"But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance." (Heb 9:7)


We all know that before the sacrifice of Christ, human beings weren't able to communicate with God directly. Only through the high priest were God's messages communicated, and as the verse stated, this happens only once a year. After the sacrifice was made on the Cross, the veil was torn and the barrier of communicate broken. We were able to come before God since Jesus has already made atonement for us through the sacrifice of His blood. Even though the blood of Jesus washed away our sins during baptism, we continue to sin with each day of our lives. Therefore, for us to continue to have a direct communication with God, we must first repent of our sins as the priest repented the sins of the people and himself before communicating with God.

Even though Christ has opened the channel of direct contact with God, our prayers are not able to reach Him unless the spiritual barrier we have between us and God is removed. That barrier keeps building up as we continue to sin. If we fail to confess our sins, even the ones we 'committed in ignorance', before each communication with God, our prayers will go unanswered. Even though we won't be physically struck to death as a high priest might if he failed to atone for the sins of the people and himself, we will be spiritually dead because our unrepented sins are filled to the brim. Maybe we wonder why God has been neglecting us in our prayers, but have we remembered to offer up our sacrifice before we communicate with Him? Maybe it wasn't God who wasn't listening, rather it was us who created that noisy static. God is already ready to hear our prayers, He "walks in the midst of [our] camp, to deliver [us]...; therefore [our] camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among [us], and turn away from [us] (Deut. 23:14). May we always remember to clear that barrier and offer up that spiritual sacrifice before our tete-a-tete with God.