Faith That Doesn't Quit Series

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How do you pray for the glory of God?

It’s more than just putting “for your glory” in your prayers… what’s the essence of it?

Luke chapter 11… (Set the scene.)

Lu 11:5 Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'

Now, let me stop here and say, when I read this over a year ago during my soul-searching time, I was immediately struck by those words “in his journey”… Every Sunday, I have people come to me who life has brought on a long journey.

There’s a teenager who helped steal a car at age 12… and wrecked it. The police were not impressed. He’s awaiting trial… he comes on a long journey.

There’s the tall African-American guy who prayed to be saved at our Christmas service and is battling a marijuana addiction. Two weeks ago, his cousin killed his ex-girlfriend and their two kids before taking his own life. Two months ago, another cousin was gunned down in a shooting. He sits in church, and he’s come to me on a long journey!

And the problem is, I can’t give them what they need.

My cupboards are empty.

And so, I do what this man did – I run to a friend who I think will help. And I say, “God, you’ve got to save this person… you’ve got to pour out your grace and change their mind and their heart! You’ve got to save them!! They’ve come to me on a long journey, and I CAN’T give them what they need!”

Are you convinced that _________you have nothing________ to meet your own need, or the needs of those who come to you?

7 "Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.'

And God says “NO.” I don’t like this at all, in the human. If God would let me erase one verse in the bible, this might be the one.

WHY does he say no?

Is it because he doesn’t love us? Doesn’t care?

Is it because it is not his will to save?

NO ---- it is something else.

Sometimes God answers NO to see what will happen IN US!

Let’s look at it next.

8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend,

Don’t miss that… there are some prayers God will not answer for you because you are a Christian…. There are some prayers God WILL NOT ANSWER because you are a member of the holiness movement, or even the CHM, or because you’re a Bible Methodist or Pilgrim holiness or God’s Missionary!

So what will make God answer?

yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

What does it mean by boldness?

Boldness is an attitude of audacious persistence.

What kind of idiot do you have to be to stay and knock again.

What would you think of me if I knocked on your door at 2 am and asked for a loaf of bread, and you said, “Not now.” And I WOULDN’T LEAVE?

IMPORTUNITY is born in a desperate, self-empty desire to see God glorified in answering your prayers. To have importunity, you have to be conscious that your cupboards are bare!

Wilma didn't get much of a head start in life. A bout with polio left her left leg crooked and her foot twisted inward so she had to wear leg braces. After seven years of painful therapy, she could walk without her braces. At age 12 Wilma tried out for a girls basketball team, but didn't make it. Determined, she practiced with a girlfriend and two boys every day. The next year she made the team. When a college track coach saw her during a game, he talked her into letting him train her as a runner. By age 14 she had outrun the fastest sprinters in the U.S. In 1956 Wilma made the U.S. Olympic team, but showed poorly. That bitter disappointment motivated her to work harder for the 1960 Olympics in Rome--and there Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals, the most a woman had ever won.

Today in the Word, Moody Bible Institute, Jan, 1992, p.10.

One of the most important things about your prayer life is WHAT YOU DO AFTER GOD SAYS NO.