Spiritual Prescription GOD ANSWERS SINNERS' PRAYERS
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Luke 18:13.
In Luke 18:13, the publican says, "God be merciful to ma a sinner." But in John 9:31, in the story of the man who was blind from birth, we read, "God heareth not sinners." And Plasm 66:18 says that if we regard iniquity in our hearts the Lord will not hear us.
Suppose you happen to be one who is regarding iniquity in your heart. How are you going to get rid of that iniquity? Any ideas? You can't do it by yourself. The only way that anyone can get rid of iniquity is by coming to God, through prayer. If He won't hear me until I get rid of the iniquity, but I can't get rid of the iniquity without His help, then I'm stuck! Have you ever pondered this?
What was the context of "God heareth not sinners"? It was a healing--the performing of a miracle.
If I am regarding iniquity in my heart, the Lord may not hear me for special prayers for healing or miracles or all kinds of other special blessings. But He would have to be willing to hear me for my prayers to find power to stop regarding iniquity in my heart, wouldn't He? He'd have to hear me on that. At least that! Yet there are people who feel that their prayers aren't going any higher than their heads because they feel that they aren't perfect yet, that they are still falling and failing.
Read the story about the man with leprosy who was cleansed. It shows that God always hears sinners when sinners cry out to Him for deliverance and forgiveness from sin. It may not always be God's will to do some things we ask, but it is always God's will to "cleanse us from sin, to make us His children, and to enable us to live a holy life" (The Desire of Ages, p. 266).
Don't let the devil keep you away from the prayer-communion with God because of your faults and failings. Any sinner, regardless of how far he has wandered from God--whether he is near to the Father's house or still in the pigpen--is offered help. Whoever cries out to God for forgiveness and for the power of God to deal with the iniquity that he has been regarding in his heart is always going to be heard.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Luke 18:13.
In Luke 18:13, the publican says, "God be merciful to ma a sinner." But in John 9:31, in the story of the man who was blind from birth, we read, "God heareth not sinners." And Plasm 66:18 says that if we regard iniquity in our hearts the Lord will not hear us.
Suppose you happen to be one who is regarding iniquity in your heart. How are you going to get rid of that iniquity? Any ideas? You can't do it by yourself. The only way that anyone can get rid of iniquity is by coming to God, through prayer. If He won't hear me until I get rid of the iniquity, but I can't get rid of the iniquity without His help, then I'm stuck! Have you ever pondered this?
What was the context of "God heareth not sinners"? It was a healing--the performing of a miracle.
If I am regarding iniquity in my heart, the Lord may not hear me for special prayers for healing or miracles or all kinds of other special blessings. But He would have to be willing to hear me for my prayers to find power to stop regarding iniquity in my heart, wouldn't He? He'd have to hear me on that. At least that! Yet there are people who feel that their prayers aren't going any higher than their heads because they feel that they aren't perfect yet, that they are still falling and failing.
Read the story about the man with leprosy who was cleansed. It shows that God always hears sinners when sinners cry out to Him for deliverance and forgiveness from sin. It may not always be God's will to do some things we ask, but it is always God's will to "cleanse us from sin, to make us His children, and to enable us to live a holy life" (The Desire of Ages, p. 266).
Don't let the devil keep you away from the prayer-communion with God because of your faults and failings. Any sinner, regardless of how far he has wandered from God--whether he is near to the Father's house or still in the pigpen--is offered help. Whoever cries out to God for forgiveness and for the power of God to deal with the iniquity that he has been regarding in his heart is always going to be heard.
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