READING: 1 Samuel 27-31, Luke 21:5-38
Unanswered prayer ought to cause us to look at our own lives. Of course, there are times when God delays His response or responds in ways unexpected to us. Sometimes, His apparent silence is intended to drive us to Him with greater passion. At other times, His silence is evidence of sin in our lives. It’s the latter that Saul learned about when the Philistine camp had gathered against Israel.
Saul was frightened by the Philistine army, and he sought the Lord’s help. The biblical text tells us, however, that “the Lord did not answer him in dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets” (1 Sam. 28:6). These means were ways God made Himself known in Saul’s day, but that fact didn’t matter much. Saul had previously rejected the Lord and His Word, so God has also rejected him as king (1 Sam. 15:23). Saul’s rebellion had led to God’s silence.
Whenever we sense God’s silence, it surely is right to consider what God might be teaching us. And, it’s right to think theologically about why God might choose not to respond in ways that make sense to us. At the same time, though, theologizing without asking the question, “Might my sin and rebellion be getting in the way of my prayers?” is quite short-sighted. Sometimes, the problem with our prayers is simple: words from rebellious lips don’t go very far toward heaven.
PRAYER: “God, show me when my sin is the problem with my praying.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Review and catch-up day
