LEARNING DAILY

Isaiah 59:2, But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

I had thought I might not write about the weekend’s message because it was difficult for me to listen to. However, when reviewing my notes and what was said I decided there might be someone who might be encouraged by what was said. The message concluded twenty-one days of fasting and prayer. The church membership had been challenged to give up something important to them in order to draw closer to Jesus. Many chose to give up what they chose in order to seek God and have specific prayer answered by the lord. The message was to encourage those who may not have had their prayer answered.

The takeaway statement at the end of the Listener Guide was: God may not give the breakthrough to you (yet), but God has begun the breakthrough in you (now). One of the thoughts I have learned over the years I have walked with the Lord is he does what He wants or knows best, when He wants or knows best, and He does it in the way He wants or knows best. I have also learned that there is no formula to try to get God to do what a person wants Him to do. God simply does not need our help or suggestions as to how a person can be used by Him or how He needs to deal with a person’s situation. He just wants His people to follow Him in faith and trust. That does not mean we do not pray nor do our best to please Him in our walk; it means He will not be coerced into doing what we want and when.

That being said, waiting for God to move in one’s life in a situation that was not chosen is difficult. Yet, James 1:2 tells us that we are to face our situation with joy because of what it produces in us. Psalm 34:18 reminds us that the only way olive oil is produced is for the olive to be crushed in the press. (Found in the Listener Guide.) But sometimes the reason for not having prayer answered lies within the one praying. That is what the takeaway statement is reminding us of. The answer or the breakthrough may not have come yet but during the time of prayer and fasting God is beginning to break down things in us that might be preventing God from moving in our lives.

Pastor Newton asked the congregation the question Jesus asked when preaching the Sermon on the Mount, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do the things which I say?” The prophet Isaiah said, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear”. Prayer and fasting can be a time to consider our own lives, to allow God to search and try your heart to bring those things to your mind that are hindering you from receiving from Him (Psalm 139:23-24). The Listener Guide had five things that prevent us receiving from God. I am going to use them to answer the question regarding what God wants Believers to do as they follow Him? He wants Believers to have no bitterness or unforgiveness in their heart (Ephesians 4:31-31). He wants Believers to confess sin in their life (Psalm 28:13; 1 John 1 :9). Make sure Believers are thankful for the forgiveness of sin through Jesus. God wants Believers to walk in obedience to Him (Luke 6:46). He wants Believers to walk the narrow way believing He can do all things (James 1:6-8).  And He wants Believers to ask with pure motives (James 4:3). When one fasts and prays, he/she must ask God to search their heart to see if any of these are present and remove what God reveals; that is an important part of the process for receiving from God.

As I studied this message and wrote this this morning, I became more and more encouraged. God loves His people and desires to give them the desires of their heart. Those desires need to line up with His Word and His desires. Never stop praying! Never lose hope or give thought to God not caring! Keep asking; it will be given to you! Keep seeking; you will find! Keep knocking; it will be opened to you! (Matthew 7:7). Whatever we are walking through, we place our hope, our faith, our trust in the One who sees and knows all; do not ever waiver, do not ever give up! Trust in Him to do whatever we need in His time and in His way. Keep walking with Him on the narrow way into eternal life in His kingdom.