The Bible is full of exceedingly great and precious promises from God

(2 Peter 1:2-4). He constantly watches over His word, ready to perform it in our lives (Jeremiah 1:12). God hears us when we pray – every time.   

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. 1 John 5:14,15

Notice the word “confidence” in this passage. We should be confident that when we pray, we’re going to get answers. Let’s be honest here. For so many Christians, the surprise isn’t when we don’t get our prayers answered, but when we do! Their lack of confidence comes from a history of unanswered prayer. Why? Why is it such a struggle sometimes to get answers? Why are so many believers repeatedly frustrated in their prayer closets? Their constant cry to God is Why God why? When God when? There are four key words in this promise which help us understand this repetitive situation, and we would be wise to take note of them. They are “according to His will”. In other words, make sure your desires in prayer line up with God’s desires for you, and be sure you’re not in rebellion to His perfect will for your life when praying.     

Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37:4  

Delighting ourselves in the Lord means living a life that is pleasing to Him, according to His standards, not ours. Therefore, it means we stay clear of a lifestyle of spiritual rebellion through disobedience and sin. That opens a door to the devil and handcuffs the Lord, plain and simple. We should never grieve the Holy Spirt, but many times we do (Ephesians 4:30). Rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23), and many times we’re in rebellion and don’t realize we are. An example of this can be found in the Old Testament, when God called out the Jews for the sin of robbing Him with their finances. When God pointed it out, they were surprised at the accusation

(Malachi 3:8-12). We’re responsible for finding God’s will for us collectively and personally. Some of His desires for you will be different than His desires for me because we’re individuals with different personalities called to do different things in different places. But there are some things that He desires for every Christian, no matter who or where or when.   

In part one of this study, we’ll start to examine some of the main ways we limit God in our lives by the choices we make. These that we list aren’t the only ones found in God’s Word, but the ones we cover are those that I’ve determined are some of the most egregious ways we cut God off in our lives. We’ll examine three of the main culprits here this month, and study others in coming editions of Christian Soldier. You’ve heard people say that God can do anything. No, He can’t. His Word clearly teaches that we can either empower or limit God in our lives. He will never override our free will. Our opening text is one that declares this truth. How can that happen? How can we limit God? First and foremost, with our words.  

It’s very important to say only what gives God something to work with, as it was with the prophet Daniel thousands of years ago.  

Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. Daniel 10:10-12

That exchange between Daniel and the messenger angel is very telling, and there’s a reason why the Holy Spirit put that in the Bible for us to read. The moment he prayed; his prayer was heard. If that happened with an Old Testament servant of God, how much more does it happen today in the New Testament, with a born-again child of God? The moment we pray, God hears and puts the process of answering us into motion. However, that process will be halted if we start to declare words that destroy the bridge between heaven’s power and our earthly needs. The effective fervent prayers of righteous men avail much (James 5:16), but on the other side of that coin, our words can completely undo every answer our prayers were seeking to acquire. Therefore, be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger

(James 1:19). Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2

We could spend years on this topic alone. Mouth mismanagement. An undisciplined tongue. One of my books deals with this, called The Language of Faith. In my opinion, the responsibility to monitor the words we speak is the most important subject in all the Bible. Jesus said so Himself:

But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”  Matthew 12:36,37

If that doesn’t make the point plain enough, how about these verses: 

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 

Ephesians 4:29

We could go on, but you get the point. If you can’t say something that gives God something to work with, zip your lip! There is value in scriptural silence!

“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:25

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:30-32

Next to a wayward tongue, unforgiveness is the next choice that gives great place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27). I’m sure Christians don’t consciously plan to do that, but that’s exactly what happens when we choose to hold unforgiveness in our hearts. No matter what the offense may be or may have been, we’re commanded to forgive EVEN AS God in Christ has forgiven us. “Even as” means we do it whether the offending party asks for it or not, just like what God did through Jesus on the cross. Second Corinthians 5:19 says that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. Romans 5:8 says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That’s what “even as” means. We are to do what God did for us. Forgive. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean our forgiveness automatically means a restoration of fellowship. It depends on what type of sin or offense was given. As an example, a battered wife should forgive her husband, but she should never restore fellowship with him until he demonstrates true, lasting repentance. But whether we can or can’t restore fellowship, we must always release our hurts through forgiveness and let God take it from there. That’s not easy, because our flesh will demand payback. Remember this when dealing with that desire: nobody ever “gets away” with anything. Those who disobey God and mistreat His children will answer to Almighty God someday, so let it go and leave it with Him. This protects your heart from bitterness, wrath, anger and evil speaking, as mentioned in God’s word through Paul’s letter to the Ephesian brethren – and to us today.  

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 1 John 1:8-10

The third example of limiting God deals with the sins we commit without asking for forgiveness. Let me pass on to you a deep and marvelous truth - when we confess our sins to God is not when He finds out about them! The longer we hold on to sin in our lives, the longer God’s hands remain tied to help us. The longer we hold on to sin, the longer the devil has free reign to steal, kill and destroy against us. Think about that. Do we really want to give the devil an open invitation to come in and wreak havoc in our lives? Of course not, but that’s what happens when we choose to play patty-cake with our flesh by letting our sinful nature dominate our choices. Remember our flesh-and-blood body is dead-to-sin. Its not yet born-again, like our spirit man inside. So, it wants to go on sinning like it always has. That’s why we must control it and keep it under submission. Paul wrote about this in detail through chapters 6,7 and 8 in Romans. Take time to read those chapters carefully, and make the decision to bring all committed sin before God. Receive His forgiveness and eliminate sinful tolerance once and for all. We can’t do that in the arm of the flesh, but we can in the power of our Lord’s might (Ephesians 6:10). Make it happen!   

Notice this in our opening passage from Psalms. The people of God didn’t just offend God occasionally. They limited Him again and again. We thank God for His patience with us, as we work to keep our flesh under control

(1 Corinthians 9:27). However, there comes a tipping point where God’s patience is replaced by His disgust and indignation. Only God knows where the line gets crossed, but for sure we don’t want to find out where it is! Our day-to-day lives should never be an exercise to see just how close we come to God’s judgment against our compromised and sin-tolerant lives. We should be diligent daily, monitoring our words, forgiving others whenever necessary, and being quick to go to God to ask for His forgiveness with the sins we have committed.  Don’t limit God!