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ME: Intro - Silent Treatment
Has anyone ever received the silent treatment?
It is not a good feeling, is it?
Especially when it comes from someone important to us.
So, how hurtful is it to think that God would give someone the silent treatment?
God would never do that, would He?
My assumption is that most people would say of course not.
God listens to everyone!
Even people who do not believe in Jesus may pray for their family or their health.
And most people would say that God will answer your prayers.
What about you?
Would you say that God listens to everyone’s prayers?
Does God give anyone the silent treatment?
John 9:31 provides the answer:
So, yes, God does give the silent treatment to some.
This is a likely shocking reality for some to hear.
So, God only listens to those who worship Him and does His will?
Does that mean if I am outside His will, He will give me the silent treatment?
How can I be sure that I am always praying as a worshiper of His?
This morning, we are looking primarily at Prov. 15:29-33 to answer these questions,
And to teach us the Power of Words.
We will also bring in some other Proverbs that support these verses.
So, our outline begins with:
Righteous Prayers (Prov.
15:29; 28:13)
Unteachable Fools (Prov.
15:31-32)
Talkative Fools (Prov.
17:27-28)
Deceitful Counsel (Prov.
15:33; 12:5)
Through Jesus, God listens to you and you can listen to others.
These verses are an example of the succinct wisdom sayings that make up majority of Proverbs.
WE: Righteous Prayers (vs.
29; 28:13)
Prov.
15:29 and 28:13 teaches that God only listens to righteous prayers.
The Lord being far from the wicked is not talking about God’s physical presence being in some distant place.
It is using this language to communicate the relational distance that exists between God and the wicked.
The wicked lose out on communion with God,
Favor with God,
And help from God.
The OT talks about God moving away from His people,
But other times it is His people who choose to move away from God.
This is built upon God’s covenantal framework with His people.
Isaiah 1:13-15 elaborates:
This is a huge deal because prayer is the way we communicate with God.
Since God is a Person,
Most simply, prayer is having a conversation with God.
It is how we have a relationship with Him.
When the Bible says God does not listen,
It is not as if God is incapable of hearing our words and thoughts.
He hears everything,
He knows everything,
And He is everywhere.
But when we are unrighteous,
The Bible is saying that although He can hear our prayers,
He does not listen or respond.
He will not do anything.
It is like when we hear someone speaking,
But we are not really listening.
Their words are more like white noise.
To put it simply,
God is not with the wicked.
Isaiah 59:2 says:
The problem is, we generally assume that we are righteous.
We think that we are a good person.
So, we assume that God will hear our prayers.
But if we all assume we are the righteous,
Then who are the wicked?
Well, the Bible says that we are.
The wicked are those who reject God’s instruction,
Those who disobey His Word.
And Rom. 3:23 says we all have done this.
We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s perfect standard.
That is why Prov.
28:9 teaches:
If we do not listen to God’s Word,
Then God does not listen to our words.
God finds the prayers of sinners disgusting.
And we are all sinners.
This is why if we do not listen to God’s Word,
Then God does not listen to our words.
If you lie, take God’s name in vain, or refuse to be generous,
The Bible says that God does not listen to your prayers.
If you hold grudges, live selfishly, and refuse to serve others,
The Bible says that God does not listen to your prayers.
To some of you,
This may sound shocking.
To others, it makes sense.
God listens to good people,
But He does not listen to bad people.
However, some of you may not see yourself as the good person.
In fact, some of you may be thinking that God will never listen to you because of the sinful things you have done.
That He will only listen to all these other good people around you,
But not you.
So, in response, you may think,
“I better start to clean my act up,
I will start doing what God wants me to do,
Then He will listen to me!”
So, then does this mean that going to church, giving to the needy, and studying the Bible will make God listen to you?
No.
Prov.
15:8 teaches:
All these outward acts are simply wicked sacrifices.
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