The waitress had just filled the glass cup in front of me. The water in the glass looked inviting. I was thirsty. But as I raised the glass to my lips I noticed a bug floating at the bottom of the cup. No matter how thirsty I was, I was not going to take even a sip. The cup was dirty.

I wonder sometimes if God feels the same way when people pray to him. Fervent prayers are made for real needs. A busted relationship. Mounting debt. Troubled economy. Unemployment. Lost people. Real needs. Real prayers.  As Christians we understand the importance of prayer. As churches we have agreed that prayer is our number one task. And so we pray. We pray for revival in our land. We implore God to turn the hearts of our nation back to him. We plead for an outpouring of his Holy Spirit. And when we don’t receive an answer we conclude that the problem is with God. But perhaps the problem is with us. As God hears those prayers he notices. There is dirt in the glass. There is sin floating at the bottom of people’s hearts.

Sin hinders our prayers. In Psalm 66 the psalmist admits: “God would not have listened if I had not confessed my sins” (v. 18).  There is a real vivid illustration of this quandry in the history of Israel.  As the people of God they were facing a huge enemy. In their battle with this enemy they suffered great defeat. Joshua their leader threw himself on the ground before God in prayer crying out to God for answers.  Why did God not give them victory? God explained: “Israel has sinned and disobeyed my commandment…. That is why the people of Israel are being defeated.... You cannot defeat your enemies until you deal with this sin.” Joshua 7:11-13.

The real problem was not that Israel had sinned. Sin in itself is not a barrier to answered prayers. If that was the case then why pray? We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. There is no one righteous, not even one. Not me! Not you! No one!  (see Romans :9-23).  The real problem is not sin but unconfessed sin.  Some translations of Psalm 66:18 speak about cherishing sin in our hearts.   To cherish sin means to harbour sins in our hearts -- leaving sins undealt with.   Our sins are moored to our hearts and we don't let go of them.   We might even hold them dear.    But when we confess our sins, we let go of them.   We untie them from the harbour of our hearts.   We admit that they are wrong and in need of forgiveness.    And having confessed our sins we remove them as a hinderance to our prayers.   As the Psalmist rejoices:   "But God listened! He heard my prayer! He paid attention to it!  Blessed be God, who didn’t turn away when I was praying and didn’t refuse me his kindness and love."  (Psalm 66:18-20)

There was a time in my life when I wanted more of God!   More of his presence.  More of his kindness and love.   Oh I prayed, and prayed fervently.   But God still seemed distant and I did not sense his love.   This all changed when, to quote David, "Then I acknowledged my sin to [God] and did not cover up my iniquity.  I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD' -- and you forgave the guilt of my sin." (Psalm 32:5)   My unconfessed sins hindered my prayers.   Since then I regularly take inventory of my life as I read God's Word and when I find any areas of my life that do not line up, I confess those things and claim God's grace and forgiveness.   This has brought a whole new sense of freedom in my prayer life.

Reflect on what Alvin Vandergriend writes:   "Not only does sin hinder prayer; prayer hinders sin.   The two are always opposed.   The more careless we are about sin, the less we will pray.   The more we pray, the less careless we will be about sin."  (Love to Pray)   I have found this to be true.   What about you?

Are there any areas in your life where you are uneasy before God?    Then take a spiritual inventory of your life.   Simply ask God to reveal any area of your life where you might be cherishing sin in your heart.  God will reveal those things to you.  Then confess your sins to God.   Exhale all that is not of God.   And then inhale his grace and forgiveness.   Come clean!   As individuals and faith communities we need to come clean.   And then be confident that God will not only listen, but he will answer our prayers.