Proverbs 28:9: How to Prayers Become an Abomination

Did you know that not all prayers are equally good? The Bible actually shows us that there are good prayers and bad prayers! So, you might not know it but you are actually praying a bad prayer. How is this possible? That’s what we are going to discuss today!

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The Abominable Prayer in Proverbs 28:9

Prayers are a way for us to communicate with God. All of us can pray and we must pray if we want to be close to God. However, there are certain prayers that God considers unacceptable for Him. Thus, if we want to really improve our relationship with God, we need to know what makes prayers bad prayers.

The main verse we’re going to talk about today is Proverbs 28:9:

⁹ One who turns away his ear from hearing the law,
Even his prayer is an abomination.

This is an important verse that deserves our attention. The word abomination here came from the Hebrew word, “tô‛êbah.” It means disgusting, abhorrent, and abomination.

Can you just imagine praying a prayer that is disgusting and abhorrent? I don’t know about you but I definitely would like to avoid that as much as possible.

How a Prayer Becomes an Abomination

So, how does a prayer become an abomination? It says, “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law.” Thus, if we don’t listen to God’s law and by extension, His word, then we will surely have abominable prayers!

Hearing in this verse doesn’t mean just listening, but rather, hearing the law means obeying it. When we don’t obey God’s law and His commandments, then we are turning our prayers into something disgusting!

Remember, it is by reading or hearing God’s word we let our Father talk to us, and by praying, we talk to God. If we don’t hear God’s word, we are actually not listening to God. So, how can we truly talk to God in prayer if we don’t even want to listen to Him?

Does that make sense?

What does it mean to sin in Proverbs 28:9?

Now, this doesn’t mean that when we sin, God will not automatically listen to our prayers anymore. Remember, we are all sinners. We all fall short in the glory of God. Proverbs 28:9 refers to living in sin and continuing in sin. When you live in sin and you don’t have any intention to repent and change, then your prayers become an abomination. After all, how can God answer your prayer if you yourself don’t follow what He wants you to do to accomplish the desires of your heart?

For example, you are praying for a strong relationship with your wife but at the same time, you are committing adultery in your heart or you are actually having an affair. Would that work? Of course not!

Another example is when you ask God to bless you with good health. Yet, you are addicted to cigarette smoking and you abuse alcohol. Do you think God will grant you your prayers? It is most likely that He won’t.

Do you now see the connection between obeying God and answered prayers? When we submit to God’s authority by following His law, then we position ourselves to have our prayers heard and answered.

So, if you don’t want your prayers to become an abomination, then follow God’s law and submit to His authority.

Learn More About Prayer

I hope that helps and that you learned something new today. By the way, this video is inspired by my online course, “Teach Us to Pray.” If you wish to dramatically improve your understanding of prayer based on the Word of God, then I highly recommend you check out our course.

In this course, you’ll learn what prayer is, why you should pray, and how to pray. The course comes with 7 modules, 21 lessons, and 21 course videos. You can finish the course in just 21 days. Some of the important concepts you’ll learn from this course include how to pray a prayer that God will hear, what we should do when prayers are not answered, specific things we should pray for, and how to develop a consistent prayer habit.

So, check out the course today. Create a free account, and start with our FREE masterclass to start your journey towards a stronger, more fulfilling, and intimate prayer life!