Odyssey of an Albatross: Prayer Secret #3: God Will Hear the Prayers of the Righteous

Continuing the Prayer Secret Series by Michael Bradly. Prayer Secret #1 - establishing a good personal relationship with the Lord will get you into the door with Him so that He will now be willing to hear your prayers. Prayer Secret #2 - making sure that your prayers always line up with His perfect will for your life will dramatically increase the chances of God actually answering any of your prayers. This will now lead us into Prayer Secret #3

Before I start to go into some of the more heavier aspects of actually moving into prayer with the Lord - there is one more secret that I must first list out in order to help increase your chances of getting God to answer more of your personal prayers. If you are not fully aware of this particular secret and are not abiding by it - there is a very good chance that God is not even going to listen to what you have to say, much less even consider answering any of your specific prayers.

The verses I will list in this article are all very straight forward and need no fancy interpretation. They mean exactly what they are saying. These particular verses are telling us that God will not be hearing the prayers of someone who is not keeping His commandments - of someone who is not living a righteous life in His eyes. Granted, we have all been made righteous before the eyes of God the Father as a result of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for all of our sins. The righteousness of Jesus has now been imputed to us.

However, this does not give us the license and the right to keep on sinning. Though we have all been made perfectly righteous before the eyes of God as a result of what Jesus did for us on the cross - we still have to make every effort on our end to try and live a good and righteous life and stay out of any unacceptable sins in the eyes of God the Father. This particular prayer secret is a major reason why some Christians are not having much success in their prayer room with God the Father.

As you will see in the verses I will list in this article, the Bible is telling all of us loud and clear that our slates have got to be fairly clean before God is going to work with us in His prayer room. However, please note this does not mean you have to be totally perfect. We all have our rough edges, our character flaws and faults, and our little vices that we have a hard time in getting any victory over.

I believe there is a certain amount of slack with the Lord for some of our imperfections, frailties and weaknesses. None of us will ever become the fourth person of the Holy Trinity. This is why Jesus had to come and die for all of us - due to the sin nature that we were all born into this world with that constantly keeps getting us into trouble.

Per the article I did titled "Sanctification," God the Father wants to start the process of sanctifying us in this life us once we become saved and born again. But this sanctification process is a progressive and constantly ongoing process that will go on for rest of our lives. As a result, we always have to continue to keep working with the Lord on allowing Him to mold, shape and transform us into a better and more holy people. As you continue to grow in this sanctification process where God the Father is slowly starting to form and mold you into the express image of His Son Jesus Christ - you will find two main things that will start to occur.

First - you will start to see the boundary lines that God will set up for you. These boundary lines are lines being drawn in the sand by the Lord of where you can go in this life and where you cannot go - what you can do and what you cannot do.

God will make it very clear to you through the conviction of the Holy Spirit as to how far you can go with Him on certain issues. And this is where you really have to stay on top of your game with the Lord if you want to keep everything running and flowing smoothly if you are walking in God's perfect plan and destiny for your life.

These next set of verses are telling us the following: That the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man will avail much; That God will answer our prayers if we are keeping His commandments; That God will hear and answer the prayers of the righteous; But that God will not hear or answer the prayers of those who are not obeying His commandments.

One of the verses I will list below is very extreme and intense. This verse says that your sins and your iniquities will literally separate you from God and that He will hide His face from you and not even hear your prayers and petitions. Though Jesus has already died on the cross for all of our sins - we can't use this as an excuse to go back into areas that we know God does not want us treading into. Perfect examples of some areas where Christians can really get themselves into major trouble with the Lord are adultery, using drugs, abusing alcohol, verbally and/or physically abusing their children or their spouses, holding any major unforgiveness towards others, and stealing or scamming from others.

The Lord will let you know loud and clear how far you can push some things with Him. And once you cross that line in complete and total disobedience - then you have just taken yourself right out of His prayer arena and have dramatically reduced the chances of getting any of your personal prayer needs met or answered. So before you really decide to get serious with the Lord in your prayer closet, make sure that you do not have any blocks or hindrances in your walk with Him that would keep Him from wanting to work with you. If you don't, and you have certain sins or transgressions that have not been properly dealt with, then you will be wasting both His time and your time by even continuing to try and pray in the first place.

If you really want to get serious with the Lord in your personal prayer life, study these next set of verses very carefully - and ask the Holy Spirit to show you if you have any personal areas that have to be dealt with so that you do not have anything that would prevent God the Father from wanting to work with you. If you do have any blocks, hindrances, sins, transgressions or iniquities operating in your life that are unacceptable in the eyes of God - and then you get these sins and transgressions properly dealt with and removed with the help of the Holy Spirit - then you will have just opened up a major door to the throne room of God Almighty Himself, and He will now be willing to listen to any specific requests or petitions that you may have. Many Christians have made major advances and breakthroughs in their prayer life with God the Father once they were taught this basic 101 principle. I'll go ahead and list each of the verses under the appropriate captions below so that you can see exactly what God the Father is trying to tell you with the way that He has worded some of these particular verses.

1. God Will Hear the Prayers of the Righteous - These first four verses are major. The first verse I will list is only one sentence long - but it perfectly drives home the point on this topic. It simply says that God the Father will "hear the prayers of the righteous" - but that He is "far from the wicked." The second verse then really confirms the wording of the first verse when it says that the "eyes of the Lord are on the righteous" and that "His ears are open to their prayers." It then once more ends stating that the "face of the Lord is against those who do evil." The third verse specifically says that God the Father will answer our prayers "because" we are willing to keep His commandments. In other words, God will answer your prayers if you are keeping His commandments. This verse also makes the statement that we have to do what is "pleasing in the sight of the Lord." If you are doing anything that is not pleasing to Him, then again, it could prevent you from getting more of your personal prayers answered by Him. If you look at the flip side of this revelation - this flip side is telling you that God will not be hearing or answering any of your prayers if you are not keeping His commandments or if you are out doing wicked things or living any kind of a wicked and evil life.

Here are four major powerful foundational verses that you will need to ground on if you want to have any kind of major success in your prayer life with God the Father. "The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous." (Proverbs 15:29)

"Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (1 Peter 3:11)

"And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." (1 John 3:22)

"The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." (James 5:16)
Notice the last verse says that the effective, fervent prayer of a "righteous" man will avail much. Put all four of these verses together - and the message is coming through loud and clear. If you want to have any chance of having any kind of an effective and powerful prayer life with God the Father, then you are going to have to be willing to stay out of any sins or bad activities that you know will not be pleasing to Him, or that you know will be going against any of His basic laws and commandments on how we are to live out this life. You are going to have to make every effort on your end to stay on the righteous side of the fence in your walk with the Lord - and to stay away from any areas that you know will be unacceptable in His sight.

2. Your Iniquities Will Separate You From God - I have always found this next verse to be one of the more heavier verses on the consequences of continuing to live in major sin after you get to know your Lord and Savior. Even though this first verse I will list is from the Old Testament - I believe the specific wording of this verse also applies to all New Testament Christians. Though God can now fully forgive all of your sins as a result of Jesus dying on the cross for all of us - this does not give you the right to keep on sinning - especially if you know that you what you are doing is a direct sin against God to begin with. This next verse will tell us that our iniquities, if they are bad enough, can literally "separate us" from God. This verse then makes the very intense statement that God will hide His face from us and that He will not even hear us if we try and speak to Him. This is about as graphic of a warning that we can possibly receive from the Lord if any of us is wallowing and walking in any heavy sin areas - and then we try to approach Him to answer any of our personal prayers.

The second verse then says that he who turns his ear away from hearing and obeying any of God's laws, that even his prayers will be considered an abomination before the eyes of God. So not only will God turn His back on you and refuse to hear anything you may want to say to Him, but He will now consider any of your prayer requests to be an abomination in His sight if you are asking Him for something - and then at the same time you are continuing to walk and live in some of the heavier type sins. God will not be mocked! You cannot be out having multiple affairs on your spouse, verbally and/or physically abusing your spouse or your children, scamming others in your job, abusing alcohol, doing drugs - and then think that the Lord is going to turn a blind eye on all of this because His Son has already paid the price for your transgressions.

The Bible is emphatically clear. You can only receive God's forgiveness for the sins you already know about only if you are willing to confess those sins out to begin with - and then repent and agree to make every possible effort not to go back into those sins.

The word "repent" means to be willing to turn away from those sins. It means to be willing to have a change of mind, a change of attitude and a change of heart concerning those sins. It means to be willing to see that they are wrong in the eyes of God. As a result of this separation that can occur between us and God, many of God's children have lost contact with Him because they have refused to pull out of some of these heavier sins. This is not to say that they have lost their eternal salvation with Him - but they are losing any chance of having Him work full force in their lives with what little time they still have left down here to accomplish anything worthwhile for Him. These are two very strong verses. Here they are:

"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." (Isaiah 59:2)

"One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination." (Proverbs 28:9)

These two verses perfectly line up with the verses mentioned in the first caption. Again, no fancy interpretation needed on these verses. They mean exactly what they are saying.

3. Holding Unforgiveness Towards Others - One very special area that God is really wanting all of us get a real grip on is holding any unforgiveness towards anyone who may have wronged us. As you will see in the verse I will list below, it literally starts out with the words "And whenever you stand praying." From there, it goes on to state that we are to forgive anyone that we may have something against - and then it ends with the very dire warning that if we don't forgive those who have trespassed against us, then God will not forgive us our trespasses. This verse is thus giving us two very solemn warnings. With the verse actually starting out with the words "And whenever you stand praying" - I believe that God is trying to tell all of us that we should not even bother to attempt to approach His throne room for prayer if we are holding any serious unforgiveness towards anyone else. Here is the verse:

"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." (Mark 11:25)

To those of you who may be having a hard time in connecting to the Lord in your prayer life and don't seem to be getting too many of your personal prayers answered - ask the Holy Spirit to show you if you have any blocks or hindrances in your walk with the Lord that is affecting your prayer life with God the Father - especially in the area of unforgiveness. If the Holy Spirit does show you that you have some areas of unforgiveness in your life that may need to be dealt with - work very closely with Him in getting those matters resolved with the Lord. If you don't, you may continue to stay stuck and grounded in your prayer life with God the Father. And if you can't get any of your personal prayers answered with the Lord - then you are not going to be able to continue to move much further ahead in your walk and destiny with Him.

Your prayer life is like the oil to the engine. Shut your prayer life down - and your whole engine in the Lord will bog or shut down.

4. Husbands - Honor Your Wives - This next verse is another very interesting verse. In this verse, God is telling all husbands to honor their wives and to dwell with them "with understanding" - and that if they don't, their prayers will be "hindered." In other words, God is telling all husbands to treat their wives in a godly manner, with love and proper respect - and not to be running roughshod over them since they are considered the weaker vessel in this verse. If you are not treating your wife with respect, love, kindness and proper understanding - then God is telling you that you are going to have a very tough time with Him in the prayer room in being able to get Him to answer any of your prayers.

The fact that God is isolating this particular quality, along with the problem of holding any unforgiveness towards anyone else, is telling you how big of a deal these two issues really are with Him. The fact that He is going to shut down your prayer life with Him if you are in violation of these two principles is a very serious warning. Here is the verse:

"Likewise you husbands, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, THAT YOUR PRAYERS MAY NOT BE HINDERED." (1 Peter 3:7)

The Bible tells us that the husband is supposed to be the head of the household. If the husband is mistreating his wife, then God is not going to be hearing his prayers. And if the husband is not going to be able to get any of his prayers answered - then the rest of the household could seriously suffer as a result. There thus could be a serious domino effect that could occur in a household if the husband does not have his act together with his wife and with his God. Your prayer life is the lifeblood of your engine with the Lord. If that shuts down - your whole walk and forward momentum in the Lord could stall or completely shut down. Husbands - make sure that your house is in order if you want to continue to propel forward at maximum speed and maximum power in your walk and call with the Lord. If you don't, God will personally shut you down until you can get your house back in order.

Conclusion - When you put all of the above verses together, you can't help but see a major prayer secret. Though we have all been made perfectly righteous in the eyes of God as a result of Jesus dying on the cross for all of our sins - we still have to make every effort on our end to stay out of any serious sins and transgressions - especially the kind that we know will get us into major trouble with the Lord.

You simply can't be doing drugs, abusing alcohol, cheating on your spouse, scamming and cheating others on your job, delving into areas of the occult, chasing after other false doctrines and religions - and then think that the Lord is simply going to turn a blind eye and let a lot of these matters go without you having to suffer the consequences as a result of treading into territories that are expressly forbidden by Him. You play - you pay - either in this life or the next!

There thus will always be serious consequences for entering into and engaging in sins that do not get confessed and forgiven under the blood of Jesus. And one of those severe consequences is having your personal prayer life get completely shut down with God the Father. The Bible once again could not make things any more clear. God the Father will simply not be hearing any of your personal prayers or listening to anything you may have to say if you are not making some kind of concerted effort on your end to live a good and righteous life under the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit. For the most part, most Christians know how far they can push the envelope with God the Father.

Through the convictions of the Holy Spirit, most Christians know where their boundary lines are set at with the Lord. Tread past those boundary lines - and you could risk having God turn His face away from you and refuse to hear any of your prayers, petitions or requests. And if you can't get God to answer any of your personal prayers in this life - then you have just taken yourself right off of His playing field and you have now just been asked to sit on the bench in His dugout!

If any of you feel like your prayer life has stalled or has been stuck in neutral with the Lord for quite sometime - try asking God to show you if there are any blocks or hindrances by way of any sins or transgressions that may need to be dealt with. Be sensitive to anything the Holy Spirit may want to bring up from your past. Whatever the Lord may bring up for you that has to be dealt with - take each one of these problems and issues head on. If you don't, and you don't get these matters totally resolved with the Lord - then you will continue to stay stuck and grounded in your prayer life with Him. And if your prayer life continues to stay stuck and grounded as a result of your refusal to pull out of certain sins and transgressions that He wants you to pull out of - then you will have just taken yourself right off of His major league playing field and you will continue to stay seated on the bench in His dugout until you can agree to see and do things His way.

Some of God's people right now are in judgment with Him. When that happens, their calls and their walk with Him will completely shut down until they agree to repent and turn from the sins and transgressions they have been walking in. These verses are giving you major revelation in an area where many Christians have got themselves in major trouble with the Lord. I'll end this article with a word to the wise - God always knows best. Do things His way and your life and your walk with Him will become much easier. Do things your way - and you will eventually end up becoming a train wreck just waiting to crash and burn. The choice is yours.

Michael Bradley
Bible Teaching, Commentary, and Over 150 Free Articles