We’ve all had those moments when you’re talking with someone about a crisis they are facing and you hear the words, “I’ve been praying about it… But nothing seems to happen.”
And let’s be honest, we’ve all had those thoughts ourselves as well. I know that I have. I’ve been a pastor for over 25 years and a Christian for over 40 and I’ve wondered many times if my prayers are getting past the ceiling.
So, how do you lead someone, or even yourself, when giving up on prayer seems to be the best option?
We tend to start with questions like: “Maybe I’m just not asking with enough passion?” Or, “Maybe I’m just not good enough?”
Yet, Jesus was perfect and he prayed until he was sweating blood, and still got a “no” from his Father.
In my upcoming book After Amen: What to do While Waiting on God I walk through seven things we can do while we wait on answers from God. Things like “Work While You Wait”, “Align with God’s Why”, and “Share the Last 10%”.
But, here’s one I like to walk through with people who are questioning why God seems silent when they pray: I call it “Run the Checklist”.
This “checklist” is a list of things we see in the Scriptures that can short circuit our connection with God. Here are a few examples:
- Is there any unconfessed sin that you are trying to cover up?
- Do you have an unforgiving spirit towards anyone right now?
- What about your marriage – is there a wedge in between you and your spouse?
All of these things and several more can cause God’s phone to “drop the signal”.
While so much has been written about HOW to pray, very little has been said about what to do AFTER we pray.
And what I’ve found by looking at the Bible is that sometimes things are required OF us before healing can happen TO us.
I wrote a book on this and put it into a message series I’d love to make available to you.
While there are nine messages, you can use as many or as few as you’d like. Use them in a weekend series, use them in a small group – you don’t even have to give me credit. My prayer is that this series will help you and your congregation find stronger, deeper prayer lives with the Lord.
They come with manuscripts and small group videos, all of which can be used for a weekend series or even a small group zoom call. Click here to find out more.
