When God Doesn’t Hear Our Prayers

From time to time, well-meaning Christians have asked me why they should read the Old Testament. After all, they reason, the Christian faith centers on Jesus—his life, death, and resurrection. Why should Christians study the Old Testament when the New Testament contains all we need to know?

It’s not that these Christians want to abandon the Old Testament. They acknowledge that parts of the Old Testament provide inspiration and comfort. Generations of Christians, for example, have turned to the Book of Psalms during times of uncertainty and stress and found solace.

Generally, though, for many Christians the Old Testament has marginal practical value, which, unfortunately, results in a more limited vision of the New. By contrast, Jesus valued the Old Testament, and believed it to be an important witness to what God is doing in the world. So significant is the Old Testament, according to Jesus, that people who “do not listen to Moses and the Prophets . . . will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead” (Lk. 16:31). The Old Testament, in other words, sharpens our vision to better see God’s revelation in the person of Jesus.

Over the past few weeks, I have been sharing my thoughts about the prophets, specifically the 8th century prophets because they represent the spiritual peak of prophecy in the Old Testament, and, moreover, their messages are extremely relevant for today. I have written brief synopses of the prophets Amos, Hosea, Micah, and in this blog I will focus on the prophet Isaiah.  

The Prophet Isaiah

The first thing to know is that with Isaiah prophecy reaches the most significant theological revelation of God in the Old Testament. He was, for example, the first biblical prophet to espouse the idea monotheism. Clearly, though, Isaiah is revered by the church for his numerous allusions to a future king which Christians have interpreted as references to Jesus. The messianic prophecies contained in the book have intrigued countless Christians through the ages, particularly chapters 7, 11, and 53. Most Christians, however, would be hard pressed to tell you much else about the remaining sixty-three chapters in the book. For the most part, the primary interest of the church has been to connect the messianic references in Isaiah to Jesus, believed to be God’s anointed who brings justice to the oppressed and, by his death, redemption for those who believe in him and follow his way.

Perhaps the most well-known of these messianic passages is found in Isaiah 53. The early church interpreted these verses, written hundreds of years before the star shone over Bethlehem, as fulfilled in Jesus:

“Surely, he took up our infirmities

and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken of God,

smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was

upon him,

and by his wounds we are healed.”

(Isa. 53: 4-5)

Jesus suffered, died on the cross, and arose from the grave to signal God’s love for the world. In the words of Luke, Jesus sacrificed his life to “bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Lk. 2: 10).

If Isaiah’s message sounds too good to be true, Isaiah certainly sympathizes with doubters and skeptics. The prophet seems to understand that people will struggle to believe his words. He writes, “Who has believed our message?” (Isa. 53: 1), almost as if he anticipates future generations who will find it difficult to embrace his vision of the future.

The passages that refer to the coming Anointed One of God (messiah), while incalculably important to people of faith, make up only a small portion of the Book of Isaiah. There is so much more that Isaiah wants to share, and so much more that is critical for us to hear, that is, if we are to grasp a more complete picture of why the Anointed One came into the world. If we read only the messianic passages, we will miss a major focus of Isaiah’s teaching, not to mention an overriding theme that Jesus continuously emphasized throughout his earthly life—God’s concern for righteousness among his people and his intolerance of injustice.

God’s commands, throughout the Old Testament, stress the importance of building healthy communities where no one falls through the cracks. The laws of God were intended to sensitize us to the needs and welfare of others. In other words, whenever we ignore the necessities of the less fortunate among us, we break God’s law.

Isaiah, whose own heart seemed to beat in rhythm with God’s, knew that the economic disparity in Israel was contrary to God’s law. Isaiah saw how the rich and powerful neglected the economic welfare of the weaker and more vulnerable people, and it became clear that the elite had rejected “the law (torah) of the Lord Almighty” and had “spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel” (Isa. 5:24). As a consequence, God will hold the well-to-do accountable for the way they have treated the poor, the weak, and the people living on the margins.

Long before Jesus, Isaiah spelled out clearly God’s concern for the myriads of people who barely hang on. In the first chapter of his book, Isaiah speaks for God when he warns his people:

“Stop doing wrong,

learn to do right!

Seek justice,

encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,

plead the case of the widow”

(Isa 1: 16-17).

By neglecting the most vulnerable, Israel had broken God’s law. From Isaiah’s perspective, the most grievous sins are not sins that impulsively erupt out of the weakness of our humanity, but the calculated sins where we knowingly disregard those who have been exposed to the cruel injustices of life—sickness, generational poverty, unexplained tragedy and so much more. God takes such offense at these intentional transgressions that he refuses to even listen to the prayers of those who trample upon the already downtrodden. Hear what God says to the smug religious hypocrites: “even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen” (Isa. 1:15). Wow! So serious is the neglect of the orphan, widow, homeless, destitute, and sick that God will turn his back on those who consider such people insignificant.

We have seen over the past few weeks that all the 8th century prophets equate obedience to God’s law with attentively caring for the down-and-out, the suffering, and all those who enter the world with one hand tied behind their back. It is not enough to just pray for people who do not have the basic essentials or who have never had a fair shot at life, God’s people have a responsibility to reach out to all who have fallen on hard times to help them get back on their feet.

The prophets call God’s people back to responsible economic stewardship, to live more simply so that others may simply live. Centuries later, when Mary learned that she bore the Anointed One of God, she echoed the social justice vision of the prophets in song and anticipated the mission of her Son: “[he] has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty” (Lk. 1:52-53). Jesus’ compassionate concern for the poor, the outsider, the sinful, the blind, the lame, and the sick leaves no room for doubt that the care of the less fortunate is a major concern of biblical faith (See Matt. 5-7; 25:32-45; Lk. 6:20-21; 4:16-19; Mk. 10:21-22; 12:41-44 and many other passages in the New Testament).

Make no mistake, God holds us accountable, not just for the way we treat the less fortunate, but our attitude toward these people will also be judged. To complain that some are unworthy of compassion, leaves us outside the circle of God’s grace. We would do well to remember, “For while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).There are no inferior human beings or people of lesser importance in the eyes of God. A just social order leaves no one out. The Apostle Paul, I’m sure, rattled more than a few cages when he advocated a more balanced economic system, at least among God’s people. He understood the intoxicating craving for more and more when he wrote that the wealthy should not have too much nor the poor too little (2 Cor. 8:15; see also Exod. 16:18).

For those of us who have grown up in an economic system where greed is encouraged, the biblical model of a more balanced and just social order may sound unorthodox or even revolting. But, really, how much money do the super-rich need? Fifty million? One hundred million? One billion? Five hundred billion? It is reputed that one person in America has as much wealth as the bottom one billion people on earth! When so many lack drinkable water, nutritional food, shelter, and adequate medical care, is this economic justice? God is certainly not against wealth, but the Bible teaches that the wealthy who consciously ignore the plight of the poor have turned their backs on the law of God.

I’ve been shocked and horrified to learn in recent days that our government has cut off aid to hundreds of thousands of people around the world, primarily women and children. The aid that has been eliminated vaccinates vulnerable people against disease, feeds the starving in areas ravaged by climate change, helps prevent pandemics like the Ebola, provides obstetric care for women with problem pregnancies, and so much more. Sure, every aid agency needs to be evaluated to insure that money is being spent wisely, but to eliminate en masse valuable services that care for the desperately poor and needy is, well, evil.

Isaiah has a word for our leaders and our nation: “Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!”