10 obstacles for an effective prayer

1. Praying without knowing God through Jesus


John 14:6 (New International Version)


6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

2. Praying without a repentance

Psalm 66:18-19 (New International Version)


18 If I had cherished sin in my heart,


the Lord would not have listened;


19 but God has surely listened


and heard my voice in prayer.

3. Praying boasting

Matthew 6:5 (New International Version)


Prayer


5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

4. Praying in a repetitive way, with empty words

Matthew 6:7-8 (New International Version)


7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

5. Prayers without prayer itself

James 4:2 (New International Version)


2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.

6. Praying with a selfish heart

James 4:3 (New International Version)


3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.


7. Praying when you have something against somebody

1 Peter 3:7 (New International Version)


7Husbands, 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

8. Praying while you ignore poor people

Proverbs 21:13 (New International Version)


13 If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor,


he too will cry out and not be answered.

9. Praying with a heart full of bitterness against somebody

Mark 11:25-26 (New International Version)


25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."[a]

10. Praying with a heart without faith

James 1:6-8 (New International Version)


6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

The Blood

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. (John 3:16-18)

God has given us an everlasting gift which is life eternally through Christ Jesus our Lord and savior. So many times we take for granted the gift of life and the giver. We forget the power of the blood. Without the shedding of blood the ransom would not have been paid, Jesus paid the ransom (1 Tim 2:5-6) the blood of Jesus sealed the covenant that today we be liberated (John 8:36). The blood of Jesus was the ultimate seal needed for us to be released from the prison of sin and suffering, the prison of bondages, curses and turmoil and all the pains and afflictions of the devil.

The bible talks of the significance of blood, as a marker. When God was bringing his wrath upon the house of Egypt He told the people of Israel to slaughter lambs and mark their doorposts with the blood. The blood signifies identity; it separated the houses of the people of God and of the Egyptians (Exodus 12, read the whole chapter). As people of God we have to recognize the power of the blood of the Lamb. Through the marking of the door posts the children of Israel were protected. The blood of Jesus cleanses all sin; the bible calls Him the Lamb of God. In Leviticus chapter 3, the bible tells us of the lamb being used as a sacrifice for peace offering, to make things right between man and God after sinning, its blood was sprinkled on the alter and its fat burnt. One’s sin is all cleansed and we remain whiter than snow, pure.

The bible continues to tell us of the life of the blood has. It says the blood SPEAKETH better things than the blood of Abel (Heb 12:24). The blood of Jesus has life. It brought life back to us who were dead in sin and when he died and rose again life eternally was given unto each and everyone who believed and believes and who will believe in the son of God (John 3:16). The spiritual man is alive because of the shedding of the blood of lamb. This wonderful blood it washes away all our sins, we are purified and made wonderful and beautiful because of the power in the blood.

Let us be thankful for the Lord Jesus that today you and me we don’t go to slaughter cows, goats and even kill each other to apiece ourselves. We stand rest assured that we are of God because we have the mark of the blood of Jesus, the blood of the Lamb of God. The blood of Jesus has power it reaches unto the far ends of the earth, it reaches to the man who lives in the faraway mountain, to the young girl who is locked up in maximum prison, and to the crippled who believes he will never walk and is hiding away, the blood touches them and they are forever changed.

It is upon me and you, now that we understand the power of the blood that we stand and pray and call the Lamb of God to reach someone through His blood that was shed, to give life for the He lost and gained, to give someone else who has not known Him salvation through His blood for salvation belongs to Him and is a gift for sure. Rev (7:10).

As we meditate upon the word let us realize that the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God:

• Gave and stills gives life

• It gives freedom

• It gives peace

• It assures us of protection

• It gives us an identity

• It gives us power

• It gives us favor

And the list is endless, all in all glory be to God for Jesus, for today we are alive and called a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, a chosen generation because of the BLOOD that was shed at Calvary.

Be yea blessed and may we continue to stand and stand forever in faith….

The Weapon of Prayer

By
E.M BOUNDS

"GOD'S great plan for the redemption of mankind is as much bound up to prayer for its

prosperity and success as when the decree creating the movement was issued from the

Father, bearing on its frontage the imperative, universal and eternal condition, "Ask of

me, and I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth

for thy possession."

In many places an alarming state of things has come to pass, in that the many who are enrolled in our churches are not praying men and women. Many of those occupying prominent positions in church life are not praying men. It is greatly to feared that much of the work of the Church is being done by those who are perfect strangers to the closet. Small wonder that the work does not succeed. While it may be

true that many in the Church say prayers, it is equally true that their praying is of the stereotyped order. Their prayers may be charged with sentiment, but they are tame, timid, and without fire or force. Even this sort of praying is done by a few straggling men to be found at prayer-meetings. Those whose names are to be found bulking large in our great Church assemblies are not men noted for their praying habits. Yet the entire fabric of the work in which they are engaged has, perforce, to depend on the adequacy of prayer.

Thisfact is similar to the crisis which would be created were a country to have to admit in the face of an invading foe that it cannot fight and have no knowledge of the weapons whereby war is to be waged. In all God's plans for human redemption, He proposes that men pray. The men are to pray in every place, in the church, in the closet, in the home, on sacred days and on secular days. All things and everything are dependent on the measure of men's praying. Prayer is the genius and mainspring of life. We pray as we live; we live as we pray. Life will never be finer than the quality of the closet. The mercury of life will rise only by the warmth of the closet. Persistent non-praying eventually will depress life below zero." --E. M. Bounds

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Blessings!

PRAYING WITH HEARTS OF A FAITH OF SUBSTANCE

Prayer is communication and an appointment with God, the risen King Jesus, the Messiah, and the Holy One of Israel. Hallelujah!!!! What a wonder it is that you and I can approach the throne of God and converse with Him. We can approach His altar and sit at His feet and relax and talk to Him, the beautiful thing is that He talks back to us. He is not a statue or some water in a bottle, He is alive and He reigns He is King. You and I can only experience God’s presence and Him in His presence if we have a faith of a substance. Hebrews 11:1. Faith is therefore the hope of things unseen. The Amplified version says: NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

The Bible declares that faith is the confirmation, THE TITLE DEED, meaning we have an entitlement, ownership to our faith. The dictionary defines a title deed as follows: title deed 

–noun

a deed or document containing or constituting evidence of ownership.

Now what am I saying; without faith we can never receive from God, we can never see God, we can never meet God we can never know God nor understand how He operates. That is why so many times when we are in prayer people are looking at other people wondering why they are worshipping the way they do. My dear brothers and sisters, how can they not worship God with their very best, with the faith of substance when they have seen Him? When they have met up with Him? When their faith has led them into a place where God dwells? I mean in the Holy of holies, the presence of the most High, they have entered a place where they want to dwell forever.

The psalmist David understood this. Psalm 23, he says therefore I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The preceding verses he describes how he shall not want, there is no lack in the presence of God, there is peace beside the still waters, there is restoration of the soul, there is protection, guidance, comfort, being spoiled and treated well with love, a table is prepared for you, mercy and goodness follow you so is the unfailing love. That’s why the man after God’s own heart decided that the house of the Lord (God’s presence) will be his dwelling place forever.

But only when we have faith of a substance and we pray with a faith that moves the heart of God and moves Him from His throne to descend unto us, to invite us into His presence only then can we please God. The Bible says no man can please God without faith. Hebrews 11:6 (But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]).It is this faith that today we are who we are because Abraham believed. Read the whole chapter of Hebrews 11. I pray that we all are elevated to a place where our faith is affirmed, a place where we shall worship the Lord with our very best understanding that He wants us to forever dwell in His presence every microsecond of our lives. May we all arise for the glory of God is upon us and only by faith will we see God. May we stand like Abraham, David, Abel, Moses and others stood and believed.

MAY HE CAUSE HIS FACE TO SHINE UPON YOU ALL, AND MAY YOU AL BE FILLED WITH HIS PRESENCE AS YOU PRAY WITH AN UNSHAKABLE FAITH BELIEVING IN HIM WHO HAS PROMISED AND MAY YOU DWELL IN HIS PRESENCE.

BE BLESSED AND BE HIGHLY FAVOURED!!!!