Covered Prayer

Lamentations 3:44 - "You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through."

There are generally two reasons why prayer remains unanswered. One is certainly demonic strongholds that block answered prayer. We see this when Daniel fought with principalities to secure an open heaven for answered prayer (Daniel 10:10-14). However, possibly the one we desire least to recognize is either individual or corporate (national and/or global) sin.

God always comes in clouds. However, if we are waiting for Jesus to appear on the clouds and bring retribution to the nations, we may first want to examine if He has covered Himself in a cloud because of our sin. As Isaiah states, our sin has made a separation between us and God so that He will not hear (Isaiah 59:2). May we all desire to be a man like righteous Elijah, a man not unlike us, who was effectual and fervent in prayer for an entire nation (James 5:16-18).