Journal Entry ~ 04/28/19

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. - James 4:1-3

Your passions are at war within you - stated differently, you are angry because you don’t get your way. You want to see answers to your prayers? You need to resolve where you are in conflict. We need to die to ourselves and come to the end of our flesh and all the things we insist on. 

We don't pray because we don't see answers. We don't see answers because we ask wrongly - to spend it on our passions. 

How do we ask wrongly? First and foremost, we leave sin unconfessed. If my behavior is wrong, if my sin is unconfessed, if my motives are not pure, my prayer is unheard. Our actions affect our access to the Lord.

Sometimes we wonder why God hasn't taken care of something that we know he can take care of, and the truth is we have unconfessed sin in our lives. Your sins have gotten in the way of Him hearing your prayers. If you have the sense that God is not hearing your prayers, you need to check your unconfessed sin. 

Sometimes our unconfessed sin is idolatry, or ascribing worth to something greater than God. My reputation, my financial security, my kids, my time, my autonomy. When God gets shoved of the throne of my life, and something else gets placed up there as more, that's idolatry. When something else is winning our hearts over God, He does not hear our prayer. 

Sometimes our unconfessed sin is a refusal to hear God’s word. Proverbs 28:9  tells us if one turns away his ear, then even his prayer is an abomination. When the word is going out and it's not being heard by you, your prayers are not being heard by God. 

Sometimes our prayers are not being heard because of a lack of compassion. The prayers that we bring before God have to be in the context of a heart of justice and a heart of compassion. Compassion is the ability to grieve for others, the ability to get outside of your own shoes and feel what others feel because God feels it. Compassion is when I feel your pain in my heart. We need to care about others and not stand in judgment of others in order for our prayers to be heard. 

Sometimes our unconfessed sin is a lack of forgiveness. The bible calls for immediate, unilateral, total forgiveness. Anything less than that and God puts your prayers on mute. 

Confident prayer begins with confession of sin. If we want God to hear and respond to our prayers, we must dig down deeply into our hearts and look for our responsibility in the conflict and quarrels in our lives, and confess our responsibility. 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Medical Update ~ 09/27/17

Image
Today was a challenging day.  I met with the oncologist to discuss chemo as part of my treatment plan.  The oncologist explained there were 3 additional invasions discovered during surgery, so there were actually 4 isolated invasions in the breast tissue.  To review - my diagnosis is Ductal Carcinoma in situ (DCIS) with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.  All 4 of the invasions are HER2+ (aggressive) and hormone negative (recurrent).  My oncologist walked us through the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCM) guidelines for treatment of this type of aggressive, recurrent cancer - chemo and radiation. The good news is God had already moved the mountain in my heart opposing chemo, and rested me in a place of acceptance.  While my initial prayers focused on not having to have chemo as part of my treatment, after hearing I had multiple invasions, He moved me to a place of understanding that chemo is a necessary part of my treatment.  If there were 4 invasions in the sample they took, there co
Read more

My Journey Begins...

I am a believer in Christ, and I have breast cancer.     On August 17, 2017, I was diagnosed with an aggressive (HER2+), recurrent (hormone negative) type of Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.  At this point, they have not yet staged my cancer because they are waiting for the biopsy results from a suspicious spot in the second breast. The biopsy is scheduled for September 5th, with a lumpectomy to follow on September 7th.  They will formally stage my cancer after they biopsy my lymph nodes, which will be taken during the surgery.  It doesn't make any sense to me that I have a cancer diagnosis - I am a fairly healthy woman who runs 2 miles almost every day and eats a gluten-free, primarily paleo diet, with no family history at all.  But it makes sense to God, and so here I am. Update ~ They found 4 isolated invasions during the lumpectomy.  Due to the nature of my cancer (HER2+ and ER-), the recommended protocol is chemotherapy and radiation.  Beginning in October, my chemotherapy regime
Read more

Grace in Marriage

When we launched our new blog we had no idea if anyone would see it or be helped by it, but we knew that the LORD was prompting us to step out in faith and just do it. The response has been amazing and we are looking forward to how God will use this space for His glory. We have learned over many years of service in a variety of ministries, that God does not require human assistance to realize His plans for individuals, churches, nations, or the human race. But the story of the bible is the story of God’s will playing out through the words and actions of the His children. So…we pray, meditate on his Word, and write from the heart about the truths that mold our faith, guide our actions, and inspire our hearts and minds. Please visit the site and subscribe to continue receiving posts.  https://graceinmarriage.com/ It is our sincere hope that you are blessed by our work here and welcome your input on how we can make Grace in Marriage even better. Thank you for your support.
Read more