When Does God Not Hear My Prayers?

"If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer." - Psalm 66

Does that thought bother you? The idea that God will not always hear our prayers. I have talked about this before. This is not about whether you are a Christian. It is about how we approach God to pray.

"Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord, And righteousness from the God of his salvation." - Psalm 24:3-5

I believe that we treat God with great disrespect when we don't consider the condition of our hearts before we approach God in prayer. It is almost like we treat God like we are at a drive through fast food restaurant. We pull up, place our order and get frustrated if we think they take too long to fill the order. Or worse give us something we didn't ask for.  

Jesus is our high priest and makes eternal intercession for us. It is His blood that has atoned for our sin. And yet, we are told we must confess our sins as we live our lives day to day.

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." - 1 John 1:8-10

When David, who had been anointed by God and was described by God as a "man after God's own heart" confessed his sin to God he said in Psalm 51

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit." - Psalm 51:10-12

Time does not heal all wounds. You should not pretend that your sin didn't happen. Sins that are harbored in our heart affect our relationship with our Father. We don't lose our salvation -He is still our Father - Jesus is still our intercessor - the Spirit, although quenched is still in us but our intimacy with the Father is affected. 

Jesus told the disciples in relation to sin that they didn't have to wash their whole body - just their feet to cleanse the sins that they had picked up along the way. (John 13)

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone