James 1:6-8

God invites His children to pray because He is delighted to provide for them, and He stands ready to do so. But God wants us to come in faith and ask Him to accomplish His divine plan in our circumstance.

Different types of hindrances can block the effectiveness of our prayers. One is not knowing God’s will for our circumstances. He says “yes�?when our petition is in agreement with His purposes for our life. Even when Scripture does not specifically address our situation, it still gives indications of God’s will, as in 1 Peter 2:15 and 1 Thessalonians 4:3 and 5:18.

Having low expectations that God will answer is another obstacle. As believers, we’re to ask confidently. (Ephesians 3:12)

A third problem is doubt. Uncertainty is like a foreign intruder in our conversation with God. It short-circuits faith and the power of prayer. Doubt can derive from listening to the wrong voices, embracing beliefs out of line with the Word, or looking at the difficulty instead of the Lord. If God delays His answer or responds in an unexpected way, skepticism can sneak into our thinking. To deal with doubt, we must learn God’s ways. When we center our prayers on who He is, faith rises and doubt decreases. Disbelief will vanish as we discover His will and learn to shape our requests around it.

God is waiting for us to petition Him with specific prayers, free of doubt and aligned with His will. This is a “win-win�?combination, receiving an affirmative answer from God every time.

Dr. Charles Stanley