Saturday, June 22, 2013

another prerequisite for having your prayers answered…


another prerequisite for having your prayers answered is you must have a forgiving attitude toward other people. 

mark 11.24-25 (niv), therefore i tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you’ve received it and it will be yours. [condition:]  and when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him so that your FATHER in heaven may forgive your sins. 

more than any other characteristic in the bible except maybe faith, the number one thing related to prayer is forgiveness. over and over again, every time JESUS talks about prayer HE talks about forgiveness.  why?  because nothing will kill your prayers faster than resentment.  when you hold a grudge, when you nurse an ill feeling, when you allow bitterness to grow in your life, it knocks off your prayers.  maybe you’re praying and not getting an answer because you’re holding a grudge against somebody. 

in matthew 5, JESUS giving the sermon on the mount, says that when you go to church and you’re going to offer a gift to the LORD and you remember that you’ve got something against somebody or they’ve got something against you, stop, leave the gift right there at the church, go out, find that person, get forgiveness or offer forgiveness, make harmony in the relationship, then come back and continue giving your gift to the LORD.  why?  because GOD says you can’t say you love GOD and hate your brother.  one of the primary reasons why people never see answers to prayer is because they allow bitterness to spring up in their lives.

just a thought from the front porch…  

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