Text: Psalms 66:18 NKJV

Further Reading: Genesis 3:8-10

If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.

Psalms 66:18 NKJV

MESSAGE

The condition of a man’s heart will determine whether his prayer will be answered or not. The truth is that a sinning person can not pray with a faith-filled expectation to receive from God. This is not because such cannot open his mouth to pray but because there is a quarrel between him and God.

It is natural for people to avoid the people they are not on good terms with, sinners feel the same way and avoid prayer because they have no living relationship with God.

To us children of God, prayer is more than a means of receiving from God but for fellowship and communion. As long as the relationship is intact, prayer will be beautiful and effective.

Our reading of the day highlighted this obvious truth. As long as there was no sin in the garden, Adam and Eve fellowshiped with God and they enjoyed it. But the moment sin came, they could not come out to face God.

Are you a person who used to enjoy God’s presence in the past but no longer does? Check your inner life and you will find sins of some sort. Sin drives a man away from the presence of God into hiding.

Anytime the children of Israel worshipped God wholeheartedly, their land is blessed and they enjoy God’s glory in their worship. But when they turn to idols, they face God’s wrath and judgement.

In psalms 24, the Bible says that only those with clean hands and pure hearts can have access to God’s holy mountain. They are those whose heart is not filled with vanities and deceits.

Think about Jonah, sin drove him away from the presence of God. He would not even dare pray when he was asked.  So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
Jonah 1:6 NKJV

Anyone who continues to indulge in sin will find himself alien to prayer. God’s call to every sinner is to repent.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
Isaiah 1:18 NKJV

Those who indulge in sinful lifestyles will repeatedly find prayer a big task. How can a man face a holy God with soiled hands and dirty conscience? Deal with sin or you won’t be able to or an effective prayer.

REFLECTION

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

Isaiah 59:1‭-‬2 NKJV

Isaiah 59:1-2 NKJV

Sin is the greatest hindrance to praying and receiving answers to prayer. Eliminate sin and you will be bold to pray with assurance that you have what you asked for.

PRAYER

Father, I confess every known and unknown sin hindering me from praying and receiving answers to all my prayers.