Do we want God to hear our prayers?

Do we want God to hear our prayers?  Then we must walk in obedience!

Psalm 66:16-20  
"16 Come and hear, all who fear God,
And I will tell of what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
And He was extolled with my tongue.
18 If I regard wickedness in my heart,
The Lord will not hear;
19 But certainly God has heard;
He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer
Nor His lovingkindness from me."

1 Peter 3:7 
"You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered."

Salvation Through Christ Jesus!

Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

It's All About Christ

Never become discouraged, no matter how things appear, I suggest to you that you don't know how many were influenced to trust Christ because you were faithful. What we can see is not all there is. When we trust Christ, we know He can do far more than what is visible to us. We are not called to produce results, only to be obedient.

Perhaps we would be tempted to be prideful if we knew how God used us. We might begin to think it was all about us. We know that it is only Christ working in us, therefore all the results are His too.

HE GETS ALL THE GLORY FOR EVERYTHING!

Christ Comes First

I shared the following comment on another post. Someone who is being abandoned and rejected by friends because of her love for Christ, is feeling the brunt of battering on the part of non-believers and those who claim to be believers.

"When our focus is Christ continually, we find it repugnant to disobey Him. We also find it repugnant to be continual companions with those who have rejected Him.

I am much more comfortable and blessed to be alone with my Lord than to be in a room full of those who hate Him. I can only visit temporarily with the unsaved, to bring them the gospel, other than that I protect my time, that I not be found to enjoy those who hate my Lord."

Being friendly with the unsaved, while neglecting to tell them the gospel, more than likely validates their miserable lives. It makes them like us because they think we approve of their choice to reject Christ.

We can never be at peace in the presence of those who hate Christ, not even if they claim to be Christians.

Christ in Us, He Can Tell Us

Seek Christ! If we are born again, we have the Holy Spirit Who lives in us, we need not depend on others to teach us, we listen to them, we evaluate what they say in light of the Bible, then God will be our Guide.

1 John 2:27 "As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him."

Too many people are basing their theology on teachers instead of the Word. We must ask God to show us truth no matter how good the teacher sounds.

Even when Paul spoke to the Bereans, they loved to hear, but they did not blindly accept what he said, they checked it out in the already written OT, to see if he was telling the truth. We all need to be Bereans. Don't believe any person, check it out with God.

Acts 17:11
Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

Companions Influence Us

We see many believers who have not grown past infancy because their constant companions are superficial people, and often ungodly family members.

When we compare ourselves with ourselves, we will not see what needs to change, we will seem better than those we spend time with.

However if we compare ourselves with Christ and His standards then we see continual need for growth. We find there is nothing to be proud of in us.

2 Corinthians 10:12 - "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise."

Man's Tradition or God's Commandments?

Mark 7:6-13

"6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.

7 ‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’

8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. 

10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to be put to death’; 

11 but you say, ‘If a man says to hisfather or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, givento God),’ 

12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; 

13 thusinvalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”