Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark11:24-25
We live in an “on demand” culture. We zip through commercials, complain about how slow fast-food is, and generally look for ways to avoid any kind of waiting. This often causes us stress because not everyone is on our time.
Sadly, this spills over into our prayer lives. We come to a crisis and we expect God to move and to move now! But as we learn from the Bible, there are things that matter to God when we pray. The first thing we looked at was our relationships. Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Then He quickly added that the second commandment was just like the first. We should love our neighbors as we love ourselves. God shows us clearly through the words of Jesus that our relationships matter. In Mark 11, Jesus says that if we are praying and we have anything against anyone, we are to forgive them so that God can forgive us.
Are there relationships in your life that may be hindering your prayers? I challenge you to seek God and to point out people in your life that you need to forgive or ask to be forgiven.