08/02/2011 - An angry God

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“O LORD God of hosts, how long will You be angry against the prayer of Your people?” (Psalm 80:4)

Is it possible for the Lord to be angry against the prayer of His people? Yes, that can happen according to the verse above. When does that happen? Well, that’s the point I want to make here. Many people think that’s very unlikely to happen because He’s sheer love. By including such statement in the Scriptures the Holy Spirit is telling us that we must watch out to prevent that from occurring to us. One thing is getting no answer from the Lord, which is horrible; another thing is making Him angry with the prayer we say to Him, besides not receiving an answer from Him.

I believe we should only say the prayer of faith because when we do that we’re demonstrating to Him that we trust Him.  The hesitating prayer is like a statement in which we’re saying that the Words He wrote in the Holy Book don’t interest us. In other words, that’s an insult. His very will is recorded in the Scriptures so it’s up to us now to believe in His Statements.

Jesus talked about a Pharisee that prayed to show his gratitude for not being like the other men. To him the others were thieves, adulterous and unjust. Yet, the Lord said that he came back home without an answer. The publican was justified; the one who beat on his chest and begged for mercy. The pride that made the Pharisee consider himself better than the crying tax collector caused him to leave without the answer he expected from the Lord (Luke 18:10-14).

James said that God resists those who are proud (James 4:6). Pride is one of the worst feelings anyone can have. Proud people can be used by our Father and be granted a great ministry and show good intentions, but when they let themselves be carried away by a feeling of superiority or by any other negative feeling, they consider themselves better than others and when they do so they go away from God. The prayers that once rejoiced the ears of the Lord become disgusting.

Anyone can be tempted, to a certain extent, to commit a sin. But the Spirit of God gives them a signal before iniquity is consumed. However, because they have little appreciation for the divine zeal – which does not want them to depart from the path of righteousness or to be caught by the claws of the enemy – they pay no heed to the voice of the Most High and sell themselves for a momentary and sinful pleasure. Then when they find themselves in need, instead of asking for forgiveness, they pray to God as if nothing had happened.

Don’t let any barrier be built between you and God now that you have been warned by the Word of the Lord. Open your heart, make amends with Him, and your prayer will be answered.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares