My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge.. —Hosea 4:6

Let’s ask Him to open our eyes so His truth can set us free.

Where Do You Need Breakthrough?

1. Name areas you need breakthrough in. Maybe it’s your finances, a relationship, addiction, or health. Write them down.
2. Then ask Him for wisdom in these areas [He promises to give us wisdom if we ask!].

Lord, I pray you speak to every person reading this (& the writer!) about what’s hindering Your blessings from being released in these areas of our lives. Thank You for listening to us. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

What Blocks God’s Blessings in Our Lives?

If we aren’t believing or living His Word, we can miss out on His gifts to us! Here are common areas I’ve seen in Scripture, my own life, & others’ lives.

1) UNBELIEF.

Hebrews 3 & 4 is a beautiful (& simultaneously stern) passage on unbelief & the reward for resting in God. Here are a few excerpts:

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God…

To whom did God swear that they would never enter His rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief…

Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

The Israelite’s unbelief caused them to disobey God and stumble in sin! As a result, God swore that they would never enter His rest — the rest of being in His presence, having faith that He’d care for them, & in living obedient lives. Instead they rebelled and sought to meet their needs another way.

The blessing of believing God is REST — for our bodies, souls & spirits! We obey Him and don’t have to STRIVE to make things happen on our timetable or in our way. We trust God is working on our behalf so we can relax. I hope you can see that faith is vital to our well-being! Without it, we can’t enter into the rest He created for us.

2) FEAR.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. –1 John 4:18

Many of us equate godliness with hardship. We may fear the future, wondering what we’ll have to endure as believers, but God says His intention is to BLESS us not HURT us! He’s continually reminded me of this famous verse over the years:

‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ —Jeremiah 29:11

I used to hate this verse because it flew in the face of my religious perspective — that suffering is God’s goal for us. I’ve since learned that suffering may be His avenue to refine us but it isn’t His destination for us. What a HUGE difference, y’all! Even in recent weeks, He’s reminded me that His aim is my good (not discipline & brokenness), so even if He ordains suffering & trials in my life, His heart is to free me from bondage, not keep me there! The Lord even says that if the enemy tries to hurt me, He will repurpose it for my good.

Wow. That does make Him a good Father! For much of my life, I’ve been missing a big chunk of the Gospel when I zeroed in on my broken journey and overlooked God’s promises of blessing for me.

If God is for us, who can be against us? –Romans 8:31

Do we believe God wants to bless us? How might it change our days if we sought His abundant goodness instead of anticipating hard times? A famous psalm says this:

I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord.

—Psalm 27

If we were convinced of this promise, I believe our days would be much different. Our hearts would overflow with gratitude, our lives with peace, and we’d walk in the blessings He’s given us! Our lives would be such powerful testimonies that people would be compelled to want what we have.

3) PRIDE.

1 Peter 5 has an awesome passage on pride in it — one that has great lessons for us today!

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ 

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

This verse strongly suggests that the devil prowls around seeking who he may devour with PRIDE! After all, that’s the sin that got him kicked out of heaven!

Staying humble before God takes diligence. Thankfully we can ask for His help: Ask Him to show you areas of pride in your life & for grace to humble yourself before Him. He is the One who lifts us up, so when we exalt ourselves, it is short-lived and ineffective. It’s also when God Himself begins to oppose us.

Can you imagine if He rewarded our arrogance? No way. Pride is a lie that says we’re above God & others & even certain sins. God wants us to operate in a spirit of humility, which is a spirit He can bless (& is rooted in reality, hah!).

That means we don’t exalt ourselves over others and we don’t put them down. We honor the people around us, look for opportunities to help them, and stay humble before the Lord.

How can we humble ourselves? One way is through FASTING. It humbles our physical bodies and purposely weakens it so God can speak more clearly. With a weakened body, we must rely more on Him.

Another great way people humbled themselves in Scripture is to lay PROSTRATE before the Lord. This sounds sooo strange, and honestly, IT IS! I’ve done this a few times and it felt so awkward. Why? Because I was humbling my flesh before Him, and it didn’t feel natural. Yet in His awesome presence many people fell down or couldn’t stand. I like how one author put it:

We either humble ourselves before God now or experience humiliation later — our choice!

4) GREED, IMMORALITY, & IDOLATRY.

Scripturally, God equates greed and immoral behavior with idolatry — because we’re looking to something other than Him to meet our needs.

Consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. –Col. 3:5

It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. –Deut. 8:9

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. –2 Cor 9

God is ABLE to bless us abundantly — once we’ve sown generously, from our hearts! Our stingy & greedy attitudes bind His hands.

That same principle is shown here: If we’re stingy, we won’t be positioned to reap all His blessings. Galatians 6:7 says:

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

Lastly in Malachi 3, the Lord makes a striking promise:

‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’

WHOA. What a promise! You can see His heart is to “throw open the floodgates of heaven & pour out…”, but He doesn’t until we’re willing to give back what belongs to Him!

5) UNFORGIVENESS.

Have you ever met a bitter person? No one wants to be around them.

Scripture makes it VERY clear — God won’t forgive those who won’t forgive others!! This is a tough lesson, but how can He show grace to us when we withhold it from others? We reap what we sow, remember?

Jesus gives a parable in Matthew 18. In it, the “King” allows the unforgiving servant to be tortured because he refused to extend mercy to his fellow servant! That’s one place in Scripture where God literally allows us to be TORTURED — when we won’t forgive.

I’ve experienced years of bondage over areas of unforgiveness in my life and watched entire families & lives destroyed over it. It’s NEVER worth the price! According to Scripture, we’re cheating ourselves out of an eternity with God (and peace in our hearts) if we cling to stubborn anger. Let it go.

6) JUDGMENT & SLANDER.

Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

—James 4

How to Position Yourself to Be Blessed

In summary, here are 7 ways to position yourself to receive the blessings of heaven. His desire is to give you all the good gifts, in His perfect timing!

1. Believe. First, believe He wants to give you good things! Psalm 56 says, “This I know, that God is for me.” Hebrews 11 says: “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” It’s been said that faith is the opposite of fear, and if faith comes by hearing the Word of God, then diving into Scripture & listening to sermons (at church or on YouTube/TV) is your key!
2. Trust. Even when it doesn’t make sense, allow yourself to rest in His promises… He has goodness in store for you! Psalm 23 says, “Surely goodness & mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
3. Humble yourself. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble! If we want His opposition, we can continue to act out of our ego — or we can humble ourselves before Him and receive His grace & mercy. Are you feeling opposition in your life? It may not be the enemy… it may be God Himself!! Repent, get right with Him, and humble yourself under His mighty hand that He may lift you up!
4. Repent. For running to things instead of Him. For judging & slandering others. For being selfish & unloving to the people He loves. For being proud & greedy, instead of exhibiting His humble, gracious & giving attitude. For not honoring God or believing His Word. When we do this, we invite His grace to flow into our lives.
5. Forgive. We simply cannot expect His grace to flood our lives if we refuse to give it to others — He Himself said so.
6. Let Him be the judge. Walk away from the temptation to air your opinion about everyone’s lives and how they’re living them. Yes, there must be accountability in God’s body, but we are not to focus our attention on Someone Else’s servants. That’s His job! 🙂 We will reap what we sow in this area, and by the measure we judge others, we too will be judged — so judge carefully.
7. Praise Him. We often think God owes us something. He’s already given us ALL we need to live a life of godliness & victory in Christ! He also says “yes” to us when we say “amen” to His word & His promises — He’s given us all things in Jesus. So why do we ask for more? I’m not talking about godly asks… but the ones that stem from an ungrateful heart. God loves cheerful givers, including when we give Him gratitude! There must be a reason King David, the “man after God’s own heart”, wrote psalms of praise throughout His life! God wants our worship & our thankful hearts. He doesn’t want to spoil us when we have an entitled attitude.

I hope this article encourages you that 1) God is for you & 2) He has blessings in store for your life — if you’ll just put yourself in the proper position to receive them! 🙂