{"id":95344,"date":"2020-08-04T04:38:24","date_gmt":"2020-08-04T09:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/?p=95344"},"modified":"2020-08-03T08:05:54","modified_gmt":"2020-08-03T13:05:54","slug":"12-n-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/04\/12-n-2\/","title":{"rendered":"13.n.  &#8220;Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p2\">Zachariah 7:8 <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: \u201cThis is what the Lord Almighty said: \u2018Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.\u2019 \u201cBut they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry. \u201c\u2018When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,\u2019 says the Lord Almighty. \u2018I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><a href=\"verseid:12.17.13\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>2 Kings 17:13-15<\/b><\/span><\/a><b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, \u201cTurn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God.\u00a0\u00a0They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><a href=\"verseid:14.33.10\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>2 Chronicles 33:10<\/b><\/span><\/a><b>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><a href=\"verseid:16.9.29\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Nehemiah 9:29<\/b><\/span><\/a><b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><a href=\"verseid:20.1.24\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Proverbs 1:24-32<\/b><\/span><\/a><b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,\u00a0\u00a0because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,\u00a0\u00a0I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you,\u00a0\u00a0when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.\u00a0\u00a0Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.\u00a0\u00a0Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,\u00a0\u00a0would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,\u00a0\u00a0therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.\u00a0\u00a0For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><a href=\"verseid:24.44.16\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Jeremiah 44:16<\/b><\/span><\/a><b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAs for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><a href=\"verseid:58.12.25\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Hebrews 12:25<\/b><\/span><\/a><b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p2\">They refused to listen; they resisted the warners; they exhibited open contempt for them.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>They willfully were ignorant and would not consider nor want to understand.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>What level of contempt is it when a person sets their heart hard as stone so that their ears are deaf to the Word of God? Do you ever wonder if people consider the Word of God a burden?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Is this why they harden their heart to God?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Think about this.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The Word of God proclaims a righteous, pure, and holy Creator God.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It proclaims the fall of mankind.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It exposes the sinful nature of man.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It proclaims the separation between God and man due to this fallen sinful state. It proclaims God\u2019s wrath, anger, and judgment. It proclaims God\u2019s grace, mercy, and love toward mankind with promises of restoration, redemption, and salvation.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It proclaims blessings.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It is a guide and restraint to the sinful nature of our hearts.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It proclaims the wonders and mystery of God.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It proclaims the promises of God.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It proclaims warnings.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It yields hope, joy, peace, refuge, courage, power, kindness, forgiveness, and rest for those who have open hearts, minds, souls, and ears to hear, believe, obey, and trust in what God proclaims.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It also yields hardened hearts, minds, souls, and ears to those who defy, deny, and resist what God proclaims.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It promises eternity in heaven for those who believe.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It promises eternity in hell for those who do not believe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Is it a burden to live for God?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Is it a burden to live holy, righteous, and pleasing to the God of all there is?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Is it a burden to live to honor, glorify, worship, magnify, and praise to God?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Is it a burden to live in loving kindness?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Is it a burden to live showing mercy and grace to others?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It is not a burden but a blessing to be loved by God and in a restored relationship with Him.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>What is the alternative to our lives should we choose to deny and defy God?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Isn\u2019t the true burden of life trying to live as though God does not exist?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Every day Creation screams out the existence of God and every day the heart of the deniers must harden more and try to make sense and purpose of this life.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Every day the burden of denial becomes heavier and heavier.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The denying soul will find that the burden of life brings no pleasure or satisfaction even though they search diligently for it in the things this world has to offer.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The Word of God is not a burden.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It is a wondrous blessing from God to His creation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zachariah 7:8 \u00a0 And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: \u201cThis is what the Lord Almighty said: \u2018Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.\u2019 \u201cBut they refused to pay &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/04\/12-n-2\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;13.n.  &#8220;Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.&#8221;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[668,3375,685,199,412,1202,391,3134,2985,466,14120,35,14119,97,2831,1174,431,4520,5588,5571,458,164,10455,1258,14116,432,2053,4756,3651,1206,2905,38,8233,3021,1154,14117,16,3273,14041,10594,84,3706,3541,14118,137,3517,3590,217,415,3975,10452,468,315,4036,655,261,1280,5322,3439,14115,1849,4463,4171,5640,1259,3265,14114],"class_list":["post-95344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-prayers","tag-angry","tag-anguish","tag-attention","tag-believe","tag-calamity","tag-call-upon-me","tag-called","tag-choose","tag-commandments","tag-compassion","tag-complacnecy","tag-counsel","tag-cousel","tag-covenant","tag-covered","tag-desolate","tag-despised","tag-destroys","tag-devices","tag-did-not-obey","tag-escape","tag-evil","tag-false-idols","tag-fatherless","tag-flint","tag-followed","tag-fools","tag-foreigner","tag-hard","tag-hated-knowledge","tag-hearts","tag-heaven","tag-judah","tag-killed","tag-law","tag-left-behingd","tag-listen","tag-live","tag-lord-almighty","tag-manasseh","tag-mercy","tag-mock","tag-oppress","tag-paid-not-attention","tag-poor","tag-prophets","tag-refused","tag-reject","tag-reproof","tag-scattered","tag-seer","tag-servants","tag-spirit","tag-spoken","tag-statutes","tag-strangers","tag-stubborn","tag-stubbornly","tag-terror","tag-true-justice","tag-turn-back","tag-turned","tag-warned","tag-warns","tag-widow","tag-words","tag-zachariah"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95344"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95550,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95344\/revisions\/95550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}