May I Have Your Attention Please?

"You wonder why the LORD pays no attention when you go without eating and act humble." (Isaiah 58:3a, Contemporary English Version)

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Sam noted a few reasons that we sometimes do not receive a response from God:

We are praying for things that have potential to hurt us. Our pastor noted: "We will not get God to give us that which is harmful for us simply because we are throwing a tantrum, because we are not eating for forty days, and because we have gotten our friends to agree that we are going to make a lot of noise. There are some things that it is not in your interest to get it... If you persevere in prayer, He will take you to where you should be."

We are not petitioning God for the thing we claim to want. Pastor Sam reminded us of James 4:2b: We do not have because we do not ask God. If God were to give us something we did not ask Him for, we may think we gained it because of our own intellect or beauty or strategy. Our Lord's desire is that we continually seek after Him, trusting Him to work out His will in us.

We are asking God for things that we will only use to satisfy our own lusts. In James 4:3 we are shown what it means when a person is "asking amiss": the reason for the petition is not to honor God, but to engage in promotion of self or in the denigration of another. Our pastor referenced Genesis 4:1-7: Cain opted to give a self-serving offering rather than the offering which God had ordained as satisfactory to Himself. The result? God did not regard Cain's offering.

Do we find ourselves in a position today where it seems God is not regarding us or the prayers we offer? Let us examine our hearts. Let us spend time in the presence of our Father. Let us wait on Him in prayer. He will open our eyes and hearts to recognize His interests, and to pray according to His will.