Proverbs 28:9
Have you ever had the feeling that no matter how hard you prayed, your prayers were not being heard? No matter how intense and fervent your prayers, they seemed useless? Is that God doesn't care? Have you used up your prayer minutes on frivolous prayers only to run out when you really need them? The answer, of course, is no. God will always hear and answer the prayers of his children.
However, Solomon cautions us above that there are requirements to be met in order for our prayers to be heard. Zechariah describes such a situation best in Zechariah 7:9-13. When we refuse to listen to God's commandments, he refuses to listen to us. Pretty simple concept but not easily applied in our instantaneous world. We want to ignore Christ during the week, zip into church on Sunday and expect instantaneous answers to each and every of our prayers. Communication is a two-way street. We must listen as well as speak. If we fail to listen to His guidance, why should we expect Him to listen to our requests?
David sums it up best in Psalms 66:18 - If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. I need to cleanse my heart first or my prayers are wasted. Let's get our priorities straight and do our part before expecting God to do his. If we take the first step to forgiveness, our relationship will be restored!
