A Hindrance to Prayer
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 59:2)
The promise of answered prayer isn’t given to every human being. Rather, it is a unique promise for those who have a relationship with God.
In fact, the very reason that Jesus Christ came to this earth and died on the cross is so that we might come into a relationship and a friendship with our Creator. But we all have a disease called sin that we can’t get rid of. Thus, when Christ died on the cross, He took our sins upon Himself.
Until you come into a relationship with God, you cannot really see your prayers answered. As Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”
We have often heard it said that we are all the children of God, that we are all brothers and sisters. In reality, we aren’t all God’s children. The Bible says that we are God’s offspring, meaning that we are humans who were created in His image. (That isn’t true, of course, of the animal kingdom.) We were made in God’s image, but we are not automatically the children of God. That only takes place when we come to Him, turn from our sin, and ask Jesus Christ to be our Savior and Lord.
The Bible says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). God must adopt you. You cannot automatically be His child. There has to come a moment in your life when you ask Him for His forgiveness, and He will adopt you as His son or daughter. And because of what Jesus did, you can have access to the throne of God.
Copyright © 2017 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
and
Listen to Greg Laurie's daily broadcast on OnePlace.com.
Watch Greg Laurie's weekly television broadcast on LightSource.com.
SPECIAL OFFER
Good Good Father
How do we teach kids about who God is? What can we compare Him to? Warrior, teacher, doctor, farmer, musician—God is like all of these, but most importantly, He’s a good Father. Teach the children in your life about the character and kindness of their Father in heaven, with Chris Tomlin’s new picture book Good Good Father.
You can receive a copy as a thank-you gift for donating to Harvest Ministries today.