Do Not Cherish Iniquity
Psalm 66:16,
Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
According to God’s word, if we harbor sin in our hearts — if we ignore sin or dismiss sin, if we try to sweep sin under the rug — it will interfere with our prayers. And the interference is not because God is unable to answer us (he is free to do what he wants), but the problem is that wanting our sin and wanting God to answer our prayers reveals something wrong with us.
How can we simultaneously defy God’s word and desire God’s blessings unless all we really want from God is what he can do for us?
To cherish iniquity in our hearts and to ask God for things makes us God-users, not God-worshipers. Therefore, I exhort you this morning: do not cherish iniquity in your hearts.
