Hindrances To Effective Prayer

by R. Armstrong, London, Ontario | Category: Prayer | May 1979

Effective Prayer Defined

Bible recorded prayers of great men and women of God were not taken out of a book. These prayers were the language of the hearts of those who were hungry for God and would not rest satisfied until they found Him. The Spirit of God has left many of their prayer experiences in the divine record for our help. David wrote of such longings in Psa. 63:1, "0 God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee, in a dry and weary land, where no water is".

Much that passes for prayer today is but a parody of the true nature of this holy exercise. To some people prayer is a part of the liturgy of the Church. The mere recitation of thoughts poured into the mould of written language often fails to touch the heart and meet the deep inner longings of those who seek fellowship with God.

There are many true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ (and we would not doubt their spiritual experience) who have little more than a passing acquaintance with prayer in the Holy Spirit. "Minute prayers" are in religious vogue today and they are usually placed last in importance at the end of a busy day. The Bible knows nothing of this kind of prayer (Nehemiah's short prayer was in a different category). There are other shallow grades of prayer taught in some Christian communities that have left their mark on twentieth century spirituality. The spiritual life of any generation is a reflection of its teaching and prayer life.

In a day of digest reading, business and family pressures, the onslaught of noisy commercials and late night television shows (which unfortunately many Christians watch to the detriment of their spiritual lives) we are being distracted by the complexities of modern living to a point where the "quiet corner" and the "still small voice" of God in communion are crowded out. We are losing the art of prayerful meditation. Neglect of the out-of-sight roots of spiritual life dims our vision, and dulls our hearing to the voice of God in His word. We are in danger of becoming so accustomed to lower standards that we may think they are normal, and the same goes for prayer life.

Effective Prayer Experienced

Some Bible examples of God's great servants in prayer will help us in our search for a deeper and more effective prayer life:

(1) The twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, on the south west shores of the Dead Sea, were largely given over to the moral filth of homosexuality, and lay under the threat of divine judgment.

Abraham was in deep conversation with the Lord who appeared to him at the oaks of Mamre (Gen. 18) and pleaded with Him to spare the two cities if some righteous people could be found. Perhaps Abraham hoped against hope that the tide could be turned. Beginning with a possible fifty righteous persons he dared to scale it down in six intercessory prayers to ten persons, if they could be found. Perhaps his nephew Lot had won a few souls to the Lord out of all that wicked society. What if there was a small assembly of God-fearing people in Sodom? Surely that would be sufficient reason for God to spare the cities. Unhappily Lot had not been a successful soul-winner. Not even his own two sons-in-law had listened to him.

The lessons here are, (a) God knew exactly the number of righteous people there were and yet He listened to Abraham instead of brushing him aside by saying, "praying is of no use". (b) Abraham had an unusual insight into the heart and ways of God. He knew God intimately by years of experience and fellowship in the path of obedience. (c) God was willing to spare that corrupt society for the sake of ten righteous persons. Amazing mercy!

(2) Elijah the prophet from Tishbeh, in the rugged hill country of Gilead, is another outstanding example of an intercessor who knew God.

He walked into the palace of Ahab, king of Israel, and announced, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word" (1 Kin. 17:1). It took rare courage to do what he did, but Elijah knew he was right. He cared not for the opinions of the high court of Ahab, nor of his ministers, who no doubt heard the almost incredible prediction of impending drought "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (Jas. 5:16 AV). Elijah prayed that God would terminate the three and a half year drought in the country. Cloudless skies over him seemed as brass yet he heard the sound of a great rain, transmitted by the Holy Spirit to the prophet's ears. He knew from that moment he was in the will of God in praying for rain. The drought was over. The priests of Baal were dead. The people had returned to God as a result of Elijah's victory in the Mount Carmel contest with Baal. The curse Moses had prophesied in Deut. 11:16-17 that if Israel served other Gods the heavens would be shut up, had been lifted.

Elijah's prayer experience involved climbing to the top of Carmel, where he sat with his face between his knees, perhaps for hours. He remained that way in fervent prayer while his servant made seven trips towards the sea, until the cloud as small as a man's hand appeared on the western horizon to signal the approaching deluge. Effectual prayer is never an easy experience, and always has a cost in personal sacrifice which all too few of us are prepared to pay.

Hebrews 5:7-8 provides a deep insight into our Lord's prayer life, "Who in the days of His flesh having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him who was able to save Him from death, and having been heard for His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered". "Strong crying and tears" touches our Lord's dependent Manhood. Two points of view are suggested in God's answer to His Son's prayers, "To save Him from (out of) death". This could mean premature death, for Satan had tried to plot His death from Bethlehem to Calvary. Maybe he vainly thought that he could thus foil the purpose of God in redemption. The other view is that to "save Him from death" means His resurrection. In either case we have a beautiful example of effectual answered prayer, all in the will of God.

Counterfeit Prayer

God spoke to Israel about their bogus religious activity. He said they were a "sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that deal corruptly: they have forsaken the Lord" and yet they were coming with their sacrifices to the temple, to be seen in the courts of the Lord for show (Isa. 1:4,12,13). The prophet's message showed up their fraudulent piety. "Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth: they are a trouble unto Me... and when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear" (Isa. 1:14-16). It should give all the Lord's people great concern that we can read about Israel's sin and idolatry and immoral conduct, and yet fail to recognize our own spiritual poverty, and the need for corrective ministry in our lives.

Effective Prayer Hindered

Unconfessed sin hinders effective prayer, and it is likely that this

is more prevalent than we are prepared to face up to. And let us remember that prayer, although so often hindered by sin, is the very means through which sin is confessed. A noted Bible teacher told a large Christian audience, on reliable authority, that the greatest single sin among Christians in America today is immorality. Sin is deceitful (Heb. 3:13) and can only be shown up for what it is under the scrutiny of the word of God. In this age of permissive behaviour we need a greater sensitivity to sin. We are told that sin is relative and not absolute. The standards of God, once upheld by many God-fearing people, are now being sacrificed on the altars of lust and free love, in what is now regarded by many as the post-Christian era.

The value of the daily application of the word of God to our lives cannot be overestimated. It "is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12). Our thought processes are very vulnerable to sin. Actions of all kinds are conceived, premeditated and carried out in the mind, often long before the overt act is committed. The extent to which our actions are of unholy character determines how much our prayer life is hindered.

It has been said that an idle mind is the Devil's workshop. It is not what enters the mind and by which we are tempted that is the problem, but what is entertained, enjoyed and allowed to develop, that brings defilement. Many who have lived near the Lord have confessed that the greatest battles in their Christian experience have been fought in the arena of the mind. Even in the pursuit of holiness there comes unbidden into the mind defiling thoughts. The mind is the seed plot of all actions, whether good or evil, and it is amazing how quickly mental images are flashed on to the screen of the mind. James 1:13-15 describes how evil thoughts become full grown and deadly. Whatever the mind is occupied with the hands will be doing or the tongue will be speaking, sooner or later. The mind quickly gravitates to the secular, the material or the sensual, and these appetites can be a serious threat to effective prayer.

David's great sin did not develop in a moment. It was premeditated. He was out of touch with God, and that only happened because his prayer life was neglected. Had he been on his knees about His army, away fighting against the Ammonites, he would not have been locked in a sinful embrace with Bathsheba.

There are many legitimate things, not necessarily sinful, that can hinder effective prayer. These are much more difficult to handle because they are not obviously black or white as are most moral problems. It is not that we stop doing normal, legitimate things that are necessary to physical life. It is how we handle them that counts with God. The important question is, where do our affinities lie, and what priorities are we willing to impose? We must answer these questions on our knees.

Effective Prayer Restored

In whatever measure we have drifted away from effective prayer in our lives, so must be the measure of our restoration, if we are willing. And we are only fooling ourselves if we think we have, plenty of time to do this. Time is not on our side, because the fast moving events of our times, so full of prophetic significance, are now almost shouting at us Christians that the return of our Lord is very near. Can we look at some of the things we must do to restore prayer to its rightful place in our lives?

*Ask God to give us a fresh desire for a new prayer life.

*Give one hour a day for prayer and the Lord will give us more time to accomplish other things than we ever had before. This is being proved by experience and you cannot argue with success. Try it!

*Re-arrange our priorities, placing prayer and Bible reading at the top.

*Return to the family altar where prayer and Bible reading has been known to change the domestic scene from an endurance test into a joyful experience for parents and children alike.

*Wise management of time in business life, even amid the pressures, prayerfully worked out with the Lord, has been known to eliminate time consuming "work addiction" that plagues many a Christian.

*Let husbands and wives look at 1 Peter 3:7 for a new prayer therapy.

*Seek through humility and confession of sin that a fresh experience of the overwhelming love of God may come into our hearts, and bring revival in the work of the Lord (Psa. 85:6: Hab. 3:2; Rom. 5:5).

*Ask God to give us an increasing burden of love for the unsaved in these desperate days.

*Resolve to put away all worldliness and evil from our lives that the Lord may be able to use us more effectively in His service.

Prayer

Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw;

Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw;

Gives exercise to faith and love,

Brings every blessing from above.

Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;

Prayer makes the Christian's armour bright;

And Satan trembles when he sees

The weakest saint upon his knees.

While Moses stood with arms spread wide,