Monday, May 18, 2009

Avoiding the Obstacles to Prayer

1. Unforgiving Spirit

This is one of the most common hindrances to answered prayer. When we nurse a grudge or harbor ill will toward someone else, God will not deal favorably with us. This is the predominate barrier to all prayer, which is delineated in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).

Mark 11:25 (Jesus said)
“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

2. Sinful Life

Unconfessed sin in the life becomes a serious roadblock to the praying Christian. Idols in the heart cause God to turn away and allow prayers to go unanswered.

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

Isaiah 59:2
“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

3. Unbelieving Petitions

Prayers are often halted by unbelief. We read and accept God’s promises, and yet our hearts doubt their truth. It has been said that faith is only omnipotent when on its knees.

James 1:6-7
“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.”

4. Selfish Requests

Before we approach God with our self-gratifying list, we must learn that prayer is basically asking what we already know God’s will to be. And His will is contained in the revelation of His Word. The life of the Apostle Paul is an example of this principle. He does not pray for material possessions or consumable items. His petitions are never selfish or shortsighted. Paul prayed with eternity’s values in view. Too often our prayers are filled with personal comforts, earthly possessions and our desire for happiness.

James 4:3
“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

5. Lack of Marital Unity

Our prayers can go unanswered due to problems in our marriage relationship. Incidentally, the strength of a couple’s prayer life reveals the spiritual health of the marriage. When disharmony occurs, prayer is impeded.

“If unconverted people can have happy homes without prayer (and they do), how much happier Christian homes would be with prayer” (Weirsbe).

I Peter 3:7
“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Mother's Day History & Family Quiz

1. She was the mother of Moses, wife of Amram. (Ex. 6:20) ___________________

2. She was married to a fool (“churlish & evil”). What was his name? (I Sam. 25:3) ______________

3. She was a submissive, obedient wife. She was also a prayer warrior and the mother of Samuel. (I Sam. 1) _________________

4. She taught her son the Scriptures, and her mother, Lois, helped as well. (II Tim. 1:5) _______________

5. She was the mother of the mighty John the Baptist. (Luke 1:41) __________________

6. She said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” (Luke 1:46) ______________

7. “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is __________; but a woman that _______________ the Lord, she shall be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)

8. Of David’s eight wives, she had the greatest influence on him. She spared him from many hardships. (I Sam. 25) _______________


9. She was the mother of twins (Jacob and Esau). She was guilty of favoritism with her children. (Gen. 24) _________________


10. Proverbs 31:26- “She openeth her mouth with ______________; and in her tongue is the law of __________________.”


11. BONUS: She was the mother of a large family who was quoted as saying, “I will not have a godless child.” ______________________________


Did you know that the idea for Mother's Day was born in a small Methodist church in West Virginia? It was 1876 and the nation still mourned the Civil War dead. While teaching a Memorial Day lesson, Mrs. Anna Reeves Jarvis thought of mothers who had lost their sons. She prayed that one day there could be a "Memorial Day" for mothers. Her prayer made a deep impression on one of Mrs. Jarvis's eleven children. Young Anna had seen her mother's efforts to hold the war-split community and church together. As she grew into adulthood, the younger woman kept Mrs. Jarvis's dream in her heart. On the day of her mother's death, Anna was determined to establish Mother's Day in her honor.

On May 12, 1907, a local observance was held which later spread to Philadelphia. By 1910, Mother's Day was celebrated in forty-five states. On May 8, 1914, President Wilson designated the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day "for displaying the American flag and for the public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of the country."

Proverbs 31:10, 11
“Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her…”