When the people of Israel wondered why God did not respond to their prayers, Isaiah gave them an answer (Isaiah 59:1-2). Read Psalm 66:18, Ephesians 2:12–14, Romans 10:13, and Joel 2:12-13. Sin is anything that we do wrong. It can be breaking a specific command of God or just falling short of the standard that God sets. Sin can create a barrier between you and God. Sin may be the reason why it seems that God is not responding to your prayers. The Old and New Testament tell us that sin separates us from God. Yet, we don’t need to fear that sin permanently separates us from God, because God always hears sincere repentance.

God will not forsake us (Deut. 31:6, Psalm 27:10, Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5-6). Faithfulness is part of God’s character that does not change (Lamentations 3:22–24, Exodus 34: 6-7, 1 Corinthians 1:9 and 10:13, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, Hebrews 10:23, 2 Timothy 2:11–13). These last verses are difficult to understand. When we come across an “apparent” contradiction in the Bible, we should assume that we do not understand fully because God is constant and unchangeable. Here is it emphasized that even if we are unfaithful, God is faithful. The part about disowning Christ, points to the truth that believing in Jesus, includes being willing to be associated with Him. If we disown Him, it could be asked, are we truly believing in Him? Remember as well, that although Peter disowned Jesus three times on the night of His crucifixion (Matthew 26:69–75), Jesus fully restores him (John 21:15–19).

Our insecurities say more about ourselves than our God. To be secure in Him, we must look beyond our earthly experiences to the truth of who God is. The Bible tells us that we can have confidence in God's faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22–24, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Hebrews 10:23 and 13:5-6). Therefore, to be secure in God’s love for us, we must focus our attention on who He is and His many promises of love to us.

There are many spiritual disciplines that can help us grow closer to God. Discipline is not something that comes easily, but when we have a goal that we desire with all of who we are (and with the power of the Holy Spirit in us), it is possible to practice. Spiritual disciplines include: reading/studying/memorizing God’s Word, prayer, fasting, silence, solitude, simplicity, meditating on God’s Word, and participating in the body of believers (being part of a Bible believing church). An important thing to know is that it is possible to grow close to God, we just have to seek Him (Jeremiah 29:13, Acts 17:27)

He carries our burdens and our sins; He takes them far from us; He washes us and makes us clean. (See Isaiah 1:18 and 53:4–6, Psalm 51:7 and 103:12)

Read Jeremiah 15:19, Ezekiel 18:30–32, Joel 2:12-13, Mat. 4:17, Revelation 2:5, and 1 John 1:9.