Prayer: Why don't I get answers #2
Sin is the second reason why our prayers are not answered.Sinful rebellion short-circuits the work of God in our lives.
On the face of this, it looks like we're all in trouble! We're all sinners aren't we? Yes, but not all of us have unanswered prayer in our lives! We need to understand that Isaiah is addressing a stubborn, rebellious, resistant nation that are guilty of inflexible disobedience and rebellion. They do not want to change their ways. They are sinful. They know it and they don't want to change.
It is not the day to day sin that I regret and am sorry about that keeps me away from God. I call these sinful-mistakes - they are serious and need to be dealt with, but they are different from deep-seated and deep-rooted sinful rebellion!
Regretted and confessed sin will not keep me from God, but deep rooted unyielding rebellion and unbending insistence on doing things that displease God will result in my prayers not being answered.
And God's discipline is always aimed at restoring us: His silence is aimed at bringing us back to Him in repentance.
| Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear. (Isaiah59:1-2) |
