2 Chron 7:12-14, Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 
As the means of giving proper credit, we are using material adapted from The Battle Plan for Prayer Bible Study Curriculum, developed by Stephen and Alex Kendrick. We are looking at several practical aspects of prayer as the means of the spiritual growth of the Lord’s Church on earth today. 
	As we proceed forward in our consideration of effective prayer, it is necessary to spend some time with those elements which can be locks or hindrances to prayer. There are those times in our lives, when we pray, and it seems that Heaven is closed to us. We struggle with the sense that our prayers never really seem to get past the ceiling in our room. We need to realize that there are times when, because of our attitudes, our issues, our unforgiveness, or our behavior, that we cut ourselves off from the knowledge of our relationship in communication with God. There are most definitely those times when the windows of Heaven seem shut against our prayers and we need to assess and to determine the root cause and make any and every adjustment in our lives to restore that life-line with God.
	We are told, in Prov 15:29, the following truth. Prov 15:29, The Lord is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous. All our prayers need to be based on the reality of the righteousness with which they are brought into the presence of God. This is vital in the course of how we offer up prayers to God. In order for them to proceed before the throne of the Almighty and Holy Lord God, they must be brought through the right-standing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our righteousness and He is the one who intercedes on our behalf because of His Holiness and His perfect submission to the Father and His glorious work of redemption. He is the right standing and it is through Him that our prayers are heard and will receive a response from Heaven. 
Trying to pray unto God without the righteousness of Christ, as Our Lord and Our Savior, is the primary lock to prayer. We must know Him as the avenue of knowing God. Knowing about Him is not enough! Thinking that God will hear our prayers because we are so called “good people” is not going to work! Heaven is fully open to those who call forth covered by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the Key Who opens Heaven to hear our prayers and our supplications and our worship and our thanksgiving. The fact is that because we are in Christ, we are made to be the adopted children of God and our Heavenly Father loves to hear and to respond to the prayers of His children. He is not obligated to do so to any who is not part of His family in His Only Begotten Son. 
Now let us consider some of those other locks or hindrances to our prayers which we may experience. We are told a very simple truth in James 5:16. James 5:16, Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. We need to examine ourselves in the light of Christ’s righteousness, looking at the very real reasons that we are coming to God in prayer in the first place. 
The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Are we those righteous men and women whose prayers mean something in the eternal plan of God? Or, are we limited because of the less than stellar hearts and minds that are seeking for self-elevation and self-exaltation? You see, this is a very elemental lock to the course of any effective prayer. 
In Matt 6:5, as we have already considered, Our Lord warned against those hypocrites who pray simply for show. Matt 6:5, "And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 
There is no depth or substance to their prayers in the plan and the purpose of God. They simply put together their words in order to impress others with the oratorical brilliance of their wordsmithing. Often time, those prayers are more a lecture against the deeds and actions of those being targeted and chastised in a supposedly heavenly dissertation. It is a matter of showing how much more spiritual the one is over the other, and God will have none of it!
Our Lord also cautioned against the other form of human prayer that is locked out of Heaven just two verses later in Matt 6:7. Matt 6:7, "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 
     	If we pray just using repetitive, memorized words and phrases, it will mean nothing! Empty expressions and rote recitals that are passed off as prayers are simply linguistic smog filling the air of the rooms. The emptiness of these words are recounted in Job 35:12+13. Job 35:12+13, "There they cry out, but He does not answer Because of the pride of evil men. "Surely God will not listen to an empty cry, Nor will the Almighty regard it. 
We are aware of a variety of religions that practice such categorical disseminations with fervor and with absolute and viral commitment. It means nothing more than an exercise of mental acuity and misguided dedication to voice such mantras as a means to measure their supposed spiritual awareness and standing among men. This is another aspect of those hardened and meaningless diatribes that will never be heard before the throne of God.
	Another one of the blockages to our prayers actually being heard by God is when we pray with an unrepentant heart. The Psalmist knew this one as detailed in Ps 66:18. Ps 66:18, If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear…. When we cling to the sin that is part of our lives, holding onto it with all our will and might, even when we know it is wrong, God will not hear our prayers for anything other than for forgiveness and for cleansing. We are so very audacious to even try to bring our sin into the presence of Our Most Holy God where sin cannot be. 
Listen to how God treats those prayers from the mouths of people who do not want His cleansing work in their lives. Please open to Prov 1:24-30. This would be an appropriate time to stand and read along with me. 
Prov 1:24-30, "Because I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and no one paid attention; And you neglected all my counsel, And did not want my reproof; I will even laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, When your dread comes like a storm, And your calamity comes on like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come on you. "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me, Because they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of the Lord. "They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof. You may be seated.
  	The Lord reiterated this truth over and over again to any who might listen to Him as in Isa 1:15-17. Isa 1:15-17, "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless; Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. 
	Again, through the Prophet Jeremiah in Jer 11:10+11. Jer 11:10+11, "They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers." Therefore thus says the Lord, "Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. 
    	And once again we hear the Lord’s warning through another Prophet, the Prophet Zechariah, in Zech 7:11-13. Zech 7:11-13, "But they refused to pay attention, and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. "And they made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. "And it came about that just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen," says the Lord of hosts; 
	Keep in mind this is the voice of God being proclaimed by His prophets recorded in His Word. We need to take it very seriously as we look at why our prayers never seem to be heard or answered by God. If our prayers are not effective, then we must truly pray that the Lord would break our hearts and our attitudes toward our sin. Pray that He will work in us to effect His change to meet His standard of Holiness. That is a prayer that will always be heard and which will receive a response if we truly mean it. God wants us to want to be changed from our wicked ways and brought into line with the perfect Standard that He has set before us in His Son, Jesus Christ!
	Another lock against our prayers being heard is when we pray with sinful or selfish motives, as highlighted for us by Brother James in James 4:3. James 4:3, You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. If we are asking for God to give us money or fame or power for our own purposes and in order to achieve something great for ourselves at the expense of our relationship of utter reliance upon Him to be our everything, we should not be surprised that our prayers are not answered. We must always be in humble submission to His plan and to His purpose and to His will, setting aside our ideas and our lusts and our schemes for His glory to become our everything!
	Another major hindrance or lock to effective prayer is if we mistreat our spouses. As husbands, we are supposed to protect and honor and cherish them, as we are told very plainly by the Apostle Peter, in 1 Pet 3:7. If we fail to do so, our prayers will be locked. 
1 Peter 3:7, You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. We cannot ask God to do His will in our lives if we are enforcing our will on our spouses, whether husbands, as specified in this passage, or as domineering wives. We need to deal with our obligations in marriage and ask the Lord to make that His priority if we ever want to be effective prayer warriors for others.
	This then highlights another area that is a major hindrance to effective prayer, that of our attitudes and our treatment of each other. If we have bitterness in our hearts toward one another, if we are filled with envy, unforgiveness, anger, and even frustration with our family members, the physical members as well as our spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ, then we need to deal with it immediately.
	Again, Our Lord was very clear on this in Mark 11:25. Mark 11:25, "And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions. It is very clear and very simple, if we do not forgive, we cannot expect to be forgiven. We must not hold anything against another, but rather do everything within our power, by the guidance and through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, to set things aright with all those in our spheres of influence. We must not harbor bitterness or strife or anger because to do so is to lock away our prayers from being heard by the Lord God Who would otherwise respond with all His mercy and His grace and His love. 
	To reinforce this, please open to Eph 4:28-32. Here it is very clearly detailed just how urgent it is to have done with all those attitudes toward our brethren which would absolutely prevent our prayers from being heard by God. 
Eph 4:28-32, Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Repeating this for utmost emphasis, And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
	As well notice something in this passage which is also stated in Proverbs 21:13, concerning our attitudes toward those in need. Prov 21:13, He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be answered. God will not answer those who have no regard for the needy. He came to save those who were lost and in need of salvation. He expects His people to have that same heart and to not ignore those in need but to listen to them and try to help to the best of our abilities. 
Again reiterating our Ephesians passage, Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need. It is the attitude that we have toward our fellow man that is at the heart of our effective prayers. It is that heart of intercession which lifts others up and wants only the very best for them before the Lord. If that is not our heart, then it is not a mystery as to why we find our prayers and petitions seemingly locked out of Heaven. 
Again, hear the word of Our Lord Jesus, Himself, in this regard, in Matt 18:19-22. Matt 18:19-22, "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst." Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 
	For two or three to be in agreement before the Lord means that there is no dissention, no disagreement, no anger, no frustration, no unforgiveness, no animosity, no jealousy. They will be harboring no ill will toward one another, but together seeking that which is the Lord’s heart in the matter at hand. 
And please notice that it was right at this point that Peter asked about how many times to forgive, thinking that seven was the magic number. Christ basically made it limitless in the terms of how often to forgive. There is no limit to the forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ, and the same is to be true of you and me toward each other.
	The final lock or hindrance that we will consider this morning is that of disregarding the Word of God. If we do so, He will disregard our prayers. Please keep in our hearts the core, bedrock reality that the Word of God is the basis of every answer to our prayers. As we have before us in His Word, Proverbs, Chapter 28, verse 9, we are told that if we ignore the Word of God, He will ignore, yea, even hate our prayers. Prov 28:9, He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. 
    	In conclusion, we need to constantly come before Him with the prayer of the Psalmist in Ps 26:2 every time the door and the windows to Heaven seem locked to us and to our prayers. Ps 26:2, Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. If we truly do so, He will respond in full measure.
	In reality, it is not really that we have trouble hearing from God when we pray. Even though we may feel that the communication is cut off, it really isn’t. It is honestly rather a matter that we do not want to hear what God is telling us to do. We would rather hold onto our resentment of others, or our anger, or our unforgiveness, or our spite, or our sin, than submit to God and ask Him to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When we do submit, however, with all our hearts to His plan and His purpose and His will, the Holy Spirit will reveal that the windows of Heaven are fully open to us and our communication with Him, in fellowship and in joy will be restored to an even greater measure than we have ever known. So be it!
	Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is 1 Chron 16:28+29. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him; Worship the Lord in holy array. Amen.