Prayer time is a Christian's personal conversation with God. However, Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church warned that bad relationships can negatively affect a person's prayer life.
"Nothing will hinder your prayers faster than resentment. When you hold a grudge, when you nurse an ill feeling, when you allow bitterness to grow in your life, it renders your prayers ineffective," he wrote on his website.
One of the easiest places to have resentment build up is in families, the pastor said. Family members love one another, but their day-to-day interactions can cause them to become bitter and resentful towards one another. Warren said that husbands and wives need to be mindful not to let negative emotions disrupt their relationships.
"The Bible says how you treat your spouse influences your prayer life! In fact, when it lists the qualifications of a pastor and deacon, one of them is that he has to have a happy, peaceful home life. Why? Because if there is tension at home, the prayers of those church leaders will be totally ineffective, according to Scripture," he said.
Warren said that he himself can attest to this fact. Whenever he has an argument with his wife, Kay, he needs to resolve their issue first before talking to the Lord in prayer. "I know I've got to get things right with Kay before God's going to hear the prayer," he said.
Another thing Warren said about prayer is that the act of praying is not more important than the reason for praying. As God's children, Christians must be eager to embody God's love and help those in need. When people pray for good health, Warren wants them to contemplate what they intend to do with a healthy body.
"God is not interested in simply satisfying our selfishness. The conditions of prayer are an honest relationship with God, a forgiving attitude toward other people, and a willingness to share God's blessings with other people. God loves us and so he's teaching how to pray in an effective way," he said.
