Do my actions affect how God responds to my prayers?
Many of us are unaware of how our thoughts, attitudes, and actions affect our prayer life. In I John 3:19-24 we see that the posture of our heart is a great indicator of how we should approach God in prayer.
If our hearts condemn us then we have no choice but to approach God with an attitude of repentance. God knows what is in our heart and he shines a light on those things that do not line up with his character. That in turn creates a stirring of guilt. Which is not a bad thing as some propose. Just like a child feels guilty when he knows he has broken the trust of his parents, we feel the same guilt when we come to realize we have broken the trust of our father in heaven. This guilt is not a tool for suppression but an opportunity to recognize that God is greater than our hearts. We can release our guilt by praying to God for his forgiveness.
We cannot be fooled into thinking that we know how to pray or what to pray for if there is sin in our hearts. But that doesn’t stop us from being angry with God when he doesn’t answer our prayers the way we think he should or when he doesn’t give us everything we ask for. We can have no confidence in the presence of God if we have sin in our heart unless we are seeking forgiveness.
On the other hand, we can approach God with confidence to know he hears our prayers and will respond to those prayers if we live to keep God’s commandments and live to please him. When we decide that we are going to believe in God and put our relationship with him above all else, and we decide that we are going to love those around us, it will change how we pray. We will no longer pray selfish or self-centered prayers. We will begin to pray prayers that reflect God’s character and his love for humanity. Our obedience to God’s truth gives us a confidence to know that God will move on our behalf when our motives and actions line up with his.
If you are frustrated in your prayer life, perhaps its because you are not reflecting the heart of God in your prayers. It may be worthwhile to evaluate your thoughts, attitudes, and actions. Perhaps you have become complacent, critical, lazy, envious, prideful, hard hearted, angry, or any number of other things that do not reflect the character of God. Perhaps you need to begin your next prayer with, “God forgive me…”
How have your actions affected your prayer life?