Dr. Michael Youssef beginning this episode of Leading the Way. Many people pray and pray and pray, but then they have no answer to prayer. And the problem all along is a loose connection in your relationship with the Lord. That's what's stopping your prayers from being answered.
Lose connection that is robbing you of the joy that comes from intimacy with God one-on-one, daily. For more than 35 years, across six continents and in 28 of the world's most spoken languages, Leading the Way has and continues using all forms of media to share the gospel. And up next, a practical message from doctor Youssef highlighting prayer words that we hope will take you deeper into your relationship with the Savior.
Now before today's message, this reminder that Leading the Way is a listener supported ministry, only made possible by God's provision through your gifts. Learn ways to stand with Dr. Youssef at ltw.org. Right now, though, Dr. Youssef looks at six hindrances to your prayers.
Some time ago, I read a story about a missionary by the name of Herbert Jackson. Mr. Jackson had one of those cars. that absolutely would not go unless somebody pushes it. And so he developed an elaborate scheme throughout the day.
of to keeping the car going. First thing in the morning He lived nearby a school, so he would go to the headmaster and he asked for permission and gets kids out of the school to come and push the car. And the kids always fighting about it, you know, they all want to go out and push the car. Then throughout the day, as he's making his rounds, He would try to find a hill in which he can park his car Or he would leave the car running the whole time as he goes in and out of his making calls. And this just went on and on and on for two years.
day after day after day, this elaborate scheme, kids in the morning push the car, keeping it running during the day or having parking it on a hill for two years. This painful experience persisted. Until He became ill. and he needed to come home. And so the mission board sent a missionary to replace him.
And this poor missionary did not only inherit Mr. Jackson's residence, but he inherited this miserable car.
So he told him. He said, in the morning you go to the school, you go to the headmaster, you get them, get some kids out and give you a push, and then you keep it running or pocket on a hill. And Mr. Jackson hasn't even finished the conversation.
Well, this new missionary, who happened to be mechanically minded, Looked under the hood. And then he looked in there. He said, Now, Dr. Jackson, I believe the problem is very simple: you have a loose cable connection. And he just turned the thing around and...
Got in the car, started the car, and to Mr. Jackson's absolute amazement, it hummed. I mean, it just kept going. Ever since reading this story, I've said to myself, you know, I really believe this is a picture. of how many people View their prayer life.
It's like this car is constantly needs pushing and needs shoving. And many people pray and pray and pray, but then they have no answer to prayer. And the problem all along is a loose connection in your relationship with the Lord. That's what's stopping your prayers from being answered. Loose connection that is hindering you from experiencing the power in prayer.
Loose connection that is causing you to feel as if you are spinning your wheels in prayer. A loose connection that keeps you from receiving answers to your prayer. A loose connection in your life that is causing you to go through this elaborate procedure of asking and begging God and asking God and asking and asking and never receiving. A loose connection that is robbing you of the joy that comes from intimacy with God one-on-one daily. Lose connection that has stopped you from hearing his voice as you read his word.
Someone said to me not long ago, he said, My prayer seems to be not going any higher than the ceiling, and I feel that God is so far away from me. Why is this? Why is this? Today, I want to show you from the Word of God the six possible things that causes a loose connection that ceases you from receiving answers to prayer. Number one.
Your prayers will be hindered. when the marriage relationship is out of kilter. Secondly, When you have wronged someone and did not make restitution, your prayers will not be answered. Number three, when you have an unforgiving spirit lurking inside your soul, your prayers will not be answered. Number four, when covetousness sets in, that will hinder your prayers from being answered.
Fifth, when disobedience becomes a pattern in your life. And finally, when unconfessed sin is cherished. When marriage Relationship. is out of kilter. Prayers will not be answered.
Say, Michael, where did he get that?
Well, 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 7. It's a familiar verse. Probably most of you know it. But don't jump the gun because what I want to point out to you here is far more important. Husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives.
And treat them with respect as the weaker partner, and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life.
So that nothing Would hinder your prayers. Another translation puts it, lest your prayers. God answered, There's even a much clearer translation.
Now, I'm not planning on expounding on this verse. I would have taken me several messages just to expound on this one verse. But the Bible makes it very clear at this point here. that God has delicately Given us a balanced formula for a joyous, contented marriage. That formula is like a delicately balanced chemical formula.
If the ingredients are not right, if the measurements are not according to that formula, Things are gonna go out of whack. Uh they would go high wire.
So what is that formula? Listen carefully, please. It is for the husband to lovingly and humbly lead. and for the wife to joyfully follow. Did you get that?
You can turn this formula upside down, you can turn it sideways, you can go it whichever way you want. You can go and read all the 2,000 books on marriage that add in the bookstores. Be my guest. It's fine. I'm going to tell you.
Everything boils down to this formula. If these two ingredients are not delicately balanced in the marriage, the marriage gets out of whack. But listen, beloved, listen to me. The good news is this. Whenever this formula gets out of whack, it can be restored.
That is the thing about our Christian faith. And that is why you only have one option, not two or three, one option, and that is confession and repentance and restoration, so that the unity of the Spirit and the marriage and the bond of peace be restored. That's of course if you want your prayers to be answered, the Word of God says. Make sure your marriage is in sync spiritually. Here mirror in this one.
When a husband does not love his wife enough to place her needs above his. The formula is out of work. When the wife constantly criticizes her husband and putting him down and usurping his headship. The formula is out of whack. The answer is immediate confession and the seeking of each other's forgiveness.
Beloved, if you are not receiving answers to prayer. You need to go back. Examine. Your relationship with your spouse. Are you spiritually in sync?
Secondly, Your prayers will not be answered when you have wronged someone and refuse to make restitution. In Matthew chapter 5, verses 23 and 24, it said, Therefore, if you are offering your gifts at the altar, and there you 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 back and make your offering.
Now remember in the Old Testament It is the head of the household. who would come and bring the lamb to the altar. As a sacrifice on behalf of his entire family. That was the task of the head of the household. Not everybody came in and brought a gift, but each family came and brought a gift.
And Jesus is saying that if you get there and the lamb's feet are tied and you're ready to hand him over to the priest to be offered, and then you remember that you've wronged somebody and that person is hurt and that person is offended, you leave that in front of the altar there, feet tied and all, and go back and make restitution, then come back and make your offering.
Now in the New Testament, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ is our sacrificial Lamb. In the New Testament, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away our sin. Jesus is the one who Who died on the cross to pay for our sins? We don't offer a lamb anymore. We come to church.
to offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. We come to church on Sunday so that we may offer the sacrifice of our labor through our tithes and offerings. But beloved, until you have dealt With the issue of taking advantage of someone or abusing someone or cheating someone or deliberately hurting someone, your prayers and your praise and your giving is hallow because God is not pleased with them. And God will not bless you. You may have been praying for a long time for something, and you're praying, and you're praying, and you're praying.
I said, What's wrong? Why is God not answering my prayer? I have not received an answer. Examine yourself. Have I deliberately hurt someone?
Have I deliberately offended someone? Have I deliberately injured someone? Number three. When unforgiving spirit looks in your soul.
Now, I know forgiveness is an issue. There are thousands of books written, and millions of sermons are preached, and I'm not going to cover it in five minutes, okay? But let me be very clear on this one. I am so glad I lived long enough that I can make this statement. Because it did not come overnight.
But for me, this is a clear cut issue. I don't think about it hard or long. It is unambiguous. There is no doubt in it. And that is why when Jesus said to the disciples in Matthew 6, our Father in heaven, and then he went on to say, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Forgive us our wrongdoing as we forgive those who wrong us.
Now, there's something I need to explain here. Because somebody says, you know, if I'm struggling with forgiveness, am I going to lose my salvation? Let me explain to you. The Bible talks about two kinds of forgiveness. The first forgiveness is when you come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
You recognize that you're a sinner and you're heading for hell without his salvation, and you say, Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins, forgive me my sins. I receive you as my only Savior who paid the wages of my sins. You are the only Lord, your only Redeemer. And the Bible said at that moment you are forgiven, you are transformed from darkness to light, you are being transformed from hell to heaven, you have been transformed from death to life. At that moment, all of your sins are blotted out from the sight of God.
Eternally. That's the first kind of forgiveness. There's a second kind of forgiveness that Jesus is talking about here. And that is because we live in this sinful world. We Get them out of sin.
sticks to us. And we have all kinds of things that are taking place that muddy our soul and muddy our spirit.
Now The theologians call the first kind of forgiveness, you say you are positionally forgiven, that you are in a position of being forgiven eternally. But this daily forgiveness, this daily cleansing, is something that we do every day simply because we're living in a sinful world. Let me give you an illustration to make this point. You remember when Jesus was washing the disciples' feet? And Peter said, no, no, no, no, you can't wash my feet.
And Jesus said, If I don't wash your feet, you'll have no part with me. And he said, typical Peter, he jumped in and said, Give me a bath. I don't want not to have part of you. I'll get a bath. He said, Jesus said, No, no, no, no.
Those who have already been bathed, that is, those who are forgiven, positionally forgiven, those who are names are written in the book of life, those who are born again, those who belong to Christ, already been bathed, all they need is the washing of the feet. As you walk the streets of this sinful world, just the feet need to be washed. That is what Jesus is talking about here in the Lord's Prayer. Forgive us. wrongdoing as we forgive those who wronged us.
Daily cleansing.
So, when you're not forgiving somebody, this daily cleansing, this daily forgiveness that you receive from the hand of the Lord. is going to clog the line of communication between you and the Lord. And you're not going to receive an answer to prayer because you are holding a grudge, you're carrying a bitterness, you have not forgiven somebody. You see, that is going to cause statics in the line of communication, and therefore, you're not going to hear the answer to your prayers. These daily unforgiveness Cause The Holy Spirit that is within you to grieve.
And when you grieve your best friends, who do you have to comfort you? They're gonna hinder your prayers from being answered. Jesus said, if you refuse to forgive someone, You will not experience daily cleansing, daily forgiveness. Is it going to affect your salvation? No.
And when you don't experience daily cleansing, your communication line. gets clogged. The cable. Connection. Loosens up.
Why? Because unforgiveness is a sin that will hinder you fellowshipping with your Heavenly Father on an intimate basis.
Now beloved, listen. I have seen with those two eyes. What unforgiveness does. I have seen unforgiveness destroy marriages. I've seen unforgiveness destroy homes.
I've seen it destroy relationships. I've seen unforgiveness actually causes physical pain that is unexplainable. Give it up. Ask the Lord to give you the strength to be a forgiving person, and I'm telling you, this is one prayer God will answer. Number four, covetousness hinders answer to prayer.
Now, whenever we hear the word covetousness, we immediately think of, well, you know, somebody basically desiring what somebody else has, which is true. But covetousness can manifest its ugly head In unfaithfulness, With that. which is in our life that belongs to God. Keeping that which belongs to the Lord is a sin. And it's going to hinder answers to your prayer.
When the Lord rebuked his people through Malachi for their covetousness, it was because they were keeping the tithe and the offering, because they were stealing what's not theirs, what belongs to the Lord. They were robbing God, they were keeping that which belongs to God. And he said in Malachi 3:8, he said, Return to me, and I'll return to you, says the Lord. Question. What kept them from the Lord?
And why do they need to return? because they were keeping for themselves that which belongs to the Lord. You miss out on so much blessings when you're changing God for what belongs to God. Trust me. God said, when you repent and return to me what belongs to me.
Then watch out because I'm going to open the windows of heaven and I'm going to pour out so much blessings that you can't handle it. That's a rough translation, but you get the meaning. And God is saying to his people through Malachi: Repent of your stealing of the money, and watch out, God answer prayer. Number five. When disobedience become a habit, Your prayers will not be answered.
You know the very first king Israel had? You know the story. He was tall, he was handsome, he was strong, he was charismatic. I mean, he's got it all.
Well, he had it all. But he had one major flaw. He was disobedient to the Lord. He relied on his charisma. To accomplish things, and that was his downfall.
In 1 Samuel 15, 22, here's what the prophet Samuel said to him. He said, Has the Lord as much pleasure in your burnt offering and sacrifice as in your obedience? Saul tried to pray, and God would not answer him because. Disobedience. See, disobedience is a form of arrogance and pride.
It really is.
Now, you may be Living a life We're deep down. You know there's an area of disobedience in your life. And the Holy Spirit is pointing to it. You know it. Nobody else might know it.
You do. You know what you're doing that is not pleasing to the Lord. You know what you're doing that is not honoring the Lord. You know. What you're doing is placing you in that place of temptation all the time.
And your prayers are not being answered. Remember this. Obedience, open, Heaven's doors. Obedience brings answers to prayer. Finally.
Unconfessed sin. will hinder answers to prayer. The psalmist said in Psalm 66, 18, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Let me give you a much clearer translation. If I cherish iniquity or sin in my heart, The Lord will not have listened, but He has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.
You notice the Bible did not say, if I sin, God will not listen, God will not hear me, God will not answer my prayer, and I am so thankful, dude, about this. Because If that was the case, all of us were up the creek. Would be. But he's saying it is the love of sin, it is the cherishing of sin, it is the habitual sin, it is the excusing of sin, it is the rationalizing of sin. That's what hinders answers to prayer.
In fact, there is a verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 that is almost terrifying. But Paul was dealing with a church in Corinth that is disobedient. They had all of the spiritual gifts, but they were carnal. And God said to them, Through the Apostle Paul. That if you are a believer, if your name is written in the book of life, if you are an elect of God, And you persist.
In sinning and living in carnality.
Sometimes The Lord takes that person's Life. in order that he may save his soul.
Now I'll tell you something. If that does not give you some shivers, It does to me? Let me ask you this. Is there a loose connection? In your life.
Is there A loose connection. that is holding back. Answers to prayer. You can come to the Lord right now. Thank you for joining Dr.
Michael Youssef for this encouraging episode of Leading the Way. I do think there are dimensions of our faith after 2,000 years that we need to go back and look at and say there seems to be a problem there.
Well, I am a Christian who believes that there are certainly many more paths to God other than Christianity. I'm a free-thinking Christian. The church will continue to be even more irrelevant. when it quotes letters from 2,000 years ago as their best defense.
So many of those who are preaching false gospel under the guise of wanting to be relevant to the culture is so subtle. Saving Christianity is the book. That is my legacy because I want to encourage not only this generation but the future generation to be aware of the fact that the great apostasy has already begun and it's in the church. You see, the church has never been destroyed from the outside, the church is strengthened from the outside persecution. But it's always an inside job, and that is why this book is my legacy for generations to come.
In Dr. Youssef's book, Saving Christianity, experience and understand the truth so you will not be deceived and you can protect the next generation from a faith that is destined to crumble. This month, Dr. Youssef is offering to send a copy of Saving Christianity as his way of saying thanks to those who give a gift of any amount to leading the way. Get more details about the content of this powerful book at ltw.org.
Stand with Dr. Youssef as he passionately proclaims uncompromising truth today. Call now and participate in this special limited time offer. 866-626-4356. And online orders are easy at ltw.org.
ltw.org When was the last time that you take time to pray and fast on behalf of the next generation? Please listen to me carefully. If we do not cry to God on behalf of the next generation, all of the trinkets and all of the goodies and all of the Ivy League education. All of the money in the world. will not help them.
That was just a preview of what Dr. Youssef will be teaching next time on Leading the Way. Make plans to join him for this powerful message when he digs further into this thought. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Usack.
passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world. Mm-hmm.
