Category Archives: Prayer

Prayer and Decisions – The Example of Jesus

“And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;” – Luke 6:12-13

Jesus had been busy preaching and building up His public ministry work for lost humanity. Although He was indeed the Son of God, he was also the Son of Man. He keenly sensed His need for reliance upon the Heavenly Father and for the wisdom that only the Great God of Heaven could reveal. As Christ entered human flesh he also became subject to the dependence of human beings upon the power, strength, and wisdom of God the Father. Jesus knew that they only way to tap into this power was through prayer! Sincere, earnest, heartfelt, humble, passionate, persevering prayer. Christ often spent whole nights in prayer as He needed strength and wisdom for the activities of the next day. Continue reading →

When God Stops Listening

9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.’ 11 “But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. 12 Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts.” -Zechariah 7:9-13

God is very “slow to anger,” “of great kindness, or compassion,” and “of great mercy” (Psalm 145:8). But there comes a limit to the Divine forbearance. God will not allow people to transgress His holy laws of love and righteousness continually without impunity. As people persist in evil, refusing to hear or obey His voice, then finally the time will come when God will no longer hear their voice or prayer. Such is the teaching of these verses in Zechariah. After all, if we’re not going to listen to God, then why should He listen to us? Other places in the Bible confirm to us this solemn truth.

“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.” (Proverbs 15:8). “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” (Proverbs 28:9). In 1 Peter 3:7 the New Testament speaks about living lovingly and righteously with our spouses so that “your prayers be not hindered.” In the Old Testament we also have the example of King Saul’s life. He started out well, but then went into a path of transgression that led him farther and farther away from God. He basically refused to listen to God’s voice, and just continued walking in his evil ways. Finally it was said that when he inquired of the Lord “the Lord answered him not…” (1 Samuel 28:6). When there’s no other way to get our attention, then God moves to stronger measures. Plug your ears to God’s holy law and truth for too long, persist in that, and God may just show us what it is like when no one listens to our voice. For such evil persisted in, God says “…when you make many prayers, I will not hear…” (Isaiah 1:15). But is there any hope for those of us who fear, “What if we’ve gone too far?” “Will God ever hear my prayers?” “Is there any hope left for me?” “Can I still repent?”

The answer to these questions is, “Yes!” We can repent, humble ourselves before God, start listening to His voice, and He will hear us. That is the promise of His incredible mercy!! Isaiah 1, verses 16-19 continue the story and show us the incredible hope that we can have from God, even in such a situation!! “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. 18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land;”

Let us close with the following promise from God,  “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Let it be so with us, that we would listen to God and humbly obey Him. Then we can be sure that our prayers are heard on High! “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16).

 

God’s Promised Power for Those who Trustingly Pray and Obey

“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,To all who call upon Him in truth. 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.” -Psalm 145:18-19.

God will be near to those who “call upon Him.” These are those who give sincere time to earnest prayer and who seek the Lord! God will be near to us if we do so. Do you want to be near to God? Would you like God to be nearer to you? This is His promise to us, so how about we pray more!! Also, those who “fear Him,” that is those who respect and reverence His name, those who obey Him by keeping His word will have His blessing, power, and visible answers to prayer in their lives. That’s His promise! Will you read and obey His word more faithfully? Lord bless you if you will!!!

Having more Clout with the Almighty! How to get answers!! (1-30-2012)

“Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth” (Jeremiah 15:1).

Clearly, God was angry with his people in the days of Jeremiah. They had crossed the line of NO return! There was no remedy, except to cast them out to the enemy. They had to receive the harsh curses of God to wake up and realize their own wickedness! For generation upon generation they had been living in wickedness and the voice of God’s true prophets and His word (the Law) had been nothing to them. Their ears would not listen, nor obey. Now God himself was not going to listen to them!

Moses and Samuel were some of the most earnest pleaders and petitioners of God’s throne. They were righteous men and the Lord listened to their pleadings! (For example, see Exodus 32:31-31; Numbers 14:15-21). Another who we know had such clout with God as a petitioner of the heavenly throne of mercy was Abraham, the friend of God (See Genesis18:17-33). Abraham questioned with God for the lives of those in Sodom and Gomorrah–to spare the city for the sake of the righteous. God answered him fairly according to his questions and demonstrated His great mercies.

There was also Job, whom God boasted of proudly as a heavenly Father, saying, “Have you beheld my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth…?” (Job 1:8). We have also Daniel of whom the heavenly angel spoke of as “…a man greatly beloved” of God (Daniel 10:11). We can find a number of others who were quite faithful and beloved of God. The Scriptures go on, “Jacob, I have loved…” (Romans 9:13), etc.

What is it with these men to whom God and the inspired record of the Scripture give such favor and applause? Why did they have such clout with God? Such favor? Was God just arbitrarily playing favorites? No, of course not! God doesn’t ever do that! (Acts 10:34). What then? Simply this. These men obeyed God’s word diligently and faithfully while seeking Him earnestly! That’s it!!! That’s the secret! How can we have more clout with God? How can we have favor and strength from God? Obey Him faithfully and seek Him earnestly!

Simply look at a few of the many texts in the Bible on this subject and you’ll be quickly convinced, that IS the truth!

The Lord “…is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). “…pray to your Father who sees in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6). “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight” (Proverbs 15:8). “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination” (Proverbs 28:9).

God’s faithful servants have His abundant blessings surrounding them!! They are excellent pleaders and petitioners before His throne! God answers their prayers! God does not answer the prayers of the wicked who will not listen to Him (although these very ones are aware of what the truth is). Sadly, in Jeremiah’s day, the professed people of God had become so wicked, that God said, essentially, “Even though one of My righteous servants like Moses or Samuel pleaded for them, I would still not answer to save these people from calamity.” How sad. The professed worshipers of God had lost all of God’s favor and had gained His certain wrath!! Let us not be among that number! Rather, let us obey God faithfully while seeking Him diligently. Let us be among the number who have power and clout to plead with God, and prevail, reaping the blessings of His Majesty’s favor. Amen?

[originally posted Jan. 30, 2013 on our old CCM blog]