WHEN PRAYERS ARE PRESUMPTUOUS AND PRETENTIOUS AND INTERCESSION IS INSINCERE
“And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear . . .”
—Isa. 1:15
“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
A spirit of deceit and delusion is sweeping across America. And it has swept into thousands of churches (I refer now to churches that are by biblical definition, genuine New Testament churches). It has taken widespread hold alike in pulpits as well as in pews. One of the greatest evidences of this is that people in these pulpits and pews think that they can pray payers that God will hear in spite of everything the Bible teaches that contradicts this line of thinking.
Churches are filled with people today, from the platform to the front porch who are praying in vain. They think they can "regard iniquity" in their hearts (Ps. 66:18), be contentious and cantankerous church members and blatantly conformed to the world in their lifestyles (James 4:1-4; 1 John 2:15-17) and still have a meaningful prayer life. But they are wrong. A. W. Tozer made some observations concerning this years ago that need to be shouted from the housetops — and, more importantly — from pulpits today. He said:
"To beg for a flood of blessing to come upon a backslldden and
disobedient church is to waste time and effort. We must return to New
Testament Christianity, not in creed only, but in complete manner of life as
well Separation, obedience, humility, simplicity, gravity, self-control,
modesty, cross-bearing: these all again must be made a living part of the
total Christian concept and be carried out in every day conduct."
"We must return to New Testament Christianity." This is the reality — believe it or not, like it or not. Individual Christians and churches who are compromising with, conforming to and comfortable with the world can preach and sing about revival all they want to. They can "beg for a flood of blessing" until the proverbial "cows come home," and even up until the time that Christ returns. But they need to snap out of any spiritual delusion that God will ever send a "flood of blessing" or even, to quote a popular hyISmn title, "Showers of Blessing" upon a backslidden and disobedient church. It's never happened, it isn't happening anywhere, and it's not going to happen.
Christians and whole churches may compromise with and conform to the world, the flesh and the devil, but God never has and never will. Neither is there any auto-adjust feature in respect to His Word, HIs holiness and His requirements of His children that is set to accommodate the times or the culture. Again, He isn't going to hear the prayers of those who live in willful disobedience. To think otherwise is nothing less that sheer, satanically-inspired, delusion.
"And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."
—John 8:32