The Praying Man:
         Purity and Honesty Are Essential

             By A. W. Tozer

         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!
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         Yours in Christ,
         Paul N. F.