Have you run a virus scan lately? You might answer, "Sure, my computer was running sluggish, so I ran a scan and found malware from an email attachment. The scan took care of it, and I'm up and running again."

But I'm not talking about your computer; I'm talking about your heart. Have you run a virus scan lately? Have you scanned your heart for the virus of sin that has slowed you down and hindered your prayers? 

When Jesus and His disciples were criticized by the Pharisees for not ceremonially washing their hands before eating, He said to His disciples: 

"Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man" (Matthew 15:17-20).

Ceremonial washings were only that: ceremonial. They did not cleanse the hands from dirt, nor did they cleanse the heart from sin. Ritual cleansing was to portray ethical and moral cleansing. It is from the heart that defilement comes. Cleansing from sin is a prerequisite to holy worship. That’s why Paul told the men in Ephesus "to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension" (1 Timothy 2:8).

Hands that are holy must come from hearts that are cleansed. Our Lord made it clear that this is a matter of the heart. He even seems to distinguish between the heart and the mind, for He said, "Out of the heart come evil thoughts…" In other words, this is deeply spiritual. Our hearts are the center of our being. When our hearts are impure, so are our thoughts and words and deeds. 

Like a computer virus, sin is deeply rooted in our hearts and sometimes unknown and unseen. Like that virus, we are affected by sin with spiritual sluggishness, dullness, ineffectiveness, and unanswered prayer. 

So, run a virus scan: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way" (Psalm 139:23-24). When the scan is complete, confess, be cleansed, and then raise holy hands in prayer.