Most of us would rather talk about anything else than about the sin which is in our lives. We may not have a problem talking about the sins from which we have turned. For some it seems as if their past sins are badges of honor which they proudly share with others. The Bible, however, portrays sin differently. Sin is portrayed as a heavy burden (Psalm 38:4-6), a hard taskmaster (Romans 6:16-18), a blemishing stain (Psalm 51:1,2), and as defiling filth (2 Peter 2:20-22). One thing for sure, no mater how we may describe sin we can be certain that the price paid for sin will be costly.

The high price paid for sin is separation from God and His spiritual blessings. These past few weeks I have no doubt that more Americans have offered prayers to God than have done so in the past sixty years. That so many in our country are thinking about prayers and God is truly a wonderful thing. But we must realize that God is not some old cur dog we have tied up in the back yard, left alone, until we need Him. For God to hear and answer our prayers we must have a proper relationship with Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Consider the words of God’s prophet, "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear" (Isaiah 59:1_2 NKJV). The wise man wrote, "The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous" (Proverbs 15:29 NKJV). Unless we are in the proper relationship with God our prayers do not go any higher than the ceiling. Sin separates us from spiritual blessings.

Not only does sin separate us from spiritual blessings, but also from God, Himself. The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Christians in Ephesus and in that letter he described their situation before they had a relationship with Jesus Christ. This what he wrote, "...at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12 NKJV). Many are in this situation today because of sin in their lives. They, as were the Ephesians, are moving through this life with no hope and without God.

Our country and our men and women overseas need our prayers, but for those prayers to be effective and to reach God we must make sure we are in the proper relationship with God and His Son. We must come before Him in obedient faith, turning from sin, confessing our faith, and having been baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16; Romans 6:1-7; 10:10). With the assurance that we are now in the proper relationship with God, we can be confident that God will hear our prayers for He tells us that, "The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry" (Psalms 34:15 NKJV).