“If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear” Psalm 66:18. The heart cannot hold to sin and the Lord at the same time and expect prayers to get anywhere. That heart is divided. This certainly does not mean that we have to be perfect to have our prayers heard, but it does mean that if we are holding to known sins in our lives, the prayer we need to be praying is one of confession. Willful sin destroys the relationship that prayer seeks to build.
“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.” Psalm 66:18-19 (NIV)
