The Evangelist Speaks

by Evangelist Carolyn Griffin

Hindrances to Answered Prayer
Part II

Our Faith Articles are written to stir our faith and trust in an ever Faithful God. Our desire is to bring all of us into a closer relationship with the Father through prayer and the study of His Word. Your responses to these articles are letting us know that through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our goals are being accomplished. Let’s continue our prayer journey with part 2 of Hindrances to Answered Prayer.

Unbelief continued    One of the greatest examples of unbelief, especially among some Christians, is when we say, “God promised that He would save, heal, deliver, bless, provide, give me peace”, (fill this in with any promise from the Scripture), “but I have tried to claim those promises but they don’t work”. Not only is unbelief a sin and a hindrance to answered prayer, it is an insult to our Faithful Father. If we can believe God, we can count on His promises. God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise  and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19 (NIV). 

Doubt   We often use doubt and unbelief together. Doubt is a status between belief and unbelief. It involves uncertainty, distrust, or a lack of confidence in a fact, an action, a motive or a decision. From the Christian perspective, God’s promises are facts. When our actions, motives, and decisions are based on His word, we can expect answers to our prayers. James 1:5-6 (NIV) explains:  If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given him. But 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. We must ask for wisdom as we pray and stop allowing doubt to hinder our answers.

Double-mindedness  James 1:7-8 (NIV) gives us the serious consequences of being a double minded individual: That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. On Sunday we pray in faith believing. “I know God can and He will”. Tuesday we are wavering and just not sure. “ Maybe God will, but child, I don’t know”.  By Friday we are depressed and have lost hope. “God has just forgotten about me. Where is He when I need Him”? Our words and thoughts have changed so many times that now  we have become confused about what we need, want and are asking God for.  We must learn to speak the “Word Only”.  If we want answers to our prayers, we must stand firm as we pray God’s promises back to Him.

 Next time we’ll look at wrong motives…….a major hindrance to answered prayer.