Hey, my prayers aren't getting answered!

I love the Lord for hearing me, for listening to my prayers. Yes, he paid attention to me, so I will always call to him whenever I need help. (Psalm 116:1-2)

We all experience times when we don't think our words are getting through to God - times when answers are delayed, times going from rough to horrible, and even times when we want to hear from him, but there doesn't seem to be anything coming our way. I haven't found any evidence in scripture that says God doesn't hear some of our prayers, or that he only hears certain ones. Even when the people of old were praying to him with impure hearts, he heard! It is important to understand there may be a reason for God not immediately answering. As soon as we can discover that 'reason', the better!

God will not listen to our prayers when we have unconfessed sin in our lives. "I cried out to him for help, and I praised him. If I had been hiding sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened to me." (Psalm 66:17-18). "Look, the Lord’s power is enough to save you. He can hear you when you ask him for help. It is your sins that separate you from your God. He turns away from you when he sees them." (Isaiah 59:1-2) If we feel our prayers aren't being 'heard', the first thing we should do is ask God if we have any unconfessed sin in our hearts. Even if he hasn't answered those other prayers, he WILL always answer this one!

"We can come to God with no doubts. This means that when we ask God for things (and those things agree with what God wants for us), God cares about what we say. He listens to us every time we ask him. So we know that he gives us whatever we ask from him." (I John 5:14-15) Sometimes we have been praying so earnestly for things that are just totally outside of God's will for us. We might not realize it at first, but God will show us his will, and if we have been seeking things outside of his will, it is time to lay that line of seeking down at the altar. We can desire a relationship he doesn't want us to have - a thing we may have pursued with earnest but come to realize is not really taking us places God wants us to be either spiritually, emotionally, or physically. Lay it down! Don't hold onto things that don't agree with his will.

"You want things, but you don’t get them. So you kill and are jealous of others. But you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You don’t get what you want because you don’t ask God. Or when you ask, you don’t receive anything, because the reason you ask is wrong. You only want to use it for your own pleasure." (James 4:2-3) We can all be guilty of not even asking God for whatever it is we need, then blame him because we didn't receive something. We need to ask - according to his will, in his timing, and with faith. We also might ask for things for a very wrong reason - out of selfish ambition or pride. Whenever we do this, God cannot abide the 'motive' behind the requests. Don't expect God to just jump when you ask selfishly - his answer may be a resounding 'no'! Just sayin!

God HAS

He has made you able to have what he has promised to give all his holy people, who live in the light. God made us free from the power of darkness. And he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. The Son paid the price to make us free. In him we have forgiveness of our sins. (Colossians 1:12-14)

Four important lessons for us this morning stem from what God HAS done on our behalf. We must recognize them as finished works. God doesn't do anything half-way. Whatever he begins, he also takes on to full completion.

 

1) God HAS made us able. We are able to live holy lives because he is the one who is doing the enabling. If we think we do this on our own, we are going to be trying for a long, long time to get this right! He enables us to have and enjoy all the promises he has made - nothing promised will ever be outside of our reach because he enables us to grasp all of them.

2) God HAS made us free. We no longer need to walk in the darkness of our sin, nor the corruption of this world's evil power. We have been, continue to be, and will always be free. We might not believe we are free from sin's pull because we still feel it from time to time. We don't have to give into that pull, though, because God has made us free to live above and beyond sin's realm.

3) God HAS brought us in. We are no longer citizens of the realm of sin but are citizens of high places through Christ Jesus. We might still live on this earth, but we don't need to be consumers of this earth's dark offerings. We are part of a divine Kingdom and as such, we live as citizens of that Kingdom. We might not realize that we still 'prefer' the things of this world, but when we are serving Christ, our focus begins to change to embrace the things he 'prefers'. 

4) God HAS forgiven our sins. They are no longer held against us, nor are they able to taunt us with those feelings of shame and guilt any longer. Once the blood of Jesus has been applied to our sinfulness, we are no longer 'bound' to those sins. We are washed clean and those who have been washed clean need not be burdened by the 'feelings' those sins created within our mind and emotions. Sin is done and Christ's Spirit assumes the place where those sinful memories once resided. We need to give him room to deal with those feelings once and for all. 

We are free, forgiven, enabled, and living in a realm we didn't deserve or earn. God HAS, so we can. Just sayin!

Pebble or Jewel?

I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about. God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

"Rough diamonds may sometimes be mistaken for worthless pebbles." (Thomas Browne) Worthless pebbles are sometimes kicked underfoot, tossed aside, or left unnoticed. Would it surprise you to know that is you took one of those 'worthless pebbles' to a jeweler and had him see what he sees within the stone, he might reveal something quite different than what you might have seen in it? In much the same manner, Jesus beholds each of us, rough, ragged, kind of beat up by life, nothing too much to look upon, but within each of us he sees a thing of extreme beauty and value. 

God has made us who we are - complete with all our quirks and idiosyncrasies. Nothing we have done has dissuaded him from realizing there was a design to our creation, a purpose for us to fulfill, and a means by which we are to fulfill that purpose. We are his creation and as such, we can stand assured he sees a gem inside of each of our crusty and battered shells! It is time that we begin to let Jesus define our value by what he sees and has purposed for each of us, not the world, the guy or gal next to us, or even our imagination.

Whenever we create an image of ourselves that differs from how God sees us, we are pursuing an image that won't lead to us fulfilling our purpose as God has planned for us. Too many times we focus on 'image' rather than 'character'. God's plan is for us to allow his character to be developed within us, then allow his character to begin to define and refine our image. Don't get that mixed up or you might just be in pursuit of what is nothing more than 'pebbles' and be missing out on what really could be 'jewels'. Just sayin!

Nothing good comes from it...

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

God has given us his favor, love, and ultimately, deliverance from judgment - all through Christ Jesus. Our part is belief. Take credit for much more than that and you have elevated the importance of what you have done over God's free gift of grace. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done - it isn't about the good works - it all about his embracing a sinful people made completely right through the work of the Cross of Christ.

We are created anew - not by our good works, but because Christ dwells within us. We can do good works because he creates a new desire within us to no longer follow the deeds of the flesh or our sinful nature. It is that new desire that has us pursuing actions that were once 'foreign' to us. Some equate this new desire to do good works as us 'working our way to Christ', but this is not the case. It is because Christ has worked himself to us that we even desire to see these new choices take root in our lives.

Yes, Christ changes our heart. Sure, he changes our desires. Nothing good comes from our old nature, so when Christ gives us a new nature through believing in him and his finished work on the Cross, we desire to do the things God asks us to do. If we want to say these are 'good works', that is okay, because all that is good, true, upright, and holy come from God, not us. These 'good works' are an outflow of his grace active within our lives.

Do good - it is how we are all called live after saying 'yes' to Jesus. These 'good works' don't earn us anything in God's kingdom, though. They are merely the 'fruit' of being transplanted from very bad soil into the soil of God's grace and goodness. We are called to bear fruit - good fruit - not just some pretense of 'goodness'. The change God works in our desires reveals a change in 'life fruit'. We cannot produce that fruit apart from union with him. As hard as we might try, our 'goodness' is nothing compared to his. Just sayin!

Not my will, but yours

Great blessings belong to those who trust in the Lord, for those who do not turn to demons and false gods for help. Lord my God, you have done many amazing things! You have made great plans for us—too many to list. I could talk on and on about them, because there are too many to count. (Psalm 40:4-5)

David, the man who was acclaimed to have a "heart after God's", had a certain determination of will. David faced many "giant-sized obstacles" in his day - spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. He exhibited a determination of will that came through in each account recorded of him in scripture. David could be at the lowest point in his life from a physical perspective, strength waning, body taxed to the max, and he'd still lift his head in praise. He could be deep into the misery of depression, feeling it both physically and in the depth of his disturbed emotions, and he'd turn to God in praise, reach to him in prayer, and celebrate him in worship. He could be overcome by his own weakness and depravity of sinful deeds, but then you'd see him turning to God for help. We might not always reveal this same determination of will, choosing rather to cower in fear, give up on our pursuit, or hunker down in our depression. We should consider the power of the will when it is surrendered to the hand of a mighty and powerful God!

When I think of will-power, I imagine the ability I can muster within myself to avoid something or remain consistent with a commitment I have made. Unfortunately, it is dependent upon me and my ability. David surrendered his will time and time again to the purposes and intent of God - knowing God would take that will and use it to turn David's circumstances around. The difference is where one places their dependence - squarely upon our own shoulders, or in a source of power and might not our own. When the will is submitted to God, there is a determination of heart which brings a yielding of mind, body, and spirit to the purpose of God. Will is a driver for each of us, for what we "will" to do, we often find we at least make strides toward doing. We may not "arrive" all the way at the destination we imagined, but we get moving in that direction. Will moves us - it gives us momentum toward something. If our will is directed toward what we imagine WE can do, we tend to rely upon the source of our own physical and emotional strength. If our will is yielded into the hands of God, we tend to rely upon the strength he provides - even when ours wanes or falters.

What happens when we take our will and submit it into the hands of God? We begin to experience blessings too numerous to count. If you don't believe me, you will have to give it a try! Wherever we submit our will or turn our focus, we find there is an element of trust which enters into the picture. We determine where, what, or in whom it is we will place our trust. Will is an inanimate "thing" which actually reveals where it is we have placed our trust. It could be in our own self ability, another human being, or in the great and mighty ruler of the universe himself. Will is always linked to trust. Trust is one of the hardest things we have to get right in this walk on this earth. We struggle so much with trust because of our own failures - because we have put our faith and belief in what we WILL to do and find ourselves failing miserably time and time again at doing. We eventually get to the place we no longer trust ourselves. We struggle with trust because of the let downs that occur when we place our trust in another individual, because they have all the best of intentions, but when the rubber meets the road, they just cannot "perform" as we imagined they could. The letdown comes, and we determine we cannot trust them, either.

Will is always linked to trust, so having a solid place to put our trust is important. God isn't going to let us down, but we will never really know this until we take our will and squarely commit it to him. We yield our efforts into his hands, we commit our plans into his purposes, and we settle into realizing his best for us. Blessing comes to those who determine to make their focus God himself. Just sayin!

In the past...

But you are a chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. You were chosen to tell about the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. At one time you were not a people, but now you are God’s people. In the past you had never received mercy, but now you have received God’s mercy. (I Peter 2:9-10)

A chosen people - chosen for a purpose. The purpose? To tell the world about the wonderful acts of God - especially his 'action' of redemption. The 'righting' of the world through the grace we find in Christ Jesus. Whether we are willing to admit it or not, we all live in a 'dark place' without Christ. We make decisions that are self-directed, and we don't always make wise ones. With Christ at the center of our lives, we are called to live lives that reflect the light that comes when his grace enters our lives. That 'telling' is our role - but even the empowerment to 'tell' is given by God himself.

Scripture does much to point out the 'before and after' of life with God in control vs. life without him in control. Numerous examples are given of the 'with and without' experience. Either you have entered into his mercy, or you have not. There is no middle ground on that matter. Notice that there is also this 'past' and 'present' condition of heart that is referenced. The moment we receive grace, there is a past. The more we invite Christ into the present, the past is put behind us.

We are called - chosen to live a life where Christ is enthroned in the very center of it. Christ cannot be on the 'fringes' of our lives. That isn't where he belongs. As long as we attempt to keep him at the 'fringes', we will never know fully what grace has done for us. We only experience the depth and breadth of those actions of grace when he is at the center of our lives. If we want to see real and lasting change within our lives, it begins with the invitation to come to him. Then it continues on with us allowing him to be the center of our thoughts. As our thoughts begin to be affected by grace, all the rest of the stuff we find to be a part of the 'past life' will begin to drop away. Just sayin!

Positive Change

May God who gives patience, steadiness, and encouragement help you to live in complete harmony with each other—each with the attitude of Christ toward the other. And then all of us can praise the Lord together with one voice, giving glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6)

Harmony is not achieved by our own merits, for no set of humans actually 'live in harmony' with another set of humans without some form of conflict from time to time. As long as atoms keep crashing together, there will be some form of conflict, BUT...God can bring patience where conflict seems to abound, steadiness where the foundation has begun to crumble, and tremendous encouragement to keep moving toward agreement and peace. 

How is complete harmony ever going to happen? Those who have embraced Christ as their Lord and Savior will be at the forefront of peaceful actions. They will bring a steadfastness into the most difficult of circumstances - a peace and assurance that stands when all else is crumbling in around them. What will this peace and assurance serve to do when chaos abounds? It brings encouragement that there is a way out of the hardness of the moment.

Where does harmony begin? It begins within our own heart first, then it begins to affect those around us. Are you are harmony with God? What does a heart in harmony with God look like? If you are making choices that are in accord with the truths he lays out in scripture, you are on the right path. If you have a desire to see his will done more than your own, you are on the right course. In other words, our actions begin to reflect less of a 'me, me, me' attitude and more of a 'whatever your will is, Lord' purpose.

Some would believe harmony is the absence of chaos entirely, but we grow best within a certain amount of chaos. Harmony is merely a 'congruence' of the parts - not that all parts are the same, but that they 'fit' and 'work' together. Harmony is going to be the place where we see 'conflict' and 'chaos' leading us onward to what is true and lasting positive change. The challenge is there, but we must not bow to the desire to let it defeat God's desire to see patience, steadiness, and encouragement developed within our hearts. Just sayin!

Aspirations and Ambitions

An empty-head thinks mischief is fun, but a mindful person relishes wisdom. The aspirations of good people end in celebration; the ambitions of bad people crash. The speech of a good person clears the air; the words of the wicked pollute it. (Proverbs 10:23, 28, 32)

Ever said to yourself, "Now why'd I do THAT"? I think we probably all have at some point. We plunge right in and then in 20/20 retrospect, we wonder how we ever got as "messed up" as we did. It was probably because we had one of those times when we just didn't stop long enough to consider the consequences of what we were doing - the scripture calls this being "empty-headed". These empty-headed decisions are really not built on a solid foundation therefore they will not turn out well. Our conduct may be fun for a while, but eventually empty-headed decisions catch up with us. Mindful decisions are marked by attentiveness, awareness, and great care. These types of decisions make for a much better outcome - their foundation is a lot stronger and more enduring.

A schemer leans to the side of embracing the impractical - they have a plan, but it may not be well thought out. The developer leans to the side of development - allowing one piece to build upon another until they see the result of the finished work. Scripture promises the planner a much better outcome than the schemer. Why? There is a tendency for the planner to stop long enough to get God's perspective on the matter, while the schemer just takes off, hoping God will back them in their plan. I have been on both sides of the fence on this one! I can be the best of planners and the worst of schemers! I have had some of those empty-headed moments - but I'd like to think I have come full circle to becoming more mindful about my actions. A mindful person really has their "mind full", but with the right stuff!

The godly rest secure because they their plans are made and acted upon in God's sight. The fool might just make a few of their decisions under the cover of "darkness" - kind of like they hope to "fly under the radar" on some of them! It took me a long while to realize God doesn't need the radar! His powers of observations far outdo the radar - so there is really no "flying under the radar" with him! Mischief - ever stop to consider this word? It dawned on me it could be written as "MIS-Chief". In other words, the control (chief) in our lives is "misplaced". We determine to be "chief" instead of keeping God at the center. Anytime we do this, we are open to some pretty empty-headed decisions and actions! Mischief is really anything which will bring hurt or damage - getting anything but God at the center of our decisions is sure to produce both.

The goals or objectives of a godly man or woman end in celebration - because the desire, longing, or aim of their hearts is to please only one. The godly are contrasted to the foolish who don't have aspirations, but ambitions. Ambitions are pursuits which will result in a distinguished honor, power, fame, or even wealth. Some might think aspirations and ambitions are closely related - they wouldn't be wrong, but it is the "intent" behind each which determines if they are right for a child of God. If we really have no idea where God fits into the picture of whatever we are pursuing, it is likely an ambition and might just be one of those "empty headed" moments!

When the storm is over, there’s nothing left of the wicked; good people, firm on their rock foundation, aren’t even fazed. (vs. 25) When we allow our minds to be governed by the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we make better decisions. The "quality" of our decisions to act are based on a solid foundation. The result of the "well-planned" actions which are the result of having the right focus will end in better outcomes. We can have a lot of ambition and still totally miss the mark in the end. Ambition alone will not stand the test of time, or the challenge of testing. We need the desires of our heart to be filtered through the mind and heart of Christ. Until this occurs, we are just seeking ambitions - we never really move into aspirations. What stands the test of time is not the empty-headed decisions, but the well-rounded decisions of a heart willing to wait on God for his direction. Getting his perspective makes all the difference when the storms challenge our decisions. Just sayin!