Daily Devotional from the hand of A. W. Tozer
July 14, 2021
THE PRAYING MAN: PURITY AND HONESTY ARE ESSENTIAL
“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (JAMES 4:3)
Prayer is usually recommended as the panacea for all ills and the key to open every prison door—and it would indeed be difficult to overstate the advantages and privilege of Spirit-inspired prayer.

But we must not forget that unless we are wise and watchful, prayer itself may become a source of self-deception.

There are as many kinds of prayer as there are problems and some kinds are not acceptable to God. The prophets of the Old Testament denounced Israel for trying to hide their iniquities behind their prayers. Christ flatly rejected the prayers of hypocrites and James declared that some religious persons ask and receive not because they ask amiss!

To escape self-deception, the praying man must come out clean and honest. He cannot hide in the cross while concealing in his bosom the golden wedge and the goodly Babylonish garment. Grace will save a man, but it will not save him and his idol! The blood of Christ will shield the penitent sinner alone, but never the sinner and his idol! Faith will justify the sinner, but it will never justify the sinner and his sin!

No amount of pleading will make evil good or wrong right. A man may engage in a great deal of humble talk before God and get no response because unknown to himself he is using prayer to disguise disobedience!

A. W. Tozer