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Episode 379 -  Show Notes:

• First, our prayers can be hindered when we pray with the wrong motive. Why would God answer our prayer is we were asking for the wrong reason. Sometimes our prayers can be self-centered. Instead of asking for God’s will to be done, we are asking for our will.

James 4:3 says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

• Second, our prayers can be hindered when we are living in willful sin. When we refuse to surrender to God, when we refuse to confess and repent of our sin, we might not receive an answer to our prayer.

Psalm 66:18 says, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

• Third, our prayers can be hindered when we have unbelief. The Bible teaches us there is a vital connection between prayer and faith. God wants us to come to him with faith and believe that he will answer. Listen to the caution from James 1:6-7.

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”

• Finally, our prayers can be hindered if we have an unforgiving spirit towards others. Bitterness and resentment are some of the most common hindrances to answered prayer.

Matthew 6:14-15 - “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

These powerful verses lead us to a place of examination before the Lord. The Holy Spirit is so faithful to speak to our hearts and to reveal is there is anything in our lives that doesn’t please the Lord. 

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