Avoiding the Obstacles to Prayer

1. Unforgiving Spirit

This is one of the most common hindrances to answered prayer. When we nurse a grudge or harbor ill will toward someone else, God will not deal favorably with us. This is the predominate barrier to all prayer, which is delineated in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).

Mark 11:25 (Jesus said)
“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

2. Sinful Life

Unconfessed sin in the life becomes a serious roadblock to the praying Christian. Idols in the heart cause God to turn away and allow prayers to go unanswered.

Psalm 66:18
“ If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

Isaiah 59:2
“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

3. Unbelieving Petitions

Prayers are often halted by unbelief. We read and accept God’s promises, and yet our hearts doubt their truth. It has been said that faith is only omnipotent when on its knees.

James 1:6-7
“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.”

4. Selfish Requests

Before we approach God with our self-gratifying list, we must learn that prayer is basically asking what we already know God’s will to be. And His will is contained in the revelation of His Word. The life of the Apostle Paul is an example of this principle. He does not pray for material possessions or consumable items. His petitions are never selfish or shortsighted. Paul prayed with eternity’s values in view. Too often our prayers are filled with personal comforts, earthly possessions and our desire for happiness.

James 4:3
“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

5. Lack of Marital Unity

Our prayers can go unanswered due to problems in our marriage relationship. Incidentally, the strength of a couple’s prayer life reveals the spiritual health of the marriage. When disharmony occurs, prayer is impeded.

“If unconverted people can have happy homes without prayer (and they do), how much happier Christian homes would be with prayer” (Weirsbe).

I Peter 3:7
“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, 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.”

Mother's Day History & Family Quiz

1. She was the mother of Moses, wife of Amram. (Ex. 6:20) ___________________

2. She was married to a fool (“churlish & evil”). What was his name? (I Sam. 25:3) ______________

3. She was a submissive, obedient wife. She was also a prayer warrior and the mother of Samuel. (I Sam. 1) _________________

4. She taught her son the Scriptures, and her mother, Lois, helped as well. (II Tim. 1:5) _______________

5. She was the mother of the mighty John the Baptist. (Luke 1:41) __________________

6. She said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” (Luke 1:46) ______________

7. “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is __________; but a woman that _______________ the Lord, she shall be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)

8. Of David’s eight wives, she had the greatest influence on him. She spared him from many hardships. (I Sam. 25) _______________


9. She was the mother of twins (Jacob and Esau). She was guilty of favoritism with her children. (Gen. 24) _________________


10. Proverbs 31:26- “She openeth her mouth with ______________; and in her tongue is the law of __________________.”


11. BONUS: She was the mother of a large family who was quoted as saying, “I will not have a godless child.” ______________________________


Did you know that the idea for Mother's Day was born in a small Methodist church in West Virginia? It was 1876 and the nation still mourned the Civil War dead. While teaching a Memorial Day lesson, Mrs. Anna Reeves Jarvis thought of mothers who had lost their sons. She prayed that one day there could be a "Memorial Day" for mothers. Her prayer made a deep impression on one of Mrs. Jarvis's eleven children. Young Anna had seen her mother's efforts to hold the war-split community and church together. As she grew into adulthood, the younger woman kept Mrs. Jarvis's dream in her heart. On the day of her mother's death, Anna was determined to establish Mother's Day in her honor.

On May 12, 1907, a local observance was held which later spread to Philadelphia. By 1910, Mother's Day was celebrated in forty-five states. On May 8, 1914, President Wilson designated the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day "for displaying the American flag and for the public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of the country."

Proverbs 31:10, 11
“Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her…”

Recent Worship Service

Come Join Us For Our Easter Service (10:30 AM)!

The message of Easter is all about Christ and our deliverance! Because He lives, you and I can live! Job asked, “If a man die, shall he live again?” Easter answers Job’s question. The resurrection is the core of our faith. The Apostle Paul stated: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9,10). Jesus said: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is foundational. It is the cornerstone of Christianity. Just as our heart pumps blood to every organ in our body, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the heart of the Gospel that pumps life to every doctrinal truth. It is central! In the New Testament alone it is referred to 104 times. Peter’s first message at Pentecost that led to a great revival was founded and built around the truth of the resurrection. I Corinthians 15:12-19 reveals that everything stands or falls with Christ’s bodily resurrection. If Christ did not conquer death by rising from the tomb, we would all be false witnesses still dead in our trespasses and sins.

I Corinthians 15:17- “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain (worthless); ye are yet in your sins.”
Acts 4:33- “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”
Matthew 12:40- “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
I Corinthians 15:3-4- “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
Charles Spurgeon once said, “We gather together on the first rather than the seventh day of the week, because redemption is even a greater work than creation; and more worthy of commemoration, and because the rest which followed creation is far outdone by that which ensues upon the completion of redemption.”

The proclamation of Christ’s resurrection was the very heart and theme of the early church. The fact that He arose was the motivation behind every suffering and sacrificial endeavor for Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fundamental doctrine of Christianity. The following passages reveal it is clearly an essential part of the Gospel. May we at New Life Bible meditate upon these Scriptures and search our souls during this crucial and blessed time of the year.

1) Anticipated and announced in the Old and New Testament

· Psalm 118:22-24

“The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

· Isaiah 52:13; 53:10-12 (Isaiah spoke of a future day of redemption)
· Jonah 2:1-9 (Jonah is a type of Christ- Matthew 12:39-41)
· Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:17-19 (Jesus regularly referred to this before His disciples)
· John 2:22 (The disciples finally remembered after it was a fact)
· Acts 13:33
· Matthew 27:63-64 (The enemies of Jesus remembered)

2) Post-resurrection witnesses

· 1st appearance- Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9-11)
· 2nd appearance- Other women (Matthew 28:8-10)
· 3rd appearance- Peter (I Corinthians 15:5)
· 4th appearance- Two men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32)
· 5the appearance (Sun. PM)- 10 Apostles in the Upper Room w/out Thomas (Jn. 20:19-25)
· 6th appearance (The following Sunday)- 11 Apostles and Thomas believes (John 20:26-28)
· 7th appearance- 7 disciples by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-14)
· 8th appearance- 500 at a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20; I Corinthians 15:6)
· 9th appearance- Half-brother James (I Corinthians 15:7)
· 10 appearance- The disciples again in Jerusalem (Acts 1:3-8; Luke 24:44-49)

3) Christ’s Ascension to Heaven

· Acts 1:11
“Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

· Mark 16:1-20
· Luke 24:50-53

Fun and Fellowship Activities

Church The Way It Used To Be

Please come and join us at New Life Bible Church...

1. Where the main emphasis is practical preaching and teaching of the Bible, not entertainment.
2. Where the music is joyful and mirrors Christ, not American Idol.
3. Where the focus is on fellowship, family, and foreign missions, not felt needs.
4. Where the philosophy of ministry is pleasing Christ, not pragmatism.
5. Where the main goal is the Glory of God, not the praise of men.

If this is the kind of church you are looking for, give us a call at 817-876-9901. We would love to worship with you. For the Apostle Paul admonished us, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears" (II Timothy 4:3).

Signs of Spiritual Growth- Col. 1:9-14

Take your spiritual pulse and see if you have these "signs of spiritual growth" in your life (Col.1:9-14)? Ephesians 4:15 says, "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him (Christ) in all things…"

1. Am I cultivating a deep, growing, personal knowledge of God (v. 9a)?
- Are you stagnant spiritually? Is your love for Christ growing daily?

2. Does that knowledge control my life (v. 9a)?

- Are you dominated by it? Is it producing a Christlikeness in you?
- "filled" means consumed or controlled completely

3. Does that knowledge translate into action (v. 9b)?

- Do I get defensive? Do I get angry? Do I feel slighted or worry?
- Do I respond poorly to criticism? Am I highly opinionated or critical?
- I Cor. 14:20- “Brethren, be not children in understanding..."

4. Is my conduct continually pleasing to the Lord (v. 10a)? What is not pleasing?

- Any ambitions or attitudes or music or thoughts displeasing to God?
- "worthy" means humble, appropriate, loving and pleasing
- Psa. 66:18- “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

5. Am I bearing fruit regularly (v. 10b)?

- Examples:

Pointing people to Christ (I Cor. 16:15)
Overcoming temptations (I John 2:14)
A deeper love for God’s Word (Ps. 119:97)
A more perfect obedience (I John 2:3–5)
A greater love for Christ and others (Eph. 3:17-19)
A strong doctrinal foundation (I John 2:12–14)
Sacrificial giving (Rom. 15:26–28)
Godly living (Heb. 12:11)
Displaying holy attitudes (Gal. 5:22, 23)
Praising God for passionately (Heb. 13:15)
An expanding faith (II Thess. 1:3; II Cor. 10:5)
Partaking of the deeper truths of Scripture (Heb. 5:14)
Memorizing more Scripture

6. Am I growing in love and understanding of God’s Word (v. 10c)?

- Is the Word becoming a part of me? (see Col. 4:16 & Heb. 5:12)

7. Is there a continuous supply of God’s power in my life to deal with difficult people and difficult circumstances (v. 11)?

8. Am I a grateful person on a regular basis (vs. 12-14)? Do I complain and have a negative attitude? Am I thankful?