Five Keys To Answered Prayer

Intro

In this message we will review five keys to answered prayer. When we make our requests to God, we are not just fulfilling a religious duty. We are interacting with our Heavenly Father concerning a perceived need. Our petition is not effective until we either get the answer or get counsel from God that we are praying amiss. If we are praying amiss, we correct that so that we are praying a prayer that God will answer.

Sometimes we think we know what needs to happen, but as we pray God gives better insight. When that happens, we adjust the prayer so that we are in alignment with his counsel. This happened to Paul. Let’s read about his experience in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”i

It is understandable that Paul would think the removal of this “messenger of Satan” would be according to God’s will. As an apostle, Paul was on the Lord’s mission to reach the lost and establish Christians in the faith. But this evil spirit opposed him every step of the way. Paul said this messenger of Satan would “buffet” him. Kolaphizo is the Greek word translated buffet. It means “1) to strike with the fist, give one a blow with the fist 2) to maltreat, treat with violence and contumely.”ii The NIV translates it “torment.”

If there is anything I would assume God wants us rid of, it would be a messenger of Satan that is aggressively harassing us. Often when Paul would go into a city to evangelize the lost, this evil spirit would stir up persecution against him. The opposition was fierce. Surely, God would want to remove that opposition. Surely, Paul could be more effective without that to contend with.

This passage demonstrates the necessity of listening to the Lord when we prayer. Prayer is not just us telling God what we want him to do. Prayer is two-way communication. We are speaking to God, but more importantly, he is speaking to us. God answered Paul’s prayer, but not the way he expected. God revealed to Paul why he was not removing the messenger of Satan. Paul shares that revelation in verse 7: “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me.”

Who would have thought it? This difficulty was a gift from God. It was given as a protection against pride. To become prideful is a much worse fate than to be harassed with a problem. By pride, the archangel became a devil.iii Paul had many wonderful experiences with God and amazing revelations. There is a tendency in anyone to take pride in such things. But God loved Paul too much to let that happen. With one word, God could have removed that messenger of Satan. But in his wisdom, he outsmarted the devil and used the opposition as a protection for Paul. What appeared to be so bad, God worked for Paul’s good (Rom. 8:28).iv

So, what did Paul do? He adjusted to God’s way of thinking. God told Paul that he would sustain him so that he could endure the trial. In verse 9, Paul reports the assurance that God gave him: “And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’" In that trial, Paul would feel is own insufficiency; trust in the Lord, and God’s strength would be fully adequate for Paul.

Paul follows up with description of his changed way of thinking concerning this matter. He follows up with two “therefores.” Verse 9: "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” People want the power of God to operate in their lives, but they are usually not willing to have the whole package. There is a price to pay. It’s worth it. But it is costly. Paul would rather be useful to God with the trials than to be carefree and unfruitful.

The second “therefore” is in verse 10: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” That gives us insight on the details of the buffeting. It probably included “infirmities, . . .reproaches . . . needs, . . . persecutions . . .distresses.” Paul not only accepted God’s plan for him, but he gladly boasted (NIV: delight) in it all. With this revealed understanding of what God was doing, he could rejoice that the Father’s will was being done.