Hindering your prayer life?

I needed to share a story from my Intouch magazine with you in regards to us hindering our own prayer lives. "All About Me - Two prayers that can hold you back." by Allen Harris.

"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:22)

How many times have we've given God an alternative in our prayers? I raise my hand guilty as charged.

I do not believe that we intentionally want to have disbelief of His capabilities, but as humans, there is the underlying battle between our flesh and our faith in the Lord.

We need to consciously, each day, work on faith through an effective prayer life with God. Believing that what we give to Him is going to be handled by Him but also understanding that He knows what is best for us so that our prayers may not be answered in the time or in the way we desire.

In this article these types of prayers were defined as the "But if..." prayers. An example, "Lord, please don't let me get stuck in traffic this morning. But if I do, please keep me calm, and make it a special time with You before work."

It seems harmless, right? But what are we really saying or implying to the Lord? Well, God, I know that You probably cannot answer this prayer for me so in case You can't, can you just....It is disbelief, a lack of faith, that Our Father can do ir will do what we seek. "These are prayers that we lift up in sincerity of heart, but something within us, some seed of doubt, creeps in and tries to give God an 'out.' Why do we feel the need to give God 'wiggle room?'"

"Take a close look at your prayers and see if you can spot a "Lord, But if..." Ask God to make you sensitive to the small ways in which you demonstrate your disbelief.
Then, purge your prayers of doubt and expect miracles to happen!"

"Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed by Your Name. Your kingdom come; Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:9-10)

Self-centeredness is an all too familiar evil in the world today. Being a Christian does not exempt us from this tragic downfall.

How many times have we prayed, "Lord, let me be able to get this job or let me properly take care of my family, or let me have that raise."

What are we really saying here? Lord, get out of the way because I want to do this by myself.

Allen Harris compares this to life being like a play. Where sometimes "the actors have scenes together. You enter the stage, we interact, and then you walk off the stage. I know that life is about me because I'm always on the stage whether You are there or not." We may not truly believe this but we can sometimes act as though we are running the show and forgetting about He who has control over everything good and bad.

Examples: "Lord, let me get home safe tonight." "That's not a prayer for God to keep me safe;it's a prayer focused on my own driving skills, a testimony of my own prowess as a driver despite whatever obstacles I may face.

"Lord let me feel better tomorrow." "That's not a prayer for healing; it's a prayer for my own antibodies to stomp out and invading infection."

The Lord does know our hearts in prayer but I believe our language speaks a multitude about our attitude.

Let us allow God to show His awesomeness not ask Him to step out of the way so that we can try to prove ours (which is impossible)

"So, 'Lord don't let me get home safe.' 'Get me home safe.' 'Don't let me feel better tomorrow.' 'Heal me.' Do the work, Lord, for You are better at it than I am."


We need to be coming in confidence to Him to His almighty throne.

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