“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” (Psalm 66:18-20 ESV).
Have you ever felt as if your prayers were bouncing off the ceiling? That your prayers are being hindered? There are many reasons your prayers might feel impeded. For instance, the Bible says that a husband who doesn’t live with his wife in an understanding way will find his prayers hindered (See 1 Pet. 3:7).
Don’t we already recognize that if we do something to offend a family member or friend and fail to ask for forgiveness that it hinders our communication with them? Certainly it does. Similarly, when we offend God, it affects our communication with Him. Because sin is an offense against God. Sin separates. It hinders communication. And isn’t that what prayer is? Communication with God? So, unconfessed sin absolutely hinders our prayer life. As God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isa. 59:2).
Yet in confessing, we agree with God that we have offended Him and that we need His forgiveness. Confessing our sin, God hears our prayers and answers. As the apostle John wrote, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
So let us join with the psalmist and confess our sins, that our prayers might not be hindered. And that we might experience the forgiveness and cleansing of God’s “steadfast love” through His Son, Jesus Christ.
PRAYER: Dear Father, search us and know our hearts. Reveal any place where unconfessed sin remains. For we would confess it and ask You to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We know we are already forgiven through faith in Jesus, yet we desire to continually be cleansed from those sins that beset us. Thank You, Lord for hearing our prayer. In Jesus’ name, amen.