I have received emails from several people in the last month asking why God is not blessing their lives. Some of those emails recounted all the things they are supposedly doing right and others complained that God wasn’t keeping his part of the deal.
We know from the Scriptures that God is a good God who loves to bless his children (Matthew 7:11). At the same time, God knows our hearts, our abilities, and what’s around the corner for us, so, if He chooses not to bless in a certain area, that could be a blessing in itself.
Based on three decades of ministering to others as a pastor’s wife and Bible teacher, and seeing God’s blessings come and go in my life and the lives of others, here are 10 reasons why God can’t. bless your life
1. You have not asked for the blessing
How many times do we feel unhappy with God because He hasn’t provided for us when we haven’t taken the time to ask Him what we specifically need? Sure, God knows our needs. But He wants a relationship with us in which we come to Him, in faith, and ask for what we need.
The Scripture says: “Ye covet, and have not; you kill and burn with envy, and cannot reach; you fight and fight, but you do not have what you desire, because you do not ask” (James 4: 2). And Jesus said to his followers: “Until now you have not asked anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (John 16:24).
Start asking specifically and see what God wants to teach you about asking, trusting, and being thankful.
2. You have not asked in faith
If you are asking God for blessings and He still does not answer that prayer, you may not be asking in faith, truly believing that He will answer.
Jesus told his followers: “Whatever you ask for in prayer, you will receive if you have faith” (Matthew 21:22) and “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24 ).
Jesus said that all things are possible for those who believe (Mark 9:23). If he has trouble believing it, ask him to help you in his disbelief.
Jesus honored the sincerity of the man who asked for something and followed it up with “help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).
3. You are asking for the wrong reasons
Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t answer people’s prayers for winning the lottery? James 4: 3 gives us an idea: “You ask, and you do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend on your delights.”
Try asking God for blessings that will help you bless others. Or try asking him to bless others first, rather than yourself.
Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
4. It’s all about you
I recently received an email from a man demanding to know why God was not blessing him.
He recounted one unfortunate situation after another and, in a bitter tone, expressed his utter disappointment in God. The email from him was full of references to “me”, “me” and “me”.
He never asked what he could do to please God, he just complained about how God had not pleased him.
He did not speak of his obedience or of any desire he had to be a child whose Father would be pleased to bless him. In fact, he never spoke of a father-son relationship with God.
God is not a glorified Santa Claus. He is not obligated to bless any of us either.
If it’s all about you, and what God is giving or not giving you, God might choose not to bless your life until it becomes all about Him (Luke 9:23) and not you.
When you die to yourself (Galatians 2:20), you will not focus on whether or not you are being blessed, but on how to be a blessing to God.
5. There is unconfessed sin in your life
Are you praying for the blessing of a job? A promotion? Success in a certain endeavor?
If there is unconfessed sin in your life, it could be affecting your relationship with God and affecting your distribution of blessings.
God wants a relationship. So if He is not blessing, perhaps the relationship is strained by disobedience in your life or habitual sin that you are not yielding to Him.
After instructing believers to pray with the right motives, James instructs: “Submit yourselves therefore to God; resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Sinners, cleanse your hands; and you double-minded, purify your hearts. Be afflicted, and mourn and weep. Your laughter turns into tears, and your joy into sadness. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you,” James 4:7-10.
It seems that James is implying that as the relationship with God is correct and we maintain a level of humility, the blessings will flow.
6. You are being directly impacted by someone else’s sin
If you’re being responsible and obedient with your money, and yet God isn’t blessing you financially, you may want to look at the behavior and spending habits of anyone else who shares your bank account.
God does not punish us for the sins of others, but sometimes we share the consequences of sin or the irresponsibility of those closely related to us.
The Bible is full of warnings about the consequences of unhealthy associations. For example, Proverbs 22:24-25 warns: “Don’t befriend a hot-tempered person, don’t associate with someone who is easily angered, or you may learn their ways and get trapped.”
Psalm 101 is a good example for us to pray for integrity in all our dealings: “My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks blamelessly will minister to me. No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will be in my presence” (verses 6-7).
7. God’s timing is different from yours
Ecclesiastes 3:1 assures us, “There is a time for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven.” I think that includes a time for blessings. God may want you to wait and grow in dependence on Him before giving you anything.
The Scriptures also tell us that God’s ways are perfect and His Word is perfect (Psalm 18:30). That means He knows when the time is right for us to receive certain blessings and when it is not.
8. He wants you to be persistent.
Have you become discouraged or given up on receiving certain blessings? Maybe you haven’t been persistent enough.
In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus told his disciples a parable “to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (verse 1).
Because God is more concerned with a relationship with you, he may simply want you to keep praying. Don’t give up blessing may be just around the corner.
9. What you are asking for is not really good for you
The Scriptures tell us: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like changing shadows” (James 1:17). But sometimes we have not stopped to consider if what we are asking or expecting from God is really good and perfect for us.
Psalm 84:11 assures us: “For the sun and shield is the Lord God; grace and glory will give Jehovah. He will not take away good from those who walk uprightly.”
That protective aspect of God’s character could be protecting us from something that we are asking of God, since that is not necessarily God’s best for us.
In that case, what we assume is that a blessing might not be a “good thing” for us after all. Trust in God even though you don’t see it.
10. He is a blessing; You just haven’t noticed
What do you consider a blessing? Something financially rewarding? Something that makes you happy?
The fact that you have life, breath, and someone in your life who loves you are all blessings He has given that you may have taken for granted.
Ephesians 1:3 says that God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.” The next 11 verses describe, in detail, our eternal inheritance if we trust in Christ Jesus for our salvation.
Start thanking Him for everything you have, even what doesn’t seem like a blessing. and you may find that He has already blessed you much more than you realized.
Cindi McMenamin is a pastor’s wife, Bible teacher, and national speaker with more than 30 years of experience helping women and couples to know God more intimately. She is the author of 17 books.
Published in: NOTCIACRISTIANA.COM – Find out daily about all the evangelical Christian news.
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