MAJOR HINDRANCES TO THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER!
(MCF 2000, NAGAR 2000) BY:J.FARRELL FISHER (UPDATED:MAY 17-18,2019!)
THE TITLE OF THE MESSAGE TODAY SUGGESTS OR IMPLIES THAT THERE CAN BE MAJOR ROADBLOCKS IN EFFECTIVE, REDEMPTIVE PRAYER. ARE YOU AWARE OF THAT? LET ME INFORM YOU OF THE MEANING OF THE WORD ‘HINDRANCE’,IF YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW: FROM NOAH WEBSTER’S 1828 DICTIONARY, ‘HINDRANCE’ MEANS, “THE ACTS OF IMPEDING OR RESTRAINING MOTION…IMPEDIMENT; THAT WHICH STOPS PROGRESS OR ADVANCE; OBSTRUCTION.”
1 PETER 3:7 IS VERY CLEAR WHEN IT SAYS, “…THAT YOUR PRAYERS MAY NOT BE HINDERED.” IN REV.5:8 THE WORD SAYS, “NOW WHEN (THE LAMB, THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH) HAD THE SCROLL, THE 4 LIVING CREATURES & THE 24 ELDERS FELL DOWN BEFORE THE LAMB, EACH HAVING A HARP,AND GOLDEN BOWLS OF INCENSE “WHICH ARE THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS.”
AND THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS ARE PRECIOUS TO GOD. THEY PLEASE HIM.YET AT THE VERY SAME TIME PSALM 66:18 SAYS, “IF I REGARD INIQUITY IN MY HEART, THE LORD WILL NOT HEAR.” THE WORD “REGARD” COMES FROM A HEBREW WORD MEANING “TO SEE”, “TO HAVE”, “TO RESPECT”, “TO APPROVE”, “TO GAZE ON OR TAKE HEED TO”. IF ‘INIQUITY’ IS IN MY HEART OR MIND, THE LORD WILL NOT HEAR ME.
BUT THAT’S NOT GOD’S HEART OR DESIRE FOR ANYONE OF US, BUT THERE ARE SPIRITUAL LAWS ESTABLISHED BY GOD FOR A FRUITFUL WALK IN THE KINGDOM AREA OF PRAYER, & IF THOSE LAWS ARE VIOLATED, WE’VE PERSONALLY CHOSEN TO EXEMPT OURSELVES FROM GOD’S BLESSINGS. TO THE GALATIANS, (6:7), PAUL SAID CORRECTLY, “DO NOT BE DECEIVED, GOD IS NOT MOCKED; FOR WHATEVER A MAN SOWS, THAT HE WILL ALSO REAP.” YET IN JOHN 11:42 JESUS SPOKE CONFIDENTLY & SAID TO THE FATHER, “I KNOW THAT “YOU” ALWAYS HEAR ME.” WHY? BECAUSE JESUS SOWED THE SEEDS OF FAITH & OBEDIENCE, NOT THE WILD TARES OF UNBELIEF & DISOBEDIENCE TO THE NATURE & CHARACTER OF GOD!
THE ONE THING I WANT YOU TO KNOW TODAY IS THAT THE ‘NORMAL’ FOR THE DISCIPLE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST “IS TO LIVE IN CONSTANT COMMUNION WITH GOD & TO LIVE THE ABUNDANT, JOYFUL, FRUITFUL LIFE OF DAILY ANSWERED PRAYER”.
BUT YOU KNOW HOW A WATER-LINE CAN SOMETIME BUILD UP A CORRISON & ALL OF A SUDDEN THE FLOW OF FRESH WATER IS STOPPED. IN THE SAME WAY, THERE CAN COME A TIME WHEN OUR PRAYERS ARE NOT GETTING THROUGH BECAUSE THERE IS A ‘BLOCKAGE’. IN LEVITICUS 26:19 GOD SAID, “I WILL BREAK THE PRIDE OF YOUR POWER; I WILL MAKE YOUR HEAVENS LIKE IRON & YOUR EARTH LIKE BRONZ.” IT’S NOT AN ‘OPEN’ HEAVEN!!
DAVID SAID IN PSALM 35:13 THAT HE WOULD PRAY, EVEN FAST, BUT (LISTEN!!), “MY PRAYER WOULD RETURN TO MY OWN BOSOM OR HEART.” EVEN JEREMIAH, THE WEEPING PROPHET, SAID IN LAMENTATIONS 3:8-9, “EVEN WHEN I CRY & SHOUT,HE (GOD) SHUTS OUT MY PRAYER…HE HAS BLOCKED MY WAYS WITH HEWN STONES; HE HAS MADE MY PATHS CROOKED.”
IN VERSE 44 OF THE SAME CHAPTER, JEREMIAH SAID, “YOU HAVE COVERED YOURSELF WITH A CLOUD, THAT PRAYER SHOULD NOT PASS THROUGH.” “THAT” SOUNDS SERIOUS! IT’S MAJOR! AND SOMETHING HAS CLOSED THE ‘FREE-WAY’ TO HEAVEN’S HEART! IT GETS REAL SERIOUS IN ISAIAH 1:15 WHEN GOD SAID TO HIS PEOPLE, “WHEN YOU SPREAD OUT YOUR HANDS, I WILL HIDE MY EYES FROM YOU; EVEN THO’ YOU MAKE MANY PRAYERS, I WILL NOT HEAR.YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BLOOD.”
I DON’T WANT OUR PRAYERS TO BE A ‘MESS’ BEFORE GOD; I WANT THEM GOING UP AS A “MEMORIAL”! I DON’T WANT TO DRAW NEAR TO GOD WITH MY MOUTH ONLY & HONOR HIM WITH MY LIPS WHILE MY HEART IS FAR FROM HIM LIKE THE PHARISEES – I WANT TO BE ONE WITH HIM. I DON’T WANT TO TRIFLE AT THE THRONE WITH IGNORAMUS TIDBITS – I WANT TO BE JOINED IN TRUTH & TRUST WITH THE CHRIST OF CALVARY.
I GREW UP ON A GREAT OLD HYMN & THE CHORUS SAYS THIS: “NOTHING BETWEEN MY SOUL & THE SAVIOR, SO THAT HIS BLESSED FACE MAY BE SEEN; NOTHING PREVENTING THE LEAST OF HIS FAVOR, KEEP THE WAY CLEAR! LET NOTHING BETWEEN.” IS THERE SOMETHING BETWEEN YOU & JESUS?IS THERE A MAJOR HINDRANCE TO EFFECTIVE MINISTRY OF YOUR PRAYER LIFE? THE VERSES OF THAT OLD HYMN SAYS:
“NOTHING BETWEEN MY SOUL & THE SAVIOR, NAUGHT OF THIS WORLD’S DELUSIVE DREAM; I HAVE RENOUNCED ALL SINFUL PLEASURE, JESUS IS MINE, THERE’S NOTHING BETWEEN.
NOTHING BETWEEN LIKE WORLDLY PLEASURE;HABITS OF LIFE,THO’ HARMLESS THEY SEEM, MUST NOT MY HEART FROM HIM EVER SEVER – HE IS MY ALL, THERE’S NOTHING BETWEEN.
NOTHING BETWEEN, LIKE PRIDE OR STATION;SELF OR FRIENDS SHALL NOT INTERVENE; THO’ IT MAY COST ME MUCH TRIBULATION, I AM RESOLVED, THERE’S NOTHING BETWEEN.
NOTHING BETWEEN, E’EN MANY HARD TRIALS, THO’ THE WHOLE WORLD AGAINST ME CONVENE; WATCHING WITH PRAYER & MUCH SELF-DENIAL,I’LL TRIUMPH AT LAST, WITH NOTHING BETWEEN.” HOW GLORIOUS, MARVELOUS, & AWE-INSPIRING IS THAT?!?
BUT, IN THIS MOMENT, SOMETHING’S NOT RIGHT! IN THIS MOMENT, THERE’S MAJOR BLOCKAGES! IN THIS MOMENT HINDRANCES ARE ABOUNDING! IN THIS MOMENT, HEAVEN HAS CLOSED – & YOU KNOW IT!! THOMAS BENTON BROOKS WROTE: “GOD HEARS NO MORE THAN THE HEART SPEAKS; & IF THE HEART BE DUMB, GOD WILL CERTAINLY BE DEAF.”
SOMETIMES GOD IS DEAF TO OUR CRIES BECAUSE WE TREAT HIM LIKE “A COSMIC BELL-BOY”. SILENCE COMES FROM HEAVEN’S SIDE BECAUSE WE’VE SEEN HIM LIKE OUR PERSONAL ‘ERRAND-RUNNER’! SOMETIMES IT’S EXPECTATION APART FROM APPRECIATION! SOMETIMES IT’S EVEN EARNESTNESS WITHOUT ANY TRUE EXPRESSION OF FAITH! SOMETIMES IT’S AN INFREQUENT OR OCCASIONAL IMPULSE LIKE AN UNIMPORTANT CALL TO A DUTY THAT DOESN’T HAVE OUR HEARTS!
SOMETIMES IT’S PRESUMPTION OR ASSUMING THAT WE KNOW WHAT GOD MUST DO! SOMETIMES IT’S THE HIGH SOUNDS OF UNCEASING WORDS SEEKING ONLY TO GET GOD DOWN TO OUR POINT OF VIEW RATHER THAN SUBMISSION TO WHAT WE KNOW GOD WOULD HAVE US DO! SOMETIMES IT’S THE FINEST OF PHRASES, BUT EMPTY, BECAUSE IT’S HEARTLESS PRAYING RATHER THAN LAYING HOLD OF GOD HIMSELF & ALL HE IS!! 1 PETER 3:12 SAYS, “FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE OVER THE RIGHTEOUS, & HIS EARS ARE OPEN UNTO THEIR PRAYERS: BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THEM THAT DO EVIL.” THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS SERIOUS CONFRONTATION BETWEEN A MAN CHOOSING TO SIN WILLFULLY & BETWEEN HOLY GOD THAT SEEKS THE ONE AFTER HIS OWN HEART & MIND!
“MAJOR HINDRANCES TO THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER”? FIRST, THERE IS THE MAJOR HINDRANCE OF A DIVIDED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUSBANDS & WIVES!! READ 1 PETER 3:1-7, NOTING SPECIFICALLY VERSE 7, “THAT YOUR PRAYERS MAY NOT BE HINDERED,” WHICH IS NOT A STATEMENT ONLY FOR ‘HUSBANDS’. THE FIRST 6 VERSES ARE LAID OUT TO SHOW HOW A WIFE CAN BE THE BLOCKAGE TO ANSWERED PRAYER!
IF YOU READ THOSE SIX VERSES OVER & OVER AGAIN SEEKING TO HEAR WHAT GOD IS SAYING TO THE WOMAN ABOUT WHY HER PRAYERS ARE NOT ANSWERED, I BELIEVE YOU COULD SUM IT UP IN ONE WORD – “REBELLION”!! LISTEN TO DR.JOHN R.RICE, (IN “PRAYER”, SWORD OF THE LORD PUBLISHERS, P.281), “REBELLION IS THE SIN OF FALLEN ANGELS. REBELLION IS THE SIN WHICH DAMNS EVERY CHRIST-REJECTING SINNER. REBELLION AGAINST AUTHORITY IS THE HEART OF ALL CRIME, & EVERY CRIMINAL IN A PENITENTIARY HAS BEEN GUILTY FIRST, NOT OF MURDER, NOR OF THEFT, BUT HAS BEEN GUILTY FIRST OF REBELLION AGAINST AUTHORITY. THIS WAS THE SIN OF THE PRODIGAL SON. REBELLION IS THE VERY HEART OF ALL SIN. DEAR CHRISTIAN WIFE, GOD SAYS THAT IF YOU WILL NOT BE SUBJECT TO YOUR HUSBAND THAT YOUR PRAYERS ARE HINDERED.” SO TRUE!!
GOD DECLARES THROUGH PETER THAT YOUR HUSBAND IS NOT WON OVER BY OUTWARD BEAUTY ALONE, BUT (LISTEN!!), VERSE 4, “LET IT BE THE HIDDEN PERSON OF THE HEART, WITH THE INCORRUPTIBLE ORNAMENT OF A GENTLE & QUIET SPIRIT, “WHICH IS VERY PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD”.” BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN HUSBANDS ARE OFF THE HOOK BECAUSE THEY HAVE A REBELLIOUS WIFE. IT MAY BE THAT WIVES ‘REBEL’ AGAINST EVERYTHING THEIR HUSBANDS ARE NOT!
3 THINGS THAT GOD SAYS TO HUSBANDS: 1) “DWELL WITH THEM IN UNDERSTANDING”; IN OTHER WORDS, “LIVE WITH YOUR WIFE ACCORDING TO THE BIBLICAL KNOWLEDGE OF HEALTHY MARITAL BLISS & BLESSING”! FIND OUT FROM THE WORD OF GOD WHAT GOD EXPECTS OF YOU!
2) “GIVING HONOR TO THE WIFE, AS TO THE WEAKER VESSEL…” IT DOESN’T SAY SHE ‘IS’ THE WEAKER VESSEL! IN FACT, I’VE SEEN MANY WIVES FAR BEYOND THE STRENGTH OF HUSBANDS IN MANY AREAS. HE SAID: “…AS TO THE WEAKER VESSEL;” SHE’S LIKE PRICELESS CHINA OR CRYSTAL THAT MUST BE CAREFULLY CARED FOR! SHE’S NOT A FLOWER WITHOUT FRAGRANCE! SHE’S NOT A BODY WITHOUT A MIND! SHE’S NOT A PARTNER WITHOUT A CONTRIBUTION TO MAKE! MARTIN LUTHER ONCE WROTE: “EARTH HAS NOTHING MORE TENDER THAN A WOMAN’S HEART WHEN IT IS THE ABODE OF PIETY.” SO TRUE!
THOMAS OTWAY, IN “VENICE PRESERVED”, WROTE: “O WOMAN! LOVELY WOMAN! NATURE MADE YOU TO TEMPER MAN: WE HAD BEEN BRUTES WITHOUT YOU; ANGELS ARE PAINTED FAIR, TO LOOK LIKE YOU; THERE’S IN YOU ALL THAT WE BELIEVE OF HEAVEN, AMAZING BRIGHTNESS, PURITY, & TRUTH, ETERNAL JOY & EVERLASTING LOVE.” IT’S WHY, HUSBANDS, YOU GIVE YOUR WIFE HER HONOR! BUT TO KEEP YOU ‘HUMBLE’, LADIES, LISTEN TO SPURGEON: “GOD SAVE US ALL FROM WIVES WHO ARE ANGELS IN THE STREET, SAINTS IN THE CHURCH, & DEVILS AT HOME.”
3) “AS BEING HEIRS TOGETHER OF THE GRACE OF LIFE…”, A HUSBAND TAKING HIS PLACE AS THE WIFE TAKES HER PLACE! AND WITH JOSHUA, BECAUSE WE WANT OUR PRAYERS ANSWERED: “AS FOR ME & MY HOUSE, WE WILL (UNITEDLY) SERVE THE LORD!” DO YOU REMEMBER EPHESIANS 5:20? “FOR NO ONE EVER HATED HIS OWN FLESH, BUT NOURISHES & CHERISHES IT, ‘JUST AS THE LORD DOES THE CHURCH!’”
HOME DISTURBANCES HAMPER OUR PRAYER-LIVES! HOME DISCORD DISRUPTS EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION WITH GOD! HOME DISTRESS CALLS FOR EMERGENCY S.O.S’S OF BROKEN REPENTANCE SO WE CAN REACH GOD! HOME DISUNITY MUDDIES THE WATERS OF TRYING TO REACH OUT TO GOD! HOME DIATRIBES SILENCES THE RESPONSE OF GOD! IT’S SERIOUS!! “THAT YOUR PRAYERS MAY NOT BE HINDERED!”
SECOND: THERE IS THE MAJOR HINDRANCE OF BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS OF BROTHERS IN CHRIST! LISTEN TO MATTHEW 5:23-24! “THEREFORE IF YOU BRING YOUR GIFT TO THE ALTAR, & THERE REMEMBER THAT YOUR BROTHER HAS SOMETHING AGAINST YOU…LEAVE YOUR GIFT THERE BEFORE THE ALTAR, & GO YOUR WAY. FIRST BE RECONCILED TO YOUR BROTHER, & THEN COME & OFFER YOUR GIFT.”
DO YOU REMEMBER WHY JESUS SAID OF ZACCHAEUS (LUKE 18:9), “TODAY SALVATION HAS COME TO THIS HOUSE”? WHY DID JESUS SAY IT? BECAUSE HE SAW AN OUTWARD DEMONSTRATION OF A TRUE INWARD RESPONSE. IN VERSE 8, ZACCHAEUS HAD SAID, “LOOK LORD, I GIVE HALF OF MY GOODS TO THE POOR; & IF I HAVE TAKEN ANYTHING FROM ANYONE BY FALSE ACCUSATION, I RESTORE FOUR-FOLD.”
IN MATTHEW 18:15 JESUS SAID: “MOREOVER ‘IF YOUR BROTHER SINS AGAINST YOU, GO & TELL HIM HIS FAULT BETWEEN YOU & HIM ALONE. IF HE HEARS YOU, YOU HAVE GAINED YOUR BROTHER.”
WELL, WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU GAINED? YOU’VE GAINED THE EAR OF GOD. YOU’VE GAINED THE OVERFLOWING HEART OF GOD WHO WANTS TO DO NOTHING BUT BLESS YOU. YOU’VE GAINED THE HELP & THE HAND OF MERCIFUL GOD!! IN PHILLIPIANS 2:3 PAUL SAID, “LET NOTHING BE DONE THROUGH SELFISH AMBITION OR CONCEIT, (KJV, ‘LET NOTHING BE DONE THROUGH STRIFE OR VAINGLORY’), BUT IN LOWLINESS OF MIND LET EACH ESTEEM OTHERS BETTER THAN HIMSELF.”
NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY SOME DON’T HAVE THEIR PRAYERS ANSWERED? THEY SEE THEMSELVES BETTER THAN OTHERS, DESERVING MORE RESPECT, “BECAUSE”: “IT’S MY WAY COME HELL OR HIGH WATER; HOT WORDS OF A HEATED EVENT? & THEY DESERVED EVERY WORD! WRONGS ARE MEDALS I WEAR PROUDLY! GRUDGES ARE GOLDEN IN MY SCHEME OF THINGS! ANGER & REVENGE ARE JUSTIFIABLE ATTITUDES IN MY COSMIC CONSTITUTION! HATCHES ARE SO HELPFUL IN SELF-JUSTIFICATION!
THE COST OF HATRED IS NOT A HIGH PRICE TO PAY WHEN I’VE BEEN WRONGED! INJURING THE OFFENDER IS EXCUSABLE! SLIGHTING THE ONE WHO HAS HURT ME IS SANE! INDULGING UNFORGIVENESS IS A ‘VIRTUE’ OF TRUE MANHOOD, NOT A VICE! I DON’T MIND DE-CLAWING THE ‘LION-HEARTED’ & EXTRACTING HIS TEETH IF HE/SHE COMES AGAINST ME – DOESN’T HE/SHE KNOW WHO I AM?”
RECEIVE MATTHEW 6:14-15!! “FOR IF YOU FORGIVE MEN THEIR TRESPASSES, YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER WILL ALSO FORGIVE YOU..BUT IF YOU DO NOT FORGIVE MEN THEIR TRESPASSES, NEITHER WILL YOUR FATHER FORGIVE YOUR TRESPASSES.” IS THAT CLEAR TO YOU? THERE CAN NEVER BE AN OUNCE OF MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN YOU & A BROTHER IF YOU WANT YOUR PRAYERS ANSWERED!!
THIRD, THERE IS THE MAJOR HINDRANCE OF THE STRANGLING ATTITUDE OF UNFORGIVENESS! IN MATTHEW 6:12, AS JESUS TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES, HE SAID: “AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS…”. AND WHAT A CLASSIC TEACHING IS MATTHEW 18:21-35!! IT IS SO “LIFE-SHAKING”! IF THIS DOESN’T WAKE YOU UP ON YOUR PATH OF UNFORGIVENESS, “NOTHING WILL”!! IT SAYS: THEN PETER CAME TO JESUS SAYING, “LORD, HOW OFTEN SHALL MY BROTHER SIN AGAINST ME, & I SHOULD FORGIVE HIM?UNTIL SEVEN TIMES?”
JESUS SAID TO PETER: “I SAY NOT TO YOU, UNTIL SEVEN TIMES:BUT, UNTIL SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN. THEREFORE IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN LIKENED UNTO A CERTAIN KING, WHICH WOULD TAKE ACCOUNT OF HIS SERVANTS. AND WHEN HE HAD BEGUN TO RECKON, ONE WAS BROUGHT UNTO HIM, WHICH OWED HIM TEN THOUSAND TALENTS (OR $10 MILLION DOLLARS!!). BUT FORASMUCH AS HE HAD NOT TO PAY, HIS LORD COMMANDED HIM TO BE SOLD, & HIS WIFE, & CHILDREN, & ALL THAT HE HAD,AND PAYMENT TO BE MADE.
THE SERVANT THEREFORE FELL DOWN, & WORSHIPPED HIM,SAYING, LORD, HAVE PATIENCE WITH ME, & I WILL PAY YOU ALL. THEN THE LORD OF THAT SERVANT WAS MOVED WITH COMPASSION, & LOOSED HIM,&FORGAVE HIM THE DEBT. BUT THE SAME SERVANT WENT OUT, & FOUND ONE OF HIS FELLOWSERVANTS, WHICH OWED HIM AN HUNDRED PENCE ($18); & HE LAID HANDS ON HIM, & TOOK HIM BY THE THROAT, SAYING, PAY ME THAT WHICH YOU OWE.
AND HIS FELLOWSERVANT FELL DOWN AT HIS FEET, & BESOUGHT HIM, SAYING, HAVE PATIENCE WITH ME, & I’LL PAY YOU ALL. AND HE WOULD NOT: BUT WENT & CAST HIM INTO PRISON TILL HE SHOULD PAY THE DEBT. SO WHEN HIS FELLWSERVANTS SAW WHAT WAS DONE, THEY WERE VERY SORRY, & CAME & TOLD THEIR LORD ALL THAT WAS DONE.
THEN HIS LORD, AFTER THAT HE HAD CALLED HIM, SAID UNTO HIM, O YOU WICKED SERVANT. I FORGAVE YOU ALL THAT DEBT, BECAUSE YOU DESIRED IT OF ME; SHOULD YOU NOT ALSO HAVE HAD COMPASSION ON YOUR FELLOWSERVANT, EVEN AS I HAD PITY ON YOU? AND HIS LORD WAS WROTH (OR ANGRY!), & DELIVERED HIM TO THE TORMENTORS, TILL HE SHOULD PAY ALL THAT WAS DUE UNTO HIM. (CK.OUT MATTHEW 5:24 &6:14-15!). VERSE 35, SO LIKEWISE SHALL MY HEAVENLY FATHER DO ALSO UNTO YOU, IF YOU, FROM THE HEART, FORGIVE NOT ONE HIS BROTHER THEIR TRESPASSES.”
NO SUN SHOULD EVER SET UNTIL YOU’VE FORGIVEN EVERY OFFENSE. NO WEEK SHOULD EVER PASS UNTIL YOU’VE WILLFULLY FORGIVEN EVERY WRONG. NO MONTH SHOULD EVER END UNTIL THERE’S A MENDING OF ONE’S MESSES. NO YEAR SHOULD EVER FACE ITS LAST DAYS UNTIL YIELDEDNESS TO GOD’S WAYS HAVE FOUND F ULL FRUITION IN A TRUE DISCILE OF CHRIST!
MARK TWAIN PUT IT LIKE THIS: “FORGIVENESS IS THE FRAGRANCE THE VIOLET SHEDS ON THE HEEL THAT HAS CRUSHED IT.” I REMEMBER READING OF ONE LITTLE BOY WHO THOUGHT HE WAS REPEATING THE LORD’S PRAYER WHEN HE SAID: “AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO ARE DEAD AGAINST US.” I LOVE WHAT JAMES HILTON WROTE IN HIS “TIME & TIME AGAIN.” IT’S A CLASSIC! “IF YOU FORGIVE PEOPLE ENOUGH YOU BELONG TO THEM, & THEY TO YOU, WHETHER EITHER PERSON LIKES IT OR NOT – SQUATTER’S RIGHTS OF THE HEART.” AND WHEN FORGIVENESS BECOMES THE TESTIMONY OF YOUR WALK, GOD HAS EXERCISED HIS SQUATTER’S RIGHTS RIGHT IN YOUR HEART! BUT TO BE UNFORGIVING, & TRY TO PRAY, IT’S NOT THAT GOD WILL STAMMER – HE’LL BE SILENT!!
FOURTH, IS THE MAJOR HINDRANCE OF THE ‘ROBBING SPIRIT’ OF COVETOUSNESS OR GREED!! IN MALACHI 3:6-12 WE READ, “FOR I AM THE LORD, I CHANGE NOT; THEREFORE YOU SONS OF JACOB ARE NOT CONSUMED. EVEN FROM THE DAYS OF YOUR FATHERS YOU ARE GONE AWAY FROM MY ORDINANCES, & HAVE NOT KEPT THEM. RETURN UNTO ME, & I WILL RETURN TO YOU, SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS. BUT YOU SAID, WHEREIN SHALL WE RETURN?
WILL A MAN ROB GOD? YET YOU HAVE ROBBED ME. BUT YOU SAY, WHEREIN HAVE WE ROBBED YOU? IN TITHES & OFFERINGS! YOU ARE CURSED WITH A CURSE: FOR YOU HAVE ROBBED ME, EVEN THIS WHOLE NATION. BRING YOU ALL THE TITHES INTO THE STOREHOUSE, THAT THERE MAY BE MEAT IN MY HOUSE, & PROVE ME NOW HEREWITH, SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS, IF I WILL NOT OPEN THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN, & POUR YOU OUT A BLESSING THAT THERE SHALL NOT BE ROOM ENOUGH TO RECEIVE IT.
AND I WILL REBUKE THE DEVOURER FOR YOUR SAKES, & HE SHALL NOT DESTROY THE FRUITS OF YOUR GROUND; NEITHER SHALL YOUR VINE CAST HER FRUIT BEFORE THE TIME IN THE FIELD, SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS. AND ALL NATIONS SHALL CALL YOU BLESSED; FOR YOU SHALL BE A DELIGHTSOME LAND, SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS.”
BUT, DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT CLOSING OUR HEARTS TO THE SPIRIT OF GIVING “TO GOD” CLOSES GOD’S HEART TO THE BLESSINGS HE WANTS TO BESTOW UPON THE CHEERFUL GIVER? AREN’T YOU AWARE THAT A COVETOUS MAN NEVER ‘HAS’ MONEY – IT HAS HIM! IN FACT COLOSSIANS 3:5 SPEAKS OF “GREED…WHICH IS IDOLATRY”!! IN YOUR LIFETIME HAVEN’T YOU WITNESSED THE BLESSED DISCIPLE FINANCIALLY WHO HAS TURNED INWARD ON HIMSELF & WHAT HE HAS BECOMES A CURSE RATHER THAN A BLESSING?
ROBERT SOUTH WROTE THAT “COVETOUSNESS IS BOTH THE BEGINNING & THE END OF THE DEVIL’S ALPHABET – THE FIRST VICE IN CORRUPT NATURE THAT MOVES, & THE LAST WHICH DIES.” IN LUKE 12:15 JESUS SAID, “TAKE HEED, BEWARE OF COVETOUSNESS; FOR A MAN’S LIFE DOES NOT CONSIST IN THE ABUNDANCE OF THE THINGS WHICH HE POSSESSES.” HOW COULD WE EVER FORGET ACHAN? A LONG TIME AGO I DID A MESSAGE ENTITLED “THE CONSEQUENCES OF BURIED SIN”. IT RELATED TO HOW ONE MAN’S SIN OF GREED & COVETOUSNESS WITHHELD THE BLESSING OF GOD UPON ALL HIS PEOPLE!
RECEIVE JOSHUA 7:21! “WHEN I SAW AMONG THE SPOILS A BEAUTIFUL BABYLONIAN GARMENT, I COVETED THEM & TOOK THEM. AND THERE THEY ARE, HIDDEN IN THE EARTH IN THE MIDST OF MY TENT WITH THE SILVER UNDER IT.” POSSESSING OR BEING POSSESSED BY ALL THE WEALTH OF THE WORLD IS NOT WORTH HAVING TO EXPERIENCE THE SILENCE & SEPARATION FROM GOD IF “SILVER OR GOLD” HAS THE MIND & HEART BUT NOT TOTALLY YIELDED TO GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY & SAVING GRACE THROUGH CHRIST ALONE!
IT’S AN AMAZING STATEMENT THAT THERE ARE MEN WHO HAVE NO GUILT AT ALL IN ACTUALLY “ROBBING GOD”. OH, YOU MAY FEEL SECURE IN YOUR SELFISHNESS WITHHOLDING FROM GOD, BUT THAT SENSE OF SECURITY IS G OING TO F ADE AWA Y IN A FLASH WHEN GOD ARISES BEFORE YOU TO SAY TO YOU, “I AM THE SAME – I DO NOT CHANGE!”
LISTEN TO THIS NOW DEPARTED SAINT: “…THOSE WHO SING, “OH, HOW I LOVE JESUS”, BUT DO NOT LOVE HIM A DIME’S WORTH OUT OF A DOLLAR WILL NOT GET FAR IN THEIR PRAYING. IF YOU CANNOT TRUST GOD TO SUPPLY YOUR NEED & TO REPAY YOU FOR ALL THE TITHES & OFFERINGS YOU BRING IN FOR HIM, YOU HAVE NOT MUCH FAITH.”
FIFTH, EXAMINE THE MAJOR HINDRANCE OF THE DESTRUCTIVE TRACK ONE WALKS ON IN DISOBEDIENCE, ROTTENING REBELLION, & A STRONG SELF-WILL RATHER THAN DAILY YIELDEDNESS TO THE KING OF KINGS!! IN 1 SAMUEL 15:22-23 WE READ, “HAS THE LORD AS GREAT DELIGHT IN BURNT OFFERINGS & SACRIFICES, AS IN OBEYING THE VOICE OF THE LORD? BEHOLD, TO OBEY IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE, & TO HEED THAN THE FAT OF RAMS…FOR REBELLION IS AS THE SIN OF WITCHCRAFT, & STUBBORNNESS IS AS INIQUITY & IDOLATRY. BECAUSE YOU HAVE REJECTED THE WORD OF THE LORD, HE ALSO HAS REJECTED YOU FROM BEING KING.”
I REMEMBERED, AS I WAS WRITING THIS MESSAGE, A COMMENT I HAD MADE ON PRAYER, THAT THE ONLY PRAYER GOD HEARS FROM A SIN-DARKENED HEART IS THE CRY OF REPENTANCE.THAT HASN’T CHANGED. I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT SAUL WANTED TO PRAY TO GOD, EVEN WITH SAMUEL, BUT SAMUEL KNEW SAUL’S ONLY INTEREST WAS PERSONAL HONOR BEFORE HIS PEOPLE, NOT THE HONOR OF GOD ALONE! IN FACT, VERSE 30 SAYS, “I HAVE SINNED; YET HONOR ME NOW, PLEASE, BEFORE THE ELDERS OF MY PEOPLE & BEFORE ISRAEL…”. THAT’S WHAT ‘REBELLION’ IS ALL ABOUT: SELF-INTEREST, SELF-CONCERN, SELF-CONSIDERATION, SELF-DOMINATION, SELF-THOUGHTS, SELF-WILL, SELF-DESIRES, SELF-SERVING, SELF-SEEKING! CAN YOU HEAR OR SENSE THE SPIRIT OF THAT?
AND IF ONE PRAYS WITH THAT ATTITUDE, WHAT’S THE END RESULT OF IT? SILENCE –TOTAL SILENCE. THE ‘DEAFENED EARS’ OF GOD THAT DO HEAR ARE OVERRIDDEN & CLOSED BY STUBBORN HEARTS & REBELLIOUS WILLS! THOMAS ERSKINE WROTE: “MOST MEN ARE SO POSSESSED BY THEMSELVES THAT THEY HAVE NO VACUUM INTO WHICH GOD’S DEEP WATER MAY RISE.”
WHY DID JESUS DIE? LISTEN TO 2 COR. 5:15! “AND HE DIED FOR ALL, THAT THOSE WHO LIVE SHOULD “NO LONGER LIVE FOR THEMSELVES, BUT FOR HIM WHO DIED & ROSE AGAIN.” WE ARE NOT LIVING FOR THE LORD WHEN WE’RE SO CONSUMED WITH OURSELVES EVEN WHILE WE PRAY!
SIXTH, THERE IS THE MAJOR HINDRANCE OF ADVERSE ACTION OF ALWAYS ASKING AMISS! NEVER FORGET JAMES 4:1-3! “WHERE DO WARS & FIGHTS COME FROM AMONG YOU? DO THEY NOT COME FROM YOUR DESIRES FOR PLEASURE THAT WAR IN YOUR MEMBERS?. YOU LUST & DO NOT HAVE. YOU MURDER & COVET & CANNOT OBTAIN. YOU FIGHT & WAR. YET YOU DO NOT HAVE BECAUSE YOU DO NOT ASK…YOU ASK & DO NOT RECEIVE, BECAUSE YOU ASK AMISS, THAT YOU MAY SPEND IT ON YOUR PLEASURES.”
WHAT DID IT SAY? “YOU ASK, & DO NOT RECEIVE, BECAUSE YOU ASK AMISS…!” “AMISS”? IT COMES FROM A ROOT WORD MEANING, (LISTEN!), DISEASED, EVIL, GRIEVOUSLY, MISERABLY, SICK, & SORE!! IN PSALM 2:8 GOD SAID, “ASK OF ME, & I WILL GIVE YOU THE NATIONS FOR YOUR INHERITANCE, & THE ENDS OF THE EARTH FOR YOUR POSSESSION.”
JUST THINK OF THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE HEART OF GOD & HIS DESIRE TO BLESS & THE HEART OF A MAN, EVEN IN ASKING GOD, TO HELP HIM BUILD HIS OWN MISERABLE KINGDOM OF ‘FLESH’, PERSONAL PLEASURES, & A SICK ‘SELF-CENTERED EGO’! I THINK I UNDERSTAND WHAT & WHY JESUS SAID IN MATTHEW 21:13, “MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER, BUT YOU HAVE MADE IT INTO A DEN OF THIEVES!” FENELON ONCE WROTE: “TO PRAY…IS TO DESIRE, BUT IT IS TO DESIRE WHAT GOD WOULD HAVE US DESIRE. HE WHO DESIRES NOT FROM THE BOTTOM OF HIS HEART , OFFERS A DECEITFUL PRAYER.” (AND I WOULD ONLY ADD: “WHO DESIRES, NOT FROM THE BOTTOM & TOP OF GOD’S HEART, BUT ASSUREDLY OFFERS A DECEITFUL PRAYER FROM SELF-INTEREST ALONE, NOT GOD’S GLORY!).
SEVENTH, THERE IS THE MAJOR HINDRANCE OF THE DEADENING DOUBT OF A DIVIDED HEART! JAMES 1:6-8 SAYS, “BUT LET HIM ASK IN FAITH, WITH NO DOUBTING, FOR HE WHO DOUBTS IS LIKE A WAVE OF THE SEA DRIVEN & TOSSED BY THE WIND…LET NOT THAT MAN SUPPOSE THAT HE WILL RECEIVE ANYTHING FROM THE LORD; HE IS A DOUBLE-MINDED MAN, UNSTABLE IN ALL HIS WAYS.”
LET ME GIVE YOU TWO STATEMENTS FROM ANONYMOUS WRITERS: 1) “DOUBT DIGS THE GRAVE OF FAITH.” THAT’S WHY JESUSAID TO PETER IN MATTHEW 14:31, “O YOU OF LITTLE FAITH, WHY DID YOU DOUBT?” JESUS WASAYING, ‘WHY DOUBT? EVEN WHILE YOU’RE SINKING – I’M HERE!” 2) “DOUBTERS INVERT THE METAPHOR & INSIST THAT THEY NEED FAITH AS BIG AS A MOUNTAIN IN ORDER TO MOVE A MUSTARD SEED.” ISN’T THAT SO OFTEN TRUE?
DO “YOU” REALLY BELIEVE NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD? DO WE REALLY BELIEVE & TRUST THAT HE “IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL WE ASK OR THINK”? SPURGEON PREACHED: “IT IS NEVER WORTH WHILE TO MAKE RENTS IN A GARMENT FOR THE SAKE OF MENDING THEM, NOR TO CREATE DOUBTS IN ORDER TO SHOW HOW CLEVERLY WE CAN QUIET THEM.”
DOUBT IN A DIVIDED HEART IS TYRANNY AGAINST GOD! DOUBT IN A DIVIDED HEART IS A CRUEL TASK MASTER! DOUBT IN A DIVIDED H EART IS ANOTHER EXPRESSION OF COWARDICE – FEARFUL TO STAND FOR THE TRUTH! DOUBT IN A DIVIDED HEART IS SELF-BURIAL IN A ROTTING GRAVE! DOUBT IN A DIVIDED HEART IS THE PRESENT ‘HELL’ OF A HUMAN SOUL! SOREN KIERKEGAARED PUT IT LIKE THIS: “THE METHOD WHICH BEGINS BY DOUBTING IN ORDER TO PHILOSOPHIZE IS JUST AS SUITED TO ITS PURPOSE AS MAKING A SOLDIER LIE DOWN IN A HEAP IN ORDER TO TEACH HIM TO STAND UP STRAIGHT!”
I DON’T WANT TO LIVE IN DOUBT – I WANT TO LIVE IN FAITH! I DON’T WANT TO LIVE IN FEAR – I WANT TO LIVE IN TRUSTING GOD! I DON’T WANT TO LIVE IN UNBELIEF – I WANT TO LIVE IN CONFI DENCE & ASSURTANCE THAT I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED, & THAT I’M PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE – WHATEVER – HE IS ABLE!
EIGHTH,THERE IS THE MAJOR HINDRANCE OF DEAFENED EARS THAT CAN SO EASILY & CONVENIENTLY NEGLECT GOD’S MERCY & GRACE! IN PROVERBS 21:13 WE READ, “WHOEVER SHUTS HIS EARS TO THE CRY OF THE POOR WILL ALSO CRY HIMSELF & NOT BE HEARD.” IS THAT PLAIN? IS THAT CLEAR TO YOU? IS THAT UNDERSTANDABLE TO YOU? IN ZECHARIA 7 THE LORD HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT SHOWING MERCY & COMPASSION, NOT OPPRESSING THE WIDOW OR THE FATHERLESS OR THE ALIEN OR THE POOR OR YOUR OWN BROTHER. BUT HIS PEOPLE “REFUSED TO HEED; SHRUGGED THEIR SHOULDERS, & STOPPED THEIR EARS SO THAT THEY COULD NOT HEAR.” VERSE 13 THEN SAYS: “THEREFORE IT HAPPENED, THAT JUST AS GOD PROCLAIMED & THEY WOULD NOT HEAR (THE CRIES OF THE NEEDY), “SO THEY CALLED OUT & I WOULD NOT LISTEN, SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS.”
WHAT DID JESUS SAY IN MATTHEW 25:41-46? THEN SHALL HE SAY UNTO THEM (GOATS?) ON THE LEFT HAND, DEPART FROM ME YOU CURSED, INTO EVERLASTING FIRE, PREPARED FOR THE DEVIL & HIS ANGELS. FOR I WAS HUNGERED & YOU GAVE ME NO MEAT: I WAS THIRSTY, & YOU GAVE ME NO DRINK.I WAS A STRANGER, & YOU TOOK ME NOT IN; NAKED, & YOU CLOTHED ME NOT; SICK, & IN PRISON, & YOU VISITED ME NOT.
THEN SHALL THEY ALSO ANSWER HIM, SAYING, LORD, WHEN SAW WE YOU AS HUNGRY, OR THIRSTY, OR A STRANGER, OR NAKED,OR SICK,OR IN PRISON, & DID NOT MINISTER UNTO YOU? THEN SHALL JESUS ANSWER THEM SAYING, VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, INASMUH AS YOU DID IT NOT TO ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE , YOU DID IT NOT TO ME. AND THESE SHALL GO AWAY INTO EVER;LASTING PUNISHMENT: BUT THE RIGHTEOUS INTO LIFE ETERNAL.” WOW! WHAT WORDS OF CONVICTION & INSPIRATION!!
NINTH, OH, PLEASE NOTICE: THE MAJOR HINDRANCE OF DEAFENED EAR S TO THE WORD OF GOD!! PROVERBS 28:9 SAYS, “ONE WHO TURNS AWAY HISEAR FROM HEARING (GOD’S WORD!) THE LAW, EVEN HIS PRAYER SHALL BE AN ABOMINATION.” BUT!! WHAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF THAT? PSALM 1:1-3 SAYS, “BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT WALKS NOT IN THE COUNSEL OF THE UNGODLY, NOR STANDS IN THE WAY OF SINNERS, NOR SITS IN THE SEAT OF THE SCORNFUL. BUT HIS DELIGHT IS IN THE LAW OF THE LORD; & IN HIS LAW DOES HE MEDITATE DAY & NIGHT. AND HE SHALL BE LIKE A TREE PLANTED BY THE RIVERS OF WATER, THAT BRINGS FORTH HIS FRUIT IN HIS EASON; HIS LEAF ALSO SHALL NOT WITHER; & WHATEVER HE DOES SHALL PROSPER.” WHAT A HOLY INSPIRING WORD OF GOD!
IN JOHN 15:7 JESUS CHALLENGED US: “IF YOU ABIDE IN ME, & MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU, YOU SHALL ASK WHAT YOU WILL, & IT SHALL BE DONE UNTO YOU.” HOW ARE “YOU” EVER GOING TO PLEASE GOD IF YOU HAVE NO PLEASURE IN THE POWER OF HIS HOLY WORD? WHAT DID JEREMIAH SAY? “YOUR WORDS WERE FOUND & THEY BECAME THE JOY & THE REJOICING OF MY HEART”, BUT FOR A MAN WHO SHUNS GOD’S WORD? – SILENCE FROM THE THRONE!!
TENTH, THERE IS THE ETERNAL HINDRANCE OF UNCONFESSED SIN THAT CLOSES HEAVEN’S GATES!! YOU KNOW WHAT IT SAYS, PSALM 66:18, “IF I REGARD INIQUITY IN MY HEART, “THE LORD WILL NOT HEAR.” DR. RICE ALSO STATED (P.305), “…IT IS NOT PRIMARILY THE FACT OF SIN, BUT IT IS A LOVE FOR SIN, A WILLINGNESS TO SIN, AN EXCUSING OF SIN THAT MAKES IT SO GOD CANNOT ANSWER OUR PRSAYERS.” AND DR. RICE IS CORRECT!! GOD SAYS: 2 CHRONICLES 7:14, “IF MY PEOPLE, WHICH ARE C ALLED BY MY NAME, SHALL HUMBLE THEMSELVES, & PRAY, & SEEK MY FACE, & TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS: THEN WILL I HEAR FROM HEAVEN, & WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN, & HEAL THEIR LAND.” 1 JOHN 1:9 DECLARES, “IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, HE IS F AITHFUL & JUST TO FORGIVES US OUR SINS, & TO CLEANSE US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.”
IN THE OLD “AMERICAN HYMNAL”, PUBLISHED IN 1933 BY THE BROADMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENN., IS THE HYMN ENTITLED “AT THE CROSS”, (P.41), BY ISAAC WATTS & R.E,HUDSON. IT SAYS: “ALAS, & DID MY SAVIOR BLEED? & DID MY SOVEREIGN DIE? WOULD HE DEVOTE THAT SACRED HEAD FOR SUCH A WORM AS I?
WAS IT FOR CRIMES THAT I HAVE DONE, HE GROANED UPON THE TREE? AMAZING PITY! GRACE UNKNOWN! & LOVE BEYOND DEGREE!
WELL MIGHT THE SUN IN DARKNESS HIDE, & SHUT HIS GLORIES IN, WHEN CHRIST, THE MIGHTY MAKER, DIED FOR MAN, THE CREATURE’S SIN.
BUT DROPS OF GRIEF CAN NE’ER REPAY THE DEBT OF LOVE I OWE: HERE, LORD, I GIVE MYSELF AWAY, IT’S ALL THAT I CAN DO!
AT THE CROSS, AT THE CROSS WHERE I FIRST SAW HE LIGHT, & THE BURDEN OF MY HEART ROLLED AWAY THERE BY FAITH I RECEIVED MY SIGHT, & NOW I AM HAPPY ALL THE DAY! AMEN?