Praying in Vain

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity. Isaiah 59:1-3

If we have the idea that we can do whatever we like and God will be at our beck and call, then we are very mistaken and we will be praying in vain. God will not answer our prayers how we would like when we are sinning and rebelling against His word. Yes, He is the God of compassion and mercy, but He is also the God of judgment and justice. As a matter of fact, if we think that our good works will lead us to Heaven, we might be wrong about this also.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23

So, many of us could be doing what we would consider mighty works in Jesus’ name and we may still go to hell, because we are not in relationship with Jesus as we rebel against His ways. For example, Jesus is clear that we should forgive as the Father has forgiven us. But, if we choose not to forgive, God will not forgive us. In the parable about the unforgiving servant, Jesus said this servant was thrown to torturers by his master and the Father will do the same. God may not listen to our prayers if we have unforgiveness in our hearts even though we may do works that look godly. Therefore, we better be very careful about how we are doing what we are doing. Let me put that another way - we need to make sure our heart is aligned with God’s heart, so whatever we do will be pleasing to Him.

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.” 1 Samuel 17:45-47

And David, a man after God’s own heart, prevailed over the Philistine, knowing he did not fight in his own strength, but the battle was the Lord’s. He had faith that the Lord would give Him victory over this giant who made the other Israelites shudder. David’s confidence was in the Lord, he did not let pride get in the way although he knew he had already struck down a lion and bear when they threatened his flock. He realized he did all this by God’s hand. As a result, he humbly submitted Himself to the Lord.

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

Our prideful ways could make God resist us rather than answer our prayers the way we would like. Proverbs 8:13 tells us that the Lord hates pride and arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth. So can you guess whose prayers He won’t listen to?

And I said: “Hear now, O heads of Jacob, and you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice? You who hate good and love evil; Who strip the skin from My people, and the flesh from their bones; Who also eat the flesh of My people, flay their skin from them, break their bones, and chop them in pieces like meat for the pot, like flesh in the caldron.” Then they will cry to the Lord, but He will not hear them; He will even hide His face from them at that time, because they have been evil in their deeds. Micah 3:1-4

It doesn’t matter if we are a ruler or a servant, rich or poor, young or old, if we rebel against the Lord and do evil, He will not hear us.  It doesn’t matter how much faith we say we have to name and claim whatever we want. We will be praying in vain. God should consider our faith righteousness, rather than having righteous indignation because our demands of Him are selfish and led by our flesh instead of by His Holy Spirit. Therefore, if we would like God to hear our prayers we should humble ourselves and have a repentant heart, while being holy and pleasing to Him.