Testimonials
"I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people." Psalms 35:18
"Praise the Lord for His work in and through you!!! We are enjoying and growing in the "Soldiers of the Sanctuary" series..."
- Constance, Tennessee
"Calvery greetings may reach to you as many as the sea sand. Thank you very much Pr. John Skeete. On behalf of the Fiwagoh Mission Oprhanage Ministries, I thank Our God for this great blessing He sent to us through you and the Sanctuary lessons. They were amazing and we are teaching other pupils and even church members. We will continue to pray for you and your wife and the whole ministry..."
- Joshua, Nairobi Kenya "Thank you for your good work. I will be praying for your progress..."
- Samuel, Nairobi Kenya "Meeting the needs of body, mind, and spirit is so important in these days with diseases, drugs and immorality pounding the human species. I am thankful you are doing your part to make a positive difference..."
- Sylvia, Michigan
"I really appreciate what you all were able to do to help me, may God continue to bless you..."
- Tee, California
"Thank you so much. Power packed presentation. I learned so much. What I will focus on is to die to self daily. I want Jesus & God to be King of my life, my heart, my mind...I need to get His character, seek His face, so it may reflect in me...All glory to the Lamb & to the Father! And thank you for all your diligent study! Keep shining & showing His character!
- Theresa, Wisconsin
Hindrances to Prayer
"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." James 4:3
A selfish purpose in prayer robs prayer of power. Very many prayers are selfish. These may be prayers for things for which it is perfectly proper to ask, for things which it is the will of God to give, but the motive of the prayer is entirely wrong, and so the prayer falls powerless to the ground. The true purpose in prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer. If we ask any petition merely that we may receive something to use in our pleasures or in our own gratification in one way or another, we "ask amiss" and need not expect to receive what we ask. This explains why many prayers remain unanswered.
Many pray for a revival in their church. That is a prayer that is pleasing to God, it is along the line of His will; but many prayers for revivals are purely selfish. The churches desire revivals in order to increase the membership, or in order for the church to have a position of influence and power in the community, while others are hoping that the treasury may be filled. With low motives like these, churches and ministers oftentimes are praying for a revival, and oftentimes too God does not answer the prayer. We should pray for a revival for the glory of God, because we cannot endure it that God should continue to be dishonored by the worldliness of the church, by the sins of unbelievers, by the proud unbelief of the day; because God's Word is being made void; in order that God may be glorified by the outpouring of His Spirit on the Church of Christ. For these reasons first of all and above all, we should pray for a revival.
The second hindrance to prayer we find in Isaiah 59:1, 2 "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear; But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
Sin hinders prayer. Many a man prays and prays and prays, and gets absolutely no answer to his prayer. Perhaps he is tempted to think that it is not the will of God to answer, or he may think that the days when God answered prayer, if He ever did, are over. So the Israelites seem to have thought. They thought that the Lord's hand was shortened, that it could not save, and that His ear had become heavy that it could no longer hear. Isaiah said no, God's ear is just as open to hear as ever, His hand just as mighty to save, but there is a hindrance. That hindrance is your own sins. Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have have hid His face from you that He will not hear.
Other hindrances to prayer are: Ez. 14:3; Prov. 21:13; Mark 11:25; 1 Peter 3:7; James 1:5-7.
When we pray we should consult God in our undertakings, whether He will allow of them or not, and commit our way unto Him, and make known our request to Him, rather than to folow our own corrupt views and inclinations and meet with continual disappointments. Let us ask God for success that all we ask for may be with right motives and to glorify our Heavenly Father. Let our prayer be, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23, 24.
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