Food for Thought

If your prayer request list is like mine it is quite long.  And given the challenges of day to day living in this broken world it is not just long but continually growing!  Many of those requests have been there for considerable time.  

We tend to easily forget prayers that have been answered and ask the question: “Why are these long outstanding prayers of mine not being answered?”  It is a question that has been around even much longer than the oldest request on my list.  

There are several answers to that question, and they can be quite uncomfortable.  For example, in James chapter four verse three we read: And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

 Or what about our lack of faith?  In Mark chapter six verse five we read: And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them.  Let’s pray with Thomas “Lord help my unbelief!”

And how about Mark chapter eleven verses twenty-four and twenty-five that tie faith and forgiving others together as important prerequisites to seeing prayers answered: “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” Ouch that’s a tough one!

But perhaps the most uncomfortable one of all for us to address is found in the words of the Psalmist in Psalm sixty-six beginning at verse twenty: “Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me.  For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke.  If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.  But God did listen!  He paid attention to my prayer.  Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love from me.

Many books have been written about David, scripturally defined as a man after God’s heart.  He, like all of us, knew what it was to experience sin.  But when confronted he acknowledged it, confessed it, and received forgiveness.  In this psalm he has realized how unconfessed sin breaks the prayer communication channel between us and God. 

Having difficulty obtaining answers to prayers?  Why not welcome the Holy Spirit to pray with you about these possible impediments before praying over your requests?

Pastor Dave

P.S. Please note David integrated praise into his prayers!