The Heart God Sees

The Lord looks at the heart. Somewhere it says in the scripture that he searches the hearts and the reins. He's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of our heart. One particular thing that he searches is our motives. God is not concerned merely whether what we want when we pray is good, but he's also concerned as to why we want it.

This is explained more fully in James chapter 4 verses 2 and 3. In verse 2, James says,

“you do not have because you do not ask.”

There's one very simple, practical reason why a lot of people don't get things that they could have from God, simply because they don't ask. Looking back on my own life, I recognize many times and many situations where I did without things that God would willingly have granted me, simply because I never asked for them. So remember that one reason why you and I often do without things that God wants us to have is that we do not ask.

However, that's not the only reason. In the next verse, verse 3, James says also this,

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

Notice here we have people who do pray, but they still don't receive because they're praying with wrong motives. And particularly, the motive that James says is wrong is that “you may spend it on your pleasures.”

This brings us back to the difference between the old self and the new self, which was what I was speaking about in one of my talks last week. You remember that Paul says we have to put off the old self, and then we have to put on the new self. And I told you that the old self is a rebel. He's self-assertive, he's egotistic. He's filled with his own wants and needs. I want this, I want that, I think this, I think that. And God doesn't bargain with the old self. As a matter of fact, God has only got one remedy for the old self, and that's execution.

The good news of the gospel is that the execution took place in Christ when Jesus died on the cross. Our old self was crucified with him. But that's got to become effective in the life of each one of us. So each one of us, on the basis of what Jesus did on the cross, has to put off that old self with his self-centeredness, his self-seeking, his emphasis on his own needs and pleasures. As long as we pray with those motives, our motives are wrong, and it's very possible that for that reason, God will not grant us what we pray for, even though what we pray for in itself may be good.

So we ask, what is the right motive for praying? And Jesus states it clearly in John chapter 14 and verse 13. He says,

“Whatever you ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

There's a comprehensive promise that whatever we ask, Jesus will do. But you'll notice the basis on which he will do it, “that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

And so the right motive for praying is that the answer may bring glory to God. As a matter of fact, that's not just the right motive for praying, but that's the right motive for living. The supreme purpose of life, when we view it aright, is to glorify God. The greatest privilege that any of God's creatures can have is to bring him glory. And praying is just one of the ways in which God has ordained that we shall be able to bring him glory when our prayers are answered in the name of Jesus. I've said that there's only one right motive for praying, and that is for the glory of God.

We can look at this from the opposite side. We can see what is the very essence of sin. The essence of sin, that is wrong living, is that it robs God of the glory due to him. Many people haven't seen this, but it's stated a number of times in the epistle to the Romans. For instance, in Romans chapter 1 and verse 21, Paul is describing how the whole human race has turned away from God and descended into a life of darkness and ignorance and wickedness and futility. And in verse 21 of this chapter, Paul describes the steps that led to this awful descent into the abysses of darkness and sinfulness.

He says this,

“Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

What are the first two steps downward? The first one, the failure to glorify God. The second one, the failure to be thankful. And when men took those two first steps downwards, they were set on a slippery path that leads to a condition that ultimately is too horrible to think about.

Therefore, in praying, we have to be careful that we do not make those errors. We have to be careful that we start with the motive of glorifying God and with the expression of giving thanks to him. In Romans 3 verse 23, Paul brings out this point again. He says,

“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

What is the essence of sin? It's not necessarily robbing a bank or committing adultery or doing something very terrible in the eyes of religious people. The essence of sin is that we're not living for God's glory, that our lives are denying God the glory which is rightfully due to him.

On the other hand, the life of righteousness that's based on faith restores the glory to God. There's an example given in Romans chapter 4 of Abraham. Speaking about how Abraham held on to God's promise of an heir in spite of every discouragement and everything that seemed to be going the wrong way, Paul says,

“Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

Notice Abraham, by holding on to God's promise in faith, gave glory to God. He reversed what the negative result of sin. And that's what God wants each of us to do who believe in him and come to him through Jesus. He wants to set us free from the negative down-pull of sin and to restore us to the right motive and the right purpose of living, which is to give glory to God. And so when we're praying with that motive that God may be glorified, then God says something truly wonderful. He says all his promises are made available to us.