Many of us experienced storms this summer where falling limbs knocked out power. When the power’s out nothing works. The TV stays blank, the internet is inaccessible, air conditioners don’t cool and if the grid stays down long enough, food in the freezer starts to rot.

Power lines overhead remind me of our prayer life. The psalmist wrote:

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!

The best way to pull the plug on my prayer life is to cherish sin in my heart. To cherish means to dwell upon my particular sin, to hold it close and hide it from others. I don’t do anything to stop it, and I manipulate circumstances to keep it alive.

What do you and I cherish that displeases the Lord? Pride, lack of forgiveness, jealousy and anger come to mind. Perhaps coveting what others possess, or treasuring immorality from hidden sessions on social media or the internet. Do I despise my neighbor and enjoy the thought of their frustrations in life?

Regardless of the sin, cherishing it cuts off access to the Lord. Power failure—the lines are down. Frustrated in prayer? Look inward and remove the debris, then the Lord will listen once again.

Psalm 66 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by fabian jones