righteous

Why should God answer my prayers?

March 4, 2012 by Russ Pond

Have you ever felt like your prayers are not being heard? You pray for peace, healing, or financial provision, but it seems like nothing happens. You press in deep with fasting, dedication and devotion, but still, the response is painful silence. You start to question, “Why should God answer my prayers?”

That’s actually a really good question. Why should God answer your prayers?

Think about it for a moment. Stop reading this message, get a piece of paper and write down why you think God should answer your prayers.

Do any of these sound familiar:

I prayed for a long time.
I fasted when I prayed.
I have been very devoted this week.
I really meant it when I prayed.
I repented of all my sins.
I ended my prayer with “in Jesus’ name”.
I’ve done lots of good things this week.

While these sound good and important on the surface, these are not reasons why God should hear answer our prayers.

Prayers don’t move God

That sounds wrong, doesn’t it? We’ve been taught to press in, intercede and “move heaven” with our prayers, but I don’t believe it’s scriptural.I don’t believe we can move God with our prayers, because God already moved on our behalf 2,000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross. Everything that we can ask for today was provided through Christ: salvation, healing (physical and emotional), freedom, provision, and deliverance.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3, emphasis mine).

We should pray that God will open our eyes and renew our minds to what we already have in Christ.

You will never be good enough

Often when we pray, we feel like our prayers are heard more when we’re doing good and less when we’re doing bad. When we sin, we rarely go to God in prayer thinking that our mistakes will hinder our prayers. We believe that our good works please God and that our sin displeases God.

There’s only one thing that pleases God: faith. Believing pleases God.

“Without faith (believing) it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

So, what do we need to believe? We must believe that…

Only Christ is good enough

No matter how hard we try, we cannot be good enough.

“There is none who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12).

That is why God sent his Son into the earth. Jesus was the perfect, sinless sacrifice (Hebrews 7:26). Through his life on the earth, he fulfilled all requirements of the Law (Romans 8:3-4).

Only Christ is good enough.

In Christ, God hears our prayers

When we receive Christ into our hearts, we immediately receive his righteousness, his goodness. God takes our sin and replaces it with the righteousness of Christ. Here’s how 2 Corinthians 5:21 describes it:

“For [God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

In Christ, God only sees our goodness. That is why we should pray for God to renew our minds and transform us from the inside out (identity) not from the outside in (actions).

For God to hear and answer your prayers, remember these two things:

Put your faith in Christ. Start by making that heavenly exchange (replacing your sin with Christ’s righteousness).
When you pray, do not trust in your ability to do good. Trust only in Christ’s goodness.

In my own life, I have seen an incredible transformation from fear to peace. It did not come through great Bible studies, long periods of fasting or doing good in my life. It came from putting all my faith and trust in the goodness of Christ.

Prayer: Father, open my eyes to this truth that answered prayer comes through the goodness of Christ. Help me see that I am righteous in Christ.

Grace: From Sinner to Saint

November 27, 2011 by Russ Pond

Too often, we define ourselves through sin. When we mess up, we verbally and mentally abuse ourselves. You’re so stupid. Or, when we know what to do but don’t do it, then we just give up, Why even try? This vicious cycle of defeat can be terribly frustrating and create anxiety and fear in our lives.

Here’s how Paul, the Apostle, described his own experience with sin: “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate” (Romans 7:15). When we are sin-conscious, all we see is our mistakes, our failures, our shortcomings.

The Garden of Eden is a great example of what happens when we move from being God-conscious to sin-conscious. Before they sinned, Adam and Eve enjoyed an incredible relationship with God. They walked together in the cool of day and spent time together. Their fellowship was invigorating and full of life! There was no awareness of sin. There was no right or wrong. No rules. There was no knowledge of good or evil. There was just fellowship with God.

Then sin happened. Immediately, humanity was aware of sin. They had become sin-conscious: they were hyper aware of their failures, mistakes and shortcomings. So, when God showed up, they hid themselves. Adam said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10).

The immediate response to sin is shame. When shame sets in, we hide ourselves from God and we become afraid. We often experience fear because we pull away from God due to sin and shame. I don’t believe God ever pulls away from us. He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). It’s always us pulling away from him. Like Adam, we hide ourselves from him because of shame. And in the same way, God is continually pursuing us because of he loves us so much.

From the day Adam and Eve sinned, all of humanity has lived sin-conscious, defining ourselves by following rules, doing what is right and not doing what is wrong. Today, many, many people live sin-conscious. But, that’s not how God wants us to live.

When Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life and then died for our sins, he made a way for us to be sinless in God’s eyes. In Christ, we are no longer sinners. In Christ, we are perfect, holy and righteous. In Christ, we have moved from being sinners to being saints.

“But, I still sin.”

Yes, so do I. As long as we live in these physical, mortal bodies, we will experience sin. If you continue reading in Romans 7, Paul talks about this war in our members (our bodies) that wages on continually (v. 23). But, our flesh (our body) is not who we are. We are spirit and soul. The real you is not defined by the physicalness of your body. “Your real life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

Sin has very real consequences in this life. If you murder, there are consequences. If you steal, there are consequences. If you treat your body poorly, there are consequences. Sin will affect your physical life. But, sin should not define you because in Christ, God does not see your sin.

Honestly, we have it backwards.

We think that because of sin God is not pleased with us, so we try harder not to sin and clean up our lives. If we can stop sinning for awhile, then we can go to God with our needs. We wait to be clean in our own eyes before we approach God. But, that’s backwards.

God says, “You are clean and holy in Christ right now. Come to me as you are and let me help you with those areas of weakness.” Strength to stop sinning does not come from us trying harder. It comes from spending time with God and allowing him to help us.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:17).

Prayer: Father, reveal to me that my sins are gone, washed away and that I am holy and perfect in your eyes.

What does God think of me?

August 21, 2011 by Russ Pond

Have you ever asked yourself that question? Maybe not out loud, but in your heart? Do you ever wonder what God thinks about you?

I think it’s a great question, and we should ask ourselves what God thinks about us. Sadly, though, I think that we often “hear” the wrong response. What we “hear” typically is the result of years of faulty thinking patterns, bad programming and a worldly upbringing.

Once you grasp the truth of what God thinks about you and how much he loves you, it will set you free! “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). When you understand the depths of God’s love for you, his “perfect love will cast out all fear” (1 John 4:18). But, you have to be transformed by renewing your mind (Romans 12:2). You have to change the way you think, and when you do, fear and panic will have no hold on you.

Righteousness

How do you define your righteousness—your “right standing” with God? Is God pleased with you or is he mad at you? Are you only righteous when you haven’t sinned or after you’ve done a bunch of good things? Too often, we define our righteousness by our actions or thoughts: When I sin, I am not righteous, but when I confess my sins, pray, read the Bible and do good things, then I’m righteous again. Then, God accepts me.

But, that’s not how the Bible defines righteousness. Under the new convenant, there was a great exchange. Jesus, who was perfect and righteous before God, became sin for us so that we could become righteous before our Father. “For God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus became sin and we became righteous. There’s nothing we can do to become righteous. We simply have to believe in the great Exchange and put our faith in Christ. He is our righteousness. He makes us perfect and pleasing to God. “Christ’s one act of righteousness makes all people right in God’s sight and gives them life” (Romans 5:18).

Sin

What about when I sin? Do I lose my righteousness? Do I lose my right standing with God?

This is where I believe most of our upbringing and worldly programming works against us. We live in a world based on performance. Do good in school, and get good grades. Do good on your job, and get a promotion. We are taught from the earliest age that good works produce good results, and bad works produce bad results. So, naturally, when we think about God’s view of us, we filter it through this clouded, broken heart lens, and fall short. When compared to God’s holiness, we will always fall short. Always.

That’s why it’s absolutely essential we let God transform our hearts and change the way we think about our standing with him. As long as we live with this wrong understanding that God is only pleased with our performance, then we’ll never be able to receive all of God’s love for us. Your sins are forgiven. Your past sins, your present sins, and your future sins are forgiven in Christ. “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” (Psalms 103:12).

There’s only one thing standing between you and God—what you believe about your righteousness. If you believe you are sinful and that God rejects you, then you will pull away and not come to God when you need him most. But, if you believe that Christ has cleansed you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), then you can boldly come to the throne of grace in your time of need (Hebrews 4:16) not based on your performance but the performance of Christ.

I encourage you this week to learn more about your right standing with God. The more you understand and believe that in Christ, you are perfect in God’s eyes, the more you will open your heart to his fear-breaking, anxiety-conquering love.

Don’t ask yourself “Is God pleased with me?” Ask yourself, “Is God pleased with Christ?” Because when you put your faith in Christ, you become the righteousness of God. You are perfectly pleasing to God!

Prayer: Father, open my eyes and my heart to truly believe I am perfect in your sight through Christ.