April, 2007
Why Christians Fail to Receive
Matthew 7:7-14
INTRODUCTION: There are many reasons why Christians fail to receive answers to their prayers. Some people say, “If you had enough faith you would have received.” Then when people don’t receive, they feel guilty and say, “It was my fault because I didn’t have enough faith.”
The scriptures give other reasons as to why we may fail to receive answers. Many people are not convinced that God WANTS to answer their prayer. Our scripture in Matthew assures us that God does WANT to answer our prayer. Jesus taught his disciples to Ask, and to Seek, and to Knock and the door will be opened unto you. He said, “for everyone who asks receives, and the person who seeks finds, and the person who knocks, the door will be opened.” He lets these people know that God is GLAD to give good gifts to them who ask Him even more than an earthly parent wants to give good things and not evil to their children. If God wants to answer our prayers, why do we fail to receive so much of the time? Does this scripture apply to us today? I would like to look at five reasons for why we often don’t receive.
1. A Lack of Persistence: Someone asked, “If God already knows our need before we ask, why do we have to ASK in the first place?” God wants to see if our need is important enough to us to ASK Him to do something about it. Is it important enough to us to ask more than once? Is it important enough to KNOCK until someone comes to the door? In another scripture in Luke we have the same idea of the need for persistence. A woman went to a friend’s house and knocked on the door asking for three loaves of bread. The friend said, “Don’t bother me. I’m in bed and the door is locked” (Luke 11:5).
If the person just says, “OK and goes on home, that person will go without.” But if the person knocks and knocks, the friend gets up and says, “Oh, all right. Because you are buggin’ me to death, I’ll go ahead and get it for you.”
Because of the woman’s boldness and persistence in this scripture, she got the loaves of bread. Let us not do without because we quit too soon. Keep praying and holding on for the answers you need. Our prayers must be IMPORTANT to us. They must matter enough that we are persistent until we hear from heaven.
Our scripture today goes beyond a few half hearted “ho hum” prayers. In this scripture of Asking, Seeking, and Knocking, we can see a progression from just asking to persistently seeking and knocking at the door. It is not the casual, nonchalant prayer here but the prayer of the diligent person. Do you pray in this way?
2. Asking Amiss: James 4:3 says that we don’t receive because we ask but that we ask amiss. Asking for the wrong things or asking for the wrong reasons and motives can cause our prayers not to be answered. Are the prayers for things that might be totally wrong for us? Are they selfish desires that would hurt other people? We might ask for things that look good on the surface but if granted to us would be a disaster a little while later. Are we praying for something that is in line with God’s will for our lives and others? We might ask God to bring harm to someone we dislike, and He is not going to answer because He doesn’t want harm to come to that person. We might ask for a million dollars or to win the lottery and the Lord would know you couldn’t handle it. It might be a detriment instead of a blessing. You might pray for a certain house to buy and when things don’t work out you say, “Well, God didn’t answer my prayer because He doesn’t want me to have a new house.” God may have known something about that house.
ILLUSTRATION: Some people found a beautiful log house in Colorado that was high in the mountains. It had a beautiful view, and they had their heart set on buying it. They prayed about the house, but one thing after another went wrong. The timing was not right, their financing didn’t go through. They had prayed numerous times, but the deal fell through. They were disappointed and wondered why God hadn’t answered their prayer. During the winter there was a big storm and an avalanche of snow. This house was one that was totally destroyed and slid down the mountain.
In their case God had honored their prayer by answering with a “No” answer because their prayer to get this particular house was a “prayer of asking amiss.”
ILLUSTRATION: Walter says, “God answers our prayers in three ways, “Yes, No, and You’ve Got to be Kidding!!!”
In our scripture in Matthew Jesus told the people that if a child asks for bread, will his father give him a stone or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake? If the child had asked for a poisonous snake, would the father have given it to him? No, that would have been out of the question. A responsible caring parent wouldn’t have given something harmful. Sometimes God knows when we are praying for “snakes.”--when we are asking amiss and He is saying, “No, that’s not a good request for you to have answered. Even though we persist in prayer for some of these unwise requests, He just does not answer “Yes.” As we learn to know God better as a loving Father who is not out to get us, we can learn to ask for things that are good for us rather than things which, if granted, might end up destroying us in the end. These are examples of “No” answers. Sometimes he says, “Wait awhile.”
ILLUSTRATION: Some people are like the person who said, “Gimmy, gimmy, gimmy, my name’s Jimmy, gimmy all you can gimmy.:” We only want God for what He can give us yet we don’t want to serve Him.
Can we take a closer look at our requests to see if they are in line with God’s will and that we are not asking amiss. Sometimes we don’t know what to pray for or how to pray. Jesus said, to ask God for wisdom and He will give it to you. (James 1;5) AND He is not going to make you look foolish for asking. Sometimes as we pray, we have to refine our prayers a little bit and that’s OK. We might have our heart set on a particular job or car or house but need to modify that request as we pray.
ILLUSTRATION: I wanted a sand color Mercedes. One night we went to Columbus to eat and on the way home Walter turned right instead of left. We drove by the Mercedes dealer and the car was sitting there on the lot. It was what we were looking for but it was pearl black instead of sand. Walter called the next day and we went back to look at it. I changed my mind in two seconds to pearl black. We drove it, and it said, “take me home.” Well, the Lord answered that prayer and it has been a good car. If you need to modify your prayer request as God opens up doors and opportunities, don’t be afraid to do it. Our prayers are not set in stone. Be open to other alternatives as you seek God. We receive not because we ask amiss.
3. Lack of Knowledge of the Word: Hosea 4:6 tells us that “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
I heard someone say, “Christians live their entire lives with only knowing about 50 scriptures.” If this is true, no wonder we don’t live the victorious overcoming lives that we should be living. No wonder we fail to receive answers to our prayers. Not only is this a problem today, but it was also true in Hosea’s time in the Old Testament. He said, “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” We’ve got to know what the Bible says to us personally. We need more than a short scripture reading each Sunday or a responsive reading. These are all good, but what does scripture say to you when you are having a tough time on Monday? What does it say to you when you feel afraid and think the Lord has abandoned you? “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5) is one of my favorites. What does scripture say to you when you are praying for someone that everyone has written off as a hopeless case? “God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9).
II Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”
As Christians it is important to learn all you can about the Bible. Where are scriptures located that apply to you? Who are you in Christ? What are promises you can believe and stand on when you pray? If you don’t know, this lack of knowledge can keep your prayers from being answered because you don’t know if God wants to do it or not. That’s why Sunday school is so important. You are studying things on a particular topic, or book, or theme over a period of time. You will be surprised at how much knowledge you begin to pick up when you come to Sunday school.
ILLUSTRATION: Once I was teaching the book of Joshua, and I Xeroxed a copy of the book and gave it to everyone. I asked them to read it and underline the verses that stood out to them. Write notes in the margins. One man said, “Oh, no, I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t make any marks on scripture even if it was a Xerox copy. That wouldn’t be right.”
The Psalmist said, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). Are you hiding the Word of God in your heart that you can begin to believe for the answers to your prayers? “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). Begin to know what the Bible says to you personally. Get a modern translation of the Bible. Don’t be afraid to mark it up. Personalize it for you. I believe you will begin to pray more powerfully and see more answers than you have ever seen in your life.
Why do we have this Bible if we don’t apply it to our individual daily lives? II Peter 1:3 says, “through these he has given us his great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” He goes on to say, “make every effort to add to your faith goodness, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love” (II Peter 1:5).
Begin to know the Word so that your prayers will not be hindered by a lack of knowledge.
4. Strife, Anger, and Unforgiveness: We can fail to receive answers to our prayers because of strife, anger and unforgiveness. Christians who would not have any problems with sins of the flesh very often do have serious problems with sins of the attitude. Broken relationships can hinder our relationship with God and block the answers to prayer from coming through to us. Paul wrote in I Tim. 2:8, “I want men to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing.” Matthew 5:23 says that if you are “offering your gift at the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift at the altar and go and be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.” So he is telling them, “Clear the channel that your prayers are not hindered.” I Peter 3:7 talks about strife between husbands and wives. He says that if husbands and wives are in strife with one another that their prayers will be hindered because our relationship with God, depends upon right relationships with others.
When we are praying about something, we need to ask the lord to point out any strife or anger that might be hindering our prayers. A lot of times when a church is not being blessed the way it should be, it is because there is strife and disunity among the body. Prayers are hindered as a result. Faith won’t work in an unforgiving and angry heart.
5. Canceling Our Prayers Through Doubt and Unbelief: How often we pray but do not follow our prayer through to completion once we have said, “Amen.” We begin to talk doubt. We come right out and say, “Oh, I doubt if that will happen. Probably God won’t answer my prayer.” We pray for people who are sick and then cancel out our prayer by saying, “Oh, they’re terminal.” We pray for someone to receive the Lord and then say, “She will never change. She’s been like this all her life.”
Proverbs 18:21 says that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” How do we speak after we pray? Do we talk hope and expectation that the answer is on the way? Are we making preparation for the answer? We must not allow doubt and unbelief to stop the prayer. We must watch over our prayers to see them through to completion. Do everything you can once you have said, “Amen” to praise and thank the Lord for bringing the answer. Speak with a positive attitude looking forward to the answer. Jeremiah 1:12 says, “he watches over His Word to perform it.” When counterattacks of the enemy come to discourage us and cause us to back down, let us take authority over it in the Name of Jesus. We must expect the answer to come. Scripture tells us we “will reap if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).
ILLUSTRATION: A man sick in bed was prayed for.
“What are you going to do tomorrow?” asked the minister.
“Oh, I’ll be right here sick in bed,” replied his parishioner.
CONCLUSION: As you can see from scripture, there are numerous reasons why Christians fail to receive. Perhaps you can identify some of these reasons as to why you are failing to receive answers. It is not entirely the idea that “if you had more faith you would receive.” There are probably more reasons than these five, but if we can work on these, I believe we will see more success in our prayers.
1. Let us become more persistent in asking, seeking, and knocking.
2. Let us refine our prayers so that we are not asking for the wrong things--asking amiss.
3. Let us strive to grow in knowledge of the Word that we are not destroyed because of lack of knowledge.
4. Let us root out anger, strife, and unforgiveness that our prayers be not hindered.
5. Finally, let us not cancel our prayer with talk of unbelief and doubt.
Let us pray:
