2.07. Hindrences to Faith
CHAPTER 7 HINDRANCES TO FAITH 1 Peter 3:7 "That your prayers be not hindered."
Faith is taking God at His Word. It is easy to see that sin would prevent one having faith to accept healing, since Gods own Word DOES NOT PROMISE healing to the sinner.
John 9:31 "We know that God heareth not sinners." The only promises Gods Word that apply to sinners, are promises to forgive sins repented of, and promises of judgment for sins not repented of. The promises of healing and of answers to prayer are for obedient children of God.
John 15:7 "IF YE ABIDE IN ME AND MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you."
Abiding in Christ guarantees to you the answer to your prayer. Failure to abide in Him may well be placed first in any list of hindrances to faith, for it nullifies Gods guarantee.
Abiding in Christ is not church membership. It is not being kind to your neighbors. It is not even singing in the choir, teaching a Sunday School class, preaching or praying. It is living in the Word of God, by the Word of God, and in joyful fellowship with God.
Romans 8:1 "There is... No condemnation to them which are IN Christ Jesus."
Some ask God, and receive. Others ask in the same words, and receive nothing. This is not a matter of words, and receive nothing. This is not a matter of chance, nor of respect of persons, but of faith.
James 4:3 "Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." This kind of asking can never be done in faith. There may be a desire to be well, and even a hope that "it may work." But there cannot be faith, for there is not promise upon which faith can be based. There are those who desire healing in order to be better able to carry on their sinful pursuits. A dancer who became paralyzed through an accident desired healing so that she might go back to her dancing. A society lady wanted healing for her drawn and crippled hands in order to be able to deal the cards more gracefully. Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8:1-40) desired to be able to impart the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, so that he might turn this gift to his own financial profit. god does not give faith to such people. Used indiscriminately, by those who were governed by their own lust, it could even be dangerous. For this reason, it is given only to those who abide in Christ, and in whom His Words abide. Only these can be trusted to use such a mighty power.
Those who abide in Christ are not condemned.
1 John 3:21-22 "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God; and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do those things which are pleasing in is sight." This is Gods formula for faith. Until you have met this condition, you cannot have faith. You may be persuaded that God is able to heal you, but you can only hope that He will, for He has not promised to do it while you live in sin, under condemnation.
I may know a millionaire, who could easily give me a thousand dollars. I know he could do it.
He may even have given one of my friends a thousand dollars. I may even have seen the check. I may need it very badly, and hope fervently that he will somehow decide to give me a thousand dollars, but I have no real reason to believe that he will unless he says that he will.
Gods power is sufficient to heal, as well as to save EVERYBODY. But His promise is to heal those who keep His commandments and walk in His statutes, and those who believe Him, that all His Words are truth.
Condemnation is no doubt the greatest hindrance to faith. A few of the things which bring condemnation to Christians, hindering faith, will be mentioned here. Let the reader be reminded that anything which is of a disobedient, ungodly, unholy nature is a hindrance to faith.
Peter exhorts husbands and wives in regard to their relationship:
1 Peter 3:1, 1 Peter 3:7 "Likewise ye wives be in subjection to your husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; THAT YOUR PRAYERS BE NOT HINDERED." The faith many is hindered because scriptural relationship in the home. But unscriptural attitudes toward our fellow men outside the home can also be a great hindrance to faith.
Mark 11:24-25 "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive if ye have ought against any." An unforgiving spirit hinders faith.
Many professed Christians live under constant condemnation because they refuse to give God the tithe which He declares to be His.
Leviticus 27:30 "The tithe is the Lords"
They are aware of the fact the Bible teaches consistent tithing, that a tenth of their increase should be given to God for the support of the ministry. yet great numbers of church people refuse to walk in the light of Gods Word. Many of these so-called "saints" help to make up the healing lines. God calls them thieves. Malachi 3:8. If you have been robbing God, do not expect Him to heal you until you have first asked His pardon and become a tither. True, the law required tithing, but the tithe is older than the law. And Gods promises are still true.
Malachi 3:10 "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the lord of hosts, if I will not open you windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
Another hindrance to faith is found in James 5:16.
James 5:16 "Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed."
Many people are quick to see the faults of others, but seemingly are blind to any faults of their own. With this spirit, one could hardly expect to have faith to trust God for healing.
Few people claim to be perfect, yet when confronted with the idea that confessing of faults may be necessary for their healing, there is usually not one fault which they are willing to confess.
While many receive immediate healing as they come in the healing line, it is a well known fact that there are people all over that land today, who have passed through many healing lines and yet are not healed. These are the people who need to call in help - according to James 5:14; the elders of the church and with much heart-searching and prayer trace out in their lives the reason the healing has been withheld. Then when the light of God has revealed to his honest, seeking heart the cause of his failure to be healed, he should confess that fault to those who are praying with him, asking their prayers that the fault may be overcome. Then, in answer to the united prayers of the sick person and the elders who have been called in to help him, Satan can be driven from the field, a double victory won. The bondage of both sin and sickness will be broken.
Those who hear such confession MUST remember that in the cause of Christian brotherhood they are under obligation to speak to no one but to God of the faults which have been so confessed.
Unwillingness to confess faults usually indicates an unwillingness to forsake them, or else a lack of confidence in the power of God to deliver from them. This is one of the greatest hindrances to faith We are warned in Gods Word that in the last days there shall be those in the world 2 Timothy 3:5 "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."
Surely this does not apply to those who make no profession of godliness, but to churches and ministers who make loud professions of godliness, but deny that there is any supernatural power in operation in the world today. They advise instead of conversion by means of a new birth, good resolutions, church membership, or baptism. None of these things can change a heart.
Jesus said to one such religious man who had come to recognize the futility of his own doctrine and sincerely sought Gods way, John 3:7 "Ye must be born again."
Some who call themselves "Fundamentalists" accept this much of the miracle-working over of God, but no more. They agree with Mark 16:16 "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." But they deny the power of Mark 16:17.
Mark 16:17 "These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
They gather together in churches and sing their hymns, preach their sermons, pray their beautiful prayers, some even baptize with water, and take the Lords Supper. They have all the outward form of godliness. They are recognized by the world and by the government as "the church", but they absolutely DENY THE POWER JESUS PROMISED TO LEAVE WITH THE GODLY. In the same verse with the warning quoted as the beginning of this thought, God has told us clearly what to do if we are associated with such a group of people. "FROM SUCH TURN AWAY." 2 Timothy 3:5.
Many fail to receive healing because they have not heeded this warning. The spark of faith has begun to glow in their hearts, but instead of assembling themselves together with others of like precious faith, greater faith, they insist upon remaining in the company of those who not only do not believe in the miracle-working power of God, but openly deny that there is any such power. Your personal faith has as good a chance of surviving in such circumstances as a coal of fire has in a tub of ice water. God has not called you to remain in such an environment. It is very well to tell them of what you have found in Gods word. If they also believe, you have won a friend in Christ. But if they will not believe, then the Word of God is plain. Turn away from them, for they have turned away their ears from the truth, and will turn you away from the truth also, if you continue in their company.
Search the Scriptures. Build your faith upon the word of God, and then get into a church which has done the same. Many, many people are hindered from receiving healing faith because they have failed to heed this important warning of Gods Word.
God has guaranteed to heal those who ask in faith, without wavering. The only way that Satan can prevent you from receiving the healing God has promised you, is to keep you from asking in faith. This he accomplishes through tricking you into allowing some one or more of these hindrances to remain in your life. Examine your heart and life today. Get rid of the hindrances. Then you can come to God UNCONDEMNED.
1 John 3:21-22 "If your heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him."
One of the most common hindrances to faith is found in the common misconceptions regarding the teachings of Gods Word which will be discussed in the next chapter. These are largely due to erroneous teaching, by those who do not themselves possess the power of God in their lives, and make excuse for themselves by adjusting the teaching of Scripture to their own thinking. Of these, Peter tells us that these people, though they may be very learned in the things of this world, from Gods standpoint they are unlearned and unstable, and wrest the Scriptures, unto their own destruction.