WHAT HINDERS YOUR PRAYERS?
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6, 7 NIV).
There are many things that hinder prayer; doubt, unbelief, sin, wrong motives etc, but there is one hindrance that often goes unnoticed, hinted at in the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to pray, as quoted in the verses above. He refers to anxiety, an emotion that is often very much part of our lives. There are many reasons why we become anxious but, according to the Apostle John: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear…” (1 John 4:18, NIV). Fear and anxiety are symptoms of our mistrust of God’s love for us. Mistrust is unbelief and unbelief is sin. In fact, any emotion that is not perfect peace will hinder our prayers because God always responds to faith.
Paul explains the process by which we can enter the peace of God that doesn’t make sense. Step one: Get rid of the anxiety. How? Since anxiety and the mistrust that underlies it, are sin, they need to be treated as sin by being brought into the light through honest confession and repentance. Our needs and concerns are not our problem. Our unbelief in the faithfulness of our heavenly Father is the problem that causes the anxiety, fear or whatever emotion underlies the mistrust in our hearts against God.
The next step in this process is worship. Paul said, “…By prayer and petition.” According to Strong’s Analytical Concordance, the Greek word translated “prayer” is the word for worship. Worship turns us away from ourselves to acknowledge and honour who God is, to focus on Him, and to open our hearts to Him in adoration and praise. Worship helps us to recognise that God is our Father, faithful, loving, and trustworthy, that He knows our needs before we ask Him and that, in every situation, He is working for our good and His glory. Worship and thanksgiving are the way we express our trust in God’s love and faithfulness.
The final step is petition, placing our requests in God’s hands. Petition should never be our first recourse in prayer, but rather the expression of our confidence in God’s love, entrusting to Him the situations for which we have no answer once we have dealt with our fears and anxieties.
Prayer is the expression of a loving and trusting relationship with our heavenly Father, who knows us intimately, who knows our needs and whose love for us always guarantees a favourable outcome not\ matter what our situation may be. God desires that our prayers should flow out of a heart at peace with Him. He allows circumstances into our lives that bring to the surface those attitudes and emotions which expose our mistrust of Him so that we can experience His peace.
God’s peace is the referee that blows the whistle when our beliefs are in error, or holds us steady as we keep trusting God in every situation.