Expect Inferences When You Pray

This is What It Means to Have Interference in Prayer

Dealing With Prayer Interferences – Part 1

As we begin a new chapter in Next Level Prayer, let me remind you that next level prayer means we plan to take what we know, do, and think to the next level. That means we’ve agreed that what we’re sharing isn’t normal behavior. To do this we are defining what it’s like at the most basic level so that we can get to the next level.

With that out of the way, I am sure you know there are many things that can interfere with our ability to pray. How many distractions can you think of that hinder you from praying as an individual? What things can you name that interference with us praying as a group? How about a family? If you allow your prayer or conversation with God to be interrupted, what does that say about what you think of God? If interruptions and interference get in our way, then what can we do about it so that we don’t remain average, remain normal, remain ordinary?

Interfering With Our Prayer Results
There are interruptions that have a major impact on the results you get in prayer. You might not be aware of this but interference can impact us in a number of ways. I’d like to focus on two of them.

1. Impacting the Results of Prayer
   The reason we’re discussing this at all is due to the fact that interferences can reduce the results we get in prayer. As you may recall, in next level prayer we believe one should have more answered prayers than unanswered. Peter who had a substantial role in promoting the Christian church taught how even our interactions with our spouse has a direct correlation to the results we will have in prayer. ^[1] That means how you treat and interact with your wife (men) and how you interact with your husbands (women) have a direct impact on the results you get from prayer. That’s called interference.

    

2. Impacting the Act of Praying
   This second interference is one that impacts the act of prayer. What does this mean? It means that something gets in the way of the mechanics of prayer. You might not complete praying in the time you have to pray. You might get sidetracked. This type of interference is the worst. If you never pray in the first place, it doesn’t matter how you treat your spouse. If you don’t ask, you don’t receive. That’s called interference.

Common Interferences
Now that we see the impacts, let’s talk a little about the common interferences that we collected from people who have much experience in prayer.

• Wandering Mind – The wandering mind is at the top of the list. How do we keep our mind on prayer? How do we stay focused on the effort?
• Mobile Phone – Many of us have our phones tethered to us and that brings with it alerts, reminders, notifications, updates, calls, texts, chats, emails, and so on. Having your phone with you when you pray is a guaranteed source of interference.
• People – “People” is so generic. Let’s get more specifics. “People” is a spouse, significant other, child(ren), parent and even your pet(s). All of which can be distractions when it comes to prayer.
• Tired, Sleepy, or Falling Asleep – This is my favorite. Being tired and sleepy is a common excuse most people use to explain why they didn’t pray or haven’t prayed. While certainly not uncommon, many who pray often fall asleep in prayer. That right there is interference to praying. If you fall asleep in prayer, what does that say about prayer and what does it say for you?
• Schedule / Intentionality – “I don’t have time to pray.” Did you know this statement is equivalent to a person saying I don’t have time for God? Regardless, not having time for prayer is interference to you praying.
• Soloing It – This phrase is simply to say going at it (prayer) alone. For beginners and people new to prayer this could be an interference to you praying. If you’re not familiar with or understand prayer enough to pray on your own, it could be a problem, interference.
• Work – Oftentimes we allow work to get in the way of prayer. Most people place their work above all, which in and of itself would definitely interfere with prayer.

Regardless of the interference, there are reasons why you should expect resistance. John Maxwell says it this way, “anything worthwhile is uphill.” There is always resistance when it comes to things that bring value and added benefits to one’s life. Prayer is certainly in that category. Interferences and resistance comes because prayer produces results that no other activity on earth can produce. It’s the most worthwhile practice you can have. Therefore expect inferences, but more importantly let’s figure out how to work through them. This is next level prayer!

Question: How many distractions can you think of that hinder you from praying?

[1] ‭‭1 Peter 3:7 NLT, Bible.com, accessed March 8, 2023, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/1PE.3.7.NLT

All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.