"God's Answer Is No!"

13 June 2004

U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris

CP Walker, Taegu South Korea

BIG IDEA: TO MOTIVATE THE HEARERS TO AFFIRM TO OTHERS THAT WHEN GOD SAYS NO, IT’S BECAUSE HE SEES THE BIG PICTURE OR HE HAS A BETTER PLAN.

REFERENCES: 2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10; Habakkuk 1:1-12 (… problems with UNASWERED PRAYERS); Romans 8:28 (All things work together …); Psalms 22:1 (My God My God …); 1 Peter 1:7; Proverbs 16:4 (God has made all things for himself even the wicked for the day of evil); Matthews 26:26-42 (… pass this cup from me, nevertheless …); Luke 22:39-44 (pass this cup from me, nevertheless …); Hebrews 11:39-40 (Saints commended, yet none of them received what was promised); James 4:1-6 (How we should pray); Hebrews 4:13 (He knows about everyone, everywhere; nothing can be hidden from him); Isaiah 55:8-9 (God ways and thoughts are higher than ours…);

I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: 2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10 & JOB 13:15A

II. READ THE PERICOPE: 2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10 & JOB 13:15A

III. READ THE TEXT: 2 Corinthians 12:8-9b (For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness). & Job 13:15a (Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:…)

IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to TRUST GOD.

V. SERMONIC THEME: “God’s Answer Is No!”

INTRODUCTION:

( A great writer, Claudia Minden Weisz, once wrote a poem dubbed, “AND GOD SAID NO” in that poem Claudia says:

I asked God to take away my pride, and GOD said, No.

He said it was not for Him to take away, but for me to give up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole, and God said, No.

He said her spirit is whole, her body is only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience, and God said, No.

He said that patience is a by-product of tribulation; it isn’t granted, it’s earned.

I asked God to give me happiness, and God said, No. He said He gives blessings; happiness is up to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow, and God said, No He said I must grow on my own, but He will prune me to make me more fruitful.

I asked God if He loved me, and God said, YES!!! He gave His only Son who died for me, and I will be in heaven someday because I believe.

I asked God to help me love others as much as He loves me, and God said,

“Ah, finally, you have the idea).” End of quote.

*********************TAKE 5 BEATS**********************

MOVE 1: Now, my brothers and my sisters … if you haven’t struggled with GOD’S ANSWER “NO” then you haven’t lived long OR PRAYED MUCH.

a. FOR YOU SEE … GOD HAS NO RESPECT OF PERSONS; AND I KNOW THAT I (myself) HAVE FREQUENTLY PRAYED FOR TROUBLE

MARRIAGES AND YET THEY FELL APART…

b. I HAVE PRAYED IN FAITH OVER SICK PEOPLE THAT I LOVED, AND SOME DIDN’T GET WELL.

c. WHEN MY MOTHER WAS ILL WITH LYMPHOMA CANCER … I

EARNESTLY PRAYED WITH ALL MY MIGHT; AND GOD STILL SAID NO. I WRESTLED OVER HER DEATH.

d. BECAUSE … I KNOW THAT I PRAYED FOR HER … BUT WHAT WENT WRONG … WHY DID MY MOTHER HAVE TO DIE?

***********************TAKE 5 BEATS********************

MOVE 2: Likewise …I submit to you this afternoon that … Many believers have a misunderstanding about … prayer. For you see …. Some people think prayer is kind of like God in Aladdin’s lamp. While others think … that God is a genie and you kind of rub the prayer bowl … and God comes out and says, “Your wish is My command!”

a. But I submit to YOU my brother and my sisters … That if that was possible … it would actually make God your servant.

b. IT REVERSES THE ROLES. But, … God does not exist to fulfill every whim of OUR life. INSTEAD, WE exist to serve Him.)

c. IN OUR TEXT THIS AFTERNOON, we find the Apostle Paul earnestly praying for God to release him from his NAGGING AND PAINFUL TRIAL

d. BUT, his request was NOT GRANTED.

e. INSTEAD, GOD’S ANSWER WAS NO!

f. Therefore, instead of relief, AND AN AFFIRMING YES ANSWER TO HIS PRAYERS, PAUL RECEIVED … HOPE AND SUFFICIENT GRACE TO CARRY HIS SUFFERING AND TO ENABLE HIM TO ENDURE THE TRIAL.

g. FOR GOD’S DIVINE POWER IS MADE PERFECT IN OUR WEAKNESS AND THROUGH OUR DEPENDENTS ON HIM.

*******************TAKE 5 BEATS***********************

MOVE 3: THE BIBLE SAYS PAUL HAD PRAYED 3 TIMES.

a. Like Job, Paul had suffer great physical affliction.

b. You may recall , in Galatian 4:13-14, Paul told Galatian that he knows that THEY LOVED HIM SO MUCH THAT if it HAD BEEN POSSIBLE … they would have plucked their own EYES OUT AND GIVEN THEM TO HIM THAT HE MIGHT SEE.