Carlos

Garcia

Years ago, I made friends with one of the new guys on my Christian college campus. He had such a passion for God, but he was unstable in that he needed much reassurance in his walk with the Lord. I will call him “Johnnie G” from NYC.

Johnnie G made it a point to always show his appreciation for the ministry time bestowed him and one day declared that he would rent a limo and take me to the best places in NYC including tickets to the best seat to watch The Phantom of the Opera. Johnnie said, “Just let me know and I will make it happen.”

The offer would seem tempting to some people, but my focus was so much on ministry and ministering to others that I did not take the time to see the offer as an important way of connecting; instead of seeing this as some “reward” or payback. He ended up going to another Christian university and I would not see him again. I would pray for him from time to time for the next 10 years, but unfortunately, I did not consider connecting with him until 2001, after September 11.

The towers fell in NYC. I remember feeling overwhelmed like many of us, and suddenly my college friend, Johnnie G came to mind. I remember feeling so bad that I had not taken the time to connect with my friend who I had so frequently taken the time to minister to, but I did not avail myself of developing a greater friendship. So I sought him out. Unfortunately, no one knew his whereabouts which only fueled my worst fears. I even wrote someone in upper New York who had his last name in hopes of reaching him, but no reply was given.

Admittedly, during the second 10 years, I would pray for him from time to time hoping that if he were still alive that the Lord would strengthen him in his walk with God, that he would be solid and not faint. Eventually, the hopes of finding him faded and life continued as usual until the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 when the names of all who tragically passed away were being read. I listened intently when the G’s were read to see if his name was read and they moved on to the next letter of names and a huge weight came off my chest.

Two years later, I began yet another search and found someone with his name on a Christian website. I passed on my information in hopes that someone would call me back. A few days later, I receive a huge surprise. I received a call from Bogata, Columbia. It was my old friend Johnnie G. He not only was doing well serving the Lord and standing strong in Christ, but he was celebrating 20 plus years of national and international ministry!

I spent so much time concerned about my friend’s walk with Christ over the years and the Lord made this so clear: He kept Johnnie G - and Johnnie G flourished in his walk with the Lord. He became solid and he has since mentored many others.

Have you ever found that the prayers you have before God have gone unanswered? Have you ever wondered what could be holding back the answer to your petition? After spending some time in fasting and prayer, the Lord revealed to me five hindrances to answered prayers, they are the following: sin, fear, self, time and disorder. In this writing, I'll be discussing the first point, sin.

God's word says that without obedience there is no blessing. Disobedience to God's word is sin. We may be faithful in tithing and church attendance, but if we are not walking according to God's word, we are in disobedience and sin.

We may want to become angry with God for not answering our prayer, but if we are walking in disobedience to God then we are hindering ourselves from receiving a blessing.

Sin seems to develop in stages, A) Thoughts, B) Words, and C) Action. The Scriptures state, "as a man THINKS in his heart, so is he." If the thoughts of your heart are angry, lustful, jealous, and the like, then it is an indication of whom we are, even if it is not whom we want or claim to be. (see