Have You Considered…?

Father God, come before you this morning to say thank you.  Lord I thank you for your son Jesus Christ who died for us. Because of Him we are able to be here today Father. Because of Him we are able to have everlasting life with you Lord.  We thank you for your agape love, that no matter whom we are what we have done you still love us and forgive us. No matter what our lives were before, you welcome us with love.  Thank you Lord. We thank you for your forgiveness Father of our deeds known and unknown.  We ask that you help us to also forgive and love those that work against us Lord. We pray that you have mercy on the ones that persecute your children. I pray that you lift them up from that dark place that they are in, remove the obstacles that are preventing them from coming to you Father.  Help them to realize that their lives are not theirs to waste away but to use it for your work.  Help us Lord to help those that are lost.  Help us to reach out to them Father and guide them to back to you. I pray a blessing on everyone that reads this message today Father, that you will bless them with what they need Father.  Make a way for them God  in their homes, their marriages, their work, with their children, their finances, where ever they have a need Father, so you Lord may get the glory.  We love you and adore you.  We give you honor and praise.  All these things I pray in your son Jesus name, Amen.
                                                                                         Prayer by: Judith Notice

I give God praise this morning!!!  One of my brothers in Christ really had his back against the wall.    He is faithful, but as the final hour was approaching, you could see that he began to question whether God was going to deliver him from his situation or not.  Amen, but he was surrounded by God fearing people.  We encouraged him.  We prayed for him.  We told him that it was going to be alright.  Amen, that alone is a message all by itself.  He was rejuvenated, and as the clock started to wind down he remained faithful knowing, not guessing or wondering, but knowing that God was going to bring him through.  Boom!!!  God showed up, and shown him the way out.  Even as he was headed to victory, the enemy at the last minute tried to block the blessing.  At this time the enemy is still out for the count.  My brother is blessed!  He is in a good position, and he accomplished what it takes some people months, even years to do.  This family, is a clear display, that God was in control all along.  Amen!

Now there are people who tried to count this brother out.  These are people who claim to be children of God.  I say claim, because they profess with their lips, but their actions are different.  Let’s keep this simple.  If you and I have a recipe to make a chocolate cake, when it is said and done, we both should have a chocolate cake.  It may differ in color or taste, which depends on how generous or reserve we were with the ingredients, but we are supposed to have a cake that is brown in color and that have a chocolaty taste.  If one of our cakes is brown, and the other is pink, yellow, red, or white, there is something wrong with this picture.  The bible is our recipe and despite minor interpretational differences, the root is the same.  So these people are now wondering how God seemed to answer this brother’s prayer and blessed him so quickly and so abundantly while they are still struggling.   Well, since they were willing to ask that question, how about considering this question.  Have you considered you?

The bible states “For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil." (1Pe 3:12) Peter’s letter was to serve as comfort during a time of trial.  To encourage those in the faith and give them instructions so that their integrity is maintained where God can be pleased. However, he gives warnings as well, stating that you may be the reason, you are going through what you are going through.  Please understand, our definition of evil is not relevant.  It is God’s definition of evil that matters.  Evil is the opposite of Good, which is the opposite of God, if you are walking contrary to God, you are acting with an evil intent, and therefore, your prayers are being ignored!!!  Sooooooooooooo

·        God is not going to honor your prayer if you are holding a grudge,

·        God is not going to honor your prayer if you hate somebody,

·        God is not going to honor your prayer if you gain wealth by deceitful means

To keep it simple, if you regard iniquity in your heart, God will not hear you!!!" (Ps 66:18).  If it still isn’t clear then consider these questions.

1.      Have you considered if your prayers are according To God's Will (1 Jn 5:14)?  People tend to pray at random for whatever their selfish minds conceive. They are not permitted to come into His presence and vent their silly notions and mindless ramblings. They know too much about what they want and too little about what He wants.

2.    Have you considered if your prayers are designed  To fulfill an Inner Lust, Dreams? (Ja 4:1-3).  God will answer no prayer that would add to our honor or assist our temptations.   The test of knowing whether or not our request is based on lust is very simple. How we handle delays and denials is the clue. Prayers founded on lust demand hasty answers.  If our prayers are not answered quickly, we “woe is me” and huff and puff.  We may even begin to murmur and complain to finally accuse God of being deaf.

3.    Have you considered that you have a secret grudge Lodged in your heart against another (1 Tim 2:8)?  Many of us are in denial about this one.  I for one was in denial for years regarding grudges I held. God will not deal with anyone with a wrathful and unforgiving spirit. This one is simple.  By us not forgiving the sins committed against us, we make it impossible for God to forgive and bless us. He instructed us to pray, "Forgive us, as we forgive others."

As my former Pastor used to say, many people have a heart condition.  Their heart is not in the right place so therefore their mind is not right.  If their mind is not right, the speech and action will not be right either.  God sees the need of all, and desires to meet those needs.  However, according to His word, He will not meet those needs if the heart is not in the right place.  If you sent prayers to God, it may be that God is working on it, but it can also be you.  Investigate the latter first.  Amen!