Dear Precious Friends
On this fill our soul Sunday I pray you are waking up to a beautiful new day looking forward to worship with your family in Christ, spending time in God's word and filling your soul with His truth.
I love this reminder that our faith is always going to meet up with a mountain and we are going to encounter evidence that seems to contradict God’s word. Most of what we believe to be fact is feelings. We feel this way or that, but the truth is regardless of the form the mountain takes in our lives we have the ability through Christ to scale the size of the mountain, rise up and conquer it. We have a choice to either embrace the promise and word of God with ALL of our hearts or continue to struggle helplessly at the foot of the mountain, depending upon what we feel. God has so much for us to discover, if we will find the faith to believe in His word and trust in where He is taking us.
When we are faced with a situation in our life that seems like a mountain, how do we respond? Do we feel overwhelmed with life? Unfortunately, life doesn't wait until we're strong enough to face a difficult situation before it notifies us of an adverse change. Nevertheless, Jesus has given us the key that will move the mountains out of our lives that prevent us from moving forward in Him. We must come to the Father in faith and call on Him in prayer. Through His strength we will conquer them.
What keeps us from receiving answers to our prayers are the following:
Lack of faith in God – Believing in God is a prerequisite to prayer. If we pray without absolute faith that God will answer, we may not receive an answer to your prayers.
Not forgiving, holding grudges – Mark 11:23 is very clear – if we do not forgive or bear grudges, it may hinder our prayers.
Limited knowledge of the Bible – According to John 15:7, your prayers will be answered if “you remain in me and my words remain in you“. Why? When we pray the Word (the Bible) to God according to His Will, He is bound to answer. However, we need to know the Word before we can pray it!
May we examine our hearts and know what may keep our prayers from being answered and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal these truths to us as we commit to live our lives according to His ways and fill our mind with His truth. May we remember He is our joy and our peace as we pass through. May we cast out doubt and exercise our faith. Stand with me as we believe Him for great and mighty things.
Amen
Source: God's Word, Holy Spirit, Daily Devo
