Silent God
Silent God. Does there ever come a time for Christians when God no longer listens to their prayers? That is a hard question to ponder. As believers, when this happens to us, what are we to do?
9 Then the LORD said to me,
"There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in
Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their forefathers, who
refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve
them. Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the
covenant I made with their forefathers. 11 Therefore this is what the
LORD says: 'I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although
they cry out to me, I will not listen to them. 12 The towns of Judah
and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they
burn incense, but they will not help them at all when disaster strikes.
13 You have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah; and the altars you
have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many as
the streets of Jerusalem.'
14
Do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them,
because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their
distress.
15 What is my beloved doing in my temple
as she works out her evil schemes with many?
Can consecrated meat avert your punishment ?
When you engage in your wickedness,
then you rejoice."
Jeremiah 11:9-15, NIV
Silent God
Does there ever come a time for Christians when God no longer listens to their prayers? That is a hard question to ponder. We reach out to God in prayer but all we hear is a silent God.
Looking
at the example above, the nations of Judah and Israel continually
prostrated themselves before other gods. They returned to the sins of
their forefathers, who refused to listen to God's words.
They
have followed other gods to serve them. Both the house of Israel and
the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their
forefathers. (Jeremiah 11:10)
Keep
in mind that God is talking collectively of the nations of Judah and
Israel. That does not necessarily mean that every single person in these
nations was turning to idols. How then do we relate these verses to our
day?
God is talking
collectively of professing Christians; not every person who professes
Christ is actually a true believer! That is a very sobering thought.
Therefore, it is good for us to examine our lives and honestly consider
the priority Christ does or does not have in our own lives.
I find verse 14 rather chilling: Do
not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them,
because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their
distress.
We must never
take the Christian life lightly or for granted; as Christians our lives have changed.
The things we used to love no longer appeal to us; we have new
priorities and new purposes in our lives.
God
is God; He is not mocked and He is not fooled. Pray today that your
Christianity is the most important thing in your life, so that you will
never reach a time when God no longer listens to you. Also, do not be afraid to examine your own personal heart, mind, and life. Be sure that you are resting upon Christ and not upon yourselves.
What a sobering thing to pray and yet only hear a silent God. May we pray, daily, that God would bless us and keep us faithful to Him all of the days of our lives.
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