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Hindrances to Faith Walking in faith is not difficult. Receiving from God is not difficult. However, there are certain things we need to avoid to ensure that we don’t hinder ourselves from receiving. Many times, Christians blame the devil (or even God) when they fail to receive something, when the reason is staring them in the face in the Bible. In this lesson, we will discuss certain things that will hinder your faith from working properly. Many people find that they receive immediately once they get rid of the hindrances. Hindrance #1: Unforgiveness This goes at the top of the list because Jesus made it an explicit condition of receiving when you pray. Mark 11:24-26: It’s easy to stop at verse 24, and sometimes we do to introduce the topic of receiving by faith, but the next two verses are important, too. Based on what Jesus said, you can fail to get your prayers answered because you harbor unforgiveness against someone. God will deal with you as if you were a sinner. That doesn’t mean that you go to hell unforgiven, but God will not answer your “prayer of faith.” (As another aside, you don’t have to kneel to pray, since in this case Jesus talked about standing. There are other Scriptures, too, through – you don’t have to stand either!) If you are about to pray “the prayer of faith”, check your heart first and see if you’re holding anything against anyone. If you are, clear it up first before you pray. Why frustrate yourself and waste your time praying something and failing to receive because unforgiveness is in the way? Another passage (Matthew 18:21-35) carries a similar message. In this one, a man is forgiven a huge debt, then assaults someone who owes him a much smaller debt and demands payment. The man is turned over to the torturers because of his own debt. The man reaps what he sows – unforgiveness. “So my heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” If you have been praying to receive and failing to do so, this is the first area you should check. God and His Word are not going to change, but perhaps you need to change! Hindrance #2: Unbelief NEVER assume the will of God from a negative prayer outcome! The disciples tried to cast out a demon in Mark 9:14-29 and failed to do so. Jesus came along and cast it out. How awful it would be if people thought, “They’re gospel ministers, and their attempt to cast out the demon did not work. It must not have been God’s will for the demon to leave.” Obviously it was the will of God. So why didn’t the disciples, who had already been given power over all demons, cast this one out? Matthew records Jesus’ explicit answer in Matthew 17:20: “Because of your unbelief.” We then see that the disciples had not been praying and fasting. Praying and fasting would not have given them more authority over that demon, because they already had authority given to them by the Lord Himself. However, it would have built them up spiritually to be more “in tune” with God’s Word on the matter. As we have seen, faith comes by hearing the Word of God, so failure to read and hear the Word of God will result in weak faith that is unable to get the job done. If you want to walk in faith, you must follow in Abraham’s footsteps. He considered the promise of God rather than his natural circumstances and became strong in faith. If you focus on God and His Word, you will become strong in faith. If you focus on your situation, you will become weak in faith and unable to stand against it. Hindrance #3: Spiritual Laziness This goes along with the previous point regarding the demon-possessed child. The disciples had allowed themselves to get spiritually lazy, and that it what hindered them from having strong faith. If you think you can just ignore God until you have a crisis and then run to Him in prayer when you have a problem, you may find that yourself unable to pray the prayer of faith. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. God’s Word is food for your spirit just as meat and potatoes are food for your physical body. If you don’t feed your physical body, it will starve and will not function as well as it would if you fed it. If you don’t feed your spirit man (the real you on the inside!), it will starve and not function as well as if you fed it. Hindrance #4: Lousy Teaching Many fail to walk in faith who otherwise would do so because their pastor or favorite teachers speak against faith rather than for it. Timeworn and inapplicable excuses (Job, Paul’s thorn in the flesh, etc.) are sometimes used to justify lack of results. Some ministers feel under pressure to justify to an angry congregation member why someone did not receive a healing, the money he needed, etc., so they come up with foolish doctrines of men that negate the Bible. The following teachings are rampant in the body of Christ and are all unscriptural garbage: “When you pray, sometimes God says Yes, sometimes He says No, and sometimes He says Wait.” (God’s promises are all Yes and Amen in Christ through us – 2 Corinthians 1:20). “God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.” (This usually refers to some awful event that the devil is responsible for. Who is the source? If it gives life, it’s from the Lord. If it steals, kills and destroys, it’s from the devil. It shouldn’t be hard to figure out.) “God has a purpose in everything, even the things we think are bad. God sees the big picture.” (This is sometimes even coupled with a quote of Romans 8:28 about all things working together for our good. This verse has nothing to do with calamities – read it and see for youself. Other than that, see the comment in the previous paragraph.) “Everything is up to God’s sovereign will; He just does as He pleases.” (If that is true, prayer is a total waste of time! Jesus did not teach that God will just do whatever He wants anyway – in fact, He talked about you asking what you will.) Hindrance #5: Failure to Treat Your Spouse Properly This is explicitly cited as a hindrance: 1 Peter 3:7: If it seems like your prayers are being hindered, ask yourself how you are treating your spouse. Are you giving honor to your spouse? There is nothing funny about cutting down your wife, either publicly or privately. Failing to honor her will grieve the Spirit and get in the way of your receiving from God. Hindrance #6: Failure to Walk in Love The Corinthians were full of knowledge and the manifestations of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:6-7), yet many of them because sick and died prematurely (1 Corinthians 11:30). Why? They walked out of love toward each other at Communion time. If you are believing God for something, “eating and drinking judgement to yourself” does not provide a good atmosphere in which to do so! It is God’s desire that faith work through love (Galatians 5:6). (This verse is sometimes used to prove that faith cannot work without love, but 1 Corinthians 13 proves otherwise, since Paul allows that it is possible to have mountain-moving faith but not have love.) Proverbs 14:30 says: “A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.” This is an example of how your love walk can affect your health. There are others. Peter quotes the Psalmist’s warning, “He would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:10-12) Selfishness is the opposite of walking in love, and James warns that it can result in unanswered prayer! James 4:3: Please understand that God does give you richly all things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17); it is not wrong to pray for something that would bring you pleasure. In the context in James, though, the people not getting their prayers answered are fighting and warring, lusting and murdering (James 4:2). These people were brutally selfish and would do anything to get their own way. We can see that this is a recipe for unanswered prayer! God’s commands are all summed up by love. Walking in love is God’s way, and when your ways line up with His, it is easier to see other things in your life line up with His will. Hindrance #7: Deliberate Disobedience There are things in all of our lives that could stand improvement. But when God starts dealing with you about something and you deliberately refuse to cooperate with Him, you set the stage for disappointment in your prayer life. It is difficult to receive from God in one area of your life while resisting His known will in another. I am not saying you have to be perfect to receive anything from God, but you do want to make sure you have repented of known sin in your life. For some people, it could be the handling of their money – God is speaking to them about tithing and perhaps giving a specific offering and they refuse. For others, it could be failure to stop doing something the Lord has been speaking to you to stop doing. For some, it can even be refusing a call to the ministry. While most people are not called to the ministry, if you are, you will be miserable if you do anything other than obey the call of God on your life. It can cost you your life! Paul said, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). The same could be said by anyone else called to the ministry. Many have found that horrible sicknesses have disappeared after they decide to obey God and fulfill their calling. Hindrance #8: Inaction Faith without works (corresponding actions) is dead. We will discuss this in the next lesson. For example, it is possible to believe in the doctrine of divine healing without exercising personal faith to receive your healing. This is one reason that some people say, “I believe in divine healing, and I just don’t understand why I didn’t get my prayer answered.” Hindrance #9: Speaking Contrary to the Word Many people cancel their prayers without realizing it by speaking contrary to their prayer afterward. For example, “I guess that didn’t work. I guess nothing happened. I guess God isn’t going to do it.” We will discuss this in more detail in an upcoming lesson. [On to Lesson 7: Action][Faith Bible Study Index][Bible Study Index][Home]
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