When Love Is Deaf

We read in Romans 8:31-39 that nothing can separate us from the love of God. What a powerful and hopeful passage to know that if we are in Christ Jesus, God will always love us. 

But does He always hear us? 

Throughout scripture, there are many verses that reveal circumstances in which God will not hear our prayers. The one highlighted in this blog has to do with love. 

How can love make God deaf to our prayers?

Isaiah 59:1-2 gives harrowing answer: 

“Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

We are all sinners who fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23); however, sinning alone does not build a barrier between us and God’s ears. In Psalm 66:18, David clarifies by stating: “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” 

Not every version of Psalm 66:18 uses the word ‘cherish’. Quite a few other versions, including the ones I’m used to reading, use the word ‘regard’. ‘Regard’ sounds formal and distant whereas ‘cherish’ is personal and passionate. I remember the first time reading the ‘cherish’ version of the verse- conviction leapt out of the page and into my heart. What sins are worth holding onto so tightly that it causes God to turn His ears off to my prayers? What do I cherish more than God?

It’s not our sinning but our love of our sin and unrepentant sin that brings barriers. When we choose to cling to our sins more than honor God with holiness and obedience, He receives the message loud and clear: you love the sin more than me. I know if my husband’s thoughts and actions proved he loved another woman more than me I would not be too eager to continue conversation with him either.

I encourage you to sincerely ask yourself: Am I cherishing any sins? Am I loving them so much that I value them higher than my relationship and communication with God?

Let’s rephrase these questions in more practical and relatable terms: Would I rather prove that I am right than show kindness to those who have wronged me? Would I rather gossip about someone instead of praying for them? Do I justify my addiction as harmless? Am I clinging to bitterness instead of forgiveness? The list can go on forever.

Prayer is one of the most powerful gifts God has given us and if there is anything I am doing to hinder the communication lines, I want to fix that problem ASAP! 

According to James 5:6, if sin closes communication lines, righteousness opens them:

“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

Holiness in heart and action attracts God’s ear; whereas, sin in heart or action causes Him to be deaf to our prayers.

God loves us and He desperately wants to hear and answer our prayers. He wants no hinderances between our relationship. If loving our sin is the disease, then repenting of that sin is the cure. In 1 John 1:9 it says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

If you feel as if your prayers are unanswered or unheard, you may be right. Take time today to repent of all sins-known and unknown. Ask God to reveal which sins are blocking your communication lines. Live a life of humility and repentance. Cherish Him above everything. He is waiting and more than willing to listen and answer.