Am I Being Heard?

One of the most difficult questions I get asked at camp is does God hear me when I pray?  I say this because the simple answer is yes, but the follow up is really hard to answer.  The follow question then becomes, "Why doesn't He answer me?"  Even as an adult, I have wrestled with this question.  As many of you probably know, my mom battled cancer for 4 years.  In the end, my mom won, although it was through losing her life to her struggle.  Through this process my family and I prayed a lot, many people prayed a lot.  We probably had thousands of people praying for her, literally!  But it seemed as though those prayers fell upon deaf ears because she did pass away.  This is what was going through my head today and what stuck out as I read Proverbs 28.

Verse 9 says, "He who turns away his hear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination."

This stuck out to me for the reason stated above.  The question of whether or not God hears me when I pray is not nearly as important as does God answer me when I pray.  This verse seems to shed a little light on a reason why He may not answer us in the way we want Him to.  This verse does not tell us what to pray, but it tells us what our life needs to look like while we pray. 

The application of this verse is much easier said than done.  The first part of this verse says that if we are not following the law, our prayers will be seen as an eyesore to God.  Again, notice the author does not speak to the content of our prayer but towards our life conduct surrounding when we pray.  As I read this passage and enter into prayer, I need to take a look deep inside myself and look at my lifestyle.  Is there anything I am consciously doing that goes against God's law?  If I am doing something to break His law, then what I am praying will be an eyesore to Him.  There are other passages of scripture that speak to content, attitude, and reasoning behind our prayers, and I am not addressing those topics.  I am merely looking at my life and asking the question, "Am I doing anything contrary to God's laws?"  If the answer to that question is "Yes."  I need to get rid of that!

Your thoughts?

In His service, Crazy Pete