Many years ago when my wife and I were both in graduate school and we could not hold down jobs because of our academic requirements, money was scarce so we were having to live as cheaply as possible. In the midst of this situation an “incident” took place that has occupied a special place in my heart ever since. My wife and I had our normal conversations about how to keep expenses down and save what little money we had. Those talks were always held in private because we did not want the girls, aged four and six, to worry. To save money my wife made some of the girls’ clothes and cut all of our hair, including her own. Which brings us to the afore-mentioned “incident.”

One day after brushing my teeth I pulled a plastic gargle cup out of the dispenser and found short snippets of hair in it. I pulled out another cup and found hair in it. After a half-dozen or so such “hairy” experiences I began to pull out clean cups. Long story short–our younger daughter had heard us talking about saving money, etc. Being a caring child, she took the used cups out of the trash can, which also contained our recently cut hair, and put them back into the dispenser. She was intent on helping us financially by having us re-use the gargle cups. While thinking about this series that episode came to mind because it speaks to our child-parent relationship with our heavenly Father.

After hearing us talk about our finances she reacted in a way she thought would please us. Jesus said that we must become as little children who listen to our spiritual Parent in order to learn how to please Him. Prayer and meditation is one of the ways we hear from and speak to our Father in heaven. The question is, does He always hear our prayers? In a previous series I explained that not everyone whom He calls His people and who are called by His name, are His true, obedient saints (holy ones). The vast majority are not, as Jesus said in Matthew 7:13,14 and 22:14. Read “My People Who Are Called By My Name.” Key word–People. In that series I reference Second Chronicles 7:13,14 in which God is speaking to His Israelite people who were called by His name. In First Corinthians 10:11 we are told that what is recorded in the Old Testament was preserved as teaching material for the New Testament Church. Here the Lord is telling those in “the church” that it is He who punishes those who call themselves “sinners saved by grace” for their sins, calls them “wicked” and accuses them of deliberately living contrary to His ways believing that Christ’s death makes them automatically go away upon repentance. He makes it clear that He will answer our prayer for forgiveness and other type so help ONLY IF WE “HUMBLE THEMSELVES, SEEK HIS FACE AND PRAY.” This they all do. However, there is another caveat that must be obeyed in order for their prayers to be answered. They must “TURN FROM OUR WICKED WAYS.” THEN, AND ONLY THEN, WOULD HE ANSWER THEIR PRAYERS. REMEMBER, THESE ARE HIS PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLED BY HIS NAME. In another series I prove Scripturally that the Word “IF” is the most powerful Word in the Holy Scriptures, that God’s promises will come to fruition only IF WE OBEY HIS WORDS. Otherwise, prayer is a waste of time. Read John 15:13,14, Matthew 12:46-49 and 15:8,9. If the believer does not fulfill God’s “IF” caveat (the “fine print”) His promises (“headlines”) not apply to him/her and his/her worship is all in vain. An most importantly, Jesus tells us in John 15:13,14 that the benefits of His death do not apply to the one who does not “… do whatsoever I command you to do.” If that applied to the 12 disciples who preached the Gospel, cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead, etc., it most certainly applies to us.

For the unchanging God and His Christ, nothing has changed. Those who are called “Christians” today are also “His people who are called by His name.” As was the case with Israel, the vast majority of “His people” refuse to obey His Words. Today’s false Christian deliberately and proudly disobeys His fourth commandment and thereby breaks His entire Law (Jam. 2:10), making them “workers of iniquity” (Lawlessness) to whom He will say on Judgment Day, “I never knew you, depart from me ….” (Mat. 7:23). Instead of worshiping God on the day He blessed, sanctified (Gen. 2:1-3) and calls “My holy day” (Isa. 58:13), they worship the sun on the “venerable day of the sun god”–SUNDAY. This act of rebellion causes them to break all ten of God’s commandments, including numbers one and four. By defying Him they make themselves gods by removing one of His commandments and replacing it with one of their own as did Adam and Eve. God, not man, makes spiritual laws. In both cases, Satan is the father of those decisions. As Jesus said, “Satan has deceived the whole world” (Rev. 12:9). Does He answer the prayers of such self-appointed gods? Occasionally, but not because of their holiness, but rather in spite of their lack of holiness. Their prayers cannot reach Him. Let us see what He says about our praying and His answering, or not answering the prayers of His people.

God the Father desires to build a deep, intimate relationship with His people who are called by His name. It is the prayer of the righteous that penetrates the iron heaven He builds over sinners, including church sinners (Lev. 26:19). He makes this clear in Proverbs 15:8 where we are told that “The prayer of the upright is his delight.” He answers the prayers of the one who delights Him.” In Psalms 34:15 we are told that “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.” Who, by God’s definition, are the righteous ones, who delight Him? Those who obey His Word–His written instructions for receiving eternal life. Read Matthew 19:17, John 8:31 and 15:10 and First John 2:5 and 3:1-10.

Always remember this: THE HOLY SCRIPTURES WERE WRITTEN TO, FOR AND ABOUT THOSE WHOM GOD CALLS HIS PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLED BY HIS NAME. In Second Chronicles 7:13,14 one will notice that God refers to the curses He would pour out on the “wicked” people whom He calls “My people and who are called by My name.” Sin and its result are the same for both the churched and the non-churched. Sin separates the church sinner from Him (Isa. 59:2). Normally, He does not hear the prayers of separatists. Notice in verse 13 that He punishes them. Note also that that it is ONLY when a sin-separated believer has truly repented, TURNED AWAY FROM SIN and is WALKING IN OBEDIENCE TO HIM that He will hear his/her prayer and answer it. God says that sin causes Him to turn the sinner’s heaven to iron which prevents his prayer from being heard from on high. God does not answer prayers that He does not hear. Noe this also: when He does hear a prayer of repentance, He does not forgive the sin immediately. He waits to see if the penitent TURNS AWAY FROM SIN AND WALKS IN THE WAY OF HOLINESS. This is the lesson taught in the Chronicles 7 passage. Read Does God Bless Sinners and Answer their Prayers? Key word–Answer.

Our time spent in prayer is extremely valuable to both parties. Man needs it and God appreciates it. The more God becomes the focus of our lives, the more time we set aside to commune with Him. It is a matter of priorities which we must determine. We can easily determine what is most importance to us by acknowledging how much of our free time we give to prayer and Bible study and how much of it we dedicate to entertainment and self-exaltation. Relative to time, our attitude toward God is revealed by two factors: THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY of the time we spend with the Lord. The time we spend with Him is valuable beyond words for it is time we deliberately set aside to build a more intimate relationship with Him.

We are told to fast and pray; the time element for each is determined by us. The closer we want to walk with God, the more we fast and pray. The more we fast and pray, the more spiritually powerful we become. In Matthew 17:14-21 we find a perfect example of this Truth being put into action. Here we find the disciples unable to cast out a demon. Jesus cast it out. When asked why they could not cast it out, He then told them that “This kind” (of demon) could be cast out only after much “prayer and fasting.” Because He was a man like the disciples, if He had not been praying and fasting, He would not have had the power to cast it out. I have had demons tell me they were not coming out of a person. But because I had fasted and prayed, they had no choice. They knew they had to obey my commands; they were trying to bluff me. It did not work.

A new advertisement on television features individuals (usually celebrities) asking people to join them as they pray while the cameras roll. This is what Jesus was referring to when He condemned those who prayed on street corners. He noted that: “They have their reward.” Instead of making a show of prayer, which He condemns, He commands us to “Enter into your closet, close the door” and meet with Him “in secret.” The same privacy rule is followed when we fast (Mat: 6:6,16). Read the series on fasting using that word as the key. The one thing you will not hear from the religion hucksters on t.v. and behind the pulpits is the word “OBEDIENCE,” without which all of the prayers one can perform will amount to nothing.

In the series about God hearing sinners’ prayers I noted that on those extremely rare occasions when He answers a sinner’s prayer He does so in order to call him/her to delve deeper into His Word (search out His “fine print”). Fasting and praying would also enable them to hear His command to come out of the religious cult into which they have been wasting their time. However, this rarely happens. Normally, when the Lord answers a prayer the recipient continues to do what he/she has always done, only more of it. Like the dog that returns to its vomit after being healed, and the sow that returns to her mire after being made clean, people whose prayers have been answered invariably return to “the church” where they hear the same Satanic swill coming from pulpit and podium that brought about their downfall. For this reason they are commanded to “come out her and remain separated” from her. GOD IS NOT IN THE CATHOLIC/PROTESTANT RELIGIOUS SYSTEM. Read Second Corinthians 6:14-7:1 and follow the command. L.J.