God does not want sacrifices just for show. (Read Isaiah 1:10-14) God does not want prayers that come from a dirty heart. If the heart is sinful, God will not hear the prayers. Consider the following verses, “15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. 16Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”
Are our hands full of blood in our nation? Think about it. In the USA there are just under one million abortions per year. The blood of almost one million innocent lives shed each year. Are our hands full of blood? You decide. There are many other ways in which our hands are full of blood, but this is one of the most obvious. God will not hear the cries of a nation that is guilty of innocent blood.
Here is what God wants
Wash you, make you clean – “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (II Corinthians 7:1) How are we cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh, “…And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14). We are cleansed from filthiness by washing in the blood of the Lamb. (To see which promises are referred to in II Corinthians 7:1, refer to chapter six, verses 14 to 18)
Put away your evil doings from Mine eyes; cease to do evil – Not just wash, but do not get dirty again. True repentance brings forth fruit, fruit unto righteousness. True repentance results in putting away evil. The Pharisees and the Sadducees worshiped God with their mouth and not with their heart. John the Baptist warned them that if they were truly repenting, they should, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.” (Matthew 3:8) True repentance will be manifest by a change in one’s life.
Learn to do well – Doing well does not come by default. We do not automatically do well. But God’s word teaches us how to do well. By studying and obeying God’s word, we can learn to do well.
Seek judgment – relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Seek judgment, proper judgment. Help the helpless and needy and punish the guilty. This should be true judgment – not judgment based on corruption, bribery and power; but judgment that helps those who are in need by pleading their cause against those that oppress them or do them wrong.
There is hope for the repentant. There is hope that we can be clean again. There is hope for a troubled nation.