I have before me James L. Nicodem’s little booklet on “Overcoming Obstacles to Prayer,” which is an excerpt from his book “Prayer Coach.” In the booklet Pastor Nicodem identifies six impediments to prayer that require our particular attention:

1. No plan. If we fail to schedule ourselves for prayer we will be less prone to pray.

2. No Purity. Unaddressed sin, including hidden and unconfessed sin, can be a serious hindrance to prayer.

3. No Peace. We may have strained relationships and conflicts with others including our spouses that need our immediate attention.

4. No passion. This is about mouthing or even saying our prayers almost begrudgingly, because prayer is the right thing to do; but we lack any feeling, sense of urgency, or compassion for the plight of others.

5. No persistence. We are prone to giving up rather than pressing on to victory over a problem or situation.

6. No Partner. We get in the rut of going it alone without being part of a community of people praying. There is strength in numbers.

I would like to add a few others which may appear in some form in Nicodem’s larger work which I haven’t read.

1. No Surrender. We want an answer to prayer that fits our expectations. In keeping with Nicodem’s book title, we want to “coach” God on how to answer our prayers. It becomes a war of wills and we sometimes refuse to“wave the white flag.” Next thing you know we are not“on talking terms” with our Maker.

2. No patience. This is similar to Nicodem’s #5, except that we have no appreciation for God’s timing. God intends to give us more than we ask for if we just wait on Him. Isaiah 40:31.

3. No dependence on God. We would never admit or even suspect for that matter that we do not need God. But our prayerfulness exposes our independence.

I close with my favorite story about prayer that I once read in a book on prayer. A priest was approached by a parishioner who needed counseling about her deficient prayer life. She described her problem rather remorsefully and then asked the Priest if he had any advice about how she can improve her prayer life. He responded: “Just Pray.” Let us do likewise.