- Prayerlessness (James 4:2)
- Unconfessed Sin (Isaiah 59:2)
- Unresolved Relational Conflict (1 John 2:9)
- Selfishness (James 4:3)
- Uncaring Attitude (Proverbs 21:13)
- Inadequate Faith (James 1:5-7)
- Busyness (Luke 10:38-42)
What are some other barriers you can think of and what is the related scripture to it?
6 comments:
For me...it would be laziness
Thanks for your sermon on Sunday, Pastor Chris...it got me checking out my prayer time to see how it is, and that's something that is always beneficial!
Now for my two dollars...
Prayer was something that was really stressed by my Bible study leaders at school. Therefore, I've learned a bit about it and talked to others about it and even taught a little bit about it. So I might not have Scriptures to go along with anything; most of these stem from just talking to people and personal experience.
- One of my biggest things is distraction. I'm very self-conscious (that's why I've asked if you could hear me more than once!); I believe that's why Jesus himself would get alone to pray (Matthew 6:6, Mark 1:35). There's enough distraction in my head without the environment getting to me!
- I think Mr. Roda makes a good point with laziness. But I think for some people (a lot of people at one of our Bible studies), I can't fault them too much because that laziness is due to the fact that God isn't real to them, you know? I think that there are a lot of people in the church who don't have the relationship with God and instead have the "I believe in God, but God's up there, I'm down here" mentality. To them, praying to God is no more exciting than praying to, say, the rings of Saturn. Our old campus minister once said that "If people knew how exciting it was to be a Christian, more people would be with Jesus..." I think the same can be said of prayer.
- I think people get discouraged and/or don't persevere in prayer. That's a barrier. In earthly relationships, people have to keep communicating if they want a relationship to build, even if times are tough (imagine if you only talked to your wife when things were great or when you would get something out of it!). Same way with God. Hebrews 13:15 talks about a sacrifice of praise, and Job says in Job 1:21b he'll praise God in the good and bad times. Sometimes it hurts or it's hard to praise and worship God, and people don't do it! I know I don't sometimes!
- You were pretty close to it on a bunch of your points, but I could probably find a dozen Scriptures (Bible software is great) talking about how pride obstructs our ability to come into the presence of God. God hates pride, and we've gotta come before Him with humility and reverence.
- Sometimes, people will say that there's no wrong way to pray. I have to disagree. Under Levitical law, improper worship was not accepted. God can reject our sacrifices (Genesis 4:5) for various reasons - generally attitude problems or sin on our hearts. This point could degenerate into a legalistic formula for prayer and that's not right, but I think it's important to keep in mind just what pleases God in prayer, because there are examples all over the Bible!
So that's probably way more than you wanted, but I hope this adds to the conversation!
~ Brendan
Randy,
I'm with you man. I get up very early in the morning to pray every day. Some days are just really hard to get out of bed.
Brendan,
I agree with your two dollars worth. (When did it go up from two cents?)
I think discouragement can be a big one for people because so many people want instant gradification, especially with their prayer life.
I really like your word "pride" as well. That could be a message in itself.
Thanks for posting some great thoughts! We have to get coffee some morning after you finish praying.
Inflation, brother, inflation...
And I go straight to work now! I try to make it to the Gristmill behind St. Vincent once a week though, so lemme know!
Brendan,
Let's go to the Gristmill next week, let me know when you're going and I will try to make it work.
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