Teach us to pray-20
While there are many verses in the Bible on prayer, we also need to pay close attention on warnings about prayer. Often these passages reference the Holy Spirit. Let us now study what God has warned us about prayers and how the Holy Spirit is involved in these warnings.
Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.
4:30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
This one passage gives us a warning we should all take seriously. Since we are warned about grieving the Holy Spirit it clearly means that it is possible for this to be true of believers. This list should be put away, which implies not practiced any longer. If we don’t what can happen?
1 Peter 3:7 You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
If we don’t love our wives as Christ loves the ‘church’, we can hinder the effectiveness of our prayers. This is a serious problem for all Christian men to ponder. Our we living each day in this understanding way? Why is divorce so prevalent in the ‘church’ today? It could be that they are not true ‘Christian’! It could also mean that they don’t truly believe or understand their roles as husband and wife! It could also be true that they aren’t biblical and lack the knowledge of biblical marriage.
Matthew 19:3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?"
19:4 And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 19:5 and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? 9:6 "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
19:7 They *said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?"
19:8 He *said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 19:9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."
19:10 The disciples *said to Him, "If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry."
19:11 But He said to them, "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given.
So why study these verses when our focus is on prayer? Because too many of the prayers of the ‘church’ are ineffectual due to sexual sin and divorce. Jesus warned the Pharisees about this even though they, of all people, should know it and live accordingly. But, because they teach the ‘laws’ as interpreted by themselves as truth, they encourage rather than discourage divorce. The disciples didn’t understand this and came to the wrong conclusion, just don’t ever get married!
Acts 7:51 "You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.
Stephan accused the teachers of the Law as being against the very Law they pretended to defend. How did they respond to his godly accusations? They stoned him!
Acts 5:1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 5:2 and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles' feet.
5:3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? 5:4 "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."
5:5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it.
We can grieve the Holy Spirit, lie to the Holy Spirit, hinder our prayers, and even believe the teachings of men who overturn the words of God.
Romans 8:26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 8:27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
If we struggle with our prayer life, we have the Holy Spirit to help us and even to intercede for us. For this to happen we need to be aware of anything we may be thinking or doing that would cause us to grieve the Holy Spirit. This has to be an ongoing, consistent, daily, godly pursuit.
What must you put aside, give up, leave behind and/or turn from in order to truly seek the Lord in prayer?
More next Saturday.