Covenant Theology: Obedience, Disobedience, and National Judgment

Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Covenant Theology

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2004-10-17

Synopsis: John Weaver explains that most prayers go unanswered because people do not listen to God's Word. Using the story of Josiah in 2 Kings 22, he illustrates the principle of Lex Talionis: when we hear and obey God, He hears us; when we turn away from His law, our prayers become an abomination. He outlines six prerequisites for effective prayer and emphasizes that obedience to God's revealed will is essential for answered prayer.

[John Weaver] 2 Kings 22, and we're going to read the entire chapter. The message today is entitled, Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers. Notice 2 Kings 22, beginning with verse 1. Josiah was 8 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adiah of Boschath. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Mishael and the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying, Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum up the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people. and let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work that have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house, unto carpenters, and builders, and

[John Weaver] masons, to buy timber, and hewn stone, to repair the house. Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully. And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, and have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And Shaphan the scribe shoved the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahicham the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king, saying, Go ye and inquire of the Lord from me, and for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that

[John Weaver] is found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us. So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahicham, and Ogbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalom, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhash, keeper of the wardrobe.

[John Weaver] Now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college, and they communed with her. And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of this book, which the king of Judah hath read, because they have forsaken me and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore, my wrath shall be kindled against this place and shall not be quenched. But to the King of Judah which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which thou hast heard, because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and that they should become a desolation and a curse, and as rent thy clothes and wept before me, I have also heard thee, saith the Lord.

[John Weaver] I will gather thee into thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace. And thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place." And they brought the keying word again.

[John Weaver] Now, as I said, the title of this message is, Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers. I suppose that if I could answer the question, why God does not answer prayer specifically in every instance, that I could become a wealthy man. I'm sure that many people would pay good money, not only to get their prayers answered, but also to find out specifically why their prayers were not answered. Of course, if one could find out why his prayers are not answered, then he could correct that so the prayers could be answered.

[John Weaver] I want you to understand that praying is a duty as well as a privilege. We're commanded to pray in the Bible. In 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 17, the Bible commands us to pray without ceasing. In Luke 18, verse 1, God said that men ought always to pray and not to faint. Now, since prayer is a command, it is a duty. Since prayer is our Heavenly Father and involves a relationship with Him, it is also a privilege. Moreover, the opportunity to commune with our Heavenly Father through the marriage of the Lord Jesus Christ is certainly, or at least should be, appealing to every child of God. Let me just make a blanket statement, and I'm not going to develop this thought, but it's certainly true. Prayer should not be, and it is not, an attempt to change the mind and the will of God. Let me also say that prayer is not simply a means to get what we want. Prayer, in and of itself, is an instrument to accomplish the will of God. God has not only ordained the end, He has also ordained the means to that end, and one of the means that God has ordained, certainly, is prayer.

[John Weaver] Now, the truth of the matter is this. We must pray regardless as to whether or not our prayers are answered. Why? Simply because God has ordained prayer and simply because God has commanded us to pray. Prayer, first and foremost, is to be done in obedience to our Heavenly Father. And let me say this, our prayer life is not to be judged by how many prayers we have answered, but how well we pray. God has simply commanded us to pray. Therefore, we are obligated to pray, and since it is prayer to him, it is also a privilege. Now, before I delineate exactly why most prayers are not answered, I want to give you some basic prerequisites concerning prayer in the Bible. If our prayers are to be heard according to Scripture, there are certain prerequisites that must be met. What are they? Let me give you at least six today, very quickly. First of all, there must be a proper association.

[John Weaver] What do I mean by that? Our Lord said in Luke 11 in verse 2, And when you pray, say, Our Father who art in heaven. Now, when I say there must be a proper association, I simply mean that in order to really have our prayers answered, we must be children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, it is true, according to the Bible, in Matthew 5 and verse 44, that God blesses the just and the unjust in certain general areas. He causes the sun to shine upon the just and the unjust alike. He causes rain to fall upon the just and the unjust alike. But the truth of the matter is this, there is a covenantal bond that exists between our Heavenly Father and His children. And that bond does not exist between God and the unregenerate. Do you not understand that you will always be more tender and more gracious and more kind towards your own children than you will to the children of a stranger?

[John Weaver] In fact, if you look very quickly in your Bibles to Luke 11, our Lord Himself illustrated this point for us. Notice in Luke 11, beginning there with verse 11, he's talking about prayer and he says this. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? What is he saying? He's saying, no, you don't treat your own children that way. Then therefore, in verse 13, he said, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? He said, so if you know how to be good to your own children, don't you think your heavenly Father certainly knows how to be good to His own?

[John Weaver] So there must be a proper association. That's why the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 16, Now, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God, even our Father, who has loved us, has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace. So there must be that proper association. We must be children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Secondly, there must be a proper approach.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians, chapter 2. And as you turn there, I'm going to be quoting John 14 in verse 6, which most of you can quote. Not only must there be a proper association, there must be a proper approach. In the book of John, chapter 14, in verse 6, our Lord said, I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. How can anyone get to the Father only through Jesus Christ?

[John Weaver] Let me tell you something, folks. I don't care how many people pray, and I don't care how often they pray. The truth of the matter is this. No one and no prayer ever reaches the Father except it be through Jesus Christ. That's what the Bible teaches. Now if you look in the book of Ephesians chapter 2, the Bible also teaches something else. Now watch carefully. Ephesians 2, the Bible tells us in verse 18, for through Him, that is through Jesus Christ, we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. So in reality, the proper approach is through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.

[John Weaver] So how do we come to God? It is always through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.

[John Weaver] Now, one must understand that you just simply do not rush into the presence of God any way that you please. I mean, there are so many examples in the Bible, but the leading example, of course, is in the Old Testament. You remember that tabernacle and later the temple was divided into the court and then the holy place and the most holy place. What would have happened to any Israelite that rushed into the most holy place?

[John Weaver] He would have been killed. Even the high priest could not get into that most holy place but once a year and then not without the sprinkling of blood. The Bible teaches in Hebrews 10, turn there very quickly, since you're close, look in Hebrews 10, that now we can come into the presence of God, but it is only through Jesus Christ. Notice the book of Hebrews 10, and let's begin reading there with verse 19. Hebrews 10, verse 19. Watch carefully. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter the holiest, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through his veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance

[John Weaver] of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." What is he saying? He is saying the proper approach to God is always through Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone who gives us boldness to come in the presence of God. The Bible is emphasizing that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone is acceptable unto God. When we come to God, we do not depend upon our works. We do not depend upon our merits. We do not depend upon our good deeds. We do not depend upon the goodness of our life. We do not depend upon saints or angels or ancestors or anyone or anything other than Jesus Christ. If you come to God depending on anything other than Jesus Christ, your approach is wrong. What does the Bible say in 1 Timothy 2 and verse 5? For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. The only way you can ever get to God the Father is through Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] So there must be a proper association, there must be a proper approach, and thirdly, there must be a proper attitude. Now, let me explain what I mean by that. In Matthew 21, in verse 22, the Word of God says, In all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. Mark 11, verse 24, our Lord says, Therefore I say unto you, Whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. What is the proper attitude? The proper attitude is faith. No one is ever, ever going to receive anything from God if he comes to God with an unbelieving and doubtful attitude. You know what the Bible says very plainly in Hebrews 11 and verse 6, but without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh unto God must first believe that he is, and secondly, that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." What's the Bible saying? You cannot come to God except through faith. It is faith that is the proper attitude.

[John Weaver] The proper approach is through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit, but the proper attitude is a believing attitude. Now, look in your Bibles to the book of James, just turn over A few pages from Hebrews, James chapter one. And let's begin looking at verse five, James one, verse five. I'm just showing you from Scripture the proper attitude. He says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth it all men liberally, not great.

[John Weaver] If not, it shall be given him. Now, if we lack wisdom, what are we to do? Ask of God. And it doesn't matter. What wisdom we need, whether it's wisdom about our health, wisdom about what we're to do or how we're to go or which way we're to turn. God said if we need wisdom, let us ask of him who giveth to all men liberally, that is God's willing to give and upbraideth not and shall be given him.

[John Weaver] But look at verse six. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed, for let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." So he says you must ask in faith, nothing wavering. If you waver, he said that man is not going to receive anything. Now watch. The proper association is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The proper approach is through Jesus Christ in the Spirit. The proper attitude is that of faith. Fourthly, there must be a proper asking.

[John Weaver] Now, look in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 14. John 14. Notice verses 13 and 14. Look what our Lord says. John 14, verses 13 and 14. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. Notice there must be a proper asking. That is, we must ask in the name of Jesus Christ. In John 16 in verse 26, our Lord said this. At that day, you shall ask in my name.

[John Weaver] I want you to see how these things flow together. A proper association. A proper approach. A proper attitude. A proper asking. Do not think that your prayers will be heard just because they are multitudinous and vigorous. You know what our Lord said in Matthew 6 and verse 7? Listen carefully. He says, But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. It is not the repetition or the vigor of our prayers that have merit. The merit is only found in Jesus Christ. You say, Brother Weaver, I can pray for hours. Well, you may pray for hours, but the truth is just because you pray for hours does not mean that your prayer is going to be answered. If there is not a proper asking, asking in the name of Jesus Christ refers to an absolute and total dependence upon his person, his works and his merits. He is our only plea.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you. Let's suppose I walk down to one of the local banks in town and I presented them with a check made out to cash, signed by me, made out for a million bucks. And I say, I'd like a million bucks, please. And they look at that and say, now, wait a minute. Do you have any money in this bank? No, sir. Do you have an account here? No, sir. Well, do you expect us to give you a million bucks? Well, I'm asking for it. Well, are they going to give it to me? No. But let's suppose Henry gives me a check for a million bucks. And Henry is a multimillionaire. And Henry's got it all in the bank. And I take that check and I go to the bank and it's made out to me. And now I'm asking for the same million dollars. But I'm asking for it in Henry's name. And I would get my money because Henry's got plenty of it, you see now.

[John Weaver] The truth of the matter is this when we come to Christ. And when we come to God the Father, we cannot ask in our name. We must ask in His name and in His name alone. When we ask in the name of Christ, you know what that implies? It implies that we have nothing, that we are nothing, and that we can do nothing. And if anything is ever accomplished, it will be accomplished only because of Jesus Christ. So there must be a proper association. There must be a proper approach. There must be a proper attitude. There must be a proper asking. And by the way, I want you to look in your Bibles at this passage, James chapter four, because this goes right along with the proper asking. James chapter four.

[John Weaver] And notice, if you would please, the first three verses. We must only ask in Christ's name But we must not ask selfishly and greedily just for our own lusts. Notice James chapter 4 beginning there with verse 1. From whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence even of your lusts that warn your members? You lust and have not. You kill and desire to have, you cannot obtain, you fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not, watch, you ask and receive not, why? Because you ask amiss, that is, you ask wrongly, that you might consume it upon your own lusts. We must not only ask in Christ's name, but we certainly must not ask selfishly and greedily. and lustfully. Now, fifthly, there must be a proper apprehension. Look in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. And let's begin reading verse 14. I'll explain what I mean by proper apprehension. 1 John 5 verse 14. And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

[John Weaver] And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him. Now, the key phrase in this passage is, according to His will.

[John Weaver] Now, when we pray, we certainly want to pray in the will of God. How can we be assured that our prayers are heard, and how can we be assured that our prayers are according to the will of God? Well, the answer is very simple. If our prayers are in agreement with the revealed will of God, that is His written word, then certainly they are in line with the will of God. Scripture assures us that when you and I pray biblically, when we pray scripturally, that God hears us. Scripture also assures us that when we pray biblically and scripturally, that God not only hears us, but we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him.

[John Weaver] So here we have absolute certainty and absolute confidence and assurance in prayer. When we pray according to the will of God, there is no doubt as to Him hearing our prayers and answering them.

[John Weaver] Now, I can hear someone say, yes, but Pastor, sometimes I may not know sufficiently the Word of God on a particular subject. So that I would know how to proceed in prayer. Well, that is one reason we're taught in Luke 11 verse 2 to pray. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to Romans chapter 8. Because also involved in this. Is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Notice the book of Romans chapter 8 at verses 26 and 27. Romans 8, notice verse 26. The Bible says this. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, For he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

[John Weaver] Now let me explain that. There may be times when we have problems that are so complex and so complicated we don't know which way to go. There are times when we are so burdened And so broken, you can't even think straight. And what does the Bible say? The Bible says when we pray, we not only come to God the Father through Jesus Christ in the Spirit, but sometimes just in our groanings. The Holy Spirit translate those groanings and carries them to Christ, who brings them to the Father. And he does that in accordance to the will of God. There have been times in my life when I haven't known which way to go, which way to turn. And when you go to pray, all you do is just lie there and weep and groan and say, Oh, God, help me. Oh, God, help me. Oh, God, help me. That is what is known as the ministry of the Spirit. Now, if you and I have a clear passage that we can pray concerning. That's fine.

[John Weaver] That's wonderful. But for those times we do not know and cannot find a clear passage, then we can rest upon the fact that the Holy Spirit will make intercession for us according to the will of God. So there must be a proper association. There must be a proper approach. There must be a proper attitude, there must be a proper asking, there must be a proper apprehension. If we are praying and we know the word of God, we pray according to the revealed will of God. He said that when we do that, we know that our prayers are heard and we know that we have the petitions desired of Him. Just that simple. If you want your prayers heard, you pray according to the will of God. If you want your prayers answered, You pray according to the will of God.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you this. I know someone is going to ask this. Well, Brother Weaver, here's someone dying. Let me tell you something. I prayed for the sick. And they've gotten well. I've also prayed for the sick and they died. Do you understand it is not God's will to heal all of the time. It is God's will to heal most of the time because all of us have been sick and gotten well repeatedly. But if it was God's will to heal all of the time, every time, no one would ever die. So when you come to praying for someone, there have been times that I have prayed And I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, as I prayed, that person was going to recover. But there's been other times I prayed, and I didn't know that.

[John Weaver] And all I could say is, Lord, your will be done in that person's life. See, so there's some things you don't know that you have to leave to the will of God. But sixthly, There must be a proper affection. If you look in your Bibles to the book of Colossians chapter 3 beginning there with verse 1. Colossians chapter 3 verse 1. Here's what I mean by proper affection.

[John Weaver] Notice the Bible says if you then be risen with Christ. Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things of the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. There must be a proper affection. If you are risen with Christ, set your affection on things above.

[John Weaver] Now, if you and I truly love the Lord, if we truly love His Word, if we truly love His will, we will want His will above any and everything else. We should always seek His honor and His glory and worship and adore Him. What was the very first petition that we're taught to pray in the model prayer? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. That is, Your name be worshiped. Your name be glorified. And we should want that in all of our lives.

[John Weaver] Now, very clearly, If there is an improper association, if there is an improper approach, if there is an improper attitude, if there is an improper asking, if there is an improper apprehension, if there is an improper affection, our prayers are not going to be answered. Now, let me just tell you, my basic assumption is that the average Christian knows these truths. And if he doesn't, he certainly should. These are basic requirements, basic prerequisites of having our prayers answered. But the message today is not on the prerequisites. The message is why most of our prayers are not answered.

[John Weaver] And to answer that question and to show you that truth, you need to go back to 2 Kings chapter 22 to our text. Because it's very clearly revealed in this passage. In 2 Kings chapter 22, you read about Josiah. Thankfully, Josiah was basically a godly man. He was a young man who was brought up in the ways of the Lord. And he began to reign when he was eight years old. And he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem.

[John Weaver] And look what the Bible says, verse 2. 2 Kings 22 verse 2, and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. In other words, he found out what was right and he stuck to it. He did not deviate. So here is a tremendous young man who has some character to do that which is right.

[John Weaver] However, one problem did exist. The law of the Lord had been lost. Now, I preached the message not too terribly long ago, which I entitled The Lost Law from this text. I'm certainly not going to re-preach that message. It's not my intent to do so. But it is important for you and I to understand again that the law that had been lost was that it was lost in the house of the Lord. In this chapter, It's lost in the temple. They're cleaning the temple. They're repairing the temple. And guess what? They find a copy of the law. You know, unhappily, that's where the law of God is lost today. Just like our Lord in Zechariah 13, verse six, that he was wounded in the house of his friends. Well, his law has been lost in the house of his friends as well, because it's the average church that denies denounces and denigrates the law of God. So the law was lost.

[John Weaver] At any rate, when a copy of the law was found by Hilkiah the priest, he delivered to Shaphan the scribe who read it, and then he took it and read it to King Josiah. Now look, if you would please, beginning there with verse eight. And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shapan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shapan and he read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought the king word again and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house and have delivered it in the hand of them that do the work and have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hiltiah the priest had delivered me a book. Now look, and Shaphan read it before the king.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to see the king's response. Note, it came to pass when the king had heard the words of the book of the law that he read his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahicham the son of Shaphan, and Ophor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah the servant of the king, saying, Go ye in choir of the Lord for me, and for all the people, and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that is found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us.

[John Weaver] Now, the very first thing he does is he rends his royal clothes. He gets rid of them. He says, we've got problems. We have violated this law in our land. We violate this law in our kingdom, in our government. We've got a real, genuine problem. Now he says, here's what I want you to do. Look at it. Verse 13, Go ye and inquire of the Lord for me.

[John Weaver] Josiah said, you find out what God's will is for me. Now, an interesting thing happens in verse 14. Look at it. So Hilkiah, the priest, and Heicham, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalom, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of a wardrobe.

[John Weaver] Now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college, and they communed with her. What is significant about the fact that they went to Huldah a prophetess? In fact, the Bible even says that she dwelt in the college there in Jerusalem. I want you to note something. The king did not send the priest to Huldah. The priest went to Huldah. If you look in verse 13, all the king says would go ye and inquire of the Lord from me and for the people and for all Judah, verse 14, so Hilkiah and these men then went to Huldah the prophetess. Now, let me try to answer some questions without going into a great detail as to why the priest and these men went to Huldah the prophetess. First of all, it could be because of the king's earnest affection and his strong desire to get this business resolved, and the fact that his order was to be done hastily, that they went to this woman who dwelt in Jerusalem.

[John Weaver] In other words, she was already there. Moreover, evidently she was well known, and her husband was a member of the royal court.

[John Weaver] Secondly, if you will study your Bibles, you will find that two other men prophesied during the reign of Josiah. One, Jeremiah, and the other, Zephaniah. So you've got to ask yourself this question. Why did they not go to Jeremiah? Why did they not go to Zephaniah? Why were they not consulted? Well, we know that Jeremiah lived in Anathoth. Now, Anathoth was not necessarily far away from Jerusalem.

[John Weaver] In fact, it was relatively close. But the truth of the matter is, Jeremiah could have been at a far off corner of the kingdom. He was not necessarily close by. If you look in your Bibles very quickly to 2 Chronicles chapter 35 and verse 25, you'll see that Jeremiah certainly knew Josiah because he lamented over Josiah's death. In 2 Chronicles chapter 35 and verse 25, And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah. And all the singing men and all the singing women spake of Josiah and their lamentations to this day and made them an ordinance in Israel. And behold, they are written in the lamentations. So Josiah probably knew of Jeremiah. Certainly, Jeremiah knew of Josiah. So why was Jeremiah not consulted?

[John Weaver] Why did they go to hold of the prophetess? Now, it is true that Zephaniah also prophesied during Josiah's reign, but his ministry may not have commenced until a later date. But the obvious truth is that neither Jeremiah nor Zephaniah were consulted, and they're not even mentioned in the text.

[John Weaver] Third, let me point this out, that the statement that they went to hold of the prophetess, I believe, is a most singular circumstance and very revealing. I believe that it demonstrates the depth of apostasy and the state to which the kingdom has sunk. You say, what are you talking about? Let me demonstrate it. Jeremiah certainly was a prophet in Israel. And yet he was not consulted. It may be that he could not have readily been consulted. Zephaniah may not have prophesied or had begun his ministry of prophesying at that time. What do I mean when I say it is revealing to show the state of the kingdom and the depth of the apostasy?

[John Weaver] Well, do you remember who the high priest was? Hilkiah. Without turning there, let me just read to you from Malachi 2 in verse 7. Here's what the Word of God says. For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Who was responsible to know the will and the Word of God? Hilkiah. And yet he had lost the law in the Old Temple.

[John Weaver] Moreover, there was Shabab the scribe. You know who a scribe was? Someone who wrote. Someone who was there. Shaphan, the scribe, should have been conversant in sacred affairs just simply to have been fit for his office. You know what the Bible says about Ezra? Ezra was a scribe. Let me compare Shaphan, just for a moment, with what the Scripture says about Ezra. In Ezra chapter 7, verse 6, the Bible says, This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. What's that mean? means Ezra knew the Word of God. The interesting thing is, moreover, Josiah was helpless in and of himself.

[John Weaver] Now he is at the age of 26. He's tried to do what was right, but he knew nothing of the Law of God. Yet, according to Deuteronomy 17, The king was obligated to have his own personal copy of the law and read therein every day. Now here it is. Let me try to tie it together for you. The secret of the Lord was neither with Hilkiah the high priest, nor Shaphan the scribe, nor the king or any of the servants of the king or the ministers of the temple. And yet Huldah, a prophetess, about whom we know absolutely nothing, save this circumstance, is consulted on the meaning of the Book of the Law.

[John Weaver] Now, tradition simply says that she prophesied among the women of the court, being herself one of the court ladies. The point, I believe, is this. God never, ever leaves himself without witness because he will never leave sinners without excuse.

[John Weaver] Now listen, when those who should rule and should know and should exercise dominion refuses to do so, power and authority will always shift to those who will. All that is needed To have a matriarchal society is for the men to do nothing.

[John Weaver] Now let me tell you something. I am thankful for all of the godly, knowledgeable women that I know. But it is a shame that most of them became that way apart from their husbands. In other words, it should be the husband's leading, teaching, and directing and saying, this is the way, walk you in it. But isn't it sad, often times when you find a godly woman, you'll find either an ungodly husband, or one who is so indifferent and so apathetic, he doesn't care one way or the other.

[John Weaver] So here these men who should have known the law of God knew nothing. And so the power shifted down to the woman.

[John Weaver] Now, the point of this message is not to deal with all this prophesying, but to emphasize God's answer to Josiah and to demonstrate why God does not answer most prayers. And that's what I want to do right now. I want you to skip down to verse 18. Because I'm going to read this passage and just see if you can pick it out. OK, here's why God does not answer most prayers, watch verse 18.

[John Weaver] But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him. Thus of the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which thou hast heard. Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou hearest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me, I have also heard thee say the Lord. Behold, therefore, I will gather thee into thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace, and thine eye shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place."

[John Weaver] And they brought the king's word again. My question is, do you see in those short verses why God does not answer most prayers? Probably you don't. But I'm going to point it out for you. I'm going to get real specific. Look in verse 18. Watch carefully. But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, thus said the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which thou hast what? heard, now watch verse 19, because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and as rent thy clothes that are wet before me." Are you listening? I also have what? Heard thee saith the Lord.

[John Weaver] Let me spell it out for you. Josiah listened to the words of God, and God listened to the words of Josiah. Are you listening? Every positive has a negative. Every negative has a positive. What is the opposite of the fact that Josiah heard God's words and God heard Josiah's words. Here's the opposite. When we do not hear God's words, God does not hear our words. I want to show you that.

[John Weaver] This is known as the Lex Talionis. The Lex Talionis just simply means the principle of retribution. It is the principle that is repeated over and over in the Bible, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, foot for footing, a burning for burning, stripe for stripe, life for life. What's God saying? God is saying He always makes the punishment fit the crime. So God is saying, here's perfect justice.

[John Weaver] When you don't listen to me, I don't listen to you. I can quote most of these verses, but I want you to follow me. All right. Turn in your Bibles to First Samuel, chapter two and verse 30. I'm going to show you this principle. First Samuel, chapter two, verse 30. Look at what is said. First Samuel two, verse 30. God is speaking to Eli, who was a wicked man, although he was a priest. Wherefore, the Lord God of Israel said, I said, indeed, that the house and the house of my father should walk before me forever. But now the Lord said, be it far from me. Watch this principle for them that honor me. Well, I honor and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. God says, if you want to honor me, I'll honor you. If you want to despise me, I despise you. That's the lex talionis. That's a principle of justice. Look in your Bibles to the book of Hosea, chapter 4 and verse 6. Hosea 4, verse 6, right after the book of Daniel, Hosea.

[John Weaver] Hosea 4, verse 6. Here's a passage that most of us can quote at least the first part of it. But there's the same principle involved in this verse. Hosea 4, verse 6, God says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Everybody can quote that verse. At least that part of it. But look at the rest of it. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, that is God's knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me. Now watch. Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. In other words, when we reject the knowledge of God, God rightly and justly rejects us. When we forget God's law, God rightly and justly forgets our children. What? Well, look at it. Look in verse 6 again. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me. Now look, seeing thou hast forgotten the law by God, I will also forget thy children."

[John Weaver] You know what God's law is? God's law is the expression of His will. You know what our children are? They're an expression of our wills. God says, you forget my will? I'll forget your will. You don't honor my law, I don't honor your children. See that principle? It's the Lex Talion. It's the same thing. God's saying, you don't listen to me, I'll listen to you. You want to forget my law, I'll forget your children.

[John Weaver] Look in your Bibles to Psalm 66 and verse 18. You can quote this passage, but look at it. Psalm 66, verse 18. I'm showing you why God does not answer most prayers. Here it is, Psalm 66. Look in verse 18. Look what David said. David said, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Did you hear that? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not what? Hear me! Now, what is iniquity?

[John Weaver] It's another word for sin and lawlessness and rebellion. Would you like to know what sin is? Let me just quote it for you. 1 John 3 and verse 4, Whosoever commits sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.

[John Weaver] Now, what did David say? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. What is he saying? If I don't hear God, God's not going to hear me. That's what he said. We cannot harbor sin and lawlessness and iniquity without violating the law of God. And when we harbor sin and iniquity and lawlessness, all that demonstrates is that we're not listening to God. We've not heard God. If we had listened to God, we wouldn't have that in our lives.

[John Weaver] Now let me show you something else. I want you to understand that hearing God's word does not just simply mean that you sit down and read your Bible every day. It does not mean that you just go to church every Sunday. It does not mean that you just have a tape recording going and someone is reading the scripture to you. Look in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 15. Here's the passage.

[John Weaver] you should be exceedingly familiar with. I preached on it recently, but look in first Samuel chapter 15. You remember how that Saul had disobeyed God and spared Agag, the best of the Amalekites and all the sheep and the oxen, but that which was, you know, wicked and wrong and refuse that he utterly destroyed. But look at what Samuel tells him, let me point it out, 1 Samuel chapter 15, notice if you would please, verse 22. After Saul tells Samuel the people spared the best that they might sacrifice them unto the God, in verse 21, Samuel said, have the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now watch, behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken Better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is a sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is iniquity and adultery.

[John Weaver] Now, go back to verse 22. He said, Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.

[John Weaver] Now let me just stop there. I said it. You've heard me say it. God had rather have your obedience than anything else. Right? He said to obey is better than sacrifice. But look what he said. And to hearken is better than the fat of rams. You know what the fat of rams was? The fat of any animal was the chief part of the sacrifice. It was always given to God. The point I want you to see is that to obey and to hearken are equivalents.

[John Weaver] They're one and the same. He said, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken is better than the fat of rams. In other words, God is not interested in you and I just having an audible hearing of His Word. He wants an internal application where we obey His Word. Let me put it like this. No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God. You only hear when you obey.

[John Weaver] Now, if you think what I'm saying has no merit, if you think what I am teaching you is not serious, if you think that somehow you can continue with known sin and rebellion in your life and still have God hear your prayers, I just want you to look in Proverbs 28 and verse 9. Look in Proverbs 28 and verse 9. Look at what God says. Proverbs 28 verse 9. Watch carefully.

[John Weaver] He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. You know what the word abomination means? It means a stench in the nostrils. God says, he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination, stench in the nostrils. What is God saying? You don't listen to me? I won't listen to you. In fact, your prayer stinks. I won't have it, said God.

[John Weaver] I will not hear it. It's an abomination. Why? Because you refuse to listen to God. I want to make one other little application of this. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4. I want to show you from the scripture why most professing Christians never ever mature in the faith. I want to show you why most Christians remain stunted, deformed, and childish most of their lives. Here it is in Mark 4, and notice if you would please, beginning there with verse 24. Mark 4, verse 24. And he said unto them, Take heed what you hear.

[John Weaver] With what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you. And unto you that hear, shall more be given. Did you get that? And to you that hear shall more be given, for he that hath to him shall be given, and he that hath not from him shall be taken away even that which he hath."

[John Weaver] Now listen to what he said. Take heed what you hear, and what measure you meet it shall be measured to you. God's going to measure truth to you just as you study. And then he says, and unto you that hear shall more be given. In other words, to you that obey shall more be given. Why in the world would God give you any more truth if you're not going to obey the truth that He's already given you?

[John Weaver] You know why most Christians never progress in their Christian life? They don't obey the truth they know. They don't apply any of God's truth that they know to their individual lives. It's the same principle. God says, you don't hear me? I don't hear you. You don't hear me? I don't give to you. I want you to see That this same principle also applies to the unregenerate. You say, what are you talking about?

[John Weaver] Well, look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 1. Here's a passage that is so plain. It certainly should not need any explanations. Let's begin reading with verse 22, Proverbs 1 verse 22. Wisdom. Of course, is Jesus Christ. Look what wisdom cries in verse 22. How long you simple ones, would you love simplicity and the scorners delight in the scorning and fools hate knowledge? Now, look, turn you at my reproof.

[John Weaver] That is, listen to me, says God. Behold, I will pour my spirit upon you. I'll make known my words to you. That's it. Listen to me. I'll teach you. Then he says in verse 24, because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded, but you have said it not, all my counsel would have none of my reproof. I will also laugh at your calamity.

[John Weaver] I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me. Well, I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. Why? For they hated knowledge. I did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would have none of my counsel.

[John Weaver] They despised all of my reproof. Therefore, shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices." You know what God is saying? Salvation is of the Lord. Men erroneously think that they can be saved whenever they want to. They think the key is in their hands. that they can repent of their own will, that they can believe of their own will, and that when they call upon God, then God is obligated to answer them. God said, let me tell you something. Salvation is not in your hand. Salvation is in my hand. And if you're not converted in my time, in my way, if you will not hear my words, there's going to come a time when you're going to be crying to me, and I am not going to hear you. Same principle. Perfect justice.

[John Weaver] Why is it most prayers are not answered? The truth is because most people give no heed to listen to God. They don't hear God's word. They don't obey God's word. And if they won't hear God, here's my question. Why should God hear them? You know, I debated as to whether to say this or not, but I'm going to say it. I certainly do not want to encourage any disobedience. I do not want to encourage any rebellion.

[John Weaver] But I am so thankful. that God is so gracious, and oftentimes He does hear us, even when we are not what we ought to be and should be. But if God held us to His strict principle of justice, do you understand, if we refuse to hear Him, why should He hear us? He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. If more Christians realize the way to have their prayers heard and answered is for them to hear and apply the word of God in their lives.

[John Weaver] Doesn't that make common sense to you? If you had two sons, and one was a drunkard and a reprobate, and the other was orderly and kind and helpful and obedient, and it came time for you to bless one of them, which one would you bless? Be honest with yourself. You worked hard in your life. Would you leave your inheritance to a drunk? Even if he was your son? I wouldn't.

[John Weaver] You see what I'm saying? Common sense will tell you that if we want to be heard by our Heavenly Father, we must hear Him. Because he that turneth away his ears from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. Father, we bow to Thee this day. We thank Thee for Jesus Christ, for His grace and mercy. Help us, Lord, to hear Thee, to listen to Your Word, to apply Your truth, to become more and more obedient in our lives, and to conform our lives to the Word of God. Make us what we ought to be and should be by the grace of God in Jesus Christ is our prayer. Amen.

Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	81610191834
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Obedience, Disobedience, and National Judgment
Genre	Sermon
Date	2004-10-17
Dictation Name
Book	Book 044: Covenant Theology: Obedience, Disobedience, and National Judgment — Chapter 3
Source Timed Segments	90

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver reads 2 Kings 22, the account of Josiah finding the book of the law, and introduces the topic of why God does not answer most prayers.

2 Kings 22, and we're going to read the entire chapter. The message today is entitled, Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers. Notice 2 Kings 22, beginning with verse 1. Josiah was 8 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adiah of Boschath. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Mishael and the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying, Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum up the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people. and let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work that have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house, unto carpenters, and builders, and

masons, to buy timber, and hewn stone, to repair the house. Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully. And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, and have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahicham the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king, saying, Go ye and inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that is found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us. So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahicham, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalom, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhash, keeper of the wardrobe. Now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college, and they communed with her. And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of this book, which the king of Judah hath read, because they have forsaken me and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore, my wrath shall be kindled against this place and shall not be quenched. But to the King of Judah which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which thou hast heard, because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes and wept before me, I have also heard thee, saith the Lord. I will gather thee into thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace. And thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 22:1-20

" And they brought the king word again.

Prayer as Duty and Privilege

Prayer is commanded by God and is both a duty and a privilege; it is not to change God's will but to accomplish it.

I want you to understand that praying is a duty as well as a privilege. We're commanded to pray in the Bible. In 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 17, the Bible commands us to pray without ceasing. In Luke 18, verse 1, God said that men ought always to pray and not to faint. Now, since prayer is a command, it is a duty. Since prayer is our Heavenly Father and involves a relationship with Him, it is also a privilege. Moreover, the opportunity to commune with our Heavenly Father through the marriage of the Lord Jesus Christ is certainly, or at least should be, appealing to every child of God. Let me just make a blanket statement, and I'm not going to develop this thought, but it's certainly true. Prayer should not be, and it is not, an attempt to change the mind and the will of God. Let me also say that prayer is not simply a means to get what we want. Prayer, in and of itself, is an instrument to accomplish the will of God. God has not only ordained the end, He has also ordained the means to that end, and one of the means that God has ordained, certainly, is prayer.

Now, the truth of the matter is this. We must pray regardless as to whether or not our prayers are answered. Why? Simply because God has ordained prayer and simply because God has commanded us to pray. Prayer, first and foremost, is to be done in obedience to our Heavenly Father. And let me say this, our prayer life is not to be judged by how many prayers we have answered, but how well we pray. God has simply commanded us to pray. Therefore, we are obligated to pray, and since it is prayer to him, it is also a privilege. Now, before I delineate exactly why most prayers are not answered, I want to give you some basic prerequisites concerning prayer in the Bible. If our prayers are to be heard according to Scripture, there are certain prerequisites that must be met. What are they? Let me give you at least six today, very quickly. First of all, there must be a proper association.

Six Prerequisites for Answered Prayer

Weaver lists six requirements: proper association (being a child of God), proper approach (through Jesus Christ), proper attitude (faith), proper asking (in Jesus' name, not selfishly), proper apprehension (according to God's will), and proper affection (setting affections on things above).

What do I mean by that? Our Lord said in Luke 11 in verse 2, And when you pray, say, Our Father who art in heaven. Now, when I say there must be a proper association, I simply mean that in order to really have our prayers answered, we must be children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Now, it is true, according to the Bible, in Matthew 5 and verse 44, that God blesses the just and the unjust in certain general areas. He causes the sun to shine upon the just and the unjust alike. He causes rain to fall upon the just and the unjust alike. But the truth of the matter is this, there is a covenantal bond that exists between our Heavenly Father and His children. And that bond does not exist between God and the unregenerate. Do you not understand that you will always be more tender and more gracious and more kind towards your own children than you will to the children of a stranger?

In fact, if you look very quickly in your Bibles to Luke 11, our Lord Himself illustrated this point for us. Notice in Luke 11, beginning there with verse 11, he's talking about prayer and he says this. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? What is he saying? He's saying, no, you don't treat your own children that way. Then therefore, in verse 13, he said, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? He said, so if you know how to be good to your own children, don't you think your heavenly Father certainly knows how to be good to His own?

So there must be a proper association. That's why the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 16, Now, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God, even our Father, who has loved us, has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace. So there must be that proper association. We must be children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Secondly, there must be a proper approach.

Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians, chapter 2. And as you turn there, I'm going to be quoting John 14 in verse 6, which most of you can quote. Not only must there be a proper association, there must be a proper approach. In the book of John, chapter 14, in verse 6, our Lord said, I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. How can anyone get to the Father only through Jesus Christ? Let me tell you something, folks. I don't care how many people pray, and I don't care how often they pray. The truth of the matter is this. No one and no prayer ever reaches the Father except it be through Jesus Christ. That's what the Bible teaches. Now if you look in the book of Ephesians chapter 2, the Bible also teaches something else. Now watch carefully. Ephesians 2, the Bible tells us in verse 18, for through Him, that is through Jesus Christ, we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. So in reality, the proper approach is through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.

So how do we come to God? It is always through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Now, one must understand that you just simply do not rush into the presence of God any way that you please. I mean, there are so many examples in the Bible, but the leading example, of course, is in the Old Testament. You remember that tabernacle and later the temple was divided into the court and then the holy place and the most holy place. What would have happened to any Israelite that rushed into the most holy place? He would have been killed. Even the high priest could not get into that most holy place but once a year and then not without the sprinkling of blood. The Bible teaches in Hebrews 10, turn there very quickly, since you're close, look in Hebrews 10, that now we can come into the presence of God, but it is only through Jesus Christ. Notice the book of Hebrews 10, and let's begin reading there with verse 19. Hebrews 10, verse 19. Watch carefully. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter the holiest, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through his veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance

of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." What is he saying? He is saying the proper approach to God is always through Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone who gives us boldness to come in the presence of God. The Bible is emphasizing that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone is acceptable unto God. When we come to God, we do not depend upon our works. We do not depend upon our merits. We do not depend upon our good deeds. We do not depend upon the goodness of our life. We do not depend upon saints or angels or ancestors or anyone or anything other than Jesus Christ. If you come to God depending on anything other than Jesus Christ, your approach is wrong. What does the Bible say in 1 Timothy 2 and verse 5? For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. The only way you can ever get to God the Father is through Jesus Christ.

So there must be a proper association, there must be a proper approach, and thirdly, there must be a proper attitude. Now, let me explain what I mean by that. In Matthew 21, in verse 22, the Word of God says, In all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. Mark 11, verse 24, our Lord says, Therefore I say unto you, Whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. What is the proper attitude? The proper attitude is faith. No one is ever, ever going to receive anything from God if he comes to God with an unbelieving and doubtful attitude. You know what the Bible says very plainly in Hebrews 11 and verse 6, but without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh unto God must first believe that he is, and secondly, that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." What's the Bible saying? You cannot come to God except through faith. It is faith that is the proper attitude.

The proper approach is through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit, but the proper attitude is a believing attitude. Now, look in your Bibles to the book of James, just turn over A few pages from Hebrews, James chapter one. And let's begin looking at verse five, James one, verse five. I'm just showing you from Scripture the proper attitude. He says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. Now, if we lack wisdom, what are we to do? Ask of God. And it doesn't matter. What wisdom we need, whether it's wisdom about our health, wisdom about what we're to do or how we're to go or which way we're to turn. God said if we need wisdom, let us ask of him who giveth to all men liberally, that is God's willing to give and upbraideth not and shall be given him.

But look at verse six. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed, for let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." So he says you must ask in faith, nothing wavering. If you waver, he said that man is not going to receive anything. Now watch. The proper association is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The proper approach is through Jesus Christ in the Spirit. The proper attitude is that of faith. Fourthly, there must be a proper asking.

Now, look in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 14. John 14. Notice verses 13 and 14. Look what our Lord says. John 14, verses 13 and 14. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. Notice there must be a proper asking. That is, we must ask in the name of Jesus Christ. In John 16 in verse 26, our Lord said this. At that day, you shall ask in my name.

I want you to see how these things flow together. A proper association. A proper approach. A proper attitude. A proper asking. Do not think that your prayers will be heard just because they are multitudinous and vigorous. You know what our Lord said in Matthew 6 and verse 7? Listen carefully. He says, But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. It is not the repetition or the vigor of our prayers that have merit. The merit is only found in Jesus Christ. You say, Brother Weaver, I can pray for hours. Well, you may pray for hours, but the truth is just because you pray for hours does not mean that your prayer is going to be answered. If there is not a proper asking, asking in the name of Jesus Christ refers to an absolute and total dependence upon his person, his works and his merits. He is our only plea.

Now, let me show you. Let's suppose I walk down to one of the local banks in town and I presented them with a check made out to cash, signed by me, made out for a million bucks. And I say, I'd like a million bucks, please. And they look at that and say, now, wait a minute. Do you have any money in this bank? No, sir. Do you have an account here? No, sir. Well, do you expect us to give you a million bucks? Well, I'm asking for it. Well, are they going to give it to me? No. But let's suppose Henry gives me a check for a million bucks. And Henry is a multimillionaire. And Henry's got it all in the bank. And I take that check and I go to the bank and it's made out to me. And now I'm asking for the same million dollars. But I'm asking for it in Henry's name. And I would get my money because Henry's got plenty of it, you see now.

The truth of the matter is this when we come to Christ. And when we come to God the Father, we cannot ask in our name. We must ask in His name and in His name alone. When we ask in the name of Christ, you know what that implies? It implies that we have nothing, that we are nothing, and that we can do nothing. And if anything is ever accomplished, it will be accomplished only because of Jesus Christ. So there must be a proper association. There must be a proper approach. There must be a proper attitude. There must be a proper asking. And by the way, I want you to look in your Bibles at this passage, James chapter four, because this goes right along with the proper asking. James chapter four.

And notice, if you would please, the first three verses. We must only ask in Christ's name But we must not ask selfishly and greedily just for our own lusts. Notice James chapter 4 beginning there with verse 1. From whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members? You lust and have not. You kill and desire to have, you cannot obtain, you fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not, watch, you ask and receive not, why? Because you ask amiss, that is, you ask wrongly, that you might consume it upon your own lusts. We must not only ask in Christ's name, but we certainly must not ask selfishly and greedily. and lustfully. Now, fifthly, there must be a proper apprehension. Look in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. And let's begin reading verse 14. I'll explain what I mean by proper apprehension. 1 John 5 verse 14. And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him. Now, the key phrase in this passage is, according to His will. Now, when we pray, we certainly want to pray in the will of God. How can we be assured that our prayers are heard, and how can we be assured that our prayers are according to the will of God? Well, the answer is very simple. If our prayers are in agreement with the revealed will of God, that is His written word, then certainly they are in line with the will of God. Scripture assures us that when you and I pray biblically, when we pray scripturally, that God hears us. Scripture also assures us that when we pray biblically and scripturally, that God not only hears us, but we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him.

So here we have absolute certainty and absolute confidence and assurance in prayer. When we pray according to the will of God, there is no doubt as to Him hearing our prayers and answering them. Now, I can hear someone say, yes, but Pastor, sometimes I may not know sufficiently the Word of God on a particular subject. So that I would know how to proceed in prayer. Well, that is one reason we're taught in Luke 11 verse 2 to pray. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to Romans chapter 8. Because also involved in this. Is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Notice the book of Romans chapter 8 at verses 26 and 27. Romans 8, notice verse 26. The Bible says this. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, For he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Now let me explain that. There may be times when we have problems that are so complex and so complicated we don't know which way to go. There are times when we are so burdened And so broken, you can't even think straight. And what does the Bible say? The Bible says when we pray, we not only come to God the Father through Jesus Christ in the Spirit, but sometimes just in our groanings. The Holy Spirit translate those groanings and carries them to Christ, who brings them to the Father. And he does that in accordance to the will of God. There have been times in my life when I haven't known which way to go, which way to turn. And when you go to pray, all you do is just lie there and weep and groan and say, Oh, God, help me. Oh, God, help me. Oh, God, help me. That is what is known as the ministry of the Spirit. Now, if you and I have a clear passage that we can pray concerning. That's fine.

That's wonderful. But for those times we do not know and cannot find a clear passage, then we can rest upon the fact that the Holy Spirit will make intercession for us according to the will of God. So there must be a proper association. There must be a proper approach. There must be a proper attitude, there must be a proper asking, there must be a proper apprehension. If we are praying and we know the word of God, we pray according to the revealed will of God. He said that when we do that, we know that our prayers are heard and we know that we have the petitions desired of Him. Just that simple. If you want your prayers heard, you pray according to the will of God. If you want your prayers answered, You pray according to the will of God.

Now, let me tell you this. I know someone is going to ask this. Well, Brother Weaver, here's someone dying. Let me tell you something. I prayed for the sick. And they've gotten well. I've also prayed for the sick and they died. Do you understand it is not God's will to heal all of the time. It is God's will to heal most of the time because all of us have been sick and gotten well repeatedly. But if it was God's will to heal all of the time, every time, no one would ever die. So when you come to praying for someone, there have been times that I have prayed And I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, as I prayed, that person was going to recover. But there's been other times I prayed, and I didn't know that.

And all I could say is, Lord, your will be done in that person's life. See, so there's some things you don't know that you have to leave to the will of God. But sixthly, There must be a proper affection. If you look in your Bibles to the book of Colossians chapter 3 beginning there with verse 1. Colossians chapter 3 verse 1. Here's what I mean by proper affection. Notice the Bible says if you then be risen with Christ. Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things of the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. There must be a proper affection. If you are risen with Christ, set your affection on things above.

Now, if you and I truly love the Lord, if we truly love His Word, if we truly love His will, we will want His will above any and everything else. We should always seek His honor and His glory and worship and adore Him. What was the very first petition that we're taught to pray in the model prayer? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. That is, Your name be worshiped. Your name be glorified. And we should want that in all of our lives.

Now, very clearly, If there is an improper association, if there is an improper approach, if there is an improper attitude, if there is an improper asking, if there is an improper apprehension, if there is an improper affection, our prayers are not going to be answered. Now, let me just tell you, my basic assumption is that the average Christian knows these truths. And if he doesn't, he certainly should. These are basic requirements, basic prerequisites of having our prayers answered. But the message today is not on the prerequisites. The message is why most of our prayers are not answered.

The Example of Josiah

Josiah heard God's words and humbled himself; God heard Josiah's prayer. This demonstrates the principle that hearing God leads to being heard.

And to answer that question and to show you that truth, you need to go back to 2 Kings chapter 22 to our text. Because it's very clearly revealed in this passage. In 2 Kings chapter 22, you read about Josiah. Thankfully, Josiah was basically a godly man. He was a young man who was brought up in the ways of the Lord. And he began to reign when he was eight years old. And he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem.

And look what the Bible says, verse 2. 2 Kings 22 verse 2, and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. In other words, he found out what was right and he stuck to it. He did not deviate. So here is a tremendous young man who has some character to do that which is right. However, one problem did exist. The law of the Lord had been lost. Now, I preached the message not too terribly long ago, which I entitled The Lost Law from this text. I'm certainly not going to re-preach that message. It's not my intent to do so. But it is important for you and I to understand again that the law that had been lost was that it was lost in the house of the Lord. In this chapter, It's lost in the temple. They're cleaning the temple. They're repairing the temple. And guess what? They find a copy of the law. You know, unhappily, that's where the law of God is lost today. Just like our Lord in Zechariah 13, verse six, that he was wounded in the house of his friends. Well, his law has been lost in the house of his friends as well, because it's the average church that denies denounces and denigrates the law of God. So the law was lost.

At any rate, when a copy of the law was found by Hilkiah the priest, he delivered to Shaphan the scribe who read it, and then he took it and read it to King Josiah. Now look, if you would please, beginning there with verse eight. And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan and he read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought the king word again and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house and have delivered it in the hand of them that do the work and have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest had delivered me a book. Now look, and Shaphan read it before the king.

Now I want you to see the king's response. Note, it came to pass when the king had heard the words of the book of the law that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahicham the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah the servant of the king, saying, Go ye and inquire of the Lord for me, and for all the people, and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that is found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us.

Now, the very first thing he does is he rends his royal clothes. He gets rid of them. He says, we've got problems. We have violated this law in our land. We violate this law in our kingdom, in our government. We've got a real, genuine problem. Now he says, here's what I want you to do. Look at it. Verse 13, Go ye and inquire of the Lord for me.

Josiah said, you find out what God's will is for me. Now, an interesting thing happens in verse 14. Look at it. So Hilkiah, the priest, and Ahicham, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalom, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of a wardrobe.

Now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college, and they communed with her. What is significant about the fact that they went to Huldah a prophetess? In fact, the Bible even says that she dwelt in the college there in Jerusalem. I want you to note something. The king did not send the priest to Huldah. The priest went to Huldah. If you look in verse 13, all the king says would go ye and inquire of the Lord from me and for the people and for all Judah, verse 14, so Hilkiah and these men then went to Huldah the prophetess. Now, let me try to answer some questions without going into a great detail as to why the priest and these men went to Huldah the prophetess. First of all, it could be because of the king's earnest affection and his strong desire to get this business resolved, and the fact that his order was to be done hastily, that they went to this woman who dwelt in Jerusalem.

In other words, she was already there. Moreover, evidently she was well known, and her husband was a member of the royal court. Secondly, if you will study your Bibles, you will find that two other men prophesied during the reign of Josiah. One, Jeremiah, and the other, Zephaniah. So you've got to ask yourself this question. Why did they not go to Jeremiah? Why did they not go to Zephaniah? Why were they not consulted? Well, we know that Jeremiah lived in Anathoth. Now, Anathoth was not necessarily far away from Jerusalem.

In fact, it was relatively close. But the truth of the matter is, Jeremiah could have been at a far off corner of the kingdom. He was not necessarily close by. If you look in your Bibles very quickly to 2 Chronicles chapter 35 and verse 25, you'll see that Jeremiah certainly knew Josiah because he lamented over Josiah's death. In 2 Chronicles chapter 35 and verse 25, And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah. And all the singing men and all the singing women spake of Josiah and their lamentations to this day and made them an ordinance in Israel. And behold, they are written in the lamentations. So Josiah probably knew of Jeremiah. Certainly, Jeremiah knew of Josiah. So why was Jeremiah not consulted?

Why did they go to Huldah the prophetess? Now, it is true that Zephaniah also prophesied during Josiah's reign, but his ministry may not have commenced until a later date. But the obvious truth is that neither Jeremiah nor Zephaniah were consulted, and they're not even mentioned in the text. Third, let me point this out, that the statement that they went to Huldah the prophetess, I believe, is a most singular circumstance and very revealing. I believe that it demonstrates the depth of apostasy and the state to which the kingdom has sunk. You say, what are you talking about? Let me demonstrate it. Jeremiah certainly was a prophet in Israel. And yet he was not consulted. It may be that he could not have readily been consulted. Zephaniah may not have prophesied or had begun his ministry of prophesying at that time. What do I mean when I say it is revealing to show the state of the kingdom and the depth of the apostasy?

Well, do you remember who the high priest was? Hilkiah. Without turning there, let me just read to you from Malachi 2 in verse 7. Here's what the Word of God says. For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Who was responsible to know the will and the Word of God? Hilkiah. And yet he had lost the law in the Old Temple.

Moreover, there was Shaphan the scribe. You know who a scribe was? Someone who wrote. Someone who was there. Shaphan, the scribe, should have been conversant in sacred affairs just simply to have been fit for his office. You know what the Bible says about Ezra? Ezra was a scribe. Let me compare Shaphan, just for a moment, with what the Scripture says about Ezra. In Ezra chapter 7, verse 6, the Bible says, This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. What's that mean? means Ezra knew the Word of God. The interesting thing is, moreover, Josiah was helpless in and of himself.

Now he is at the age of 26. He's tried to do what was right, but he knew nothing of the Law of God. Yet, according to Deuteronomy 17, The king was obligated to have his own personal copy of the law and read therein every day. Now here it is. Let me try to tie it together for you. The secret of the Lord was neither with Hilkiah the high priest, nor Shaphan the scribe, nor the king or any of the servants of the king or the ministers of the temple. And yet Huldah, a prophetess, about whom we know absolutely nothing, save this circumstance, is consulted on the meaning of the Book of the Law.

Now, tradition simply says that she prophesied among the women of the court, being herself one of the court ladies. The point, I believe, is this. God never, ever leaves himself without witness because he will never leave sinners without excuse. Now listen, when those who should rule and should know and should exercise dominion refuses to do so, power and authority will always shift to those who will. All that is needed To have a matriarchal society is for the men to do nothing.

Now let me tell you something. I am thankful for all of the godly, knowledgeable women that I know. But it is a shame that most of them became that way apart from their husbands. In other words, it should be the husband's leading, teaching, and directing and saying, this is the way, walk you in it. But isn't it sad, often times when you find a godly woman, you'll find either an ungodly husband, or one who is so indifferent and so apathetic, he doesn't care one way or the other.

So here these men who should have known the law of God knew nothing. And so the power shifted down to the woman. Now, the point of this message is not to deal with all this prophesying, but to emphasize God's answer to Josiah and to demonstrate why God does not answer most prayers. And that's what I want to do right now. I want you to skip down to verse 18. Because I'm going to read this passage and just see if you can pick it out. OK, here's why God does not answer most prayers, watch verse 18.

But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which thou hast heard. Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me, I have also heard thee saith the Lord. Behold, therefore, I will gather thee into thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace, and thine eye shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place."

The Lex Talionis Principle

God operates on the principle of retribution: if we do not hear God's Word, He will not hear our prayers. This is illustrated in 1 Samuel 2:30, Hosea 4:6, Psalm 66:18, and Proverbs 28:9.

And they brought the king word again. My question is, do you see in those short verses why God does not answer most prayers? Probably you don't. But I'm going to point it out for you. I'm going to get real specific. Look in verse 18. Watch carefully. But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which thou hast what? heard, now watch verse 19, because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes and wept before me." Are you listening? I also have what? Heard thee saith the Lord.

Let me spell it out for you. Josiah listened to the words of God, and God listened to the words of Josiah. Are you listening? Every positive has a negative. Every negative has a positive. What is the opposite of the fact that Josiah heard God's words and God heard Josiah's words. Here's the opposite. When we do not hear God's words, God does not hear our words. I want to show you that.

This is known as the Lex Talionis. The Lex Talionis just simply means the principle of retribution. It is the principle that is repeated over and over in the Bible, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, foot for footing, a burning for burning, stripe for stripe, life for life. What's God saying? God is saying He always makes the punishment fit the crime. So God is saying, here's perfect justice.

When you don't listen to me, I don't listen to you. I can quote most of these verses, but I want you to follow me. All right. Turn in your Bibles to First Samuel, chapter two and verse 30. I'm going to show you this principle. First Samuel, chapter two, verse 30. Look at what is said. First Samuel two, verse 30. God is speaking to Eli, who was a wicked man, although he was a priest. Wherefore, the Lord God of Israel said, I said, indeed, that the house and the house of my father should walk before me forever. But now the Lord said, be it far from me. Watch this principle for them that honor me. Well, I honor and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. God says, if you want to honor me, I'll honor you. If you want to despise me, I despise you. That's the lex talionis. That's a principle of justice. Look in your Bibles to the book of Hosea, chapter 4 and verse 6. Hosea 4, verse 6, right after the book of Daniel, Hosea.

Hosea 4, verse 6. Here's a passage that most of us can quote at least the first part of it. But there's the same principle involved in this verse. Hosea 4, verse 6, God says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Everybody can quote that verse. At least that part of it. But look at the rest of it. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, that is God's knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me. Now watch. Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. In other words, when we reject the knowledge of God, God rightly and justly rejects us. When we forget God's law, God rightly and justly forgets our children. What? Well, look at it. Look in verse 6 again. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me. Now look, seeing thou hast forgotten the law by God, I will also forget thy children."

You know what God's law is? God's law is the expression of His will. You know what our children are? They're an expression of our wills. God says, you forget my will? I'll forget your will. You don't honor my law, I don't honor your children. See that principle? It's the Lex Talion. It's the same thing. God's saying, you don't listen to me, I'll listen to you. You want to forget my law, I'll forget your children.

Look in your Bibles to Psalm 66 and verse 18. You can quote this passage, but look at it. Psalm 66, verse 18. I'm showing you why God does not answer most prayers. Here it is, Psalm 66. Look in verse 18. Look what David said. David said, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Did you hear that? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not what? Hear me! Now, what is iniquity?

It's another word for sin and lawlessness and rebellion. Would you like to know what sin is? Let me just quote it for you. 1 John 3 and verse 4, Whosoever commits sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.

Now, what did David say? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. What is he saying? If I don't hear God, God's not going to hear me. That's what he said. We cannot harbor sin and lawlessness and iniquity without violating the law of God. And when we harbor sin and iniquity and lawlessness, all that demonstrates is that we're not listening to God. We've not heard God. If we had listened to God, we wouldn't have that in our lives.

Now let me show you something else. I want you to understand that hearing God's word does not just simply mean that you sit down and read your Bible every day. It does not mean that you just go to church every Sunday. It does not mean that you just have a tape recording going and someone is reading the scripture to you. Look in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 15. Here's the passage. you should be exceedingly familiar with. I preached on it recently, but look in first Samuel chapter 15. You remember how that Saul had disobeyed God and spared Agag, the best of the Amalekites and all the sheep and the oxen, but that which was, you know, wicked and wrong and refuse that he utterly destroyed. But look at what Samuel tells him, let me point it out, 1 Samuel chapter 15, notice if you would please, verse 22. After Saul tells Samuel the people spared the best that they might sacrifice them unto the God, in verse 21, Samuel said, have the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord.

Now watch, behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken Better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is a sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is iniquity and adultery. Now, go back to verse 22. He said, Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.

Now let me just stop there. I said it. You've heard me say it. God had rather have your obedience than anything else. Right? He said to obey is better than sacrifice. But look what he said. And to hearken is better than the fat of rams. You know what the fat of rams was? The fat of any animal was the chief part of the sacrifice. It was always given to God. The point I want you to see is that to obey and to hearken are equivalents.

They're one and the same. He said, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken is better than the fat of rams. In other words, God is not interested in you and I just having an audible hearing of His Word. He wants an internal application where we obey His Word. Let me put it like this. No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God. You only hear when you obey.

Now, if you think what I'm saying has no merit, if you think what I am teaching you is not serious, if you think that somehow you can continue with known sin and rebellion in your life and still have God hear your prayers, I just want you to look in Proverbs 28 and verse 9. Look in Proverbs 28 and verse 9. Look at what God says. Proverbs 28 verse 9. Watch carefully. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. You know what the word abomination means? It means a stench in the nostrils. God says, he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination, stench in the nostrils. What is God saying? You don't listen to me? I won't listen to you. In fact, your prayer stinks. I won't have it, said God.

Hearing Means Obeying

True hearing of God's Word involves obedience; without obedience, spiritual growth is stunted, and prayers are hindered.

I will not hear it. It's an abomination. Why? Because you refuse to listen to God. I want to make one other little application of this. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4. I want to show you from the scripture why most professing Christians never ever mature in the faith. I want to show you why most Christians remain stunted, deformed, and childish most of their lives. Here it is in Mark 4, and notice if you would please, beginning there with verse 24. Mark 4, verse 24. And he said unto them, Take heed what you hear.

With what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you. And unto you that hear, shall more be given. Did you get that? And to you that hear shall more be given, for he that hath to him shall be given, and he that hath not from him shall be taken away even that which he hath."

Now listen to what he said. Take heed what you hear, and what measure you meet it shall be measured to you. God's going to measure truth to you just as you study. And then he says, and unto you that hear shall more be given. In other words, to you that obey shall more be given. Why in the world would God give you any more truth if you're not going to obey the truth that He's already given you? You know why most Christians never progress in their Christian life? They don't obey the truth they know. They don't apply any of God's truth that they know to their individual lives. It's the same principle. God says, you don't hear me? I don't hear you. You don't hear me? I don't give to you. I want you to see That this same principle also applies to the unregenerate. You say, what are you talking about?

Well, look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 1. Here's a passage that is so plain. It certainly should not need any explanations. Let's begin reading with verse 22, Proverbs 1 verse 22. Wisdom. Of course, is Jesus Christ. Look what wisdom cries in verse 22. How long you simple ones, would you love simplicity and the scorners delight in the scorning and fools hate knowledge? Now, look, turn you at my reproof.

Application to the Unregenerate

The same principle applies to unbelievers: those who reject God's call will not be heard when calamity comes (Proverbs 1:22-31).

You know why most Christians never progress in their Christian life? They don't obey the truth they know. They don't apply any of God's truth that they know to their individual lives. It's the same principle. God says, you don't hear me? I don't hear you. You don't hear me? I don't give to you. I want you to see That this same principle also applies to the unregenerate. You say, what are you talking about?

That is, listen to me, says God. Behold, I will pour my spirit upon you. I'll make known my words to you. That's it. Listen to me. I'll teach you. Then he says in verse 24, because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded, but you have set at nought all my counsel, would have none of my reproof. I will also laugh at your calamity.

I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me. Well, I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. Why? For they hated knowledge. I did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would have none of my counsel.

They despised all of my reproof. Therefore, shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices." You know what God is saying? Salvation is of the Lord. Men erroneously think that they can be saved whenever they want to. They think the key is in their hands. that they can repent of their own will, that they can believe of their own will, and that when they call upon God, then God is obligated to answer them. God said, let me tell you something. Salvation is not in your hand. Salvation is in my hand. And if you're not converted in my time, in my way, if you will not hear my words, there's going to come a time when you're going to be crying to me, and I am not going to hear you. Same principle. Perfect justice.

Conclusion and Prayer

Weaver concludes that to have prayers answered, we must hear and obey God's Word, and he closes with a prayer for obedience.

Why is it most prayers are not answered? The truth is because most people give no heed to listen to God. They don't hear God's word. They don't obey God's word. And if they won't hear God, here's my question. Why should God hear them? You know, I debated as to whether to say this or not, but I'm going to say it. I certainly do not want to encourage any disobedience. I do not want to encourage any rebellion.

But I am so thankful. that God is so gracious, and oftentimes He does hear us, even when we are not what we ought to be and should be. But if God held us to His strict principle of justice, do you understand, if we refuse to hear Him, why should He hear us? He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. If more Christians realize the way to have their prayers heard and answered is for them to hear and apply the word of God in their lives. Doesn't that make common sense to you? If you had two sons, and one was a drunkard and a reprobate, and the other was orderly and kind and helpful and obedient, and it came time for you to bless one of them, which one would you bless? Be honest with yourself. You worked hard in your life. Would you leave your inheritance to a drunk? Even if he was your son? I wouldn't.

You see what I'm saying? Common sense will tell you that if we want to be heard by our Heavenly Father, we must hear Him. Because he that turneth away his ears from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. Father, we bow to Thee this day. We thank Thee for Jesus Christ, for His grace and mercy. Help us, Lord, to hear Thee, to listen to Your Word, to apply Your truth, to become more and more obedient in our lives, and to conform our lives to the Word of God. Make us what we ought to be and should be by the grace of God in Jesus Christ is our prayer. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Lex Talionis in Prayer

Summary: God answers prayer based on whether we listen to Him; if we turn away from His law, He turns away from our prayers.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'When we do not hear God's words, God does not hear our words.' He cites Proverbs 28:9: 'He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination.'

Obedience as True Hearing

Summary: Hearing God's Word is equated with obeying it; only through obedience do we truly hear and receive more from God.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God.' He references 1 Samuel 15:22: 'to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.'

Prerequisites for Effective Prayer

Summary: Six conditions must be met for prayer to be heard: proper association, approach, attitude, asking, apprehension, and affection.

Evidence: Weaver lists and explains each prerequisite, citing scriptures like John 14:6, James 1:5-6, and 1 John 5:14.

The Example of Josiah

Summary: Josiah's tender heart and humility upon hearing God's law led to God hearing his prayer, illustrating the principle.

Evidence: Weaver points to 2 Kings 22:19: 'Because thine heart was tender... I have also heard thee.'

Spiritual Stagnation from Disobedience

Summary: Christians fail to mature because they do not obey the truth they already know; God withholds further revelation.

Evidence: Weaver explains Mark 4:24: 'Take heed what you hear... unto you that hear shall more be given.'

God's Justice in Not Hearing

Summary: God's refusal to hear prayers is an act of perfect justice, not caprice; it mirrors our own rejection of His Word.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God is saying He always makes the punishment fit the crime... When you don't listen to me, I don't listen to you.'

Key Arguments

Prayer is not to change God's will but to accomplish it

Summary: Prayer is a means ordained by God to fulfill His purposes, not a tool to manipulate Him.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Prayer, in and of itself, is an instrument to accomplish the will of God.'

Proper approach to God is only through Jesus Christ

Summary: No prayer reaches the Father except through Jesus Christ, as He is the sole mediator.

Evidence: Weaver cites John 14:6 and Ephesians 2:18, emphasizing dependence on Christ's merits.

Faith is essential for answered prayer

Summary: Without faith, it is impossible to please God; doubters should not expect to receive anything.

Evidence: Weaver references James 1:6-7: 'Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering... let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.'

Prayers must be according to God's will

Summary: Confidence in prayer comes from aligning requests with Scripture; the Holy Spirit helps when we don't know God's will.

Evidence: Weaver cites 1 John 5:14 and Romans 8:26-27.

Disobedience nullifies prayer

Summary: Harboring sin and rejecting God's law makes prayer an abomination to God.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Psalm 66:18 and Proverbs 28:9.

God's principle of retribution in hearing

Summary: God hears those who hear Him; He rejects those who reject His Word, as seen in 1 Samuel 2:30 and Hosea 4:6.

Evidence: Weaver explains the Lex Talionis and cites these passages.

Obedience is equivalent to hearing

Summary: True hearing of God's Word is demonstrated by obedience; without it, there is no real hearing.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God.'

Unbelievers cannot presume on God's mercy

Summary: Those who reject God's call may find He does not answer when they finally cry out in distress.

Evidence: Weaver cites Proverbs 1:24-31.

Scripture References

2 Kings 22:1-20

Context: The entire chapter is read as the text for the sermon, detailing Josiah's reign and the finding of the book of the law.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Context: Cited to show that prayer is a command: 'Pray without ceasing.'

Luke 18:1

Context: Cited to show that men ought always to pray and not faint.

Luke 11:2

Context: Used to illustrate proper association in prayer: 'Our Father who art in heaven.'

Matthew 5:44

Context: Mentioned to show God blesses just and unjust generally, but covenantal bond is with His children.

Luke 11:11-13

Context: Illustrates that God, as a good Father, gives good gifts to His children.

2 Thessalonians 2:16

Context: Cited to emphasize the love and consolation given to believers.

John 14:6

Context: Used to show the proper approach to God is only through Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:18

Context: Shows access to the Father is through Christ by the Spirit.

Hebrews 10:19-22

Context: Explains boldness to enter the holiest is by the blood of Jesus.

1 Timothy 2:5

Context: Affirms one mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus.

Matthew 21:22

Context: Cited to show proper attitude of faith: 'Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.'

Mark 11:24

Context: Reinforces the need for faith in prayer.

Hebrews 11:6

Context: Without faith it is impossible to please God.

James 1:5-7

Context: Asking for wisdom must be in faith without wavering; doubters receive nothing.

John 14:13-14

Context: Proper asking is in Jesus' name.

John 16:26

Context: At that day you shall ask in my name.

Matthew 6:7

Context: Warns against vain repetitions in prayer.

James 4:1-3

Context: Prayers not answered because asked amiss to consume on lusts.

1 John 5:14-15

Context: Confidence in prayer comes from asking according to God's will.

Historical References

Josiah, king of Judah

Context: Josiah reigned at 8 years old, did right, and humbled himself when the law was found.

Hilkiah the high priest

Context: Found the book of the law in the temple during repairs.

Shaphan the scribe

Context: Read the book of the law to King Josiah.

Huldah the prophetess

Context: Consulted by the priests and scribes to inquire of the Lord; she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college.

Jeremiah the prophet

Context: Mentioned as a contemporary of Josiah who lamented his death, but was not consulted in this instance.

Zephaniah the prophet

Context: Also prophesied during Josiah's reign but may not have begun his ministry yet.

Eli the priest

Context: Used as an example of the Lex Talionis principle in 1 Samuel 2:30.

Saul, king of Israel

Context: Disobeyed God by sparing Agag; Samuel rebuked him, emphasizing obedience over sacrifice.

Ezra the scribe

Context: Contrasted with Shaphan as a scribe who was ready in the law of Moses.

Important Quotes

He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination.

Significance: This is the central verse of the sermon, encapsulating the principle that ignoring God's law makes prayer detestable to Him.

When we do not hear God's words, God does not hear our words.

Significance: Weaver succinctly states the Lex Talionis principle that governs answered prayer.

No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God.

Significance: Defines true hearing as obedience, a key argument for why prayers fail.

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

Significance: Quoted from Psalm 66:18 to show that harboring sin blocks prayer.

Discussion Questions

How does the principle of Lex Talionis (eye for an eye) apply to prayer, and what does it reveal about God's justice?

Context: Weaver explains that God answers prayer based on whether we listen to Him, citing 1 Samuel 2:30 and Hosea 4:6.

In what ways might we be 'hearing' God's Word without truly obeying it, and how can we move from hearing to obedience?

Context: Weaver emphasizes that hearing means obeying, using 1 Samuel 15:22 and Mark 4:24.

Why is it important to examine our hearts for 'iniquity' before praying, and how can we practically do this?

Context: Psalm 66:18 is cited: 'If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.'

How does the story of Josiah challenge our approach to Scripture and prayer?

Context: Josiah rent his clothes and humbled himself upon hearing the law, leading to God's response.

What are the six prerequisites for answered prayer, and which one do you find most challenging?

Context: Weaver lists proper association, approach, attitude, asking, apprehension, and affection.

How does the role of the Holy Spirit in prayer (Romans 8:26-27) provide comfort when we don't know God's will?

Context: Weaver explains the Spirit intercedes with groanings according to God's will.

Why does Weaver say that most Christians remain spiritually immature, and what is the solution?

Context: He argues that failure to obey known truth stunts growth, referencing Mark 4:24-25.

How should the warning in Proverbs 1:24-31 affect our urgency in sharing the gospel with unbelievers?

Context: God says He will not answer those who persistently reject His call.

Applications

Examine your life for unconfessed sin before praying

Summary: Weaver urges believers to not harbor iniquity, as it hinders prayer (Psalm 66:18).

Evidence: He says, 'We cannot harbor sin and lawlessness and iniquity without violating the law of God... If we had listened to God, we wouldn't have that in our lives.'

Obey the truth you already know to grow spiritually

Summary: Apply God's Word to your life; otherwise, God will not reveal more truth.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Why in the world would God give you any more truth if you're not going to obey the truth that He's already given you?'

Pray according to God's revealed will in Scripture

Summary: Align your prayers with the Bible to have confidence they are heard.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'If our prayers are in agreement with the revealed will of God, that is His written word, then certainly they are in line with the will of God.'

Approach God only through Jesus Christ

Summary: Depend solely on Christ's merits, not your own works, when praying.

Evidence: Weaver emphasizes, 'If you come to God depending on anything other than Jesus Christ, your approach is wrong.'

Cultivate a tender heart like Josiah

Summary: Humble yourself and weep over sin, as Josiah did, to be heard by God.

Evidence: Weaver points to Josiah's response: 'he rent his clothes... and wept before me.'

Set your affection on things above

Summary: Love God's will and seek His glory above all else in prayer.

Evidence: Weaver cites Colossians 3:1-2 and the Lord's Prayer: 'Hallowed be Thy name.'

Do not pray selfishly

Summary: Avoid asking for things merely to consume on your own lusts (James 4:3).

Evidence: Weaver warns, 'We must not ask selfishly and greedily and lustfully.'

Listen to God's Word daily

Summary: Make hearing and obeying Scripture a priority to ensure your prayers are not an abomination.

Evidence: Weaver concludes, 'If we want to be heard by our Heavenly Father, we must hear Him.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T02:13:41Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T15:46:21Z

Clean Transcript

Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

2 Kings 22, and we're going to read the entire chapter. The message today is entitled, Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers. Notice 2 Kings 22, beginning with verse 1. Josiah was 8 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adiah of Boschath. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Mishael and the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying, Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum up the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people. and let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work that have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house, unto carpenters, and builders, and
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masons, to buy timber, and hewn stone, to repair the house. Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully. And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, and have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahicham the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king, saying, Go ye and inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that
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is found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us. So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahicham, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalom, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhash, keeper of the wardrobe.
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Now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college, and they communed with her. And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of this book, which the king of Judah hath read, because they have forsaken me and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore, my wrath shall be kindled against this place and shall not be quenched. But to the King of Judah which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which thou hast heard, because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes and wept before me, I have also heard thee, saith the Lord.
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I will gather thee into thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace. And thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place." And they brought the king word again.
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Now, as I said, the title of this message is, Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers. I suppose that if I could answer the question, why God does not answer prayer specifically in every instance, that I could become a wealthy man. I'm sure that many people would pay good money, not only to get their prayers answered, but also to find out specifically why their prayers were not answered. Of course, if one could find out why his prayers are not answered, then he could correct that so the prayers could be answered.
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I want you to understand that praying is a duty as well as a privilege. We're commanded to pray in the Bible. In 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 17, the Bible commands us to pray without ceasing. In Luke 18, verse 1, God said that men ought always to pray and not to faint. Now, since prayer is a command, it is a duty. Since prayer is our Heavenly Father and involves a relationship with Him, it is also a privilege. Moreover, the opportunity to commune with our Heavenly Father through the marriage of the Lord Jesus Christ is certainly, or at least should be, appealing to every child of God. Let me just make a blanket statement, and I'm not going to develop this thought, but it's certainly true. Prayer should not be, and it is not, an attempt to change the mind and the will of God. Let me also say that prayer is not simply a means to get what we want. Prayer, in and of itself, is an instrument to accomplish the will of God. God has not only ordained the end, He has also ordained the means to that end, and one of the means that God has ordained, certainly, is prayer.
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Now, the truth of the matter is this. We must pray regardless as to whether or not our prayers are answered. Why? Simply because God has ordained prayer and simply because God has commanded us to pray. Prayer, first and foremost, is to be done in obedience to our Heavenly Father. And let me say this, our prayer life is not to be judged by how many prayers we have answered, but how well we pray. God has simply commanded us to pray. Therefore, we are obligated to pray, and since it is prayer to him, it is also a privilege. Now, before I delineate exactly why most prayers are not answered, I want to give you some basic prerequisites concerning prayer in the Bible. If our prayers are to be heard according to Scripture, there are certain prerequisites that must be met. What are they? Let me give you at least six today, very quickly. First of all, there must be a proper association.
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What do I mean by that? Our Lord said in Luke 11 in verse 2, And when you pray, say, Our Father who art in heaven. Now, when I say there must be a proper association, I simply mean that in order to really have our prayers answered, we must be children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.
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Now, it is true, according to the Bible, in Matthew 5 and verse 44, that God blesses the just and the unjust in certain general areas. He causes the sun to shine upon the just and the unjust alike. He causes rain to fall upon the just and the unjust alike. But the truth of the matter is this, there is a covenantal bond that exists between our Heavenly Father and His children. And that bond does not exist between God and the unregenerate. Do you not understand that you will always be more tender and more gracious and more kind towards your own children than you will to the children of a stranger?
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In fact, if you look very quickly in your Bibles to Luke 11, our Lord Himself illustrated this point for us. Notice in Luke 11, beginning there with verse 11, he's talking about prayer and he says this. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? What is he saying? He's saying, no, you don't treat your own children that way. Then therefore, in verse 13, he said, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? He said, so if you know how to be good to your own children, don't you think your heavenly Father certainly knows how to be good to His own?
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So there must be a proper association. That's why the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 16, Now, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God, even our Father, who has loved us, has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace. So there must be that proper association. We must be children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Secondly, there must be a proper approach.
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Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians, chapter 2. And as you turn there, I'm going to be quoting John 14 in verse 6, which most of you can quote. Not only must there be a proper association, there must be a proper approach. In the book of John, chapter 14, in verse 6, our Lord said, I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. How can anyone get to the Father only through Jesus Christ?
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Let me tell you something, folks. I don't care how many people pray, and I don't care how often they pray. The truth of the matter is this. No one and no prayer ever reaches the Father except it be through Jesus Christ. That's what the Bible teaches. Now if you look in the book of Ephesians chapter 2, the Bible also teaches something else. Now watch carefully. Ephesians 2, the Bible tells us in verse 18, for through Him, that is through Jesus Christ, we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. So in reality, the proper approach is through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.
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So how do we come to God? It is always through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.
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Now, one must understand that you just simply do not rush into the presence of God any way that you please. I mean, there are so many examples in the Bible, but the leading example, of course, is in the Old Testament. You remember that tabernacle and later the temple was divided into the court and then the holy place and the most holy place. What would have happened to any Israelite that rushed into the most holy place?
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He would have been killed. Even the high priest could not get into that most holy place but once a year and then not without the sprinkling of blood. The Bible teaches in Hebrews 10, turn there very quickly, since you're close, look in Hebrews 10, that now we can come into the presence of God, but it is only through Jesus Christ. Notice the book of Hebrews 10, and let's begin reading there with verse 19. Hebrews 10, verse 19. Watch carefully. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter the holiest, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through his veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance
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of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." What is he saying? He is saying the proper approach to God is always through Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone who gives us boldness to come in the presence of God. The Bible is emphasizing that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone is acceptable unto God. When we come to God, we do not depend upon our works. We do not depend upon our merits. We do not depend upon our good deeds. We do not depend upon the goodness of our life. We do not depend upon saints or angels or ancestors or anyone or anything other than Jesus Christ. If you come to God depending on anything other than Jesus Christ, your approach is wrong. What does the Bible say in 1 Timothy 2 and verse 5? For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. The only way you can ever get to God the Father is through Jesus Christ.
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So there must be a proper association, there must be a proper approach, and thirdly, there must be a proper attitude. Now, let me explain what I mean by that. In Matthew 21, in verse 22, the Word of God says, In all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. Mark 11, verse 24, our Lord says, Therefore I say unto you, Whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. What is the proper attitude? The proper attitude is faith. No one is ever, ever going to receive anything from God if he comes to God with an unbelieving and doubtful attitude. You know what the Bible says very plainly in Hebrews 11 and verse 6, but without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh unto God must first believe that he is, and secondly, that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." What's the Bible saying? You cannot come to God except through faith. It is faith that is the proper attitude.
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The proper approach is through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit, but the proper attitude is a believing attitude. Now, look in your Bibles to the book of James, just turn over A few pages from Hebrews, James chapter one. And let's begin looking at verse five, James one, verse five. I'm just showing you from Scripture the proper attitude. He says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not;
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and it shall be given him. Now, if we lack wisdom, what are we to do? Ask of God. And it doesn't matter. What wisdom we need, whether it's wisdom about our health, wisdom about what we're to do or how we're to go or which way we're to turn. God said if we need wisdom, let us ask of him who giveth to all men liberally, that is God's willing to give and upbraideth not and shall be given him.
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But look at verse six. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed, for let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." So he says you must ask in faith, nothing wavering. If you waver, he said that man is not going to receive anything. Now watch. The proper association is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The proper approach is through Jesus Christ in the Spirit. The proper attitude is that of faith. Fourthly, there must be a proper asking.
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Now, look in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 14. John 14. Notice verses 13 and 14. Look what our Lord says. John 14, verses 13 and 14. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. Notice there must be a proper asking. That is, we must ask in the name of Jesus Christ. In John 16 in verse 26, our Lord said this. At that day, you shall ask in my name.
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I want you to see how these things flow together. A proper association. A proper approach. A proper attitude. A proper asking. Do not think that your prayers will be heard just because they are multitudinous and vigorous. You know what our Lord said in Matthew 6 and verse 7? Listen carefully. He says, But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. It is not the repetition or the vigor of our prayers that have merit. The merit is only found in Jesus Christ. You say, Brother Weaver, I can pray for hours. Well, you may pray for hours, but the truth is just because you pray for hours does not mean that your prayer is going to be answered. If there is not a proper asking, asking in the name of Jesus Christ refers to an absolute and total dependence upon his person, his works and his merits. He is our only plea.
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Now, let me show you. Let's suppose I walk down to one of the local banks in town and I presented them with a check made out to cash, signed by me, made out for a million bucks. And I say, I'd like a million bucks, please. And they look at that and say, now, wait a minute. Do you have any money in this bank? No, sir. Do you have an account here? No, sir. Well, do you expect us to give you a million bucks? Well, I'm asking for it. Well, are they going to give it to me? No. But let's suppose Henry gives me a check for a million bucks. And Henry is a multimillionaire. And Henry's got it all in the bank. And I take that check and I go to the bank and it's made out to me. And now I'm asking for the same million dollars. But I'm asking for it in Henry's name. And I would get my money because Henry's got plenty of it, you see now.
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The truth of the matter is this when we come to Christ. And when we come to God the Father, we cannot ask in our name. We must ask in His name and in His name alone. When we ask in the name of Christ, you know what that implies? It implies that we have nothing, that we are nothing, and that we can do nothing. And if anything is ever accomplished, it will be accomplished only because of Jesus Christ. So there must be a proper association. There must be a proper approach. There must be a proper attitude. There must be a proper asking. And by the way, I want you to look in your Bibles at this passage, James chapter four, because this goes right along with the proper asking. James chapter four.
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And notice, if you would please, the first three verses. We must only ask in Christ's name But we must not ask selfishly and greedily just for our own lusts. Notice James chapter 4 beginning there with verse 1. From whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members? You lust and have not. You kill and desire to have, you cannot obtain, you fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not, watch, you ask and receive not, why? Because you ask amiss, that is, you ask wrongly, that you might consume it upon your own lusts. We must not only ask in Christ's name, but we certainly must not ask selfishly and greedily. and lustfully. Now, fifthly, there must be a proper apprehension. Look in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. And let's begin reading verse 14. I'll explain what I mean by proper apprehension. 1 John 5 verse 14. And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
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And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him. Now, the key phrase in this passage is, according to His will.
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Now, when we pray, we certainly want to pray in the will of God. How can we be assured that our prayers are heard, and how can we be assured that our prayers are according to the will of God? Well, the answer is very simple. If our prayers are in agreement with the revealed will of God, that is His written word, then certainly they are in line with the will of God. Scripture assures us that when you and I pray biblically, when we pray scripturally, that God hears us. Scripture also assures us that when we pray biblically and scripturally, that God not only hears us, but we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him.
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So here we have absolute certainty and absolute confidence and assurance in prayer. When we pray according to the will of God, there is no doubt as to Him hearing our prayers and answering them.
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Now, I can hear someone say, yes, but Pastor, sometimes I may not know sufficiently the Word of God on a particular subject. So that I would know how to proceed in prayer. Well, that is one reason we're taught in Luke 11 verse 2 to pray. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
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Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to Romans chapter 8. Because also involved in this. Is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Notice the book of Romans chapter 8 at verses 26 and 27. Romans 8, notice verse 26. The Bible says this. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, For he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
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Now let me explain that. There may be times when we have problems that are so complex and so complicated we don't know which way to go. There are times when we are so burdened And so broken, you can't even think straight. And what does the Bible say? The Bible says when we pray, we not only come to God the Father through Jesus Christ in the Spirit, but sometimes just in our groanings. The Holy Spirit translate those groanings and carries them to Christ, who brings them to the Father. And he does that in accordance to the will of God. There have been times in my life when I haven't known which way to go, which way to turn. And when you go to pray, all you do is just lie there and weep and groan and say, Oh, God, help me. Oh, God, help me. Oh, God, help me. That is what is known as the ministry of the Spirit. Now, if you and I have a clear passage that we can pray concerning. That's fine.
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That's wonderful. But for those times we do not know and cannot find a clear passage, then we can rest upon the fact that the Holy Spirit will make intercession for us according to the will of God. So there must be a proper association. There must be a proper approach. There must be a proper attitude, there must be a proper asking, there must be a proper apprehension. If we are praying and we know the word of God, we pray according to the revealed will of God. He said that when we do that, we know that our prayers are heard and we know that we have the petitions desired of Him. Just that simple. If you want your prayers heard, you pray according to the will of God. If you want your prayers answered, You pray according to the will of God.
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Now, let me tell you this. I know someone is going to ask this. Well, Brother Weaver, here's someone dying. Let me tell you something. I prayed for the sick. And they've gotten well. I've also prayed for the sick and they died. Do you understand it is not God's will to heal all of the time. It is God's will to heal most of the time because all of us have been sick and gotten well repeatedly. But if it was God's will to heal all of the time, every time, no one would ever die. So when you come to praying for someone, there have been times that I have prayed And I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, as I prayed, that person was going to recover. But there's been other times I prayed, and I didn't know that.
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And all I could say is, Lord, your will be done in that person's life. See, so there's some things you don't know that you have to leave to the will of God. But sixthly, There must be a proper affection. If you look in your Bibles to the book of Colossians chapter 3 beginning there with verse 1. Colossians chapter 3 verse 1. Here's what I mean by proper affection.
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Notice the Bible says if you then be risen with Christ. Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things of the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. There must be a proper affection. If you are risen with Christ, set your affection on things above.
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Now, if you and I truly love the Lord, if we truly love His Word, if we truly love His will, we will want His will above any and everything else. We should always seek His honor and His glory and worship and adore Him. What was the very first petition that we're taught to pray in the model prayer? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. That is, Your name be worshiped. Your name be glorified. And we should want that in all of our lives.
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Now, very clearly, If there is an improper association, if there is an improper approach, if there is an improper attitude, if there is an improper asking, if there is an improper apprehension, if there is an improper affection, our prayers are not going to be answered. Now, let me just tell you, my basic assumption is that the average Christian knows these truths. And if he doesn't, he certainly should. These are basic requirements, basic prerequisites of having our prayers answered. But the message today is not on the prerequisites. The message is why most of our prayers are not answered.
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And to answer that question and to show you that truth, you need to go back to 2 Kings chapter 22 to our text. Because it's very clearly revealed in this passage. In 2 Kings chapter 22, you read about Josiah. Thankfully, Josiah was basically a godly man. He was a young man who was brought up in the ways of the Lord. And he began to reign when he was eight years old. And he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem.
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And look what the Bible says, verse 2. 2 Kings 22 verse 2, and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. In other words, he found out what was right and he stuck to it. He did not deviate. So here is a tremendous young man who has some character to do that which is right.
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However, one problem did exist. The law of the Lord had been lost. Now, I preached the message not too terribly long ago, which I entitled The Lost Law from this text. I'm certainly not going to re-preach that message. It's not my intent to do so. But it is important for you and I to understand again that the law that had been lost was that it was lost in the house of the Lord. In this chapter, It's lost in the temple. They're cleaning the temple. They're repairing the temple. And guess what? They find a copy of the law. You know, unhappily, that's where the law of God is lost today. Just like our Lord in Zechariah 13, verse six, that he was wounded in the house of his friends. Well, his law has been lost in the house of his friends as well, because it's the average church that denies denounces and denigrates the law of God. So the law was lost.
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At any rate, when a copy of the law was found by Hilkiah the priest, he delivered to Shaphan the scribe who read it, and then he took it and read it to King Josiah. Now look, if you would please, beginning there with verse eight. And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan and he read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought the king word again and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house and have delivered it in the hand of them that do the work and have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest had delivered me a book. Now look, and Shaphan read it before the king.
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Now I want you to see the king's response. Note, it came to pass when the king had heard the words of the book of the law that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahicham the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah the servant of the king, saying, Go ye and inquire of the Lord for me, and for all the people, and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that is found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us.
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Now, the very first thing he does is he rends his royal clothes. He gets rid of them. He says, we've got problems. We have violated this law in our land. We violate this law in our kingdom, in our government. We've got a real, genuine problem. Now he says, here's what I want you to do. Look at it. Verse 13, Go ye and inquire of the Lord for me.
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Josiah said, you find out what God's will is for me. Now, an interesting thing happens in verse 14. Look at it. So Hilkiah, the priest, and Ahicham, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalom, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of a wardrobe.
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Now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college, and they communed with her. What is significant about the fact that they went to Huldah a prophetess? In fact, the Bible even says that she dwelt in the college there in Jerusalem. I want you to note something. The king did not send the priest to Huldah. The priest went to Huldah. If you look in verse 13, all the king says would go ye and inquire of the Lord from me and for the people and for all Judah, verse 14, so Hilkiah and these men then went to Huldah the prophetess. Now, let me try to answer some questions without going into a great detail as to why the priest and these men went to Huldah the prophetess. First of all, it could be because of the king's earnest affection and his strong desire to get this business resolved, and the fact that his order was to be done hastily, that they went to this woman who dwelt in Jerusalem.
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In other words, she was already there. Moreover, evidently she was well known, and her husband was a member of the royal court.
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Secondly, if you will study your Bibles, you will find that two other men prophesied during the reign of Josiah. One, Jeremiah, and the other, Zephaniah. So you've got to ask yourself this question. Why did they not go to Jeremiah? Why did they not go to Zephaniah? Why were they not consulted? Well, we know that Jeremiah lived in Anathoth. Now, Anathoth was not necessarily far away from Jerusalem.
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In fact, it was relatively close. But the truth of the matter is, Jeremiah could have been at a far off corner of the kingdom. He was not necessarily close by. If you look in your Bibles very quickly to 2 Chronicles chapter 35 and verse 25, you'll see that Jeremiah certainly knew Josiah because he lamented over Josiah's death. In 2 Chronicles chapter 35 and verse 25, And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah. And all the singing men and all the singing women spake of Josiah and their lamentations to this day and made them an ordinance in Israel. And behold, they are written in the lamentations. So Josiah probably knew of Jeremiah. Certainly, Jeremiah knew of Josiah. So why was Jeremiah not consulted?
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Why did they go to Huldah the prophetess? Now, it is true that Zephaniah also prophesied during Josiah's reign, but his ministry may not have commenced until a later date. But the obvious truth is that neither Jeremiah nor Zephaniah were consulted, and they're not even mentioned in the text.
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Third, let me point this out, that the statement that they went to Huldah the prophetess, I believe, is a most singular circumstance and very revealing. I believe that it demonstrates the depth of apostasy and the state to which the kingdom has sunk. You say, what are you talking about? Let me demonstrate it. Jeremiah certainly was a prophet in Israel. And yet he was not consulted. It may be that he could not have readily been consulted. Zephaniah may not have prophesied or had begun his ministry of prophesying at that time. What do I mean when I say it is revealing to show the state of the kingdom and the depth of the apostasy?
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Well, do you remember who the high priest was? Hilkiah. Without turning there, let me just read to you from Malachi 2 in verse 7. Here's what the Word of God says. For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Who was responsible to know the will and the Word of God? Hilkiah. And yet he had lost the law in the Old Temple.
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Moreover, there was Shaphan the scribe. You know who a scribe was? Someone who wrote. Someone who was there. Shaphan, the scribe, should have been conversant in sacred affairs just simply to have been fit for his office. You know what the Bible says about Ezra? Ezra was a scribe. Let me compare Shaphan, just for a moment, with what the Scripture says about Ezra. In Ezra chapter 7, verse 6, the Bible says, This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. What's that mean? means Ezra knew the Word of God. The interesting thing is, moreover, Josiah was helpless in and of himself.
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Now he is at the age of 26. He's tried to do what was right, but he knew nothing of the Law of God. Yet, according to Deuteronomy 17, The king was obligated to have his own personal copy of the law and read therein every day. Now here it is. Let me try to tie it together for you. The secret of the Lord was neither with Hilkiah the high priest, nor Shaphan the scribe, nor the king or any of the servants of the king or the ministers of the temple. And yet Huldah, a prophetess, about whom we know absolutely nothing, save this circumstance, is consulted on the meaning of the Book of the Law.
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Now, tradition simply says that she prophesied among the women of the court, being herself one of the court ladies. The point, I believe, is this. God never, ever leaves himself without witness because he will never leave sinners without excuse.
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Now listen, when those who should rule and should know and should exercise dominion refuses to do so, power and authority will always shift to those who will. All that is needed To have a matriarchal society is for the men to do nothing.
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Now let me tell you something. I am thankful for all of the godly, knowledgeable women that I know. But it is a shame that most of them became that way apart from their husbands. In other words, it should be the husband's leading, teaching, and directing and saying, this is the way, walk you in it. But isn't it sad, often times when you find a godly woman, you'll find either an ungodly husband, or one who is so indifferent and so apathetic, he doesn't care one way or the other.
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So here these men who should have known the law of God knew nothing. And so the power shifted down to the woman.
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Now, the point of this message is not to deal with all this prophesying, but to emphasize God's answer to Josiah and to demonstrate why God does not answer most prayers. And that's what I want to do right now. I want you to skip down to verse 18. Because I'm going to read this passage and just see if you can pick it out. OK, here's why God does not answer most prayers, watch verse 18.
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But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which thou hast heard. Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me, I have also heard thee saith the Lord. Behold, therefore, I will gather thee into thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace, and thine eye shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place."
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And they brought the king word again. My question is, do you see in those short verses why God does not answer most prayers? Probably you don't. But I'm going to point it out for you. I'm going to get real specific. Look in verse 18. Watch carefully. But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which thou hast what? heard, now watch verse 19, because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes and wept before me." Are you listening? I also have what? Heard thee saith the Lord.
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Let me spell it out for you. Josiah listened to the words of God, and God listened to the words of Josiah. Are you listening? Every positive has a negative. Every negative has a positive. What is the opposite of the fact that Josiah heard God's words and God heard Josiah's words. Here's the opposite. When we do not hear God's words, God does not hear our words. I want to show you that.
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This is known as the Lex Talionis. The Lex Talionis just simply means the principle of retribution. It is the principle that is repeated over and over in the Bible, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, foot for footing, a burning for burning, stripe for stripe, life for life. What's God saying? God is saying He always makes the punishment fit the crime. So God is saying, here's perfect justice.
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When you don't listen to me, I don't listen to you. I can quote most of these verses, but I want you to follow me. All right. Turn in your Bibles to First Samuel, chapter two and verse 30. I'm going to show you this principle. First Samuel, chapter two, verse 30. Look at what is said. First Samuel two, verse 30. God is speaking to Eli, who was a wicked man, although he was a priest. Wherefore, the Lord God of Israel said, I said, indeed, that the house and the house of my father should walk before me forever. But now the Lord said, be it far from me. Watch this principle for them that honor me. Well, I honor and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. God says, if you want to honor me, I'll honor you. If you want to despise me, I despise you. That's the lex talionis. That's a principle of justice. Look in your Bibles to the book of Hosea, chapter 4 and verse 6. Hosea 4, verse 6, right after the book of Daniel, Hosea.
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Hosea 4, verse 6. Here's a passage that most of us can quote at least the first part of it. But there's the same principle involved in this verse. Hosea 4, verse 6, God says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Everybody can quote that verse. At least that part of it. But look at the rest of it. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, that is God's knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me. Now watch. Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. In other words, when we reject the knowledge of God, God rightly and justly rejects us. When we forget God's law, God rightly and justly forgets our children. What? Well, look at it. Look in verse 6 again. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me. Now look, seeing thou hast forgotten the law by God, I will also forget thy children."
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You know what God's law is? God's law is the expression of His will. You know what our children are? They're an expression of our wills. God says, you forget my will? I'll forget your will. You don't honor my law, I don't honor your children. See that principle? It's the Lex Talion. It's the same thing. God's saying, you don't listen to me, I'll listen to you. You want to forget my law, I'll forget your children.
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Look in your Bibles to Psalm 66 and verse 18. You can quote this passage, but look at it. Psalm 66, verse 18. I'm showing you why God does not answer most prayers. Here it is, Psalm 66. Look in verse 18. Look what David said. David said, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Did you hear that? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not what? Hear me! Now, what is iniquity?
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It's another word for sin and lawlessness and rebellion. Would you like to know what sin is? Let me just quote it for you. 1 John 3 and verse 4, Whosoever commits sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.
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Now, what did David say? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. What is he saying? If I don't hear God, God's not going to hear me. That's what he said. We cannot harbor sin and lawlessness and iniquity without violating the law of God. And when we harbor sin and iniquity and lawlessness, all that demonstrates is that we're not listening to God. We've not heard God. If we had listened to God, we wouldn't have that in our lives.
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Now let me show you something else. I want you to understand that hearing God's word does not just simply mean that you sit down and read your Bible every day. It does not mean that you just go to church every Sunday. It does not mean that you just have a tape recording going and someone is reading the scripture to you. Look in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 15. Here's the passage.
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you should be exceedingly familiar with. I preached on it recently, but look in first Samuel chapter 15. You remember how that Saul had disobeyed God and spared Agag, the best of the Amalekites and all the sheep and the oxen, but that which was, you know, wicked and wrong and refuse that he utterly destroyed. But look at what Samuel tells him, let me point it out, 1 Samuel chapter 15, notice if you would please, verse 22. After Saul tells Samuel the people spared the best that they might sacrifice them unto the God, in verse 21, Samuel said, have the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord.
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Now watch, behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken Better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is a sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is iniquity and adultery.
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Now, go back to verse 22. He said, Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.
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Now let me just stop there. I said it. You've heard me say it. God had rather have your obedience than anything else. Right? He said to obey is better than sacrifice. But look what he said. And to hearken is better than the fat of rams. You know what the fat of rams was? The fat of any animal was the chief part of the sacrifice. It was always given to God. The point I want you to see is that to obey and to hearken are equivalents.
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They're one and the same. He said, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken is better than the fat of rams. In other words, God is not interested in you and I just having an audible hearing of His Word. He wants an internal application where we obey His Word. Let me put it like this. No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God. You only hear when you obey.
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Now, if you think what I'm saying has no merit, if you think what I am teaching you is not serious, if you think that somehow you can continue with known sin and rebellion in your life and still have God hear your prayers, I just want you to look in Proverbs 28 and verse 9. Look in Proverbs 28 and verse 9. Look at what God says. Proverbs 28 verse 9. Watch carefully.
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He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. You know what the word abomination means? It means a stench in the nostrils. God says, he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination, stench in the nostrils. What is God saying? You don't listen to me? I won't listen to you. In fact, your prayer stinks. I won't have it, said God.
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I will not hear it. It's an abomination. Why? Because you refuse to listen to God. I want to make one other little application of this. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4. I want to show you from the scripture why most professing Christians never ever mature in the faith. I want to show you why most Christians remain stunted, deformed, and childish most of their lives. Here it is in Mark 4, and notice if you would please, beginning there with verse 24. Mark 4, verse 24. And he said unto them, Take heed what you hear.
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With what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you. And unto you that hear, shall more be given. Did you get that? And to you that hear shall more be given, for he that hath to him shall be given, and he that hath not from him shall be taken away even that which he hath."
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Now listen to what he said. Take heed what you hear, and what measure you meet it shall be measured to you. God's going to measure truth to you just as you study. And then he says, and unto you that hear shall more be given. In other words, to you that obey shall more be given. Why in the world would God give you any more truth if you're not going to obey the truth that He's already given you?
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You know why most Christians never progress in their Christian life? They don't obey the truth they know. They don't apply any of God's truth that they know to their individual lives. It's the same principle. God says, you don't hear me? I don't hear you. You don't hear me? I don't give to you. I want you to see That this same principle also applies to the unregenerate. You say, what are you talking about?
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Well, look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 1. Here's a passage that is so plain. It certainly should not need any explanations. Let's begin reading with verse 22, Proverbs 1 verse 22. Wisdom. Of course, is Jesus Christ. Look what wisdom cries in verse 22. How long you simple ones, would you love simplicity and the scorners delight in the scorning and fools hate knowledge? Now, look, turn you at my reproof.
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That is, listen to me, says God. Behold, I will pour my spirit upon you. I'll make known my words to you. That's it. Listen to me. I'll teach you. Then he says in verse 24, because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded, but you have set at nought all my counsel, would have none of my reproof. I will also laugh at your calamity.
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I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me. Well, I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. Why? For they hated knowledge. I did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would have none of my counsel.
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They despised all of my reproof. Therefore, shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices." You know what God is saying? Salvation is of the Lord. Men erroneously think that they can be saved whenever they want to. They think the key is in their hands. that they can repent of their own will, that they can believe of their own will, and that when they call upon God, then God is obligated to answer them. God said, let me tell you something. Salvation is not in your hand. Salvation is in my hand. And if you're not converted in my time, in my way, if you will not hear my words, there's going to come a time when you're going to be crying to me, and I am not going to hear you. Same principle. Perfect justice.
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Why is it most prayers are not answered? The truth is because most people give no heed to listen to God. They don't hear God's word. They don't obey God's word. And if they won't hear God, here's my question. Why should God hear them? You know, I debated as to whether to say this or not, but I'm going to say it. I certainly do not want to encourage any disobedience. I do not want to encourage any rebellion.
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But I am so thankful. that God is so gracious, and oftentimes He does hear us, even when we are not what we ought to be and should be. But if God held us to His strict principle of justice, do you understand, if we refuse to hear Him, why should He hear us? He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. If more Christians realize the way to have their prayers heard and answered is for them to hear and apply the word of God in their lives.
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Doesn't that make common sense to you? If you had two sons, and one was a drunkard and a reprobate, and the other was orderly and kind and helpful and obedient, and it came time for you to bless one of them, which one would you bless? Be honest with yourself. You worked hard in your life. Would you leave your inheritance to a drunk? Even if he was your son? I wouldn't.
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You see what I'm saying? Common sense will tell you that if we want to be heard by our Heavenly Father, we must hear Him. Because he that turneth away his ears from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. Father, we bow to Thee this day. We thank Thee for Jesus Christ, for His grace and mercy. Help us, Lord, to hear Thee, to listen to Your Word, to apply Your truth, to become more and more obedient in our lives, and to conform our lives to the Word of God. Make us what we ought to be and should be by the grace of God in Jesus Christ is our prayer. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T02:13:41Z

Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver explains that most prayers go unanswered because people do not listen to God's Word. Using the story of Josiah in 2 Kings 22, he illustrates the principle of Lex Talionis: when we hear and obey God, He hears us; when we turn away from His law, our prayers become an abomination. He outlines six prerequisites for effective prayer and emphasizes that obedience to God's revealed will is essential for answered prayer.

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver reads 2 Kings 22, the account of Josiah finding the book of the law, and introduces the topic of why God does not answer most prayers.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 22:1-20

" And they brought the king word again.

Prayer as Duty and Privilege

Prayer is commanded by God and is both a duty and a privilege; it is not to change God's will but to accomplish it.

Six Prerequisites for Answered Prayer

The Example of Josiah

Josiah heard God's words and humbled himself; God heard Josiah's prayer. This demonstrates the principle that hearing God leads to being heard.

The Lex Talionis Principle

God operates on the principle of retribution: if we do not hear God's Word, He will not hear our prayers. This is illustrated in 1 Samuel 2:30, Hosea 4:6, Psalm 66:18, and Proverbs 28:9.

Hearing Means Obeying

True hearing of God's Word involves obedience; without obedience, spiritual growth is stunted, and prayers are hindered.

Application to the Unregenerate

The same principle applies to unbelievers: those who reject God's call will not be heard when calamity comes (Proverbs 1:22-31).

Conclusion and Prayer

Weaver concludes that to have prayers answered, we must hear and obey God's Word, and he closes with a prayer for obedience.

Why God Does Not Answer Most Prayers

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	81610191834
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Obedience, Disobedience, and National Judgment
Genre	Sermon
Date	2004-10-17
Dictation Name
Book	Book 044: Covenant Theology: Obedience, Disobedience, and National Judgment — Chapter 3
Source Timed Segments	90

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Scripture Reading: Weaver reads 2 Kings 22, the account of Josiah finding the book of the law, and introduces the topic of why God does not answer most prayers.
Prayer as Duty and Privilege: Prayer is commanded by God and is both a duty and a privilege; it is not to change God's will but to accomplish it.
Six Prerequisites for Answered Prayer: Weaver lists six requirements: proper association (being a child of God), proper approach (through Jesus Christ), proper attitude (faith), proper asking (in Jesus' name, not selfishly), proper apprehension (according to God's will), and proper affection (setting affections on things above).
The Example of Josiah: Josiah heard God's words and humbled himself; God heard Josiah's prayer. This demonstrates the principle that hearing God leads to being heard.
The Lex Talionis Principle: God operates on the principle of retribution: if we do not hear God's Word, He will not hear our prayers. This is illustrated in 1 Samuel 2:30, Hosea 4:6, Psalm 66:18, and Proverbs 28:9.
Hearing Means Obeying: True hearing of God's Word involves obedience; without obedience, spiritual growth is stunted, and prayers are hindered.
Application to the Unregenerate: The same principle applies to unbelievers: those who reject God's call will not be heard when calamity comes (Proverbs 1:22-31).
Conclusion and Prayer: Weaver concludes that to have prayers answered, we must hear and obey God's Word, and he closes with a prayer for obedience.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Prayer is not to change God's will but to accomplish it

Prayer is a means ordained by God to fulfill His purposes, not a tool to manipulate Him.

Weaver states, 'Prayer, in and of itself, is an instrument to accomplish the will of God.'

Proper approach to God is only through Jesus Christ

No prayer reaches the Father except through Jesus Christ, as He is the sole mediator.

Weaver cites John 14:6 and Ephesians 2:18, emphasizing dependence on Christ's merits.

Faith is essential for answered prayer

Without faith, it is impossible to please God; doubters should not expect to receive anything.

Weaver references James 1:6-7: 'Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering... let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.'

Prayers must be according to God's will

Confidence in prayer comes from aligning requests with Scripture; the Holy Spirit helps when we don't know God's will.

Weaver cites 1 John 5:14 and Romans 8:26-27.

Disobedience nullifies prayer

Harboring sin and rejecting God's law makes prayer an abomination to God.

Weaver quotes Psalm 66:18 and Proverbs 28:9.

God's principle of retribution in hearing

God hears those who hear Him; He rejects those who reject His Word, as seen in 1 Samuel 2:30 and Hosea 4:6.

Weaver explains the Lex Talionis and cites these passages.

Obedience is equivalent to hearing

True hearing of God's Word is demonstrated by obedience; without it, there is no real hearing.

Weaver says, 'No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God.'

Unbelievers cannot presume on God's mercy

Those who reject God's call may find He does not answer when they finally cry out in distress.

Weaver cites Proverbs 1:24-31.

Scripture References

2 Kings 22:1-20: The entire chapter is read as the text for the sermon, detailing Josiah's reign and the finding of the book of the law.
1 Thessalonians 5:17: Cited to show that prayer is a command: 'Pray without ceasing.'
Luke 18:1: Cited to show that men ought always to pray and not faint.
Luke 11:2: Used to illustrate proper association in prayer: 'Our Father who art in heaven.'
Matthew 5:44: Mentioned to show God blesses just and unjust generally, but covenantal bond is with His children.
Luke 11:11-13: Illustrates that God, as a good Father, gives good gifts to His children.
2 Thessalonians 2:16: Cited to emphasize the love and consolation given to believers.
John 14:6: Used to show the proper approach to God is only through Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:18: Shows access to the Father is through Christ by the Spirit.
Hebrews 10:19-22: Explains boldness to enter the holiest is by the blood of Jesus.
1 Timothy 2:5: Affirms one mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus.
Matthew 21:22: Cited to show proper attitude of faith: 'Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.'
Mark 11:24: Reinforces the need for faith in prayer.
Hebrews 11:6: Without faith it is impossible to please God.
James 1:5-7: Asking for wisdom must be in faith without wavering; doubters receive nothing.
John 14:13-14: Proper asking is in Jesus' name.
John 16:26: At that day you shall ask in my name.
Matthew 6:7: Warns against vain repetitions in prayer.
James 4:1-3: Prayers not answered because asked amiss to consume on lusts.
1 John 5:14-15: Confidence in prayer comes from asking according to God's will.

Historical References

Josiah, king of Judah: Josiah reigned at 8 years old, did right, and humbled himself when the law was found.
Hilkiah the high priest: Found the book of the law in the temple during repairs.
Shaphan the scribe: Read the book of the law to King Josiah.
Huldah the prophetess: Consulted by the priests and scribes to inquire of the Lord; she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college.
Jeremiah the prophet: Mentioned as a contemporary of Josiah who lamented his death, but was not consulted in this instance.
Zephaniah the prophet: Also prophesied during Josiah's reign but may not have begun his ministry yet.
Eli the priest: Used as an example of the Lex Talionis principle in 1 Samuel 2:30.
Saul, king of Israel: Disobeyed God by sparing Agag; Samuel rebuked him, emphasizing obedience over sacrifice.
Ezra the scribe: Contrasted with Shaphan as a scribe who was ready in the law of Moses.

Important Quotes

He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination.

This is the central verse of the sermon, encapsulating the principle that ignoring God's law makes prayer detestable to Him.

When we do not hear God's words, God does not hear our words.

Weaver succinctly states the Lex Talionis principle that governs answered prayer.

No one ever really hears the Word of God until he obeys the Word of God.

Defines true hearing as obedience, a key argument for why prayers fail.

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

Quoted from Psalm 66:18 to show that harboring sin blocks prayer.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the principle of Lex Talionis (eye for an eye) apply to prayer, and what does it reveal about God's justice?

[Context]

Weaver explains that God answers prayer based on whether we listen to Him, citing 1 Samuel 2:30 and Hosea 4:6.

[Question]

In what ways might we be 'hearing' God's Word without truly obeying it, and how can we move from hearing to obedience?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes that hearing means obeying, using 1 Samuel 15:22 and Mark 4:24.

[Question]

Why is it important to examine our hearts for 'iniquity' before praying, and how can we practically do this?

[Context]

Psalm 66:18 is cited: 'If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.'

[Question]

How does the story of Josiah challenge our approach to Scripture and prayer?

[Context]

Josiah rent his clothes and humbled himself upon hearing the law, leading to God's response.

[Question]

What are the six prerequisites for answered prayer, and which one do you find most challenging?

[Context]

Weaver lists proper association, approach, attitude, asking, apprehension, and affection.

[Question]

How does the role of the Holy Spirit in prayer (Romans 8:26-27) provide comfort when we don't know God's will?

[Context]

Weaver explains the Spirit intercedes with groanings according to God's will.

[Question]

Why does Weaver say that most Christians remain spiritually immature, and what is the solution?

[Context]

He argues that failure to obey known truth stunts growth, referencing Mark 4:24-25.

[Question]

How should the warning in Proverbs 1:24-31 affect our urgency in sharing the gospel with unbelievers?

[Context]

God says He will not answer those who persistently reject His call.

Applications

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