Simply Saturday

Do you ever feel like your prayers go nowhere? - they just

bounce off the ceiling and hit you in the head? Do you go
through times when you talk to God, but you don't hear Him
talking back? Do you wonder where He is? Are you like me,

and find yourself crying out "Where are you, God?"

Sure, God takes us through "seasons" as He's growing us
up in Him. There are the mountaintop experiences where we
see exciting things happening and "feel" wonderful emotions

- you know those seasons of "dancing with all your might"

before the Lord. There are also the valley times where we're

eating and growing but it's not all that exciting. Then there are the
rock-climbing seasons that are just plain hard. When I sense
God's silence, I ask Him to show me which season I'm in.
Sometimes there's nothing wrong, He may just be graduating
me into a new season.

There are other things to check however. Isaiah 59:1-2
says, "Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to
save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities
have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden
His face from you, so that He will not hear." WOW! My own
sins will block God from hearing? Yep.

Take a moment to evaluate your prayer time. Does it mostly
consist of requests? Are you just bringing your shopping

cart to the heavenly super store? Always be sure to include

a time of confession and repentance before you begin your list of
petitions. And as we mature in the Lord, we learn to be sensitive

to the Holy Spirit so we confess and repent right away as

He convicts us of our sins.

Having un-forgiveness toward anyone, as well as any other
un-confessed sin will definitely prevent God from hearing
our prayers. Husbands also must treat their wives properly
so their prayers won't be hindered (1 Peter 3:7).

So... the next time you don't "feel" God as near as you'd like, run
through this checklist. The real question may not be, "God,
where are You? But rather "God, where am I?"