Most often when we find ourselves with a difficult decision and looking for answers, we believe that we should go immediately to prayer.    I understand that, but I wonder  it would be advisable to check out God’s Word first.  There is really no need to pray about something that is violating His Word because we already have the answer right there in black and white.  But sadly sometimes we go to “prayer” because we want an answer that the Bible does not give. That is especially true when we are making sinful decisions.

As Christians we know we should pray, so we tell people we’ve been praying about it to give legitimacy to our desires. But this is a ruse. We know, intrinsically, that if our desire is outside God’s word any answer that affirms it, would not be of God.  Three areas that might be answering our prayers would be our own flesh, the world around us, or the devil.  If it is violating God’s word it might be one of those or all three, but it is certainly not God. God is not a liar he will not violate his own Word.  An example might be the following: a man decides he’s going to run away with his secretary, but because he’s a Christian he naturally has to say he’s been praying about it.  Running away with the secretary obviously violates God’s word so prayer isn’t even necessary.  He is just trying to add God’s supportive words to his own sinful actions.  He needs to make God a co-conspirator in sinful actions.

If we are not sure what God’s Word says we should pray and consult it, but in many cases we know what the Bible says, we just don’t agree with it.  So as a cover for our sinful decision, we say we’ are praying about it.  Does the thief in the alley have more legitimacy if he prays about it before mugging a little old lady. That bogus prayer might fool other muggers but not spirit-filled Christians.  People who “pray”  about a sinful act before acting on it are fooling no one but themselves .

It’s a sad commentary on today’s Christianity that we do so many things that violate God’s word under the guise of looking to him for advice.  99% of God’s  leading is in his word. When we get outside of his word we are easily fooled by our feelings, by our desires, by our wishes because all of those are strong in our life. I’m reminded of Ebeneezer Scrooge in the “Christmas Carol” when he sees Marley’s ghost and doesn’t believe it’s him.  Scrooge says it could just be a figment of his imagination brought on by a bit of meat that he ate earlier in the evening.

That could be true and it could be true with us as well. We get this feeling or we get this idea or we get this prompting that tells us it’s OK to do something obviously wrong. Well, that’s not the Holy Spirit.  If we are violating the word of God in some way,  I can guarantee it is not the Holy Spirit is not supporting our decision. He never prompts us to do something that is against God. So we need to be careful. We need to be careful as Christians that we consult the Holy Word of God in our decision-making. If someone thinks that he should pray about watching porno every night that’s foolishness. Pornography violates God’s Word and to take it to prayer is akin to asking your pastor if you should steal a car next week. I think we know what the answer would be.

So I would say this-  always be ready to pray but don’t take something to God that you know violates the principles of his Word because He has already given you His answer.  Any other answer is what you want… not what God wants. Don’t go through Satan to get your answer. We don’t need to go through him to get to God. Cut out the middle man and choose to do the right thing.