Stop Chasing the Pot Roast — Why You're Not Receiving From God

I'm excited to start a brand-new series that's going to explain why some of your prayers haven't been getting answered — and I promise you, it has nothing to do with God holding out on you.

I was teaching on this recently at Real Life Church, and I want to walk you through it here too, because I believe this is foundational. Not helpful. Foundational.

Have you ever prayed and just... not received?

I know a lot of Christians who still pray, but honestly, they've stopped expecting anything to happen.

I saw a bumper sticker once here in my town that said, "Nothing fails like prayer." And I get why somebody would write that.

Not long ago an atheist came after me on Facebook — he wasn't going to convince me of anything, but his whole argument was, "Keep a journal of your prayer life and watch how none of it happens."

Here's the thing — his argument falls apart in my life, because I've actually learned some things over the years that give me a track record of real answers in prayer.

That is not luck. That is understanding something most people never grab a hold of.

It's not the sovereignty of God — don't let anyone tell you that.

There's a crowd out there who teaches that everything that happens is God's will — good, bad, or ugly — because "God is sovereign and can do whatever He wants."

I believe God is sovereign. I believe He's the highest authority there is. But is everything that happens on this earth His will? No. Is everything that happens in your life His will? No.

Here's what really gets me about that crowd: when you try to lay hold of a promise from God, they start yelling "word of faith" like it's a dirty phrase. But basically what they're saying is that God can break His own Word whenever He feels like it.

God cannot violate His Word — not for you, not for anyone.

If God said it, He will perform it. That's not word of faith. That's just who God is.

So what's the real answer? Turn to Mark chapter 4.

Jesus tells His disciples a parable, and then He says something that should stop you in your tracks.

“And He said to them, ‘To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables…’”

Mark 4:11 (NKJV)

This is a key parable — Jesus even says, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?" In other words, if you don't get this one, nothing else He teaches is going to make sense.

Are you an inside person, or an outside person?

Here's what I want you to catch: verse 10 says it was “those around Him with the twelve” who got the explanation — not just the twelve apostles.

Picture it like a church service letting out. Some people head for the door thinking, “Great message, Pastor Jesus — got a pot roast at home, gotta run.”

“That was awesome. I don't understand a word of it, but at least I showed up.”

But there was another group. They stuck around. They said, "I need to understand this." And that decision paid off, because it has been given to them to know the mysteries of the kingdom.

Being an insider isn't about position — it's a decision you make.

Will you chase the pot roast, or will you chase Him?

The Word is a seed — not a drive-through order

Verse 14 says, "The sower sows the Word." That single comparison will explain to you why so many people never receive from the Lord.

Jesus doesn't compare the Word of God to a 7-Eleven or a McDonald's. He compares it to a seed — something you plant, tend, and wait on.

This is a lifestyle, not a last-minute fix.

A lot of people never get a harvest for one simple reason: they never planted any seed to begin with. They tried to cram it in at midnight, and that's not how the Kingdom works.

Make up your mind to actually have ears to hear.

Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Everybody in that crowd had ears on the sides of their heads. That's not what He was talking about.

Having ears to hear means you decide you're not just going to let words pass through your head — you're going to let the Word land.

That's why I don't run through an eight-chapter-a-day reading plan. If I read something and it doesn't land, I stop and go back. I'd rather understand one verse than skim ten.

Make up your mind today: you're not chasing the pot roast anymore. You're chasing Him. Stay planted, keep your ears open, and let the Word do what it was always meant to do in your life.

Fight To Win.