Reading for Today:
Proverb Chapter 28
Gold Nugget
Verse 9: “One who turns away his ear from hearing the
law, Even his prayer is an abomination.”
Commentary
Today's "gold nugget" touches on a
controversial issue. Does God hear our prayers? Now some folks say that He does
not hear the prayers of a sinner lest the sinner is praying repentance. Some
say that God hears all prayers. One thing we may need to clarify is the
definition of "hear". Hear cannot always be taken literally. Often
times hear is used in scripture as "understand". "He did not
hear", meaning "He did not "understand". Other times it is
used as "receive". "He would not hear instructions from the
Lord", meaning "He would not "receive" instructions from
the Lord". Sometimes it is used literally as the physical act of hearing
with your ears. This is important to understand concerning the Lord and
hearing. God said this in the book of Isaiah, "And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from
you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of
blood." (Isaiah 1:15) Here we see that God Himself said that He will
not hear. As a matter of fact, due to the sinful state of Judah, He refused to
even look upon them. Did that mean He couldn't see them and hear them? Well, of
course He could see them but, He refused to look upon their willful
disobedience and refused to hear their prayers or receive their contaminated
worship. It is apparent that God does not receive our prayers when we are in
willful disobedience. Today’s “gold nugget” says, “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an
abomination”
We need to understand and accept that our spiritual state of
obedience (receiving His laws) or disobedience (turns away his ear from hearing
the law), does effect God’s willingness to participate and engage with us in
fellowship and communion. We can literally turn God off to us. That is an
extremely disturbing thought and makes me shutter as I write these words, but I
believe it to be truth. He said, "I
will never leave you nor forsake you", but I want more than just His
omnipresence (God’s ability to be everywhere at once), I want His presence from
an intimate relationship. I can’t stand the thought of being such an offense to
Him that he stops up His ears and covers His eyes.
Prayer
Lord, forgive me of
my sins. I want you to be able to listen to me and look at me without being
offended by my disobedience. I commit today to remember your laws and purpose
to walk in them. Thank you for your mercy and forgiveness. Amen
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