Becoming a Disciple - Week 6, Day 3

You Too Can Have a...(How to Have a Great Walk)

Students ask me all of the time what the secret is to living a healthy and exciting Christian life. I look that student right in the eyes, and I say, “What is the matter with you, you moron? How long have you been going to church? And what do you do when you are at church? Maybe if you would quit sleeping, passing notes, or making goo-goo eyes at some other person, you would learn what it means to have a healthy and exciting Christian life. You are a loser. Now don’t ever ask me a question like that again!” Just kidding. ) Honestly, I tell them this:

There is no secret to having a great relationship with God.

The key is communication, and we communicate with God through two things:

1) Prayer
2) The Bible.

And then the student looks at me all disappointed and says, “Thanks a lot,” really sarcastically and walks away defeated. Why? Because they act like they know a lot about prayer and the Bible, but in reality, they don’t know much at all. For instance, I bet most students don’t know why God sometimes doesn’t answer our prayers. Have you ever had your prayers bounce off the ceiling right back at your face? There’s a reason why that happens. The bottom line is God won’t answer your prayers if:

1. There is unconfessed sin in your life (Psalm 66:18). Are you staying clean before God, or are you holding on to some pet sin, refusing to tell God about it even though He already knows?

2. You ask God out of the wrong motives (James 4:3). Your prayer is a selfish prayer. When you talk to God, you spend all your time asking for things for yourself. God is not some Aladdin genie who can’t wait to fill all your desires and dreams. God has a plan for your life, and if what you ask for is in His will, you’ll get it, but if it’s not, forget it.

3. You won’t forgive other people for the wrongs they have done to you (Mark 11:25-26). You have enemies you won’t forgive. If you don’t forgive others, God won’t forgive you. And if you are not a forgiving person, then you are not representing Christ, and you are sinning. Communication shuts down between you and God until you do the right thing.

4. You don’t care about the needs of others (Proverbs 21:13). God reveals to you a need that you could fill, and you blow the situation off. A lot of Christian kids talk about serving others, but few actually find the time.

5. You don’t pray believing that God will answer your prayers (Matthew 21:22). Many students, as soon as they are done praying, think to themselves that God would never answer that prayer. That’s what I call praying without faith. It’s really strange if you think about it. Here’s the God who made everything, and I repeat, everything in the universe, and we still walk away thinking God can’t handle our request. That’s messed up.

6. You are playing games with God and not living for Him (1 John 3:22). God is not impressed. Some day when you become a parent (now, that’s a scary thought!), your children will probably not obey you every time. In fact, some of you are going to have kids who never obey you. Now, if you were fortunate enough to have that type of child, would you continue to reward this child who never obeys with everything he asks for, or would you not give him a single extra until he learned the value of obeying you? It’s the same way with God.

You see, there is a lot more to prayer than meets the eye.

The bummer is that there is incredible power in prayer, but we won’t be able to tap into that power as long as we are doing one of the above things. Before we go further with this idea of prayer, why not stop and ask God to show you if you are blowing it in any of the six ways above. If you are, talk to God about it, and if there is someone else you need to talk to to get things right, do it right away. Your communication with God depends on it.

Time Out

1. Are you blowing it in any of the six areas? Which ones?

2. When you talk to God, do you expect anything to happen? Psalm 5:1-3 says, “Give ear to my words, oh Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to You I pray. In the morning, oh Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation.”

A. When did this guy pray?

B. After this guy prayed, what did he do next?

C. Why do you think so many of us pray with no expectation of God doing something great?

D. According to 1 Samuel 12:23, is not praying for others a sin?

There is an awful lot to prayer. Do you realize that when you pray, you are talking to the Creator of the universe? Wow! What would you say is the one key to keeping our communication with God loud and clear? (Staying confessed up about our sin.) (Great answer!)

Confess any area that is causing your prayers to shoot back at you. When you blow it, and you will blow it, don’t wait till before you go to bed to do business with God about the sin; tell Him immediately. That way, you don’t forget, and that way, your connection to God stays clear. Think about these things today!