Futile Praying

Read Proverbs 28

God detests the prayers of a person who ignores the law.

Proverbs 28:9

Spiritual schizophrenia (also known as religious hypocrisy) is a common malady among Christians. The symptoms are easy to see: talking like a follower of Christ one moment and living like an unbeliever the next; “pious” participation in worship, prayer, or Bible reading immediately followed by lifestyle choices that do not honor or even acknowledge the existence of a holy God. Those who embrace this kind of “Jekyll and Hyde” lifestyle are often quite successful at fooling other people, but God is never fooled.

This is the point of today’s highlighted proverb. Those who have no intention of obeying God’s Word might as well keep their prayers to themselves. God is not swayed by the religious endeavors of blatant hypocrites (Psalm 66:18; Proverbs 15:8; Isaiah 59:2). In fact, we are told here that God detests such a person’s phony prayers! If we want God to hear us, we must first be willing to hear from (obey) him.

A WORD FOR TODAY

Pure prayer doesn’t rise from a polluted well.

Today, Lord, I want to live a consistent, God-honoring life. Show me blind spots in my life where I’m not practicing what I say I believe.