Rev. Michael Lokietek, Family Church of Chautauqua County

FREDONIA, NY -- Dear Pastor, it seems that my prayers don't get answered. What am I doing wrong?

Last week we looked at the influence that our words have on our prayers. We saw that our words can either support our prayers or work against the very things we pray for.

This week we want to continue to examine things that can hinder our prayers.

In the last few columns we focused on how we speak. This week, I want to focus on how our actions influence our prayer effectiveness.

While we certainly don't have to earn God's love and attention with good actions, we can interfere with His blessings for us through choosing to be disobedient to His will.

So how do we know His will? The Bible is His will!

If you are doing what you know you shouldn't or you aren't doing what you know you should, you are in disobedience.

This disobedience will be a barrier or a stumbling block to getting your prayers answered. Our actions make us unavailable for God's blessings.

An example of this is seen in Matthew 9:35-36. Jesus, seeing the weary and scattered people around Him, referred to them as "sheep having no shepherd." This scripture reflects our need to sit under a shepherd's care… for direction, for teaching, for maturing in our Christian walk.

God has called Christians to go to church. We are admonished to "not forsake the assembling of yourselves" (Hebrews 10:25).

Much of the New Testament was originally written in the form of letters written to the local churches where believers gathered. This shows that God speaks to church bodies. If you are not there, you can miss what He has for you, including the answer to your prayer.

Another example of how our behaviors can influence our prayers can be seen in Matthew 6:14-15. Although many interpret this passage as if God will punish us if we don’t forgive others, I read it differently.

In this prayer, Jesus says that having unforgiveness interferes with God's being able to forgive us. We can pray for forgiveness of our sins and God wants to forgive us, but if we haven't forgiven others, our heart becomes hardened. A hardened heart can't receive from God!

Remember, we are called to walk in love towards others, even people who’ve hurt us in some way (Matthew 5:43-44).

Forgiveness is all about love, and love enables our prayers!