Dear God, Please Hear Me
(Why God doesn’t answer)
Isaiah 59:1-21
* A young man asked his girlfriend, “Can I kiss you?” and she was silent. Next, he asked, “May I kiss you?” again, she was silent. Finally, in frustration he said, “Are You deaf?” Without hesitation she replied, “Are you paralyzed?”
* Have you ever spoken to God giving Him your deepest request only to hear silence? Have you ever wondered why God is not listening to your prayers? I have. In fact, there have been times when my prayer has simply been “help” and that prayer, at least it seemed to me, fell on deaf ears.
• I can remember praying for a young girl with cancer to recover and she died.
• I’ve prayed for couples who were having tough times to stay together and they got a divorce.
• I’ve prayed for people to respond to a message and accept Christ and they didn’t.
• I’ve prayed for the Saint to win and they lost.
* Have you ever prayed, “Dear God, please hear me?” Again, I have. Honestly, most of the time God answers one of 3 ways. He says, “Yes, your request is holy & is in my will” or “No, this request is unholy & outside of my will” or even “Wait. The timing is not right.” However sometimes, He is silent. While there can be many reasons why this happens, Isaiah writes about this very subject (Text)
* Verse one tells us that it’s not always God’s fault. When things don’t go ‘our way’ we do our best to blame it on someone else, but God hands & ears are working fine. (Read rest of text)
1) The Reasons – Candidly, there are more reason why God might not hear & answer than we have time to mention, but this text mentions 3 specific reasons. Before we call out the issues let’s make a note of the true culprit, “YOU.” In verses 2 & 3 we discover ‘you’ or ‘your’ over a half-dozen times. It’s not someone else, it’s me.
a) Because of Sin – (Vs 2-3) The text says, “Your iniquities, Your sins, Your hands, Your fingers, and Your Lips” have all built barriers between you and God which has made Him hide His face from you. Have you sincerely read these 2 verses? Do you notice the possessive nature of this sin? It’s all about YOU and YOUR. Our unconfessed & unrepented of sin stands like a barrier between God and us. He simply doesn’t listen or hear. The writer brings to light every part of our bodies (I.E. hand, fingers, and lips) to highlight that it is what we do & how we speak that serves to hinder God from hearing us. We may not think too badly about sin, but God does. Sin is the reason that God had to send Jesus to the cross to die. Sin is not overlooked by God. Not my sin, not your sin, not your best friend’s sin, NO ONE’S SIN! Sin is a barrier, a wall, a fortress, or better said, “ear plugs” to God.
b) Because of Shallowness (Vs 4) Verse 4 is a continuation of the last half of verse 3 which speaks about lying! Look at the indictment! No one makes claims justly or speaks honestly. The writer says, “These people are spinning tales like the Washington politicians.” This past Thursday we saw the VP debate.
* After the debate everyone in the political camps try to ‘spin’ the evaluation to put their candidate in the best light. Here is the sad part: We have become so accepting of the ‘spin’ – that there is now something called the ‘spin room’ where all the pundits go to ‘spin’ the truth. Now watch how God word exposes the impact of ‘spin.’ First notice the change of pronouns from “You” to “they”. They, the ones who are the spinsters, trust in empty & worthless words – thus they reveal their shallowness. When anyone trusts in vain, empty, & worthless words they are headed for trouble & iniquity. Part of this judgment is the absence of God in their life and their ear.
c) Because of Stubbornness (Vs 5-8) - Once again we see a change in the pronoun. It began as you and is now ‘they.’ When we become so stubborn that we allow our sin to continue publicly (or privately) and we refuse to come back to our Lord for cleansing and healing we invite a sequence of undesirable things to happen in our lives. (Review verses 4b-8) “They” (the word Isaiah uses) are so stubborn that ‘they’ will not repent, relent, or return to God. Instead of returning to God, where they know they should go, in arrogance they run after evil & rush to crucify some innocent soul – and then they wonder why God doesn’t hear them.
* Our country is experiencing the darkest days in our history. As long as we, who claim the name of Christ, allow sin to run rampant in our lives, there is no hope for this nation to be restored. The reason God don’t hear us is sin.
* Let us not forget or forsake God’s word. Numbers 32:23 says in effect, “If you don’t do right, you will sin against the Lord and be sure that your sin will catch up with you.” I submit that sin ‘catching up’ with you can be God not hearing.
2) The Results – When God doesn’t hear you, what are some of the results? In verses 9-15 we can see three (of many) results, but these three are enough. You will;
a) Lack guidance – (Vs 9-11) The text says, “You hope, grope, stumble, and growl.” When you lose God’s guiding hand you can only hope for light & brightness to see but all that around you is spiritual darkness. You grope like the blind and stumble along like a lost person. Do you see this diagnosis, “We become like the dead among the living.” Sin has a high price. Lack of guidance & direction makes for a bad day so we grumble, growl, and groan because we are so miserable. There is no happiness apart from the love & life of our Lord.
b) Lack goodness – (Vs 12-14) Goodness is gone. Look at some of these concepts; multiplied transgression, testifying sins, and known iniquities are not desired things to have in our lives. They are an affront to God and HE WON’T hear us. When our lives displease God by missing HIS mark (which is sin) then life takes a nose dive into more sin & transgression, there is no goodness to be found.
c) Lack grace – (Vs 15a) Can you get your mind around this thought: “Whoever repents &/or attempts to please God is mistreated!” Because truth is at such a premium, the life given to sin & abandoned by God’s ear shows no grace at all.
* A Biblical case in point might be: the woman caught in adultery. A modern day case in point might be; in the 1980’s Jimmy Swaggart’s take on Jim Bakker. Sad.
3) The Response (From God) – When things get bad, evil, & unholy, God can & will run out of patience because He doesn’t want to be estranged from us. The last part of verse 15 (The Lord saw) & verse 16 (He saw) are indications that God is about to re-enter the picture. It’s kind of like my dad. We kids might have been bad to the point of taking mom down – dad, for whatever reason, might have not been in the know –BUT when Dad saw!!
a) God’s amazement (Vs 16) - This speaks of the sadness which unconfessed sin & an prayerless people bring to the Father. To think that sin runs rampant and no one is interceding is unthinkable to Holy God. He was amazed, appalled, & astonished. To intercede is to ‘take everything to God in prayer.’ Wait! Aren’t we praying and God doesn’t hear? Yes, it is in the times that we fall into sin that our brother & sisters should be lifting our names up to God to call us to confession and repentance. Years ago, the altars were filled with moms & dad, friends & relatives, praying for their wayward child, like the prodigal son, to come to his/her senses. One of the reasons we don’t hear from God today could be that God is amazed NO ONE IS INTERCEDING!! Years ago, Bro. Lee Thomas taught us that no one can be saved until someone prays for them. The reason we pray is because the strong man (Satan) must be disarmed.
* The person who is caught in sin & to whom God isn’t listening is the person who needs to be prayed for. When we are the culprits, hopefully someone else will pray for us.
* However, the spiritually mature person may well remember and repent, so they can return to the Lord. How sensitive are you to the voice of God today?
b) God’s approach (Vs 17-21) – Here is God’s approach; “God comes down.” Dear people, I am praying for God to come down in freshness, newness, and realness, but this isn’t quit the ‘coming down’ spoken of here. Do you remember your parent’s tone when they said, “Don’t make me come over there!” When He comes as a judge, He will come fully prepared to complete the task. He’ll repay everyone according to their deeds. He will give fury, retribution, & even vengeance. He will deal with every sin, removing every barrier, so that every person possible can be restored.
c) God’s aim (Vs 16c) – You’ll find God’s aim in these words, “His own arm brought salvation.” Just as surely as sin separates you & me from God, His salvation brings us back to Him. His salvation restores us to our Heavenly Father. Since the Garden of Eden God’s plan has been the same, “Restore fallen mankind.” This is why He sent Jesus to die; this is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live in us.
* If we are honest, every person here prays, “God please hear me.” Whether He does or not, depends on your choice, your life, and your sin!
