5 Ways to Unlock God’s Promises Part 2

Last week, I shared two reasons God’s promises may be hindered in our lives and explained, through Scripture, how those hindrances can be overcome. I want to reiterate that I am not preaching a prosperity gospel. Rather, I encourage every believer to grow in the knowledge of God and enjoy a deeper relationship with Christ. As we come to know God and understand His will, we learn to recognize and receive His promises in our lives.

GOD'S PROMISESGROWING IN FAITH

Mildred White

10/15/20267 min read

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Hindrances to Receiving God’s Promises and 5 Secrets to Claim Them (Continuation)

I pray that the Lord revealed His heart and spoke to you through the first part of this article, just as He spoke to me. If you missed last week’s article, you can read 5 Ways to Unlock God’s Promises Part 1 here.

This week, let us continue exploring what can hinder God’s promises in our lives and how those hindrances can be overcome. The third hindrance had a profound impact on me because I recently experienced it in my own life. You can read my story in How to Receive God’s Promises.

Let us now consider three more reasons God’s promises may be hindered in the lives of those:

3. Who are not obedient and submitted to God

Obedience means having a heart that wants to do God’s will rather than carrying out one’s desires apart from Him.

Obedience and submission are our heart’s response to God’s goodness and love for us. They are proofs that we truly love God, because the more we know Him, the more we love Him!

Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

I must admit that it’s not always easy to obey God’s commandments. Oftentimes we struggle. When God says, “love your neighbor,” He meant all people, including those who are unlovable. I’m sure I’m not the only one who struggles with this.

However, obedience is not always easy or comfortable, yet it is what God requires of us. He knows that we sometimes struggle to obey, so He helps us when we do not know what to do or how to do it. We do not have to rely on our own strength. Philippians 2:13 (AMPC) says:
[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

God works actively in us to even want to do what He desires. Isn’t that amazing?

Also in 1 John, it says that God’s commandments are not a burden to us:

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3

However, even with all this help from God there are still those who choose to deliberately disobey Him by following their own dreams and heart’s affections.

The bible calls this “hardening of the heart.” Hebrews 3:15 says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”

Not obeying or submitting to God is tantamount to rebellion and it does not go well for those who rebel. It means they have hardened their hearts despite the conviction of the Holy Spirit who draws us closer to God and leads us into all truth.

Jesus Himself was not thrilled about dying a horrific death on the cross, but He subjected Himself to the will of the Father.

And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:39

To receive God’s promise: Surrender fully to God and obey Him. As you grow in a loving relationship with Him through Jesus, trust that He will faithfully fulfill every promise He has made in Scripture.

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32

He does not withhold anything from us that He knows is good for us. It is the Father’s desire to give us the kingdom.

4. Who do not believe in God’s promises and don’t trust God.

James made a point in James 1:6-8 when he said that he who asks God “must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Also in Hebrews 11:6 it says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Come to think of it, that makes a lot of sense. Why would God grant your request if you don’t even believe that you will receive it?

Faith is trusting that God is who He said He is, and that He can do whatever He said He will do.

Even when we do not receive exactly what we ask for, we can trust that God’s answer is consistent with His will and that His plan is better than our own. Do not be discouraged. God still fulfills His promise to be with us, and He remains the giver of every good gift.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

What promise of God have you been waiting to receive?

Do you believe that He can give it to you?

My testimony:

My daughter turned away from her faith when she was in high school. It was difficult to watch her change from a child who loved the Lord into someone who no longer believed that God is good. Yet as I pray for her each day, I trust that Jesus is interceding for her and that the Holy Spirit is leading her back to God. I do not see the answer yet, but I do not have an iota of doubt that God will accomplish what He intends—not according to my timeline or my way, but according to His will. I also believe that this confidence does not come from my own striving. It is the Father Himself who is at work in me, helping me hold on to His promise of salvation for my daughter.

To receive God’s promise: Ask God to plant seeds of faith in your heart through His Word. Believe and trust that He will do what He has said He will do.

Believe that He already answered your prayer and thank Him for fulfilling His promise even without seeing it yet.

God is pleased when we trust Him. Here are bible verses that model the kind of faith God is looking for:

1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Hebrews 11:1-3

After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Genesis 15:1

And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. Genesis 15:6

5. Who are not ready for the promise yet. Maybe you have been praying but there was a delay, and you don’t see that answer happening anytime soon.

You may be in a time of waiting and equipping. The Israelites did not claim the promised land until after 40 years of being freed from slavery in Egypt. There they stayed in the desert for forty years and some of them got really frustrated with God and died there.

The Israelites spent 40 years learning to know Yahweh, who had rescued them from slavery, because they did not yet understand who He was. In the wilderness, God taught them how to live in a way that pleased Him. Had they entered and claimed Canaan immediately after leaving Egypt, they might have worshiped the same idols as the Canaanites and forgotten God.

Think about this, even after 40 years of learning the holiness and goodness of God, not one of the adults that came out of Egypt made it to the promised land, not even Moses! Only the younger generation who were born in the desert led by Joshua set foot in Canaan.

If you see this period of “nothing” in your life, you could be in a season of waiting and equipping. Maybe you are not ready yet.

A seed may appear inactive for days or even weeks after it is planted, yet growth is taking place beneath the soil. With the right nourishment and moisture, it will eventually develop roots and leaves. In the same way, God may be working in you during a season when nothing seems to be happening.

To receive God’s promise: Embrace this season of waiting as an expectant mother awaits the birth of her child. Use this time to immerse yourself in God’s Word, align your heart with Him, humble yourself, and follow His leading as you wait.

He is not punishing you but strengthening and equipping you because the answer to your prayer requires a well-equipped and transformed “you”.

Who knows? Maybe this season is the answer to your prayer to grow deeper in your relationship with Him.

Continue to seek the Lord and put your trust in Him. Grow in your knowledge of God and gain wisdom and discernment. He loves you and wants the best for you.

And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10

Meditate on Proverbs 3 and delight in the Word of the Lord. As you continue to seek Him, may the Lord surround you with His loving arms, encourage and strengthen you, and fulfill His promises according to His perfect will. Shalom!

Proverbs 3:1-12

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you peace and prosperity.

3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
8 This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.

11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.