Obviously, it is right to pray. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. How can it ever be wrong to pray? Let me suggest five situations or circumstances in which, according to God’s word, we are out of line when we pray.

Part 4 – Clinging to Sin

Psalm 66:18 says, If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
It is wrong to pray when we are clinging to sin. If we want our prayers to be heard, we need to pray with an attitude of repentance. We must be ready to be changed.

Chuck Swindoll tells a story that sounds true. He explained that the IRS had received an envelope. Inside was a typed unsigned note which read, “Several years ago, I underreported my income and avoided some of the taxes that I owed to the government. My conscience has really been bothering me lately and so I am enclosing $1,000. If my conscience continues to trouble me, I will send the rest.”

This is the human condition. We feel guilty, so we confess. But, often our confession leads to partial repentance. We don’t want to change completely. We value comfort more than holiness. We just repent a little bit until we feel better. To really forsake a “pet sin,” the one that “so easily entangles us,”
is hard.

Why do you suppose that in the New Testament God has to tell His people: “Little Children, keep yourselves from idols?” This is a problem we all face. All of us continually, even as believers, are drawn toward sin. We have a tendency to put other things in the place of God. When God shows us that this is wrong and that we need to repent, we want to repent part way.

People sometimes tell me about a person whose life has changed: “It’s really looking better. They’ve made a 360-degree turn. They’re trying to change.” Despite their lack of understanding about geometry, the person may be speaking more truth than they realize. A 360-degree turn means I was headed in the wrong direction and saw I was going the wrong way, so I took a few turns, but in the end, I’m still headed the wrong way.

Some of us repent this way. We come to church and come under conviction and cry out, “God, have mercy on me. I need to change.” We do a few spins and go out the door and keep living the way we did before.

“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”
We need to truly repent and forsake our sin. Prayer is not a substitute for repentance. True repentance leads to lasting change.
Resource Book: Embracing His Will: The Life of Prayer, Book 3