The transcript from the YouTube video by Bill Johnson entitled “Bill Johnson prophecy warning – Sunday June 10, 2018” includes a most disturbing statement by Bill Johnson which reads:
“It’s not that answered prayers come because of our righteousness—that would never be the case.” —Bill Johnson
(see my notes following the YouTube reference)
(“Bill Johnson prophecy warning – Sunday JUNE 10, 2018,” by Christian Sermons on YouTube, Jun 11, 2018, https://youtu.be/kIynrmWlhz0?t=7m or https://www.facebook.com/ibetheltv/videos/waging-war-with-prophesy-bill-johnson-bethel-church/10156371882540930/ or https://web.archive.org/web/20200807234003/https://www.bethel.tv/watch/7244)
It’s a founding principle of the Christian faith that “all have fallen short of the glory of God,” and that righteousness pleases Him. Sin is the stain of wickedness, and sin separates us from God. The more separated we become, the harder it is to commune with Him. To deny that righteousness has anything to do with communing with God is to deny the spiritual component of our existence, and how offended the true Spirit of God is by wickedness.
Yes, any sinner can pray to God, but how well they can hear back while being surrounded by the fruits of wickedness—demons, and darkness—is the problem. This is why prophets (or anyone who wants to hear back from God) are required to maintain a very righteous existence; so there are no spiritual barriers. The reason people who are really in need of an answer from God fast and pray is because fasting can quickly change our spiritual state to being more righteous:
8 Then [after a correct fast] shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and THY RIGHTEOUSNESS shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.
9 THEN shalt thou call, and THE LORD SHALL ANSWER; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; (Isaiah 58)