Can You Hear Me?
So the final question to explore is “Does God hear me when I pray knowing I have failed Him?”
First off, let’s put things into perspective. The struggle with sin continues even as a real believer in Christ. Sin, of course, separates us from God. This is the whole issue behind us (man) needing our debt for sin to be paid in full. This does not imply that we will never sin or deal with the struggle of sin. Remember, we still exist in the flesh and thereby, have to deal with its presence.
There is surely a misconception about whether God hears us when we have sinned. We still believe that God is our Savior and will be there for us. Yet, in the midst of trying to live a good Christian life, we stumbled. Does that mean that we have immediately fallen out of God’s grace? Let’s explore!!
You would have to ask yourself if God’s grace really exists if we can so easily fall from it, right? So what is this Grace? God’s Grace?
If I had to put it in simple layman terms, God’s grace is His extended favor towards us. He gives it as a gift! Think about the weight of this statement. A gift! Generally speaking, one does not give a gift to someone and then take it back. A gift is defined as “something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation (payment).” If this gift required no payment on our part, then how can it be taken away? We are on the receiving end of this thing called “grace”. The payment was made for us all in regards to “grace” when Christ sacrificed His life on the cross by His blood. There was no one that could pay for the penalty of sin except Christ.
So again, do we fall from grace? Short answer, NO!!
Ephesians 2:8 states, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,”
Ephesians 4:7 states, “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”
The gift of grace requires no repayment …nothing is owed in return by the one that receives grace. Once it has been extended to you, it’s there to stay. The expense of this gift was taken on by our Lord Jesus Christ. This gift is ours to keep.
There is nothing you did or will do to merit you’re receiving the gift of grace. How do you fall from something that you did nothing to get?
Romans 5:8-10 states, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God …”
Now, keeping all of this in mind, let’s get back to the question at the beginning of this article. “Does God hear me when I pray knowing I have failed Him?”
To fall or experience failure is a very human thing. We shouldn’t be surprised by its presence. Likewise, we should not be surprised by God’s presence in the midst of that failure (sin). So this process of having sinned and still believing God is your Savior is apt to occur somewhere along our Christian journey.
Our instinct is to feel the shame of the sin then, transfer it to the fact that God doesn’t love you for what you have done. If He didn’t love us, He would not have sent His Son to die for our sins. Does it give us the right to sin anyway? No, it doesn’t! But it lets us know that we will make mistakes as long as we live in the flesh.
The shame of having sinned against God does not mean that He doesn’t hear you when you talk to Him. God hears all!! Even though your prayer will or may grow weaker the longer you remain in sin, God still listens to His children.
This whole journey with Christ will have its ups and downs. God never said it would be a bed of roses. Not talking to God even when we fail Him would be an awful mistake. God still listens to our cry for help.
Let me make this clear!! God will hear our prayers but we must also hold up our part of the matter. We must not get in the state of non-repentance from sin thinking that God will still hear us. Failing or making mistakes that are sinful can jeopardize our walk when we have no repenting heart. It’s when our motives are selfish we have no intention of changing that can lead to God not hearing you because you are not sincere in your walk.
James 4:3 states, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
We must be careful about how we approach God with our requests or desires. Remember that God knows our heart. You can’t fool God!! Be sincere in your requests and communication with God. He will not leave you alone in the midst of any struggle.
We live in a world that is quick to judge and criticize those that may have made mistakes in walking with God. What makes it even more unbearable is the feeling that you are looked down on by the church (those that say they love God).
In many cases, the urge to point fingers and stir up gossip seems to flood the atmosphere instead of praying for that individual for strength and understanding. It is this type of behavior that falls in the category of B.U.G.S. (Being Under The Grip Of Satan). Satan waits for each opportunity to disturb the walk of a believer. He never wants the truth to come out when we are struggling with any issue. So he uses those that are within our congregations who are not in sync with God to point, judge, gossip, and spread scandal. Many of them don’t even realize that they are being used by Satan’s tactics. Many feel that they are justified to do so simply because they say they know God.
Let me say this people!! We are not the appointed ones that are positioned to police those that are struggling with things in their lives. We have not arrived at the point that we can’t also be found in error when it comes to sin. Making mistakes is part of growing in Christ. It should not be used as a reason to disrupt the walk of a believer. We should never allow Satan to the rights of our thoughts and behavior.
Never give up on praying to God even if you have failed Him in some way. The sincerity of the heart always prevails. God is a loving and forgiving God and only desires that we lay aside that thing (sin) which has caused us to fall.
Hebrews 12:1 states, “Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
We should never feel or allow someone to make you feel that God has stopped listening to you!!! I truly believe that this also is a trick of the enemy that prevails simply because of the lack of understanding and misuse of authority in our midst.
We are set free as believers…Don’t allow this freedom to be snatched away by the burden of sin. Also, don’t allow people (so-called believers) to crush your desire to want God more.
Galatians 5:1 states, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.“
Please understand, this is not an good reason for remaining in sin. It is a declaration that God will prevail by His grace in whatever situation we find ourselves in. God will hear you if you desire to move forward in Him. My prayer is that we all “keep talking to God” …and God…keep listening!!!
Thank you for listening…
Prayerfully Submitted (An Unfinished Story)
Evang. Debbie Watkins
Disclaimer* These posts are no in any way posted based on expert input. My expertise comes from LIVING LIFE in the CHURCH. Please read with an open mind, attitude, and heart. Thank you.
