My tenacious BSF (Bible Study Fellowship - for all my sweet, non FBC friends) class loosely nicknamed "Griner's Gutsy Girls," (really not sure where that came from,) has been intently focusing on learning about prayer. In fact we are doing a book study entitled, "What Happens When Women Pray." This book by Evenlyn Christenson has been around for decades, and is very rich in encouraging, motivating, and teaching women about the power of prayer.
But there is always one question we come back to: unanswered prayer. There could be so many reasons why God has not answered our intense, heartwrenching prayers. It could be something positive such as praying for something specific, and God has something better in store for our lives. This could be a job we think is good, but He's preparing us for an even better one. It might be that we are praying completely out of God's will (Lord, please let me hit Powerball tonight!) It might be that we pray half-heartedly, not really expecting that the Lord will answer, while we should be believing Him for all He promises rather than doubting.
And then there's the big reason we don't like to talk about because it's not sweet and sugary: SIN. Fact is, we ALL sin frequently, probably multiple times daily. It then becomes about what I do, or don't do, about my sin. I know that just sounded like I don't think Jesus is big enough to wipe away my sin clean away like Oxi-Clean and dry up my mess with a ShamWoW! But it is precisely the opposite.
Once I sin, I have to DO something with that sin - I have to own it and ask God to forgive it or else my prayers don't make it past my ceiling. And that takes time and effort - for me to own up and ask for forgiveness. This is such an important part of prayer and we so often skip over it. I'm convicted right now about being convicted! If we don't take time to admit and confess those sins, and then trust God to exterminate our sins, it's not that He WON'T hear our prayers, it's that He CAN'T. Big difference there.
Isaiah 50:1-2 says, "Indeed, the Lord's hand is not too short to save, and His ear is not too deaf to hear. But your iniquities (churchy word for SIN) have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have made Him hide His face from you so that He does not listen." Holman version.
Yikes! So most of us haven't committed sin that we consider gross sin like murder, theft, etc... And I can only speak for myself, but I KNOW how many times I have committed sins such as bitterness, jealousy, pride, selfishness, not being a good steward of money, gossip.....and I could continue to bore you with the list. ALL of those sins have to be removed however, for my prayers to be heard.
God gave me a great visual picture of this. My ten year old son, Colby, loves to play outside with his fearless friends. They build forts, ride bikes, get dirty in the marsh, play in the rain....you get it: boy stuff! When he is ready to come in from playing, if he is covered in the dirt and mud he LOVES to come hug me. While I love him desperately, the last thing I want are his grimy, muddy feet, and stinky smell in my house, let alone touching me. After he has hosed off a bit outside and then made it to the shower for a deep cleaning, THEN I am all about the hugs!
Do you see it? When WE approach God with stinky, smelly hearts, and messed up thoughts, He says, "Woah!!! Nope, you need to get cleaned up first!" Well, at least that's how He says it to me. I have to get my heart and head in the game, spiritually speaking, acknowledge and confess those sins, and then I can approach the Lord with my desires, requests, and petitions. Sometimes I may even have to call someone and beg their forgivness in the process. I so desperately need prayer in so many areas and I have so many friends with specific needs and requests that I don't have time to stay dirty!
So, if you have some specific prayer request hanging out there (or lots of them) that doesn't seem to be getting through the ceiling, and you believe you are praying aligned with the will of God, then do a self-check. You will be amazed what the Lord will bring to your mind for which you might need to ask forgiveness. He will often bring to me thoughts of a behavior or habit that needs changing; or perhaps my attitude needs adjusting about something.
Then the strangest thing often happens: once I get cleaned up, the Holy Spirit will usually direct me to pray specific requests from a different angle. It might go something like this: Suppose I am praying for a financial need for a friend. The Lord might respond back for me to pray a different way about the need - perhaps I am not asking for big enough results. Or, He may direct me to pray a specific Scripture over a need or a person.
If you are still with me this far, and I hope you are, I am praying that you find encouragement and motivation to seek the Lord with all of your being through prayer. Just don't forget to take care of business first! And if you show up at my house wth muddy feet, I will hose you down and then pray for you!
