When will YHVH not listen and not answer your prayers?

God is good and He just sit and wait till you call upon Him and then He will rescue you from your distress. Is this an accurate statement? Many people believe it is and they use YHVH and call upon His Name when they really need Him. This comes form the cultures where they had house gods; a god for the harvest, a god for fertility, a god for prosperity, a god for the rain etc. Each time they had a problem, they went to their gods and pray to and worship the god that relates to that specific need that they have. If they do not have any issues in that area, then they would not pray to that god. We treat YHVH he same way by only calling on His Name when we are in trouble, the only difference is that He is one God that does all of these things and we go to Him for everything. This proverb describes YHVH's response if we choose to interact with Him in this way.

Prov 1:24-27 Because I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and no one paid attention; (25) but you have despised all my advice, and would have none of my warning. (26) I also will laugh at your trouble; I will mock when your fear comes; (27) when your fear comes as a wasting away, and your ruin comes like a tempest when trouble and pain come upon you.

YHVH says that He called upon you, He has called out your name and stretched out His hand to you by offering you counsel and wisdom on a daily basis. We have seen this in the previous verses where wisdom cries out but nobody listens.

Prov 1:20-21 Wisdom cries outside; she utters her voice in the streets; (21) she cries in the chief place of gathering, in the openings of the gates; in the city she utters her words, saying,

YHVH knows that we need Him and He knows that we cannot live effectively without His counsel and wisdom and that is why He offers this to us freely and on a regular basis. The question is, do we listen to His counsel and do we make the effort to learn from Him? You know the answer to this question for your life, let everybody examine their own hearts and be the judge of their own actions.

YHVH says that He will laugh at those who did not listen when they go through calamity and He mocks them when they fear and go through distress. It almost sounds like when someone tells you; "...I told you so, you should have listened..." when things go wrong in your life and you refused to listen to someone's advice. Will YHVH do this, surely He is greater than this, laughing at our sin and weaknesses? Yes He can do this because He will reflect back onto those they have done to Him. We have learned earlier that people scoff and mock YHVH's Word and make fun of those who follow it. YHVH will definitely return the favour and let your sin be your judge and the consequences will be your punishment. What you sow you will also reap and your attitude towards Him will be reflected back to you in the time of your distress. It is not that YHVH is mean or insensitive; it is because He is righteous and fair that He reacts in this way.

Prov 1:28-30 Then they shall call upon me, and I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; (29) instead they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of YHVH. (30) They would have none of my counsel; they despised all my correction,

When distress is at the doorstep they will call upon YHVH and when fear overwhelm them, and then they will seek YHVH but will not find Him. Your relationship with YHVH is like any other relationship, you have to deposit into the relationship in order to allow you to withdraw from the relationship. That is why Y'shua will tell the people who approach Him; "...go away from Me, I do not know you, you workers of lawlessness...".

Mat 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. (22) Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works? (23) And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness!

When you are in trouble you cannot quickly build a relationship and gain from it immediately. You have to build a relationship, just like a house, starting from a solid foundation giving stability, walls that give protection and a roof that covers all. The best Person to have this kind of relationship with is YHVH through His Son Y'shua that you will gain the most from. YHVH invites us to have such a relationship with Him so that we will not only have all the benefits knowing Him, but that we might be influenced and change for the better. Just like the saying says; "...you become like the people you mix with..", and what a better Person to mixt with than YHVH in order to become like Him and be changed to be created in His Image and His Likeness as was His intent right from the start. Gen 1:26.

When you are in distress and when fear is at your doorstep, then YHVH will listen to your cry and give ear to your prayer. He will have pity over you and deliver you from all your fears and destroy all your enemies. Just make sure that you are in the right relationship with Him and make it your heart's desire to become like Him, humbling yourself so that He might change you according to His Will and His Pleasure.