(Mark 11:24,25 NLT) I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”
This morning we continue our series entitled, “Re-Energizing Your Prayer Life,” by continuing with our 10 Steps to Preparedness in Prayer. In our last message I gave you Step 2: Appropriate God’s Grace. Today we will discuss Step 3: Remove All Blessing-Blockers.
Mark 11 is a very familiar passage for many believers. In this passage Jesus said, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.” Pastors all over the world use this passage to teach believers about faith. Jesus exercised faith in a situation concerning a fig tree and He taught His disciples that they (and us for that matter) could do the same. Flowing the same vein, this passage is also used to teach about prayer. Jesus went on to say, “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” In both cases (speaking to the mountain and prayer) Jesus was teaching that we must fully believe and not doubt at all.
The connection between faith, believing, and not doubting is undeniable. However, one often-overlooked portion of this passage is what Jesus went on to say about forgiveness. Jesus continued, “But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” Did you catch that? Before you pray you must first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against. The words “so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too” indicate that if you don’t forgive you won’t be forgiven and it will unquestionably hinder your prayer life. Wouldn’t it be a shame to have mountain-moving faith and to have gotten to the point where doubt is no longer an issue for you, only to have unforgiveness become the reason why your prayers are not answered? Unforgiveness is a Blessing-Blocker. There are many others, but I wanted to highlight unforgiveness today. The overall point is that you must make every attempt to rid yourself of Blessing-Blockers so that God’s Blessing is free to flow in your life.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. You don’t want anything hanging over you as you pray to the Father.
2. Doubt is a well-known reason for failed prayers. A lesser known, but equally detrimental reason is unforgiveness.
3. Fear, doubt, unbelief, unforgiveness, bitterness, malice, hatred, and etc. will all keep you from God’s best! These are all Blessing-Blockers.
4. When you rid yourself of Blessing-Blockers you put yourself in a position to receive from God.
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for exposing to me everything that is hindering my prayer life. I want to be able to pray with results. I know it is Your will that I pray with faith, without any doubt at all. I build my confidence in You to the point where I am able to pray fearless and doubtless prayers. However, I also know that You expect me to walk in love. So by faith I declare that I release all bitterness, malice, hatred, and unforgiveness from my heart. I refuse to allow anything to hinder my prayers. As I release all these things I am able to pray IN FAITH, free of all Blessing-Blockers, and You Father answer my prayers! In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
