Proverbs 28:9 – l Samuel 12:23 – Hebrews 4:16
“He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”
Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.”
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need”
God has given His children a megaphone to communicate with Him at any time we please. God is never too busy for us. We don’t have to make an appointment. There is no greater privilege for any child of God than that of our ability to speak directly to Him who spoke the world into existence; He who hung the moon and the stars. It is our duty to come before the throne of grace, and to neglect it truly is an abomination. At the top of my favorite New Testament verses is Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
From my first year in prison ministry, I never underestimated the power of prayer in the life of a prisoner, as it is for all of us. On a regular basis we get letters from men and women all over the US who are new in Christ, or who are weak and immature believers. As I begin our discipleship process, I’ve made it a habit to begin with the subject of prayer. My goal is to show them the importance and privilege of prayer and work with them to establish a solid prayer life, each and every day.
For those that demonstrate they are making a serious effort, I try to send them a copy of what may be one of the most powerful books on prayer ever written. It is “ The Power of Prayer in the Life of a Believer” by Charles Spurgeon. Most days, I can purchase a used copy in very good condition on Amazon for under $2.00, so with shipping i’m spending about $6.00. What a wonderful investment to these prisoners who are so happy to read such an encouraging work on prayer.
One who turns away his ear from hearing the law: God wants us to always have an open and attentive ear towards His word (the law). To have no hunger for God's word or to give it no attention is a sign of spiritual sickness in the child of God.
The key-verse of this study is 1 Samuel 12:23. Did you know that prayerlessness is a sin? We say that it is unfortunate that we do not pray more; we admit our prayer life is weak and inef ective; but in actual fact we sin when we do not pray. Ask yourself, How much do I pray? or How little do I pray?
Let’s take a look reasons why it is a sin not to pray
1. It is a sin not to pray because the Bible expressly calls it a sin. 1 Samuel 12:23 tells us this, and not to pray is to commit sin because the Bible, which is inspired, says it is.
2. It is a sin not to pray because it is right to pray. Read Luke 18:1 and then compare 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:18. If it is right and necessary to pray, it is wrong not to (James 4:17). There are two kinds of sin, sins of commission and sins of omission.
3. It is a sin not to pray because when a Christian does not pray it is a reproach to God (Romans 14:23). It is pure unbelief not to pray (Hebrews 11:6). What a reproach it is to a father when a child does not trust him! Unbelief is a besetting sin which we are to lay aside and we must “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).
4. It is a sin not to pray because of all the encouragements that are given to us to pray. The Bible urges us to pray. God gives us promises, examples of men and women who have prayed and who have received answers to their prayers, and in addition to this we have a great Partner in prayer (Romans 8:26). Then, we have our own personal experiences of prayer to encourage us and still further we have the testimonies of others. If we do not pray we are left without excuse!
5. It is a sin not to pray because of all that prayer can accomplish. Go through your Bible and make a list of things recorded there that happened in answer to prayer. Because prayer can accomplish so much it is a sin not to pray, for by not praying we are damming up the channels through which mighty blessings could 3 and should be flowing. When we do not pray we deprive the world, the Church and our own lives of blessing.
6. It is a sin not to pray because prayerlessness leaves the door open for all other sins (Matthew 6:13; 26:41; Luke 22:40). It was John Bunyan who said, ‘Prayer will make a man cease from sin, as sin will entice a man to cease from prayer’. Someone else has said, ‘For the Christian, prayerlessness is identical with backsliding.’ What are the sins that are defeating us? Would it be true to say that the main reason for our failure to get victory over these sins is our lack of prayer?
7. It is a sin not to pray because the root cause of all our deficiency and lack of spirituality is just this. Why are we so weak, anemic and inef ective in our Christian living and service? Why is the Church powerless? Why is there so much ef ort with so few results? Is it not that God’s people are neglecting the great privilege and responsibility of prayer?
One of the more common versions of false faith is the attempt to use God as a vending machine, or a genie. His laws and commands are ignored, but He is still expected to cooperate with prayer requests. God despises this attitude, both when attached to prayer and to sacrifice (Proverbs 15:8). Notably, the Bible says God feels revulsion towards that entire "way" of being, not merely to certain moments (Proverbs 15:9). The term used for His reaction comes from the Hebrew tow'ēbah, which implies deep disgust and loathing. When someone has no concern for God's will, or obedience, or repentance, their attempts to "play religious" are met with the equivalent of divine nausea. Even a "good deed" is a sin when it's done out of insincere motives.
Of course, God has the right to respond to anyone's prayer in any way He chooses. He may respond to an appeal from a non-believer as a means of calling them to faith. Yet those who reject God have no valid reason to expect positive answers to their prayers. Scripture makes it clear that sin and disbelief are barriers to His cooperation. The psalmist understood that sin erects a barrier between prayer and a positive response from God. He writes in Psalm 66:18: "If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened." The man born blind who was healed by Jesus told the Pharisees, "We know that God does not listen to sinners" (John 9:31).
Jesus often denounced the Pharisees because of their hypocrisy. He told the story of a Pharisee and a tax collector who entered the temple to pray. The tax collector who humbly admitted he was a sinner and asked God to be merciful to him went home justified. The self-righteous Pharisee who saw others as sinful but himself as righteous did not (Luke 18:9–14).
A Word From Solomon – Proverbs 28:9
How do you listen to preaching? It will affect your life. If you neglect or reject preaching, God will hate and reject your prayers. This is a sober warning for your future success.
Here is one of the most important proverbs. It involves an issue that affects every person, the consequences are severe, and the remedy is easy and simple. You can distinguish yourself in God’s sight for His blessings more quickly here than most anywhere else.
Do you attend every church service you can? Do you pray and prepare before arriving? Do you stay focused and absorb as much as possible? Do you review what you heard? Do you meditate on the subject? Do you examine yourself for changes the lesson called for?
The Bereans were noble for receiving Paul’s preaching with very ready minds and studying out what they heard (Acts 17:11), but the Jews of Jerusalem plugged their ears and rejected Stephen (Acts 7:51-60). Where do you fall between these two extremes?
Do you attend church as a Sunday habit? Do you miss whenever you feel like it? Do you watch television Saturday night instead of preparing? Do you doze during the preaching? Do you let your mind wander? Do you read your Bible or a hymnal instead of listening?
God reveals Himself and His will by preaching (Mal 2:7; I Cor 1:21). He picks the men, gives them the ability to do it, convicts and leads their minds, and gives them their content – either by visions in the past or by written scripture today (II Tim 3:16-17; 4:2).
Preachers are God’s ambassadors (II Cor 5:20). He sends them with His message for your profit, if you will hear and obey. If you neglect God’s ambassador and the message he brings, you mistreat God Himself, and you will pay (Ex 16:8; Ps 105:14-15; I Sam 8:7).
What more can He say to get your attention? If you slight His words by preaching, He will reject your words in praying (Pr 1:24-30). The matter is important, for you need His wisdom through preaching for your success, and you need Him to hear your prayers.
God had preachers under the Old Testament that taught the people by verbal instruction (II Chron 17:8-9; Ezra 7:10; Neh 8:1-12; Jonah 3:1-2; Mal 2:7). Solomon, the writer of these proverbs is called the Preacher (Eccl 1:1-2,12; 7:27; 12:8-10). And there are preachers today under the New Testament (Rom 10:14; I Tim 2:7; II Tim 4:2).
The Lord warned that He will reject the prayers of those who do not listen submissively. In fact, He will consider their prayers to be abominations! Here is a very serious warning about your attitude toward the preaching of God’s word. He explained to the regathered Jews this was the reason for their horrific punishment by the Babylonians (Zech 7:7-14)!
Imagine your prayer being an abomination to God! While you beg Him for blessing and favor in your life, He intensely despises, hates, and loathes your efforts and words. Your prayers nauseate Him! It is one thing to have your prayers hindered by neglecting your wife (Mal 2:13-14; I Pet 3:7), but this is a far worse thing of God hating your prayers.
How were the Bereans noble? Consider Acts 17:11 closely.
First, they HEARD Paul with very receptive minds. They did not listen scornfully, raising their own opinions, objections, or foolish questions against his preaching. They wanted to hear; they wanted to believe; they assumed he was right; they were thankful they had a man of God to declare truth to them. Their minds did not wander or wonder if perhaps Paul was wrong.
Second, they SEARCHED the Bible daily to confirm his words. They did not mock Paul’s superior knowledge by five minutes in a concordance trying to reject him. Some think they can ignore a preacher’s many hours of study on a particular subject and a lifetime in God’s word with a few minutes of weekend reading. Such is the mentality and nature of foolish and unlearned questions, which godly ministers ignore (II Tim 2:23; Titus 3:9).
Human pride is terrible, and a sermon against a sin of yours will bring it out. But pastors are to wage war against your opinions (II Cor 10:3-6)! He has studied the subject 100 times more than you; he is preaching to the varied needs of many people; he has a divine mandate to be true to Scripture alone without fear of men 6 (Jer 1:17); he is not preaching his agenda; he is merely repeating orders from the King of kings. Remember these things.
Paul, knowing your temptation to resent such preaching, warned in I Thessalonians 5:20, “Despise not prophesyings.” God has warned in both testaments to listen attentively and submissively. The Lord Jesus Christ soberly brought his parable of the sower to a conclusion by saying, “Take heed therefore how ye hear” (Luke 8:18). His judgment is severe – He will take from the stubborn listener the little knowledge he thinks he has.
Cornelius gives one of the best examples of receptive hearers, when he assembled his family and friends to hear “all things that are commanded thee of God” (Acts 10:33). And Israel held a great celebration for understanding preaching that pointed out duties they had overlooked (Neh 8:1-18). The Thessalonians heard Paul’s Bible preaching as all preaching should be heard – as if the words were the very words of God (I Thess 2:13).
No sermon is perfect, as any honest preacher will tell you. There are always small faults you can criticize, and conscientious pastors agonize over them; but the hearers who focus on them are wicked scorners (Is 29:20-21). Peter preached like an unlearned fisherman to the scornful Jews, but he had the wise words of salvation from Jesus (Acts 4:12-13).
God will defend His preachers, as forty-two disrespectful children discovered (II Kings 2:23-25). Korah and his friends wish they had respected Moses and his preaching better (Num 16:1-33). God does not appreciate men ignoring or rejecting the message of His ambassadors (Deut 1:41-44). Paul despised such men (I Cor 14:36-38), and he did not allow foolish contentions, even about matters as minor as the length of hair (I Cor 11:16).
Not all preachers are God’s messengers. Most pastors do not preach God’s word, just as the Bible warns (Amos 8:11-12). Most Christians want fables instead of truth (II Tim 4:3-4), so they find effeminate preachers that prey on vulnerable women (II Tim 3:6-7) with their false Christianity (II Tim 3:1-5). The cure is simple – preach the word (II Tim 4:2).
It is hard today to find a church where God’s word is faithfully declared, but you must, because settling for a contemporary pretender like Joel or Benny is just one more way to violate this proverb. You cannot satisfy Solomon’s warning by listening to men merely talk, tell jokes, tell stories, pretend to have visions, smile real pretty, or wear white suits.
Reject personality cults, pretend miracles, big business, or wives involved. Measure preachers by their fruit (Matt 7:15-20). What is the effect or result of the ministry? Does it redirect lives to comply with God’s word? And by all means measure it by the scriptures (Ps 119:98-100,128; Isaiah 8:20; Rom 16:17-18; Gal 1:16-17; I Tim 6:3-5).
Finding a true preacher is a great blessing from God, as Elihu told Job (Job 33:23-26). It is God’s ordained way for you to know His will, and where there is no preacher, the people perish (Pr 29:18; I Sam 3:1; II Chr 15:3). No wonder God said preachers had beautiful feet (Is 52:7; Rom 10:15). Do not neglect the blessing of hearing God’s word.
The proverb’s warning is severe, as it should be, because rebellion against God’s word is like witchcraft, and stubbornness is like idolatry (I Sam 15:22-23). If the Lord of heaven discerns you are protecting an idol in your heart and rejecting His message, He will send you lying delusions, just as He did Ahab (Ezek 14:1-11; I Kings 22:8; II Thess 2:9-12).
Consider the advice Eli gave Samuel, when the Lord called him at night. Eli told Samuel to answer, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth” (I Sam 3:39). This is the godly and humble attitude that will be blessed. He that hath ears to hear; let him hear. And let his prayers come up as a sweet savor in the nostrils of the glorious God in heaven. Amen.
When a person turns to Christ and sets their heart on fire with love for Him, they need to keep on “feeding the fire” or it will go out. Every prayer time, and every Bible reading time, every Church attendance and fellowship time is like a piece of coal or wood being put on this fire to stop it going out. A person doesn’t just become a Christian as though it was some one off event, they have to ACTIVELY REMAIN ONE, constantly feeding the fire of love and faith with spiritual logs and coals.
The individual Christian is sometimes likened to a “fortress” in the desert. When that Christian spends regular quality time with God by having a daily prayer time etc, the defenses are well maintained, the weapons are oiled and polished, the walls are high, the gate is up and all is well. The danger comes when an individual thinks “oh this is too time consuming”, the walls become neglected, gaps develop, the gate falls down and before they know it their spiritual fortress is all but destroyed. The frightening thing is that such neglect actually invites “attack”. As we are warned in 1 Peter 5:8-9 “Be sober and vigilant, because your enemy the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Resist him 8 steadfast in the faith.” Moreover, like the mule and his sawdust, this spiritual neglect may be so gradual it can go unnoticed until something major happens.
Scripture teaches that making time for God is not “an added extra” to our life, it is a profound necessity. People are not saving time by neglecting their spiritual life, quite the reverse; it is an invitation to all sorts of problems which may take months or years of effort to resolve if indeed they can be at all. The old phrase “A stitch in time saves nine” truly has a spiritual application. Making time for our relationship with God is the most important thing we do, it is the deciding factor as to who has God in their life and who hasn’t.
Final Thought
The individual Christian is sometimes likened to a “fortress” in the desert. When that Christian spends regular quality time with God by having a daily prayer time etc, the defenses are well maintained, the weapons are oiled and polished, the walls are high, the gate is up and all is well. The danger comes when an individual thinks “oh this is too time consuming”, the walls become neglected, gaps develop, the gate falls down and before they know it their spiritual fortress is all but destroyed.
The frightening thing is that such neglect actually invites “attack”. As we are warned in 1 Peter 5:8-9 “Be sober and vigilant, because your enemy the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Resist him steadfast in the faith.” Moreover, like the mule and his sawdust, this spiritual neglect may be so gradual it can go unnoticed until something major happens.
Scripture teaches that making time for God is not “an added extra” to our life, it is a profound necessity. People are not saving time by neglecting their spiritual life, quite the reverse; it is an invitation to all sorts of problems which may take months or years of effort to resolve if indeed they can be at all. The old phrase “A stitch in time saves nine” truly has a spiritual application. Making time for our relationship with God is the most important thing we do, it is the deciding factor as to who has God in their life and who hasn’t.
O Lord, help us this day and every day to imitate the practice of prayer, as demonstrated by our Savior, and men like David, the Apostle Paul and the other disciples and apostles. Let us be prayer warriors like Charles Spurgeon and George Muller who saw massive ministries built by God because of their faithfulness in prayer.
"Nine times out of ten, declension from God begins in the neglect of private prayer."
~ Charles H. Spurgeon
From: Fight the good fight of faith & life journal: By Gregg Harris
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