Guest post submitted by jnnychriss I was visiting a church this last week and the pastor made a comment about sin. He said, and I'm summarizing, "If you are a Christian but there is sin in your life, God can't hear your prayers." I've been thinking about that all week, as I grew up with the mindset that if I'm a Christian but I have unconfessed sin, my prayers won't be heard or answered.
The idea is is something that I still struggle with, but as I gain a better understanding of my relationship with Christ and His grace and mercy, I've begun to wonder if that viewpoint is correct. Don't get me wrong, I believe we should confess sin and turn away from it. We should try to live a Christ-filled and sinless life, but of course we all know it's impossible to be perfect. I'm going to sin. I'm going to choose to do wrong. It may be for a moment or a day or even months at a time. So, does that mean that during those times, God doesn't listen to me? He ignores my praise and my worship, my requests?When Jesus died on the cross, He paid for my past, present and future sins. And when I asked Him to come into my life, I asked for forgiveness for all my sins, not just for the ones I had already committed.When I think about my relationship with my heavenly Father, I have to dumb it down to what I can relate to. So, I compare it to my earthly father.Let's say I struggle with being respectful to my dad. Sometimes it's just a remark for which I immediately apologize, sometimes I have a bad attitude towards him for an whole day and sometimes it's for an entire stage of my life, like my teenage years. But during that time, I still spend time with him, love him, am loyal to him, thank and appreciate him.
Would he write off all the good times because of my sometimes bad attitude? Would he ignore me? Stop taking care of me? Would he say, "Jen, because you're disrespectful to me sometimes, I don't care what happens to you any more. I'm not going to feed you or clothe you. In fact, I want you to leave and don't come back until you say you're sorry." Or would he, because he has a bigger perspective of love and forgiveness, forgive me without even having to hear me say "I'm sorry"? Would he still love me, even though I'm dirty and rotten sometimes, because his love is bigger than my words? I think he would. I know my attitude or words would hurt him terribly but I think his love and forgiveness would overcome my words.And if I think that about my dad, what about my heavenly Father? His love is so much bigger and wiser.I don't think God overlooks sin. That's not what I'm saying. I think it hurts Him, grieves Him even. And of course, there will be consequences for it: divorce, unplanned pregnancy, loss of job or friend or position, embarrassment, estrangement.
But sin also greatly affects my relationship with God. This is what I believe it comes down to... I think it affects me, not Him. It's like He's sitting on my couch, looking at me, talking to me, paying attention to me, just waiting for me to sit next to Him and spend time with him. And sometimes I do. But when there's a 2,000 pound elephant in the room, it makes it much harder for me to communicate with Him. I know there's something I need to confess, or something I need to work on. And I know He knows it too, I'm just not willing to drag it out and discuss it. So I'm the one who feels awkward and stilted. Not Him. He hasn't done anything wrong. He's just waiting for me to confess it so that our relationship, our friendship can be restored to what it should be. A barrier-free one.I guess what I'm saying is that I don't believe sin puts up a wall between God and me. Maybe it's just a speedbump. It makes the road a lot less comfortable and can even do some damage to the car but it doesn't block me from being with Him. Jesus knocked down all those walls when He died on the cross and then came into my life.So, I think that's my view on sin in the Christian life. But you know, that's the thing about the Christian walk. My view now may not be the same in 10 years. I know it's not the same now as it was 10 years ago. But I think God allows us through experiences, difficulties and other people to change our perception. And I don't want to be a person that doesn't try to better understand my walk with Him. Because then it would become stagnant.
How does sin affect our prayer life and personal relationship with God?
Comments (19)
It depends on the type of sin, really. I mean, there's venial sins and
there's mortal sins. Venial sins weaken our relationship with God. They aren't
as serious, but built up over time can do damage. Mortal sins kill our
relationship with God because it is a failure in love for God, neighbor, or
self.
Well, I can't speak for God, but I don't think any of us will ever be completely sinless. Actually, I have a post on that topic ... :)
http://weblog.xanga.com/icicle84/684446727/can-a-christian-be-perfect.html
I don't know what effect sin has on us, except that it's bad. I tend to see it in terms of bricks. Imagine I'm sitting in a chair on one side of the room, Jesus on another side.
When I sin, oh, look. A brick goes up in the middle of the room ... well, maybe a cinder block. If I'm in good fellowship with Christ, the cinder block should be easy to see. Or maybe my conscience is seared a little. So we're talking, and he points down and says "hey, there's a bit of a cinder block there, you want to take care of it?"
I can take care of it immediately, and go back to the uninterrupted fellowship, or I can just ignore it and say, yeah, I'll get to it later. But it keeps interrupting the conversation, and I really can't get to the heart of the matter if he and I keep getting distracted by the cinder block. It doesn't completely break off the fellowship, but it certainly causes quite a nuisance, and if I never take care of it, it's pretty obvious rebellion, and saying I don't care what he thinks.
Not to mention when I leave one on the floor, a bunch of its friends come storming in, until, wouldn't you know it, there's a wall there! How did that happen?
Anyway, that's my take on it. But a very good topic!
@xgamesrox@xanga - woah woah woah, slow down there.... That is not true in the slightest... if it were the apostle paul would be barred from God because he killed innocent people doing God's work.
I think that these are some very helpful analogies; but of course, no analogy is 100% correct. The whole idea that God would break His promise to us in giving us eternal life and the righteousness of Christ is obviously impossible. We are trying to figure out just what the consequences of sin are. Sin separated us from God to begin with and so Jesus bore our sin in His body on the cross. That was the end of the separation between us and Him. So how does He tolerate the presence of sin in our lives as we come into His presence.? Somehow the reality of our sin being removed as far as the East is from the West comes into play here. It would have to be not visible to God or He would not be able to allow us into His presence. We admit our sin and repent of it in order for our spirit to have fellowship with Him, but I can't understand how God's love or attitude toward us would change....ever!
I suspect the pastor in question was going after Psalm 66:18 - "If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear."
However, he arrived at a bit of a misunderstanding-- it's not the mere presence of sin in one's life (which we all have) but the holding of it in a place of high regard ("cherish" in the ESV) that forms a communication barrier between God and us. If I love the things God hates, of course there's going to be a problem in our relationship!
It's also worth noting the following verses in the psalm -- "But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!"
Contextus rex!
God does take sin seriously.
Sin hinders our prayer life:
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me Psalm 66:18
Sin breaks our fellowship with God and with other believers.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. I John 1:5-10
I would call that a wall, not just a speedbump.
In First John, please notice what John emphasizes as being the primary attribute of God. You would think it would be love, but what does John start with: God's holiness: God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Jesus died for our sin. He made a way into the Most Holy Place so we could have fellowship with God. When we say our sin doesn't really matter or doesn't matter that much, we are receiving God's grace in vain and trampling on Christ's blood. Jesus shed His blood for our sin.
Jesus didn't die for us so we would be lax in our attitude toward sin. He redeemed a people to Himself that would be holy and blameless and growing in holiness and purity and Christlikeness.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Rom. 6:1-2
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14.
If you are saved, yes, God still loves you for Christ's sake, but He is grieved and your relationship with Him is broken. It is a very dangerous thing to remain in sin and not to confess it.
If you are a believer, you simply cannot remain in your sin. The Holy Spirit will convict you; He will not leave you alone. God tells us to confess our sin. Please read I John 3:5-10. John writes that true believers cannot make a practice of sinning (that means to continue in, or persist in sin).
Sin is totally opposed to the character of God and the child of God ought to increasingly hate her sin more and more since God now dwells in us through His Holy Spirit.
As the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, we will more and more grow in our consciousness of sin and will be confessing it. We are to be purifying ourselves as He is pure. That is one mark of a true Christian.
In this post you've talked about your view of sin, but please look at the Bible and (I'd recommend reading through First John) to see God's view of sin and how believers ought to be viewing their sin. It doesn't really matter what our view of sin is, but what God's is.
@quest4god - Romans 11:19 ... "Well," you may say, "those branches were broken off to make room for me." Yes, but remember - those branches were broken off because they didn't believe in Christ, and you are there because youd o believe. So don't think highly of yourself, but fear what could hapen. For if God did not spare the original branches, he won't spare you either."
Also, compare with Hebrews 10:26-29, Hebrews 6:4, and multiple others that I don't have on hand right now.
It's dangerous to think that just because we have "been saved," that sin doesn't pose any problem anymore. Here's my current piece on the topic, but I'm going to post a Part II within the next two days or so.
http://weblog.xanga.com/icicle84/684446727/can-a-christian-be-perfect.html
@naphtali_deer@xanga - It seems so inadequate to just say AMEN!, but that's what I'm saying. The scripture is what we MUST rely on if we call ourselves Christian.
Not our opinions, not church doctrine (some churches hold church doctrine equal with the Bible), and not other people's opinions.
sin will push you farther and farther away. itll be gradually and people dont really realize it until theyre quite far on down the line. kind of like the frog in the pot of water on the stove example.
sin will take you farther than you want to go.
sin will keep you longer than you want to stay.
sin will cost you more than you want to pay.
everyone has sin whether they think they do or not. it's part of our human nature that will never go away. thankfully, God has forgiven us and sees our sin no more. i don't agree with what that pastor said, because there's no way that anyone (and i don't care if you're joe six pack or the pope) does not sin.
Jesus took away our sin through his innocent life and suffering and death. He clothes us with the robe of his righteousness. because of what He did for us, we will want to live to serve Him.
Sin is our choosing not to speak to, listen to, etc God. We create this barrier that separates us from God. However, that doesn't mean he can't or won't hear our prayers/praise/etc. We've got to ask for forgiveness though. We have to bring him a heart that wants to change, a heart that is sorry. Sin can be a speedbump or a wall. We choose our sins and we allow them to alienate us from our Father's love as much as we choose.
You'd think that knowing the character of God that the ones who are sinful are the ones he'd pay more attention to?
Sin definitely drives us away from God. Trust me on this one. I was living in sin for about 6 months, and I could not hear from God at all no matter how hard I tried. When I made a heartbreaking decision to turn things around, I started to hear from God again. One of the ways we hear from God is through obedience.
God forgives us and cleanses us from our sin. We ask for forgiveness not only by prayer but by our actions as well.
I have this theory. I believe that God makes sense. I am absolutely convinced that there's a reason he asks certain things of us. And I agree that my confession of sin is more for me than him. Because if I'm not being honest with God, then I'm not being honest with myself. And if I'm not being honest with myself I can't really create a foundation on which I can grow as a person.
i was horrified, to think you actually were told that...God won't hear you, if you sin?...really?...i was a student of the Boston Catechism, as a child...my indoctrination was, as with most Catholics, spoon fed...you had a few vague memorized concepts, but did little exploration, out of the box...however, as i grew older, i grew in my faith, AND, in my curiosity...i was an altar boy, in the church, and even considered a life in the seminary, and after, the priesthood...i studied many religions, so as to get a better understanding of global spirituality...what i understand is this..most religions promote peace, understanding, forgiveness, tolerance, and compassion...most accept that with repentance and remorse, a soul can be saved, at any crossroads, even at the time of death...religious zealots will have you believe sin cuts your voice away from God's audio traffic...not even close to being true...besides, and now i speak to pastor zealot, if it is true, and God's not listening to sinners, why would we support your ministry, since it wont benefit us, anyway?...look, kids, i refuse to believe in a God who would abandon even the most wayward of souls, for their beliefs, practices, choices, vices, mistakes, OR even misinterpretation of the lessons in the Bible ...i live by a few simple rules, that reduce the clutter, and seem to encompass most of those things i was taught....i offer them to you...
peace and enlightenment are the gifts of reflection...ask God's forgiveness, when you have sinned...offer forgiveness, when sinned against...thank God for every new day, and each new experience....celebrate every minute he graces you with...God is not a vengeful beast, waiting for you to screw up...He is waiting for you to trust in Him...finally, to all the armchair theologians, who have grossly misinterpreted the Scripture , stop it, now...it's better to be silent, and thought a fool, than to open your mouth, and remove all doubt...the last lessons Christ taught in life, while on the cross, serve as my last word, on the subject...first, forgive your enemies...second, compassion is a virtue...try it on...peace, eventually....animal
that pastor is wrong in my opinion. if that is the case, then God wouldn't hear our prayers when we ask for forgiveness. God is always there, always listening, always waiting on us to SEEK Him. He doesn't shut himself off to us when we sin. That is when He opens His arms and waits for us to come back.
I agree with Naphtali_deer and itsaverb. :]
I have never even heard a pastor/preacher say anything like this. We ALL have sin...some big, some on a regular basis...but God will NEVER stop listening to His followers!
I agree with the idea that the more you sin, and the more sin you allow to take hold of you...then, the more muffled God's voice will be. It is hard to fully seek God when you are so entrenched in a sinful life...however, God is still fully seeking you!
I happen to think that God is so much larger, and more complicated than any of us could ever comprehend. However, the one thing that we do know about Him, is that He is more loving and cares for us more deeply than we could ever imagine.
I believe He gave us earthly parents (instead of being hatched out of an egg) so that we are given just the smallest of glimpses about His love. You are right, your earthly father would not dismiss your love simply because you were not living the way he wanted you to...and God will not do that either!
As a Christian you should SEEK to live a sin-free life, and you should ask forgiveness for your wrongdoings...but Jesus paid the price for your sin. So long as you are faithful to God, and you accept His love...you will never be separated from Him.
Perhaps your preacher/pastor needed to expound further on this. I would make an appointment and bring these questions to him. If you are still not satisfied with his thinking...perhaps it is time to find another place of worship. No one will have ALL the answers, or give you a totally satisfying description of God...but on these basic principles, you should agree! <3
i think it is about "willful sin" - things that we know we shouldn't do but still continue to do it without repenting. Whether we know it consciously or not we are continually sinning... but I think willful + unrepentant sin is what will make us feel far from God