“He who turns away his ear from listening to the law,
Even his prayer is an abomination.”
Proverbs 28:9

Here we have a picture of the man who does not want to listen to God but wants for God to listen to him. Here is a man who does not want to be burdened with the demands of the law but wants the right to unburden himself before God.

Here is a man who willfully turns away his ear from listening to the Word of God yet expects God to lend a willing ear to his word. Here we have a man who says no to God and yet expects God to say yes to him.

Is there any hope that such a man’s prayers will be heard? Is there any reason to expect that such a man’s petitions will move God to act?

The writer of Proverbs answers these questions with a resounding, “Absolutely not!” Such a man’s prayer is an abomination.

Let not that man think that God will act on his terms. Let not that man think that he can live his life as he pleases without regard to the law of God and yet enjoy the privilege of calling upon God whenever he pleases. If this were the case then a man could live his life without regard to God’s law and still petition God for blessing at his convenience.

Our prayer is impacted by our obedience. The Psalmist declared in Psalm 66:18, “If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear.” If we will not listen to God, then God will not listen to us.

God can wait until we are ready to repent of our sin before listening to our prayers. God can wait until we decide to incline our ear to His Word before inclining His ear to our prayers.

The question is, can we afford to wait? Can we afford to live our lives as we please without the assurance that our lines of communication with God are open?

Our lives must be lived on God’s terms. Our obedience to the Word of God is important. It is vitally linked to the success or failure of our prayer life.