One preacher recalls, ‘A man in our church said to me, “I come every week. I sit in the right seat, hold the right book in my hands, sing the right words to the right songs but I am just going through the motions. God is not showing up in my life”’.

Ever feel like that?

Sometimes we struggle with God’s silence. Can I say that sometimes God is not silent, but that we are not listening? There are other times when He is silent. These times can be very hard but yet very productive in our faith if we keep running the race. But there are also times when God is silent because of our spiritual condition. So as you attempt to draw near to God he may well not be drawing near to you.

That is sore but there are reasons for that and in the following there are four reasons why God may not be drawing near to you. Someone once said, ‘Sometimes the pain of surgery is the only way to find healing’. Why would God ignore our worship? The prophet Isaiah helps us understand.

Reason 1: God ignores our worship when we’re selfish⤒🔗

“Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers.” (Isaiah 58:3). That phrase find your desires means that you already have pretty much everything you want. When you come to church intent on worshipping God, you’re fed up, rested up, leisured up – basically satisfied with everything your heart desires. Then you rush into church almost as an after-thought and say, “God, it is your turn now.” And He is like, ‘Sorry it doesn’t work that way’. You cannot have everything your heart desires and God!

One writer said, ‘If you doubt that, try this experiment. Right now you’re reading this piece about how to connect with the Lord. Now, go eat a big meal. In fact, eat it in front of the TV while you watch your favourite video. When you’re done stuffing yourself, lay down on the couch as the movie continues. When you are done, come back here and see how much energy you have to finish this. The answer will be little or none. Deep down we know that we cannot have God and the constant satisfaction of every earthly whim.’

Sin is not the only thing that hinders your relationship with God. That’s why Isaiah focuses on fasting. Fasting, as prescribed in Scripture, elevates your hunger and passion for God. (Do we even fast in our day?)

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). As you struggle with apathy in your life of worship, this truth from Jesus gives amazing insight on the attitude of the Christ follower, self­lessness, and a hunger for God’s righteousness. See what it says, you prepare yourself, leave room for God’s righteousness in your life, God will fill you.

Reason 2: God ignores our worship when we’re strife-filled←⤒🔗

This attitude is quite astonishing. Some Christians are consumed with the vertical and think they can ignore the horizontal. Notice Isaiah said, “Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife and in striking each other with wicked fists” (you seek God in a worshipful way) (v4). In other words, people fuss, fume, and fight all week and then come to worship.

Instead of leaving church determined to get right with people and be an instrument of reconciliation in this world, they growl at the kids all the way home. In the middle of that, they try to fold in some genuine, personal connection with God. God is like, “What? You want Me to connect with you when you’re like this?” God doesn’t meet with us when our lives are filled with strife.

One writer said, ‘God has taught me the hard way that you can’t have the vertical thing right with Him if you haven’t at least done your part to make the horizontal relationships right.’ (Romans 12:18) says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” Jesus said in (Matthew 5:23) that if you come to worship God and while you’re at the altar you remember a problem you have with somebody, you should leave your sacrifice and go make the relationship right. Just get up and walk out, get on the phone or write the letter or get in your car and get over to that house.

Too many Christians do not take this seriously enough. We are playing at religion, what Tozer called “the most universally played game”. If we are strife filled, God will not hear us. If this is so, why are we playing at religion pretending that everything is right when in fact it is not all right?

Reason 3: God ignores surface worship←⤒🔗

We may look the part. We may make all the right moves, but God ignores our worship when we’re focused on externals. You can see it in (Isaiah 58:5), “Is the kind of fast I have chosen?” “Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed?” “And for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord.” In other words, God says, ‘Is that what I’m into?’

One commentator says, ‘In Isaiah’s day, people who wanted to show that they were really serious with God wore this abrasive, rough sackcloth against their skin as a symbolic expression of their heartfelt brokenness. To make themselves even more uncomfortable, they would dump ashes on their head. They were acknowledging how completely disinterested God is in externals and how entirely focused He is with our heart – our thoughts, our attitudes, and our motivations.’

As with most symbolic expressions of worship, over time people became guilty of offering God the symbol and not the reality. They came to worship decked out in the right gear but they failed to let the reality of their sinfulness penetrate their own heart. God was saying, ‘Don’t give Me the symbol, give Me the reality’! This is very serious.

Too many are playing at church as a thing they do every Sunday at the same time, and they somehow assume that doing this is what God wants as worship. The time we spend in public worship is a public expression of what our heart and lives should be like the rest of the time. Again, congregational worship is a game and God does not want that. He wants your heart in the gathered worship as well as the whole of your life. God does not appreciate surface worship.

Reason 4: God ignores our worship when we regard sin in our hearts←⤒🔗

I call this, the ‘Are you talking to me?’ Scripture says that if we regard sin in our heart, God will not hear us. (Psalm 66:18). So as we wrestle with an area of disobedience and sin in our hearts, if we do not confess it and turn away from it, God will not hear us. You might even hear God say, ‘Are you talking to me?’

Let’s not fool ourselves, if we do not confess sin in our heart, he will not listen to us. If we treat sin in a casual way, the Lord will not hear us. Isaiah states that our iniquity has hidden God’s face from us. Take it seriously.

These are just four examples of when God does not receive our worship. We have plenty to work on in our lives so that our worship of God is the way God wants it. Plastic Christianity means plastic Christians. God isn’t fooled.