“If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.”
The idea that when I talk to one of my children or grandchildren, they would despise me crushes my heart. There is a deep sadness in just writing that sentence. The Hebrew word for “detestable” that Solomon uses in this verse literally means “deep disgust or revulsion.” I don’t know about you, but the idea that the God who loves me and created me would look on me with disgust is also almost unbearable. I pray constantly. It is an attempt at living as Paul says, in an attitude of prayer. To turn to God and have Him turn away is beyond comprehension. Thankfully, that only occurs when I willfully ignore and disobey His truth. Here is the tension: At times, we might choose to ignore God’s call in exchange for a desire. Maturity is growing to the point where we recognize the fact that no sin is worth the separation from our heavenly Father. It isn’t that God cannot hear our prayers, but that they are so foul to Him because we have allowed something that will hurt us to come between us and Him, He chooses not to hear them, knowing that our brokenness will drive us back to Him. That’s love. Today, live in God’s truth. #BeTheEdge
“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;” Psalms 66:18 NIV
