Hindrances to Prayer, Part 58 (The Prayer Motivator Devotional #469)

Our prayer motivator verse for today is Jonah 2:1 and 7 which reads: “Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly…When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

We observe here that Jonah also reflects on the earnestness of his prayer, and God’s readiness to hear and answer. If we would get good by our troubles, we must notice the hand of God in them. He had wickedly fled from the presence of the Lord, who might justly take his Holy Spirit from him, never to visit him more. Those only are miserable, whom God will no longer own and favour. But though he was perplexed, yet not in despair. Jonah reflects on the favour of God to him, when he sought to God, and trusted in him in his distress. He warns others, and tells them to keep close to God. Those who forsake their own duty, forsake their own mercy; those who run away from the work of their place and day, run away from the comfort of it. As far as a believer copies those who observe lying vanities, he forsakes his own mercy, and lives below his privileges. But Jonah’s experience encourages others, in all ages, to trust in God, as the God of salvation.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: God wants us, as we pray, to intercede for others, or to pray for others. Intercessory prayer takes our minds off ourselves and puts the needs of others at the center of our prayers. God blesses intercessory prayer. J. Gordon Henry, a powerful teacher of intercessory prayer, says: “Prayer enables God to do things He would otherwise not do. Prayer is not a means to get man’s will done in Heaven; rather, prayer is God’s ordained means for getting God’s will done in earth.”

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Andrew Murray. He said: “While others still slept, He went away to pray and to renew His strength in communion with His Father. He had need of this, otherwise He would not have been ready for the new day. The holy work of delivering souls demands constant renewal through fellowship with God.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 58 of our series titled “HINDRANCES TO PRAYER” from Dr. John R. Rice.

You can know the sweet intimacy with God that you long for; you may know it this very day. You may then live a life of unhindered prayer and daily, glorious answers. So in the light of God’s Word, and submitting yourself to the searching of the Holy Spirit, I urge you today to confess honestly and to turn your heart away from every known sin and then claim the forgiveness and the cleansing which God has so freely promised to all of His own who confess their sins!

Is there nothing between your soul and the Saviour? Have you humbly searched your heart anew in the light of God’s Word, and found nothing to hinder your prayers? Oh, then, dear Christian, enter into your inheritance and begin the abundant life of prayer, asking and receiving that your joy may be full!

+ Plus, listen to Avalon singing “If My People Prayed”

Hindrances to Prayer, Part 57 (The Prayer Motivator Devotional #468)

Our prayer motivator verse for today is Jonah 2:1 and 7 which reads: “Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly… When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

We observe here when Jonah prayed: When he was in trouble, under the tokens of God’s displeasure against him for sin: when we are in affliction we must pray. Being kept alive by miracle, he prayed. A sense of God’s good-will to us, notwithstanding our offences, opens the lips in prayer, which were closed with the dread of wrath. Also, where he prayed; in the belly of the fish. No place is amiss for prayer. Men may shut us from communion with one another, but not from communion with God. To whom he prayed; to the Lord his God. This encourages even backsliders to return. What his prayer was. This seems to relate his experience and reflections, then and afterwards, rather than to be the form or substance of his prayer.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: Another reason people do not pray is because people love sin. John Bunyan said, “Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.” Frankly, some people do not pray because they are involved in sin, and they do not want to let that sin go. The main hindrance to a Christian’s prayer life is unconfessed sin. How about you? Is the reason why you don’t pray because you know that if you pray right, you will have to get rid of the sin in your life? Instead of holding on to your sin, pray that God will give you the desire and ability to turn away from your sin and deliver you from temptation so that your prayers can be effective.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Andrew Bonar. He said: “One of the gravest perils which besets the ministry is a restless scattering of energies over an amazing multiplicity of interests which leaves no margin of time and of strength for receptive and absorbing communion with God.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 57 of our series titled “HINDRANCES TO PRAYER” from Dr. John R. Rice.

A confession, in the sense that is meant in I John 1:9, would involve a simple faith that God is willing to forgive and cleanse us as He has promised. We are God’s own dear children. We are dear to His heart. For us He gave His own Son. He has already given us everlasting life and promised to take us home to Heaven. We have never deserved His mercy, and we do not deserve it now; but He loves us still. And so a Christian can confess his sin, safe in the assurance that God has promised to forgive and cleanse, and God cannot lie. We are under a covenant relationship with Him. Our forgiveness is based on His faithfulness, not on our faithfulness.

So, any time a Christian is conscious of his sin, judges the sin and takes sides against it with a penitent heart, then he has a perfect right to trust the Lord for instant, complete forgiveness and for perfect cleansing.

+ Plus, listen to Mandisa singing “He is With You”

Hindrances to Prayer, Part 55 (The Prayer Motivator Devotional #466)

Our prayer motivator verse for today is Mark 11:24 which reads: “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

Christ taught them [His disciples] from hence to pray in faith. It may be applied to that mighty faith with which all true Christians are endued, and which does wonders in spiritual things. It justifies us, and so removes mountains of guilt, never to rise up in judgment against us. It purifies the heart, and so removes mountains of corruption, and makes them plain before the grace of God. One great errand to the throne of grace is to pray for the pardon of our sins; and care about this ought to be our daily concern.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: Another reason people do not pray is because of self-confidence. There are many men and women, whom God has blessed with multiple gifts, who do not pray because they feel that they can do it all by themselves. They feel like they can handle it. These people are walking in the flesh and feel as though they do not need to ask for God’s help through prayer. Galatians 5:16 commands us to, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Don’t let self-confidence hinder you from praying to God.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Charles Spurgeon. He said: “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 55 of our series titled “HINDRANCES TO PRAYER” from Dr. John R. Rice.

The Christian is not to “do penance” for his sins. Paying money, doing without food, sleeping on boards, or fasting a certain number of days – these, as a matter of penance, or suffering, trying to pay for sins as a criminal spends a certain number of years in prison to “pay his debt to society,” is not what God demands.

No, the dear Lord simply and plainly promises, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I think that an honest confession of sin would involve an honest realization in the heart of one’s failure and sin. Confession cannot be simply a matter of the lips. For the mouth to say, “I have sinned,” when the heart still says, “But it was not very bad, and it was not altogether my fault,” is not true confession of sin. Another way to say this is that the Christian must honestly judge his sin in the light of God’s Word and the revelation of the Holy Spirit of how God feels toward the sin.

+ Plus, listen to Tobymac singing “City On Our Knees”

Hindrances to Prayer, Part 54 (The Prayer Motivator Devotional #465)

Our prayer motivator verse for today is Luke 11:1 which reads: “And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

“Lord, teach us to pray,” is a good prayer, and a very needful one, for Jesus Christ only can teach us, by his word and Spirit, how to pray. Lord, teach me what it is to pray; Lord, stir up and quicken me to the duty; Lord, direct me what to pray for; teach me what I should say. Christ taught them a prayer, much the same that he had given before in his sermon upon the mount. There are some differences in the words of the Lord’s prayer in Matthew and in Luke, but they are of no moment. Let us in our requests, both for others and for ourselves, come to our heavenly Father, confiding in his power and goodness.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: One reason people do not pray is because of unbelief. People do not pray because they do not believe God, they do not believe in God, and they do not believe God’s Word. If a person really believed that God is and that “he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”, and if they really believed the Word of God which says that God hears and answers prayer, then they would pray.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from A.W. Tozer. He said: “The church that is not jealously protected by mighty intercession and sacrificial labors will before long become the abode of every evil bird and the hiding place for unsuspected corruption. The creeping wilderness will soon take over that church that trusts in its own strength and forgets to watch and pray.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 54 of our series titled “HINDRANCES TO PRAYER” from Dr. John R. Rice.

How to Get the Hindrances Removed

Are your prayers hindered? Well, thank God, there is a remedy. The hindrances can be torn down. Even this very day you may feel again the smile of God’s face and hear the whisper of His Spirit and know that there is nothing between you and God.

In John 1:9 we are given this blessed promise, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Confession – that is the remedy for your sin. A Christian does not have to atone for his sins. In fact, no man can possibly atone for his sins. The atonement was completed by Jesus Christ; and thank God, on the cross He cried out, “It is finished”! Let no one, then, think that he must go through a long period of time, trying to earn God’s favor and to lay up credit so that his prayers can be answered.

+ Plus, listen to Mandisa singing “God Speaking”

Hindrances to Prayer, Part 53 (The Prayer Motivator Devotional #464)

Our prayer motivator verse for today is Psalm 65:2 which reads: “O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

All the praise the Lord receives from this earth is from Zion, being the fruit of the Spirit of Christ, and acceptable through him. Praise is silent unto thee, as wanting words to express the great goodness of God. He reveals himself upon a mercy-seat, ready to hear and answer the prayers of all who come unto him by faith in Jesus Christ…By faith and prayer we may keep up communion with God, and bring in comfort from him, wherever we are. But it is only through that blessed One, who approaches the Father as our Advocate and Surety, that sinners may expect or can find this happiness.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: Be aware, as you make up your mind to pray more, and as you actually pray more, things are not going to immediately be a bed of roses; your days are not going to be problem-free. Quite the contrary. Why? Because Satan will be there to meet you head-on. He does not want you to pray; he does not want you to tap into your source of strength and power; he does not want you to call upon Jesus. So therefore, he will throw every obstacle your way to prevent you from praying. Satan does not mind you learning about prayer, but he does not want you to get into the habit of praying. Why? Because something happens when a Christian prays; something happens when a Christian communicates with God. Satan does not want the Christian to pray because he knows he will be defeated through prayer.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from E.M. Bounds. He said: “Prayer is of transcendent importance. Prayer is the mightiest agent to advance God’s work. Praying hearts and hands only can do God’s work. Prayer succeeds when all else fails.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 53 of our series titled “HINDRANCES TO PRAYER” from Dr. John R. Rice.

Dear child of God, if you would have God’s blessing on your prayer life, then let your heart cry out in the words of the old song – “Return, O holy Dove, return, Sweet messenger of rest! I hate the sins that made thee mourn, And drove Thee from my breast. The dearest idol I have known, Whate’er that idol be, Help me to tear it from Thy throne, And worship only Thee.”

Maybe you loudly insist, “I don’t see any harm in the theater.” Perhaps you repeatedly say, “There is nothing wrong with a nice dance if you have it with nice people.” Perhaps you say, “Well, if I never do anything worse than smoke a cigarette, I think I am pretty good.” But the plain truth is, if you in your heart excuse your sin and “regard” it and love it, then it is an issue between you and God. And that controversy will block the answer to your prayers and will steal away your peace, and leave you helpless and powerless like Samson with his hair cut off. Oh, dear friend, the smallest sin in the world, if it breaks your contact with God, will leave you powerless and your prayers without results.

It may be the love of money. It may be a shameful secret love has entered into your life. It may be a sin that nobody but God knows about. But if you love a sin and hide it, and take up for it, then your prayers will be hindered.

+ Plus, listen to Casting Crowns singing “What if His People Prayed?”

Hindrances to Prayer, Part 51 (The Prayer Motivator Devotional #462)

Our prayer motivator verse for today is Acts 1:12-14 which reads: “Then returned they [the disciples] unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

God can find hiding-places for his people. They made supplication. All God’s people are praying people. It was now a time of trouble and danger with the disciples of Christ; but if any is afflicted, let him pray; that will silence cares and fears. They had now a great work to do, and before they entered upon it, they were earnest in prayer to God for his presence. They were waiting for the descent of the Spirit, and abounded in prayer. Those are in the best frame to receive spiritual blessings, who are in a praying frame. Christ had promised shortly to send the Holy Ghost; that promise was not to do away with prayer, but to quicken and encourage it. A little company united in love, exemplary in their conduct, fervent in prayer, and wisely zealous to promote the cause of Christ, are likely to increase rapidly.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: A second reason why we faint in prayer is because of delay. We think that God is on our time and that He pays every Friday. But we must remind ourselves that God is on His own time and like the old preachers down in Georgia used to say: “God may not come when you want Him to but He’s always right on time.” Remember, a day is like a thousand years to God and a thousand years is like one day to God. For those of you who have been saved a while, we know that time after time God has delivered us—right on time. When things seemed hopeless, God brought us through. He heard our prayer. Bank on it, dear friends, God wants to hear your prayer more than you want to pray. He delights in hearing us pray to Him. He wants to answer our prayers. He wants to bless us. He delights in blessing us. But, most importantly, He wants to hear from us.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Adrian Rogers. He said: “The prayer offered to God in the morning during your quiet time is the key that unlocks the door of the day. Any athlete knows that it is the start that ensures a good finish.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 51 of our series titled “HINDRANCES TO PRAYER” from Dr. John R. Rice.

What does God say in Psalm 66:18? If I regard iniquity in my heart God will not hear me. I am a sinner, but, oh, I must not love sin. And if I hold any particular sin in my heart and love it, and make an alibi for it, and excuse it, and cover it up – then that becomes a cause of controversy between me and God. God hates sin, but God has a remedy for sin. I John 1:9 says, If we Christians confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So it is not primarily the fact of sin, but it is a love for sin, a willingness to sin, an excusing of sin that make it so God cannot answer our prayers.

+ Plus, listen to Mahalia Jackson singing “Sweet Hour of Prayer”

Hindrances to Prayer, Part 50 (The Prayer Motivator Devotional #461)

Our prayer motivator verse for today is 2 Chronicles 7:14 which reads: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

God says, “There will I make myself known, and there will I be called upon.’’ He promised to answer the prayers of his people that should at any time be made in that place. National judgments are here supposed, famine, and pestilence, and perhaps war, for by the locusts devouring the land meant enemies as greedy as locusts, and laying all waste. National repentance, prayer, and reformation, are required. God expects that his people who are called by his name, if they have dishonoured his name by their iniquity, should honour it by accepting the punishment of their iniquity. They must be humble themselves under his hand, must pray for the removal of the judgment, must seek the face and favour of God; and yet all this will not do unless they turn from their wicked ways, and return to the God from whom they have revolted. National mercy is then promised, that God will forgive their sin, which brought the judgment upon them, and then heal their land, redress all their grievances. Pardoning mercy makes ways for healing mercy.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: There are three reasons we faint in prayer: (1) doubt; (2) delay; and (3) the devil. The devil tries to plant the seeds of doubt in our minds about this matter of prayer. He tries to cause doubt in our minds as to whether or not God is even hearing our prayer. He tries to plant doubt in our mind as to whether or not you are even worthy of praying. He tries to plant little doubts in our minds to keep us from praying and sometimes, unfortunately, he succeeds, and we don’t pray as we ought to pray. When the devil comes to you and tries to plant doubt in your mind about prayer, reject it, and pray anyway.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from E.M. Bounds. He said: “There is power through prayer. For many Christians, prayer is nothing special, just something we’re supposed to do – go to church, tithe, read the Bible, pray. But prayer should be so much more than an item on our “to do” lists.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 50 of our series titled “HINDRANCES TO PRAYER” from Dr. John R. Rice.

Any Unconfessed, Unlamented, Unrepented Sin, Grieves God and Hinders the Prayers of His Children

I have given you some sample cases where particular sins are mentioned in God’s Word as hindering our prayers. But I cannot mention every detail. God’s Spirit must do that for you. But let us find a general rule which you can apply to your own heart and life and find what grieves God.

In Psalm 66:18 are these solemn words, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

I want you to notice what God did NOT say. God did not say that if I have sinned, He will not hear me. No, no! Thank God, He did not say that; for if He had then God could never hear a human being pray. For all of us have sinned. He did not even say that if at this moment there is any sin in the life, He would not hear us. For I John 1:8 teaches us plainly that all of us have (present tense) sin in our lives all the time. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” The constant presence of human frailty, of bodily illness, the encroachments of age and infirmity, the limitations to our prayer and soul winning, all testify that we have sin, even now, and that we will have until we are translated when Jesus comes, or until we die. If Paul needed to say, “When I would do good, evil is present with me” (Rom. 7:21), so do the rest of us need to say it. I cannot come to God and ask anything of Him on the basis that I am sinless and perfect and that there is not in my heart, unknown to me, unseen to my neighbors, a single thing that is less than His best, a single thing that is not as pure as an angel or as Christ Himself. No, no! I am a sinner. But I can still get my prayers answered.

+ Plus, listen to CeCe Winans singing “Say a Prayer”

Hindrances to Prayer, Part 48 (The Prayer Motivator Devotional #459)

Our prayer motivator verse for today is James 5:16 which reads: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

In a day of affliction nothing is more seasonable than prayer. The spirit is then most humble, and the heart is broken and tender. It is necessary to exercise faith and hope under afflictions; and prayer is the appointed means for obtaining and increasing these graces. Observe, that the saving of the sick is not ascribed to the anointing with oil, but to prayer. In a time of sickness it is not cold and formal prayer that is effectual, but the prayer of faith. The great thing we should beg of God for ourselves and others in the time of sickness is, the pardon of sin. Let nothing be done to encourage any to delay, under the mistaken fancy that a confession, a prayer, a minister’s absolution and exhortation, or the sacrament, will set all right at last, where the duties of a godly life have been disregarded.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: Have you ever had the thought to come to your mind to pray? You were not thinking about prayer, you were not talking with anyone about prayer, and you were not reading anything on prayer, but the thought came seemingly out of nowhere: why don’t you go ahead and pray now. I have had many of those experiences. And the only answer I can give for that prompting to pray is that the Holy Spirit of God prompts us to pray at different times. It is definitely not from the devil because the devil does not want us to pray. In fact, the last thing the devil wants you to do is pray. So when the thought comes across your mind to pray, no matter where you are or what you are doing, make sure you take note of that thought and pray.”

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Samuel Chadwick. He said: “Intensity is a law of prayer. God is found by those who seek Him with all their heart. Wrestling prayer prevails. The fervent effectual prayer of the righteous is of great force.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 48 of our series titled “HINDRANCES TO PRAYER” from Dr. John R. Rice.

Even lost people wanting salvation do well to turn and read the Word of God. As you with an earnest heart seek to find God in the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit will reveal Him. The God Who answers prayer is the God of the Bible. He is not only the God Who wrote the Bible, but the God Who yet today reveals Himself in the Bible and gives His blessings to those who love the Bible.

A disinclination to read the Word of God, to meditate on it, to learn it, to follow it, to search it out, shows sin in the heart. When a Christian, a born-again child of God, shows indifference to the Word of God, then we may know that he is living after the carnal, fleshly mind. For I Corinthians 2:14 says, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The blessed Holy Spirit has an affinity for the Word of God, which He inspired. The conscious fullness of the Spirit and the keenest delight in the Word of God go together. People who are full of the Spirit are also full of the Word of God. The natural mind is a stranger from God and is not interested in the Bible. And the carnal or undeveloped and untaught and unspiritual Christian is likely to have no taste for the Word of God. A state of disinterestedness in the Bible is an unspiritual state, a state of backsliding and sin.

+ Plus, listen to the Katinas singing “Praying for You”

Hindrances to Prayer, Part 41 (The Prayer Motivator Devotional #452)

Our prayer motivator verse for today is Matthew 6:5 which reads: “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”

Allow me to share with you some important insights regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

It is taken for granted that all who are disciples of Christ pray. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray. If prayerless, then graceless. The Scribes and Pharisees were guilty of two great faults in prayer, vain-glory and vain repetitions. “Verily they have their reward;” if in so great a matter as is between us and God, when we are at prayer, we can look to so poor a thing as the praise of men, it is just that it should be all our reward. Yet there is not a secret, sudden breathing after God, but he observes it. It is called a reward, but it is of grace, not of debt; what merit can there be in begging? If he does not give his people what they ask, it is because he knows they do not need it, and that it is not for their good. So far is God from being wrought upon by the length or words of our prayers, that the most powerful intercessions are those which are made with groanings that cannot be uttered. Let us well study what is shown of the frame of mind in which our prayers should be offered, and learn daily from Christ how to pray.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: God is not going to make you pray, but you ought to pray. God does not make you pray. But if you want to see souls saved in your ministry, if you want to see revival, if you want to see God bless your family and your children, if you want to see all of your needs met, then it is best for you to pray, it behooves you to pray—you ought to pray.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from The Kneeling Christian. He said: “Do we realize that there is nothing the devil dreads so much as prayer? His great concern is to keep us from praying. He loves to see us “up to our eyes” in work – provided we do not pray. He does not fear because we are eager and earnest Bible students – provided we are little in prayer.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 41 of our series titled “HINDRANCES TO PRAYER” from Dr. John R. Rice.

In I Samuel 15, we see that Saul came back leading King Agag, alive, behind his chariot and with a great number of sheep and oxen as a spoil, which he said he intended to offer as sacrifices to God. But, oh, how the wrath of God mounted up against Saul for his disobedience! Hear what God said to him through Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:22-23:

“And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

Immediately thereafter Saul pled with Samuel to go worship with him. Saul admitted his sin. He even laid hold upon the skirt of Samuel’s mantle, as Samuel turned indignantly away, and rent the mantle. Despite all Saul’s professed repentance, God rejected him as king. David was anointed to take his place, and Saul went steadily downhill until his suicidal death in disgrace, with his sons who, but for Saul’s self-will, might have reigned after him.

How moving is the story of how Saul tried to pray, but because of his self-will, his disobedience, God would not hear! God said to him, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” God does not want our money nor our work nor our promise one-half as much as He wants our hearts surrendered to the will of God, and an obedient, surrendered spirit. The Lord said through Samuel, “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” Rebellion, stubbornness, and self-will in dealing with God is certain to block the answer to our prayers and shut up Heaven against us!

+ Plus, listen to Manifesto singing “The City Harmonic”

Hindrances to Prayer, Part 39 (The Prayer Motivator Devotional #450)

Our prayer motivator verse for today is John 16:24 which reads: “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

Allow me to share with you some important insights regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

Asking of the Father shows a sense of spiritual wants, and a desire of spiritual blessings, with conviction that they are to be had from God only. Asking in Christ’s name, is acknowledging our unworthiness to receive any favours from God, and shows full dependence upon Christ as the Lord our Righteousness. Our Lord had hitherto spoken in short and weighty sentences, or in parables, the import of which the disciples did not fully understand, but after his resurrection he intended plainly to teach them such things as related to the Father and the way to him, through his intercession. And the frequency with which our Lord enforces offering up petitions in his name, shows that the great end of the mediation of Christ is to impress us with a deep sense of our sinfulness, and of the merit and power of his death, whereby we have access to God. And let us ever remember, that to address the Father in the name of Christ, or to address the Son as God dwelling in human nature, and reconciling the world to himself, are the same, as the Father and Son are one.

My personal encouragement to you today is this: You may ask me, Why do I need to pray more? My friend, isn’t it strange how that when God pours out His blessings upon us, instead of our getting more on fire for the Lord, we get cooler and cooler? And so, therefore, even with God’s blessings, you need to pray more. You need to understand that you don’t have the power to manage your life successfully. You need God’s direction, you need God’s power; you need His leadership in your life. No matter how much Bible you know, no matter how many Bible schools you have attended, you had better open your mouth and pray to God.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Johannes Gossner. He said, “Prayer is a spiritual law which cooperates with the mind of God. It has more in it than merely petition. It clothes itself in reality and power,with the force of God Himself. It is an attitude of spirit and mind. Language is secondary in true prayer.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 39 of our series titled “HINDRANCES TO PRAYER” from Dr. John R. Rice.

In Dallas, TX, a good Christian woman who had long proved how joyful and how prosperous it is to put God first with tithes and offerings, came to church one day with her heart all set on plans for some lovely clothes. Her husband’s bi-monthly paycheck had come Saturday night, and she had it in her purse at church, since he could not come. She thought to herself, “This one time I’ll not put in the tithe; I will give $1.00, and the rest of the money we can use so well for things we need to buy.”

But that dear Christian woman was on the committee to prepare the bread and grape juice for the communion table that Sunday morning. As she filled the little glasses her heart remembered the strict injunction, “Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat.” She dared not partake of the emblems representing the poured-out blood of the Saviour and His broken body with any known sin or rebellion in her heart. And the Spirit of God spoke insistently to her about how she planned to withhold the tithes and use it for her own ends. She could have no peace in her heart; and she cried out to God, “O Heavenly Father, I cannot take the Lord’s Supper until I know You are pleased with me!” So she solemnly promised God, “Lord, if You’ll give me the joy in my heart again and let me know that You’ve forgiven me, that there is nothing between my soul and the Saviour, I promise You that before I leave the house of God today I’ll get that check cashed and turn in the tithe and offerings that I vowed to You that I would give.” And then in sweet peace and in rememberance of the death of our dear Saviour, she took the bread which pictured His poured-out blood. She came then to tell me, her pastor, of her victory; and the tears of joy rolled down her cheeks as she told it!

Oh, dear friend, God does not care so much about your money; He wants you. He wants your trust, your full surrender, your willingness to give Him anything, everything, even yourself! How grieved He must be if any child of His does not believe Him enough, does not love Him enough to put Him first in money matters!

Many, many Christians have their hearts so set on material possessions, on money, on business that God cannot answer their prayers. Are your prayers hindered by this sin? Would God have to say to you, “Ye are cursed with a curse because ye have robbed me”?

+ Plus, listen to Daniel White Jr. singing “Prayer”