by R.C. Sproul

One of the marks of a true Christian is that he never quits fighting. He doesn't always win, though he will win the ultimate battle because of Christ. If a person ever does give up the fight, then he has truly embraced the evil, legitimizing it. In short, he condones, even allows, it.

In a sermon on the first beatitude, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," the English preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon said that "the proud sinner wants Christ, and his own parties; Christ, and his own lusts; Christ, and his own waywardness. The one who is truly poor in spirit wants only Christ, and he will do anything, and give anything to have him!" This is what Psalm 66 is suggesting. The very idea of a person trying to pray, while cherishing some sin, while holding on to a sin he is not willing to relinquish to the lordship of Christ, casts a dark shadow of doubt on the validity of his sonship.

The Scripture cites other practical applications of this concept. First Peter 3:7 says:

Likewise you husbands, live considerately with your wives, bestowing honor on the woman as the weaker sex, since you are joint heirs of the grace of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered.

The Greek word translated "hindered" is ekkepto, which literally means "cut off." If discord in the marital relationship is not being dealt with, prayers are cut off. This echoes the initial warning of Psalm 66.

A second example is taken from Matthew 5:23-24:

If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Here Jesus is saying that if there are unresolved conflicts in our lives, our worship is blemished. He is setting down priorities. First, we are to give heed to those things that require attention; then we are to come and offer our worship. Though the passage does not speak specifically of prayer, the principle of settling accounts is constant.

When we petition God with unconfessed, hence unpurged, sin lurking in our hearts, we are like the irate college student who confronted his professor about a failing grade. The professor listened politely to the student's frustrations, but remarked that, in his honest professional estimation, the student had received the grade he deserved. The student countered that not only he but also several others in the class felt it was unfair.

The professor, with understandably aroused curiosity, asked what they thought should be done. To that, the student explained, "They've decided that you should be shot. But there's one small problem. Not one of them owns a gun." The professor breathed a sigh of relief and expressed his deepest regret over the "plight" of these students. "But you do," the young man said. This student then had the audacity to ask the kindly professor if he could borrow his gun so that the students might shoot him.

In a similarly audacious manner, if we see iniquity in our lives and harbor it in our hearts when we pray, we are asking God for the strength we need to curse him. We are petitioning God for more strength to disobey him further. Just as the professor was not about to lend his gun to those who would kill him, God is not about to honor our requests made out of sinful hearts.

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This is part thirteen of R.C. Sproul's small book Does Prayer Change Things?. Over the coming weeks we will be posting the complete text of this short but profound and practical book right here at the Ligonier Ministries blog. We have already posted Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and Chapter 3.