Cherishing Iniquity

The phrase that really struck me in this passage is verse 18: "If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened." As fallen humans, we will always have iniquity in our hearts, but the warning here is not about that, but about our attitude toward that iniquity: do we abhor it and want to change or do we embrace it and let it reign in our hearts? The consequence of not turning from iniquity is that our prayers will not be heard. Peter similarly warns husbands in 1 Peter 3:7. Can we afford to have our prayers ignored by God?

Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.