Why Your Prayers Are Not Being Answered (9 Big Mistakes)

i want to talk to you about the nine hindrances to prayer it's absolutely possible that your prayers are being hindered this doesn't mean that god is ignoring you or that god wants nothing to do with you or that god has rejected to you the issue is not heaven to earth the issue is often earth to heaven because god is perfect in the way he responds to prayers god responds when we request god hears us god sees us god knows us he's aware of everything that we're asking in fact the scripture says that even before we ask our heavenly father already knows what we need so we can trust in god's ability to speak to us we can trust in god's ability to respond to the faith that we exercise while praying but what i want to encourage you to do today is to discern expose and eliminate those things in your life that the scripture points out because the scripture does give us very clear things that are obstacles hindrances to prayers so number one the first hindrance to prayer number one is pride james 4 6 says and he gives grace generously as the scriptures say god opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble job 35 12 says and when they cry out god does not answer because of their pride think about what it says i'm going to read it again job 35 12. and when they cry out god does not answer why it gives us the answer very clearly here because of their pride when you approach god in a prideful manner when you yourself are given to pride that's who god resists it's the people who know that they don't have it all together that receive the best responses from the lord jesus told the parable about a religious leader who was praying pridefully to god and looking down at a sinful man saying to himself lord thank you that i'm not like that sinful man thank you that i'm above and beyond humanity thank you lord that i stand out above the rest thank you that i'm holy thank you that i'm more righteous than these and of course the scripture does teach that we are the righteousness of christ and of course the scripture does teach that because of what he's done on the cross that we're holy but this is not a point of bragging because it was given to us by grace there's nothing that we can do on our own there's no power that we have outside the power of the holy spirit and sometimes what happens especially when we're experiencing the blessings of god in our lives especially when we're walking in the favor of god we can become puffed up and what tends to happen is that in the season of blessings people forget about god and then begin to imagine that they were the ones who got themselves there in the first place people come to me all the time and say brother david what's the key to growing this or what's the key to succeeding in ministry and while i can point to what the scripture teaches on stewardship and leadership and moving forward and growth and so forth i have to acknowledge that i don't have all the answers because i may be the one planting seeds i may be the one working in the fields but only god can bring the increase and so we have to remain humble and humility is not thinking less of yourself it's thinking of yourself less humility is not self-degradation humility is not the criticism of self humility is not shame that's not what the bible teaches humility is and humility by the way is not even a shy personality i think sometimes we attribute humility to those who are quiet and shy because they're not talking all the time but just because someone is quiet and shy doesn't mean that they're humble and just because someone is loud and confident doesn't mean that they're prideful rather humility has to do with acknowledging from where the source of power is humility has to do with acknowledging who i am positioned relative to christ humility is recognizing the source of the blessing the source of the power the source of the gifts you see when people acknowledge that they've been given a gift by god that's not pride i know i have a teaching gift that's not prideful to say i'm gifted in teaching why because i recognize that it's not my gift it's his he's the one who gave it to me he's the one who supplied it and it's not as if god is looking down from heaven angry when his children acknowledge that they're gifted in some way or that they're talented in some way or that they're blessed in some way that's not it at all in fact that's a poverty orphan mindset to think that any compliment to self is pride complimenting yourself is not pride acknowledging your strengths is not pride pride is thinking that that strength came from you pride is thinking that the answers come from you humility is knowing that power and answers and all of those things which god gives to us don't come from us they come through us they come from our heavenly fathers so when we go before the lord if we're praying from the place of thinking that because of who we are that god's going to answer the prayer or because we pray in such a fancy way or because we are not living like those who are supposedly lesser than us and in this way we approach god that's when god resists the proud those who come to him thinking that they have all the answers those who come to him without a teachable spirit those who come to him thinking that god's going to be moved by their eloquence or by the fact that they lived a certain way lord i did this this and this for you and lord i live righteous and lord i'm your servant and lord i've done this and lord i've spent this many years in ministry and my family devoted themselves to you god doesn't answer because of those things he answers because of the finished work of the cross so when we as believers acknowledge that god alone is the source of these things when we as believers acknowledge that the lord himself is the source for everything that he's given to us and that he is the source of power that's when we get we begin to see breakthrough in our prayer so if you're confident in your prayer life that confidence is misplaced now this is very subtle because a lot of people think that oh i'm confident in my ministry because i have a prayer life and that's a very dangerous place to be it's a form of religion to think that now i'm not saying that having a prayer life is a form of religion rather i'm saying that you thinking that you have god's power because of your prayer life is religious think about that and it's kind of interesting that we've almost been taught that we've been taught to think that the greater your prayer life the more reliant you can be upon yourself now your prayer life has nothing to do with you necessarily it has everything to do with you getting out of the way so it's not like god goes wow that person is so devoted to prayer they deserve this power oh wow that person is so devoted to prayer they they really are something special i'm going to give them this power no prayer is what causes you to decrease therefore god increases in those moments of prayer prayer is really the death of the flesh so when i'm praying it's not as if i should be confident in my ability because i'm a prayer person or because i pray so many hours when i go to minister to the sick or when i go preach on the platform i'm not saying to myself wow i'm such a wonderful man of prayer that i must be used of god or god surely will move to me not at all doesn't matter if i'm a man of prayer or not because it's not my prayer life that gives me power it's god himself that gives power and he gives that power to those who are surrendered in prayer so these subtle ways that we see these things are important they're very important so that's number one pride number two impure motives james chapter four verses two through three say this you want what you don't have so you scheme and kill to get it you are jealous of what others have but you can't get it so you fight and wage war to take it away from them yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask god for it and even when you ask you don't get it because your motives are all wrong you want only what will give you pleasure i'm gonna read verse three again and even when you ask you don't get it because your motives are all wrong you want only what will give you pleasure jealousy envy self-promotion self-pleasure these are reasons that people pray now let me be very clear here i am not saying that there's never a good time to ask your heavenly father for something rather what the scripture is telling us is that selfishness is an obstacle to prayer or impure motives that's an obstacle to prayer the scripture very clearly says in james 4 3 and even when you ask when you pray you don't get it because your motives are all wrong and you want only what will give you pleasure why are you asking god to bless you why are you asking god to use you why are you asking for the power of the holy ghost what's your motive what's your reasoning i think about acts chapter 8 where simon the sorcerer witnessed peter and john laying hands on some new believers and as he's watching the apostles lay hands on these new believers he notices that when the apostles laid their hands on these believers that the power of god the power of the holy ghost was imparted to them and in that moment he became jealous and he approaches the apostles and he says let me purchase this power from you so that when i lay hands on others i may have the holy spirit flow through me too now think about the fact that what simon the sorcerer was asking for was not evil unto itself there are many believers today who will ask for the power of the holy spirit they desire that god would use them they want that healing virtue they want that delivering power they want the power to break addiction and so forth and there's nothing wrong with wanting that power in and of itself that desire itself is not what's wrong the problem here with simon the sorcerer was not what he wanted it was why he wanted it i'm going to say that again the problem with simon the sorcerer was not in what he wanted it was in why he wanted it why do you want the power of god why do you want your ministry to grow why do you want him to bless you financially why do you want him to raise you to places of influence why do you want that blessing why do you want that answer to prayer if all i'm ever praying is for self self self again nothing wrong with asking for your needs but if all i'm ever doing is asking for self self self self bless me promote me you know use me for the sake of me being important then you're running into a brick wall in the spirit realm and that brick wall is impure motives think about the fact that peter discerned and simon the sorcerer this unholy jealousy when simon the sorcerer saw the disciples the apostles laying hands-on believers and he saw that power flowing through them he became filled with jealousy think about it he's the sorcerer i'm sure that before the apostles came along people were looking to him as the source of power people were looking to him for answers people were looking to him because of his supposed greatness yet when the apostles came along all of a sudden that all that wonder that the people had for simon the sorcerer now shifted to these apostles and simon's looking on and watching this going wow these apostles are distributing some power that i don't have and he became filled with jealousy and he offered to purchase what could only be found in the presence of the holy ghost what are your motives when you pray believer please hear me i'm going to say this here pastors if you are listening preachers hear me now why do you want the power of god why do you want the ministry to grow why do you want your influence to expand why do you want the follow rate and the subscribe rate and the like rate to grow exponentially what is it in you that desires that and you have to really assess your heart in fact you have to allow the lord to assess it because the heart is deceitfully wicked we deceive ourselves quite often say like david says search me o god open yourself to the search of the holy ghost let yourself be vulnerable before the all-seeing eyes of our heavenly father and let him search your heart for imperial motives why do you want that thing are you letting god use you or are you trying to use god are you wanting his power so that people can be set free or do you want his power so that people can admire you are you just using the ministry to make yourself important do you desire the gifts and platform just so that people look to you as someone to be admired why do you desire the power of the holy ghost simon the sorcerer wanted a good thing he wanted the power of god he wanted to be able to lay hands on people and have the holy spirit imparted what was it though that caused him to be called out by peter what was it that peter saw in him it was bitterness and jealousy he wanted what they had not so he can serve the people but so that he could bring status to himself why are you praying for that thing i know this is a tough question but you need to ask yourself that often when i pray i fight the flesh and i say lord search my heart look through me if you find even a speck of selfishness i want you to kill that thing and don't bring promotion until it's dead because if you're promoted in your selfishness then it's the flesh that took you there and if it's the flesh that took you there it's the flesh that has to keep you there please hear me now if it's the flesh that takes you there then it's only the flesh that can keep you there but if god put you there if the spirit actually promoted you to a certain place then the holy spirit will keep you so we have to say to the lord lord search my heart why am i praying for this thing and this doesn't just apply to ministry and the power of god this applies to all aspects of our prayer lives why do we ask what is the motive behind why we're asking do we want to be blessed because of the blessing itself or do we want to be blessed because we want to show off and have others look at us with envy do we want to be blessed so that we can be useful or do we want to be blessed so that we can lord it over other people and show it off to them and feel like we beat them in some way these are things you have to ask yourself why do you want that thing for which you pray so earnestly why do you want that thing for which you pray so persistently and you have to be honest with the lord you have to be honest with yourself impure motives will block your prayer life i'm looking to the comments now paul ashiro says yes lord kill anything that does not please you and me brit says search my heart lord i am a servant i want to be at your service letitia only we can choose to humble ourselves holy spirit brings it to our attention that's so true and the holy spirit will bring it to your attention eva court cortez not see him as a means to an end but to seek his face i love that eva that's a great point because some people seek his hand while others seek his heart do you want him for him or do you want him for what he can give are you wanting to receive of him or from him now there's nothing wrong with asking for things that you need again we've clarified that a couple times throughout this broadcast but you must ask yourself ultimately do i want to receive from him in other words do i want him to bless me only or do i want to receive of him and that's his presence sonny channel how do i know if i don't ask to show off well there's some hidden motives in us sonny and only the holy spirit can reveal those things but the important thing is that you address it as the holy spirit reveals it i remember that when i first began in ministry i would feel like these layers coming off of me so think about this this is how this is how complex it gets when the flesh is involved because the flesh will lie to you you'll lie to yourself and you won't even know it this is how complex it is so i would go to pray and this was at the beginning of ministry when i first started to see miracles and i first started to see demons coming out of people and i first started to see people fill with the holy spirit this was around the age of 14 15 i was 13 when i started preaching around 14 15. i'm starting to enter the ministry now people are calling me to preach places and all of that and here's here's a great piece of advice on on a side note here for those who want to be in ministry remember that a quick rise is a shooting star if you should rise quickly you'll come down just as fast it takes decades to have what they call an overnight success so some people want that quick growth and get to that place as fast as they can but the problem is you will only go as far as your foundation is firm and some people rush that process and they grow quickly and within four or five years they kind of fizzle out they were a trend they weren't uh a staple a trend is something that it gets real popular it's quick it's it's like a hype train everybody jumps on it but a staple is something that's that's slow steady growth over many years that happens exponentially as time goes on so you don't want fast growth you want steady growth that's very important to know now as i was saying when i first began to see that growth in ministry i would go to the lord in prayer and i would begin to just seek his face and i remember praying on my face before god i had my face in the i would often i often do pray with my face in the ground and i'm praying and i'm saying lord please in the name of jesus lord destroy any impure motives in me take out anything in me that does this just to be seen take out any competitive spirit in me take out anything that doesn't please you lord i want to be about you i want to be about souls i want to be about the kingdom i want to be someone who helps open doors for others i don't want to compete with anyone i want to compliment them i want i want to help i want to be a kingdom person and that was my prayer and i remember that as i'm praying that watch this now this is how subtle it is as i'm praying that as i'm praying lord please don't let me be selfish please don't let me be overly ambitious please don't let me be all about self-promotion as i am praying that in the back of my mind my flesh is saying to me wow that's really good now he's really going to promote you because you don't want to be promoted and the moment i heard that i can't i can't really explain my frustration at that moment i thought lord are even my prayers for me to be humble before you are even those prayers rooted in ungodly ambitions and then i started to pray in tongues and and i started to pray with more intensity and i began to say lord please please please don't just kill that first layer of ambition kill that second layer and that third layer and that fourth layer that thing that goes all the way back that says oh yes you praying this way will cause god to promote you because that's how subtle it is that's that's how deceitful the flesh is that's how subtle these attacks are that's how complex it becomes this is why it's so important that you remain connected to the source who is christ jesus himself as long as i'm connected to him then these ungodly ambitions are killed in me you guys this is so important i love you this is why i'm telling you this and i know i'm talking to preachers and ministers this message is for every believer but i'm talking to preachers and ministers right now because this is this is how subtle it is and you wonder why god's not answering your prayers to grow the ministry you wonder why god's not giving you bigger platform you wonder why god's not expanding you to greater influence it's because you haven't dealt with the flesh yet you haven't dealt with those subtle bits of selfishness and here's the reality there will always be a little selfishness in you that needs to be kept under subjection and in check because if you're not careful those seasons of blessings will stir up that pride and you'll begin to think it's because you're so gifted you're so intelligent because you worked so hard that's all that's all nonsense it's all him it's all the holy ghost he builds the ministry he builds the church he's the one who promotes and tears down he's the one who raises and destroys he's the one who exposes and eliminates these things in us that we might be used for his glory but we must be submitted to prayer if the flesh is to be kept in check number three and this is going to be a wild one really here so number one is pride number two impure modus is there anyone on right now tell me in the comments just be honest let this be like a little altar call ask yourself is has that been you do you do you struggle with these ungodly motives and again it's not like you deal with it once and then it's gone forever you have to deal with these things daily you have to stay on top of it you have to abide in the lord you have to abide in that prayer closet because if you don't my goodness that'll sneak upon you really really fast okay leslie rio's so true my back thoughts would tell me that sometimes but i never really know how to reply to that and i just tell myself that i wouldn't be where i am if it wasn't for jesus and this mercy yes you know how you you know how you you respond to those things the layers of selfishness you just got to keep praying keep asking god to expose it because he helps you eliminate it i see pastor david thank you for the anointing preach i see miros says yes edwin says yes edward roman says yes i struggle with it isaiah clarke lord search me what a prayer lord stop right now everyone and just say lord search me lord search me father remove anything from us that's not of you remove all selfish ungodly ambition it's it's it's it's so disgusts the lord you know that i i hate to use such harsh language but it's so disgust the lord when he sees that in us holy spirit we're sorry for grieving you that's what our prayers should be i also see um paul shiro says yes deal with the flesh marsha ht says yes yes unconsciously and that's what happens really unconsciously joshua quaid i'm very humble but i don't live righteously um there's confidence says yes i struggle uh grace centeno says wow he's talking to me scott i get that i'm not good enough and really when we say we're not good enough again that's not shaming ourselves it's thinking of ourselves soberly in recognizing that without him we can't really do it okay guys i'm going to continue just type amen if this is blessing you so number one pride number two impure motives number three again this one's wild it's interesting and there's only one version of this that the scripture gives us so i'm just gonna say it as the scripture says it number three mistreating your wife it's gonna block your prayers hear me now it's gonna block your prayers some some would say well brother david shouldn't you say mistreating your spouse aren't the wives prayers blocked if she mistreats her husband it doesn't say that the scripture only says husbands that if you mistreat your wife god won't hear your prayers watch this first peter 3 7 in the same way you husband so he's talking to the men now in the same way you husbands must give honor to your wives treat your wife with understanding as you live together she may be weaker than you are but she is your equal partner i'm going to emphasize that equal partner in god's gift of new life treat her as you should oh my goodness watch this treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered gentlemen hear me now you mistreat your wife it will hinder your prayer life you mistreat your wife it will hinder your prayer life i remember one time when jess and i in our newly wed face i don't know when technically your newlywed phase is over but um i believe we're out of the newlywed phase as they would call it we're just as happy as ever um but you know i don't know when i'm considered a newlywed or not but anyway so when we were newlyweds jess and i had a discussion a conversation and i remember during that conversation we didn't quite argue you ever just have a disagreement it doesn't turn into an argument but there's a little disagreement and you're just discussing things you know a little bit of tension slight slight amount of tension but overall things are pretty smooth and you're working through it and so her and i had a discussion and i remember um i didn't think anything of it i just went about my day for the next couple of days and then i noticed as i went to prayer that my my prayers weren't quite how it was before my my prayer life seemed to hit this um how do i want to word this it was like an obstruction there was a stagnation there was a slowing there was less effectiveness to my prayers as i was praying and so i'm trying to seek the face of god and i notice there's just this this hindrance to my prayer life and i can't quite put my finger on it and i'm asking the holy spirit holy spirit what is going on and the holy spirit spoke to me very clearly he brought to my memory the conversation i had with jess just a couple days earlier and he says do you remember that conversation you had with jess i said yes he said do you remember when you said this i said yes what's the big deal he said well the way you said it was really harsh it may not have been harsh in your mind but it was harsh and she took it hard and he said that's hindering you and i want you to go and apologize to her before we continue here i was shaken i said okay i'll go and i went to the next room and by the way the scripture teaches that the husbands are the leaders of the home but this doesn't mean we have lordship over our wives it doesn't mean she lives under a dictatorship what leadership means is that you're the first to apologize and that's one of the meanings of leadership there are many more we could discuss maybe we'll do a separate lesson for scripture and marriage but i remember i went to the next room and i go to jess i'm like jess can i talk to you for a second so i sit her down and i'm like jess do you remember the other day when we had this conversation she says yes and i said and i said this she said yes i said well how did you take that because i didn't think it was that harsh but how did you take that and she said you're right it wasn't that harsh and i know you didn't mean it in a harsh way she said but it did affect me and she said so i told god to tell you and he told you and now you're apologizing to me that's how it works and this is why men of god we have to be sensitive to the voice of the holy spirit she said i didn't want to nag you i didn't want to make you feel guilty so i just talked to the lord about it and now he's telling you to come back and tell me so sure enough i apologized i made it right i went back to pray my flow in prayer came right back but if you mistreat your wife you're harsh with her impatient with her you're rude to her that will hinder your prayer life that's what the bible says it's not me saying it guys it's the bible saying it well what about her being harsh with me or what about her mistreating me the bible doesn't say anything about that the bible says that if the husband mistreats the wife that husband's prayer life will be hindered that's just the reality of it so number one is pride number two in pure motives number three mistreating your wife i see the chat reacting to the story ven van rances says that's so good darlene nunes has the hand emojis and the tears rosa says that's really cool eva cortez says well um edwin says beautiful uh ram ram wrote i'm gonna tell god there you go that's the way to approach it right there gloria chang says wow tiffany thomas says speak lord speak to my heart leanni says geez christian says i'm 17 years old and i don't have a wife well if you don't have a wife this doesn't apply to you so that's one less hindrance to prayer you'll have to worry about there new me says i am not the original wife though the lord i didn't want to committed the comment disappeared i'm so sorry edwin mutilla writes wow beautiful nadia says so true and phil says helping me and then sharon patrick put all 100 so guys britain tim there's something to apply to your future marriage so number one is pride number two is impure motives number three is mistreating your wife type amen as i have a little tea break here you know steve's not here today steve is is on vacation a well-deserved vacation he took his family i'm not going to disclose where but they went on a little vacation and it is well earned so he'll be back next week but um so i'm kind of usually that's where stephen would cut in stephen can tell when i'm going to take my tea breaks so he'll just jump in and start talking and then i able to do it off camera but there you go a little behind the scenes of what happens while steven's talking anyway number four number four unconfessed sin oh this is huge so number one is pride number two impure motives number three mistreating your wife number four unconfessed sin for i cried out to him for help praising him as i spoke if i had not confessed the sin in my heart watch this now if i had not confessed the sin in my heart the lord would not have listened wow but god did listen he paid attention to my prayer praise god who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love for me i'm going to read that again verse 18 if i had not confessed the sin in my heart the lord would not have listened now you have to filter the old testament realities through new testament truth so of course the lord is still aware of us even though we're in sin the lord still sees us even though we're in sin the lord still can hear us even though we're in sin this scripture here is not saying that suddenly god goes deaf and he can't see or hear us when the scripture says that god would not have listened it's talking about having an audience with god in prayer to where your prayers are effective because god sees all things he hears all things he's in every place all the time omnipresent aware of all things his mind genius mind is aware of all goings on everywhere so when you sin it begins to hinder your prayer life not because god is not aware of you it begins to hinder your prayer life because it it affects it disrupts my my communion with him my fellowship with him for example going back to that that story i told you about with jess and i you know we were still married even though there was that little issue between us we were still married we were still husband and wife we were we're still living in the same place we still love each other but that right there and things like that couldn't put these little speed bumps on the road that prevent moving forward and so when we have sin in our hearts what begins to happen is we become so deeply affected by it that our faith to pray is diminished that our confidence in prayer is diminished that our focus in prayer is diminished think about how the sin will destroy your faith it will destroy your confidence and it will definitely diminish your prayer life so when you go before the lord and you have sin in your heart hear me now please this is so important when you go before the lord and you have sin in your heart and you've done something that you know is wrong how does that affect you how can you pray when there is shame on you weighing on your mind how can you pray when your focus is being disrupted have you ever tried to pray to the lord when there's unconfessed sin in your heart or when you've done something that you've not addressed yet it's very very difficult to pray with that shame it's very difficult to focus on him when you're focused on your past it's very difficult to talk to god when you're rehearsing what you've done again and again and again in your mind so it's important that you confess your sin holiness and righteousness matter holiness brings favor please remember that holiness does bring favor yes god loves you yes god will never abandon you yes god is with you but when you sin there is disruption not because the connection is severed but because your response to that connection your faith in that connection your confidence in that connection your focus on that connection becomes hindered it's not that god goes deaf it's that we lose the confidence to speak and that's what sin will do those secret sins that you try so hard to hide those things in your life that you know you not ought to do yet you do them anyway those habits that cause you to return again and again and again as the scripture says like a dog returning to its vomit like a pig after being clean rolling again in the mud you go back to those things that you know you not ought to touch you go back to those things that bring about shame you go back to those things that make it with a dirty conscience it's very difficult to approach god if you're wondering if he's even going to hear you the forgiveness of god please hear this people of god the forgiveness of god produces faith to approach god the forgiveness of god produces faith to approach god so it's not that god is rejecting you because there's no sin that the blood has not covered first john 1 9 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness so it's not that our sins keeps god away from us sin destroys your faith in your ability to approach god forgiveness produces faith to approach god and so then it's time to confess these sins first john 1 9 tells us to confess who to god to god to the lord you confess to him and you come before him and you say god i agree with you this thing in my life needs to go you see repentance is hear me now i sense the anointing on this real strong repentance is not just feeling bad that you sinned repentance is not just feeling shame for your wrongdoing repentance is not just walking around with guilt hanging over your head that's the religious approach to making yourself right with god guilt can't save you shame can't save you lack of self-confidence can't save you beating yourself up over and over and over again over the mistakes that you made that can't save you that's not what does it if you want to be free from sin you have to do more than just feel bad about it you have to do more than just go oh lord i did it again i'm so sorry you have to come to this place where you're deeply convicted and convicted doesn't mean i feel bad a conviction is a deeply held belief to be convicted of something means i believe it with all my heart so you have to come to the place where you believe you know you recognize that that thing that you're allowing in your life is destroying you you have to come to the place where you say to god god i agree this thing needs to go i agree this thing in my life doesn't belong there and here's how deceptive the flesh is because we'll think that just because we felt bad for it and then committed lord i'll never do it again that we therefore are somehow able to go on with our conscience clean no that's not how it works is there truly an intention to never do that again or is there just the desire to not feel the guilt oh i'm going to ask that again i sense the holy spirit on that is there really an intention to not do that again or is there just a desire to not fill the guilt ask yourself do i really intend to put this thing aside do i really attend intent to remove this from my life or do i just desire that the guilt go away do i just want relief in the mind and only you can truly know that answer because what begins to happen is we fall into these patterns where we go from feeling bad to doing it again from feeling bad to doing it again from feeling bad to doing it again over and over and over and over again it's not in the feeling bad that you find freedom though you should the bible says godly sorrow worketh repentance it's godly sorrow that works repentance you have to have sorrow over your sin but sorrow alone won't liberate you you have to truly say to yourself i am going to give this up and not just for one week not just for the next six months but this thing in my life i i'm committing now to never allowing it back again not at any one point and not in any degree not in any measurement because sometimes i think we convince ourselves that if we keep the sin small as they say in our minds at least if we can keep it small that therefore it doesn't affect us as much but just because you never get caught for something doesn't mean that it's not affecting you doesn't mean that it's not out there in some way it's deeply affecting you so you have to commit lord i agree with you this is wrong and i want to never come back to this place again i want to get rid of this thing completely not in increments not just a little bit not just certain degrees of it but lord i want to get rid of this thing completely and i agree with you repent means literally to change your mind and repentance in the context of the gospel is to change my mind to the point that i'm turning from my sin a change in the mind that results in the turning from sin that's what biblical repentance is but it starts in the mind i have to first agree god i agree with you this is wrong and i'm going to stop playing games i'm going to stop lying to myself saying oh yeah i'm giving it up but only but i'm really giving it up for just a few days or just until i can't take it anymore whatever the sin may be lying lust pride greed it's all the same it can be it can lead to certain cycles that need to be broken so it comes now to the place where we say lord i want this completely removed from my life i don't want even a little bit and i don't want to come back to it in a few weeks or at some point you know the bible says that when we are tempted it's because we're taken away by our own lusts why did you sin because you wanted to why did you sin because you chose to period period period and this must be acknowledged if we're to get things right with god god i agree with you and i want it out of my life forever and i want it gone in all forms and in all sizes i don't even want a little bit of it in i want to get rid of all of it so we have to confess that sin confession is not just admitting that i sin confession of sin is not just admitting that i did the sin confession of sin is also acknowledging that it's wrong saying god this is wrong this pattern is wrong this cycle is wrong this constant coming to you again and again that is wrong and i know it and i'm sorry i'm not saying he won't forgive you i'm saying that if you really want to be free you have to change your mind about it and completely turn from that sin so number one hindrance to prayer well not that it's the number one hindrance to prayer but here's a list of hindrances to prayer and on that list i put as number one pride number two impure motives number three husbands mistreating your wife number four unconfessed sin and number five is unforgiveness matthew 5 23-24 says this therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you leave your offering there before the altar and go first be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your offering mark 11 25 says it a little more pointed but when you are praying first forgive anyone watch this i'm going to read this slowly i want you to hear this mark 11 25 this is the bible guys but when you are praying first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against so that your father in heaven will forgive your sins too watch again but when you are praying first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against so that your father in heaven will forgive your sins too yes this is a real thing and in fact we talked about unforgiveness not too long ago how many of you remember the lesson i did a couple weeks ago on unforgiveness type 1 if you remember that if you received from that but here mark 11 25 is making it perfectly clear that if you hold that grudge it it prevents you from praying when you are praying what does it say to first do why do i need to do that before i begin to pray i have to first forgive now remember what we discussed a couple weeks ago and i think it's worth repeating here on this broadcast that forgiveness is not just a one-time event because often we're not just offended by the one-time event we're also offended daily by the memory of an event you know for me there are certain things in my life that i forgave people for but then when the memory came back and i thought about it again i would feel my flesh starting to become angry starting to stir up a little but forgiveness is letting that go not just the one time that it happened but also learning to let it go every time the memory occurs and the wonderful thing is that it's not a feeling you can't control how you feel you can control how you think you can control what you do but you can't always control how you feel it for example if you face some tragedy the loss of a loved one you can't help but feel sorrow for the loss of that loved one or the temporary loss of that loved one but you can choose the thoughts that put it in right perspective in the same way when you want to forgive someone that is a choice you say how do i forgive how do i forgive how do i forgive you choose to change your thought patterns toward them you choose to change your actions toward them you choose to think about them positively you choose to see them through the love of god you choose to treat them as if they never offended you now of course i understand there are examples or instances where someone might be abusive towards you and you'd be putting yourself in harm's way to go back and reconcile the relationship that's not what the scripture says to do on every instance but the bible certainly does talk about the condition of your heart that posture do you still carry something against them and if that's the case then it's going to hinder your prayer life yes as i said this is a real thing bitterness will destroy you and it causes you to see all things to that bitterness lens no matter what anybody does you're gonna see through a certain skewed view because of that hurt never having been healed and when you go to pray you'll find that there's that blockage there something in you is not able to connect or sense that connection because we're always connected with the lord and again it's not as if god is ignoring you as if god is rejecting yours if god doesn't see or hear you or acknowledge that you exist but rather it's that i'm not really in a position to have faith i'm not really in a position to focus on that connection with god when i'm carrying all these things in my heart this is why it's important that you choose to forgive now our society our culture they say demand justice but really what the society teaches is to demand revenge what society calls justice is actually revenge and in the biblical sense we are to release people not only from the hurt and the harm we are to release them from the punishment or the desire to punish them now this is not something that's very popular to say i know but think about what christ did for us and think about the fact that if god gave us all justice we'd all be in hell all these cries today justice justice justice you know if god gave us all justice we'd be in hell that's just a fact that's the reality of it how did god treat us we deserved hell we deserved eternal punishment we deserved the flames of torment yet god in his goodness and in his mercy and his grace chose rather to forgive us not just to forgive us of the sin and release us from the guilt but also chose to release us from the punishment that was required of that sin the wages of sin is death yet he gives us eternal life if we put our faith in him my goodness what a good god we serve in the same way we are to forgive just as our heavenly father has forgiven us how has he forgiven us graciously mercifully wonderfully completely totally abundantly that's how god has forgiven us can you truly say that you're forgiving others just as much as god has forgiven you or do you forgive others by human standards do you forgive others to appoint and then say well but at this point they really crossed the line so surely we must no no no no no no forgive others as your heavenly father has forgiven you that's gracious that's abundant love and that truly is something that will unblock your prayer life so number one a hindrance to prayer is pride number two impure motives number three mistreating your wife number four unconfessed sin number five unforgiveness before i get into the final four here i do want you to take a moment to gently click that like button i know you're often told to smash it here at 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in regards to but i'm sure it was something to the lesson nene says add some color to that like button gloria chang says hahaha angela says hahaha cute ruth says like this video brother david thank you so much um kai's sand left the shocked faces edna brown lord save my husband we'll pray for that hey my friend pastor vlad is here vlad savchuk is in the comment section i just saw him right now and then he was like the holy spirit i saw him and then in a flash like a wind passing through he was oh there he is okay pastor vlad is here let me go ahead i'm going to pin that little thing pastor vlad is there make sure guys you're subscribed to vlad softchook on youtube he broadcast on thursday nights so you're going to love that live stream i just posted his channel there everybody say hi to pastor vlad he's he's a good friend of mine and he's actually got a birthday coming up i believe let me check my calendar here pastor vlad i think his birthday is tomorrow is it tomorrow yeah i think he's gonna be 35 tomorrow pastor vlad my friend love you and he's actually going to be coming here they're working it out right now i believe he's coming down in august he's going to be in studio with us on the program so pastor vlad always a pleasure having you my friend go subscribe to his channel guys um he's he broadcasts thursday nights a wonderful friend of mine and i love him dearly okay so now we're gonna get into number five unforgiveness or we just did that number six number six now this one is a little more how do i wanna say this one's a little more difficult to accept lord give me the words give me the words you know job suffered greatly think about the story of job in the fact that the scripture begins the scripture begins the story of job by saying there was a man who dwelt in the land of us and he was perfect and upright the scripture goes out of its way to make that declaration about him being perfect and upright why because the scripture wanted to bring a certain perspective on the story so job is a servant of god he loves the lord he's perfect and upright he's doing all the right things he's giving god worship he's giving god praise he's not cheating the poor he's not oppressing the poor he's not withholding justice from those who need it he's not committing adultery he's not taking his brother's wives he's not doing anything that displeases god and he comes to the lord throughout the story wanting an audience with god why does he want an audience with god because things began to take a turn for job you see there was a time when the sons of god went and presented themselves to the heavenly father and among these was satan satan comes to the lord the lord asks him where he's been he says he's been going through the earth he's been doing things that were destructive of course and then the lord says to satan have you considered my servant job now i have trouble with this i'll be honest with you theologically this will turn your head upside down god says to satan have you considered my servant job now wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute frustrating for a couple reasons number one it would seem like god is being so callous toward him it would seem like god doesn't care and if you and i were in job's position we would be asking what he was asking lord i serve you lord i love you what are you doing and i think that sometimes we do ask god questions like that lord what are you doing why are you doing this i have friends who've dealt with severe sicknesses i myself have lost loved ones and asked myself and asked the lord lord why why why i have experienced tragedy and heartache betrayal and pain and in those moments i say lord where are you on this what what's going on here why why why did you allow that to happen why are you allowing this thing to occur as it's occurring and if you're being honest you've come to that place too so job as the scripture said was perfect and upright and yet god says to satan have you considered my servant job it was because of job's righteousness here's what blows my mind it was because of job's righteousness that god said to satan have you considered my servant job it was because of his righteousness that the trials came now we don't want to hear that we only want to hear that because of our righteousness that god will bless us i think about in the book of kings how the lord says how am i going to entice the king to go out to battle so that i may kill him and an evil spirit approaches god and says god i'll go and i'll lie to the prophets for you so that i'll entice the king and send them out to battle i'll say through the prophets god is with you go to the battle and that's exactly what happened and it's astonishing to see that but really what the scripture shows us is that god is sovereign even over the power of the enemy god is sovereign even over trials and tragedy now job comes before god and if you read the book of job it's really interesting it's probably in my opinion the book of job is the most philosophical book in the entire bible job comes to god and he only wants one thing he wants to have a conversation with god and he just wants to ask god one question god why did you let me suffer because as the story goes job lost his children that's horrible in itself even if he just lost one child he would be asking god why but he lost all his children he lost all his wealth he lost all his servants he lost his status he even lost his health his friends turned against him and his wife turned against him and said why don't you curse god and die all of this happening in a very short period of time and so job goes and he's having this battle within himself and he's saying god why did you do this and he said i just want one moment with you and here he starts getting bold his god show me my wrongdoing if you'll do it open the record books so he says open the record books show me where have i cheated anyone where have i lied where have i taken my neighbor's wife where have i oppressed the poor where have i denied justice to those who were victims where have i done this lord show me he gets really really really really bold and the whole time he's having this debate right and his friends are chiming in and they're saying job don't talk like that to god don't say that to god job job you're going to get in trouble and his friends are accusing him saying job obviously you sinned somewhere obviously there's some secret sin in your life otherwise this would not have been happening and then the lord shows up this is where it gets really interesting then the lord shows up and who does he rebuke does he rebuke job's friends for saying god is righteous and surely you have sinned so stop complaining or did god rebuke job who said god i've done nothing i've done nothing wrong just show me my wrongdoing why are you doing this to me you know who god rebuked all of them because here is a group of men mere mortals debating so confidently about who god is and why he does what he does he begins to ask job a series of questions that he can't answer my favorite being where were you job tell me where were you when the foundations of the earth were laid where were you when the morning stars sang for joy at the creation of the world where were you and he starts to list all these things that job cannot answer questions that only god would know the answer to joe where were you where were you where were you tell me if you know so much where have you have you seen the storehouses with snow in them can you tell me where the winds come from what's the weather pattern what is it like job tell me and job when god appears this was this was probably the most astonishing thing to me keep in mind job lost his children job lost his children all of them even just that just take take out all the other tragedies and let's just focus on that one job lost all his children in a day think about just that one trial and job catches a glimpse of god and do you know what happens when he catches that glimpse of god he looks at god and he puts his hand over his mouth like i've said too much he puts his hand over his mouth and he says i've seen you he says i get it now i'm sorry i even questioned you he put his head down he didn't want to even look at god he was so filled with fear and terror the fear of the lord gripped his heart and he says i don't even want to see you right now i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i've already spoken too much i've been blabbing here and i'm sorry one look at god and he immediately understood the tragedies that he was facing wow i mean we say things all the time why did god allow that to happen to so-and-so they were so gracious they were so godly this that and the other oh they floated in the room when they walked in who are we where were we when god laid the foundations of the earth i think we're so arrogant sometimes to think that god owes us an answer for our suffering and so that is my sixth point and that's timing i believe in miracles i believe in healing i believe in the supernatural i believe in laying hands on the sick i believe in asking god i believe in persistent prayer but i also believe in the sovereignty of god and even moses even the apostles even the prophets were submitted to the sovereignty of god even the spiritual gifts are submitted to the sovereignty of god i hear some people say all the spiritual gifts couldn't possibly exist because no one can wield the power of god on their own anymore when did they ever wield the power of god on their own when did any apostle any prophet ever do anything outside of the will of god and have it backed by god it just didn't happen everything is submitted to the sovereignty of god and of course there's free will but think about the fact that we so often question god on his timing this does not mean you shouldn't persist matthew 7 7 ask seek not keep on asking keep on seeking keep on knocking you keep asking you're going to be answered you keep knocking the door will be open you keep searching you're going to find it that's the scripture the scripture tells us to persist but while we are persisting please hear me people of god while we are persisting we must also trust while we are persisting we must also trust oh goodness that he would help us do it ecclesiastes 3 11. yet god has made everything beautiful in its own time he has planted eternity in the human heart but even so people cannot see the whole scope of god's work from beginning to end god's timing is key sometimes the hindrance to prayer is simply the timing i i have this saying and it's a it's it's it's a little a little snarky on my part but i i kind of just think it's funny where i say i'll tell i'll ask people as i'm preaching how many heard the saying he's never early he's never late he's always and then they finish it for me the crowd goes on time and i always say oh i don't like that saying and it's true my flesh doesn't like it because i wouldn't mind if god was early now and then you see sometimes as we're facing trials god seems to wait until the very last minute to answer the prayer and that's frustrating and then sometimes when the answer comes it's not the answer we wanted but i'll tell you what will block prayers is the timing you know what there is as far as the key to overcoming that there is none there's no key to overcoming the timing because that's based on the sovereignty of god and while we persist we simply must trust sometimes people of god it is just the timing of god and there's nothing else to it think about the man at the gate beautiful in the book of acts as the apostles are coming out and they see him and the man looks to them asking them for silver and gold they look right at him they look at him intently the scripture says and they say silver and gold i have none but what i do have i give to you in the name of jesus christ rise up and walk instantly that guy begins to walk wonderful miracle right wait a minute this man was at the gate beautiful since he was a child he was there begging every single day that's what the scripture says you know who else was at the gate beautiful jesus how come jesus didn't heal that man jesus passed by there every day surely this man called out to him what about the pool of bethesda jesus goes there there's a bunch of infirmed people all around the pool jesus heals only one there why paul writes to timothy a little wine for your stomach's sake we'll do you good timothy had a stomach problem why didn't god heal timothy timing sovereignty while we persist we must also trust number seven spiritual warfare daniel chapter 10 i'm going to read verses 10 through 13. the scripture says then behold a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees i love that see there's there it is when he was touched by god's power he fell down he was trembling and shaking that's the reaction to the power of god he said to me oh daniel man of high esteem understand the words that i am about to tell you and stand upright for i have now been sent to you and when he had spoken this word to me i stood up trembling then he said to me do not be afraid daniel watch this now for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your god your words were heard and i have come in response to your words so in other words the moment you prayed i was dispatched now watch verse 13 but the prince of the kingdom of persia was withstanding me for 21 days then behold michael one of the chief princes came to help me for i had been left there with the kings of persian now i love this that the scripture says the prince of the kingdom of persia this is not describing a human being that was preventing a spiritual being from moving into that realm rather this was a prince demon remember that principalities if you read ephesians 6 principalities are not strong demons principalities are regions the strong demon is the prince the prince demon rules over a principality or a region so here in this instance there's this prince demon that's preventing the prayer from being answered there's war in the heavenlies if you will as i said demons can be cast out of unbelievers you cast demons out of the unbelievers they're possessed you cast it out of them christians deal with strongholds christians deal with mindsets and deceptions they also deal with war in the heavenlies about them for the christian the war is the fight to believe god's truth over the enemy's lies and to bring about god's dominion within the world around them and sometimes when we are terraforming if you will the earth we struggle against powers and principalities in that region so for example they want to colonize mars what an ambitious goal can you imagine going there i wish steve was here i'd look right over at him and say steve can you imagine going to mars if you're watching steve can you imagine that going to mars and living there and steve and i have actually had that conversation before britain imagine you go to mars and they have these these missions where they go and think about this that you go there and you can never come back i mean that's it it's almost like dying you leave the earth and that's it you're stuck there they're not going to bring you back but there are people who want to colonize mars and in colonizing mars they're coming up against atmospheric uh opposition if you will where they're trying to change the atmosphere so that they can establish a new territory if they can change the atmosphere they can establish a new territory in the same way in the spiritual realm if you can change the atmosphere you can establish a new territory that's how it is that's why they were fighting that's why the scripture refers to the enemy the prince and the power of the air he rules over atmospheres he seeks influence in atmospheres and so when you are praying you're fighting demonic power not within you but around you i remember one time i took a trip to colorado springs colorado now those who live there and by the way we're coming to denver i think in september right reuben okay denver and september a little side note of 2021 so if you watch this years later please check the calendar um so i'm going to colorado springs colorado and we're landing the plane is landing as soon as we land ruben i kid you not we land and i i stepped off the plane and i felt like like a heaviness come on me like a depression really really really heavy and i was like oh my goodness what is this i'm feeling in the atmosphere and i realized as i spent more time there that colorado springs colorado is a center for witchcraft i'm not saying everybody in colorado springs is a witch what i'm saying is they've centralized there the occult has a lot of influence in colorado springs and i thought wow this is really something so the service i did in colorado springs we had to re-establish something in the heavenlies through worship through prayer through speaking in tongues if you've been to one of my services before i usually start by saying everybody pray in the holy ghost and you notice that when we all start praying that that whole atmosphere shifts that is the terraforming of earth causing earth to become like heaven so in the spiritual realm we must change the atmosphere before we can establish the territory and that is part of spiritual warfare so you're praying over something you're praying over a region you're praying for revival in a nation you're praying for revival in your home establish god's dominion first change that atmosphere and it will become a place of answered prayer real briefly i'm going to check out the chat before i get into my next point so far we have number one pride number two impure motives number three mistreating your wife number four unconfessed sin number five unforgiveness number six timing number seven was spiritual warfare i'm gonna give you eight and nine right now the first i to check in with the chat see how you guys are doing gloria chang says amen james george different regions have different spiritual atmospheres very good point my friend that is so true you will notice that that is without a doubt a reality when you go to different regions there are different spiritual atmospheres resurrection tv says wow rod harold says amen emily laramore says such a good teaching isaiah clarke while mind blowing kennedy graham says five maritabo says let's get the video to a thousand likes oh yeah by the way guys if everybody likes it right now you'll get very very close to that 1 500 triggering the book giveaway james george actually left a really cool comment james george is leaving all the points numbered for you william dickens please pray for me we will william we will angela francine says spiritual food and then i see some croissants there i like to think that these teachings are the filet mignon of the spirit jodian greene says i have spiritual dreams sometimes we can address that during the q a marcia t trust god's timing how many of you honestly let me know in the comments section how many honestly were challenged by that portion where i was talking about trusting in the sovereignty of god let me know right now and i'll continue to read i see eva says love it allah says so true about regions and atmospheres jeff hoskins says love your stuff well god bless you i pray it's all biblically based and i ask the holy spirit to guide me when teaching it ruth zialitsita left a bunch of fire and heart emojis and then i see orbic says pray for me of course we will and then i see marlene great teachings someone left a stake in the comment section it went too fast i didn't see who that was but thank you for that that was great uh enya w oof yeah and then i see all of the comments says yes i was pray for the baptism of the holy spirit for me questions about me we'll get to those later a lot of you saying you were very challenged by that portion uh lozijo writes convicted and challenged so yes um we must trust the sovereignty of god okay i'm gonna give you number eight now number eight by the way guys we're almost to a thousand concurrent views usually we go about a thousand to about 1.2 on bible revival i want to start getting into the two or three thousand views so make sure you're sharing our stream inviting people to be a part of our community this is a community of people who love jesus who love the word who love the holy spirit make sure you're subscribed to encounter tv getting now into the points here number eight number eight insincere repetitions matthew chapter 6 verse 7 says when you pray don't babble on and on as the gentiles do they think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again now here of course jesus is not simply saying that if you repeat a prayer that it's therefore invalid in fact jesus told us when you pray pray like this and then he gave us the lord's prayer our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done and so forth so jesus is he'll give us models for prayer and even when you're repeating someone in prayer there's nothing wrong with repeating someone else's prayer if you mean it sincerely here jesus is talking about insincere repetitions it's not just the repetition it's the insincere repetition when you pray don't babble on and on as the gentiles do they think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again so it's their trust in their repetition itself that is being condemned here i'm going to read this again because i think it's very important that we get this here's the problem with what he says is babbling they think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again so here the lord is saying that the problem is not that they repeat their prayers the problem is that they're trusting in that repetition they think they're going to be heard because of the repetition itself god is not looking for systems he's looking for sincerity god does not respond to vain repetition he responds rather to sincerely seeking him that's number eight insincere repetition so if you just go in your prayer room you'll notice that sometimes there's this moment where you're saying lord i don't know what to pray i'm going to talk about that and just actually talk about it right now there are those moments where people wonder what to pray perhaps you hear stories of preachers praying for four hours eight hours 24 hours straight you hear of those who go on fast for a week for 40 days they go seeking the lord praying to him asking him to move and you hear these stories and you're inspired and you say wow lord that's so awesome that they could pray for such long periods of time and it's wonderful to hear of all the benefits that come about as a result of praying for extended periods of time but if we're being honest here all of us either now or at some point have had this question what on earth am i supposed to say while i'm praying i mean what does the lord want me to say because i do want to pray to him i do want to be with him for extended periods of time i do want to devote hours if i can to seeking the face of god but in those moments what do i pray and how do i avoid doing this what jesus says not to do when you pray don't babble on and on as the gentiles do they think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again that's matthew 6 7. how do we avoid this well again jesus here is not saying that it's the repetition that causes you to not be heard it's your faith in the repetition alone i've repeated prayers to the lord that he's answered i've asked him several times lord crucify my will crucify my will lord help me with my pride help me with my pride again and again give me wisdom lord give me guidance show me what i ought to do matthew 7 7 tells us to continually ask to continually seek to continually knock so how do i do this how do i keep this balance how do i persist in prayer how do i spend extended periods of time in prayer without falling into vain repetition this is the challenge so if you have an hour to pray this is something a powerful man of god told me if you have an hour to pray worship for 45 minutes of that hour when you go to spend time with the lord yes making your requests is one way that you can pray to him but there's a couple things that you can do when you don't know what to pray i'll give you three of them when you don't know what to pray wait psalm 80 18 says quicken us and we'll call unto you if you have a desire to pray that came from the holy spirit every spiritual desire comes from the holy spirit himself so the desire to pray is itself an invitation to prayer quicken us will call unto you but you can't call unto him until he quickens you so wait get into the presence of the lord focus your mind on jesus offer yourself offer your attention put away all distractions and let the holy spirit guide you i've given this analogy before regards to the eagle how does the eagle soar to such heights well it will flap its wings it will expend its energy until it comes to a certain altitude and once it reaches that certain altitude it just expands its wings and surrenders to the streams of wind and that's what it's like in prayer sometimes we feel like we're toiling like we're working like we're exhausting ourselves but when you come to a certain place in prayer in the spirit you can just spread your wings and off you go but that comes by waiting number two the word when you don't know what to pray pray the word this is not vain repetition especially if there's faith behind it especially if there's sincerity behind it so when you don't know what to pray number one make sure that you're waiting number two pray the word number three worship when you don't know what to pray just worship close your eyes focus on him and just adore him you know that worship or a form of worship can simply be to give them your attention attention is a form of worship worship is intensity of attention when you think about him and when you adore him and when you honor him and when you sing to him and you worship him everything else begins to fade into the background and you come to life in the spirit so that's what you can do to avoid insincere repetitions number nine and the final key how many were blessed by i think i think number one that is something we should put out the whole idea of insincere repetitions but the other thing is i think i should do a whole lesson on just that i think i should do it tim can you note that for me now number nine i'm going to get into it but let me take a look at what you're saying gloria chang says give our give god our attention okay guys i'm going to challenge you actually before i read the comments right now is the moment i want everybody to leave at least one or two comments everybody go and gently click that like button and make sure you're also sharing it with your friends as i said on viral revival right now we average at the high number about a thousand to 1200 people watching concurrently i want to see that number start going to two or three thousand concurrently on youtube alone it's very hard to keep track of the app the app is just a whole different thing metrics are near impossible there but i do want to get to a concurrent viewership here why because it helps to expand the community it helps us to grow so everybody go for it leave one or two comments someone left the stake i love it members you can use your encounter tv exclusive emojis now the rest you just comment a number comment amen help get those comments out there make sure you're leaving a like gently click that like button and help us reach these new goals new heights you know we've only been doing this new time slot for about three weeks now and already we're averaging about a thousand twelve hundred that's really good guys you're an amazing community our wonderful spirit family there is no community online like you okay i'm gonna get into number nine number nine this is a simple one but it's it's something that needs to be dealt with actually let me take my tea break while i look at your comments here usually steve would be talking right about now and i would be secretly drinking my tea but here you go little behind the scenes i'm looking at these comments coming in someone commented tacos and pizza that's they i guess it's the that's what they're saying it's like in the spirit they're eating good tonight god bless you all some a lot of you are commenting on that point and the intensity of attention that's worship and that's true someone said 570 more likes yeah and then we can trigger the uh the giveaway you know when we start getting those two or three thousand viewerships we'll start doing the five thousand like giveaway you get us to the two or three thousand viewership guys we're gonna start giving away trips to ministry events and when i say trips i mean you can come with us to taiwan when we go to the philippines when we go to africa when we go if you're from outside the country we'll bring into the united states bring it to one of our events here in the u.s so help us grow this viewership make sure you're inviting your friends to be a part of the community every single wednesday night at six pm okay number nine number nine doubt james 1 6 says but when you ask him be sure that your faith is in god alone do not waver for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind you've got to approach the lord in faith when you're believing for a miracle when you're believing for your breakthrough when you're believing god to do something in your life you absolutely must come to him with a heart filled with faith knowing what that he is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or even imagine there's nothing that you can ask that god can't do there's nothing that you can imagine that god can't out do everything you can think of everything you can speak god can do it and then some not just a little more but infinitely more infinitely above all that we could ask or even imagine think about the fact that you're talking to you have an audience with the one who formed all things who spoke existence as we know it into motion that's the god we're talking to that's our heavenly father and you have an audience with him i think about the fact that so many people try to connect with certain people who can help them you know think about how your friends say oh i can help you with that or i know someone who can help you maybe you're trying to get a loan for a house oh i know someone really good there are in they're going to help you or there's a product that you're trying to buy that maybe is really popular and someone knows the store manager or maybe there's a school you're trying to get into and somebody might know someone on the board or there's a ministry connection you're trying to make and someone can open that door for you we often rely on people for open doors and we forget the fact that our heavenly father is the direct source he can do it all there's nothing that he can't do he is the source he is the miracle worker and we have an audience with him but when you come to him you must be fully convinced knowing god i'm coming to you lord i'm speaking to you i'm asking for this in faith and persistence i believe you're able to do it and don't waver don't allow yourself to be tossed back and forth to and fro don't say to yourself well maybe god will do it maybe he won't yes i believe in the sovereignty of god faith is our part the answer is his just because we know and acknowledge the sovereignty of god doesn't mean that we don't have full faith no every person i pray for who is sick when i lay hands on them i believe with all my heart that they're going to be healed every time i believe for a miracle i believe with all my heart that it's going to happen and that's the approach that we must have the victorious life the abundant life the mindset of victory where we come to him knowing that we're seated in heavenly places with him that he at the right hand of the father can request anything on our behalf so we say father i come to you in the name of jesus and we pray for that miracle and it will happen but if we divide our attention the bible says do not waver watch this listen very carefully to what the book of james says do not waver why for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind now think about the fact that if you allow your mind to go back and forth wave or lord maybe he can maybe he can't he's going to do it well probably not god's going to come through but what if he doesn't you do that you're defeating your own prayers what did jesus say every time he healed someone your faith has made you whole time and time and time again i shouldn't say every time he healed someone but in many instances where he healed someone what did the lord say to them your faith has made you whole it's faith faith is the means by which we receive and become all that god desires i want to say that again faith is the means by which we become and receive all that god desires faith is the transport system between heaven and earth faith is the connection between two worlds faith is what opens heaven faith is what touches god's heart faith is what achieves the impossible faith is what receives the miraculous faith is what brings forth healing faith is what pleases god faith come at it knowing that it's going to be done the bible says now faith is the substance of things hoped for so it's not just some ethereal idea it's not just some some something that feels off in the distance when you have faith know that you are you are holding on to something that is sure and solid faith is the substance not the shadow faith is the substance of things hoped for in other words if i have the faith for it i'm already holding it some of you need to catch that if i have the faith for it i'm already holding it when you have faith you're already holding the substance of the thing you're already holding the substance of the miracle you're already already holding the substance of the resources and the provision you're already holding the substance of it that's faith and so if you have doubt that will hinder your prayers that's what the bible says don't waver don't allow your mind to go there instead stand firm on the promises of god the promises of god are yes and amen in other words they're done it's done it's done promises of god are yes and amen so number one is pride number two impure motives number three mistreating your wife number four unconfessed sin number five unforgiveness number six timing number seven spiritual warfare number eight insincere repetitions and number nine doubt i want to pray with you now let's take tim let's take a moment to pray but what i want to do before i pray i want you to write all your prayer requests down and people of god spirit family work community we love each other as you see these prayer requests coming up on the screen right here i want you to have faith for that person too don't just pray for your own needs i want you to watch this comment section here and i want you to lift those needs to the lord i want you to ask god on behalf of your brothers and sisters to perform that which we're believing for so i'm going to read the comments here on the prayer requests and if they if i if i miss it please don't be upset with me because i don't need to see it if your heavenly father sees it and the whole community of believers are going to see it right now with you so annette healing mass on ovary paula salvation for my loved ones jeff hoskins wants to pray for this world amen and we need it phil wants to pray for a hunger for god warrior channel says lord please help me pass arabah success and education sonny wants to pray for healing grace wants to pray for healing from breast cancer holy spirit ministries pray for my friend who is in the hospital so many needs kenny i need provision for my studies dawn healing of my body jonathan a place to live in orlando jason d praying for a wife so many so many needs so many needs nancy wants to pray rod and debbie and gemini and annette and eva cortes emily wants to pray for all of you she wants to pray for the spirit family raha wants to pray for the youth and isaiah wants to pray for unemployment and fiona wants to pray and so many people of god writing into us right now and you know he's able he's able to do it i want you to let your faith come alive right now don't waver now is not the time to waver let's set aside all these things as we go through them look i'm gonna i'm gonna show you set aside your pride repent of that set aside your impure motives don't just pray for what you want husbands go apologize to your wife right now send that text if she's in the room with you turn to her and say i'm sorry i'm sorry for how i've treated you i'm sorry for how i've been do it now unconfessed sin confess that sin and acknowledge that it needs to go do it right now let go of that unforgiveness trust in the timing of god take authority over demonic power be sincere in what you're doing and set aside all doubt set aside all doubt do these things now right now right now get this all right with the lord as i continue to read your prayer requests the lord is my shepherd wants to pray for a job uh sarah wants to pray for her family saranghi praying for a home letitia pray in the name of jesus i see prayer requests for guidance for job breakthrough repentance and salvation mother's immigration process healing in the nerve system pray for my kids to come back to the lord uh another commenter says i just want to be like jesus denise dennis wants to pray for both both dogs are sick i want to pray for christian and eva and blessing and bertrand and esther and gemini and debbie and jeremy and jody and carolina so many needs father i pray right now for each and every one of these needs and i thank you lord that your power is flowing i thank you for the anointing lord the holy spirit i ask in the name of jesus that you would begin to move upon your people touch each one as they cry out to you in faith you said in your word that faith is the substance of that which is hoped for and i pray father right now that every addiction would be broken i break the power of drug addiction in the name of jesus i break the power of alcohol addiction in the name of jesus i break the power right now of anxiety and depression and lord let your healing virtue flow heal the sick lord as only you can we're coming to you in faith jesus knowing that you're the resurrected lord alive and well able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or imagine for every sickness would go in the name of jesus i rebuke all sickness and disease heart disease go arthritis go we rebuke cancer right now lord we drive out every sickness we cast out every devil holy spirit let your power and your presence be felt unknown i thank you lord thank you for healing each one thank you for setting them free guys the anointing is flowing here right now real strong just reach out in faith and touch them the lord's doing it the lord is doing it in the name of jesus i thank you father i thank you and god's people said amen i pray that you enjoyed the lesson i'm going to answer your questions right now we're going to get to the q a in just a moment first i want to read a verse to you proverbs 21 26 says this some people are always greedy for more but the godly love to give one of the character traits that the holy spirit will produce in you if you're surrendered to him is a heart of generosity now i want to ask you watching this live stream right now to make a donation to this ministry so that we can continue doing the wonderful work that we're doing all around the world if you enjoy the live streams that's partner funded if you enjoy the holy spirit school that's partner funded if you enjoy the events that we do around the world if you enjoy the media that we put out if you enjoy the social media posts that we make available that is partner funded all of it is partner and donor funded and we need your help if you believe in what we're doing and you the spirit family want to get behind this is why i love you guys this community is a very generous community when all of you give together the need is always met you are a generous giving loving selfless people and i want to thank you for that i don't take it for granted i thank you for your generosity and i'm reminding you why we give we give because we're godly we give because it's his love flowing through us we give for our jesus and so that souls might be saved remember when you give to this ministry you're not just giving to this ministry you're giving through this ministry really you're giving to jesus and what you give now you're offering to him so i want to challenge you go to davidhernandezministries.com donate right now go right now you may watch this and go someone else will do it someone else will make the gift but the holy spirit wants to use you it's all of us coming together to make that donation davidhernandezministries.com donate david davidhernandezministries.com donate go there now it'll take you no more than a minute or two to make that donation we accept the gifts from anywhere in the world no matter what country you're watching from you'll be able to make a donation using that giving form you can give through paypal through card through bank account there's many many many options to get from anywhere in the world and as you give you're helping this ministry to continue growing and going going and growing so we're continuing to do what we do but we're also expanding this ministry and this ministry it's funny because i do really say this every month but it's true every month growth over growth even like the past month our youtube channel it's just starting to really go to a different level i mean just now for years we've been at a certain rate and it's been growing but now that rate is is almost like quadrupled and then there's no sign of it stopping anytime soon and that's all the lord but we need your help we need you to help fund this so please you my partner my friend i love you i appreciate you and i know you love and appreciate this ministry so stand behind us make a one-time donation or become a monthly ministry supporter right now by going to davidhernandezministries.com donate again davidhernandezministries.com donate give a one-time gift of 25 50 100 some watching can do those larger gifts a thousand dollars five thousand ten thousand and we have many of you that do that perhaps you instead of giving a one-time gift want to become a monthly supporter do that today look everything that we do in the ministry we offer for free how do we do that because it's all donor supported so go give today help us continue to grow this thing it's all of us together spirit family spirit family it's all of us together we are that community that army of believers who come together to take the gospel which is the light into dark places so go right now one more time david hernandez ministries dot com slash donate you can also give via the super chat i'll be reading the names of those of you giving by the donation link i'm gonna load up my the internet was turned off on my phone so that i don't get messages and there all your donations are already starting to come in some of you probably heard that on my phone right now but i can see all of the gifts coming in from rachel and it's loading quickly from philip and kat and kennedy and annie and nini and the patrick family and ronald and carla and lenny and let me see who else we have and frank and librata and my goodness it's coming in from all around the world marita beau our dear friend also gave wilfredo thank you for partnering ashley thank you for partnering you guys are awesome man i i seriously am blown away every time every time i i i'm just blown away by your generosity it's the love of god i feel it i hope you can sense the love we have for you but boy do we sure feel the love coming from you when we get this kind of support because it's nice to know that you believe in what we're doing and you believe in the gospel so thank you guys

Channel: Encounter TV

Views: 165,661

Rating: 4.9341302 out of 5

Keywords: why your prayers are not being answered, why your prayers has not been answered, when your prayers aren't answered, why my prayers aren't answered, why aren't my prayers answered, answered prayer, unanswered prayers, why does god not answer prayers, how to get your prayers answered, why does god not answer my prayers, get your prayers answered every time, prayer sermons teaching, why your prayers are not answered, why my prayers are not answered, Sermons on prayer

Id: dOSAy9YRV3E

Length: 96min 12sec (5772 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 21 2021