21 Days of Prayer: What to Expect When We Pray

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN WE PRAY

However, I want to bring to your attention another aspect of our prayer life that is just as devastating as a PRAYERLESS life and that is to have a HINDERED PRAYER life! In other words, prayers which we offer up to God but fall on deaf ears.

What is it that hinders our prayers? What is it that keeps God from responding to our prayer petitions?

Well let’s take a look at our main passage for this morning from Psalm 24:

Psalm 24:1–2 NIV

1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.

The Psalmist begins with an acknowledgment of who God is, what is His, and what He has done. Everything belongs to him, because He has made it. He is the sovereign creator, the purpose giver, the Holy One, Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the end. He has created the earth, He has created us..and He has done it for His purpose. For His glory. We are made for Him and to worship Him.

Thats who He is! But the Psalmist asks a rhetorical question:

Psalm 24:3 NIV

3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?

You see if that is who God is, the problem is who we are. We are sinful, wicked, selfish. We were made for Him, for His purpose, and to worship Him, but our sin has separated us.

Prayer is the means by which we draw near to God. It is the way by which God has given to approach and communicate. But who are we to approach such a great and powerful king. In the Old Testament, if a person went into the kings presence without being called..they would be punished or killed. Approaching a king was not a casual thing.

(Imagine an immaculate palace with pure white floors and you want to come in but your shoes are covered with mud. This is in essence what it is like for us to come before a holy God where the mud of sin covers our feet)

We get a glimpse of this when Moses encounters God at the burning bush in Exodus 3. When God spoke to Him through the burning bush he was commanded to take off his sandals when he came into the presence of God for it was holy ground. Unconfessed sin is like dirty sandals. We must take them off to come before Him. In verse 4 the Psalmist gives the answer as to who may enter

Psalm 24:4 NIV

4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.

Only those who have clean hands and a pure heart may enter.

One who has proper outward motives (signified by clean hands) and one who has proper inward motives ( signified by a clean heart).

The evidence of this is they are not lifting up their souls to false gods (counterfeits to God) nor are they perpetuating lies and deceit by encouraging others to worship or look to these counterfeits for hope.

This is not a call to perfection, but a call to live life to glorify God rather than to oppose Him. These are those who seek an intimate relationship with God and because they know sin hinders that process they want sin eliminated from their lives

Psalm 24:5–6 NIV

5 They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.,

If this is who is allowed to come into the King's presence then what hinders our intimacy with God and keeps us from being able to enter before Him?

It is UNCONFESSED SIN and an UNREPENTANT HEART! Sin that is in our lives that we have not agreed with God on is unconfessed sin and our unwillingness to change/turn from that sin are the actions of an unrepentant heart. Sin must be put away just to come into God’s presence.

We need to realize that before God can build some things he has to remove some things. God cannot give us more of himself when we are content with holding on to more of our own selfish desires. Let’s look at some specific biblical examples of where prayers are hindered.

1. Known sin that has not been repented of or confessed

Isaiah 59:1–3 NIV

1 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things.

If you are content with holding onto that thing you know is wrong. no matter how small it may seem, your prayers to God will be hindered. Your relationship with God is hindered. And you will find your walk stagnant.

Perhaps the reason your relationship with God feels stifled is because you still haven’t done the last thing he has told you to do.

Maybe its a relationship you know is not good for you, but you stay in it though God has showed you that you need to let it go.

Maybe its sexual sin you're engaging in that you know is destructive, but its too hard to give up.

Maybe its looking at pornography, and you think..can’t hurt anyone. Its no big deal.

Or maybe its lieing at school, work, to get ahead.

Maybe it is the unforgiveness, bitterness, anger in your heart.

Maybe its the way you talk to people, with disrespect, lack of grace.

Whatever it is…you are waiting on an answer, and God is waiting on obedience. You don’t need a new word or answer, you need to obey what you know God is telling you to do. What he has been telling you to let go of.

Hear me, just because it feels right, does not make it right. We do not get to define what sin is or isn’t. We are called to obey. The world is trying to redefine what is right and wrong.

The world will redefine what marriage is..but God says a marriage between man and woman for the aim of glorying Him. The world may redefine what gender is, but God tell us he made man and woman. The world will tel you that if it doesn’t hurt anyone..it isn’t bad. Watch it, do it, say it..but they forget that sin has hurt someone. Christ, who died…and for us to continue in the things that we know Jesus died to save us from…and was beaten for…is evil and an afront to what Christ.

This is not a call to perfection, it is a call to repentance. To confession. To acknowledging it is wrong..and that even if you fall, fall forward. Striving to obey.

Whatever sin in your life that has become “accepted”, a little lie here, a little pornography here, a little compromise here..will hinder your prayers.

And when I say the sin that hinders your prayers…understand that were not just talking about blatant bad things. The sin that hinders our prayers are also much more subtle.

John Wesley’s mother, Susanna, defined sin as this: “Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself”

Sometimes the sin that hinders you, can come when we idolize the blessings of God. Not in the outright bad things perse, but in our obsession with the good things.

Sometimes the thing that hinders your prayers is the thing you once prayed for..that has become too important in your heart. (Ask Abraham)

A job can hinder your prayers when your desire for money supercedes your desire for obedience.

Relationships can hinder your prayers when pleasing them becomes more important than pleasing God (Ask King Sau)

Your idolization of family can hinder your prayers when your put your families desires at the center of your family, rather than God’s desires for your family.

School/Success can hinder your prayers, when that good thing keeps us from doing the good things God has caused us to do.

You see for some, we are like the younger brother in the parable of the prodigal son…our relationship with the Father hindered by holding on the bad things. For some of us though..we are like the older brother..our relationship with the Father hindered by our idolization of good things.

The sin that hinders us isn’t just the bad things, it is the idolization of good things.

When Jesus calls us to follow Him, the decision is not between heaven or hell. All of us would choose that. The decision is between heaven and this world. Will you choose to not just to give God the things you know are bad, but even the good things that keep you from Him.

What has become sin to you? What has God called you to lay down?

Jesus when he came up to those who wanted to follow, didn’t ask them to give the things they wanted to give, but the things they wanted to keep.

Not only does known sin hinder our prayers, but selfish desires.

#2 Selfish desires not subjected to God’s will

James 4:3 NIV

3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

What is at the heart of our prayers? Our comfort, success, power, our pleasure, or God’s pleasure.

Can God trust you with what you’re praying for?

Heres the question, can God even trust you with what you have? If you are not stewarding what God has given you now..for His glory, why would he give you more. It would only become a greater hindrance and stumbling block.

It were not tithing now, serving now, too busy for God now.

If you are praying for God to give you more, but you are not faithful over what you have now…you’re not praying for God, you’re praying for you.

And understand something..if we think we do not struggle with this, we must thing again.

David Platt, when describing the state of the American Church today, writes that Materialism (obsession with wealth and the worlds comforts) is a blind spot for us today. We for instance may look at Christians 200 years ago and say, how in the world could they not see the selfishness, the wickedness within slavery. They were blinded. And then he argues that what will Christians say about us 200 years from now. Will they say, how could they have so much, nicer homes, nicer churches, more resources…and yet do so little with it. Materialism is our blind spot..and we can’t even see the way that the culture has taught us to think. We’ll work overtime to spend on our luxuries what we won’t offer for others needs.

What I’m saying is that, we are impacted by selfishness in a way that we are unaware of. It is the tide of our culture and it pulls us like an undercurrent.

We must come to terms with the fact that God is calling all of us to more of a sacrifice..but are we willing to lay down worldly pleasures for kingdom gain?

Platt writes again:

“This is where we come face to face with a dangerous reality. We do have to give up everything to follow Jesus. We do have to love Him in a way that makes our closest relationships in this world look like hate. And it is entirely possible that He will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor. . . . We rationalize these passages away. . . And this is where we need to pause. Because we are starting to redefine Christianity. . . We are molding Jesus into our image. He is beginning to look a lot like us. . . And the danger now is that when we gather in our church buildings to sing and lift up our hands in worship, we may not actually be worshiping the Jesus of the Bible. Instead we may be worshiping ourselves.“

Based on how you are stewarding what God has given you now…could you be trusted with more?

Perhaps this is why our prayers our hindered.

But not only this, our third hindrance to prayer is

#3 Unbelief

James 1:6–7 NIV

6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

Simply put, do you even believe God can do what you are asking Him to do? Do you trust Him?

Sometimes the issue isn’t that God doesn’t want to give up, but that we do have the faith to recieve it!

Israelites—>Unbelief

Exodus 14:10–15 NIV

10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” 13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” 15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.

Exodus 14:21–22 NIV

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

Heres my question..which are you? Are you wandering in the wilderness because you will not belive God will deliver, or will you trust and watch God make a way through the impossible?

Maybe its an addiction youre struggling with:

2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Maybe its your past:

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Maybe its a loss

Psalm 23 NIV

A psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Maybe its fear, anxiety, pain

2 Peter 1:3 NIV

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

God is working, believe!! Believe!

Its time we get up, dust ourselves of, and keep walking! Even if it means walking to the edge of a sea with God being the only way through! I must trust Him! Either I’m going to walk on water like Peter, or walk through water like Moses..but either way..I’m trusting and believing.

It takes faith..and

When you’re driving, they have designed road signs to give you imformation on where to go and what to do based on the color and shape of the sign. So even if you can’t read it, when you see a red sign up ahead, shaped like an octogon, you know to stop. If you see a yellow sign, that means yield. Green on a light, means go.

But life is not like this. Particulary following God.

STOP SIGN

What do you do when the signs say stop but God’s word says go? What do you do when the signs say impossible, but God’s word says all things are possible with me? Believe!

Don’t worry about what it looks like, or what they said! Keep walking..I don’t care if every thing around looks like it won’t work..if God says Go, if God says I am with you..He will make a way!

You see, the answer to your prayer is on the other side of faith! Get up! Believe!

Trust!

But not only is it our faith which hinders us, but also strained relationships.

4. Strained Relationship

Matthew 5:22–24 NIV

22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

1 Peter 3:7 NIV

7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

This is important and highly practical.

Seek reconciliation. Stop living with hate and unforgivness. Acknowledge your wrongs. Even if you feel it wan’t your fault, that does not mean that we can’t offer peace.

Your relationship with God is hindered by the way you treat others.

There is no person you will ever meet that Christ was not willing to die for. How can you have a heart after God’s heart when Christ died for them and you can’t be kind to them.

We should be people of peace and we should strive to be at peace with everyone. If someone has hurt you, because you have been forgiven by God, you should forgive them! To act contrary to these principles is to act in opposition to God and once again sin has a grip on us of which we need to repent. Who may come into His presence? Those who have clean hands and a pure heart. If not, do not expect Him to hear you when you pray.

When it comes to prayer we must humbly ask God to reveal anything that is not pleasing to Him (Examine your heart, Confess It, and Forsake It). Btw, only Jesus can cleanse you of your sin. You cannot will it away, try harder, or do better. You must simple surrender to Jesus and let Him exchange your sin for His righteousness.

Hinderances: Unconfessed Sin, Selfish Desires, UnBelief, and Strained Relationships

So now that we have looked at what hinders our prayer..lets look at this together?

Should we expect God to ANSWER ALL of our PRAYERS?

John 15:1–8 NIV

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Notice some key observations from this passage:

First of all, the context of John 15 is all about ABIDING in CHRIST. “Whatever you ASK” must be bathed in and birthed through a relationship with Jesus!!

Secondly, your fruitfulness (that which God wants to bring about in your life) is all about God’s glory and proof that you have a relationship with Jesus as His disciple. Any motives or desires that fall outside of these parameters will not be honored by God as a result of your prayer.

You can expect God to answer but His answer will always be in conjunction with your relationship with Him and ultimately His glory and will.

The Bible is filled with answered prayers. We are commanded to pray and God promises to answer but we must ABIDE IN HIM and HIS WORD. To help us understand this further let me highlight for you 4 ways God answers our prayers:

Sometimes the answer is immediate

Matthew 14:22–31 NIV

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

When we call out to God for salvation it is immediate. We don’t have to wait. Sometimes our situation is so dire that God shows up immediately right at the moment of our cry. Here they cry out to be saved and God immediately steps in.

God is able to do that. To step in immediately, but often it does not happen this way. But let’s not become spoiled in these moments when God does move RIGHT NOW and expect His answer to always be immediate! Sometimes it is and then…….

Sometimes the answer is delayed

John 11:1–7 NIV

1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

Why does God delay in answering our prayers?

Sometimes God delays in order to bring greater glory to Himself and lead people to worship Him more fully which was one of His intentions in the case of Lazarus.

Mary and Martha wanted immediate results. But Jesus had something even bigger and better in mind! Sometimes He is trying to teach us something about faith! If all our answers were immediate, how could we stretch and test our faith muscles?

Sometimes He is trying to teach us something deeper about who He is that would enhance our faith and our witness. In the case of Lazarus Jesus wanted to show them that He IS the resurrection! So sometimes God answers us with, “Not yet!”

Are you ok with that? Do you trust Him with that? Will you let Him show you something greater?

One man I often look to in regards to prayer is George Mueller. He was lead to build an orphanage, multiple orphanages in the city of Bristol England. He was a man of prayer…and you can read some of his journals and incredible answered prayers. When he began with this orphanage, God laid on his heart to never ask one for money to support it. But that God would provide. So, he had many instances of praying and money coming in right on time and seeing God’s hand. But no story strikes me as much as this one

Early one morning Abigail was playing in Muller's garden on Ashley Down when he took her by the hand. 'Come, see what our Father will do.' He led her into a long dining-room.  The plates and cups or bowls were on the table. There was nothing on the table but empty dishes. There was no food in the larder, and no money to supply the need.  The children were standing waiting for breakfast. 'Children, you know we must be in time for school,' said Muller. Then lifting his hand he prayed, 'Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.' According to the account, a knock was then heard at the door. The baker stood there. 'Mr Muller, I couldn't sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn't have bread for breakfast, and the Lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at two o'clock and baked some fresh bread, and have brought it.' Muller thanked the baker and praised God for His care. 'Children,' he said, 'we not only have bread, but the rare treat of fresh bread.' Almost immediately there came a second knock at the door. This time it was the milkman who announced that his milk cart had broken down outside the orphanage, and that he would like to give the children his cans of fresh milk, so that he could empty his wagon and repair it.

Why does God wait untill the last minute …why does he wait to come through..so that when he comes through, you know..and the world knows..it was Him. So that you learn to trust Him. So that He gets the glory.

If you are in the middle of praying and waiting on God to answer you prayer. Keep praying..I promise that God hears you. And he will give whats best in His time and way.

Wait and see what God will do!

Sometimes the answer is “NO”

2 Corinthians 12:6–9 NIV

6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Sometimes God is doing a deeper work in us and through us that we may not be able to see or even fully understand right now. In these times we must trust Him that He knows what is best for our situation and for His kingdom agenda.

If His answer is “NO” then God certainly will grant us what we will need in that moment. His GRACE is truly sufficient for us whatever the situation!

If His answer is no to the request…it is never no to his presence. The truth is..that God’s “No’s” are for his glory…and to teach us to trust.

You know often we don’t know whats best for us. God’s “No’s” are just as good and perfect as his “Yes’s”. If he gave us all that we wanted we would be in a mess. But thank God he knows whats best and he knows what will keep us close to Him!

Truth is..its been the “No’s” that have kept me on my knees. I have learned the goodness of God in the “No’s”.

But hear me…all of God’s answers are for His glory and for our good!”

Lastly..

Sometimes the answer is different than we expected!

Luke 8:40–42 NIV

40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him.

But as Jesus was on the way he was stopped by this women who pushed through the crowd for her healing…he stops and talks to her...

Luke 8:49–50 NIV

49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” 50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

Luke 8:51–55 NIV

51 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.” 53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.

It was not what He expected! He wanted Jesus to come heal her…but God allowed what he didn’t want to bring about somethign greather that He did want!

You pray for patience and God gives you only more difficult situations so you can practice your patience.

You pray to God asking Him to alleviate the stress in your current job only to find out that the way He is going to do it is through a layoff and you getting another job.

Sometimes you pray for God to heal your marriage and things only get worse because God is trying to get you both to submit to some counseling where He can really begin addressing the deeper issues between you.

God is answering our prayers but because He knows what it is going to take, He brings about a different outcome than we were expecting!! Do you trust Him! Here are two promises we need need to embrace when it comes to prayer:

Praying and fasting at the end of 2018…and I have been praying for a wife and underneath that God revealed to me a call to missions. And so I told God..even if I have to be single, I will puruse you and go where you want me to go. So i go through the IMB process in 2019 to go to the mission field in 2020. I’ve tlaked to family, done my training, had my church pray over me..and had already figured out my transition for March of 2020. Well, in December of 2019 we and Elayna start talking. And I knew I was about to leave, so I told her..are you ok with me going to the mission field? I was hesitant, but I thought..I’m going to have faith and we will see what happens as I leave. Well in March of 2020, I’m at the beach the week before I’m supposed to go to the mission field..COVID hits and everything shuts down.

Hear me..I had prayed and prayed and was a little frustrated. But Elayna and I spend some more time together, particulary as COVID shut everything down. And during that time…we fasted together and God soldified a call to mission in her life. And I told her..lets do mission together.

I recognized, God had answered my prayer…he provided a wife to serve together. And we have, and pray to continue to pursue that together..but it looked different than what I had imagined!

But it is better than what I had imagined! I have learned that God’s answers are sweeter..and that there is more of Him in his unexpected plans!

Keep praying! Keep pressing! Keep believing! Do not give up!

Matthew 6:8 NIV

8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

God knows what you need!

Application:

Do not let sin keep you from God. lay it down! Give up even the best things to have more of God!

Check your blind spots! (What have you grown comforable with that is keeping you from walking in obedience!

Get up and walk! (Stop sitting in shame and guilt)

Keep Praying! Do Not Give Up! Do Not Grow Weary!

If you could see the glory that God is going to bring from your heart..and the good in you He is going to bring..you would bow and worship!

Are you ABIDING in the FATHER and in His WORD? If not, what is keeping you from doing so?

Is there SIN that is hindering your PRAYER LIFE?

Selfish desires standing in the way of God’s will

Unbelief

Strained relationships (unforgiveness and reconciliation)

Is PRAYER a priority in your life? Do you have a relationship with Jesus?