Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Psalm 66:18
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
James 4:3
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
The “Brass Ceiling” idiom comes from the corporate world – women or minorities not being able to make it through to the top of their professions, left unheard by the “Top Brass” of a company. Certainly the kingdom of God is different. After all, God knows ALL things! There could never be a prayer that He doesn’t hear, or else He’d cease to be “all knowing”! But Scripture is VERY clear that we can create situations when our prayers become completely ineffective and useless. You could say, in fact, that they “bounce off the ceiling.” We’ve already seen one in Matthew 6 – that of “praying for show” goes nowhere with God!
Based on the three Scriptures above, what other conditions “turn off” the communication channel with God?
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.