Cozy With Sin

I have heard it said a multitude of ways: Your prayers are a reflection of what is in your heart. So, it can be said, if you are praying about selfish needs, you posses a selfish heart; if you are praying about fearful needs, you posses fear in your heart; and if you are praying about the Kingdom needs of others, you posses a selfless heart that is Kingdom focused.
I am definitely capable of being selfish and being fearful, but I would have to say that the obstacle that hinders my prayer-life on a most frequent basis and to the greatest degree is unconfessed sin. I'm not necessarily talking about any majorly thrilling sins that would be tabloid fodder, but just minor things that I allow to fester and thrive unchecked for a period of time. At times, it seems that we humans enjoy allowing certain little sins into our lives with an almost entitlement-type attitude. "I have worked hard, or I have been so good for so long, or this or that has happened to me, so I deserve to........." fill in the blank. And then, instead of recognizing our sinful nature, we just bask in that sin despite how miserable it may be making us.
It reminds me of a college dorm mate of mine who came to my room one night and announced, "I need to find me a bad habit; I just can't decide which one to choose."
Psalms 66:18-20 is a good example of the relationship of sin with an effective prayer life:
If I had been cozy with evil, the Lord would never have listened. But he most surely did listen, he came on the double when he heard my prayer. Blessed be God: he didn't turn a deaf ear, he stayed with me, loyal in his love.
Alistair Begg's daily devotional also hit on this topic reflecting on Psalms 97:10. He explores how cozying up with sin has the ability to wreck your life in so many ways. Here is a small excerpt:
You have good reason to "hate evil," for just consider what harm it has already caused you. What a world of mischief sin has brought into your heart! Sin blinded you so that you could not see the beauty of the Savior; it made you deaf so that you could not hear the Redeemer's tender invitations. Sin turned your feet into the way of death and poured poison into the very fountain of your being; it tainted your heart and made it "deceitful above all things, and desperately sick."