A Blessing Block Party

Selfishness can block Spiritual Blessings

In Acts 5 we read the story of Ananias and Sapphira. They sold a piece of property and were looking for God’s blessing for their action. The problem was that they secretly tried to keep some of the proceeds back for themselves and hide this action from God and the church. When they were found out their actions led to their unexpected death. The problem wasn’t necessarily that they kept some of their profit, as Peter says, but that their greed- their selfishness- empowered them to try and lie to God and to the church.

If we wish to obtain the true blessings of God- spiritual blessings- that often means resisting the blessings of this world. Selfishness is when we try and make the entire world revolve around us; which is completely contradictory to how Christians are called to live. We are compelled to live with Christ at the center of everything.

The problem with selfishness in the life of a Christian is that it can take even the things meant to make us more like Christ and use them to make us more selfish. Even things like prayer.

Many times our prayers are so selfish. A mom was headed to McDonald’s with her 5 year old son one day, and as they drove they passed a car accident. The mother had a practice of encouraging her children to pray for those who might be hurt, so the mom pointed and said to her son, “We should pray.” From the back seat she heard his prayer: “Please, God, don’t let those cars block the entrance to the McDonald’s.”

If we are merely praying, reading the Bible, or giving based on what we might get out of it, we live in error and we will never actually catch the blessing, because the blessing will become a moving target.

Laziness can Block Spiritual Blessings

There is nothing more frustrating than seeing someone who begs and begs for something, but refuses to work for it. We use words like entitled to describe those who do such things, and as a hard working country community we all know one of the worst things you can be called is lazy.

Do you remember the parable of the ten minas in Luke 19? The master gives his servants 10 minas to watch over while he is gone. Do you remember the one whom stood under the judgement of the master?

Luke 19:20–27 ESV

Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’ ”

It was the one who did nothing.

There are blessings that God has in store for many people that will be missed merely because they didn’t put in effort. Now, hear me, I am not talking about works based salvation; but there are things that God wants to do in us that can only be obtained when we put in the effort to be in God’s Word; when we take the time and energy to connect with him in prayer; when we take the steps to open ourselves to others.

I think about the parable of the sower- how does hard soil become soft? It get’s plowed and worked.

Prep work....

Prayerlessness

Another huge block to spiritual blessings is prayerlessness. Neglecting conversation with God.

Luke 18:1–8 ESV

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Many of us have heard before that the point of prayer is not to change God, but to change us. So much of the blessings we ask for are unlocked when we spend time with Jesus and allow his Word and his presence to surround us.

For example, many have prayed “Lord, make me more like you” but neglect to spend time with the one they want to be likened to.

William Carey once said “Prayer - secret, fervent, believing prayer - lies at the root of all personal godliness”

Unfaithfulness

how does a marriage thrive? A marriage thrives when the couple embraces and fully lives into their vows,

I love how Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

Do you remember a few weeks ago in our Money Talks series we talked about holding our possessions loosely? This is the opposite- hold on to your confession of Christ tightly.Revelation 2:10