Obstacles to Prayer

Elder E. L. Minchin

"The Christian life is a battle and a march." "For we wrestle ... against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high places." Eph. 6:12, R.S.V. There is a very real heaven to win and a very real hell to shun.

Since prayer "is the secret of spiritual power," Messages to Young People, page 78, we shall consider some of the obstacles the enemy places before us to rob us of this power, and to cripple us in our fight for eternal life. Although we have a cunning and powerful enemy "we are not ignorant of his devices." 2 Cor. 2:11. Thank God, through faith in Jesus Christ and a resolute action of our will, victory is assured.

 

The Difficulty of Time

First, there is the obstacle or difficulty of time. Mary people complain that their busy lives give them no time for prayer. This is in most cases an evasion, a mere excuse, for these same people clearly have time for less important things—the newspaper and amusements. No time to pray? And yet we seemingly have time for everything else—time to eat, time to sleep, to work, to play, to talk, to watch television, and a hundred other things, but no time to pray. Time can be found if we have a resolute purpose to do so. Oh, what a subtle trick of the enemy to rob us of power for daily living. "The temptations to which we are daily exposed make prayer a necessity." Messages to Young People, page 246, "The darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglect to pray." Steps to Christ, page 98.

The first thing in the morning is the best time to pray, David made God first in his life each morning. He kept the morning watch. “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." Ps. 5:3. Why the morning? Because then our minds are fresh. We are not tired. We can listen more clearly. We can start the day in the very best way with God. Start with a minimum of fifteen minutes a day for prayer, meditation, and the devotional reading of God's Word. If you have difficulty in waking, why not purchase an alarm dock, and have the courage to go to bed fifteen minutes earlier, and awaken fifteen minutes earlier to spend the time with God. I suggested this at one of our colleges. At the close of the week two of the lads from the dairy came to me and said, "It works. It is wonderful. We get up at five o'clock in the morning, but this week we have gone to bed earlier, and set the alarm for four forty-five. We have taken time for prayer and reading each morning. It is wonderful the blessing we have experienced all the day." "The strength acquired in prayer to prepare us for our daily duties." Messages to Young People, page 248.

I heard of a mother who discovered the secret of power. She said she couldn't find the time she needed in the morning for her private prayer life, as she had four children to get to school, and a husband to get off to work. But after lunch when the children had gone back to school, and the home was quiet, she took her Bible and went to her room for a quiet, unhurried half-hour with her God. Her life of sweet patience and Christ-likeness in that home testified to the power she had found in the secret place of prayer.

The Difficulty of Place

Then there is the difficulty of place. If it is possible, find a place in your home—perhaps your own bedroom, or an empty room, or somewhere where you can be alone with God, where no other can see or hear. If your home is over-crowded, find a spot somewhere else. Maybe out under the trees, in a garden, or under the stars, but get alone, and look up into the face of God. Jesus said, "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Matt. 6:6. Of course it is possible to pray anywhere—on the street, in the car, about your daily work. "There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God. There is nothing that can prevent us from lifting up our hearts in the spirit of earnest prayer. In the crowds of the street, in the midst of a business engagement, we may send up a petition to God, and plead for divine guidance, as did Nehemiah when he made his request before King Artaxerxes. A closet of communion may be found wherever we are." Steps to Christ, page 103

"Although there may be a tainted, corrupted atmosphere around us, we need not breathe its miasma, but may live in the pure air of heaven. We may close every door to impure imaginings and unholy thoughts by lifting the soul into the presence of God through sincere prayer. Those whose hearts are open to receive the support and blessing of God will walk in a holier atmosphere than that of earth, and will have constant communion with Heaven." Ibid., page 104.

This is the secret of walking with God, of practicing His presence through the day. In this way we can live two lives—one of active work for the Master, and the other of quiet devotion and continual waiting upon Him.

Some people say that they are so often too tired to pray. This is because we frequently leave our serious praying until the end of the day. When we are physically wearied and tired it is almost impossible to concentrate the mind upon spiritual things. Give God the best time, and you will find a freshness and a Joy in your prayer life that you have never known before.

Lack of imagination and an undisciplined will are other obstacles to prayer. A sanctified imagination is God’s gift to man. To see the unseen by an effort of the mind. The devil perverts this gift and debases our imagination. Jesus will sanctify it. Exercise this gift in prayer.

If a youth feels he is speaking into space, he will soon cease to speak at all. And if when we read our Bible we can live in the gospels, and when we pray look right into the face of God, we will find prayer and Bible study a deep delight. David said, “I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Ps. 16:8. David used the gift

of a sanctified imagination; so can we. David saw the Lord with the eye of faith; so may we. Then prayer will become real. Imagination was given to us that we who walk on earth might mingle with the heavenly things. When you pray, dear friend, look right into the face of Jesus. Gaze into His eyes. One day you shall look into His eyes in reality. Picture Him interceding for you before His Father. See Him coming for you in the clouds of glory. Look upon Him hanging on the cross, dying for you. See Him praying in the Garden. Or healing the leper. The first face that the leper saw when he looked up was the face of Jesus, his Redeemer. Leprosy is a type of sin. I am that leper. Let me look into His face, again hear His words, "I will, be thou clean."

If you can do this you will certainly not feel as though you are talking into space. Christ will become real to you.

The Difficulty of the Mind Wandering

Mind wandering is another problem. David's secret in Psalms 16:8 is also the cure for mind wandering. Set the Lord before you. Discipline your life. If when you are praying you find your mind wandering away onto some other subjects, fasten your imagination again upon Christ. Discipline your mind and bring it back again. Discipline is a part of the Christian's training. We are in the school of Christ. Students must learn to discipline themselves, and to concentrate on their studies. Do not give up. Wonderful victory is assured.

The Difficulty of Enslavement To Feeling

Another obstacle to effective prayer is enslavement to feeling. We often do not pray because we do not feel like praying. We are slaves to our feelings, The just shall live by faith, not by feelings. We must keep our appointments with God whether we feel like it or not. Even the most enjoyable vocations in life often bring their hours of drudgery. If life was lived on the basis of feeling alone, it would become chaotic. If we have an appointment with a friend, with a doctor, with our teacher, or our employee, we keep it whether we feel like it or not. Are we to be less courteous to God. I once heard of one of America’s great Christian generals, General Howard. On one occasion when he returned to San Francisco they made a banquet in his honor. The banquet was to be on a Wednesday night. When they asked him to be present that night, he kindly but firmly replied! "Gentlemen, when I first gave my heart to God many years ago, I promised Him that if at all possible I would meet with Him in the house of prayer every Wednesday evening. For forty years I have kept that appointment. I am sorry, Gentlemen. " They held the banquet, but on another night, and Major? [General] Howard kept his appointment with his God.

Some one has said, "Pray hardest when it is hardest to pray." The surrender of your will at such a time will deepen that surrender, and you will rise stronger than if you had followed mere desire.

The Difficulty of Too Much Stress On Speaking

Then, too, another problem is that in prayer we often put too much stress on speaking, and we think we have to do all the talking. No, young friend, prayer is not all talking to God it is listening as well. "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth," Samuel said. "I will hear what God the Lord will speak." Ps. 85:8. No, my friend, prayer is not all talking to God, it is listening as well. Let God speak to you, first. How does He do it? Through His Word, and by His Spirit. When you read the Word of God and meditate upon it, He is speaking to you. Give Him a chance to do this. Do not rush into talking with God first. Meditate upon His love. Listen to Him speaking to you through His Word. This is why the reading of the Bible and prayer should go together. Read the beautiful Psalms telling of David's longings after God. Take one of the gospels or one of the epistles. Read it slowly and prayerfully. Go back over it. Mark and even memorize helpful passages. Take a good commentary and the Spirit of Prophecy comments on those Scriptures, and listen to what God has to say to your heart through these passages. Then lift up your in prayer, and praise Him, thank Him, adore Him for His great love. How you are prepared to pray for others and specific needs in your own life. Let prayer be more than asking. Let it be praising and glorifying God, and enjoying sweet and precious fellowship with Him as well. Even a short, unhurried time with the Bible and with God each day, will work wonders and revolutionize many a decayed spiritual life.

Some years ago when we lived in England, we talked with two of our children attending Atlantic Union College in Massachusetts through an amateur radio station near London. For nearly three quarters of an hour we talked to them. It was a thrilling experience. We had not seen those children for nearly two years, but we heard those dear, familiar voices. We knew that we were talking to them. It seemed as if they were right in the room there with us. It was a two-way conversation. How we listened for every word from those dear children across the sea. We talked about home, friends, family—about everything they were interested in. When we were leaving, I said to the other children who were with us, "Isn't it wonderful.” We have been in that little room communing with our children more than three thousand miles across the mighty ocean! It is a mystery, but I know it is true. We have experienced it. So it is with prayer. I do not understand how God hears me when I pray. Neither do I understand the mysteries of wireless and television. They tell us that those radio waves go upward at the rate of 286,000 miles per second. It is no more difficult for me to believe that when that prayer of faith goes up from my heart, immediately, yes, immediately, it reaches the heart of the great God. He does not ask me to understand all of these things. He asks me to accept the wonderful fact.

Dear friends, do you long to know greater power and reality in your prayer life? This is the secret of victorious living. May God give us willingness to learn the lessons He would teach us.

Let the following beautiful prayer be in our hearts always:

"Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it. It is Thy property. Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for Thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchristlike self. Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Thy love can flow through my soul." Christ's Object Lessons, page 159.

 

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