Bad Reception - Unanswered Prayer #2 Series

He prayed earnestly.

He really believed that if God remained silent, his life would be empty and without purpose.

David wasn’t faking this.

He wasn’t putting on an act in front of God.

Because earnest prayer isn’t about form, it is about substance.

So – that’s the first kind of wrong thinking – not praying earnestly.

The 2nd kind of wrong thinking is this:

Praying for OUR will to be done rather than God’s.

In James we read:

“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:3

Why does James say these folks don’t get what they’re praying for?

They prayed with “wrong motives.

They prayed so they can receive God’s power to spend on their agendas.

Now that does seem a bit odd.

I mean, if praying TO God you’d think I’d asking God to have His way in my life.

But most people don’t think that way.

Most people think – God loves me.

If God loves me then He’ll want what I want for my life.

AND if God loves me…

He’ll want to give me what I want, when I want it, the way I want it.

ILLUS: Some time ago I was at a gathering where there were a few kids from our children’s youth group. These kids know me and trust me. And they enjoy being around me.

One of the little girls came up to me and asked if I could give her a couple of quarters for a game she wanted to play there. She asked politely and I had the quarters – so I gave them to her.

Seeing this, one of the little boys came up to me and asked me for some money. I said I didn’t have any but after awhile I’d get some change and give him some. But he kept pressing me, thinking I might have been holding back.

Now, I’m not sure why he did what he did next, but he began to reach into my pocket to see if he could find any quarters I might have overlooked!

Now I like this kid.

And if I’d have had a couple of quarters at the time – I’d have given them to him. But there was something uncomfortable about what he did.

This kid came to me thinking:

“He likes me… he’ll give me what I want… when I want… the way I want it.”

But I wasn’t comfortable with the way he asked.

He wasn’t even my own kid for pity’s sake

But even if he had been my own child, I wouldn’t given it to him because he was approaching it all wrong.

And that’s what James is saying about our prayer life

James is telling us that God won’t answer us if we approach God wrong - if we come to Him with the wrong attitude.

What’s the WRONG attitude?

The wrong attitude is coming to God asking for OUR will to be done.

Smart pray-ers don’t do things that way.

Smart pray-ers listen to the advice of the Apostle John when he said:

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to HIS WILL, he hears us.” 1 John 5:14

In other words, the first thing I need to ask myself before petitioning God is this:

“Why should God WANT to answer my prayer?”

Now… that’s how David prayed here in Psalm 28.

In verse 2 he says: “Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.”