One afternoon while I was in the grocery store, a member of our church came up to me and asked me to pray for him. He said he was having some financial challenges and needed a miracle. Of course I prayed with him. However, after we prayed, I asked if he’d prayed for himself. He said, “Pastor, I got caught up in sin, I know God wouldn’t hear me!” I asked him if he’d repented and turned away from the sin, and he said yes. So I asked, “Then what would make you think God wouldn’t hear you?” Before shaking my hand and walking off, he softly answered, “I don’t know.”

This is the story for countless Christians. They have missed the mark, and as a result, they’re just not sure God will hear and answer their prayers. This scenario happens often when people have fallen into unconfessed sin. In many instances, even when they have confessed their sin, sin consciousness causes them to think God doesn’t love them or hear their prayers.

I’ve always said that sin makes cowards out of men. When a person is committed to sin, more than likely they will not exercise their God-given right to receive forgiveness, provision, peace, and everything else the blood has purchased on their behalf. And that’s one of the tragedies we’re seeing in the Body of Christ today. Thousands of people are more conscious of their sin than they are of their righteousness.

Let me encourage you today, your sins are not news to God. He knows we are all going to miss the mark at times. But He has commanded us in His Word to come to Him and repent. Think about it, that’s why Jesus came to Earth and died—for our sins. So when we fall into sin, the first place we should run is to God, the One who can cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

If you’re dealing with some unconfessed sin, or if you’re just constantly aware of your sins, I urge you to take your eyes off yourself and put them on Christ. Don’t allow sin to separate you from God. Through Christ, you have a blood-bought right to stand in the presence of God just as if you never sinned.

Rest assured; God is not like people who constantly point out shortcomings. No! He sees you for who you really are and still loves you. Why? Because He looks beyond who you are to what you become in Him. You have a right to pray and get answers to your prayers. Don’t allow anything or anyone stop you from exercising that right!

— Dr. Creflo A. Dollar