They Aren't in Shape to Pray

Not everyone is in shape to run a marathon. It is no secret that one must train in order to ready themselves for such a race.

I recently heard a popular radio host close his national talk show encouraging everyone to pray. Now I would never encourage people to pray and this is the reason why. I know what the Bible teaches about prayers that God accepts.

Thats right: there are prayers that God accepts and prayers that God will not accept, and we will get to that in a moment.

The thing that is troublesome about the radio host is he doesn’t realize that what he is saying isn’t appropriate for a huge audience whom he doesn’t know personally. For example; who are the people listening to his show and how do their lives reflect what the Bible teaches? Are they following the commandments of the Bible or do they live life the way they want to? (Judges 21:25; Jeremiah 16:12; Proverbs 14:12).

Yes, how we live is very important when it comes to praying. God is holy, and He wants us to be just like Him to the best of our ability (1 Peter 1:13-17). I’m confident that not all people listening to this guy radio show are living like the Bible teaches (1 John 2:3-6). In order for prayers to be accepted man must be living right in the Lord’s eyes. That’s right, allow me to repeat myself. The word of God teaches that in order to have prayers answered, one must be pleasing in the eyes of God (Job 1:8; Psalm 34:13-22; Proverbs 1:20-33; John 9:31; Prov. 15:8:29; Psalm 4:3; 1 Peter 3:10-12; Luke 18:1-14; Psalm 66:18).

A person who practices sin can pray all he wants. His prayers won’t get any higher then the roof of the house or tree tops because God will not listen to him. Sin is a problem for the Lord because sin is the violation of His law (1 John 3:4).

Men who violate the law of God proves disrespect for the word of God. So why should God listen to and grant the requests of those who don’t live right? If we are in our sins because of how we live, we are separated from God and He will not hear us (Isaiah 59:1-8; John 8:24:34).

This is the truth about the matter, however all is not lost. Man may not be able to pray because of practicing sin, but it doesn’t have to remain like that.

Man can be made free from sin by obeying the gospel of Christ, and he will then be in position so that he can pray and be heard (Romans 6:1-18, 10:1-17).

In conclusion, I will not tell people to pray. I will tell people to get into shape by obeying the word of God, so they can be in the right position to pray (Hebrews 5:9; Acts 2:37-38, 9:10-19, 22:16; John 14:12-15; 1 John 1:5-10).

​~James Baker