You hate good and love evil. . . .
Then you will cry to the Lord,
but he will not answer you.
He will hide his face from you at that time
because you have done evil things.
Micah 3:2, 4
I t can be hard not to pay attention to the world with all of its amazing sights and imaginative ideas, but every time you get all wrapped up in the world, you open yourself up to turning away from God. And suddenly you find yourself living not in him but in the world, and your prayer life suffers. See, God says he won’t listen to people who love the world, which means those who put all their hope in it and get obsessed about it. The problem with obsession is that it means all your thoughts are caught up in getting the one thing you obsess about, even to the detriment of other things and people. When you obsess you take a giant step toward hating good and loving evil (see Micah 3:2), since evil is anything that draws your attention away from God in order to control you.
If your prayer life is weak and you never get the answers you want, then maybe the answer is in where you are living: in the world or in faith? So think about your week. What do you do and think about most often? Is your life all wrapped up in Jesus and his Word, or do you spend the majority of your strength just keeping up with the world?
Prayer is your access to the Creator of all. It’s your way to ask and to receive from the one who provides everything you need for life and for happiness. If you could have continual access to the God of the universe, why wouldn’t you take the chance and run with it? The only thing you lack in your prayer life is your allegiance. Turn your back on the world, deny it, and head straight for the arms of God. Learn to live there, without giving the world a vote, and your prayer life will explode.