Many people are in the miry clay of life. A miry clay is a situation so terrible, you cannot get out of it by yourself; you need external help to get you out of it. When the doctor tells someone that they have done their best and there is nothing more they can do to make the fellow feel better, he knows that at that point, except God comes to his aid, he is finished. Thankfully, I have a God who specialises in lifting people out of the miry clay and placing their feet on the rock to stand firm (Psalm 40:2).

What do you do for the Almighty God to pull you out of the miry clay? The first thing is to realise that it is sin that brought you into the miry clay in the first instance. When the paralysed man was brought to Jesus in Mark 2:1-12, the first thing the Lord said to him was, “Your sins be forgiven you”. The word of God is clear: the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sickness is an agent of death. You must repent and forsake your sins before you can come out of the miry clay. The Lord told the man at the pool of Bethesda, “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14). If you don’t get rid of sin in your life, you may never get out of that miry clay. David said in Psalm 66:18: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” How can you be expecting an answer from God when He cannot even hear your prayers at all?

I was invited to Tunisia about 11 years ago to speak at the World Prayer Conference and I said, “Brethren, I have come to submit to you that God answers all prayers.” Some deep theologians called me aside and said that it is not true. Don’t let anybody deceive you, God answers prayers. He said, “Call on me and I will answer you” (Jeremiah 33:3). He didn't say “I may answer you”. The only variable there is, He can only answer the prayers He hears. If He doesn’t hear, how will there be an answer? Isaiah 59:1-2 says clearly that it is our sins that prevent God from hearing us.

If you are still obeying God half-heartedly, change your ways. It is in your best interest to do so.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.