Today's Tidbit of Helpful Information: Prayer Busters

Prayer Busters
Taken from "Too Busy Not to Pray" by Bill Hybels

1. Prayerlessness (James 4:2) "You do not have because you do not ask God."

• Have I prayed earnestly, fervently, purposefully, expectantly?
• Am I expecting God to fill my needs?

2. Unconfessed Sin (Isaiah 59:2) "Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."

• Am I tolerating sin in my life?  Do I need to make a "sin list"?

3. Unresolved Relational Conflict (Matthew 5:23-24) "If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.  First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."

• Is there an unmended relationship in my life?  Have I sincerely tried to restore the relationship?

4. Selfishness (James 4:3) "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

• Are my prayers short-sighted and self-centered or do they follow Jesus' model of the Lord's prayer?

5. Uncaring Attitudes (Proverbs 21:13; Isaiah 58:3-9)

• Do my prayers reflect God's character of concern and compassion?

6. Inadequate Faith (James 1:5-8) "...but when he asks, he must believe and not doubt..."

• Do I believe that God is able?  That he is the mountain-mover.