At a prayer conference last year, I had two different people ask me the same question…
“How can I pray for people to be healed when I need healing in my own body?”
One was going through a health issue, and the other had a physical impairment. It wasn’t sin that caused either one of their issues. Neither person was far from the Lord. These two people both know the power of prayer, but there was an obstacle in both of their paths. They had believed a lie from the enemy that was getting in the way of ministering to others.
When I start to see a pattern, I know it needs to be addressed.
Now, I don’t know where you personally stand on the gift of healing. But I am a witness that God still heals people today. Hebrews 13:8 (NLT) tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. “ As a believer, prayer should be a part of our everyday lives. You don’t wait to pray until a problem surfaces. You pray because you communicate in a relationship, and prayer is how we communicate to God. Our prayer lives should be like breathing, never ceasing.
But there are still so many believers among us who struggle to pray and even to ask others for prayer for a variety of reasons. Whatever it is, it’s an obstacle.
If we’re honest with one another, there are moments where we all still struggle to pray from time to time. Prayer CAN be a battle sometimes. Prayer can be a season of waiting. Prayer can be a time of refining. It doesn’t matter who you are; you’re going to face obstacles to prayer at some point.
I think the three biggest obstacles to prayer are these:
- Ourselves – Distractions, Sin, or Unbelief.
- Our present circumstances. (They can either drive us to prayer or make us want to avoid it.)
- Oppression from the Enemy.
What Does God Say? Romans 8:35-39 (NLT)
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day;we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[a]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Whatever the obstacle is in our mind, the reality is that nothing can ever get in the way or separate us from the Lord. He is always with us. He lives inside of us.
The longer that I walk with the Lord and the closer that I get to Him, the more that I realize how much He loves me and how much He cares for me. He knows what I need and He knows the desires of my heart.
Do you recognize the moments in your life where something happens and you have that thought… “Man, God really loves me.” If not, I want that breakthrough to happen for you!
The fact is that He does love us and He loves us so much that He makes his home inside of us when we ask and believe.
The Holy Spirit Lives in Us!
John 14:17-21 (NLT) NLT – Jesus tells us…
17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
Paul reminds us twice in 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (NLT) NLT (Collectively as the Body of Believers)
16 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT) NLT (Individually)
19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
God Will Forever Live With Us.
3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.
Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. Not now, or ever.
My Temple Will be Called House of Prayer
We see it in the Old Testament, Isaiah 56:7 (NLT) NLT
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem
and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer.
I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices,
because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.
We see it three times in the New Testament – Matthew 21:13, Mark 11:17, Luke 19:46 (NLT)
Jesus said…
13 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”
(Mark says, “For All Nations”)
I think the reasoning still holds true when Jesus said, My house shall be called a house of prayer, that it did not stop when we became the temple of the Holy Spirit. No matter what our perceived obstacle, the fact remains that we are still a house of prayer. All believers should never stop praying. We are to be a house of prayer.
20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
If I were preaching this message on a Sunday morning, I would be tempted to use one of these two titles:
Is there a Stranger Living in My House?
Or
Why are you Keeping Jesus in the Storage Closet and Only Letting Him out occasionally on Sundays and major Holidays?
I don’t think there are many people that would allow a stranger to live in their house, right?
Think about the people that live with you. If you are a parent and you’re reading this, you might be thinking, I can’t wait for my kids to move out or I’m so glad my kids have moved out! Keep those thoughts inside, if so.
But when you live with someone, you know them, for better or for worse. And when you need something or you need to summon someone in the house, what do you do? You call out their name!
Think about that, the next time you call out to Jesus. He hears you!
14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.
How Can We Get Better at Praying?
The answer might shock you.
We get better at praying by praying!
Praying effectively requires humility. You have to realize that you are not enough and you need help. We all need help, so you’re not alone.
What Praying Does Not Require: The right words.
You might think, “I don’t know what to say.” Yes, you do. Just believe that God is able and then ask. The more you pray, the better you will become. You won’t start your day without praying and asking God for help. You will eventually pray at all times and on all occasions. When you start to see the activity of God in your live you will be encouraged to pray even more.
Can you tell that I’m passionate about prayer? James 5:16 (NLT)Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
How Do We Practically See Prayer in the Ordinary Everyday Life?
I was talking to a grad student at the local university who’s doing research on a very complicated subject. He was explaining all of the complexities of what they were doing and how they had destroyed a few thousand dollars of equipment when the experiment didn’t go as planned, and just casually in the conversation, I asked, “Have you invited the Holy Spirit into your research? Remember, He is the helper!” And he looked at me almost with a blank stare and admitted that he had not invited the Holy Spirit into the research. I just simply said, “Why would you not invite the Holy Spirit in?” I said, just do it and see what happens.
On another occasion, a guest we were praying for was describing how hard school was and again, I asked, “Are you inviting the Holy Spirit into your study time and when you take exams? He is the helper.” She admitted that she hadn’t even thought to pray and invite Him in to that area of her life.
Final Word:
If you’ve read this far, thank you. I want to challenge you to pray more! Get around people who pray. Go to a prayer meeting. Listen to other people who pray. This is a great way to learn how to pray. There is no part of me that believes that prayer should be for defense only. When we use prayer as offense rather than defense and invite others to join us, what would God be able to do? Start right now and ask God, what do you want me to do? Who do I need to pray for? Ask God to help you to grow in every aspect of your prayer life. Ask Jesus to fill you with the Holy Spirit and empower you to pray like never before. He wants to do it for you.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT) NIV – God told Solomon…
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.