In Psalm 66:18 David said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” This verse may be a shock to some people. We assume that when we bow our heads, God automatically hears what is on our minds. That is not true.
The Scripture says if we regard iniquity or sin, the Lord will not hear us. Should our minds dwell on sin there is no reason for God to hear us. When we regard sin, we perceive it, understand it, and enjoy it. Certainly, it is not reasonable to expect God to hear our prayer if we are fully aware of sin abiding in our hearts. Simply put, if we are dwelling on sin, then we are not dwelling on God.
The man who is described as righteous by James enjoys the righteousness of God in his life. We have before us two opposites. A man dwells and enjoys God’s presence in his life or a man dwells and enjoys sin in his heart. In the case of the latter, what we call praying is not real prayer at all. It is entering religious sounding words. In that case, there is no reason for God to hear and to respond. We would be placing a responsibility on God that is contrary to his personal nature. If we have a human being who is distracted by his own negativity, it will prevent him from having a positive interaction with someone.
Now that we have addressed the sin in the heart, we need to discuss who this person is that happens to be praying. James said in our text that the man is effectual and fervent in his prayers. This person concentrates on the value of prayer expecting an answer from God. He believes that his prayers will make a difference to himself or other people. He also does not give up on a prayer request or people on his prayer list.
Like Daniel, he prayed and prayed and prayed until God sent an answer. (Daniel 10:12-14) His prayers are effectual because of the righteousness he has from God after confessing sin. His prayers are also effectual because he is persistent while concentrating on the need he presented to God.
This is the kind of person you want to know because if his spiritual sincerity. He has an open communication with God. His prayer life is consistent. When he says he will pray for you, he really means it. His insight is expansive while assuring that sin does not get in the way so that he might have a good result.
Christian Writer 