3 Things That Hinder Our Prayers

“In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. ” -John Bunyan

If your life is anything like mine everyday seems more busy than ever before. It appears to drag us into multiple directions at once and it can be difficult to think about how we can add more time with God into our crazy schedules. Often it can be hard to see what prevents us from connecting with God. Our busyness has created a wall between us and God and although we want to have a closer relationship with God we aren’t always sure how to get there.

Here are 3 things that we can change in order to attain a deeper connection with the Lord:

1.) Quiet the noise.

2.) Be honest with God.

3.) Be quiet and listen to what God has to say to you.

It has taken me some hard lessons to learn that I have to be intentional about quieting my life. That means making sacrifices like turning off the television or music. I’m the kind of person who enjoys background noise but I’ve had to quiet the noise all together in order to focus on the things God wants me to focus on, uninterrupted. In addition to being intentional about quieting the noise I’ve also had to be intentional about making prayer a top priority instead of something I’m crossing off my to do list.

Prayer is a conversation with God and he wants you to be honest with him. He already knows what is on our hearts but he wants us to talk to him about it. When we talk to God it is as if you are talking to your best friend. Imagine the Lord right in front of you and you are having this conversation with him because he really is with you. C.S. Lewis once wrote, “God doesn’t want something from us, He simply wants us”. God wants you to unveil your heart. He already knows what is there but he also wants you to trust him with all of it and not just the parts you think that he wants to hear. He wants it all.

Lastly, we need to be quiet during our praying time. There is a time to talk to God but there is also a time to listen. That’s hard for many people because we live in a world that encourages us to give our opinion on everything. Rarely do we just sit with God in silence to listen to what he wants to tell us. We can learn a thing or two from a man we rarely hear about in the bible, Habbukuk. Like David he was a man who cried out to God and begging him to answer his prayer. Habbukuk poured his heart out to God but he also was a wise man who listened for God’s answer. He received God’s answer even though it wasn’t exactly what he was expecting God to say but he received an answer nonetheless.

What advice about prayer would you share with others?