As the nations are in mourning over the escalating violence and bloodshed across the land, many folks are now wondering if the prayers of the nations are being answered, for although politicians and clergy have banded together to seek God, yet for some reason the violence and immorality keep increasing every day, in so much that a valid question is now being considered, “Is God hearing and answering us?” It is important then for us to understand the conditions that are necessary for our prayers to be answered, and even though many smooth-talking clergy and secular folk may beg to differ, the truth of the matter is that the original parameters, as set forth in the scriptures still stand, even if some may not acknowledge or agree with them.
Whenever we petition God, and there is no answer whatsoever from the Lord, it means that most likely He is not listening, and thus it behooves us to find out why He seems to have closed His ears to our cries. The fact that God will hear, and answer our prayers, when the stipulated conditions are fulfilled is a most sacred truth, for it provides stability, and confidence, security, and assurance, in a world that is becoming increasingly volatile by the day. When we pray along scripturally sound lines, The Lord will always answer us. He may say yes, He may say no, or He may say wait, but one thing is certain, He will answer the prayers that are made in harmony with the instructions given in His word. Let’s read:
John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Isaiah 65:24 And it shall come to pass, that before
they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
This is not rocket science, for it’s as plain as it gets, because God is not a man that He should lie. Take for example, when Abraham petitioned the Lord in behalf of His son, for a wife, in harmony with the instructions given in His word, The Lord answered his prayer and the prayer of His servant the exact way specified in the previous passage, for it also stipulates the speed with which the answer will be coming, “While they are yet speaking”. Let’s read:
Genesis 24:12 And he said O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.
13 Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:
14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.
15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
The hearing, and answering of prayers made to God also pertain to the issues of personal, and national security, for we have several instances in the Bible, where some individuals were being threatened with violence, but because all the scriptural parameters were in place, the enemy could not wreak havoc, as would otherwise have been the case. And thus, it is of the utmost importance that we find out the root causes of the millions of unanswered prayers which seem to be falling on deaf ears. Let’s read:
2nd Chronicles 20:1 It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,
6 And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
13 And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
14 Then upon Jahaziel”… “came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation;
15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.
20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth forever.
22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
We often pride ourselves on being a predominantly Christian nation, but these verses are so plain and direct that it is not possible to subvert them, which means that if God is not hearing, or answering our prayers as a nation, we then have a major problem on our hands, and thus, the intelligent thing to do is to find out why. The problem is never with God, but with the human agent as is clearly specified in the scriptures. Let’s read line upon line, with a humble and teachable spirit.
Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
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.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss”….
Proverbs 1:24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded.
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:
30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Thus, it is necessary for us to establish a few facts pertinent to the issue of “Conditions of answered prayer”: [1] The God of the old Testament is none other than Jesus Christ.
1st Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
[2] God never changes to suit fads, or contemporary ideas, or majority opinions. Let’s read:
Malachi 3:6 For I am the Lord, I change not”….
[3] Our expectation of what God will do in response to the current crisis, must be based upon Biblically sound precedents, so as not to be disappointed if, and when He doesn’t answer our prayers. Let’s read:
2nd Chronicles 7:14 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.
15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
In the scripture there are blessings attendant to the obedient, for the laws of cause and effect are often permitted to run their natural course. In addition, whenever individuals or nations set themselves to follow the laws and principles of God, He sets in motion blessings which are meant to encourage us, and to confirm to us that we are on the same page with Him. And we are never to conclude that the following verses pertained solely to the nation of Israel, for the promises of God are for every nation and person living on the planet. Let’s read:
Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Deuteronomy 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
7 The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.
For example: Numbers 23:16 And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, what hath the Lord spoken?
18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel.
But! There is another side to the equation, for all these blessings can go into reverse gear when
nations and individuals deliberately choose to walk contrary to God’s revealed will. In addition to this, we must always bear in mind the fact that The Lord retains entire jurisdiction over all the inhabitants of the earth, whether they be Christians or not, for we are His both by creation and redemption. Neither Pharaoh, or Nebuchadnezzar were Christians, yet they came under the sovereignty of The Most High. Let’s read:
Daniel 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will”….
Judges 10:6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served not him.
7 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.
8 And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
9 Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.
10 And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.
11 And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?
12 The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.
13 Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.
14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
15 And the children of Israel said unto the Lord, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.
16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
One of the main sins that has triggered so much of the violence and bloodshed across the land, is the sin of legalizing gay marriage, by which we have essentially cast out the most sacred institution via the highest legislative body in the land. God gave us marriage between one man and his female wife as the foundation of society, and therefore, when we presume to interfere with traditional marriage, we will shake the very foundations of our society, and the sure result will be the gradual disintegration of all law and order in the civilized world. Let’s read:
[The Great Controversy pp. 584>585] Wherever the divine precepts are rejected, sin ceases to appear sinful, or righteousness desirable. Those who refuse to submit to the government of God are wholly unfitted to govern themselves. Let the restraint imposed by the divine law be wholly cast aside, and human laws would soon be disregarded. Property would no longer be safe. Life itself would not be respected. The marriage vow would no longer stand as a sacred bulwark to protect the family. The civilized world would become a horde of robbers and assassins; and peace, rest, and happiness would be banished from the earth.
Furthermore, we may pray to God until we are blue in the face, but if we do not take proactive steps to reverse the evil by confession and forsaking of sins, then the verdict is that God will not be listening to our petitions, neither will He intervene to restrain the billions of demons from stalking the land, and wreaking havoc in high and low places. God never ever blesses disobedience, neither does He hear or answer nations or individuals who are deliberately living in violation of His plainest commands, which are given for our best good, except our prayers are of the order recommended in 2nd Chronicles 7, that of confession, repentance, and a turning away from the sins that have caused the alienation. Let’s read:
Psalms 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
Matthew 19:4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Science as we know it, cannot make a direct link between immorality and bloodshed, and therefore, in our search for answers to the ongoing disruptions of society, we may be often tempted to attribute our misfortunes to some other cause, such as racial discrimination, income inequality, or even to global terrorism. While these may be contributing factors, the root cause of the current problem is a turning away from the sacred institutions, and a deliberate indulgence in known sin. Unless these issues are addressed, we will keep spinning our wheels in the proverbial mud, and there will continue to be a cascading effect to the dismantling of society.
Excuses, apologies, and explanations for sin is of the order that does not produce favorable results. If we confess because we are forced to, or because of fear, or because of adverse circumstances looming on the horizon, then our prayers will not pass the roof, but will instead drop out of the sky like a big stone. And so, in the name of The Lord Jesus Christ, we petition the nations of earth, the leaders of the free world, the judges across the land, the clergy, and families and individuals, to do some serious soul-searching, for Christ takes no delight in the
wanton destruction of lives He came to save, but will rather have us confess and forsake our sins, so that the current tide of evils might be stayed. Thus, in harmony with this plea, is the assurance that the penitent will be accepted in The Beloved, when the stated conditions are fulfilled. Let’s read:
Joel 2:1Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.
12 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness”…
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly.
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
assemble the elders, gather the children” ...
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
18 Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh”…
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered”…
He who has ears to hear, let him hear what The Spirit says unto the churches. God bless!