A huge hinderance to prayer

I'm big believer in praying about everything, and I truly believe it's the most powerful way to live your life. Praying consistently will no doubt change your life. In fact, many of the blessings God wants you to enjoy will never be seen in your life unless you pray.

I think we all understand that we are supposed to pray, and most of us want to pray.  But many of God's people, if they are completely honest, would have to admit their prayer life is somewhere between mediocre and non-existent.

And believe me I get it. I'm just as busy as the next person, but being busy is just one of many tools the devil uses to hinder our prayer lives. Constantly complaining is another, sometimes we don't even know it's happening, we don't even know we are doing it, and then before we know it our prayer lives are completely shut down.

So what's the antidote? Is there something we can all do to keep our prayer lives strong? There is, and the secret is found inside Psalm 100,

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
2     Worship the Lord with gladness.
    Come before him, singing with joy.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
    He made us, and we are his.
    We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
    go into his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good.
    His unfailing love continues forever,
    and his faithfulness continues to each generation. 

(Psalm 100:1-5 New Living Translation)

One of the best ways to keep your chin up during tough times is to be thankful, and believe it or not it's the most powerful way to enter into God's presence! 

"Come before Him, signing with joy." 

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise." 

Have you ever opened a combination lock? That's what thanksgiving does, it unlocks the door to God's presence. And it paves the way for you to start your day praying about everything. 

I dare you to try it. Try starting your day with thanksgiving and then go into prayer, don't worry about whats going on in your life right now, and I know that can be hard. Instead just focus on thanking God for everything under the sun, then go into prayer.

It won't be long before your attitude changes, and it won't be long before you see amazing results in prayer! 

God bless you,

Chris