God? Are You Listening?

Do you ever get the sense that your prayer line has a weak signal, that prayers don’t seem to get past the ceiling of your prayer room or bedroom, that no one is hearing the prayers but the dining room table? Why does this happen?

Where Does the Problem Live?

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
    nor His ear too dull to hear.
But your iniquities have built barriers
    between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden His face from you,
    so that He does not hear.
– Isaiah 59:1-2, ESV

From this we know that the problem is not with God. His arm is strong and his ear hears just fine. The problem lies with me. My sin builds soundproof barriers between me and a holy God. My sins hide his face from me. He didn’t hide it. I did.

It is the same phenomenon that causes men and women to “hate the light.” When living an unholy life, it is tempting to cover, hide, and wear masks, because the truth is shameful and embarrassing.

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.
– John 3:19-21, ESV

God didn’t remove the light from the world. People hide from it.

For decades I have heard complaints that God does not hear prayers and, over time, what became clear to me is that complainants usually mean that God did not respond to their prayers in the way they wanted him to respond. It is less about hearing and more about not giving them what they are asking for.

Understand, O dullest of the people!
    Fools, when will you be wise?
He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
    He who formed the eye, does he not see?
– Psalm 94:8-9, ESV

This reenforces the idea that the blockage comes from humanity, not from God. God is well aware of what is in my mind and on my tongue even before I speak it.

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
– Psalm 139:1-4, ESV

When God Hears/Doesn’t Hear

I have heard and read people referencing “conditions” for answered prayer. I don’t care at all for that term or characterization but, the truth is, it fits. Consider these words from Jesus, James, and the psalmist.

From Jesus

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
– John 15:7, ESV

In context, Jesus is discussing the life of a disciple as one that bears fruit (as we discussed two weeks ago), and in that context of bearing fruit, says that we must “abide in the vine.” If we abide in Jesus…if his words abide in us… When we abide in the vine, we live as the vine directs. Our very life comes from the vine. The vine directs our thoughts and actions. It provides sustaining nutrition.

From James

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
– James 4:3, ESV

Few things are uglier in a human being than selfishness. It blocks the effectiveness of our prayers and causes strife between men and women in the body of Christ. James says the fights and quarrels among believers come from the desires that battle within us.¹

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
– James 3:16, ESV

Years ago I had a man tell me, “Every moment of every day I am either thankful for what I have or resentful for what I do not have. There is no middle ground.”² Men and women who wrestle with selfishness strike me as perpetually unhappy, dissatisfied people. They seem incapable of finding joy in life. By contrast, selfless, generous people are typically overflowing with contentment.

On Thanksgiving Day, Alean and I were engaged in a Hello Kitty Monopoly game with our eight-year-old granddaughter, Peyton, and her mother, Piper. At one point in the game, Piper landed on my property with a hotel on it. It threatened to bankrupt her and drive her from the game. Peyton was having none of that. Gathering a pile of money from her own holdings, she handed the money to her mother so she could stay in the game. It was the most selfless thing I have witnessed in a very long time.

From Psalms

I cried to him with my mouth,
    and high praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
    the Lord would not have listened.
But truly God has listened;
    he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
– Psalm 139:1-4, ESV

Note that this is an issue living in the heart. I have said frequently that God is more concerned with what is happening with my heart and my mind than he is with what’s happening with my hands and my feet, because when God has my heart and my mind, my hands and feet will follow.

But What About That Delay?

There are times when God seems not to have responded to our prayer at all, neither positively nor negatively. This can lead, again, to the errant conclusion that God simply did not hear that prayer.

In Daniel 10, we read of a vision Daniel had, and it was a vision he found deeply disturbing. Following the troubling vision, Daniel was in mourning and prayer for three weeks. If you know anything about Daniel, you know that he is a man well known for his devout prayer life. He even defied powerful pagan authorities who issued and enforced royal decrees that conflicted with his prayer practices. So, how is it that a man like Daniel could experience unanswered prayers?

Amid his distress over the long silence, Daniel was treated to a visit from “one having the appearance of a man.” There is almost unanimous agreement that the visit is from an angelic being, though he is not explicitly declared to be such in the passage. There are lengthy debates regarding the identity of this angelic visitor, but for our study, we are interested only in what he said to Daniel.

And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.”
– Daniel 10:10-12, ESV

The angel states outright that he was sent in response to Daniel’s prayer, and further states that the prayer was heard from day one. So, what’s the explanation for the three-week delay?

The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”
– Daniel 10:13-14, ESV

Given the apocalyptic language in Daniel, “prince of Persia” is almost certainly a symbolic reference to some evil, spiritual entity that was exercising a level of authority over the kingdom of Persia during Daniel’s time. There is a fair amount of back-and-forth regarding the nature of the battle, what was being fought over and who the other Michael is that came to help our unnamed angelic visitor.

To be candid, none of that matters for our study. The takeaway for me in this is that Daniel’s prayer was heard immediately, and it was a prayer that would be answered. The answer was dispatched in response to the prayer. The answer was delayed because of a spiritual conflict wherein the messenger/angel was obstructed by an opposing force for twenty-one days. The answer is coming! It is on its way! Be patient, and let the forces of God fight the battles they need to fight in proper order.

1. James 4:1
2. Spoken to me by my friend, Gary Kim Self.