Page 69 - The Importance of Prayer Student Textbook

for another world. Remember, Ecclesiastes 1:8 The eye is never satisfied by seeing, nor the ear by

hearing. Colossians 3:1-4 your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is yourlife,
appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Another hindrance which I briefly alluded to in the above paragraph is the love of money which is the
root of all kinds of evil. (I Timothy 6:10) As I have already stated this love of money creates an appetite
for greediness which is idolatry according to Colossian 3:5. This in turn causes us to turn our ear away
from those in need which causes us to violate, Proverbs 21:13. Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the
poor will also cry himself and not be heard. Notice that when greed grabs ahold of us that there is a
tendency to turn our ear away from those in deeper poverty than ourselves. When we do this and cry
out to God, He turns His ear away from our cry. Greed is especially hard to see in ourselves because we
constantly compare ourselves to others, which have more material possessions than we have. Jesus
warned people much more about greed than sexual sins. In Luke 12 Jesus says, watch out, be on guard
against all kinds of greed. The probing question I have for those living in Africa is this. As you walk by a
street child do you still find a tug at your heart to help them, or, do you turn your head to the left and
right saying no, as you hold your hand out to distance yourself from them? Do you see the street child
and lift your voice to God in prayer and say, but for the grace of God, so be I? Please pray that our Lord
would open our eyes to see the grip of greed because this sin is virtually impossible to see, no matter
where we live in the world.

I Peter 3:7 tells us that; In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife
with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner
in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered. Yes, many wives
treat their husbands with disrespect also and likewise their prayers are hindered. Many husbands and
wives hold onto unforgiveness and this was covered in the section, praying the Lord’s prayer for spiritual
breakthrough.

Many people say that God answers prayer in three ways; yes, no, and not at this time. But when our
prayers are not answered is there any effort given to discover why the answer is no. Do we ask if we
have asked in the will of God? Do we pray the dangerous prayer of Psalm 139:23-24? Or do we just
hurriedly run past the unanswered prayer and ask for something else. What we do with our unanswered
prayers will determine what God will be able to do with us.

My list of hindrances is not an exhaustive list but an introductory list. The last hindrance I want to talk
about is pride. Pride is what cause the fall of Satan; see Isaiah 14:13. God says in Isaiah 42:8, I am the
Lord! That is my name, and I will not give my glory to anyone else. God and God alone has to have the
supreme place in our lives. However, humans have a deep fear of powerlessness stemming from their
alienation from God. We must have control, and therefore, power idols surface in our lives in a variety
of ways. To be your own God and live for your own glory and power leads to the most bestial and cruel
kind of behavior. Pride makes you a predator, not a person. It is vital that we remember that the way to
go up is to go down, and the way down is to go up. He must increase and we must decrease. (John 3:30)

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