I Have Heard Your Prayers & Have Seen Your Tears

I'm excited to get to this message. The title is, I Have Heard Your Prayers and I Have Seen Your Tears. That preaches.

God told the prophet to tell the king, I have heard your prayers and I have seen your tears. I came across this this week. At five years old, the kids say, Mom, I love you.

At 12 years old, Mom, I can't stand you. At 16 years old, my mother's annoying. At 18, I'm leaving this house.

At 25, Mom, you were right. At 30, I want to go to my mom's house. And at 50, I don't want to lose my mother.

Thank God for moms. You guys need to be encouraged this morning. People take advantage of you.

Kids don't talk to you like they should. You sometimes feel steamrolled. But it's because of that caring, nurturing nature.

And most people, all of us struggle with it. They'll take advantage of those who are caring and concerning. What a wonderful compliment God has put together in our homes.

And that's why we, as a church, believe in complementarianism. That the two roles, male and female, complement each other. But the Bible says they're equal in Christ.

There's neither Jew nor Greek or male or female. They're equal in Christ. But we realize here that there's different roles.

There's different roles in our homes and how we conduct ourselves. Thank God for that. They complement each other.

But even in their brokenness and in their imperfection, women like us, there's a caring, nurturing, considerate spirit that complements our design. And in many cases, we've only given them trouble, but they've only given us grace. So let's talk about this.

I've seen your tears and I've heard your prayers. Men, this will encourage you, I hope, even more so. Young adults, teenagers, wake up, turn off your phone, and listen.

And I want to tell you something up front. The promises of God have never let me down. The promises of God have never... Can you name one time where the promises of God have ever let you down? There are times when things have not happened according to my timetable.

How about you? I thought God was going to do something, but He didn't. But the promises of God are yes and amen, the Bible says. Now, I'll be honest with you, I never thought I would be in 2 Kings 20 on Mother's Day.

Set your house in order for you shall die. But I couldn't get it out of my heart and preachers know, pastors know, teachers know that when something grips you, that's usually a good thing. Because it's going to grip others.

And when somebody preaches, it's theology coming through a person on fire for God. And that fire is designed to light others. It's to inspire, to motivate.

And in those days, Hezekiah was sick and near death. Hezekiah was a king, somewhat controversial. He did some great things for the Lord, but then what came from him, I believe it was Manasseh, and then Amnon, and then back to good King Josiah.

And the family history there is very interesting. But he was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, went to him and said, thus says the Lord, set your house in order for you shall die and not live.

What about if I just focused on that today? Hey, moms, go ahead and get stuff in order because it's not looking good for the future of our nation or our families. But he turned his face toward the wall. Have you ever done that? And he prayed to the Lord saying, remember now.

It's okay to tell the Lord, remember. I do that sometimes. Remember what You told me.

Remember what Your Word said. Not for His benefit, but for my benefit and Yours. I pray, I pray, Lord, listen, I've walked before You in truth with a loyal heart.

That's a good combination. You want to get your prayers answered with God? He's not the man upstairs. He's not a doting grandfather.

He's not a cosmic ball of love. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. Embrace the truth.

The truth propels your prayer life. The truth anchors your life. He's not one of many ways.

He is the only way. And a loyal heart, Lord, I'm going to obey You. I've been doing these things.

I've done what is good in Your sight. In Hezekiah, He wept bitterly. Have you ever wept bitterly? But you need to know something this morning.

From Josiah to the Apostle James, Disciple James, the godly suffer. I don't like this topic. Don't you wish we could say the more godly you are, the more blessed you'll be in your finances, in your health, all the sick people, they just need to have more faith.

When you fully surrender, guys, when you're walking with the Lord, you will not have any prodigals. Health issues. You're good.

Around 90, 95, you'll just die in your sleep. No persecution. Unfortunately, the Scripture does not read that way.

And as I was reading this, I read Josiah, and I love Josiah. How many of you know that King Josiah? He became a king at what age? Age 8? 7, 8, 9? It's interesting, they only mention his mom once. I wonder if she was a godly influence.

She was married to a wicked king. But I'm wondering if that mom still had that influence on her child even though she was married to a wicked king. Very interesting.

It could have been the priests and the prophets who helped, but Josiah, he cleaned the house of God. He went in and he took out the idols and the false worship. I mean, he was killing people.

False prophets of Baal. It's just amazing, but then he gets to the end of his life and he's killed in battle. I'm like, Lord, really? What about James? How did he suffer? We'll read Foxe's Book of Martyrs.

I was listening to a worship set by Jason Upton. Had it on Rewind. And he said, what about if the mountain... You know, we pray, move this mountain, move this mountain, move this mountain.

What about if sometimes the mountain isn't meant to be moved, but climbed? So I'm borrowing that for a sermon. Isn't that true? That really shifted my thinking because I'm wanting some mountains to move. But what about if it's meant to climb? What about it's not meant to be cast into the sea, but it's being used to dismantle our pride? See, difficult things and suffering are really good for us spiritually.

I don't want to hear a pastor who hasn't suffered. Fresh out of seminary, young buck, three points in a poem, their sermon's great. Man, they got everything's going good and they're going to tell me how to finish well in this walk of life where there's tragedy and triumph and thorns in the flesh and things that are very difficult.

And you need to know that about suffering. It's a good thing. The irony is, not only spiritually, but did you know suffering is good physically? How many of you have heard of a term, hormesis? Hormesis? Okay, not too many, that's okay.

And at this church, you're going to learn a little bit more things than you might learn at a normal church in this area, but hormesis is this, here's the definition. It's a biological phenomenon where a low dose of a potentially harmful stressor stimulates a beneficial adaptive response in an organism. Still confused? Basically, it means a little bad can turn into a lot of good.

And how many of you have heard of cold water therapy? We did it last Sunday. And if people knew, say they fell in an icy cold lake, you don't have to die. The power of the made-up mind in the body, how it responds.

These little, I mean, that little stressor, something that will kill you if too much can help you if just enough. Hormesis, physically. Same thing spiritually.

How many of you heard of all those crazy people online recently in YouTube? Plants will kill you in the fitness industry. You know, plants will kill you. It's because they produce oxalates and they have phytochemicals.

But these little stressors are actually really good for the body. Really, not only that, you just turn to Genesis and God says, I've given you all these things to help the body. But see, these little stressors, and many of you know I talk about fasting sometimes.

Do you know that fasting is actually a stress? It's a trigger. It wakes your cells up. A couple days, all the glycogen is gone, and you're like, oh, what are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? We have no food.

Well, now we're gonna start to attack the cancer cells and the tissues that are not that, it breaks it down in a process called autophagy. It breaks down all the things that are not that essential and begins to clean the body. It's incredible what it begins to do.

So these little stressors are so important. Without hormesis, there is no autophagy, and that's what it's called, and the cells get lazy. Okay, back to spiritual things.

What does it have to do with us spiritually? You get lazy when there's not some pressure and stress and suffering. Instead of getting lazy, get low. Get low.

Let the stress, because I look back on my life, I'm sure some of you say the same thing. I would not do that, that, that, that. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

But you all say, you know what? Had it not been for that, I would probably be the most prideful, arrogant person in Los Angeles County. How about you? Because that's what it does. Success puffs.

It elevates, and God says, here's a little suffering. Here's a little difficulty. But we also see this where God says, set your house in order, for you shall die.

And we learn something here that's called God's permissive will. Here's the interesting about God's will, and I'm not gonna be one of those pastors who say I know exactly how God's will works because I have no clue other than what Scripture says. It's very interesting because God's sovereign, yet man has the ability to make choices, and those choices can determine destiny.

Yet certain destinies God sets in motion which cannot be altered. So theologians have come up with God's perfect will and His permissive will. And a permissive will, it's like God wills this, however, He can change direction.

I mean, look at all the examples. He told Jonah, go and preach to Assyria, Nineveh, actually, the Assyrian capital, because in 40 days, I'm gonna judge it and destroy it. That was, this is happening.

This is happening. But they repented and God spared them for about 150 years. And there's many other examples that God basically told Moses, move out, move out of the way, I'm gonna wipe out this people group and I'll reestablish.

And Moses got in the way and interceded. So you never know the power of your intercession. You never know how powerful your intercession is.

And I hope we find out when we're in heaven. And when he got this bad news, anybody got bad news? Man, I'm telling you, most people complain and get upset at God. Instead, what did he do? He was persuaded to seek God and he didn't complain.

He pressed in even more. And of course, we see the truth and obedience turn God toward our prayers. I don't think God would have heard the prayers of his son Manasseh when he was living in his wickedness because God sees the truth that we're living out and our obedience to him.

Do you know he doesn't see, this is gonna help some of you, when God sees us living, he doesn't see a perfect person. We are in Christ, the righteousness of Christ, of course, but he sees a broken, flawed individual with cracks who needs help. And he helps those who are contrite and lowly of spirit and broken and humble.

He said, I have heard your prayers and I've seen your tears, not your perfection. If you have an earnest desire to pray well, you must learn how to obey well. A whole lot of what we call struggling is simply delayed obedience.

Pastor, I'm struggling. I've been struggling for a long time. Okay, maybe, but are you sure you're not being disobedient in a certain area? Sin cannot be controlled, it must be crucified.

And thank God for verse four. So when it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, so he comes out of the king's presence, he's going through the king's palace, he's going through the courts, he's getting ready to leave, he's probably got stuff to do. The word of the Lord came to him saying, return and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, that says the Lord God, I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears.

Surely I will heal you. On the third day, you shall go up to the house of the Lord and I will add to your days 15 years. I will deliver you in this city from the hand of the king of Assyria.

And I will defend this city for my own name's sake and for the sake of my servant David. You know, this is so refreshing for me sometimes. Sometimes God does things for His own name's sake.

I've read this in the Bible so much, so have you I'm sure, over the years where it says, I will leave an inheritance. I will not strip Israel of all of its tribes. I will do this for my own name's sake.

And He rebuked Israel. He said, not because of your righteousness, but for my own name's sake. I know there's things He's keeping together in ministry and different things because of His own name's sake.

For me, that means we can't take too much pride in what we've accomplished. Especially when I talk to the pastors, oh, you guys, look, if it wasn't for the grace of God, no church would exist on planet Earth, in my opinion. It's for His own name's sake.

But back to this point. I have seen your tears. I have seen your tears.

Many verses we can look at. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Come to me, all you who labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

This is my comfort and my affliction that you have promised this, have given me life. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Be encouraged this morning.

If you are brokenhearted, God is near you today. There is comfort in your affliction. Those promises that God gives us, they give us life.

But I don't know how or what to pray. Have you ever said that? I don't know how, I don't know what to pray. Well, many years ago, in the Salvation Army, a man by the William Booth who founded it, he got a correspondence.

I think, what do they call it, telegraphs? Those little things that they went back and forth. Sometimes I wish we were back there, but that's okay, we're not there. So they said, nobody's coming to saving faith.

Nothing's really working. Our prayers are falling on deaf ears. We're about ready to come back home and give up.

What do you think he responded? He responded with two words. Try tears. Try tears.

When all else fails, get before God. With weeping and brokenness and a contrite spirit, cry out to God Almighty. Here's why this is so important.

If it doesn't mean much to you, it's not gonna mean much to God. You're only as powerful as your prayer life. And if we just kind of go through the motions that's set on my schedule, I don't know if we're gonna see as big of a breakthrough in things as we would if we were to push in and to pursue Him.

When He becomes your all-consuming passion, that's where change takes place. But also know this, tears may not restore your life like you once had it, but it will restore your relationship with the Lord. You might not, because many people are weeping over what used to be, oh, if I could just get that back.

Oh, if I could just get that back. And sometimes that won't be repaired. Sometimes that won't happen.

But God knows, God knows what's best. I shared with somebody actually this morning at morning worship that I sowed so many tears when God brought me home back to Him. And I sowed in tears, and I sowed in tears.

And you know what, there were prayers that were not answered, never answered. But do you know, I thank God. Before Garth Brooks sang, Thank God for Unanswered Prayers, I was singing it.

Because out of those ashes, I met my wife and had the kids. And looking back, I'm like, oh, thank God. Oh, thank God, God, take back everything I prayed for.

Take it, I don't know, what was I thinking? Trust in God and God alone. Tears come with a reward. The reward of comfort with your Savior, nearness to the cross, and the presence of God in your life.

I can tell you, and you can't, this is a topic you can't manipulate. You ever seen those fake tears? And oh, whatever, and try to, okay, Shane's had a cry today. No, it's actually not.

But there's an outflow of what's going on internally. There's, and no wonder I was never close to God. I never weeped over my sin.

I never wept over how far I drifted from Him. And their nearness comes with that brokenness. Oh, God, help me get this point across.

God, help me get this point across. And I don't want people coming up and crying and thinking. It's really a brokenness of heart.

It's really when pride is crushed. It's really when we get to our wit's end with life and we just, and God says that's the outflow that needed to happen, that weeping, that yearning, that letting go of pride and ulterior motives. And it just, out of that comes a mighty rush of the filling of the Spirit.

Some things have to be pushed out before He can flow in. Oh, I might shift gears on this sermon. Are you ready? I know many of you look tired, but you better wake up because we're about ready to hit into fast forward gear.

Guys, where would we be if the prayers of our moms, if the prayers of our moms didn't knock us, didn't knock on heaven's door and capture the heart of God? Think about, where would we be if the prayers of our moms never existed? They never knocked on heaven's door to get God to respond. And this morning, dads, this is a call to you. Rise to the challenge.

Rise to the challenge. Do you know, wives, help meets are not designed to carry all the burden. Hello? Hello? God has such a sense of humor.

This morning, I mean, the altar, right? All the, you saw the people up here, what, two guys? It's not my cheese mold. I'm a tough guy. I'm a tough guy.

That's what I thought. Right, men are tough. We're gonna beat people up.

We're gonna rule our home with a rod of iron. Men, you've got to break. You've got to break.

You've got to humble yourself. You know what, I don't even have my notes. I've been praying on it.

Asked a few people, but I think it's okay. I want to put up a picture of a time when my mom was praying for me. It's next to a black truck.

I think Luke knows where it at. That's who God was praying for. I was about ready to go out on the town with Jim and Jack.

Anybody not know what that means? You want me to elaborate? Jim Beam, Jack Daniels. And I was on a highway to hell. And I lived with that facade.

That, that's what a man is. I got kicked out of Black Angus for life. I sneak in now and they don't recognize me.

It's been so long. So, but that's who she was praying for. I did not have a dad that prayed for me.

He actually would encourage that. I just came across something that somebody told me about. Why God's strongest women suffer the most.

By Billy Graham. I heard the message. It sounded like it was AI, but it was pretty good.

But he said, you're not being punished with suffering. You're being prepared. You're not being punished.

You're being positioned. Strength is not born on the mountaintop, but in the valley of pain. The oil flows from crushing and the light shines through the cracks.

God's greatest warriors weep deeply. That's where true strength comes from. Look at all of God's greatest warriors in the Bible.

Did David weep? Did Moses? But not Jeremiah. His word is in my heart like a burning fire. Not that Jeremiah.

Jeremiah, I've called you when you were a young child. Get up and call this nation to me. Be strong, Jeremiah.

No, he's actually called the weeping prophet. You don't know how much I'm just praying, Lord, just let me get through this because we need tears again. The prophets would actually pray, oh God, they would say, my tears are like rivers of water.

My tears are like rivers of water. God, heal your people. Men and women of God, you're not built only in triumph, but also in defeats.

Those defeats break us. And I don't know exactly how it works, but pride has to be broken out of you. That's why I love that quote Tozer said, and I remember, I think what house we were in, I highlighted it, I put it down, and Lord, that just helped me, but it also hurt me.

Have you ever been helped but hurt? And it said, and I wasn't yet pastoring, I think I was digging ditches. Before God uses a man greatly, He will hurt him deeply. And He knows how to hurt us in different ways.

In a good way, because it draws us. Do you know how many, you know what I deal with a lot and what it's hard to watch in the church is pride, pride, prideful men, prideful women, pride. I mean, you can almost smell it, can't you? I know it, I joke about critical Cathies, judgmental Jerrys, you know, Pharisee, I don't know.

Oh yeah, Pharisee Frank, that's a new one for me. But guys, it's so true, because you can have the word, but not the worship. Suffering keeps you sensitive, and pain teaches you what the pulpit cannot.

Did you know there are some things I cannot teach you? I can't, I can show you, I can encourage you, I can forewarn you, I can prepare you, I can educate you. But at the end of the day, some things only come by pain, putting our face on the floor before Almighty God and crying out, say, God, show me, rebuild me, conquer me, convict me. I can even tell the atmosphere in this place right now.

Many of you came in, you need to humble yourself before Almighty God. That's just the truth. If that upsets you, do tell him, not me, I'm just a messenger.

Pain teaches you what the pulpit cannot. Many Christians have head knowledge, but they have no heart engagement. That's why women, you have to hold on.

Look at all the women in the Bible, hold on, Sarah. Hold on, Sarah, that promise is coming. Hold on, Hannah, that promise is coming.

Hold on, Rachel, that promise is coming. Hold on, Esther, you've been called for such a time as this. Do you realize that, moms, I only have one, two kids, I don't have any kids, I don't have, I can't do anything, I'm not a mom.

I mean, I can't make a difference. You plus God is the majority. You plus God is the majority.

What about Mary? Hold on, Mary. Hold on, Mary, your son's being whipped and beaten. She must remember what the prophet said, a sword will pierce your own soul too.

A soul will pierce your own soul too. Oh, you don't think Mary suffered? Hold on, mom. Hold on, mom, this morning.

Hold on, press in. Hold on, press in. It doesn't matter if you don't see the results.

You might be the only thing, only thing, that leads the prodigal back home. You might be the only thing that will lead that prodigal son or daughter home or spouse. You remember a couple of Wednesdays ago, I talked about the term, take hold of the altar.

Take hold of the horns on the altar. This big altar in the Old Testament, they called it horns on the corner and people would lay hold of the hands and hold of the horns on the altar. And some of them would go and they would, probably bigger, right? But they would cry out to God and they would say, some of them lost their lives, others were spared, but they would hold on to the horns of the altar.

And I gave the image of the same thing. That's what moms do with one hand. They've got the horn with the other hand.

They're holding on to that prodigal. They're between heaven and earth. They're interceding.

Don't let go, mom. But they're not here. They're in a different state.

God isn't concerned about state lines. To God, it doesn't matter where they're at. Lay hold of God.

Lay hold of that altar. Intercession must cost us something. Parents, you pray, but you also must press in.

It's time to go to war, moms and dads. Dust off the Bible, clean out the prayer closet, assassinate King's stomach, unfollow the gossip group and return to your first love. Say, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Husbands, you need to help in that area. A mother's prayer life guards the gates of the home. It shakes hell.

It dismantles the demonic. That's why the enemy is after your prayer life. I want to ask a question.

The sermon's supposed to be over, but I got a lot of notes I made this morning. And I've been praying, Lord, please don't let me speak. What do you want to say? But when it comes to what I just said, prayer, what other weapon has that much power? Can you share? What other spiritual weapon has that much power, women? Oh, when I post things on social media.

Oh, really? When I pressure my spouse. When I pressure my kids. When I text them verses.

When I go to the women's study and when I read a devotional. Even, this can get controversial. It's gonna upset the Pharisees.

When I read the Word. And I love reading the Word. I do it every day.

We encourage it. But if the Word doesn't break you and humble you and draw you closer to Christ and get your heart into a place of worship, it's dead formality. The letter killeth, but the Spirit gives life.

You need to have the Word and you need to be a worshiper. The power of the truth and the power of the Spirit. That's the only combination that works.

So again, moms, what other weapons, what other weapon has that much power? Nothing, nothing has more power than men or women on their face before Almighty God, crying out, interceding. The problem is, is we get caught up in this idea that we have to see the results. And I love to see the results, don't you? Four, five, six days on a diet.

I don't see any results. Keep going, because at the cellular level, it takes a lot of time. Whoa.

Need to wake you guys up a little bit. So again, I want you to think about that this morning. What other weapon has that much power? You, in your heart, you own the greatest weapon ever given to mankind through prayer.

I mean, I wish we could just, can you imagine if God would give us a glimpse into this created the entire, have you ever seen videos on how big the universe is? Like I can't, I have to shut it off. My head's gonna explode. The earth, all the oxygen, the hydrogen, the gravity, it's like how the body's made, and the skeletal system, and the endocrine system, and this, and this works, and this like, Lord, I can't even, that God says, come to me.

That God says, I will hear that prayer. I will not turn away. I don't care if it's 2 a.m. I'm not tired.

I'm not sleeping. I don't care if it seems impossible. I like those kind of prayers.

I like those kind of prayers where man says no, but what does God say? You have the most powerful weapon that you're, the enemy's got you bound in carnality. He's got you hopeless in fear. You need to break out and not say, I'm gonna pursue Almighty God again like never before.

Try tears, try tears. Oh, come on, moms. If I could get a witness, that balcony would run to this altar.

So you would stand up and you say, had it not been for the Lord on my side, I would've, my ship would've sunk. My kids would've been lost. Oh, if we could get a witness.

We know throughout this building, those listening later know that they tried tears and God answered. Psalm 107, just listen. I'm going in fast forward mode now.

There's nothing to put on the screen because they won't be able to keep up, but listen. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distress. He brought them out of the darkness and the shadow of death, and he broke their chains in pieces.

God has a way of keeping us humble. People say, why do you get so loud? Why do you get loud at the Dodger game? I don't, I could care less. Because when you're talking about the living God, there's no other, name one other topic that's even remotely close.

Nothing. Nothing. Have you seen a prodigal come home weeping? Have you seen a drug addiction broken? Have you seen a healing take place? Have you? It's God, oh my, there should be.

Shouldn't we be excited? Shouldn't we be excited? When Isaiah wrote, oh God, rend the heavens. Volume, volume. Oh God, Jesus cried out.

Oh Jerusalem, because there's passion, there's energy, there's excitement, there's zeal, zeal for his house has consumed me, and it needs to consume you as well. And it goes on to say, oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness. Oh, that we would come into the house of God with thanksgiving and praise, for he has broken the gates of bronze.

He has cut the bars of iron in two. Cut the bars of iron in two. I know how you guys like illustrations.

This is, that's a bar of iron he's talking about. Cuts the bars of iron in two. That, you need to hear that sound in your heart.

You need to hear that sound in your life. A bar, nothing, nobody can, nothing can break this, but God says, give it to me, whatever has bound you for years, whatever stronghold, whatever, I will break the bars of iron. What can man do to God? Amen.

You gotta get some hope back in your life. You gotta get some zeal and some passion back in your life. You gotta get back to prayer and fasting.

I love that noise.