Daily Impact: 17th August 2023
Topic: The Answer
Text: Psalms 5:1-3
Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.
May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you; May He send you help from the sanctuary, And strengthen you out of Zion; May He remember all your offerings, And accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, And fulfill all your purpose. We will rejoice in your salvation, And the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.
The answer is a subject of consideration for the next few days. The goal of intercession and supplication is an answer from God. That is the expectation of our prayers. We expect answers from God. When we pray, either by way of intercession: praying for somebody else, or supplication: pleading with God for our own sake, the goal of such prayers, intercession, or supplication is an answer from God.
We desire answers from God. And so the Psalmist said, In verse one of chapter 20, May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. And so I say, in the day of prayers, may the Lord answer you. I want us to understand this morning that God is a prayer answering God. He answers not only the words, he answers the meditations of the heart. Ephesians 3:20 said, Now to him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
God does not only answer our asking, he answers our thinking. This is the reason why our meditations must be right. We must think right before God because we know that God hears not only our prayers, and the words of our mouths, he also listens and hears the meditations of our hearts.
Psalm 5:1, the Psalmist said, Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditations. Give ear to my words and then consider my meditations. These are the two things that God will always hear and answer. What are you thinking of? What are you asking? Now we know what we ask, but many times we do not consider or call it to mind that God hears and answers our thinking. We must understand this and ensure that the meditations of our hearts are acceptable unto God.
There are certain prayers that God will not hear. He will not even listen to or hear these prayers at all.
1. God will not hear the prayers of a sinner. The prayers of a sinner, God will not hear. In Proverbs 15:8, the Bible says the sacrifice or the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is a delight. So the sacrifice of the wicked or the prayer of the wicked, the prayer of a sinner is an abomination to God, but He takes delight in the prayers of the upright. And so a sinner’s prayer is an abomination and God will not answer such prayers. In Proverbs 28:9, the scripture says one who turns away his ears from hearing the Lord, even his prayer is an abomination. And the person who turns his ears from hearing the Lord, from hearing instruction and reproof, his prayer is an abomination. So God will not hear, God will not answer the prayers of a sinner.
2. God will not answer the prayer of a man who closes his ears to the cry of the poor. Whoever closes his ears to the cry of the poor, God will not hear his cry also. In Proverbs 21:13, the Bible says whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard. Don’t close your ears to the prayers or the cries of the poor. We will always have the poor around us according to the scriptures, be therefore sensitive to the cry and prayers of the needy and the poor around you. And so if you open your ears to the cry of the poor, you will also cry and you will be heard. But a man who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, will pray and not be heard.
3. The prayer of a man who is full of himself will not be heard. God will not hear or answer the prayer of the proud. James 4:6, the word of God says, but he gives more grace. Therefore he says, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. The prayer of a man who is full of himself does not receive answers from God. God will not hear, God will not answer the prayers of a man who is full of himself. Don’t forget, God does not send anybody away empty, apart from the man who is full of himself. That is the man who will come before God and go back empty, a man who is full of himself, a proud man.
4. God will not hear, neither will He answer the prayer of the self-righteous man. The prayer of the self-righteous man will not be answered. God won’t hear his prayer. So don’t be self-righteous. It is good to live a righteous life, but please don’t ever flaunt your righteousness. Luke 18:11-12, Bible says, The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector standing over there praying. These are my righteousness credentials. I fast twice a week. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ So Lord, I am a righteous man, my prayers must be answered. But the Bible tells us that that man went back disappointed. His prayers were not heard. His prayers were not answered. God never answers the prayers of the self-righteous man.
While it is important to be good? While it is important to live right and to do right? I plead with you to never flaunt your righteousness. Never flaunt the fact that you fast. The ability to fast is given to you by God. And so don’t flaunt it. Don’t throw it before God in the place of prayers. Don’t make it a reason why God must hear and answer your prayers. The fact that you fast, the fact that you tithe, the fact that you do good, you are not an adulterer, not a fornicator, don’t flaunt it before God. Don’t ever forget all of these combined, all of your righteousness. They are like filthy rags, like a woman’s menstrual pad before God. Therefore don’t flaunt it.
Prayer Focus
1. Father, whatever sin that may stand between me and answers to my prayer, forgive me by the blood of Jesus. Let the blood of Jesus wash me from every sin that could stand between me and my answers.
2. Father, bless me to be a blessing to the people around me.Help me to open my ears to the cry of the poor. Bless me and make me a blessing to people around me.
3. Father, I empty myself of myself. I humble myself before you. I reject pride of any kind. In the name of Jesus, I am not full. I am empty. I am nothing. I acknowledge my emptiness before you and I ask God that you will fill my emptiness yourself in the name of Jesus.
