Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: God

Does God Hear My Prayers?

Faith, Trust

Listen! The Lord ’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call. It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.
Isaiah 59:1-2

Do you ever feel that God is not listening to your prayers? You don’t want your prayers to be hindered because when your prayers are hindered, it means you are not connecting with God.

It’s at this point that God seems distant and you don’t sense His presence like you did before. There is nothing more terrifying than for a Christian to feel disconnected from God our Father. 

For an unbeliever this is a way of life. There’s no peace, no grace, no forgiveness and no fellowship with God. They know something is missing but are so spiritually blind they cannot see the Light of Jesus Christ. Hence the reason we as Christians need to fill the gap and be an influence in their life. 

People need to witness the power of our prayers. That is what gets people’s attention most. When we pray and seek God and He answers our prayers, people are amazed. In fact we’re drawn to prayer warriors who seem to have a direct connection with God. We all need to be these types of prayer warriors. Do people see the power of God in your prayers?

There are several things that can hinder our prayers but one of the most obvious reasons is due to our sins. Unconfessed sin can clog our direct line with God. The way we live results in our prayer life. It makes sense that God will not hear from those who cherish sinful behavior. We must have our sins removed so God will answer us. Here are some other reasons why your prayers may be hindered. (10 Ways Prayers are Hindered)

Pray

Lord, please remove any sins that are keeping me from having good fellowship with You. Make me to know my sins and where I have stumbled. Renew me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness.

We Need Each Other

Encouragement, Faith

‘And the Lord God said, “ It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ‘
Genesis 2:18

God designed us to function best as a community. Even before sin entered the garden of Eden, God said something wasn’t good about His perfect creation. God noticed that something was missing. Adam had good fellowship with God but he needed someone to do life with on his level. God said it wasn’t good for him to be alone.

God knows that isolation is not good for mankind. God’s instruction to Adam and Eve was to be fruitful and multiply. The reason is because we are made for community. Community encourages us to communicate and fellowship with one another.

There is power in community. In the New Testament we see people establishing churches for the sole basis of community of faith in Christ. God can accomplish a great work through people who are connected together and serving each other in love.

Perhaps the best joy comes from fellowship around the table while sharing a meal. Jesus never missed an opportunity to share a meal with people he loved. Jesus encouraged people to fellowship with one another. If it be a large group of people or a just a couple of friends, Jesus knew how to bring people together in love.

Just know that you need to be around other people. Especially other Christ-minded people. We each need to soak in Christian fellowship and we need to give ourselves to those who are in need of fellowship. You can make a difference just by inviting someone to lunch or dinner.

Pray

Lord, thank You for giving us the people in our lives. Let us appreciate our friends and neighbors who are surrounding us. Show me how I can share love and joy with someone near me.

What’s Weighing You Down?

Encouragement, Faith

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
Hebrews 12:1

Do you have any distractions in your life? Who doesn’t, right? The devil desires to keep us distracted so that we aren’t aligned with the will of God.

When we allow distractions to overcome us we allow our minds and hearts to stray from God’s plan and purpose. To stay on course means we must guard ourselves from becoming distracted. Most of the time we aren’t even aware that it is happening.

The New Living Translation says, “let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1b) This terminology helps us to see that anything that weighs us down, especially sin, will keep us from achieving the perfect will of God.

We need to “strip off” whatever is distracting us. What distraction is keeping you from being one with God?

Our relationship with God through Jesus Christ should be the most important relationship in our life. Jesus said the most important commandment is to love God with all of our hearts, soul, and mind and then we are to love others.

When our hearts are focussed on God and the things of God we will do what God expects. Is Your heart in the right place?

It’s easy to get distracted when we are weighted down with sin. When we focus on holiness, we stray from sin and other distractions.

Pray

Lord, forgive me and keep me from sin. I confess my sin to You. Give me strength to stay the course and keep myself holy and pure.