Why Does Sin Hinder My Prayers?

What is sin? Sin is the quality of any human action that causes it to fail to glorify the Lord. It’s missing the mark, not doing what we are supposed to do. 

Everyone sins (Romans 3:23); we were born sinners. It’s an unfortunate part of life. Something that has cursed the world since the fall of man (Genesis 3). We are under a curse that can be broken only by Christ's substitutionary atonement. (Romans 3:25-26) 

How does sin hinder my prayer life? 

Sin puts stress on any relationship, especially our relationship with God.  

Think back over your life. Can you think of a time when you sinned against your friend, a family member, or even your spouse? Please think of the friction it caused and how it strained your relationship. Did it affect your ability to communicate with them, making things awkward and uncomfortable? Did you breach their trust and put doubt in their minds about your intentions for the relationship? 

 If you are anything like me, you become embarrassed by your sin. You isolate yourself, hide, get quiet, and become more distant from the relationship. Maybe, you start to make excuses and deflect the blame to someone else, placing the blame elsewhere even though you know your sin hindered the relationship. It’s easy to isolate yourself and watch the relationship crumble. 

Things are no different in your relationship with Christ. Our sin breaches the relationship; ultimately, we do the same thing. We act pridefully, make excuses, blame shift, and isolate ourselves. The guilt becomes overwhelming, and eventually, we end up in a life of prayerlessness. Prayerlessness is always a manifestation of sin and its effects. Prayerlessness all comes down to pride!  

Prayer is an act of humility. One of the hardest things in my life is humbling myself, but that’s what scripture calls us to do. Confess and repent ... 1 John 1:9 states that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

How awesome is serving a God who understands us yet still wants to show mercy on us? A God who died to atone for our sins. To cover us in his righteousness so we could have a relationship and communicate with him. Jesus' death on the cross is the sole reason we can have a relationship with God.  

“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15–16) 

Nothing will lead you out of your sin faster than prayer, so Run to God in prayer.