God is Listening

Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of Scripture from second Chronicles.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”  2 Chronicles 7:14

First of all, God does not hear the prayer of the impenitent. His face is against those who do evil, and He won’t even listen to their requests. Impenitence is not feeling inwardly sorry about something wrong that you have done. It is to be self-willed and stubborn, choosing to do things your way rather than submitting to the will of God. In order to know that God is listening, one must first seek Him with a diligent heart, and humbly turn away from things that are displeasing to Him. This proves the sincerity of our love towards Him. People might be able to fool the world, but they cannot fool God. This is because He sees deep inside the heart of every person, and knows if someone is striving to obey Him and humbly submit to His purpose. Those who do are going to find blessings and rewards from Him. In order to carry favor with our precious God, it requires perfect obedience to His will, which will ultimately result in obtaining eternal life. Heartfelt repentance opens up the ears of God, and a pipeline of communication with Him.

Turning from sin is more than just good intentions. It’s more than a half-hearted attempt to crucify the flesh. It is more than just confessing your faults. It is possessing the attitude that you want to do the right thing, and will strive to do whatever is necessary to overcome the problem. It is the complete abandonment of the things that God hates, to humbly submit to His wishes. 

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” 2 Timothy 2:19

The Apostle Paul was sent by God to turn people from their sins. This is because in order to receive forgiveness, they must first demonstrate that they renounce the things of the carnal nature and completely reject the sinful activities that they were once involved with.

Acts 26 ¹⁶ But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; ¹⁷ Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, ¹⁸ To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. ¹⁹ Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: ²⁰ But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

The Lord Jesus came into this world to turn sinners away from their sinful lives. This is so that through repentance, they could someday inherit eternal life. 

“Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” Acts 3:26

But rather than turning away from sin, some who profess the Christian faith will turn their ears away from the truth.

“And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Timothy 4:4

They profess to follow Christ, but then openly deny His teachings.

“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Titus 1:16

They turn His grace into a license to sin. 

“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:4

When they do such things, even their prayer is an abomination unto God.

“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” 1 Peter 3:12 

In this last verse the Apostle Peter is quoting a passage from the book of Psalms.

Psalms 34 ¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. ¹⁶ The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

When we are abiding in God’s truth and walking according to His will, then we can bring our petitions before Him and know that they will be heard.

“Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.” John 9:31

Even when we submit our petitions to Him, we must ask Him that it be done according to His will. He is aware of the things going on in the background that we cannot see, and we must always remember that the Heavenly Father knows what is best for us. His decisions and guidance are far better than anything we could ever ask Him for.

1 John 5 ¹⁴ And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: ¹⁵ And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Some people even pray for things that go completely against God’s will. 

“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” James 4:3

But even if we were to make a misstep in the Christian walk, we must seek the prayers of a righteous man, a man who is walking obediently in the one true faith who can pray on behalf of you.

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16

Unless people make the effort to turn away from sin, God will not listen to what they ask. 

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” Psalms 66:18

Like crocodile tears, even weeping before God without repentance is vanity.

“And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.” Deuteronomy 1:45

Sin can have serious ramifications on one’s relationship with God, and without heartfelt repentance and reconciliation, will only result in Him closing His ears from their prayers. God does not reward the wicked, nor does He bless the impenitent. Our obedience pleases the Lord, and sincere repentance is the key in knowing that…

….. God is Listening

Let’s think about these things for right now.  We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc  where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious goups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️

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