This week I will attempt to blog in five (5) parts. My goal is to reveal the reasons as to why prayer is unanswered and seemingly ineffective at times. These reasons have personally affected my family and me and have been the cause as to why I, at times, didn’t connect with God’s perfect will in my life.
Let’s begin with the “bottom line”- Wrong actions and attitudes will always cancel our prayers. The battlefield is always in the mind. Our enemies are the devil and our own flesh (unregenerate thinking). Satan’s goal is to short-circuit your prayers by tempting us to fall away from the obedience connection point of God’s will. And this happens when we “chose” to be led by our own affections and desires.
I’ve come up with 5 reasons why our prayers are hindered in our personal lives and in our churches…. Below is the first one:
- Respect and Honor Issues in marriage relationships. (For you single people – hang in there, you’re next!)
7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. (1 Peter 3:7)
- God established a divine order for the wife to respect her husband and the husband to honor his wife.
- A marriage between a man and a woman is the greatest example of our relationship with God. God’s so serious about it that He refers us (the church) to a “Bride” and Christ as the “Groom.” Our union in heaven will be a marriage!
- In a marriage, the two become one. And when there is no agreement in the marriage there is no vision to recognize God’s will – the “one” become two. When this happens, there is “di-vision.” God chooses to operate in an environment of agreement and unity.
- When disrespect or dishonor dominates relationships, satan has a legal right to prevent prayer. It is out-of-order and will not work.
- The solution is for husbands and wives to operate AS ONE with their hearts and minds united.
Anxious to read your thoughts,
Pastor Manny
