Guaranteed Answers
“Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’” Isaiah 58:9a
Then– When does God guarantee He will answer our prayers? The prophet Isaiah provides the answers. The people voice their concern: “Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?” God replies:
“Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”[1]
Why doesn’t God answer their prayers? Because they do not show compassion. The very first description God uses of Himself is compassionate. Remember Exodus 34:6? “YHVH, YHVH, ‘el raḥûm.” Could there be anything more important than this? YHVH is a compassionate God! Apparently, we are also expected to be compassionate. And when we aren’t, God stops listening to us.
Do you find this a difficult pill to swallow? Does it remind you of those times when you turned a blind eye toward someone in desperate need? Did you connect Isaiah’s words with those of Yeshua and discover that you exercised your right to the statute of limitations on compassion? And now your prayers bounce off the lead ceiling. Now the nation is not saved from its perilous decline. Now neighborhoods and neighbors are fractured, hostile, self-protective. The yetzer ha’ra is winning—all because we have forgotten the first declaration of our God: “YHVH, YHVH, ‘el raḥûm.”
Do you think you could change the direction today? Could you be kind to someone close at hand? Could you offer a compliment instead of a criticism? Could you encourage rather than judge? Could you open your eyes, and your heart, to the opportunity for compassion that God will provide (if you are ready)? As Brené Brown says, “Can you risk loving without guarantees?”
How would your life change if someone treated you with compassion today? Wouldn’t you want that same acceptance that you need to be felt by another? So, what’s stopping you? No sense in praying about it. God won’t listen until you do something.
Topical Index: prayer, compassion, raḥûm, Isaiah 58:9
Thank you!! this is the best reminder for each day:)
“Come follow Me” isn’t just an invitation to piously join
in the parade behind the Messiah. It’s a call to action to love
compassionately as He does. And if we truly follow accordingly,
His Word says He will work “in us to will and to act according to His
good purpose.”
This is SO true. Lack of compassion toward others is high on YHVH’s list of things that anger Him. Also, a critical spirit, ingratitude and discontentment are right up there. The book of Numbers is very much concerned with correcting this errant human tendency. The stories in Numbers indicate that few things irritate our LORD more than a negative attitude. He has no tolerance for complainers or those with a critical heart. Numbers 12:10 is a sobering reminder, when Miriam is stricken with leprosy because of her mumblings and grumblings against her brother, Moses.
Skip, thank you for placing these two passages side by side the last couple days. I know that all scripture is intrigal but, these two really expand on each other and it’s beautiful. Together they really show the essence of walking in the Kingdom.
This observation fits perfectly with the language in the Lord’s Prayer that tells us that we get forgiven AS we forgive. Concurrence. If we were created in the image of God, then we are to mirror Him. All goodness is a flow: a function: an action BETWEEN end points. And the essence of love is precisely that it is a two-way encounter: mutual in every way. Does it surprise us that to start the flow of forgiveness we must be willing to forgive? To start the flow of compassion we must be willing to do the same? Enter the parable of the two debtors. To the extent we are willing to return to the function we were created to fulfill: that of being the image – literally the dwelling place (“temple”) of the living God – is the extent that He can fulfill His function as our God, in us. This is no unilateral affair! This is shared wills.
So true! How can you make people care when they don’t? That’s the problem. I don’t think it’s possibke for some people to change. I used to.
Not caring about others at all or minimally is common. I do blame it on the brain damage in the frontal cortex of the brain where they say your empathy center is. I think it’s true! I have seen it personally and have had to deal with it for years not understanding the cause before. Psychopathy is on a spectrum. ‘Without Conscience’ is a book by Dr. Hare that discusses the subject that affects us more than we realize in the normal relationships we have and not just famous cases like Ted Bundy or the Golden State Killer who was recently arrested. I haven’t read it but I have listened to him on YouTube. The tool he devised for identifying people without a conscience is good—-in a nutshell, people without empathy or compassion.
Sin numbs us: all sin damages the brain. We are all damaged to the extent that sin has had dominion over us.
Salvation is in the business of restoring the damage of sin. Check it out!
Sin doesn’t cause actual brain damage. Poison injected into the body does. A big difference.
Are you quite sure about this? Bessel vander Kolk’s work shows that trauma actually changes brain chemistry, causing damage. Isn’t sin a form of trauma?
Changing the brain chemistry is possible or definitely sounds possible. Caroline Leaf in Australia talks about this kind of thing. I am not talking about chemistry but actual damage. Like what you see in the scan of Dr. Fallon’s brain. Sin wouldn’t do that. He is a neuroscientist. He has a talk titled ‘The Psychopath Inside’. You could also check out Dr. Simon who discusses the increase of people on the psychopathy spectrum. It’s serious. If it was just sin, we would all be lunatics! There is a lot I could say on this subject but I know now that so many of the problems we see are not actually a result of sin but because the person’s brain has been directly affected. This could cause the person to sin without remorse. They don’t care, just don’t care. Dr. Hare in Canada has a book titled ‘Without Conscience’. He is one of the leading experts.
Thank you for these references. I will check it out.
I just checked out the person you mentioned. Some of his posts were questionable. Some were interesting. I shared the one about why going to the beach was healthy. I don’t know if you know but in March he was fired. One headline said: Famous trauma therapist fired for allegedly traumatizing his staff. He claims that there was a calculated attempt to destroy his reputation. As I have been saying in my comments, psychopathy is a big problem. One thing always present: lies. So who is lying?
Jeanette, you are raising a very important issue: that of the curses and damage in the world. Their origins, as well as their consequences. All imperfection – all damage – is a result of sin, whether directly or indirectly. All of it. Evil resides only in the hearts and minds of rebels. You will find it nowhere else, but the choices of those rebels can influence everything else, for we were made to have dominion, whether it be a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death.
I am not sure of the point you have been attempting to make in your previous posts, but it is becoming clear that there are persons in your life that are exhibiting a lot of damage. I can tell that you are afraid, angry, and perhaps hopeless, too about that damage, as well as that person(s).
I sense that you are trying to ask (please correct me) about the origin of evil, and about the boundary where that damage it causes is absolute and where God and His salvation are excluded. I can assure you there is no such place. Evil is a defeated foe and reigns NOWHERE we do not choose to allow it. ALL damage can be reversed. Even death, poison, demonic possession, comatose, no -brained zombies: all can be redeemed and restored. Please do not give up hope for these precious people! Please hold the gap of faith for them and do not give up! We can help, if you could get to a place where you could extend a little trust. We are not asked to face evil alone. That is what the Body of Christ is designed for. No lone rangers necessary. You are not alone. We would love to stand with you, if you could figure out how to let us.
Chin up and cheer up, sister! It’s better than you think!
Sorry but your assumptions are just that—-assumptions. Nothing to do with the origin of evil. Maybe I am not being as direct as I could be as to the cause. A lot of scoffers out there. But I think it’s important to realize that some people are brain damaged regardless of what great people they seem to be. Over the years, I have dealt with a lot of people who I would say—-and for good reason—are on the psychopathy spectrum. More common than you realize. Difficult, high conflict people for a reason. Dr. George Simon. Dr. Hare. Dr. Fallon.
Do we throw the brain damaged people away? Does God? Are psychopaths ‘hopeless’? What are you insinuating? We are ALL on the “psychopathy spectrum”, if you want some honesty; and those who seem to be the most ‘together’, but have not dedicated their talents to God are the origin of most of the greatest evil on this planet! I mean, it isn’t exactly the dim bulbs that are causing most of the grief for the rest of us. Capacity for greatness and capacity for great sin grow apace.
What exactly are we wishing for, here? A diagnosis or a cure? I personally have experienced and been a part of great healing of ‘hopeless’ cases of damage. The verse that tells us that “nothing is impossible with God” I have taken to heart because I have seen miracles.
Perhaps it would be better to read his research and books rather than the media about him. Since I know therapists who are in contact with him, I’m guessing the media is less than the real story here.
I found the information on his personal Facebook page. I am not saying he is guilty of anything but there are big names out there that I surely wouldn’t trust and for good reason. Need to question everything, especially the media.
About his research: Psychedelics for PTSD. Asthma and Hayfever linked to increase of Psychiatric Disorders. Renowned Harvard Psychologist says ADHD is largely a Fraud. There were more posts of his that I would say reflect a lack of understanding. Some of the posts were ok. I have respect for doctors but sadly to say, a lot are employees who are doing what they have been told without any discernment or common sense. Chemotherapy is a good example. Derived from mustard gas. It’s poison. Then if that doesn’t work, radiation. Unbelievable. Or mammograms. Banned in Switzerland. 1000 times stronger than normal x-rays. People can trust doctors blindly if they choose to do so. But shouldn’t they be warned?
Mammograms are not banned in Switzerland but the Swiss Medical Board has doubts about their efficacy to detect breast cancer.
I thought I had read they were banned. One article (2017) says they are being abolished. One article said they were condemned. I have a sister who got one and then they found something 2 months later. Then nothing but a nightmare. God has created our bodies in an amazing way, to heal naturally too. Shouldn’t let them use fear to go along with their agenda.