Lord Hear My Prayer

In Psalm 143:1 David pleads, “Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications! In Your faithfulness answer me, and in Your righteousness.” We all want our prayers to be heard and answered but the sad fact is many simply do not know how to pray. It is not uncommon in regard to prayer to hear folks say they don’t know what to say or how to say it.” Even the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1).

prayer

Lord Hear my Prayer

While Jesus answered His disciples with the model prayer (and the outline He sets forth for us there is indeed a great place to start) I want us to consider something Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7:7–8 Jesus sets forth important factors that, if followed, will benefit us with regard to prayer. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” The application of this in line with our subject of prayer is that our prayer should be…

Simple. Jesus said, “Ask.” Asking is a prerequisite of receiving. Verse eight says, “For everyone who asks receives.” James said, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2). Pray is not as complicated as men often teach or think. Keep it simple, talk to God.

Intense. Jesus says, “Seek.” Seeking is a precondition of discovery. Again in verse eight Jesus says, “he who seeks finds.” Through the prophet Jeremiah the Lord said, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). Prayer should be a pouring out of ourselves to God.

Persistent. Jesus said, “Knock.” Knocking is the persistent action by which the divine storehouse of God’s blessings is accessed. Notice again Jesus says, “to him who knocks it will be opened.” We often think of persistence in prayer in the framework of repeatedly asking God for the same thing, but may I suggest that persistence here may have more to do with Paul’s instruction to, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). How persistent are we in prayer?

While these things will all help us in regards to aiding in the Lord hearing our prayers there is one other crucial factor that must be mentioned. Above all else, in order for the Lord to hear and answer our prayers, we must be right with God! James 5:16 says, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” 1 Peter 3:12 declares, “For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”

If you are not in a right relationship with God today you need to understand that your sins are hindering the ears of the Lord from hearing your prayers. Isaiah 59:2 proclaims, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”

Jesus died for every man on the cross, became our advocate, so that we might have access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). If you will come to Him in obedience, repenting of your sins, confessing His name, and being baptized for the remission of your sins, He will cleanse you and open His ear to you. If you are a Christian who has fallen away, if you will repent and ask His forgiveness, you can once again enjoy the privilege of saying, “Lord, hear my prayer,” and the assurance that He will.

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The Turning Heart

“…Whose Heart Turneth Away…”

The book of Deuteronomy is a series of discourses from Moses shortly before his death to the second generation of Israel (remember that the first generation died in the wilderness) before they enter the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua. The overriding principles contained in this majestic book are that which could prevent them from making the same mistakes as their parents in turning their hearts away from God, and they provide rich principles of application in preserving our faithfulness as New Testament Christians. For example, we can find the principle for guarding our hearts from apostasy in Deuteronomy 29:18-19:

heart

Turn Your Heart to God.

Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst.

Backsliding and apostasy always starts in the heart. Whenever we let other things (worldliness, pleasure and such like) to begin to take over the affections of our heart away from God and become more important in our hearts above our service to God and our spiritual needs and values, we are walking down the road toward backsliding and apostasy.

Consider one who starts to slide a bit. He starts to miss worship services. He misses Sunday night and Wednesday night. Then, first thing we know, he starts to miss a Sunday here and there. Now, if we can see what is taking place in his heart, it is already starting to turn away—something else is having first place in his heart initially. It continued to grow until at last, that became most important, and the outcome was, he ended up as a backslider and an apostate. Now if we go and locate the members of Southwest today who are no longer committed or loyal in serving the Lord, they ensued this same way. This is why Solomon says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). Subsequently, we need to fill our minds and hearts with spiritual things, because we cannot supply our minds with other things all the time without it affecting and influencing us.

God said it involves “man, or woman, or family, or tribe…” (Deut. 29:18). It can affect men today—we can become so engaged with our occupations until this expends all of our time. Whenever that occurs, we are stepping on perilous ground. The same thing is true with women, families and congregations. We can engage ourselves with things that do not have to do with spiritual development and growth until we lose sight of what our mission is, and we wind up in apostasy.

The Hebrew writer referred to Deuteronomy 29:18 by stating,

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears [Heb. 12:14-17].

He illustrates the matter in reference to Esau, who was a “profane person”—one who lacks respect and gratitude of spiritual values. Esau thought more of bread and red pottage of lentils than he did anything else (cf. Gen. 25:29-34). Whenever we get to the place where material things devour our thinking, we are walking down the road of Esau.

Note what one will pursue—one will “…bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination [“stubbornness” – marginal rendering] of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst” (Deut. 29:19). Far too many times, when we find people turning away and we start to speak with them about the risk of letting material things devour their minds, they respond, “I am alright. I am doing fine. I have peace—I am just as good as anybody else.” However, one cannot walk in the stubbornness of his heart and at the same time be pleasing to the Lord. Therefore, it is important for us to guard our hearts from turning away from God!

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Obedience and Jesus

Jesus, Traditions and Obedience

I find it remarkable that some have thought that Jesus’ rebuke of the devotion of the Jewish leaders to their traditions minimizes the importance of obedience. It is true that He had little regard for the traditions and rules these leaders had created. It is equally true that He believed that our relationship with God depends on our obedience.

Obedience is love

Obedience is Love.

He was so different from other teachers of His day. In the Sermon on the Mount, He contrasted His teachings with the teachings of the first century rabbis. In Matthew chapter five, there is a marked contrast between “You have heard that it has been said” and what “I say to you.” What they had “heard that has been said” was often where the Jewish leaders read a passage from the Old Testament and then gave their interpretation about what it meant. Sometimes they even added a “passage” to the Bible like, “you shall hate your enemies,” to fortify their traditions.

Man’s traditions can never negate God’s commandments. For example, the Old Testament never indicated that when the Ten Commandments said that you shall not kill, such would give license to hate a brother, call him a fool and treat him with contempt. This might have been what the rabbis said, but Jesus showed this attitude would negate any sacrifice they brought to God (Matt. 5:21-23). However, His rebuke of their “rules of righteous behavior” could never make void obedience to God. He was simply emphasizing obedience to all the teachings of the Bible.

Think also about how the rabbis taught that all that was involved in divorce was simply giving a writing of divorcement. Nowhere in the Old Testament was divorce permitted for every cause. Moses had given one reason (Deut. 24:1), yet the rabbis added their traditions to God’s words, forbidding adultery and allowing people to divorce for every cause. The rabbis’ teaching resulted in adultery, the very thing Moses had forbidden.

What did Jesus teach about obedience? He taught that any persons who ignored God’s commands and taught others that these commands were not important were the least in the kingdom. Those who taught others to keep His commands were the great ones in the kingdom (Matt. 5:19).

Do not be led astray. Jesus’ rebuke of the “rules of righteousness,” often based on a misinterpretation of what God said, never gives license for us to ignore what the Bible says. The only one who will enter the kingdom is the one who does the will of the Father (Matt. 7:21). Traditions, theirs or ours, must never give us permission to do wrong!

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Pain by Husband

Can a Husband Injure His Wife Without Knowing It?

Cuts her out of the discussion – When you act as if she isn’t even there or wouldn’t understand what you’re talking about, she feels a part of herself that is detached. Husbands cannot forget that wives see the marriage as a partnership…in every part of life…even the parts she may never fully understand. She wants to be involved.

Pain by husband.

Husband. Don’t make her cry!

Fails to notice the difference she makes – A woman doesn’t want to be appreciated for only what she does. She wants you to appreciate who she is, but more importantly, she wants you to admit that she does a lot. Whether it’s decorating the house or making sure the clothes are clean…or that you have your favorite soap…a woman wants to know what she does is valued by you.

Underestimates the small stuff – You only said “this” but it was “THIS” to her. Sometimes what we think are no big deal is a big deal to her and when we do not pay attention to it, it hurts her. You may even think it’s funny that she gets so worked up over the little things. And, She may even laugh out loud about it. But, oftentimes, she is laughing instead of screaming or crying because she is building a wall of protection around her heart each time your not serious about what matters to her. So, the key here is that you can’t talk to her like you might talk to another guy. She hears and feels deeper than you do and our words and actions can and do hurt.

Speaks with curtness – When you talk down to her, as if she’s somehow less than you, you bruise her spirit. Deeply. And, you know that she is not below you, she is your equal. God created Eve from the side of man. So, when you talk to her, remember husbands that sometimes she cannot tell by your tone and the way you talk to her, if you are serious or joking. What you may think is a normal way to speak, can tear her up inside.

Corrects her as she’s talking – This could be finishing her sentences or speaking for her in the company of others. Your wife has a mind all her own and when we do such things, your wife feels demeaned and devalued when you present her to others as if she can’t compete with you in original thought…which you know isn’t true (My wife is much smarter than me). So, stop trying to read her mind and let her express what she wants to say.

Acts suspicious – Don’t misunderstand or misapply this one. When you hide information, even when you think you’re protecting her, you cause her to question your motive. When you protect your calendar…or act like you are upset at the question “What did you do today?” or “What did you talk about?” or “Who was that?” when someone calls, it gives her an eerie feeling something is wrong. And, that hurts. Try being more open instead of mysterious. She is always interested in the other half of herself.

Admires other women over her – She sees you looking. She may even understand your highly visual make-up. But still, it hurts her when a glance becomes a stare…especially when it happens everywhere you go…all the time. Husbands, control your eyes. Remember, you are married and therefore, you prefer your spouse to all the other women of the world. You cleave to her, not to a strange woman. You know, a wife’s heart, no matter how independent or strong she is, is tender in places. Lots of places. And, she can bruise easily in some areas of her life…especially the places that involve the people she loves the most…like you, her husband. A husband who understands this is more careful in how he speaks and responds to her. And, most husbands I know would never injure their wife knowingly. They want to be her protector. But husbands, when we don’t realize the damage we are doing to our wives emotions, we invalidate every desire we have to be her defender. And consider this: What other ways, besides these seven, do husbands injure their wives, without even knowing it?

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Hearing the Gospel

Three Men Hear the Gospel

In 1 Corinthians 2 and 3 the apostle Paul mentions three types of people to whom the gospel is preached:

gospel

The gospel can cure all!

1. The Natural Man (2:14): this one is exposed to the gospel of Christ – but rejects it.

2. The Carnal Man (3:1-4): in this sense, this  one initially receives the gospel but will not allow his conduct of life to be transformed by it.

3. The Spiritual Man (3:1): this one both receives the gospel and allows his conduct of life to be transformed by it..

Three heart patients went to the doctor.  The doctor warned each of them concerning their problem and gave them strict instructions to follow.  The first man thought it foolish, continued in his bad health and died (cf. 1:18).  The second man heeded the doctor’s advice, but made no changes to correct it, and he died (cf. Lk. 8:12).  The third man heeded the advice and made the necessary changes – and he lived on. Which man best describes you?

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