Hampered Fellowship with God

Yesterday, I was preaching on the need for consistent fellowship with God. I only had a few minutes to finish up and was not able to go into detail on what can cause our fellowship with God to be less than what God desires and we need. So here it is...

Fellowship with God is hampered when…
1. We are not thankful
When you see God the way Scriptures reveals Him and the benefits He provides His people, it is easy to give thanks at all times.

Psalm 100:3–5 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

We are His. He has made us.
We are His. He is our Shepherd.
We are His. We can enter His house and praise Him.
We are His. He loves us forever.

2. We are not mindful of God’s presence
When we understand the omniscience and omnipresence of God as Scripture reveals, we will never feel alone. We will know that God is with us. There is no where we can go where God will not be present with us.

Psalm 139:8–10 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

3. We are not fulfilling our commitments to God
When we understand the plan of God given to us in God's Word and live it, we gain a blessing and a sense of God's powerful hand at work in us, through us, and around us. It is in obedience that we put ourselves in a blessable position.
Psalm 1:1–3 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

4. We are not right with other believers
When we live as one united people under Christ as commanded in the Bible, we enjoy the encouragement of God and one another.

Psalm 133:1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

God is glorified in the love His people give to one another. It is in the act of forgiving and forging ahead united in Christ that the Gospel is revealed to be real in our lives.

If we live in a constant state of prayer asking God to enable us to do these things, we will discover a deeper fellowship with God and the joy of the Lord will be our strength.