Recently the thought struck me that maybe the reason people don’t pray, or feel their prayers aren’t answered, is because they do not fully respect the Holiness of God. Failure to live in a fear of the Lord is a problem, and one that has plagued our nation’s churches in recent years. I often wonder if Jesus, in bodily form, was at a church what we would do differently. I wonder if people would come to church in sloppy clothes, be judgmental of others, or be filled with pride from all their “good works”. What people fail to realize is that He is there. While not everyone at church on Sunday is in communion with God, the Bible says that when two or three are gathered together, He is there. I think this is a truth which is often forgotten.
Maybe prayer is regarded the same way. We do not approach prayer with a mind fully conscious on the fact that we are speaking to a Holy, living God. While He loves us regardless, we cannot expect Him to simply over look a sinful, unrepentant life. We wonder why God won’t make something clear to us, or give us the joy only He can give. All the while, we forget to look at our own lives, and that maybe the reason prayer isn’t “working” is because we are not following His Word. We are responsible to follow the Lord’s Word in our lives. Because of this, I believe that one way we can have a richer prayer life is to live in the fear of the Lord and approach Him as the Holy God that He is. How we approach God matters.
