We all pray and we also expect answers to our prayers from God. But many times our prayers go unanswered and we despair. And then many of us become dull in our prayer life. So, let us together examine the Holy Scriptures with the help of the Holy Spirit and see the things that are making our prayers ineffective.
1. Sin is the barrier that is rendering our prayers ineffective.
David fell into adultery with Bathsheba and with treachery he made her husband Uriah to be killed in the battlefield (2 Samuel 11, 12). This incident broke his relationship with the God. When we sin, a gap is created between us & God. Our fellowship with God gets broken. When we read the account of David’s sin with Bathsheba, we know that almost for 1 year his relationship with God was broken. Our iniquities separate us from our God and because of our sins He hides his face from us and doesn’t hear us. Our sins then stand like a wall between us and our God (Isaiah 59:1, 2). And many of us now have stopped praying as God has hidden his face from us because of our sins (Isaiah 64:7). Psalmist says that if we entertain evil in our heart God will not listen to our prayers (Psalms 66:18). So what is the way out?
David confessed his sin to God and God forgives his sin (Psalms 32:5). Psalms 32 & Psalms 51 is the David’s psalms of repentance. This is the only way out. Don’t try to whitewash your sin but confess and forsake it. God will show mercy to you (Proverbs 28:13). When we admit our sins, God shows that He is faithful and just by forgiving us of our sins and purifying us from the pollution of all the bad things we have done (1 John 1:9). Jesus Christ, our Advocate, will intercede for us with the Father (1 John 2:1).
Now is the time to examine ourselves in the light of above scriptures. Are you thinking about doing anything sinful inside your heart? Are there any known sins in your life? Is there anything which is not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action? Don’t delay. Come to Jesus and confess and forsake your sin. His blood will remove all your sin and guilt (1 John 1:7). He is waiting for you to embrace you like the prodigal son who returned to his Father.
Jesus Christ is ever ready to settle this matter. But are you ready? Do you have the desire to settle this at the earliest? Do you really long for unhindered fellowship with your Lord?
In Isaiah 1:18 the Lord says,
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
May God help each every one of us to confess and forsake our sins!! May God help each every one of us to have a unbroken fellowship with our heavenly father!! God bless you all!!
