“And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) 20 And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. 21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 23 “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man” (Mark 7:18-23).
We know that we are kept from prayer from the things that fill our time and hearts. We know that when we regard sin in our hearts God is far from us and that God hates pride and it is the lamp of the wicked. We imagine that these things are for those unlike us who are involved in external sin. We can violate in principle the teachings of Jesus above if we do not examine our own hearts in the realm of religion and in the realm of prayer. While man is constantly engaged in the practice of justifying his own behavior, thoughts, words, and actions before God, other people, and himself; in doing so he is blinding himself to his own heart and the practice of all religion and prayer.
What we must be aware or increase our awareness of the state of our own hearts. If our lives drown out our words, then we must know that the state of our hearts and the deepest desires of our hearts will also drown out prayer. God knows the depths of our hearts and hears them and not just our words. As the Pharisee’s heart was a prayer to himself rather than to God so it was heard as a prayer to himself by God. In like fashion the true desires of our hearts are heard by God and not just our words. If the words that come from our mouths defile us or show how defiled our hearts really are to God, we need to awaken from the slumbers of our sleepy prayers and cold hearts to ask God to show us our hearts so we can see what our prayers really are. As a parent looks through the stuttering words of a young child to the intent of the words, so God sees through our words to the truest intent of our hearts.
When we pray for other people, do we do so out of duty or do we really desire God in their souls? Down deep do we judge them and think that they brought it on themselves or do we really desire the glory of God to shine through them? When we pray for revival, what are the deepest desires in our souls? The worst form of adultery is spiritual adultery as God charged Israel with. Could it be that the desires of our hearts actually come from an adulterous heart before God? Could it be that we desire to pray for selfish reasons and that we desire church growth for selfish reasons and that we pray for revival for selfish reasons? A heart that is more concerned with self than the glory of God is an adulterous heart as it loves self more than God in its very prayers. The Greatest Commandment is to love God with all of our being and yet we will come to Him with love for self in what we think of as our prayers? Surely this should give us pause to ask God to show us our hearts before and in prayer.
The tenth commandment governs our desires and shows the spiritual nature of the Law. The heart can covet in many ways when it comes to pray and excuse it by reasons of darkness. The heart can be full of envy when it comes to pray and have it hidden under differing words of darkness. The heart can be full of deceit when it comes to pray and be deceived to think it is praying. Our hearts can be full of pride and yet we may think of it in different terms because the world and the professing Church has deceived us about what pride really is. Verse 23 of Mark 7 tells us that “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” May the truths of this verse be driven in our hearts like a spear. These things are evil. If we have these things (of the text) in our hearts, then we have evil in our hearts. Let us not deceive ourselves or others by trying to excuse them in any way. These things are evil and they defile us. When we do what we call “prayer” and yet have not dealt with our own hearts, our very prayers are expressions of evil things and defile us. The Pharisees were defiled and deceived by the evil of their hearts and prayers. May God search our hearts and grant true repentance from evil hearts that we may truly seek Him in prayer. Do not be deceived by self-love and pride even if it is covered in disguise by external prayer. Only God can show the truth of our hearts to us by His light. Without that light, we live and pray with evil and defiled hearts. Apart from repentance and love our prayers are the expressions of evil hearts that defile us. Ask the Pharisees.
God Loves... Himself 
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