Daily Devotion
Sin, a Hindrance to Answered Prayer
By
Carlos Garcia
Have you ever found that the prayers you have before God have gone unanswered? Have you ever wondered what it could be that is holding back the answer to your petition? After spending some time in fasting in prayer the Lord revealed to me five hindrances to answered prayers, they are the following: sin, fear, self, time and disorder. In this writing, I'll be discussing the first point, sin. God's word says that without obedience there is no blessing. Disobedience to God's word is sin. We may be faithful in tithing and church attendance, but if we are not walking according to God's word, we are in disobedience and sin.
We may want to become angry with God for not answering our prayer, but if we are walking in disobedience to God then we are hindering ourselves from receiving a blessing.
Sin seems to develop in stages, A) Thoughts, B) Words, and C) Action. The Scriptures state, "as a man THINKS in his heart, so is he." If the thoughts of your heart are angry, lustful, jealous, and the like, then it is an indication of whom we are, even if it is not whom we want or claim to be. (see Matthew 15:10-20) As Christians we must strive to keep our thoughts pure and in line with the word of God. Philippians 4:8 challenges the Believer, "Whatsoever things are holy, ... pure, ... and of good report ...think [meditate] on these things."
If we keep our thoughts on the Lord, we will be much more effective in keeping our thoughts pure. And since our objective as Christians is to be more like Jesus, we must meditate (keep our thoughts) on the Lord so we can become more like Him. Also, if we walk in obedience we will be at a place to receive the blessing we have petitioned God.
The Bible states, "the power of life and death is in the tongue" and we will eat the fruit of those words. For example, if we are asking God for a financial blessing, but on our non-prayer time we keep speaking doubtful or negative words, we will eat the fruit of our doubt and miss the blessing of our prayers.
Action speaks to what we live and walk out in our day-to-day lives. There are believers who have the misconception that because we talk the talk, behind close door we are not obligated to walk the walk. Yet, in Galatians 6: 7-8 it states plainly, "God is not mocked…he that soweth to the flesh…will reap destruction." We cannot look to blame others for our lack of blessings. In essence, if we live life as if God is not omnipresent [present in all places] and omniscient [all knowing], than we deceive ourselves. Our Christianity is not only about words, but it's about actions. As it says in the book of James, "Faith without works [actions] is dead." If we desire the blessing of the Lord, we must walk in line with His word. If we walk in obedience we will be in the place to receive God's blessing.
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 Carlos Garcia, III authored an e-book of poetry, I Choose You: A Poetic Journey. He earned a B.A. from Oral Roberts University in Church Ministries and is completing a M.A. in Communication at Regent University. Carlos' experience includes serving as Pastor of Casa de Oración, Inc. He has ministered for over 12 years as a lead phone center representative for Christian Broadcast Network, Inc. addressing a plethora of spiritual and emotional needs. Carlos and his wife, Liz, have been married over twelve years and they have three children. They reside in the Hampton Roads, Virginia.
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