If I had cherished sin in my heart the Lord would not have listened.
Psalm 66:18
Those who take pleasure in unrighteousness have no hope of answered prayer when they call on God. God wants us separated from sin, only then will he respond to us as a Father to a son. 2 Corinthians 6:14 says “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”
Sin comes to us in different forms. One way of sinning is by being disobedient to God. When we live in disobedience we become children of darkness; therefore there is no way the light of God can fellowship with the darkness.
Sin separates us from God and it is not the will of God that we should live sinful lives. God tried to make it simple by simply saying “If you confess your sins, I am faithful and just to forgive you.” What is it that we do instead? We confess today yet we do again tomorrow and take advantage of His grace and mercy to us.
I have learnt in life that most of the prayers we pray are unanswered not because we don’t know how to pray or that it is not time yet but it is because we harbor sin and God cannot answer us. In Jeremiah 29: 12-13, God is saying “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”
Everything starts from the heart. And therefore we have to take care of what is in it. Remember in Proverbs it is written, “Above all things guard your heart for it the wellbeing of your life” (4:23) meaning out of it there are springs of life or death. As long as you are in the right standing with God your heart will spring forth life; if vice versa, then doom.
Therefore I beseech you, my sisters, that we should let God direct our path…letting Him be our light so that we see where we are going. He should be our Salvation and our Strength. Let us hide the Word of the Lord in our hearts so that we do not sin against God. God loves us and He wants us to fully obey him—so therefore, let us not harbor sin.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Lord, I thank You and bless You for all who You are and what You have done in our lives. I pray, Lord, for Your continued grace for us all. May the Holy Spirit be with us and guide us as we meditate on this Word further. We thank You for Your goodness and mercy that is following us all the days of our lives. In Jesus’ name we have prayed. AMEN!
