In Proverbs, chapter twenty-eight, verse nine, “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” God will not answer the prayers of those who have no sincere commitment to obey Him and His Word. To compromise our commitment to God and His Word by participating in even a few sinful pleasures will render our prayers ineffective. Prayer without love for God, His Word, and His ways is hypocritical and insulting to Him.
Why are some prayers answered and others are not? First John three, verse twenty-two, declares that an effective prayer life is related to our devotion to God. Obeying, loving, and pleasing God are indispensable conditions to receive what we ask for in prayer. People today still believe they can fool God or trick Him into giving them something they want. They forget that He is the Maker of the entire universe and also created man, and He knows every human being from the inside out.
In Luke sixteen, verse fifteen, “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”
People can fool others, but no one can fool the Almighty One! In Matthew nine, verse four, “And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?” Already, the Lord knows what you think before attempting to do something that is not right. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts,” as in Isaiah fifty-five, verses eight through nine. No evildoer can fool God.