BBD 08.12.10 Locked Up (New)

#1 · August 12, 2010, 6:16 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on August 12, 2010, 6:16 pm
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net
www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 170 countries.
Celebrating 11 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more
than 11,000 subscribers across the world.

Please join the Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998 and is
made up of more than 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive
prayer requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

If you love to send and receive inspirational emails the Burning Bush
Inspirational Group is for you. To join send an email to
bbinspire-join@welovegod.org

You can now leave comments/feedback about the devotionals at
www.theburningbush.net.

The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 1031 new subscribers since January 1, 2010!!
There were 1367 new subscribers during 2009!!

08.12.10

Locked Up

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased,
that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also
taught his disciples." - Luke 11:1.

Firefighters in Belfair, Washington are making sure they carry a new tool
with them when they answer a fire call. That tool is the boltcutter which is
now necessary because the Belfair Water District has placed padlocks on all
the fire hydrants to try to reduce the theft of water. Even the fire hydrant
in front of the fire station has a padlock on it! The Belfair Water
District, however, is concerned about the loss of water, which means loss of
money and wants the Fire Department to pay for part of the lost revenue.
Belfair Fire Chief Beau Bakken says, "And we're going to come across these
and have an issue with one of these hydrant locks, and have a terrible
disastrous event on our hands."

We are given a wonderful promise in 1 John 5:14-15, "Now this is the
confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His
will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know
that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." However, sometimes it
may seem as though the answers to our prayers are locked up. We pray and we
pray but in our hearts we know that there is something wrong, which is
preventing God from giving us what we are praying for.

There are several possible explanations for God being unwilling to
immediately answer our prayers. It may be that God is simply saying "No" or
He may be saying "wait". Let us look at some of the hindrances to prayer
that lock up the answers that we seek. 1 John 5:14-15 immediately gives us a
reason some prayers are not answered in the way that we want. If we are
asking for something that is not God's will, the answer will always be "No".
The apostle Peter gives us another reason prayers may be hindered in 1 Peter
3:7, "Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor
to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the
grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered." If you are not
treating your wife with honor, treasuring her, loving her, and protecting
her, you will find your prayers are going nowhere. If you are angry with
your wife, you have an ongoing conflict with her about anything; again your
prayers will be ineffective.

There are other things that can lock up your prayer life. A lack of faith
according to Hebrews 11:6 can result in the answers to your prayers being
locked up. The writer of Hebrews says, "But without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is.." How do you
have more faith? Romans 1:17 says, ".faith comes by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God." If you have unconfessed sin in your life the answers to
your prayers will be locked up (1 Peter 3:12). The apostle James indicates
that if the motive behind the request is wrong you will not receive what you
have requested (James 4:3). To have your prayer life unlocked you need to be
seeking what God wants, obeying His commands (1 John 3:22).

Most of the locks on effective prayer have obvious keys but some are not so
obvious. When you are unsure of what is hindering your prayers, the best
thing to do is to ask God what is wrong. A closer relationship with your
Lord will always improve your prayer life and will help you to avoid many of
the problems that hinder prayers. As Jesus says in John 15:7, "If you abide
in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall
be done for you."

Copyright © 2010. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather began writing devotionals
in the early 1990s. The distribution of these first devotionals was
primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison facilities
throughout the United States and Canada.

Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer
Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there and they will be
forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always in need
of prayer - please pray for me.).

If you are not my friend on facebook or myspace you can be, just add me. The
devotionals are posted in my blogs on those two social networks and you can
leave comments, feedback about them there. There are other social networks
designed just for Christians, however, this is an outreach project to reach
those who may not know the Lord or may have wandered away. You can help me
reach out to them.

For information about how to hear my testimony in your church visit this
link: www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=22160

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

Two videos of my sermons are posted on GodTube (now Tangle) at:
connect.tangle.com/Wrather

You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist
Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST
www.kkbifm.com/

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the
confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the
confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

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Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net
http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 170 countries.
Celebrating 11 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more
than 11,000 subscribers across the world.

Please join the Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998 and is
made up of more than 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive
prayer requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

If you love to send and receive inspirational emails the Burning Bush
Inspirational Group is for you. To join send an email to
bbinspire-join@welovegod.org

You can now leave comments/feedback about the devotionals at
http://www.theburningbush.net.

The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 1031 new subscribers since January 1, 2010!!
There were 1367 new subscribers during 2009!!

08.12.10

Locked Up

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased,
that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also
taught his disciples." - Luke 11:1.

Firefighters in Belfair, Washington are making sure they carry a new tool
with them when they answer a fire call. That tool is the boltcutter which is
now necessary because the Belfair Water District has placed padlocks on all
the fire hydrants to try to reduce the theft of water. Even the fire hydrant
in front of the fire station has a padlock on it! The Belfair Water
District, however, is concerned about the loss of water, which means loss of
money and wants the Fire Department to pay for part of the lost revenue.
Belfair Fire Chief Beau Bakken says, "And we're going to come across these
and have an issue with one of these hydrant locks, and have a terrible
disastrous event on our hands."

We are given a wonderful promise in 1 John 5:14-15, "Now this is the
confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His
will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know
that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." However, sometimes it
may seem as though the answers to our prayers are locked up. We pray and we
pray but in our hearts we know that there is something wrong, which is
preventing God from giving us what we are praying for.

There are several possible explanations for God being unwilling to
immediately answer our prayers. It may be that God is simply saying "No" or
He may be saying "wait". Let us look at some of the hindrances to prayer
that lock up the answers that we seek. 1 John 5:14-15 immediately gives us a
reason some prayers are not answered in the way that we want. If we are
asking for something that is not God's will, the answer will always be "No".
The apostle Peter gives us another reason prayers may be hindered in 1 Peter
3:7, "Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor
to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the
grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered." If you are not
treating your wife with honor, treasuring her, loving her, and protecting
her, you will find your prayers are going nowhere. If you are angry with
your wife, you have an ongoing conflict with her about anything; again your
prayers will be ineffective.

There are other things that can lock up your prayer life. A lack of faith
according to Hebrews 11:6 can result in the answers to your prayers being
locked up. The writer of Hebrews says, "But without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is.." How do you
have more faith? Romans 1:17 says, ".faith comes by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God." If you have unconfessed sin in your life the answers to
your prayers will be locked up (1 Peter 3:12). The apostle James indicates
that if the motive behind the request is wrong you will not receive what you
have requested (James 4:3). To have your prayer life unlocked you need to be
seeking what God wants, obeying His commands (1 John 3:22).

Most of the locks on effective prayer have obvious keys but some are not so
obvious. When you are unsure of what is hindering your prayers, the best
thing to do is to ask God what is wrong. A closer relationship with your
Lord will always improve your prayer life and will help you to avoid many of
the problems that hinder prayers. As Jesus says in John 15:7, "If you abide
in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall
be done for you."

Copyright © 2010. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather began writing devotionals
in the early 1990s. The distribution of these first devotionals was
primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison facilities
throughout the United States and Canada.

Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer
Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there and they will be
forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always in need
of prayer - please pray for me.).

If you are not my friend on facebook or myspace you can be, just add me. The
devotionals are posted in my blogs on those two social networks and you can
leave comments, feedback about them there. There are other social networks
designed just for Christians, however, this is an outreach project to reach
those who may not know the Lord or may have wandered away. You can help me
reach out to them.

For information about how to hear my testimony in your church visit this
link: http://www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=22160

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

Two videos of my sermons are posted on GodTube (now Tangle) at:
connect.tangle.com/Wrather

You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist
Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST
http://www.kkbifm.com/

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the
confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the
confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

=======
Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found.
(Email Guard: 7.0.0.18, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.15640)
http://www.pctools.com/
=======