You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
15 And
when ye spread forth [paras] your hands, [kaph] I will
hide [`alam] mine eyes [`ayin] from you: yea, when ye make many [rabah] prayers, [taphillah] I will
not hear: [shama`] your hands [yad] are full [male'] of blood. [dam] KJV-Interlinear
15 "So
when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, Yes,
even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered
with blood. NASB
The spreading out of ones hands and arms, skyward, is an expression of humble submission or pleadings to God for help.
Typically when life has fallen all around you, and you are in a state of helplessness, then most normal folks will call out to God for help. They raise their arms demonstrating their helplessness, as though to emphasize their plight and extreme need.
Likwise, some folks will offer many prayers to God, also in urgency to gain His attention and aid.
However, prayer is a technical communication device for talking to God, and if it is not done in the correct way, then you might as well be shouting into the wind, for all the good it will do you.
Carrying on from the previous verses, there are two types of living states in which all people live. The first is the most common and that is the temporal state when people live within this world but out of fellowship with God. This includes all unbelievers, and all believers who commit sins and do not confess their sins on a regular basis.
The second state is the fellowship state, wherein believers (only), confess their sins on a regular basis, and are thus living their lives within the spiritual life. We call this being in fellowship.
Your spiritual life, which includes all that you do spiritually (study, growth, prayer, day to day living) only functions in the spiritual sense when you are in fellowship.
Your spiritual life does not function when you are out of fellowship.
Therefore, when you are out of fellowship, as most folks usually are, then all of your study, prayers, activities that you believe are godly, are not.
Numerous prayers will not overcome Gods mandate for confession. Sincerity in prayer will not overcome Gods mandate for a properly functioning spiritual life. All of the pleadings and tears, and remorseful or public exhibitions of emotion will not replace Gods only authorized mechanism for the spiritual life.
When you are trying to impress yourself or others, then your efforts go no further than you can throw them.
Man, by mans efforts, does not impress God, nor get His attention. Mans efforts are from the energy of the flesh which is arrogance, and not from truth.
God only recognizes His efforts, which are righteousness and justice, combined to make holiness, all from the position of truth.
Your prayers do not work? Maybe your spiritual life is out of sync with Gods plan.
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