THE PRAYERS OF THE UNBELIEVER

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

PROVERBS 15:18-33
Lesson #25
THE PRAYERS OF THE UNBELIEVER

• Memory verse: Joh 9:31
• This chapter of Proverbs ends with the result of all of wisdom (skillful living), understanding (discernment of good from evil), and instruction (moral discipline for discernment). We find that result in verse 33.
• There is one frequent question that is answered in this section of Proverbs that Christians debate:
  • Does God hear the prayers of the non-believer?
  • What do you think?
• “A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife” (18)
  • The wrathful man is the person that looks for ways to cause division and problems in relationships between people.
  • This person can be the gossip, or a person with vengeance against another, or a person that just enjoys causing mischief.
  • However, the person that has his emotions under the control of the Holy Spirit will be careful how he answers accusations or anger from another person. He will give much effort to maintaining peace.
  • He “appeaseth strife”. In other words, he is the peacemaker in a volatile situation.
• ^“The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain” (19)
  • Key words: slothful (inactive); righteous (pure life).
  • The lazy person does not deal with current situations as they occur. He puts off dealing with them until they become like “a hedge of thorns”.
    • In other words, a situation that is not immediately dealt with becomes more complicated.
    • The situation becomes a deeper problem that is harder to resolve. The more difficult the situation becomes, the more painful it is to get out of it.
    • Life is like a garden. If you don’t deal with the weeds (the difficult situations), they are compounded over time.
• ^“ A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother.” (20)
  • Key words: wise (living skillfully); foolish (no God for me);despiseth (contempt for).
  • A good father wants to see his children succeed in life. God is a good father
    • Therefore, a son who is living skillfully and making wise decisions in life, will bring happiness to his parents. In the same way a believer that lives in obedience to God in skillful living will be a blessing to our heavenly Father.
    • The fool that says there is no God for him will have no desire to please God. In turn, he will have no regard for what his parents taught him even to the point of hatred for his mother.
• ^“Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.” (21)
  • Key words: folly (wrong walk); wisdom (skillful living); understanding (discernment of good from evil); uprightly (just).
  • Walking in the wrong direction away from God is a joy to the person that does not know how to live skillfully in obedience to God.
  • Remember what we learned in Pro 16:25, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
  • However, the believer that understands God’s perspective of good and evil will discern how to live correctly in the will of God. He will walk in his position of justification that God has provided for him through the forgiveness of sin in Jesus Christ.
    • The Bible says that when we give our heart to God we are “justified” or made righteous while we are still sinners even before we get our lives straightened out to live the way God wants us to live. (Rom 3:24)
    • That position of justification is how God sees us in Christ. Now we need to walk the way God sees us so that we become “justified” in practice.
• ^“ Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.” (22)
• ^“A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!”(23)
  • Key words: counsel (advice); counsellors (advice).
  • The wise believer in Jesus Christ will seek the advice of other mature believers in Christ especially for very important decisions.
  • Verse 22 shows us the importance of the body of believers in Christ.
    • God has designed the body of Christ to help produce the best in our lives. (Rom 12:5)
    • In the multitude of believers we find the will of God for life.
  • When giving counsel positive speech produces joy while negative speech kills hope in the hearer.
  • It is good when you can say the right thing at the right time.
• ^“The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.” (24)
  • Key words: wise (believer in Christ).
  • Obviously only the believer in Jesus Christ can say that eternal life is above with the Lord in heaven. The eternal home of the non-believer is in hell for eternity.
  • It is interesting that many people do not believe that hell exists, but on the other hand, when you ask them if Jesus was a liar, they say, “No.”
    • Jesus talked more about hell than He did about heaven.
    • (Mat 5:22, 29-30 Mat 10:28 Mat 11:23 Mat 16:18 Mat 18:9 Mat 23:33 and more.)
• ^“ The Lord will destroy the house of the proud: but he will establish the border of the widow.” (25)
  • Key words: proud (See pride = conceit).
  • Notice the parallels:
    • Destroy/establish
    • House/border
    • Proud/widow
  • The person that builds his life with pride thinks that he achieves everything by the work of his own hands.
  • However, the believer knows that everything that is gained is by the grace of God.
    • The widow is the example of a humble believer. The widow has no one to rely on but God.
    • Through the Old Testament God continually told the Israelites to take care of widows and orphans. Instead, they took advantage of widows.
  • In this Proverb God says He will establish the border of the widow so no one will take advantage of her.
• ^“The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord: but the words of the pure are pleasant words.” (26)
  • Key words: wicked (lawless evil); abomination (hated).
  • Why does God hate the thoughts of the person living a lifestyle of lawless evil?
    • God does not approve of thoughts that plan evil practices that are opposite of God’s moral law.
    • The words of the believer living a morally pure life in Christ please God.
  • Remember that a person’s thoughts and words come from the heart and God sees the heart of man. (See verse 28)
  • Read Luk 6:45
• ^“He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.” (27)
  • Rampant greed can result in a burden of extreme debt.
    • The greatest cause of divorce in the United States is debt.
    • Mismanagement of finances and/or greed brings trouble to a household.
  • The person that gains financially by questionable or illegal ways will cause problems in his household.
    • Based on the last part of the verse, the financial gain mentioned is by means of bribes.
    • God considers bribery a dishonest means of gaining financially. (Isa 33:15 Amo 5:12)
      • Why is under the table bribery dishonest gain when everyone does it?
      • Bribery gives preference to those who have money and discriminates against those who do not have money.
      • Therefore, this type of corruption violates God’s standard.
  • Read Rom 2:11.
• ^“The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.” (28)
  • Key words: heart (soul/inner man); righteous (pure life); wicked (lawless evil).
  • The righteous believer will choose his words carefully so as not to hurt another person.
  • The non-believer functions as to what benefits him. Therefore, he will not care how his words affect others.
  • The non-believer is more concerned with expressing his opinion and desires.
• ^“The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.” (29)
  • Key words: wicked (lawless evil); righteous (pure life).
  • Here we have the answer to our key question. Does God hear the prayers of the unbeliever?
    • With this proverb and your memory verse, the answer seems to be no that God does not hear the prayers of the unbeliever.
    • Read 1Pet 3:12
    • We know that God sees, knows, and hears everything. While He hears the prayers He is not committed to answering the prayers of non-believers.
      • It is not that God rejects the non-believer but that the non-believer has rejected God.
      • When you consider life on earth, a man gives preference to the welfare and desires of his own family as opposed to people he does not know personally.
    • If God does not respond to the prayers of non-believers, “Then how does a non-believer get saved?”
    • Evidently the only prayer of a non-believer that God answers is the prayer of repentance.
• ^“The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.” (30)
  • Key words: heart (soul/inner man).
  • The believer has the light of Jesus Christ in his heart. That deep joy comes out through the eyes for the eyes are the window to the soul.
  • Read Phil 4:8
    • Notice the positive aspects of a “good report”.
    • The believer that guards his thoughts and words promotes love and hope in others.
  • As a result, a positive attitude promotes his own well being.
• ^“ The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.” (31)
  • Key words: reproof (correction); wise (believer that lives skillfully).
  • The believer in Christ must have a teachable heart to get to the point of skillful living.
  • This is the only way to receive the maximum blessings of God upon your life.
  • Many times over God says, “He that hath an ear let him hear.” (Rev 2:11, 17, 29 Rev 3:6, 13, 22)
  • Jesus spoke in parables for the same reason. (Mat 13:10-13)
• ^“He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.” (32)
  • Key words: reproof (correction); wise (living skillfully). instruction (moral discipline for discernment); understanding (discernment of good from evil).
  • The person that learns from God’s moral correction and discipline in his life will end up living skillfully as a believer in Jesus Christ.
  • How do we know that the “reproof” (correction) comes from God and that this person is a believer?
    • Remember that God is truth. The fool in Proverbs says there is no God for him and will not accept any correction from God.
    • God knows us better than we know ourselves. Therefore, God knows what corrections to make in our lives so that we learn to discern good from evil and make wise decisions. The non-believer never learns to discern good from evil from God’s perspective.
    • The end result of correction is skillful living in Jesus Christ. The non-believer never arrives at skillful living through Jesus Christ unless he repents and becomes a believer.
    • We have already learned in this lesson that God does not answer the prayers of the non-believer. Therefore his own soul will suffer. The decision of the non-believer not to listen to God’s instruction regarding moral good and evil works against his own best interests.
• ^“The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.” (33)
  • Key words: fear of the Lord (awesome reverence); instruction (moral discipline for discernment); wisdom (skillful living).
  • The end result of wisdom (skillful living), understanding (discernment of good from evil), and instruction (moral discipline for discernment) is that we might have the Fear of the Lord.
    • God gives honor to the humble.
    • Read Mat 23:12
• Summary:
  • We have discussed in this passage three proverbs of how the believer in Christ should guard his thoughts and words. (23, 26, 28)
  • We have seen how God makes a positive difference between the blessings he pours out on believers and the lack of blessings for those who choose not to follow God. (29-32)
  • Therefore, it is man that chooses the blessings he will have in his life especially if he is obedient to God and learns from God’s correction.

Homework
Proverbs 16:1-16

• Application of Pro 15:18-33
  • How does a man of understanding walk? Explain what that means. (21)
    • He walks uprightly. Uprightly means God has declared him “just” or righteous. Only in Jesus Christ is man justified before God.
  • Why are the thoughts of the wicked an abomination to the Lord? (26) (Luk 6:45)
    • They come from an evil heart and plan sinful actions contrary to the moral law of God.
  • Why is the Lord far from the wicked? (29)
    • It is not so much that the Lord is far from the wicked but that they have chosen to be far from God.
  • Does God hear the prayers of the wicked?
    • God hears everything but He does not answer the prayers of the wicked with the exception of the prayer of repentance.
• Preparation for Pro 16:1-16
  • Read Pro 16:1-16
    • How should you establish your thoughts? (3) What does that mean to you?
    • Who did God create all things for? (4) Read Col 1:16 and Rev 4:11
    • What will cause people to depart from evil? (6)
    • What counsel does Proverbs give to kings? (10, 12-15)
• Memory verse: Pro 21:1