Introduction

Let us turn to the second book of Samuel, chapter 21. Excellent! Why? Because it sheds light on why God does not listen to people's prayers! This situation where God does not heed prayers is very common. I would like to title this chapter Remove Sin, and God Will Hear the People's Requests, for the scripture says: After that, God heeded prayer for the land. What does after that mean? It means after the sin was removed.

There is a Reason Why God Does Not Hear Prayers

That God does not listen to prayers is not something I have only recently begun to study. In the local physical church in the past, what I saw most was God not listening to prayers. This puzzled me greatly, but through Bible study, I have come to the conclusion that God is a God who delights in hearing prayers. There are always reasons why He does not listen, but people rarely ask God: Why do You not hear my prayer? This is very interesting.

A young man suddenly had an impulse to become a preacher, but not long after, he was diagnosed with cancer. While receiving treatment in the hospital, the doctor told him, I will give you a medication that is effective for sixty percent of people. However, after using it, it was not effective. He wondered why, and he asked God: God! Why am I in that forty percent? I thought: You should ask yourself why you are in that forty percent. The doctor said, Don't despair, I have another medicine that is more expensive, but it is effective for ninety percent of people. After using it, he ended up in that ten percent again, and he went to ask God again: Why am I in that ten percent? This story was told to me by a Christian friend, and I was very moved after hearing it.

Why are people so foolish? Don't ask God why; start asking yourself why! Everything has a reason, and there is a reason why God does not hear people's prayers. There are thousands of reasons, everything is possible, and in this chapter, it is about the issue of sin. Among us, you will find that God hears our prayers more often because we deal with sin and people's bad habits very harshly. Recently, we have been dealing with the issue of being argumentative. Today, ministering to someone who is argumentative, tomorrow ministering to someone who is argumentative, and I will deal with this argumentative habit.

You must know that people are truly foolish! I see so many pastors in physical churches getting cancer! And there is this other thing: A sister has been with us for many years, and I asked her, Why did you come to Chinese Mingding Destiny? She said, Teacher, you don't know, in my previous church, after our pastor died of cancer, they wanted to promote me to be a pastor, but I didn't want to. Later, a young man became the pastor, and then he suffered from gastric bleeding, also a life-threatening illness! They wanted to promote me to be the pastor again, but I still didn't want to, so I came to Chinese Mingding Destiny. Isn't this a scary place?

People have a very fatal problem: everyone can be wrong except themselves. If they cannot find a reason for their mistakes, it is the fault of the moon, the stars, the sun; they themselves are practically the truth. Have you ever met such people? So I tell you why God does not hear prayers? Because everything in the church is done according to people's will, and one of these things is violating oaths. Now you know why God doesn't want you to swear oaths, right? You forget after you swear, but God does not. What should you do after you violate your oath? It is very difficult! You say: This is the New Testament! But the God of the New Testament and the God of the Old Testament are the same God. Swearing oaths is not allowed.

Now there are many people making false oaths, and the entire church in the world is in chaos. So everyone must know that everything has a reason. Don't ask God why this is happening? Heavens! Why is this happening? Stop asking such questions. If bad things happen to you, God did not make a mistake, and neither did the demons; you made the mistake yourself. You ask me: How do you know? Because I have encountered these unlucky people, and I began to understand their situation.

A Taiwanese girl came to Singapore to work in finance, helping people manage their investments. She helped a client buy twenty stocks and make twenty investments, creating a portfolio. Nineteen of them were profitable, and only one lost money. Overall, it was still profitable, but the client sued her, reasoning that the losses should be her responsibility, while the profits belonged to the client.

She poured out her grievances to me with tears and a runny nose, and I felt sorry for her. She also told me about her home in Taiwan, where the upstairs neighbors had converted the space above her master bedroom into a flushing toilet area. The sound of flushing was very loud, and the upstairs neighbors did not buy a silent toilet, so the noise was even louder. Whenever the upstairs neighbors flushed, she could hear the sound while sleeping below, and it made her feel disgusted. She sued the upstairs neighbors in court, but the court ruled against her. Who would encounter such a situation where a bedroom is turned into a toilet? Only she had such bad luck, encountering these troubles.

She poured out her grievances to me with tears and a runny nose, and I led her in prayer. God told me, She is withholding her tithes from God. I asked her, Are you withholding your tithes from God? She got angry with me. I said, I only see that you are unlucky and am asking you. Why are you getting angry? Later, she told me that she had given the tithes meant for God to the poor, beggars, and panhandlers. Where are there panhandlers now? Isn't a panhandler a scammer? You gave what belongs to God to these people. We don't know how much you really gave, and it's not called tithing. Can she not be unlucky? I ministered to her several times, and later she stopped coming to me because I wanted to remove her sin, but she refused to admit that she had sin. How can this path continue? Let her do whatever she wants; let her be unlucky to death if she wants to.

It is good that I am preaching on the topic of Remove Sin, and God Will Hear the People's Requests! The many stories I just told were to illustrate that there is a reason why God does not hear people's prayers. If you are unlucky among us, you must be especially careful and know that spiritual principles cannot be violated. For example, the Bible says:

Judge not, that you be not judged. (Matthew 7:1)

A child went to Japan on vacation, saw a person with Tourette's syndrome making strange noises in their throat and twitching their muscles, and laughed at them. As a result, the child got the same disease. Isn't that unlucky? What do you gain by laughing at others? This is called judging others, and you will be judged. I have noticed that many sisters do not like their mothers, feeling that their mother has given birth to a rival in love. This is not what I am saying; it is said in short videos.

If you have a bad relationship with your mother and do not like her, you will live more and more like her. The reason is that judging others will result in being judged. From now on, do not judge others; know that everything has a reason. You say: Isn't this karma? Don't think that only Buddhism has karma. It is a natural law in the world, as accurate as gravity.

Violating Oaths Can Cause God to Not Hear Prayers

Violating oaths can cause God to not hear prayers, but you must see how big and how heavy the oath is. Israel had a famine for three years, and of course, some people starved to death; that was their fault! Did no one pray for three years? Yes! People prayed from the first day, but no matter how you prayed, God would not listen. After three years, they couldn't bear it anymore! Although David did not go hungry in the palace, during three years of natural disasters, if the central leaders were hungry, could they still lead the nation? But the common people suffered. Why did God not hear prayers? Because of violating an oath.

How did this oath come about? David inquired of the Lord, and God told him: This famine is because Saul killed the Gibeonites, committing the sin of shedding blood; he must have killed quite a few. These Gibeonites cursed him every day and prayed to God to avenge them: We did nothing, but Saul killed many of us! For example, Pol Pot killed millions of Cambodians.

The Gibeonites did nothing, so why did Saul kill them? Because the Gibeonites had deceived the Israelites. Later, the Israelites swore not to kill the Gibeonites. In other words, once an oath is made, never touch it. However, there was a public sentiment running among the Israelites that they felt annoyed that the Gibeonites were mixed in with them.

The Jews are a very terrible race, feeling that others are unclean and only they are clean. Although their hygiene habits are quite good, their thoughts and intentions are dirty. So during Saul's time, the Israelites did not like the Gibeonites, so they killed them. Why did Saul kill the Gibeonites? He was catering to public opinion, showing zeal for the people. Did the Gibeonites provoke anyone? They provoked no one! Saul killed them, and it felt good when he killed them. But did he not know that this was a curse? Did he not know that this was violating an oath? Did he not know that this was very dangerous? So catering to public opinion is often a tragedy. Why? Because as long as it is the common people, as long as a group of people are together watching something lively and then clamoring together, people become stupid.

In other words, what would happen if another Hitler emerged? Germany would return to what it was before. Back then, the people extremely worshiped Hitler, treating him like a deity, and he ultimately led Germany into World War II. So this thing, in any generation, is very dangerous. What I mean is that public opinion is often not necessarily God's will.

Saul had a bad habit: he relied on the people, not on God. He catered to public opinion, and as a result, he killed a large number of Gibeonites. The Gibeonites were constantly calling out to God, asking God to uphold justice for them! For many years while God was upholding justice for them, they were constantly complaining behind the scenes. I think: Our brothers and sisters must know that if you swear an oath, and after swearing, you violate the oath, if the other party is constantly complaining about you for this matter, I think your prayers will be in trouble. So: Violating oaths and committing sins will hinder God from hearing our prayers.

Brothers and sisters, be careful with your words. If we still have problems, we must be strict with our speech. Because inappropriate words are very dangerous. If your problems have not been resolved, it is because God is not hearing your prayers. I think you should seek the reason more! People should reflect during unlucky days! This has been going on for three years, and some people say that the common people are innocent; it was Saul who did it! Why did Saul do it? Because Saul catered to the public opinion of Israel, so the people suffered along with him. Those who starved to death, God will not make a mistake, and neither will the demons; we made the mistake ourselves. This logic has become the ultimate truth of Chinese Mingding Destiny. From now on, be careful. Once God does not hear your prayers, you should reflect more.

Seek God, and God Will Surely Reveal to You

Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, “It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.” (2 Samuel 21:1)

If you encounter something and immediately shout, God! Why did this happen to me? that is definitely not seeking; that is complaining, feeling that God is unfair to you. In fact, this is absolutely fair. In other words, maybe you did not do this yourself, but it definitely has something to do with your ancestors. So when David sought God, did he reason with God? Did David say, God! These people were killed by Saul; what does it have to do with me? David did not do that. David thought about it; Saul killed the Gibeonites back then, and even more cruelly, he wanted to exterminate the Gibeonites. As a result, when David sought God, he received this revelation.

So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah. (2 Samuel 21:2)

God has already revealed to David that the people of Judah and Israel were zealous, and they wanted to kill the Gibeonites. The reason for the famine was the violation of the oath, which was not a joke; it was shaming the name of God. As a result, David went to the Gibeonites and asked them: What should I do? So, if your problem has not been resolved, do not blame God for not revealing it to you, or say that God does not want to reveal it to you. God eagerly wants to tell you the root of the problem, but did you listen? If you are a foolish person, you cannot hear it even if God tells you. Can you hear it if people tell you?

Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?” (2 Samuel 21:3)

So I often say: There are too many situations where God does not hear prayers. Back in the church I was committed to, God did not listen to prayers at that time. I thought: What kind of church is this? This church is not good. So if you want to receive God's revelation, you must remove sin.

Removing Sin is Key

Everyone must not think that you are good enough. Even if you are good enough, your previous generation may not be good enough. Do you think the people of Israel are not bad? In fact, the people of Israel are quite bad. Everyone must not think that the people of Israel are worse than you. Although the people of Israel are bad, they are the best among all the people in the world. In other words, the bad ones are much worse than them. If you were an Israelite, you would not be as good as him. This is not a joke. Even today, Jews still keep the law of Moses. Whether they keep it well or not, they can still persevere. How well do we Chinese keep it?

There is a story like this: A family raised an ox. During a flood, this ox carried the family away, preventing them from being drowned. After the flood, the family swore that they would never eat beef again. But by the second generation, they started eating it. What oath or no oath? Let's eat! People today are probably in this situation. This is us Chinese. So how should we remove sin? The emergence of a problem must be related to sin, but we forget after we swear an oath. This can be accomplished not only in spiritual matters but also in matters related to evil spirits; the logic is the same.

Once, during my ministry, the demon manifested and said to me, Do you know about your maternal uncle? I have a maternal uncle, and I said I knew. The demon asked if I knew how he died. I said he was killed by a car. In those days, it was rare for a car to kill someone. The demon said my maternal uncle was killed by it. The demon then asked if I knew why it killed him. It was because one of his ancestors was sent to the palace to be a concubine of the emperor, maybe even an empress. I don’t know which dynasty it was. Her family made a vow at that time, but later they did not fulfill their promise, so the demon messed with him. Therefore, the precious blood of Jesus is to remove sin.

The demon also asked if I knew my maternal aunt. I said I knew. I remember this clearly. When I was little, I saw my maternal aunt wheezing all the time. She wasn't very old, but she died at the age of 60. The demon said, do you know why she was wheezing? It was all done by it. Some people might ask, why do you still listen to the demon? Actually, what the demon said was true. So, the demon uses a scale to measure people. Do you know what a big weight and a small weight are? It’s about shortchanging people, and those are curses. If the demon doesn't mess with you, who else would it mess with?

The Gibeonites answered them, “It is not about silver or gold that we have with Saul or his family, and it is not for us to put anyone in Israel to death.” David said, “Whatever you say I will do for you.” They said to the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted our destruction, so that we have no place anywhere in Israel, let seven men from among his sons be given to us, and we will execute them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, the Lord’s chosen one.” And the king said, “I will give them.” (2 Samuel 21:4-6)

I think removing sin is key. So, what should we do? The Gibeonites said, Give us seven people from Saul's family, and we will let them shed blood and sacrifice. The Gibeonites didn't ask for too much, and it wasn't easy to gather seven people, because there weren't many people left in Saul's family at this time. In the end, they found seven people to sacrifice, so that they could atone for this sin before the Lord and bless the Israelites from then on.

What were they doing before that? They were cursing the Israelites all day long, shouting before God, God! Didn't He promise not to kill us? Why are they killing so many of us? I think if there were more than a million people, killing hundreds of thousands is no joke, but the Gibeonites only wanted seven people, and only people from Saul's family, because Saul was zealous for Israel and Judah.

During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the Lord. The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.” (2 Samuel 21:1)

In fact, the people of Israel removed their sin by shedding the blood of these seven people. This whole chapter is very interesting. It's about the oath that the Israelites made with the Gibeonites many years ago, which was violated during Saul's reign. During David's reign, there was a three-year famine, and they couldn't get through it. If this problem was not solved, it might continue for 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 years... then it would be completely over! Fortunately, there was David, because David sought God, and God revealed it to him. Then David singled out seven people from Saul's family and handed them over to the Gibeonites.

David Remembered the Oath He Had Sworn to Jonathan

The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul. (2 Samuel 21:7)

Do you all remember the oath that David and Jonathan made to each other? It happened. David left Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, and he certainly couldn't hand him over. If David handed over Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, what do you think would happen? The matter would be over. In order to redeem one sin, another sin was committed. This is simply a chain of oaths, and the result is unsolvable. If you create a chain of oaths, it will also be unsolvable. So, the fifth point is: David remembered the oath he had sworn to Jonathan. Why is this so? Because David understood this matter of oath clearly. Once an oath is made, it must be kept immediately. Don't bring up useless things, these are all spiritual matters.

So Jonathan's son Mephibosheth escaped a disaster. Otherwise, in order to solve one oath, another oath would be violated, and the result would be troublesome. If David really handed Mephibosheth over, it would be ruined, and the famine would continue. In those days, David and Jonathan made an oath as they talked. Many years after David became king, he did not forget the oath he had made with Jonathan.

Regardless of whether David was enjoying delicious food and drinks in the palace, and Solomon was already several years old at this time, it is important to remember the oath he had made, which cannot be taken as a joke. It is a common phenomenon for people to break oaths. Jesus said: Don't swear! You can't keep the oath, and then you'll be unlucky, so don't swear from now on. Some things happen that are related to oaths and the sin of shedding blood, which are quite deadly.

Rizpah and David Did What Pleased God

Who is Rizpah? She is the daughter of Saul's concubine Aiah. Saul and Aiah had a daughter named Rizpah, and what she did was very interesting.

Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out on a rock for herself, from the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down on the bodies from the heavens. She did not allow the birds of the sky to touch them by day or the wild animals by night. (2 Samuel 21:10)

Rizpah is really amazing. We might think: What's the point of doing these things after people are dead? But even after people die, they should be given some dignity! This dignity is not for the dead, but for the living. Therefore:

When David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, Saul’s concubine, had done, he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the people of Jabesh Gilead. They had stolen them from the public square of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa. David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed. He buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land. (2 Samuel 21:11-14)

You may not understand why this is so, and you may not understand the logic in it, but you must know that Saul was a man who broke his faith. If it were an ordinary person, they might dig Saul out of his grave and whip his corpse, because he caused the people of Israel to suffer a famine for three years. This is normal human logic, but David did not do this. When he saw what Rizpah had done, he felt that he had to bring the bones of Saul and Jonathan and bury them in the tomb of his father Kish. Although Saul brought many disasters to the Israelites, David did not judge him, nor did he feel that it was because of Saul that such and such things happened. There are many logics inside people that seem normal, but they are a cursed logic, because that is judgment.

David is amazing. Although Saul broke his faith, David still gave Saul a generous burial. Those who shed blood for the sins of the Israelites were the seven descendants of Saul, and David collected their bodies. If you can't understand David's actions, you can ponder them slowly! It is a tragedy for a person not to understand spiritual principles in their life! Saul was extremely confused about spiritual principles, but David was extremely clear about spiritual principles.

Brothers and sisters, if you often judge people and say: Alas! I suffer these sins because of him. What do you think will happen? What you said may be true, but God may give you a negation of reality. Why? There must be principle! Rizpah treated the dead with principle, let alone the living? David was moved by this. Did David treat Rizpah well later? I think he would definitely treat her well, because she is a righteous person, and she did something principled. David was moved by this and gave Saul a generous burial.

Does this matter have anything to do with God hearing David's prayer? Definitely. If David obeyed the public opinion of the Israelites: We suffer these sins because of Saul. What would be the result? Then it would be ruined. Therefore, Chinese Mingding Destiny never conforms to public opinion, but only conforms to God's will. Some people say that I am too domineering. Why do I have to be domineering? Because public opinion is a dangerous thing. I am also imitating the Apostle Paul, not concealing anything from everyone. Even if I offend you, I have to say it. If you don't agree, go wherever you want. If you know that what I do is for the benefit of everyone, you will think it is a good thing.

There is no public opinion in Chinese Mingding Destiny churches. Why didn't God often answer prayers in the original church? Because it conformed to public opinion. Do you know that there are elections in churches? That is public opinion. If you conform to public opinion, you will definitely suffer a lot. I guess you should be someone like King Saul.

There is a pastor who is very interesting. He wanted to learn my ministry, but he couldn't learn it. When he encouraged people to study Genesis and led people to pray and minister, his wife and children glared at him, and he immediately withered. Why? He conformed to public opinion, which is moral bondage! Rizpah and David both did what pleased God, but some people don't even let the dead go, and they identify good and evil even in the dead. But David never conformed to public opinion, nor did he identify good and evil. After that, God heard the prayers of the people.

In our church, you must also know for sure why God hears our prayers. Why are there so many testimonies? Because our church has a very deep understanding of sin. Recently, when I was talking about sin, I described sin as a demon. Why? Because sin is something in the spiritual realm. It is a demon. The Bible says:

If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it. (Genesis 4:7)

The demon expulsion in this stage is to deal with the deep-rooted sin in us. If you start to deal with it, the demon will manifest, and after the manifestation, you will be released. There are so many people among us who judge others! If someone like Saul offends God, you still want to be zealous for God and identify good and evil. Isn't this very deadly? God doesn't need you to be zealous for Him. What God needs is for you to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. I hope that all brothers and sisters can know God's will and never conform to sin and lies from now on. Then God will hear the prayers of the people, and even the prayers of a child among us will be effective.

Remove Sin, and God Will Hear the Prayers of the People

David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed. He buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land. (2 Samuel 21:13-14)

David has set a good example for us, so let's learn slowly!

God Gave Victory to the Israelites

In the course of time, the Philistines were at war again with Israel. Sibbekai the Hushathite struck down Saph, one of the descendants of the giants, and the Philistines were subdued. In another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod. In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him. These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men. (2 Samuel 21:18-22)

In those days, there were giants in the Philistine army. You need to know that in today's boxing, 100 kilograms is called heavyweight, and 60 kilograms is called featherweight or lightweight. You need to know that heavyweight and lightweight cannot be compared, because they are not at the same level. What are giants like? They weigh 300 kilograms, are 3 meters tall, and have six fingers on each hand, like carrots. They are descendants of giants and are very powerful. The weapons in their hands are tall, big, and heavy, and we ordinary people can't even move them. They look really scary.

If you punch them, they feel like a mosquito bite. If they slap you, it's 200-300 pounds of force. But the Israelites were amazing! A few warriors could stand up and kill the giants. It's not because of anything else, it's because God heard the prayers of the Israelites, and God gave victory to the Israelites! It's not because the Israelites were skilled in martial arts, it's because God reigned in the middle of their battles.

There is a movie called Dragon Inn. It says: In martial arts, speed is the only way to break through. No matter whether the opponent is 1.7 meters or 1.8 meters, as long as they are fast and flexible, they can win and knock the giant down, because the battle between the two armies depends on the spiritual realm. Later, I pondered that the more people who practice martial arts, the more they feel that they have a spirit in their body, and their martial arts will be very powerful. God enabled the Israelites to kill many giants and give them victory, because people removed their sins, so God heard their prayers and worked behind the scenes. Brothers and sisters, you must never live in sin from now on!

May God bless everyone!