A Heart Matter
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
All my life I looked at prayer as a magical solution. I kept hearing all the pastors on television say…if you just believe…your prayers will be answered and everything will be okay. Well, I was left with several questions for God. Why are my prayers going unanswered? Why haven’t you fixed my children? My marriage? My finances? Why do I still have all these problems? I believe you can fix them.
For starters, I think as a young believer, when we first accept Christ into our heart we desire a magical solution so bad! The first thing that is on our mind often is not our relationship with God BUT what we can get out of our relationship with God. These are two totally different things. We want that bright smile that all the other Christians have. We want the happy home. We want to get rid of bad habits and learn good, godly ways that will make us better people.
Our unbelief in God is not our problem. We know He is big enough to take care of all the issues in our lives. Our problem is WE don’t realize the reason God is not answering our prayers is BECAUSE it is a matter of our own heart!
Think about it for a minute. Put yourself in God’s shoes. God really loves you. God wants you to love Him back. God wants you to pray for other people. God wants us to come to Him with the right heart so that when we do pray for all the ones we love He will hear from Heaven and answer us. The Bible says over and over again that God hears the prayers of the righteous.
Think about this too. How many times has someone walked up to you…claiming to be your friend…AND all they did was use you. They wanted money, maybe a promotion at work, or just simple help with their yards on the weekend? You give it to them. They walk away. Who cares about anything else, right? They received what they wanted. You throw your hands up in the air! Forget it! They didn’t really care about you. Unless they are really sincere you never want to help them again. Imagine God. He has a lot more people rejecting Him than we could ever imagine.
As far as a magical solution, I hate to upset you BUT there isn’t one. IF anyone could have found a magic formula it would have been me. No matter how long we live…we will always have trouble. The thing that we can change is how we react to those troubles. However, if you want to fix your home THEN spend time with God. I beg you to open up His Word and let those words come to life! Let them speak into your situation. If you want to fix your finances THEN stop desiring more stuff. Quit spending and be happy with what you have. If you want to fix your children, get down beside their bed each night and pray to the One that made them. Quit criticizing them. Walk in an upright way before the Lord so that He will hear you!
My question for you is….How much do you love your loved ones? How much do you want them to see Jesus? Jesus is what they need. Jesus is what You need. Give up the magical formula idea and start spending time with the One who loves you beyond measure!
PRAYER: Dear Lord, we give up our desires to seek a magical formula! WE know now that is not what prayer is. Prayer is precious time spent with the King of Kings! In Jesus Precious Name, Amen.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
All my life I looked at prayer as a magical solution. I kept hearing all the pastors on television say…if you just believe…your prayers will be answered and everything will be okay. Well, I was left with several questions for God. Why are my prayers going unanswered? Why haven’t you fixed my children? My marriage? My finances? Why do I still have all these problems? I believe you can fix them.
For starters, I think as a young believer, when we first accept Christ into our heart we desire a magical solution so bad! The first thing that is on our mind often is not our relationship with God BUT what we can get out of our relationship with God. These are two totally different things. We want that bright smile that all the other Christians have. We want the happy home. We want to get rid of bad habits and learn good, godly ways that will make us better people.
Our unbelief in God is not our problem. We know He is big enough to take care of all the issues in our lives. Our problem is WE don’t realize the reason God is not answering our prayers is BECAUSE it is a matter of our own heart!
Think about it for a minute. Put yourself in God’s shoes. God really loves you. God wants you to love Him back. God wants you to pray for other people. God wants us to come to Him with the right heart so that when we do pray for all the ones we love He will hear from Heaven and answer us. The Bible says over and over again that God hears the prayers of the righteous.
Think about this too. How many times has someone walked up to you…claiming to be your friend…AND all they did was use you. They wanted money, maybe a promotion at work, or just simple help with their yards on the weekend? You give it to them. They walk away. Who cares about anything else, right? They received what they wanted. You throw your hands up in the air! Forget it! They didn’t really care about you. Unless they are really sincere you never want to help them again. Imagine God. He has a lot more people rejecting Him than we could ever imagine.
As far as a magical solution, I hate to upset you BUT there isn’t one. IF anyone could have found a magic formula it would have been me. No matter how long we live…we will always have trouble. The thing that we can change is how we react to those troubles. However, if you want to fix your home THEN spend time with God. I beg you to open up His Word and let those words come to life! Let them speak into your situation. If you want to fix your finances THEN stop desiring more stuff. Quit spending and be happy with what you have. If you want to fix your children, get down beside their bed each night and pray to the One that made them. Quit criticizing them. Walk in an upright way before the Lord so that He will hear you!
My question for you is….How much do you love your loved ones? How much do you want them to see Jesus? Jesus is what they need. Jesus is what You need. Give up the magical formula idea and start spending time with the One who loves you beyond measure!
PRAYER: Dear Lord, we give up our desires to seek a magical formula! WE know now that is not what prayer is. Prayer is precious time spent with the King of Kings! In Jesus Precious Name, Amen.