Abominable Prayers
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Introduction
Introduction
9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law,
Even his prayer shall be abomination.
An audience with the great God of the universe is a distinct and awesome privilege.
John Phillips wrote, “Prayer is the most mysterious force in the universe. We are familiar with the laws of nature that underlie such phenomena as electricity, light, sound, magnetism, and gravity. Every scientific discipline has a distinctive set of highly complex laws, some of which we understand, some of which we understand partially, and some of which we don’t understand at all. Prayer is another law of the universe. We really have no idea how prayer works; we only know that it does. In His administration of the universe, our omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent God takes all the laws of nature, science, and prayer into account. He weighs the prayer factor along with all the others.”
God is a benevolent and caring Father who delights in hearing and answering the prayers of His dear children...
11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
But God is also a holy God who cannot tolerate the presence of sin.
When we disregard God’s Holy Word—when we do not hear or obey His commandments—we forfeit the privilege of entering God’s presence through prayer.
Sometimes you’ll hear someone say, “It’s no use to pray” - they say this because when they do pray nothing happens. And, I’ll say, that probably is true when some pray...
Often, the reason why nothing happens when some people pray is found right in this verse…
What’s the reason? They will not listen to the Word of God, they do not read and ponder it, they, in fact, reject the Word of God.
Think it about this way, the result is fair play…If you’re not going to listen to God speak, then why should He listen to you? To answer that question with this verse, He will not listen to you when you will not listen to Him.
Many people are concerned about hypocrisy, but hypocrisy in prayer is unacceptable to God.
God despises the prayers of those who despise His Law…You might wonder what His Law is…It’s His Word!
There are probably few areas where hypocrisy shows more than in prayer. We must concern ourselves not with how we pray but with how we obey.
God wants us to always have an open and attentive ear towards His word (the law). To have no hunger for God’s word or to give it no attention is a sign of spiritual sickness in the child of God.
Let’s examine this verse today and see what we can find:
The first thing we notice is:
I-Deafness
I-Deafness
Proverbs 28:9 (KJV 1900)
9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law...
I mentioned not listening to God in the introduction, this really is more than a matter of not listening because the words “turneth away” actually indicates “turning off”...
Think about it, this isn’t just referring to someone not doing what it said, but they wouldn’t even hear what it said!
In the time of this writing, people did not have books. The only way they would know what was in God’s Word was to listen when public reading of the Word took place.
Today we have books, so to make this text applicable we say “turneth away his ear from hearing the law applies to both reading as well as listening to it. When we fail to give due attention to the Word of God through not reading it or listening to it, dire consequences result.
We say so often, we are just too busy to daily read the bible, but that argument doesn’t hold water because we’re never too busy to catch up on the daily news, and we’re never to busy to see what people are doing on social media…Here’s the bold truth of the matter; we don’t give attention to the Word because we aren’t interested in it!
Praying is the right thing to do but it only gets approval as it gives attention.
All can pray but not all asking is acceptable.
In Proverbs 15:8 we are told of prayer that brings delight and in this verse we are told of prayer that brings disgust. The thing that pleases God the most is a listening ear...
1 Samuel 15:22 (KJV 1900)
22 Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice...
To refuse to hear and heed the teaching of God regarding faith and practice is spiritual deafness.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
The flesh does not want to hear what God has to say. It wants to have its ears scratched… it wants to hear that all is well.
And God’s message to the sinner is that all is NOT well! God’s message to the sinning believer is the same – for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth and scourgeth!
So, the first thing we notice in this verse is deafness…The second thing we notice is:
II-Determination
II-Determination
Proverbs 28:9 (KJV 1900)
9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law...
There is always a measure of determination in refusing to obey...
Adam Clarke wrote, “Many suppose, if they do not know their duty, they shall not be accountable for their transgressions; and therefore avoid every thing that is calculated to enlighten them…. But this pretense will avail them nothing; as he that might have known his master’s will, but would not, shall be treated as he shall be who did know it, and disobeyed it.”
What does this mean? It means that ignorance isn’t an excuse when it comes to God! He’s given us His Word, we are to read it, learn it, and obey it!
What are some ways in which we turn our ears away from hearing the law?
By ignoring it - this is inexcusable…We are wrong when we ignore God’s Word...Ignoring God's Word will lead us further away from His presence in our lives.
The Bible is full of wisdom and knowledge that can help us better understand the world around us and make sense of our own lives.
When we ignore God's Word, we are missing out on invaluable guidance and direction for living a life of faith.
Romans 10:17 “17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
We become deaf to the voice of God, which can ultimately lead to spiritual emptiness and loneliness.
By disobeying it - there is a deliberateness here that is just frightening...
This implies that the Word has been heard, but deliberately disobeyed...
James 1:22 “22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
The Bible is clear about this; it warns us not to be disobedient and reminds us that God's Word should always be followed.
*Proverbs 1:20-33*
By misinterpreting it - this is a possibility…think about it, nobody has a right to make a personal opinion an interpretation, but many do, and when we do that, we are turning our ears away from the real message...
Those are some ways that we turn our ears away, but let me give you some reasons we turn our ears away...
Because of...
Disagreement. We don’t like what it says so we turn our ears away and choose to disobey...
Self-will. Christ prayed, “…not my will, but thine be done.” - We often pray “…not your will Father, but mine.”
Inconvenience. Obeying God's Word is not always easy or convenient. In fact, it often means standing up for what is right even when it is not popular. Many times, this is when people crumble under the pressure of those around them...
Winston Churchill said, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.”
Men of our day no longer “stumble” over the truth; they simply “go around it.”
So, we see deafness and determination, but we also notice:
III-Disregard
III-Disregard
9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law,
Even his prayer shall be abomination.
When there is this determined deafness we’ve been looking at this morning, then God will disregard our prayers.
Prayer becomes an abomination according to this verse.
This is a strong word often used in Scripture. It refers to a “repugnant or detestable act, person, or thing.”
I thought this was interesting…Of the four major Hebrew words translated “abomination,” the one most frequently used indicates violation of an established custom or ritual which, in turn, draws the judgment of God...
God has no regard to the prayer of the one who is ignoring His law.
Just so ya’ll know, this is a teaching throughout the Bible:
11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder,
And stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law,
And the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets:
Therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.
13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear;
So they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts:
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God,
And your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear me:
God's Word is clear - if we are disobedient and have sin in our hearts, He will not hear us when we pray. This is a warning that should not be taken lightly, as it is a reminder of the consequences of our actions.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Let me ask you a question…Why should a person seek the favors of a sovereign God whom they will not obey?
To pray while disobeying is pure hypocrisy. We want to do things our own way, but we want God to do them our way also.
If I’ve been talking about you, then you ought to come lay on this altar and get right with God!
Dear friend, if you’ve never been saved, then there’s only one prayer God will hear from you and that is the sinner’s prayer of forgiveness. If you’re not saved, you ought to come this morning and ask the Lord to save you!
