Ezekiel 20:30-31 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go whoring after their detestable things? When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. 

In the beginning of this chapter, the elders of Israel had come to inquire of the Lord through the prophet Ezekiel. Throughout the chapter, the Lord lays out to Ezekiel why He would not respond to their inquiry. Basically it had to do with idolatry. 

The Israelites were consumed with the idols of other nations and were even sacrificing their children in the fire to Molech. On occasion they still called on the prophets of the living God, when they wanted a true word in desperate times. God was a tool to be used for their purpose and then cast aside. But God was not interested in being a second rate deity for them, or a tool for them to gain glory for themselves.

This principle has not changed with time. As popular as the concept of unconditional favor is, it is not a true picture. God still gives revelation, favor and anointing in greater measures to those who place Him high above the desires of the world.

It does not fail. Every time I slide backward a little, the voice of God diminishes by a proportionate degree. When I repent and destroy the idols that have crept into my life, I am able to hold God high above everything else once more. When this happens, life starts flowing, revelations come, prayers are answered. In short, God is not reluctant to respond to my inquiries in this state of being. 

There are other reasons why we don’t hear from God at times. I am not trying to oversimplify things. But we are almost certain not to hear from God—at least not in a positive way—if we are not giving Him His due. For myself it is certainly the most common reason. 

It’s so easy to allow. And by no means is either state permanent once we arrive at them. If we have regressed in our faith by any degree, we can repent and God is faithful to forgive and restore us. Once we have put God in the place He deserves in our lives, we need to daily take care to keep Him there. Our natural tendency is still to turn to other things as long as we dwell in this carnal body.

But if we deny our flesh and our idols, we can boldly come before God and inquire of Him without shame.