11 Ways You’re Blocking Your Blessings and How to Unblock Them – Part 1 of 5

I was on a walk recently and heard the Lord say,

“Let Me adorn your life. Let Me adorn you!”

I was so intrigued by the words He chose.

I thought, “What does ‘adorning’ our lives look like?”

And more pressing, how do we undermine a God, Who asks us to ‘let Him’ do just that?

How We Block Our Blessings

When I asked Him about the latter, He said, “It’s simple. Life has worn you down, so much so, that you let go of the simplicity of My heart and My power to bless in the dark place you find yourself in, and My heart and My ability to bless you in particular.”

Then, He directed me to the following passage:

The parents kept bringing their little children to Jesus so that he would lay his hands on them and bless them. But the disciples kept rebuking and scolding the people for doing it. When Jesus saw what was happening, he became indignant with his disciples and said to them, “Let all the little children come to me and never hinder them! Don’t you know that God’s kingdom realm exists for such as these? Listen to the truth I speak: Whoever does not open their arms to receive God’s kingdom like a teachable child will never enter it. – Mark 10:13-15 (TPT)

As I read, He asked me, “What voices are rebuking and scolding your childlike trust in My heart that always (without exception) wants to bless you?”

Then He happily started unpacking those hindering voices. I’ll list them for you and we’ll spend some time (additional blogs coming your way), helping you overcome them!

11 Hindrances to Your Blessing

1. Do you think God withholds? This critical voice says something like, “It’s not about your blessing, you selfish thing!”

2. Are you afraid that if you “get your blessing” someone else won’t get theirs? This critical voice says something like, “Who are you to get ____, when there’s people who don’t even have ____!”

3. Are you feeling condemned or like you’re falling short? This critical voice says something like, “You know you’ve failed over and over!” or “You just aren’t doing enough!”

4. Are you feeling unworthy? This critical voice says something like, “You know you’ll never be good enough!”

5. Are you frustrated with your inability to receive from God or others? This frustrated voice says something like, “I just can’t be open to receive no matter what I do!”

6. Are you afraid to get your hopes up? This fearful voice says something like, “I’ve been so disappointed in the past. I can’t risk getting my hopes up again!”

7. Do you feel like God has abandoned you or dropped the ball? This crushed voice says, “God wasn’t there for me and still isn’t there for me!” or “God helps, but only enough to barely scrape by!”

8. Are you simply unable to get past your own head? This skeptical voice says  something like, “It just doesn’t make sense,” or “It’s just not rational!”

9. Are you being impatient? This exasperated voice says something like, “God, WHEN are you going to come through for me?!”

10. Do you just have no clue? This baffled voice says something like, “I’m just so confused and overwhelmed!”

11. Do you feel so beat down that you’ve got nothing left to believe with? This wiped-out voice says something like, “I have nothing left!”

Can you relate to one or more of these? I sure can! I’ve felt every single one of these at one time or another!

As you can imagine, I knew I needed some help. Maybe you do, too? Let’s get some!

Practical Steps to Unblock Blessings:

• Reflect and Acknowledge: Identify specific barriers hindering your blessings.
• Prayer and Meditation: Seek guidance through prayer and meditation for clarity and direction.
• Positive Affirmations: Replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations to shift your mindset.
• Gratitude Journaling: Regularly record blessings and express gratitude to foster a positive outlook.
• Community Engagement: Connect with a supportive community to share experiences and receive encouragement.
• Professional Help: Consider seeking guidance from counselors or mentors for personalized assistance.
• Scripture and Faith: Draw strength from spiritual teachings and trust in God’s promises.

Break down the walls blocking your blessings by actively addressing these barriers. Embrace positive change, trust in God’s plan, and open yourself to the abundant blessings meant for you.

Help for Your “Breakdown”

Let’s go back to the scripture God gave me and take notice a few things.

In Mark 10:13, the parents brought their children to Jesus to bless them but the disciples instead rebuked and scolded them.

Notice Jesus, the express image of the Father (Hebrews 1:3), responded with indignance – He wasn’t happy and He rebuked those voices right back!

Thus, God is displeased when His kids get cheated because of the “voices” that hinder us from the blessings (in all their dimensions) that He paid a huge price to provide for His kids.

We have to start from the understanding that it was God’s idea in the first place to bless us!

We also need to trust that God is infinitely good. Good looks like true goodness. God does not give downgrades or gifts full of confusion.

Lastly, God knows how to lavishly bless us without “spoiling” our character (Philippians 4:19, Romans 8:31-32, 1 Timothy 6:17, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Romans 8:27-30, Proverbs 10:22, Psalm 31:19, Psalm 40:4, Psalm 67:6-7, Psalm 112:3, Psalm 115:14-15, Galatians 3:14, Ephesians 1:3).

As the scripture says, His kingdom was created FOR us (Mark 10:14)!

Key Takeaways:

• Hindrances to blessings often arise from negative voices that challenge childlike trust in God’s goodness.
• Recognize and overcome critical, fearful, frustrated, or impatient voices blocking blessings.
• Jesus rebuked hindering voices in the Bible, indicating God’s displeasure when His children are cheated of blessings.
• Understand that God’s intention is to lavishly bless without compromising character.

I hope this blesses you today. Join me in Part 2 coming next week for additional help as you overcome these hindrances to the blessings that God has for you!

XO,

Catherine