If you are a Christian who has committed or is committing sexual sin, the shame and the guilt of your sin will certainly make you feel distant from God. Sexual sin does have ramifications for our prayer life and our relationship with God.

A passage that deals with the way marital intimacy influences prayer life is 1 Peter 3:7.

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. 1 Peter 3:7 (ESV)

It tells husbands to not be harsh with their wives. Don’t yell at your wife. Don’t be harsh with her. Don’t intimidate her. Don’t embarrass her in public. Don’t share things about her with your friends behind her back. If you do, God is not going to come along and help you by answering your prayers.

As a man, you might be asking God to help you do a better job at work and to make more money. God says, that until you love your wife, I’m not going to bless your life. So if you love your wife, I can bless your life. If you don’t love your wife, I’m not going to bless your life.

If you are in sexual sin, it is not that God can’t literally hear you. It is that God won’t bless you.

Instead of blessing us, what happens to a Christian in sexual sin? According to Hebrews 12:6, the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. Just like a father spanks their son to break them from a habit that is killing them because he loves them, the same is true of God. If we insist on sexual sin and don’t repent of it, out of his love for us, he will break us. Hebrews 12:10 tells us that God disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. God’s correction is for our good, not for our ill.

Many times, it is only through brokenness that we turn to God and pursue purity.