PIC: prayer-private. Eliot-Wolfert. Unsplash
Not just anybody
As sinful humans, we can’t just waltz into God’s Holy presence via prayer – – and expect Him to respond. Except for salvation.
There is that one exception, by God’s wonderful grace. The exception is: Any repentant sinner can come to Him, sin and all, vile as you can be — and be heard. Anyone, anytime, anywhere, no exclusion. Halleluja for that! (Key word there: repentant.)
You know, when talking with people, we have many types of “talks”: chatting about whatever, asking for something, sharing what’s up, catching-up with where we’ve been and with what we are doing, asking for forgiveness for whatever, encouraging, loving on them, sharing about the past….
We talk to keep in touch. Talks are limited depending on who the person is: your spouse, family, neighbor, folks walking past, strangers, your pastor, fellow church members, fellow workers, the boss, friends at sports events, the bank tellers, store clerk, government, the police…. Quite different – the talks.
In similar fashion, we can talk with God — with many types of “talk”.
But not just anybody can pray so that God hears and answers. Specific guidelines in Scripture teach us how to pray effectively.
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So, the matter at hand is: What it is that makes your prayers effective.
When talking with God, know and believe this from Scripture:
1. God wants us to talk to Him. He always has time for us.
God hears us and God wants us to approach Him with sincere and honest prayer. He cares about you. He loved you enough to die on the cross for you. That is caring! And He still cares.
2. Be frank and honest with God. Be sincere with what you say. God can read our heart. Anything you hide – He knows. So what’s the use in that! Approach God with a true and sincere heart. We learn this in the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews 10:22-25 AMP
22 let us approach [God]
with a true and sincere heart
in unqualified assurance of faith,
having had our hearts
sprinkled clean
from an evil conscience and
our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us seize and hold tightly
the confession of our hope
without wavering,
for He who promised is
reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word];
3. Active sin breaks our relationship with God. He is holy, so our heart must be set apart for Him. And only He can cleanse a sin-blemished heart. To pray, while holding back on Him… is not effective with prayer. Plain and simple.
Excerpt from God hears us and wants us to approach Him with sincere and honest prayer
God warns that if I have active sin in my life unconfessed sin, in my thoughts… He will not answer my prayers Psalm 66:18 KJV. Sin breaks daily relationship with God. But of course, sin does not break our salvation, because Christ secured our salvation on the cross. God is bigger than our sin and the Devil.
Our salvation will never be broken. Ever. But our relationship can be.
So, are you keeping sin? Not admitting to it? Then prayer is affected. God will not respond to the Christian with unconfessed sin.
If I regard sin and baseness in my heart [that is, if I know it is there and do nothing about it],
The Lord will not hear [me] “harbored sin in my heart” in the NET version
– Psalm 66:18 AMP
Excerpt from The Righteous Person
Seek after God
The righteous person is the one that, in spite of sin problems — seeks after God and actually submits to His will.
Look at examples of followers of God who had sin problems – yet were counted as righteous because they had an attitude of “I want to seek and submit to the will of God”:
Followers of God who had sin problems:
* The adulterous, murdering King David,
* the “denying Jesus”, “cut off an ear” violent disciple Peter,
* the “murdering Christians zealot” Apostle Paul,
* the harlot Rahab,
…and, actually — all believers: “…such were some of you….” – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [f effeminate by perversion] effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God….
11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
– 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
PIC: Harriet-Beecher-Stowe-7.quote-Odd things_uk-forreadingaddicts.com
4. Get rid of unConfessed sin. Got unconfessed sin? Harboring sin makes anyone’s prayers ineffective. So it behooves us all to not hide anything from Him. Psalm 66:18
5. First repent. So that brings us to a very important first step after being sincerely honest with God: first repent.
Of course if you plan to keep it, then, well, know: that will never work with Him! To actually reach God, we’ve got to repent first.
It doesn’t work in a federal court either. If I arrive guilty, kicking n’ screaming “I didn’t do it”… well then, everyone knows what’s comin’ for me! So, although in prayer we enter an extremely different court, God’s System of Justice, where justice is always just, we can be confident we can be forgiven – if we sincerely repent. If we confess our sin then God forgives us — by His Holy Holy Justice.
God is Holy
With a worldly mind it’s easy to forget: God is Holy. What on earth are you doing… trying to reach God in prayer – yet you’re still filthy with sin? Not happenin’. First repent.
God has never been on drugs, never been lost, never been befuddled and besmirched, never vile in any way. Although Jesus was tempted with sin as we are — He never fell into any like we do. He was a perfect man. (Tempted and tested. All in one link or: Hebrews 4:15, Matthew 4:1, Galatians 6:1, 1 Corinthians 10:13.)
God is easy, light-handed, and gentle. But He requires repentance, or else our prayers are ineffective.
6. Pray clean. Get washed. Get justified 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. According to Scripture: Who’s prayer “can accomplish much”? The righteous person. Can yours? James tells us:
James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another
[your false steps, your offenses],
and pray for one another,
that you may be healed and restored.
The heartfelt and persistent
prayer of a righteous man (believer)
can accomplish much
[when put into action and made effective by God
—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].
It is the person who’s heart has been swept and cleaned… who can then pray and be answered. Is your heart dirty, low-down, cluttered with the fruit of your unguarded lifestyle? Pray with the Psalmist:
23 Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
– Psalm 139:23-24
7. Our prayer must be “heartfelt“. MerWeb: hearfelt means… deeply felt, earnest, sincere, genuine, unfeigned.
Make it deeply felt, not just a long list you routinely read-off for God. How sincere is your prayer?
https://ohmygodjesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/dawn-1868418_1920-prayer-PIXABAY.jpg
8. Pray patiently with persistence. I find it frustrating that God sometimes does not use my iPhone clock. He often goes by His timeless clock, as in “one day is as a thousand years” type clock 2 Peter 3:8.
In my lack of patience I pace the floor of my mind anxiously. I say “Why haven’t you answered me?” (For more about time, see: Time as it really is.)
Our time is on a globe, surrounded by timeless eternity. Have you seen the movie Men in Black? (Spoiler alert!) There’s a great insight about time in that. They tell of a tiny galaxy inside the crystal-like globe which hangs on the neck of a cat. Their time is inside a globe, and time is different around them.
In the spacey movie, Men In Black, “the galaxy is hanging on the collar of Rosenberg’s cat, Orion, which refuses to leave the body at the morgue.” – Source: usefultrivia.com
I appreciate the insight of Wendell Berry:
Eternity is not infinity.
It is not a long time.
It does not begin at the end of time.
It does not run parallel to time.
In its entirety it always was.
In its entirety it will always be.
It is entirely present always.
– Wendell Berry
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Prayer. What a privilege God gives us – to enter boldly into the presence of God. Don’t waste your breath: make your prayers effective!
FOR MORE:
What a huge privilege God gives – to pray. So, how do I make the most of it?
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PIC: Coach Kennedy praying…fired for his faith
God hears us and wants us to approach Him with sincere and honest prayer
What a privilege God gives us…The privilege of prayer
Make self-talk… God talk. It goes on and on and on…talk with God
Prayer with God. I just don’t get it Excerpt: I just don’t get it. How can I actually be allowed into God’s very presence? Why would He allow me that?
It is so incomprehensible, meeting with God in prayer. I can’t grasp the magnitude of it all.
About Time… a series looking into “time”
Time as it really is Excerpt: The time it takes to go from earth to God’s presence – is faster than instant. There is no waiting around in the next dimension for earth time to finish, no midway point of gathering, no Purgatory. It will be an instantaneous experience for all mankind that ever lived. At the moment of death, our soul instantly leaves.
_________
Eternity is not infinity.
It is not a long time.
It does not begin at the end of time.
It does not run parallel to time.
In its entirety it always was.
In its entirety it will always be.
It is entirely present always.
– Wendell Berry
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Chronology of Mankind: 6,000 Years of History Pt 1
– By Randy Nettles; from RaptureReady.com
For a [a]thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
Or as a watch in the night.
Nevertheless, do not let this one fact
escape your notice, beloved,
that with the Lord
one day is like a thousand years,
and a thousand years is like one day.
John 10:27-28 27 The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they will never, ever [by any means] perish; and no one will ever snatch them out of My hand.
Trivia Question:
1. In the movie, Men In Black, who are the people inside the galaxy hanging on the collar of Rosenberg’s cat, Orion? See answer below.
2. According to Scripture: Who’s prayer “can accomplish much”? Can yours? See answer below.
3. Guess how often I mention “prayer” in this article! See answer below.
The One-Off Offer Jesus makes to everyone…that one exception
Signs of an unrepentant heart…repentant
Holy Father Lord of all Excerpt: Sitting here before you Lord, my Holy Father, Lord of All, I’m so aware that I’m not holy.
Keeping sin…you keeping sin?
Refuse to admit you sin…Not admitting to it?
Running in the dirty realm of living in sin…practicing your sin
The sins we can practice to go to Hell. Just so you know…short list – long list
The faith of anything goes…that “anything goes” way of belief
Those who are “people of faith”
You Serving Two Masters?…Unless we have taken Jesus as our Master.
Those who like it but don’t live it…a dire warning for those without Christ
Jesus will reject many Christians…a strong warning
Feeling lucky? Give it a roll. Excerpt: I want it and I want it my way
There is a lot of wishful thinking going on with people who want what they want, and they want it their way. The sentiment is usually a chord that runs throughout their life. And they take that thought with them into the afterlife.
The problem with you yourself declaring what you want in the afterlife – is that you had nothing whatsoever to do with the creation of the afterlife. God did. You did not. And He told us all about it. What do you know about it, really?
Got unconfessed sin? Harboring sin makes anyone’s prayers ineffective Excerpt: With prayer, we love to quote “ask anything…” 1 John 5:14, but many often neglect warnings about repentance Psalm 66:18 and praying according to His will. God is a given, but effective prayer depends on “the person in prayer”.
Approach God with a true and sincere heart
God hears us and wants us to approach Him with sincere and honest prayer…Approaching God
8 Steps for Real Repentance from Psalm 51 | by Catherine Parks | thegospelcoalition.org.
“Until sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.”
“repentance is a turning away from sin
and a turning toward God
—a process
that doesn’t merely alleviate guilt
but cultivates deep joy.”
Specific salvation parameters to get saved
Specific salvation parameters Jesus absolutely requires
Salvation in Christ is beyond huge
If you follow Me…follow Him
The ABCs of Salvation | Source: JD Farag: The Great Reset – Controlled Demolition for a New World | HarbingersDaily.com
Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah sent from God…He died on the cross for you
What Scripture supports and defends – and we should also Excerpt: I want to be a more righteous person. We all should want more righteousness. We must seek after God.
The sins around us and the sins we do Excerpt: The world flaunts its enjoyment of sin. Many a life is being shipwrecked by the practice of sin. Here is a list of what is what with God.
Vile to Jesus Excerpt: God allows us total freedom to do whatever the hell we want. We love to be freeeeee! That tends to give us such a sense of “yippeeee!” that, as a consequence… our life can kind of get out of control.
In the grip of our “yippeeee” lifestyle, we forget God and His ways. It’s just too much fun, we think. And it is true, we can do anything possible, but, as Jesus taught, there will be a day of reckoning. We have total freedom here on earth, but there are consequences. God does have standards.
What happens when you do not know what the Bible says on a matter?…Do I even know what being sinful is?
If we do not think like God Almighty
Speaking with love about what is true and what is false
Better is thinking with God’s Word
Get on God’s side – and be in the Truth
What happens when you do not know what the Bible says on a matter?
Always biblical from my soul…in all things Excerpt: Self Determination
I see a lot of confusion these days amongst Christians. We are fighting the good fight, always warring with the three enemies of our soul. But there is a lot of conforming to the world Romans 12:2 instead of conforming to God’s think.
These enemies come at us full bore, and some things in our insides can get bent and twisted. They can malform bits and pieces of who we are.
What have you become over time? What are your thoughts today? Are they based on The Good Book?
The Righteous Person Excerpt: Righteous
By definition in the Bible, a righteous person is someone with an attitude that says,
I want “to seek and submit to the will of God”
Luke 1:17
“It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous [which is to seek and submit to the will of God]—in order to make ready a people [perfectly] prepared [spiritually and morally] for the Lord.”
Do “good and honorable things”
Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty…God is Holy
Extrapolations and quotes from King Solomon in Proverbs 8
God is easy, light-handed, gentle
When you are wrong and just don’t get it
Extrapolations and quotes from King Solomon in Proverbs 8
When on earth I’m done and gone
Keeping sin AND getting God’s Holiness also (What what WHAT! Not happen’n folks.)
Pleasure and bad behaviors we love to fall for
Fickle Piccadillies Excerpt: There are no picayune “small sins” MirrWebster. They float in-n-out and get stuck in our soul.
Why might many Charismatics not be saved?
Speaking with love about what is true and what is false
Why God is against me IF I claim my words are God’s own
Why might many Charismatics not be saved?
NAR-type Charismatics…practicing what God has forbidden.
Wandering Stars. The Paganism of Bethel, Hillsong, and the NAR pt 1 | by Jeremy Sanders * |
Also see: pt 2, pt 3, pt 4 of this excellent Sanders series
Speaking with love about what is true and what is false
False Prophets: Study by Diane Dew *with lots of great references
About False Teachings of Today (a series)
Post New Apostolic Reformation Reflections
NAR-types are changing God’s Way, denying the Old Testament
The New Covenant did not abolish any previous covenants of God
Does God give new revelations or is the Bible enough?
No New Revelations in these End Times
The controversy of God speaking to you directly
Making God Speak 2 Peter 1:20-21
This is God speaking (satire)
Getting Into The Miraculous – 2 Timothy 4:3
They in fact have seen nothing
Following the Jesus who was not God
Needing something more than Jesus
Post New Apostolic Reformation Reflections by Rick Becker
Two NAR Organizations to Watch by Holly Pivec
Our response to “Apostle” Randy Clark’s interview with Remnant Radio
Old Sarge Comments on Charismatic practices
OMGj Search: false teachers
Why might many Charismatics not be saved
You don’t have to be weird to be an apostate
Trivia Answer:
- The Arquillians. “This galaxy is home to the Arquillians, a race of tiny humanoid aliens.” Google it *RETURN to Trivia Question
- The righteous man’s prayer. According to Scripture: Who’s prayer “can accomplish much”? The Answer is in James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another
[your false steps, your offenses],
and pray for one another,
that you may be healed and restored.
The heartfelt and persistent
prayer of a righteous man (believer)
can accomplish much
[when put into action and made effective by God
—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].
3. I mention “prayer” 63 times in this article!
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