Pray So God Will Hear You

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 59

Focus Verses: Isaiah 59: 1-2 

“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.”

 

Maybe you thought God will always listen to you when you pray.  The Bible actually says there are some times when God will not hear our prayers.  Let’s say you know you have been involved in some sin and you begin to pray to God as if the sin never happened in your life.  God will not hear that prayer, because you are out of fellowship with Him.  However, if you begin that prayer by confessing that sin, and telling God you are sorry for what you have done wrong, then God will hear you and restore the relationship with you.  We will never be able to live a perfect life on this side of heaven, but we can make an effort to yield to Jesus every day.  Philippians 3:12  Paul says, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me”.

There are actually two types of sins we can be guilty of.  Sin of commission is when we break a commandment. Which is doing something God has said not to do.  Then there is the sin of omission, and that is not doing something God has told us to do.  Let us be aware of this as the Psalmist writes in Psalm 66:18  “If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

God wants to hear your prayers.  But when we come to Him with unrepentant sin in our lives He must turn away until we confess that sin because He is a holy and righteous God. 

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

A Crippled Spiritual Life

Bible Reading: Acts 3:1-10

Focus verse: "They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart." Ephesians 4:18

Charles is a young camper at Sagarume camp station. He accepted salvation today during our Children Bible lessons. He was so touched through the story in Acts 3:1-10 where Peter heals a crippled beggar. Just like the crippled beggar was healed of his physical condition and was able to walk, he too said that he has been crippled in his spiritual life and needed to stand up from his bad behaviours and begin to walk with God for the first time. He stood up and said that, "I have been crippled in my spiritual life and today in the name of Jesus of Nazareth I am standing up and beginning a new life with God" He was lead to salvation and was happy to be born again.

We are all spiritually deficient before we repent from our sins and submit ourselves to Christ.  Christ makes us new. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

If Christ has made you new, you can live your life for Him, tell others of this salvation and praise Him.  If you are still spiritually crippled, you have the opportunity to be made new.

~Page Johnson, Interlocking Ministries

with the story by Pastor/Director Eliazar Wambo, 

Bethesda Faith Ministries & Makira Baptist Church

Continual Habit of Sin

Scripture Reading: 1 John 3:1-9

Focus Verse: 1 John 3:8 “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

There’s a saying that goes like this, “there are two certainties in life, death and taxes.”  Let’s add another one, sin.  The Bible even says that we all sin.  1 John 1:8 “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.”  This verse doesn’t give us an excuse to go out and commit sin.  

 

I believe the Bible teaches that once you have humbled yourself to repent of sin, believe God's Son Jesus was the sacrifice to pay the price for our sin and accept Christ to lead your life and are saved, then there is enough grace to cover you so you cannot lose your salvation.  Does that mean you can go out and live anyway you want?  No! That desire denies your heart for God. If you are living in a pattern of continual sin, then you don’t understand what Jesus did for you on the cross.  When you come to Christ for salvation, justification takes place.  Justified means that God sees me “just as if I had never sinned".  When you come to Christ for salvation there will be a change in your heart which will change your life choices. 

 

Someone who continues to sin WITHOUT being sorry for that sin is not in danger of loosing their salvation, but they may have never been saved to begin with.  Even as Christians, none of us are perfect, but we should have a pattern of doing what is right and not what is wrong.  A beliver has a pattern that brings internal conviction, repent and seek holy living.  God has justified the saved believer, so there should not be a continual unrepentant habit of sin in our lives.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

 

For more: "All of us have weaknesses and can fall into sin, even if we don’t want to. Even the apostle Paul did what he didn’t want to do because of the sin at work in his body (Romans 7:15). Like Paul, the response of the believer is to hate the sin, repent of it and ask for divine grace to overcome it (Romans 7:24-25). Although we need not fall because of God’s sufficient grace, sometimes we do because we rely upon our insufficient strength. When our faith grows weak and, like Peter, we deny our Lord in word or in life, even then there is still a chance to repent and be forgiven of our sin."  From Got Questions at https://www.gotquestions.org/forgive-same-sin.html

Three Important Dates

Scripture Reading:  Matthew 1:18-23

Focus Verse:  Luke 2:11  “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

There are three important dates in the life of every believer which provide a way for us to have a relationship with God.  The first important date is Christmas.  We are not sure if the date Christ was born was on December 25th, but we are sure that there was a day when he left heaven to come to this earth, and was born of a virgin.  If there were no reason for Christmas, we would not have the opportunity for heaven.  

The second important date is the Resurrection Day.  Easter is the date that Christians celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ.  He paid for the penalty of sin through taking it upon himself, a spotless innocent savior, then dying on a cross.  A price that we could not pay for ourselves.  If there was no resurrection, then we would not have the opportunity for heaven.  This life and death of Christ is a sacrificial gift that God is offering to every person on earth.  

The third important date is the day you were born again.  This is the date that you received God’s free gift of Christ into your life.  Without this third important date in your life, you will have a relationship with God and you will not be going to heaven.  If you have never invited Christ into your life by accepting this free gift of salvation, what better time to repent of your sins and follow Christ than today?  These three dates are of upmost importance in your life.  If you leave out any one of the three, there is no salvation and no eternity in heaven.

*Extra Bible Reading:  John 3:3,  John 11:25-26, Isaiah 9:6, Luke 2:12

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries