Pastor Jason Anderson - Audio

Too often, prayers seem to go unanswered, and it can be frustrating. The job didn't get better, the healing didn't come, the kids keep running from God, you prayed to do well on the test, but it still went badly. You know prayer works because you've seen it, but sometimes it doesn't work. In this message, "How Do I Pray? Developing a Life of Effective Prayer," learn the key to effective prayer.

Two thousand years ago, the Lord gave us Jesus. Why? "That you might have life... abundant life." Jesus paid a great price for us to have a great life, full of love, laughter, and relationship, living in His promises. It's easy to get frustrated and lose hope, but don't! There is a secret to dwelling in the promises God has given us.

Sometimes we have to let go of the old things in our lives. They used to work, but they don't anymore--old ways, old regrets, old wounds, old insecurities. That's who we used to be, and we're not taking the old stuff with us into a new year. Let it go!

"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance." (Psalm 32:7) Can you hear the songs around you? Whether or not you hear them, songs of deliverance surround you. But God isn't just delivering you; His intention is to deliver the enemy into your hands that you would participate in the deliverance. He is the deliverer; you are a weapon of war. Do you hear the song of deliverance?

Others want to tell you who God is and what He does, but we have to seek to see who Jesus is for ourselves. The Bible says that Zacchaeus "sought to see who Jesus was." He pressed through the crowd, ran ahead, and climbed a tree to get a glimpse of Him. Jesus is who you need Him to be at any moment. Have you seen Him? Seek to SEE Him, press through, and experience your breakthrough.

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, the elders obtained a good testimony." (Hebrews 11:1-2) Many Bible heroes got a "good testimony" because they believed God. Maybe there are stories in your life that aren't so good—stories of loss and defeat where the enemy came in and left a mess. Fear wants to write your story. Discouragement wants to author the next chapter, but don't let it. Get a better story. Faith in God will change your story. Say no to fear and doubt. Say, "I believe God." He has a great story for you, but He needs you to believe. God is in control of a life submitted to Him in faith. Learn how faith can change YOUR story.

In the world today, we see a lack of faithfulness, trustworthiness, commitment, character. Psalm 18:25 says, "To the faithful, you show yourself faithful." God is faithful, but not everyone gets to see that faithfulness. Jesus said it this way: "When you are faithful with little, God will make you ruler over much."

What we contemplate is what we reflect. So often, we take our contemplator, and we reflect upon the wrong things. How they treated you at work, the bad report, what that person said to you, how you got cut off on the road. You contemplate how forgetful your husband is or how naggy your wife is. Or teens, contemplating how unfair it all is. Our contemplation is creating our reflection. Instead, we need to be contemplating what God has done for us, what He holds in eternity, and our life and our world will begin to reflect the glory of God. If we want transformation, our part is the contemplation.

Too many people go around feeling wrong about themselves, full of self-doubt, and down on themselves. When you do this, you are limiting yourself. You're pushing back on supernatural opportunities and stagnating your growth. The world will tell you what's wrong with you. Satan is going to lie to you and make you think you can't win. There is plenty against you; you don't need to be against you too. You are a tree, a flourishing tree, not perfect, but a work in progress. God is growing you, so remove the limits and agree with what God says about you.