Prayers Hindered: 7 Ways To Obstruct Your Prayers To God

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There are various ways in which prayers are hindered. Sometimes they are factors outside our control. However, most of the time the reason for our prayers being obstructed is because we are not living in obedience to the desires of God. Following are Bible verses which talk about prayers being hindered.

Unforgiveness

Matthew 5:23, 24 “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

Matthew 6:14, 15 “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Mark 11:25, 26 “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. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

There are many verses that speak to having prayers hindered and how to have them answered

Selfish Prayers

James 4:2, 3 “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

Philippians 2:3, 4 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

Dishonoring Family Life

1 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.”

Unconfessed Sin

Psalm 66:17-19 “I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.”

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.”

Doubt

Matthew 7:7, 8 “ Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

James 1:5-7 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 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.”

Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

Disobedience

1 John 3:22 “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”

Proverbs 28:9 “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”

Not Seeking God’s Will

Luke 22:41, 42 “And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

1 John 5:14, 15 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

Conclusion

There are many verses that speak to having prayers hindered and how to have them answered. God wants us to go to Him in prayer, but He also gives us His terms for answering our prayers.

Many times people who do not fully believe God’s Word will make statements like, “I don’t believe God would do…” They also think that God is like a magic genie who should obey their every desire. This kind of thinking is exactly what God addressed when He said in the 10 Commandments, “thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). We are guilty of creating our own god when we don’t regard His Word and approach Him in prayer in the way He has asked.

The beautiful thing is that He wants to have a relationship with us. He desires that we approach Him in prayer. God is ready to hear our prayer and answer according to His will. We simply need to look to His Word to understand His ways.

Here is another article on Prayer you might enjoy:

10 Awesome Bible Verses About The Power of Prayer

Resource – The Holy Bible, King James Version

Tagged as: Hindered, Obstruction, Prayers, verses