By Bayo Ogunmupe
Sincerity is a word gravely misunderstood in Nigeria. Insincerity is a paramount feature of the Nigerian life from politics, through education and religion. Arbiter of Indian politics and morality, Mahatma Gandhi was asking Indians to eschew insincerity in life when he said:" Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behaviour. Keep your behaviour positive because your behaviour becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny."
Why must we pray? We must undertake constant, persistent, sleepless and overcoming prayers because there is a devil. The devil is cunning, mighty, he never rests and he is ever plotting the downfall of the child of God; and if the child of God relaxes in prayer, the devil will succeed in ensnaring him. "Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand." Two, prayer is God's appointed way for obtaining things, and the great secret of all lack in our experience, in our life and in our work is neglect of prayer.
James brings this out very forcibly in chapter 4, verse 2 of his epistle: "Ye have not because ye ask not." These words contain the secret of the poverty and powerlessness of the average Christian- neglect of prayer. Three, those men whom God set up as a pattern of what He expected Christians to be - the apostles- regarded prayer as the most important business of their lives. When responsibilities were multiplying in the early church, they called the disciples and said: there is no reason we should leave the Words of God to serve tables. "Wherefore brethren look ye out among you seven men of honest report, fully of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word."
It is evident from what Paul wrote on prayer; that much of his time, strength and thought were given to prayer (Rom. 1:9, Eph. 1:15-16; Col. 1;9; 1 Thess. 3:10; 2 Tim. 1:3). All the mighty men of God outside the Bible have been men of prayer. They have differed from one another in many things, but in prayer they have been alike. Four, prayer occupied a prominent place both in the earthly life and present ministry of the risen Lord. Mercy is what we need, grace is what we must have, prayer is the only way to get both. Prayer in the name of Jesus Christ is the way Jesus Christ Himself has appointed for His disciples to obtain fullness of joy. Jesus said: "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." We have gone carefully into how to pray successfully, but there are some things which hinder prayer. These hindrances to prayer have been made plain in God's Word. The first hindrance to prayer is in James 4:3, "Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures." A selfish purpose in prayer robs prayer of power.
The second hindrance to prayer we find in Isaiah 59:1-2: "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." Sin hinders prayer. Many men cry to God in vain, simply because of sin their lives. The third hindrance to prayer is found in Ezekiel 14:3, "Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?" Idols in the heart cause God to refuse to listen to our prayers.
What is an idol? An idol is anything that takes the place of God, anything that is the supreme object of our affection. God alone has the right to the supreme place in our hearts. Everything and everyone must be subordinate to Him. Many a man makes an idol of his wife. Not that a man can love his wife too much, but he can put her in the wrong place; he can put her before God. When a man regards his wife's pleasure before God's pleasure, when he gives her the first place and God the second place, his wife is an idol, and God cannot hear his prayers.
One great question for us to decide, in order for our prayers to be answered is: Is God absolutely first? Is He before wife, the children, before reputation, before business, before our own lives? If not, you are praying in vain. God often calls our attention to the fact of idols in our lives by not answering our prayers. Another hindrance to prayer is found in Proverbs 21:13, "Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard." There is perhaps no greater hindrance to prayer than stinginess, the lack of liberality toward the poor and toward God's work.
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