the first condition for GOD to answer your prayer…

we are going to look at the subject of prayer for a while here on the front porch.  now

a good question to ask is does GOD promise to answer everyone’s prayers? 

and the answer is no.  it’s very clear in scripture that GOD completely ignores some people’s prayers.  in fact, the bible says that GOD has laid out some conditions to answered prayer and if you meet these conditions you have every right to expect that what you ask for will be answered in prayer.

now the first condition is you must have an honest relationship to GOD. 

john 15.7 (niv), if you remain in ME and MY words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you.

that’s a beautiful promise.  but in scripture every promise has a condition or every promise has a premise.  and the promise here is, “I will give you whatever you ask in prayer” and the premise is “if you remain in ME.”  in other words, “if you have a honest relationship with me.” 

so how do you remain in CHRIST?  the next sentence tells it.  “MY words remain in you.”  in other words, GOD says that if we fill our minds with the bible, the word of GOD, then we will be in CHRIST. we will be abiding in HIM.  GOD requires that we listen to HIM first before HE listens to us.  if i don’t pay attention to what GOD says to me in HIS word, why should HE pay attention to me when i talk to HIM?  if i ignore HIS word, why should HE pay attention to what i say to HIM?

the starting point is to have an honest relationship to GOD. how?  through the word of GOD.  that’s why bible study is important.  you say, “are you saying if i don’t study my bible i won’t have answered prayer?”  no, what i’m saying is your prayer life will never be more effective than how much you understand scripture.  the more you understand the bible the more you’ll know how to pray affectively.

just a thought from the front porch…

let’s review…

think again in your mind of that person that you say, “i’d like to raise their self-esteem.  i’d like to raise their confidence.”  it may be your wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/parent/child/ somebody you work with/friend/relative. 

1.  accept their uniqueness.  are you doing that?  you don’t have to make them like you for them to be confident.  you don’t have to change them.  we need to help people discover and develop their uniqueness.  some of you have kids – you fathers like to play football and your son likes to play chess.  encourage them to be a good chess player.  don’t try to make him like you. accept their uniqueness.

2.  trust them with responsibility.  think of ways that you can say, “i trust you.  i believe in you.”  the sooner you do that in life, the better.  it helps develop confidence.  do less for people and let them do more for themselves.  that’s a compliment.

3.  expect the best.  our expectations can make or break somebody.  we spend a lot of our lives trying to live up to the expectations of others.  there’s tremendous power in that.  when you expect the best in people they tend to fulfill your expectations.  they rise to the occasion. 

4.  affirm their value.  are you doing that?  some of you say, “we’ve got a pretty stable marriage, but there’s no spark in it any more.  i love my wife, she loves me, but there’s no spark.”

acceptance is what produces stability in a marriage.  i accept you, you accept me – unconditionally.  acceptance produces stability, a stable marriage.  but appreciation puts the spark in a marriage.  if there’s no romance in your marriage, i dare you to start complimenting your mate constantly on a regular basis. watch what happens.  the thrill will come back.  there’s power in praise. 

5.  correct without condemning.  learn how to point out error without destroying the person.  don't use harmful words.  use only helpful words that build up.  if you're using putdowns, stop it. 

6.  never give up on them.  JESUS brought out the best in people and HE wants to bring out the best in your life.  as we wrap up this series on confidence, we’ve been talking about your own confidence, today i want to challenge you to become an encourager.  make it your life mission to become an encourager in life, build people up rather than tear them down.  make that your life goal.  i can’t think of a more worthy goal. 

the most important thing you can do for people in life is to tell them about JESUS, that JESUS loves them, JESUS died for them, JESUS wants to make a difference in their lives, HE has a plan and purpose for their life.  help introduce people to CHRIST.  it’s the most important thing you can do for somebody. 

the second most important thing you can do for somebody is to raise their self-esteem.  make them feel worthwhile and valuable. when you do that, you are doing the work of GOD.

just a thought from the front porch…

i believe in you…

one of the most important things you can do is help people deal with failure because we all fail.  teach people how to keep on keeping on – your kids, your wife, your husband – when we fall flat on our face and feel like giving up. 

one of the most important things you can do for people is teach them how to forgive themselves when they mess up, when they blow it.  “that’s not like you.  you’re better than that.”  a failure does not make a failure. 

GOD is the GOD of the second chance and the third chance and the fourth chance and the fifth chance...  isn’t that good news?  so how soon do you give up on people?  that person in the office.  they blow it and you immediately want to toss them out. 

one thing about lombardi was that whenever somebody fumbled the ball, he took them out for a couple of plays just to get their equilibrium back and calm them down, but he immediately put them back in.  it’s like falling off a horse.  you’ve got to get back up on it again.  he immediately put them back in saying, “i believe in you.  so what, you fumbled the ball.  they scored against us on it.  let’s get back in there and do it again!”  we fumble and GOD keeps us in the game. 

how quickly do you give up on people?

just a thought from the front porch…

who is it that you will not let go of?...

some of you can relate to this story.  it was the annual sales conference when the awards were handed out to the outstanding sales person of the year.  one woman who had performed spectacularly that year and had made an enormous amount of money gave all the credit to her sales manager. 

as she stood before the crowd of 3000 people, she recalled the slump she had been in two years before.  the future looked so bleak she was ready to resign and tried to quit several times.  but her supervisor kept persuading her that she had not tried long enough and that she wouldn’t have been hired if she hadn’t had unusual potential. her voice cracked as she related the story. 

then she said, “for all those months when i wanted to quit and i didn’t think i had a future, joan believed in me more than i believed in myself.  she wanted me to succeed even more than i did.” 

who are you being that kind of friend to?  who are you believing in?  who is it that you will not let go of?  you keep affirming them, believing in them, and you will not let them mess up their life.  not because you’re responsible for them, but you’re responsible to them.  do your best to bring out their best.

just a thought from the front porch…