- Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it. How much less when you say that you do not see him, that the case is before him, and you are waiting for him! There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. Job 35:3,10-14
- This stood out to me because the Lord has corrected me on this from time to time — how I approach Him in prayer.
- We have lost a lot of the fear of the Lord in our culture. We’ve lost the idea of respect in many ways. Some places have more a concept of it than others, for instance, in saying “sir” and “ma’am” down South in America.
- But we have lost it in a lot of ways. We’ve lost wives respecting husbands, children honoring their parents, etc. It’s all related to our losing the fear of the Lord.
- I do have a close, intimate relationship with the Lord, and we’re encouraged to call God “daddy” and Jesus our “friend.” None of those things are wrong, but we can’t stop remembering who God is.
- He measures the waters of the oceans in His hands. He carries out wrath against those who come against His children. In a few more chapters we’ll read lots more reminders of who God is.
- We can’t act pridefully in prayer and accuse God as if He’s done you wrong.
- We can’t act like He’s not doing His job. Just because you don’t see Him working what you expect doesn’t mean He isn’t. We don’t get to accuse or act like we know what He should be doing. Again, it’s pride.
- The other description is the empty cry. Don’t pray unless you are praying to God. Don’t throw out prayers into the air. Direct them to God. Stop and speak with Him not at Him. Expect Him to answer. Don’t toss it out and then go about trying to fix the problem yourself as if you don’t expect Him to do anything.
- We’re to live in relationship with God. Part of that is speaking together in relationship. Expect Him to answer and act on your behalf. That’s why thanksgiving should be part of every prayer.
