Are God’s Ears & Eyes Open to You?

Have you ever felt like God is not listening to your prayer? I know I have, and that feeling may not be wrong depending on the motive of our hearts when we pray, and whether we have kept short accounts with God regarding our sins. Although I believe God wants to hear us our own “Position” in life may deny us such access. Consider what king David wrote about God and his prayers, and see if you understand his insight concerning whether God is listening or not.

Psalms 66:18 

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

Out of the many writers in the Old Testament David wrote in an especially transparent way. The psalms reflect both David’s attitude and his perception of how God felt about his attitude and struggles, especially when it comes to personal sin. If anyone understood God and his relationship with him it was David. Look at David’s perception of God’s willingness, or reluctance, to hear our prayers.

Psalms 34:15 

The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry.

Scripture tells us that David was a man after God’s own heart. This doesn’t mean he wasn’t flawed at times in his character or behavior, but at the core of his being, within his heart, he loved God above all else. David seems to have learned that when we are right with God in our soul, living righteously before God, he listens more keenly.

Today we have developed a theology that often has conflicting ideas about God that war in our minds when we try to reason out what God is saying. On the one hand we say the only way a person can be righteous is if God “Positionally” makes him righteous because of Jesus; yet so often people like David, before Christ walked this earth, claimed to have a righteous heart. God said in scripture that many people were righteous before Christ lived, and even while Jesus walked the earth before his sacrifice on the cross. From the prophets of old to people Jesus encounters scripture says different people were considered by God to be righteous. Why? Because they walked humbly with God and confessed their sins when they saw them.

One of the verses people use to support their belief that no one is righteous, but all people are sinful, is in the book of Romans. But we must realize where Paul’s idea used in the book of Roman’s comes from and why he said it. When we read scripture we need to use our God-given ability to use reason and logic to unpack what is said. If we take verses at face value we can “Misinterpret” those verses. Paul’s words on our sinfulness is a case in point.

Romans 3:10-11

As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.

Let me say up front I believe we all sin for reasons ranging from lack of knowledge to down right evil intent. But we don’t need to embellish scripture to say something scripture does not say to back up our theology. This passage in Roman’s 3 in fact comes from the psalms 14 in which David is the writer and the subject is a “FOOL” who is corrupted and does terrible things. David was inspired by God to write this psalm. David was defined by God as a man after God’s own heart so we know this verse is not talking about all people, but all people who fall into the category of living like fools. Context matters and subject matters when understanding passages of scripture.

 Psalms 14:1-3 

The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.

Let me clarify how and why a person is righteous before God: First, there is no person who can walk before God who doesn’t make mistakes. We all make bad decisions at times, which means we need to be forgiven by God if we can be restored to a righteous position. When scripture says someone is righteous it does not mean they never sinned. It does mean their “Current” position is righteous, or in right standing with God. God does not hold our past against us as long as we have confessed and repented. As long as we want to be accountable to God he is willing, and desires, to walk with us in harmony. But, if we refuse to take responsibility for our choices God is not compelled to be in relationship with us.  

Let me list a few people mentioned in scripture who walked righteously before God. I will then back up my belief that people can, and do, walk righteously before God and man.

Noah was a man who God considered to be righteous and thus God spared him out of all the people on the earth. What is amazing is that he did so in the midst of intense wickedness, which shows the depth of his character.

Genesis 7:1 

Then the LORD said to Noah, Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.

Abraham was another man who was considered righteous, but who also understood that God judges people fairly and sees others who might be righteous as well. When God spoke to Abraham about destroying Sodom, Abraham asked God to spare his cousin Lot and his family who lived there. Abraham believed God was a righteous God and would do the right thing for Lot and his family. The only thing Abraham didn’t consider was there were not 10 righteous people in the city because he stopped at asking God to spare the city if 10 people were indeed righteous.

Genesis 18:23 & 32

And Abraham came near and said, Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Then he said, Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there? And He said, I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.

If we don’t reconcile our belief about how and why God sees us then we will be walking in ignorance and potentially against what God desires in our lives. What makes us righteous, and how we stay in a righteous state, is very important to God because we represent him to the world as Christians and he wants to defend us before the heavenly host who watch over us. 

I do not believe God expects us to walk in righteous perfection because we are not perfect and live in an imperfect world. I think David acknowledged that in the psalms 103 when he talks about the fact that we are but dust.

Psalms 103:13-14 

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him, for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

That being said, God has given us the ability to make choices that affect whether we act righteously or wickedly. We have the ability to embrace God’s grace or reject it. Walking in righteousness requires that we choose God’s way and power, rather than trusting our own human ability. Scripture lays out God’s heart to help all who trust in him. The only question is: will we chose to trust or live independently? 

The apostle Paul wrote that we are free to obey God or not to obey. One choice brings life and one brings death, but the choice is ours to make. God doesn’t make us sinful, we choose to do that ourselves. But, we can also choose to walk righteously if we trust the Holy Spirit’s help within each and every believer.

Romans 8:5-6 

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.

Paul boils down the outcome of our choices based on our mindset, or the way our mind is anchored in lies or the truth. If our mind is set on living selfishly our choices follow suit; but if our mind is convinced that God is worthy of our lives then our choices will follow that mindset.

May our mind be fully convinced that God’s word tells us the truth and the world tells us the lie.  

Questions:

1) Are you expecting God to hear your prayer without walking righteously before him? Ps 66:18 is a good place to find the answer.

2) Do you struggle with your conscience when making requests in prayer? Ps 4:3 read David’s confession about his prayers.

May God help us to resolve biblical conflicts in our minds so we may approach God with confidence.

Pastor Dale