Jeremiah 7:13
“And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;”
One of the complaints I often hear from people is that they just can’t get their prayers answered. Oftentimes we quote Scripture when we pray to remind God that He promised to hear and answer prayer. We will quote Jeremiah 33:3 where He says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee…” We quote Matthew 7:7 where it says, “Ask, and it shall be given you…” Every Christian wants the LORD to answer their prayer.
However, let’s put the shoe on the other foot. Are you answering when the LORD prays to you? I know, this sounds strange, but lets look at the definition of prayer. The word “pray” means, “to ask or petition with earnestness.” That means when God asks us to do something, He is praying to us. He is asking us to hear His prayer to us.
It says in the verse above, “… I called you, but ye answered not;” God told Jeremiah that He called to His people, but they would not answer. He spoke to them early, but they would not hear. Sadly, the same people who wanted God to answer their prayer would not answer His prayer.
This action by God’s people not to hear Him when He asked them to do things had severe consequences. Verse 16 shows us those consequences when it says, “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.” Because they wouldn’t answer God when He prayed for them to obey His voice, He would not hear them when they called for His intercession. There are a couple of lessons we need to learn from this verse.
First, when God calls He expects you to answer. God doesn’t ask you to do things for no reason. When God asks you to go witness to someone, He expects you to answer. When He asks you to surrender to His will, He expects you to lay aside your will for His. When God speaks He expects you to listen and obey.
Second, God responds to your prayers according to your response to His. God responded to Judah’s prayer according to their response to His. It was not that God hadn’t given them ample opportunity to respond to His requests, for He had. Whenever you feel your prayers are not being answered, you would be wise to ask yourself if you are responding to the LORD’s requests in your life. I’m afraid we oftentimes ignore the LORD’s voice in our life because of our own agenda or opinions. God is a responder. He responds to us the same way we respond to Him. James 4:8 shows us this when it says, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you…” Your willingness to hear and obey God’s requests to you has a great impact on whether He will hear your prayers.
Are you answering the LORD’s prayers in your life? Let me encourage you to be more attentive to the voice of the LORD as He speaks to you through the Scriptures, preaching, teaching and voice of the Holy Spirit. You will find that the more you listen to the requests of the LORD in your life the more He will hear your prayers.