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‘Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence.’ Hebrews 4:16 NIV The second hindrance to answered prayer is lack of confidence! When we understand that as God’s redeemed children we have the right to approach Him at any time, we are able to overcome the enemy’s attempts to make us feel condemned. As a result we become confident in approaching Him. We no longer say to ourselves, ‘I know God can do it, but I find it hard to believe He will do it for me.’ We think such thoughts because we don’t think we’re worthy. Jesus has made us worthy! When we come to God, we can count on Him to be merciful to us. ‘Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’ Grace means God will give us what we don’t deserve if we’re confident enough to ask for it. We ask in Jesus’ name, not in our own name. We’re presenting to the Father all that Jesus is, not all that we are. We’re nothing without Jesus! God is w...

‘He shall call upon Me, and I will answer.’ Psalm 91:15 NKJV When a nightclub opened on Main Street, a church which was only a hundren yards away organised a 24-hour prayer vigil. They asked God to burn the club down. Within a week lightning struck and it burned to the ground. The owner sued the church, which denied responsibility. After hearing arguments from both sides the judge said, ‘It seems that wherever the guilt may lie, the nightclub owner believes in prayer, while the church doesn’t.’ The first hindrance to answered prayer is prayerlessness. Sounds simple, but our prayers are not answered when we don’t pray. Saying we believe in prayer is not the same as praying. James writes: ‘You do not have because you do not ask’ (James 4:3 NKJV). We must take the time to ask God for what we want and need. Sometimes we process situations in our minds, or talk about them with our friends, or wish, or hope, but we don’t pray. Thinking, wishing, hoping, and talking with others is not praye...

A little boy was telling his grandma how "everything" was going wrong: school, family problems, severe health problem, etc. Meanwhile, Grandma was baking cake. She then asked her grandson if he would like a snack, to which, of course, he said yes."Here, have some cooking oil." "No" said the boy. "How about a couple of raw eggs?" "that's terrible, Grandma!""Would you like some flour then? Or maybe some baking soda?" " Grandman, they all smell bad!" To which Grandma replies: "Yes, all those things seemed bad by themselves, but when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderful delicious cake!" God works in the same way! Many times, we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. God knows that when He puts all these things in His order, they always work together for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful" Job sa...

'DON'T GET WORKED UP ABOUT…TOMORROW.' MATTHEW 6:34 TM Max Lucado says, 'Worry is to joy, what a vacuum cleaner is to dirt; you might as well attach your heart to a happiness-sucker and flip the switch.' Jesus said, 'Don't get worked up about…tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.' When it looks like things are falling apart, Paul reminds us, 'Every detail in our lives… is worked into something good' (Romans 8:28 TM). When it seems like the world'gone mad, don't forget God 'existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together' (Colossians 1:17 NLT). When worry whispers, 'God doesn't know what you need,' remember God promised to 'take care of everything you need' (Philippians 4:19 TM). Jesus taught us to pray, 'Give us this day our daily bread.' You won't get the wisdom or resources to handle tomorrow's problems until you need...

We’re too impatient! If God doesn’t speak to us in the first five minutes of our prayer time we get up, shrug it off and decide ‘He isn’t talking today.’ Where’s the tenacity of our spiritual forefathers who would take hold of God in prayer and refuse to let go until they received ‘a sure word’ from Him? (See 2 Peter 1:19). There are two things you can count on as you walk with God: trouble that works for you and grace to stand while you’re going through it. Have you been praying for patience? Get ready for trouble! There’s no other way to get it. Patience grows in the soil of adversity. How do you test the strength of an anchor? Expose it to the fury of a storm. Understand this: some of the people you can’t stand right now are the very ones who’ll mature you! Our problem is – we pray for things but don’t recognise the answer when it comes. God has a purpose in all things, He also has a process. As you get to know Him better you begin to recognise both. Here’s how it works: you ask ...