Note, 1. It is by the word and prayer that our communion with God is
kept up. God speaks to us by his law, and expects we should hear him
and heed him; we speak to him by prayer, to which we wait for an answer
of peace. How reverent and serious should we be, whenever we are
hearing from and speaking to the Lord of glory! 2. If God's word be not
regarded by us, our prayers shall not only not be accepted of God, but
they shall be an abomination to him, not only our sacrifices, which
were ceremonial appointments, but even our prayers, which are moral
duties, and which, when they are put up by the upright, are so much his
delight. See Isa. i. 11, 15. The sinner whose prayers God is thus angry
at is one who wilfully and obstinately refuses to obey God's
commandments, who will not so much as give them the hearing, but causes
his ear to decline the law, and refuses when God calls; God will
therefore justly refuse him when he calls. See Prov. i. 24, 28.