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'If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me' (Psa.
66:18).
'Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me ...
Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth ... And when ye
spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye
make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood' (Isa.
1:13 -15).
'Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither
His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you,
that He will not hear' (Isa. 59:1,2).
Both John and James, in their epistles, stress the same truth:
'Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His
commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight' (1
John 3:22).
'The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much' (James
5:16).
Members of the Body of Christ are warned against giving place to the Devil,
thus grieving the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:27,30), and causing prayer to be
disregarded by God.
There must be a practical realization of the truth of Sanctification
The root meaning of sanctification is separation, with its twofold
aspect of being separated from the world and separated to the Lord, for the
fulfilment of His will in daily service.
When the judgment upon the cities of the plain was impending, there
were two believers who figure largely in the story. One was inside the city
of Sodom, namely Lot, and one was outside the city, namely Abraham. Although
Lot was vexed every day by the sin which surrounded him (2 Pet. 2:7) we have
no record of any prayer on his part on behalf of Sodom, and finally we know
that God had to drag him out that he might not be involved in its doom. He
is a type of the believer who is not only in the world but of the world and
knows little of sanctification in practice. It was left to Abraham, the
separated one, to intercede for these wicked cities (Gen. 18:16 -33).
It is impossible for a believer who has too close a contact with a
world which is under the domination of Satan (Eph. 2:2,3) to pray
effectively. We must, in practice, be outside the enemy's camp if we wish to
accomplish anything for those who are still inside it.
There must be no self -motive in prayer
'Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it
upon your lusts' (James 4:3).
The Greek word hedone translated 'lust' is elsewhere rendered
'pleasure' and is used in the parable of the Sower to describe those who fall
among thorns and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life
and bring no fruit to perfection (Luke 8:14). Sometimes it is a good thing
to take stock of ourselves, searching our hearts and asking whether the
things we constantly ask of God are for His glory, the blessing of others, or