Proverbs 15:8 The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked,
but the prayer of the upright pleases him.

This is essentially a statement about hypocrisy. An evil person can go through all the right external motions and still not be acceptable to the Lord, but a person whose heart is right is welcomed by Him. At first glance it might look to us like the evil person is doing more here than the righteous person, offering a sacrifice rather than just praying, but I don’t think that difference is so huge, because various other passages essentially equate prayers and sacrifices, under the system of the Old Covenant. That said, the evil person here is doing at least as much as the righteous person, so it’s clearly a matter of the heart. This theme comes up again and again throughout the Bible, and many people have rightly grasped it. However, others have twisted it, to the point that James had to spend a good bit of his letter pointing out that a heart that is right before God is going to be doing right stuff, and even John had to touch on it in his first letter. (1 John 3:18) God wants our hearts first, but He wants all of us, and we should not try to justify our actions with “But I meant well!”

I have to be as careful of this as anyone. That’s why I need to keep my repentance up to date! My priority is first to love God with all I am and then to love my neighbor as myself, just as Jesus said, (Matthew 22:37-39) but I also have to be careful to express my love consistently through my actions. I am quite capable of deceiving myself, (James 1:22) so I’ve got to let the Holy Spirit show me when my actions and my words are incongruent. If I am to have the fellowship with God for which I was created, and for which I hunger, then all of me has to be involved.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You that You are growing me, in this and every area. May I be what You want me to be so that my prayers may be pleasing to You indeed, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!