What Separates Us from God
I believe there are many people who are going to church, and they are trying to pray. However, they can't really get engaged in the worship. They are reading their Bible, but they are not getting much out of it. They are praying, but they feel God is distant, and they are not seeing God answering their prayers. They are believers, but why are they feeling separated from God? It is really a simple answer that we all need to keep in mind all of the time.
Isaiah is very clear about this issue as He addressed the people of God. His answer applies to us, as God's people today, as well. (Isaiah 59:1,2) "Listen, the Lord's arm is not too weak to save you, nor His ear too deaf to hear you call. It's your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, He has turned away, and He will not listen anymore." It is easy for us to let our sins build up, and the more they build up, the more we are separated from the Lord. It is also fairly simple to be restored to a close relationship with the Lord.
None of us are perfect. We all fall into sin, at times. Also, we decide to sin at times. It is a part of life. However, when we sin, the Holy Spirit is there to convict us of those sins. We need to be listening to Him and to be ready to to get rid of those sins as soon as possible. There should never be a day that passes that we do not ask the Spirit to show us any sins we have committed. Then, we should get them cleansed by confessing them to God. That sounds simple, but it does take effort on our part.
We must be contrite for our sins. That means we must be truly sorry for what we have done that was displeasing to God. We have to take the sin seriously and show God what we think about that sin by saying what He would say about it. When we confess in that way, God is always faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9) I pray we will all make this process a priority in our daily routine. Then, we will not ever be separated from our Lord. He will be able to bless us and hear our prayers.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Isaiah 61-63.