OPEN: About 3 years ago Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had an idea! He was eager to get in touch with the people of his country so he gave out his personal cell phone number during a speech and urged Indonesian people to contact him directly with any complaints about the government’s administration.
The Indonesian people took him at his word.
Over the next four days, his phone line crashed repeatedly as constituents had sent over 15,000 text messages and thousands of phone calls.
(www.channelnewsasis.com, Indonesian President Creates New Hotline After Cell Phone Crashed June 16, 2005)
APPLY: With so many people trying to contact President Yudhoyono it’s little wonder his phone line crashed. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to answer their pleas… it was simply that he couldn’t.
The system broke down.
And when the system broke down - no one could contact him.
Their calls went unanswered
The past couple of weeks we’ve been dealing with prayer.
The first week we dealt with Outgoing calls: How to make our prayers go out to God.
Last week we examined IN-coming Calls: How we could rec’ God’s answers to our prayers.
For the next 3 weeks we’re going to deal with “Dropped Calls”
Reasons why our prayers might not be answered.
ILLUS: Scott Meneely – the preacher at the Kewanna Church of Christ - says that he has some problems with his cellular service once in a while. He says there’s an area up his way near St. James Cemetery where he always loses his signal.
He calls it the “Dead Zone”
(Get it? Cemetery – Dead zone).
Isaiah 59 tells us God has no problems answering our prayers
“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.”
God’s got the best equipment around – He can hear you anytime.
But there is a pesky dead zone.
What dead zone is that?
Well, God says: I can hear you…
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1-2
David said roughly the same thing in Psalms 66:18
“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened”
Sin in our lives creates a dead zone.
Cherishing sin in my heart cuts off the power of my prayers.
Back in the Garden of Eden, before Adam and Eve sinned, it seems God and they had conversations just about every day. But when sin entered their lives… that connection was shut down.
Sin separates us from God
It creates a dead zone where He WILL NOT hear us.
What kind of sin would create that dead zone and shut off the power of my prayers?
Well, one example is given by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.
Right after He teaches His followers the “Lord’s Prayer” Jesus says:
“…if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15
In other words, this is how you should pray
“Our Father who art in Heaven… etc.”
But you need to understand: if you’re not willing to forgive someone who has sinned against you - how well you pray isn’t going to do you a whole lot of good.
In fact, in Mark 11 Jesus again taught that answered prayer and forgiving others are tied together.
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins.” Mark 11:24-25
Once again, Jesus teaches us answered prayer is closely tied to our determination to forgive others when they have offended us.
Now, why is that?
Why would God tie answered prayer in with whether we forgive others or not?
Well, it’s like this:
God has forgiven you ALL of your sins
Now He expects you to imitate Him
He expects you to deal with the sins of others like He dealt with yours
This isn’t just a suggestion… this is a command.
God EXPECTS us to make this a priority
So, if you want God to answer your prayers then you need to decide that this is IMPORTANT.
And what will happen is this:
If you are willing to make the extra effort to obey Him in this. Then God will make the extra effort to answer your prayers.
But if you refuse to even attempt to forgive others their sins against you…
Welcome to the dead zone.
Now, God’s NOT doing this to be mean.
ILLUS Recent studies have shown that learning how to forgive is essential to our well-being (The Progress Paradox 2005)
· People who do not forgive the wrongs committed against them have a harder time making and keeping friends.
· They have higher rates of divorce.
· And they tend to suffer from stress, depression, cardio-vascular disease.
Jesus said: “I came that you might have life and… have it more abundantly” John 10:10
One of the ways He did that was by modeling this powerful concept of forgiveness for us. If we learn to forgive others as He forgave us… then we can better receive His blessings.
ILLUS: But how can I do that when I don’t even feel like forgiving someone else? In an article in Guideposts, Corrie Ten Boom told of not being able to forget a wrong that had been done to her. She had forgiven the person, but she kept rehashing the incident and so, couldn’t sleep. Finally Corrie cried out to God for help in putting the problem to rest.
"His help came in the form of a kindly Lutheran minister," Corrie wrote, "to whom I confessed my failure after two sleepless weeks.
’Up in the church tower,’ he said, nodding out the window, ’is a bell which is rung by pulling on a rope. But you know what? After the sexton lets go of the rope, the bell keeps on swinging. First ding, then dong. Slower and slower until there’s a final dong and it stops. I believe the same thing is true of forgiveness. When we forgive, we take our hand off the rope. But if we’ve been tugging at our grievances for a long time, we mustn’t be surprised if the old angry thoughts keep coming for a while. They’re just the ding dongs of the old bell slowing down.’
"And so it proved to be. There were a few more midnight reverberations, a couple of dings when the subject came up in my conversations. But the force - which was my willingness in the matter - had gone out by then. They came less and less often and at last stopped altogether. And so I discovered another secret of forgiveness: we can trust God not only above our emotions, but also above our thoughts." (Leadership Summer of ’87 p. 48)
Now, that’s what He expects with how you treat other people.
But when it gets closer to home… He expects even more.
The Apostle Peter wrote the men in the church of his day:
“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” I Peter 3:7
In other words:
1. men treat your wives properly
2. Be considerate of their needs
3. Treat them with respect
4. Understand that they are your partners in your faith
But – if you don’t – God regards that as sin.
If you don’t treat your wife properly…
And if you don’t treat her considerately…
And if you don’t treat her with respect…
And if you don’t regard her as your partner in your faith…
You’re going to experience a lot of dropped calls.
God created marriage
And He intends Christian men to value their wives/marriage as highly as He does.
Someone has wisely observed: A bad husband cannot be a good man.
That’s why God sets the bar so high for someone who wants to become an Elder. One of the requirements of an Elder is that he MUST BE a good husband.
Now, that’s what God says to the husbands because they are the head of the house. But women - you’ve got to be careful how you treat your husbands as well because I’m pretty sure God doesn’t smile on a woman who mistreats her husband.
Now… let’s shift gears a little here.
David wrote: “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” Psalms 66:18
ILLUS: When Norman Vincent Peale was a boy he found a big black cigar, slipped into an alley and lit up. It didn’t taste good but it made him feel very grown up… but then he saw his father coming around the corner.
Quickly he put the cigar behind his back and, desperate to divert his father’s attention, Peale pointed to a billboard advertising the circus.
"Can I go, Dad? Please let’s go when it comes to town."
His father replied:
"Son, never make a petition while at the same time trying to hide a smoldering disobedience."
If I had cherished sin in my heart (said David) the Lord would not have listened
I got studying this verse in Psalm 66 and asked myself:
How might I “cherish” sin in my heart?
Well, I studied on this for a while, and I got a little confused. The word in the Hebrew (ra-ah) which the NIV translated as “cherish” didn’t seem to be anything special. In fact, it was often used to describe someone “looking” at something.
But the more I examined the scriptures where this word showed up, the more convinced I became that it wasn’t used to describe a “casual” glance. (pause)
No. This was more a
· “Fixing your eyes” upon something
· There seems to be an intensity in the gaze
· There’s an “interest” in what was seen.
So what David seemed to be saying (I personally believe) is this:
If I’ve fixed my eyes on sin.
If I’ve allowed sin to consume my interest and occupy my thoughts.
… then I got a problem
And part of that problem is: God won’t listen to my prayers.
Then I realized David ought to have known what’s he’s talking about…
Because that’s what got him in trouble
In II Samuel 11, we’re told that:
“In the Spring, at the time kings go off to war” David stayed home.
Kings were supposed to go to war with their men… but David wasn’t out on the battlefield
Where was he at?
Well, he was up on his rooftop looking over at Bathsheba… who taking a bath.
She was naked…
· And David cherished that view in his heart.
· He fixed his eyes upon something he shouldn’t have been looking at
· He allowed his lust to consume his interest and occupy his thoughts
And eventually he found himself caught up in a terrible sin
Psalm 32… was probably written sometime after David’s sin with Bathsheba.
Notice what it says in vs. 4:
“When I kept silent my bones wasted away through my constant groaning all day long..”
That’s what it can feel like when sin has created a “dead zone” in your prayer life.
God’s not answering your prayers.
You feel like He’s walked away from you…
(pause) … but He hasn’t
David goes on to say “…day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”
God not only had NOT walked away from David
God had brought pressure to bear in his life.
Sin had separated David from God’s presence… and God wanted him back.
So day and night, God put a heavy hand on David so that David would turn back to Him
You see God doesn’t want us to live in a “dead zone”
He wants to hear our prayers.
He deeply desires to listen to you.
And He doesn’t want sin to so dominate your lives that it cuts you off from Him.
So God seeks to get your attention
And one of the ways He does that is stop answering prayer
For the true Christian… that’s unbearable.
When we find ourselves in that situation we want out of that ‘dead zone”
But how can we do that?
Well, David shows us God’s answer
He says “THEN I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
That worked for David… and God says it will work for you and me as well.
In I John 1: 9 we’re told “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
That’s it?
That’s seems way too simple.
Well, yeah… except that’s not usually how we deal with our sins.
One person observed: “Often we change jobs, friends, and spouses instead of ourselves.” Akbarali H. Jetha, Reflections (Combined Edition.Bombay)
For example: When a politician gets caught doing something they shouldn’t do, confession and penitence are ploys of last resort. Those are the final, desperate steps in a PR campaign to manage the impressions they make on others.
If all else fails, they’ll come clean and look contrite.
BUT before they do that there are a few other steps they often try first.
· Don’t get caught
· If you do get caught… deny. Then deny. And after that, deny.
· Employ a little righteous indignation (“How dare you imply…”)
· Complicate the issue and delay any direct response
· Minimize the mistake.
· And deflect responsibility and blame to someone else
(Tim Woodroof of the Otter Creek Church of Christ)
As I read that list to you, did any particular politician come to mind?
Well, don’t give that much thought, because those folks are just running for political office.
They’re only avoiding guilt so that they can obtain an earthly reward.
But YOU and I have been guilty of much the same kind of behavior in our relationship with God - and our relationship with Him is far more serious than who gets elected to office
Confess your sin to Him.
Own up to the fact that you allowed yourself to be caught up in lust/ bitterness/ selfishness, etc.
Don’t make excuses
Don’t blame somebody else
Don’t minimize your failure.
Just accept the fact you were wrong – CONFESS IT TO GOD
And then accept God’s forgiveness
And God will start you out again with a fresh slate… as if nothing had happened
And He’ll pull you out of the “dead zone” and reconnect you to His throne.
Kathleen Wheeler once wrote the following poem:
He came to my desk with quivering lip; the lesson was done…
"Have you a new leaf for me, dear Teacher? I have spoiled this one!
I took his leaf, all soiled and blotted and gave him a new one, all unspotted
Then into his tired heart I smiled: "Do better now, my child!"
I went to the Throne with trembling heart; The day was done.
"Have you a new day for me, dear Master? I have spoiled this one!"
He took my day, all soiled and blotted, and gave me a new one, all unspotted;
Then into my tired heart He smiled: "Do better now, my child!"
