Okay, now this is a lot to think
about already. But there is more. (And even more than what I am saying
here.) On top of all that I’ve already
said, there are many more verses that shed light on why our prayers may not be
effective. We have a much greater
responsibility than we realize in making sure that our prayers get heard.
For one, maybe part of the reason
that our prayers aren’t “working” and that it seems like God isn’t listening is
because . . . God isn’t listening! Psalm 66:18: “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;”
If I had cherished sin in my
heart, the Lord would not have listened!
If we harbor sin in our hearts, He is not obligated to listen to or
answer our prayers. Because we have put
up a wall between us and God. We are
blocking God from hearing our prayers and from answering them. In fact, look at the very next verse after Mark 11:22-24 (the
verses where Jesus tells us that we will get anything we ask for, if we
believe) . . .
Mark 11:25:
“And when you stand praying, if you hold
anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive
your sins.”
And this echoes Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you
forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive
you. But if you do not forgive men their
sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
I don’t know about you, but this is
a very hard teaching to absorb. I will
not be forgiven based on my unforgiveness towards others. And my unforgiving state has an effect on
whether or not my prayers get heard, because ongoing, un-confessed sin in my
life blocks God from listening to my prayers.
Now, I do not believe that these
verses are saying that we will lose our salvation. That kind of forgiveness is permanent the
moment we choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
But there is another kind of forgiveness, the kind we need when we sin and
break fellowship with the Lord. Sin
interferes with the condition of our relationship with Him. And we need to ask forgiveness for any
un-confessed sin to help restore fellowship and repair the relationship.
But how many of us harbor bitterness
towards others for some offense? How
many can’t let it go because it seems so justified? They deserve it, right? But forgiveness is not so much about the
other person; it’s about our relationship with God. The Word makes it clear that the
responsibility rests with us to forgive others (even if they don’t want it or
we can’t tell them that we forgive them).
And if we don’t, it is sin that we harbor in our heart and it blocks God
from forgiving us, which blocks God from hearing our prayers. And even worse, unforgiveness towards others (or any resistance to confessing any sin in our lives, for that matter) shows hard-heartedness, which is diametrically opposed to a healthy, open relationship with God. And we will further block ourselves off from being sensitive to the Holy Spirit. And the longer we resist, the more we will entrench ourselves behind the wall that we have put up between us and the Lord, growing more numb, desensitized, and self-justified. And the more that we cut ourselves off from God’s love, protection, and help, the more we open the door to evil in our lives.
“In your anger
do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not
give the devil a foothold.” (Ephesians 4:26-27)
It’s all about your heart and if you
humble yourself before a holy God. How
many of our prayers go unheard because of our heart’s condition and our
attitude towards others? Where does the
devil have a foothold in your life?
Pride, bitterness, envy, gossip, idol worship, unforgiveness, ungodly
speech, getting drunk, cheating, giving into temptations, lust, affairs, sex
outside of marriage, acting out in anger, worry, etc., are all sins that need
to be confessed and repented of, if we want God to hear our prayers and to have
the most effective life for Christ.
2 Chronicles 7:14-15: “If my people,
who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and
turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their
sin and will heal their land. Now my
eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”
