Praying to Open Skies

Prayer, has been the theme of my week so far. On Sunday, I attended Ridgedale Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN. Tyler's family attends there, as well as my Uncle Bill and Aunt Anita and family are serving there. We went to see Seth (11) and Luke(8), Tyler's brothers, be baptized.





It was a very sweet experience, and great to spend time with Tyler's ENTIRE family. But, in the college Sunday school, we talked about prayer. We analyzed Paul's prayer in Ephesians. We discussed what it means to pray, what we say when we pray, we even took it as far as to ask what we hear other people say when they pray. We were laughing at people that have the filler word of "God," as there pause because we would never do that when talking to someone else. Take for example someone talking to a friend, and saying their name as much as we do in a prayer, "Dear Janey, I come before you now, and Janey, and I just wanted to say, that Janey, I just love you so much Janey, thank you Janey for all you have done for me, Janey." Get the picture?!? Well all joking aside, sometimes we don't realize what we say when we are praying in a group, and sometimes our prayers aren't as sincere as we think they are.

BUT, one thing that has been on my mind more heavily is the saying, "My prayers aren't reaching higher than the ceiling." Most of us have heard the saying. What does it mean? I think it means that we as humans don't feel that we are getting through to God. He feels distant. He isn't listening, or doesn't care. I want to suggest to you that maybe the reason that our prayer aren't reaching higher than the ceiling, is because the ceiling shouldn't be there at all. I know that's confusing, so let me explain. I believe, that the metaphorical "ceiling" is the sin that we have put up between us and God. In the book of Ezra we find a prayer that pinpoints this same idea or analogy of a ceiling.

"O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens." Ezra 9:6

Our sins are higher than our heads, they are a ceiling, and the guilt that causes reaches even higher than that. This sin is taking up the space between where we are as a person and how much greater and higher that God is. In Proverbs, it flat out tells us....

"The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous." Proverbs 15:29

So, the more the sin, the further God. God is perfect, and knows no sin, and cannot be in the presence of sin, so as we create our ceiling of sin, we are being pushed further and further from God.

I love the example played out in Isaiah, because it gives us (sinners) an action step. God was saying to Israel, 'Hey, I know you have messed up and there is a huge 'ceiling' between us, but here's why it's there and here's what you should be doing.'

Isaiah 1:15-20
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood;

16 wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,

17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

18 "Come now, let us reason together,"
says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land;

20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword."
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Though our sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow. How awesome that God was even telling the Old Testament people this, and we (the New Testament) know that this washing comes from Jesus. Through Jesus, we are forgiven. Through Jesus, our ceiling is torn down. We have open access to the God of all the Heavens! Ask for that forgiveness. Seek to remedy the sin in your life, and your prayers will no longer hit the ceiling, because, well, there won't be one!