Anyone that is 18 or older can have a shotgun.

If you are 21 or older and your record is clear, then you can buy yourself a pistol. In about a 12 minute check, you can walk out of a store owning a gun. But, if you want to take your shooting to the next level and get yourself a suppressor, then it’s going to take about 9 months to a year for them to check you and your background.

That’s sort of how it is for us. We want to take our walk with God to the next level. So, He starts doing a deep dive into our lives.

I’ve done a deep search into what can hinder our prayers.

I’ve found that if you don’t treat your spouse right, it can hinder your prayers. I have had to apologize to my Shelia and tell her that I was sorry for any time I had put others in front of her and it wounded her. 

I want to be right with my Shelia, but not just her, I want to be right with God more than anything. When I pray, I want Heaven to listen and hell to tremble. I’d like to get so clean and close to God, that when I die, hell will have a celebration saying, “He’s finally gone!” I’d like to know that when we pray, angels stand in attention. 

Challenge: Get clean

All the stuff that hurts way back into your childhood. All the pain, bitterness, unforgiveness, and junk. It can be just between you and the Lord. Pray and get your heart right, where you don’t hurt at hearing that person’s name. Pray that your heart be clean and pure before God.

Challenge: Pick your challenges

Learn to grin and walk away. You don’t have to fight every battle that the enemy throws at you. 1 Samuel 17:4-11. About this time, David happens on the scene. But, Goliath wasn’t the only challenge David was faced with during this time. 1 Samuel 17:28. Eliab (David’s eldest brother) had anger kindled against David and he started humiliating and belittling David. He challenges David to an argument that probably would have turned into a fistfight. But, David knew that if he fought with his brother, that God wouldn’t get involved in it. David wasn’t looking for fights where he would have to fight for himself. He was looking for fights that God would get involved in. So, David walked away.

One way to deal with some hateful people is to just grin and say, “Talk to the hand, because my ears aren’t listening.” 

Sometimes folks keep trying to destroy you. Just grin and walk away. And don’t let the devil beat you down because there are some wicked people on your job that you can’t reach. If you can help them, then help them! If you can’t, there’s no reason to let them drown you, make you bitter, and destroy you. You are not the only person in the world that God can use to help them. God has not called you to win everybody.

Jesus will send people in your life for you to help. 

The devil will send people in your life to make you bitter, to discourage you, and to destroy you. Sometimes the greatest thing you can do is pick Jonah up and say, “Jonah, you aren’t right with God right now. Maybe someday you will be. But, because you’re not right with God if I keep hanging with you my whole family will drown. I got to throw you overboard. If you don’t want to be right with God, then I’m not going to let you destroy me.” 

Sometimes you give all this love and generosity to someone and it makes no difference. But, you may not be the one God has chosen to reach them. And you are being God to them because everytime they have a need, they come to you and you fix it. But you need to throw Jonah overboard and say, “I’ll love you and I’ll be praying for you, but I’m not bailing you out this time. If you make it, God’s going to have to send you a whale because I can’t do it.”

Sometimes you just have to walk away from some folk.

Stop fighting controlling people. What they say about you shouldn’t control how you feel or what you think about yourself. Saul put his armor on David. “I’ll let you go only if I can have some control over you.” David turned down the challenge of Eliab and then Saul. Don’t go into a battle that God won’t go with you. 

Scars are battles won.

The most feared lion is the one with the most scars because he’s been through battles upon battles and he still made it through. Take your scars and wave them in the face of the devil, “I should have quit here, but I’m still praising God and loving Him.”

Go ahead and kneel at your altar. Take some loads off. If you let this thing consume all your time, who are you going to help? If you have a nervous breakdown because of this, who are you going to help? You aren’t God. Make up your mind that you won’t pick up loads that are too heavy for you. Love them, care for them, be kind to them, but release them. Don’t let them have power over you.

Before I leave you, here’s a few Scriptures. 2 Timothy 1:12. 1 Peter 4:19. Psalm 31:5. Romans 8:31. Isaiah 54:17. Psalms 84:11-12. Acts 27:18-19.

All that trivial stuff the enemy tries to weigh your mind down with, lay it aside. You are not called to win everyone. Sometimes people become a weight in your life. Make sure that you know when it’s time to hold them and when it’s time to release them.

Watch the sermon below to hear more!

– Pastor Anthony Wynn