What Stops Prayer Short

To pray and then to live in known sin is like hanging up the phone to Heaven. All the praying in the world won’t help us if we are living in sin.

God said in Isaiah 59:1–2, "Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." Also, the psalmist said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will not hear [me]" (Psalm 66:18).

For personal revival to take place in our lives, there must be repentance from all known sin. This includes not only the sins of commission (doing bad things), but sins of omission too.

You may say, "I’m living a clean life. I don’t lie. I don’t steal. I don’t get drunk. I’m faithful to my spouse." God bless you for all of that. But you could be guilty of a sin of omission. The Bible says, "To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:17).

If the Lord is prompting you to share the gospel and you say no, if the Lord is asking you to share freely of your finances and invest His kingdom and you flat out refuse, if the Lord is nudging you to pray more and you don’t want to, this can be a sin of omission.

God wants to change your life and forgive you of all your sins. Is there something you are doing that you know you should not be doing as a follower of Jesus? If so, you need to turn from it. You never will experience personal revival until you do.