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A great hindrance to prayer is found in the Gospel of Mark:
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
(Mark 11:25-26)
This is vital. Prayer will not work without forgiveness. I cannot overemphasize its importance. Jesus prayed:
...Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
(Luke 11:2-4)
Spiritual principles are involved here. You can keep these hindrances from stopping the results of your prayers. Harmony makes the prayer system work.

This attitude of forgiveness begins at home. Jesus said if any two of you will agree on earth, He would be in your midst. A man and his wife should be the strongest agreement force there is. Satan goes to great lengths in separating a man from his wife and family. He wants them out of agreement.

First Peter 3:7 says, "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them [your wives] according to knowledge [according to the Word of God], giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered."

If a husband is not honoring his wife as he should, his prayers are hindered. The burden of harmony is not on the wife. The husband is the authority in his household. The power of God is available to the man and the wife who purpose to stay in harmony.

As you come against unforgiveness and reach for harmony, you will experience Jesus in your midst! He said, "...If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23).

You cannot say that you please God and hold something against someone. This includes your family members as well. "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (1 John 4:20).

Both strife and unforgiveness hinder your prayer life. Strife is merely acting upon unforgiveness. James 3:16 says, "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."

When you take confusion and add it to Satan's work, problems arise. You will have a disaster in the making. Jesus is not in the midst of that. Determine that you are not going to respond in strife.

The next time someone says something rude or unmannerly to you or about someone else, make the decision not to join in. Don't carry strife any further.

Second Timothy 2:24-26 says that because of strife Satan can capture Christians at his will. The believer belongs to God and has every right to walk free.

Jesus said that the thief comes to kill, to steal and to destroy (John 10:10). That is the only reason he gets involved in your life. The nearest avenue to completion - being whole in spirit, soul, body, financially and socially - is the road to peace and harmony.

The absence of strife is the key to getting rid of confusion and evil. It is the predominate, primary prerequisite for answered prayer. Stop Satan from working in your life.

You do not want him in your home or your prayer life. The first thing to do is begin to forgive. Get strife out of your life. Jesus said to ask and you will receive that your joy may be made full (John 16:24). Your joy will be strong.

Matthew 18:19-20 will not work just because two people say the same thing. The prayer of agreement that makes it work is effective because of its motivating force - love!

As you read this, take the opportunity right now to rid yourself of strife, disharmony or unforgiveness. You confess it. Jesus is faithful to forgive you (1 John 1:9).

Give God the opportunity to create a system of harmony around you and your prayer life will begin to work.

Source: Prayer - Your Foundation For Success by Kenneth Copeland.
Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka: Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Author Biography

Kenneth Copeland
Web site: Kenneth Copeland Ministries
 
For the last 50 years Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have been passionately teaching Christians all over the world how to apply the principles of faith found in God’s WORD to their lives.
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