one of the greatest in our day because our culture bombards us with distractions. It is good to take a note from Jesus and withdraw from all distractions and pray. Maybe it’s a spot outside, in your attic, at the lake, or in your bedroom. One of the keys to getting away from distractions: TURN OFF YOUR DANG PHONE! And listen, if God could make time to pray then you can too.
Impure Motives. Sometimes we engage in prayer for reasons that make no sense. Jesus talked about people who do that in Matthew 6:5-8 and says that people who pray to be seen already have their reward.
Unforgiveness. “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in Heaven may also forgive you (Mark 11:25). Jesus was pretty straightforward there, but sometimes we forget the significant implications in this passage. If we have not actively forgiven someone who has harmed us (to such an extent that it has caused us distress in our being), then God will not heed our prayers. This may sound extreme but Jesus told a pretty extreme parable about the type of person who experiences great forgiveness and refuses to offer it (Matthew 18:21-35).
So in your prayer time ask God to reveal and make you aware of anything that you may be holding back. Humble yourself and go find a place to pray away from all distractions, and forgive (period).
In the next article i will be writing about things that bolster the effectiveness of our prayers.
Chatter