Prayer #2

-we're studying our fourth topic in this series on Basic
Truths for every believer --talking about God's Provision
Through Prayer

- last week we studied reasons why a believer should pray
- if you've been a Christian for any length of time,
you've probably heard many if not all the reasons we
studied
- however - a very important point was - the real test of
whether we've learned something is rather it has changed
our lives

- today we're going to study some:

II. Hindrances To Prayer

INPUT - What hindrances to prayer can you think of? (I
won't take time to comment specifically on them - I've
selected several to specifically study in a minute)

A. "I don't take the time."

INPUT - what does I Thes. 5:17 say about this? - READ
- God wants us to be in a constant, prayerful
attitude so that at any time we would be able to
speak to Him in close fellowship.

- We've been talking the last couple weeks about
Bible study, and many of you have asked for some
information on how to order the
books/commentaries that have been suggested

- I'm assuming from that that there are some folks
who are going to seek to make Bible study more of
an emphasis/priority this year.

- one good study to do would be to look at all the
occurrences of the phrase "mine hour" in the gospels

- one thing you find there is that while Jesus was
obviously very busy, He was never too busy to pray

- that's an amazing thought when you think about it
- never has anyone had a more important job
- never has anyone had a better excuse to be "too
busy" to pray
- never has anyone had cause to get caught up in
sideline issues that resulted in a less effective
prayer life

- but over and over you see the Lord focused on His
hour, and God's desire for His life

- He was "goal-oriented"
- as a result, there were many things He didn't
get involved in because they didn't fit into
His Father's goals
- there were other things He did tirelessly
because they did fit into His goals

- now we're not talking about spending three hours a morning
in prayer
- Pastor spoke about this during Stewardship month - we're
not going to drag out some old illustration about the guy
that began his day with 4 hours of prayer and all the rest
- but the other side of that is - our Lord wants us to spend
regular, organized, uninterrupted time praying to Him

- Question we have to ask - Is the time I spend in prayer
pleasing to the Lord?

- one other thing I'd like us to notice about this point -
INPUT - what do you see about the way we've "worded" the
point? (made it personal - focused on our
responsibility)

B. I lack a clear conscience

- Psalm 66:18 - "If I regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will not hear me"

- I Peter 3:7 - (learner)...that your prayers be not
hindered

- Heb. 10:22 - (READ)

- point is – un-confessed sin will hinder our prayer
life
- next week we'll study a model prayer where
Jesus taught His disciples to pray. One of the
things we'll learn in that passage is that
confession is part of the prayer process.

- Matt. 5:23-26 shows just how important (READ)

C. I ask amiss

James 4:3 - INPUT - how does this verse explain the
phrase "asking amiss?"

Phil. 4:19 - what does God promise to supply in that
passage?

cf. Matt. 26:39, 42

D. I pray in the wrong name

John 14:13 - What is required when we pray?

John 16:24 - What does God desire for us as we pray?

E. I do not believe God

Matt. 7:7-8

I Peter 3:12

James 1:6-7

- break into groups (by team) (assign out anyone not on a
team)

- distribute index cards (6 per family)
- have team leaders lead - write names of each person on
team on an index card
- names of children
- any special requests

- goal - to obey the verses we've been studying by praying
specifically for folks on our teams

- take other requests we need to be praying for as a class
- evangelism
- friendliness
- reaching out to others
- growing
- serving
- stronger marriages
- parenting

- if time, have team leader lead group in prayer, or go
"around the circle - praying for the person at the right)