Review Series:
Temptation to—
Compare ourselves with others
Ignore our spiritual roles
To believe the God does not care—doubt
To be important—at the center of attention
To ignore our marriage vows
To be discontented with God’s provision
And Today—to doubt that God is listening to our prayers
Good news 1 Corinthians 10:13(MSG)
(1) Prayer is one of the most neglected spiritual disciplines.
(a) Typically, we pray before meals and when we are called upon to pray.
(b) Sometimes, we pray when things are bad.
(c) Nevertheless, we often fail to have the attitude where we pray without ceasing—a somewhat constant conversation with God.
1 Thess. 5.16-18 “Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
(2) Why do we neglect prayer?
(a) Maybe we feel that God knows anyway, so why should we pray?
--but that is an excuse to hide the fact that we are undisciplined in prayer
(1) God commands us pray.
(2) Prayer helps us realize our dependence on God.
(3) Further, it is only a blessing that Christians can enjoy
1 Pet. 3.12 “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer…”
(b) Maybe we fail to understand how God answers prayer.
--Ever feel like the heavens were made of brass? Like the prayers you just offered rang back at you? Ever wonder if He was listening at all? I think all of us have gone through times like that..
You need to know this morning that
I. He does not answer our prayers begrudgingly
(Matt. 7.7-8): “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; hew who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Why don’t you and I break through in our prayer lives? Perhaps it is because we quit too early.
1. Our God is not bothered when we ask; rather, He tells us to ask.
a. All three imperatives here (ask, seek and knock) are in the present tense, “which indicates continuous, persistent prayer”
b. Remember the parable of the persistent widow who changed the judge’s mind by her persistence (Luke 18.1-8).
Jesus tells this parable of the widow who keeps going to the judge for justice—finally the judge does what she asks because, he said to himself, “ I will see that she gets justice, so that she wont eventually wear me out with her coming.” And Jesus said—“And will not God bring about justice for his [children]?
2. Paul says, “Pray continually” (1 Thess. 5.17).
3. James 5:16 tells us, “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much”
4. As R. A. Torrey wrote, “If we put so little heart into our prayers, we cannot expect God to put much heart into answering them.”
B. Our God wants us to talk to Him.
1. This extends far beyond prayers for food, etc.
2. Think of Jesus’ prayer as recorded in John 17.—Jesus prays for his himself, his disciples, even us!
3. This should not be “some mechanical, memorized declaration or speech” (Matt. 6.7).—not a formula for making God move—heartfelt cry of the heart and mind
And this morning you need to know that
II. He does not belittle us (Matt. 7.9-10): will you give your son a stone for bread?
A. Have you ever asked a dumb question?
1. Teachers say that no question is a dumb question.
2. Not everyone sees it that way because you can be teased.
3. Sometimes you can get someone angry by asking certain things.
B. God does not act that way; rather, He is glad to have us ask Him.
C. Further, God will not answer our prayers in an inappropriate, unloving manner.
1. He will not inflict evil upon us for our asking of Him.
2. He will not give us that which we do not need—selfish praying doesn’t work.
3. He will not give us that which will harm us.
III. God has a giving heart (Matt. 7.11):
A. If human fathers can give appropriate gifts to their children, then how much greater can our heavenly father do for us?
1. He is able to bless us with more than we can even imagine.
2. Remember Solomon who prayed for wisdom and was given wisdom but also riches and honor (cf. 1 Kings 3.13).
B. Why do I feel that God doesn’t answer sometimes?
1. Did we ask in faith?
James 1.5-6 “If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God, who gives generously without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind.”
a. Mark tells us to believe that we will receive that for which we pray
b. We are to pray as if God has already begun to work
2. Did we ask with sin in our lives?
1 Pet. 3.12 “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
3. Did we ask according to the will of God?
a. Not my will but yours be done, Lord—Just as Jesus in the garden—many times we are not willing to say that—so we pray narrowly—we pray for our desired result, excluding how God might choose to work out our situation
b. Jesus prayed for the cup to be removed but that the Father’s will be done and the cup was not removed (Luke 22).
c. Remember Paul who prayed for his thorn in the flesh to be removed but it was not
(2 Cor. 12).
d. God seems to answer our prayers in one of 4 ways:
If the request is wrong, God says: No
If the timing is wrong, God says: Slow (this is the hardest)—where we must persist—keep praying through
If you are wrong, God says: Grow—Not an easy answer either, but we know its good for us—this is when God says, I am not removing the trial, you are to grow through it
If the request is right, the timing is right and you are right, God says: Go!
An unknown confederate soldier wrote:
I asked God for strength that I might achieve
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey
I asked for health that I might do greater things
I was given infirmity that I might do better things
I asked for riches that I might be happy
I was given poverty that I might be wise
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life
I was given life that I might enjoy all things
I got nothing that I asked for – but everything I had hoped for
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered
I am among all men most richly blessed.
g. As W. Barclay wrote, “True prayer is asking God for what He wants.”
-- God does hear and answer prayer this morning. When we are tempted to doubt that, we need to turn to the Scriptures that tell us that He does, We need to turn to other believers that will encourage us, and we probably need to spend some time on our knees being patient in prayer.
When you are in the crisis and trial, and you cannot see out, you cannot see how God is going to change your problem, any supposed delay on God’s part seems like an eternity. But the more I know the Lord, I can see over and over that God’s timing is perfect.
It seems like a waste to talk about prayer and not actually pray. This morning we are going to pray but I am going to ask you to participate in prayer a bit differently. First of all I am going to invite you to the altars if you feel you need to present your need to God. And you can come even now and begin praying.
But as I pray this morning—if what I am praying for touches your life I want you to stand while I pray for you—if you can—as a sign of obedience to God that you are listening to him and that you want his work in your life. You may stand more than once while we pray.
Praise
Pray for Persecuted Church around the world
Pray for our missionaries—Czech, Mexico, Haiti, Papua New Guinea, India, Sierra Leone
Children
Parents of little children
Teens
Parents of teens
Single, Divorced, Widowed
Work trials
Personal Health needs
Concern for other’s health needs
Finances
Outreach efforts of our church—Wild Game Dinner, Christmas Musical
Those we are reaching out to—co-workers, neighbors, family members who don’t know Christ
Wisdom in next steps for our lives
