When God Hears Our Cry
Text: 2 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.
On Monday night, we learned what it means to be called by God’s name, as we covered the first part of this scripture, “If My people which are called by my name.” On Tuesday night, we proceeded forward in this scripture and covered the portion, which reads, “shall humble themselves, and pray.” And we talked about “Getting Right for Prayer.” On last night, we had a good time laboring from the subject “Turning Your Life Around.” This covered the section of the scripture that tells us to seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. And when we left we knew that it was time out for playing church and time for living church.
On this fourth watch night, we’re calling on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into this fourth part of our text. We’ve finished the IF parts of this passage, but now we’re getting into the THEN, part. We know what we have to do, but now we’re going to discover what GOD will do. This fourth part reads “then will I hear from Heaven.” So from this section, we would like to labor from the subject
Subj: WHEN GOD HEARS OUR CRY
All week long, we’ve been talking about our responsibility to God as it is brought about in 2 Chronicles 7:14. We know that we need to humble ourselves before we go before the Lord God Almighty with any and every thing. We ought to show some humility, realizing that God made us everything that we are. The Bible records in the Gospel according to John that all things were made by Him and without Him, was not any thing made that was made. And that even means that there would be no us if he hadn’t made us. There would be no blood running warm in our veins if he didn’t put it there. But some of us, have a tendency to get up on our high horses every now and then, talking about we have this and we have that. We have essentially gotten to high for God to hear our cry. And He won’t hear us because we’re not humbling ourselves before the Master.
We’ve discovered and come to the conclusion that we need to pray. A prayer life is an important element in our relationship with God. When we pray we can talk to God. We can fellowship with God. We can turn our problems over to God. And we can ask God for help in our times of need. And we can praise God for all that He’s doing in our lives. And you know what, if we stay down on our knees long enough, God can talk back to us.
Some of us approach prayer just like it’s a race. We pray as fast as we can pray and then we’re off to do other things as we give most of our time and effort to those things that do not pertain to God. We don’t spend and quality time with God. There was a time when all people could do was sit around reading from the bible, praying, singing, and praising God. The would do it in the homes as well as in the church. But nowadays, even when we’re home, our head is stuck so far into the television or our ear pushed up against the telephone that we don’t have time to read any more.
We don’t spend the same kind of quality time that we used to spend with our kids, teaching them that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. A lot of our older church members grew up knowing how to pray, because they had prayer in the home. Things have come a long way, but I’m here to tell you tonight that if you don’t have a quality prayer life, God will not hear your cry. He will not come through when you want Him to.
I know we always say that He may not come when you want Him, but He’ll be there right on time. But I’m here to tell you that if you get right with God and get your prayer life on the right track, God will not only come on time, but He’ll come when you want Him to come. And wouldn’t it be nice for once, if God would just come at the sound of your voice and you didn’t have to sit back and wait on him? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just speak and your healing just showed up. Wouldn’t it be a powerful thing if you could just call out his name and money just showed up at your doorstep?
Well it can start happening for you just like that if you get right with God. If you don’t believe me ask Daniel in the Lion’s den. Daniel was thrown into the Lion’s den at feeding time, and I’m hear to tell you that he needed God to show up right then and right there. He didn’t have time to wait. But if his prayer life had not been right, he would not have known how to call on the Lord. And there could have been a whole different ending to his story.
You can also ask Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The king made the fiery furnace seven times hotter than normal, even so hot that it was killing servants of the king who were getting to close to it from the outside. I don’t think they had time to wait on the Lord. But they prayed and God showed up in an instant. And the fact is, not only did he show up and keep them safe from hurt, harm, and danger, but he showed up and spent some time with them, walking around in the fiery furnace.
Oh can’t you hear King Nebuchudnezzar saying I know we only threw three men, tied up, into this fiery furnace, but now there are four men, walking around loose, and the fourth one looks like the son of God. OH can’t you hear him proclaiming how God showed up right then and right there and heard their cry? He didn’t show up because they were living raggedy and calling themselves children of God. But God showed up because they were faithful to him. They had a relationship with him by having a good prayer life. And how many of you know tonight that when God shows up, he’ll always show out. For the Bible says that not one hair was singed upon their head. Have I got a witness?
We learned last night that we need to turn our lives around. It seems like so many Christians turn their lives over to Jesus, but then end up backsliding and falling right back into sin. And the sad part is that they backslide in the church and right in the church, they reach a point where they almost feel that it’s okay to do those sinful things in the church. That act like nobody should question their sinful ways. But let me tell you something, if you think you can keep on playing church and go to heaven, your going to be in for a rude awakening. Because God knows your heart. It doesn’t matter what man sees or doesn’t see you doing, God sees it all. And it by your works that you’ll be judged. James wrote that faith without works is dead. And there are two ways to look at that.
One way is that if you have faith in God, but are not doing anything to build and lift up His kingdom, then your faith has no meaning because you are not doing and works to justify and prove your faith. The second way to assert that passage, is from the perspective that even if you believe in God and Believe in Jesus Christ, that he died and rose from the dead. But you keep on living a life full of sin. You keep working in iniquity. Then your faith has no merit. It is dead, because you’re living outside of the will of God. You have no good works by which God can judge you. Have I got a witness?
So it’s up to us to get right with God and to turn our lives around. And once we’ve done all that God requires of us, the Bible says that then He will hear from heaven.
When we pray, our prayers are sent up to heaven. We should want for our prayers to be listened to and answered by God. But our prayers are not sent directly to God. They don’t leave our mouth and go directly to his ear. If they did that, then there would be no need for a mediator between God and us. There would have been no need for Jesus to come down here and hang on the cross for your sins and mine.
Jesus said in the 14th chapter of John that I am the way the truth and the light. No man cometh unto the Father but by me? He let us know that He is the key that we must use to get our prayers heard by God. That’s why we end our prayers in Jesus name. Because we want there to be something attached to our prayer that gets them noticed in heaven.
Jesus said that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give it to you. So Jesus is the key.
That’s why there was over four hundred years of silence from God between the Book of Malachi and the arrival of the voice of one crying out in the wilderness. There was no key. God had stopped listening to man because Man had stopped living right. Man had stopped talking and communicating with God. Man, even the children of God, had shut off the prayer line and taken up the ways of the wicked.
But I thank God for Jesus Christ, for he came down through 42 generations to serve as the key. Isaiah prophesied in the 22nd Chapter, that the key of the house of David would fall upon the shoulders of the Lord. And if he should open the door, no man would be able to make the door shut. Likewise, if he should find it necessary to shut the door, no man would be able to open it back up. Have I got a witness?
I don’t know about you tonight, but I want the right to use that heavenly key. Because if you have the right to use that key, you can open up the windows and door in the kingdom of heaven. Ain’t God alright?
For I can hear God telling Malachi, that I will open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that you will not have room to receive. And even though, he was talking about paying your tithes and offering, you ought to know that if you grab a hold of a key named Jesus, your blessing is always going to come on through. Can I get a witness?
For I heard one gospel writer tell the story about a woman who had an issue of blood. And she had gone from doctor to doctor looking for the key that would get her healed of her affliction. Am I right about it?
But all of a sudden after 12 long years that she had been looking for the key, she heard about a key called Jesus that was nearby teaching the word of God. And how many of you know tonight that sometimes the key will show up when you least expect him to show up.
For the bible tells me that this woman left her home looking for the key. And I must stop and tell you children, that this woman must have had great faith in the Lord. For when she got there to where the key was, there was a whole multitude of folk. And there was not a way for her to get through the crowd.
But the Bible tells me that despite the obstacles in her way. Despite the press that wouldn’t let her get through. Despite all of the doctors who told her that there was no cure. Despite all of the trouble she had been through. She knew for herself, down in her own heart that if she could get through to the key she would be made whole again.
So the Bible tells me that this woman fought her way through the press, she fought her way through the obstacles, she fought her way through her sins, and found Jesus on the other side. Ain’t the Lord alright.
She didn’t’ need to have a little talk with Jesus. She didn’t need to tell him all about her troubles. She didn’t need to ask Him to remove her affliction. But all she had to do is grab hold of the key. Yes she did.
And when she grabbed him, God heard her cry. God saw her affliction. God had mercy on her soul. Ain’t the Lord alright.
And don’t you know. Just like he heard the cry of this woman with the issue of blood. Just like her heard the cry of Daniel in the Lion’s den. Just like he heard Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego, if you live right, and get hold of the key. God will hear your cry and say servant, servant, servant well done. Oh Lord.
That’s why Jesus, died, one Friday morning on Calvary’s Cross. But early on Sunday morning don’t you know he got up with all power in His hands.
