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Speaker 1: Life audio. Someone recently asked me the question, is there

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Speaker 1: something I'm doing that is actively blocking my prayers? Well,

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Speaker 1: the answer is maybe there are things that can block

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Speaker 1: our prayers. Unconfessed sin as an example. When you confess

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Speaker 1: your sin, you clear the air with God and you

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Speaker 1: ask him to forgive you. But when sin is unconfessed,

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Speaker 1: it can act as a barrier between you and God.

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Speaker 1: So I think it's always a good thing to ask

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Speaker 1: God to forgive you of your sin. The Bible also

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Speaker 1: says that if you have idols in your heart, God

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Speaker 1: won't hear your prayers, So that could be another issue

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Speaker 1: you're putting something in the place of God. Another one

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Speaker 1: could be unforgiveness. Jesus said, when you come and you

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Speaker 1: bring your gift to the altar, if you have someone

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Speaker 1: you need to forgive, you should deal with that first.

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Speaker 1: Unconfessed sin, other things taking the place of God, these

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Speaker 1: can block your prayer. This is why Jesus taught us

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Speaker 1: to pray in the Lord's Prayer, which is a template

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Speaker 1: for all prayer. Our Father word in heaven, how it

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Speaker 1: would be your name, your kingdom. Come here will be

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Speaker 1: done on earth as it is in heaven. Forgive us

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Speaker 1: our sin as we forgive those who have sinned against us.

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Speaker 1: Notice that it starts with asking God to forgive you

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Speaker 1: of your sin. The Bible says, if we will confess

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Speaker 1: our sin, He's faithful in just to forgive us our

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Speaker 1: sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So when you

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Speaker 1: pray ask God to forgive you, and then bring your

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Speaker 1: needs and your petitions to him, there's nothing you'd do

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Speaker 1: that makes you more acceptable to God. It's what Christ

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Speaker 1: has done for you. The Bible says that He has

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Speaker 1: made us acceptable in the Beloved. In other words, I

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Speaker 1: approach God on the basis of the blood of Jesus

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Speaker 1: that was shed for me on the cross, not he

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Speaker 1: says of how good of a Christian I've been, or

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Speaker 1: how many Bible verses I read that day, or if

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Speaker 1: I attended church, or if I pray. Those are all

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Speaker 1: very good things, of course, But the point is my

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Speaker 1: access to God is based on His sacrifice for me.

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Speaker 1: So don't let the devil whisper in your ear. You're

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Speaker 1: not worthy to approach God. Bottom line is you never

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Speaker 1: were worthy and you never will be again. It's not

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Speaker 1: based on my worthiness. It's based on His grace and

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Speaker 1: his love toward me, and his invitation to call upon

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Speaker 1: him and to reach out to him and ask him

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Speaker 1: for the things that I need in life. Here's a

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Speaker 1: question that came from someone recently. Why does God promise

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Speaker 1: daily bread instead of a lifetime of bread? Now? Probably

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Speaker 1: because if he gave us everything we need, say once

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Speaker 1: a year, how often do you think you would pray?

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Speaker 1: I think that the Lord will keep us dependent on him,

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Speaker 1: so we will see how much we need him each

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Speaker 1: and every day. And the Lord's prayer. Of course, Jesus

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Speaker 1: taught us to pray, as follows our Father, whatd in heaven,

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Speaker 1: holl it would be your name, your kingdom, Come here,

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Speaker 1: will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

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Speaker 1: Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us

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Speaker 1: our sin, as we forgive those who've sinned against us.

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Speaker 1: So give us this day our daily bread, not give

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Speaker 1: us this month or monthly bread, or this year our

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Speaker 1: yearly bread. We need to understand that everything we have

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Speaker 1: is a gift to us from God. Even if you

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Speaker 1: have a job and you went out and earned your paycheck,

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Speaker 1: and then you took that paycheck to the market and

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Speaker 1: you bought your food, and you prepared your food. That's

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Speaker 1: a gift from God. You say, no, I worked for it.

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Speaker 1: Yes you did. But God gave you the ability to work.

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Speaker 1: He gave you the breath you draw on your lungs.

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Speaker 1: He gave you that day to use for his glory.

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Speaker 1: So He wants to keep us dependent upon him. Thus

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Speaker 1: he provides for us in the way that he provides