GOD HAS ANSWERED YOUR PRAYERS
LUKE 1:5-25: 5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. 8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, ¡§Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother¡¦s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ¡¥to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,¡¦ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.¡¨ 18 And Zacharias said to the angel, ¡§How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.¡¨ 19 And the angel answered and said to him, ¡§I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. 20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.¡¨ 21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. 22 But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless. 23 So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. 24 Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, 25 ¡§Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.¡¨
INTRODUCTION: "GOD HAS ANSWERED YOUR PRAYER" Passionate Preaching
Illustration: Levar Burton of Roots & Star Trek. Possibilities ¡V God¡¦s Domain.
We Have Been Talking About Prayers In The Midweek Service and at the end of this 5 days of Fast and Prayer, let us talk about prayers again. 7 Cases Of Barrenness In The Bible. Sarah. Rebekah. Rachel. Hannah. Michal - barren for criticizing David¡¦s worship. Samson¡¦s mother. Elizabeth. What causes barrenness? Infertility is not always a woman's problem. Both women and men can have problems that cause infertility. About one-third of infertility cases are women's problems. Another one third of fertility problems are men¡¦s problems. The other cases are caused by a mixture of male and female problems or by unknown problems. Could be spiritual also. Per CDC, about 10% of women (6.1 million) in the United States ages 15-44 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant. But God can unlock wombs as he did for Elizabeth. God does answer prayers.
EXAMPLES OF ANSWERED PRAYERS
1. The Prayer Of Abraham¡¦s Servant (Genesis 24:12-14) Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac. ¡§Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac...¡¨
2. The Prayer Of Elijah (I Kings. 18:36-37) He wanted God to show that He was God in Israel by consuming the sacrifice, water, wood, stone. God did so the people could come back to God.
3. The Prayer Of Jabez (I Chronicles 4:10) ¡§And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!¡¨
4. The Prayer Of Peter (Matthew 14:30) ¡§But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.¡¨ Jesus did.
5. The Prayer Of The Canaanite Woman (Matthew 15:22, 25) Have mercy on me, O Lord, my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil¡KThen came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.¡¨ Jesus healed the daughter.
6. The Prayer Of The Thief At The Cross (Luke 23:42) ¡§And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.¡¨
7. The Prayer Of The Saints For Peter (Acts 12:1-5): King Herod moved against some of the believers 2 and killed the apostle James (John¡¦s brother). 3 When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish leaders, he arrested Peter during the Passover celebration 4 and imprisoned him, intending to deliver Peter to the Jews for execution after the Passover. 5 But earnest prayer was going up to God from the church for his safety all the time he was in prison.
8. The Prayer Of Jacob - All Night To Be Blessed (Gen 32:24-30). He prayed to be blessed and so that his brother Esau would not wipe out his family out of anger years back.
9. The Prayer of Hannah For A Son (1 Samuel 1:9-17): She prayed from hurt, lack, reproach.
A LOOK AT ZACHARIAH AND ELIZABETH
Zechariah Was A Priest In Israel about 7 BC when he was serving at the altar of incense of the Living God. To be a priest in Israel ¡V you had to be born as a descendant of Aaron. And if you were born into this family, you were destined to serve God and Israel in the temple. That didn¡¦t mean that you lived in the temple for the rest of your life and were celibate. Aaron¡¦s descendants were divided into 24 clans. Each clan took it in turn to serve periods of 1 week in the temple. You had about 2 weeks a year that you were required to serve in the temple.
1. This Service Involved Five Things:
ľ Declaring The Will Of God To The People Gathered For Worship
ľ Teaching And Educating The People
ľ Facilitating The Ceremony And Ritual Of The Sacrifices And Worship.
ľ Protecting The Holiness Of The Site.
ľ Blessing The People As They Left The Temple.
2. The Temple Was Busy. Every Morning:
ľ A 1 Year Old Male Lamb Was Offered As A Burnt Offering
ľ A Grain Offering Consisting Of 1 Kg Of Flour, 1 L Of Olive Oil & Incense Offered.
ľ A Wine Offering (1 Liter Of Wine) Was Offered
3. Every Evening The Same Offerings Were Made
ľ A 1 Year Old Male Lamb A Grain Offering And Wine Offering Were Offered.
ľ Every Sabbath, An Extra 2 Lambs And 2 Extra Grain Offerings Were Made.
ľ Life Was Fairly Busy - The Priests Helped With All Of The Work Offerings.
4. There Were So Many Priests
About 20,000 Priests Are Estimated At This Time - you could only be selected for this most sacred task of offering incense once in your life time. It was the climax to a priest¡¦s career to offer incense at the Altar of Incense. When the priest entered the Holy Place with the incense, all the people were cleared from the temple. Profound silence was observed among the congregation who were praying outside. At a signal from the High Priest, the priest cast the incense on the fire and, bowing reverently toward the Holy of Holies, retired slowly backward and then joined in pronouncing the benediction to the people gathered. This was repeated morning and evening everyday.
5. They Were Both From A Priestly Family.
Zechariah And His Wife Elizabeth Were Known For Their Righteousness. It is said of them that they were upright in the sight of God. They weren¡¦t just respected by men, they were respected by God because they observed all God¡¦s commandments. It doesn¡¦t mean that they were perfectly sinless, without blemish, but that they could not be blamed for breaking laws and regulations.
6. They Could Not Have Any Children.
Having Children Was Seen As A Blessing From God In The Jewish Culture. If God was pleased with you, you could expect a large family. Yet here was a blameless couple without children. They were probably well into their sixties and for years prayed until they gave up but continued their service of God. Undoubtedly they¡¦d gone through all the stages that infertile couples go through and had concluded that it was over. There was little hope of things changing as they were old. The possibility of a touch from God was remote. Do you ever feel that it¡¦s just time to give up?
7. Often We Look At People & Their Difficult Situation And Blame Or Condemn Them.
We Look At A Couple Who Haven¡¦t Had Children And Wonder What Is Wrong? We look at families whose children are turning away from God and people condemn them for not being good parents. We look at couples who have separated and wonder what they¡¦ve done to ruin their relationship. Often there is much more involved than we will ever know. It is all too easy to lay blame on people and condemn them, but here is a couple who were God fearing, who were right with God, yet they didn¡¦t have all the ¡§blessings¡¨ we think they should have. The Lesson? Even righteous people live with disappointments and hurt and instead of making that greater, we need to empathize with them, support them in their questioning and doubts that God would touch them.
8. Now It Was Zechariah¡¦s Turn To Work For A Week In The Temple.
They Were Faithful In Spite Their Problems. So when the time came for him to go into that holy place, something incredible took place. An angel appeared at the right side of the altar ¡V a bit of a shock to Zechariah. May God send an angel to intervene in your affairs.
Illustration: In 1966, about a year before he died, the brilliant physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer said, "I am a complete failure!" This man had been the director of the Los Alamos Project that produced the atomic bomb, and he had also served as the head of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. Yet, in looking back, he saw his achievements as meaningless. When asked about them, he replied, "They leave on the tongue only the taste of ashes." The number of people who commit suicide after experiencing the fame and fortune of worldly success is astonishing. Multimillionaire George Vanderbilt killed himself by jumping from a hotel window. Lester Hunt, twice governor of Wyoming before being elected to the U.S. Senate, ended his own life. Actress Marilyn Monroe, writer Ernest Hemingway, and athlete Tony Lazzeri represent a host of highly influential and popular people who became so disenchanted with earthly success that they took their own lives.
Zechariah did not give up; he went on serving.
9. Look At What The Angel Says (Vs 13) God Has Answered Your Prayers ¡V Believe.
¡§¡KYour Prayer Has Been Heard¡¨ Said The Angel. What prayer? Some suggest that this was the request for a baby. But if so, I would have expected the angel to say: ¡§Your prayers (plural) have been heard.¡¨ The word used is for a specific request and seems to indicate it was a prayer on one specific occasion. Typically this would be for the salvation of all of Israel and the coming of the promised Messiah. This was a prayer that all Israel had been praying 400 years. So His prayer for Israel and not himself produced a child for him. Do not be selfish in your prayers and life. But here the angel says, your request has been recognized. God has heard it and what the angel promised would be an answer to that prayer of salvation, but within this, it would also be an answer to Zechariah and Elizabeth¡¦s prayers about a child. God would fulfill his promises and touch them also.
10. Look At The Angel¡¦s Answer (Vs 13b ¡V 17) ¡V It Was Astounding
ľ They would have a son who was to be called John (meaning to show favor / to be gracious)
ƒæ He will be a joy to many people ¡V that will be an understatement
ľ He will be great in the sight of God
ľ He will be filled with the Holy Spirit
ľ He will bring many people back to God
ľ He will be like Elijah
ľ He will prepare people for God.
11. What Was Zechariah¡¦s Response?
He Fell Down On His Face In Praise And Thanks To God? No! Instead of praise, a doubt developed. ¡§Is that so ¡V well prove it to me¡¨. ¡§Do you expect me to believe this? I¡¦m an old man and my wife is an old woman." He doubted and demanded a sign. ¡§How can I be sure of this?¡¨ he asks. This was not the wisest response, but it was the result of years of unanswered prayer. The angel rebukes Zechariah: ¡§I am Gabriel¡K I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.¡¨ And you are doubting who I am? Okay Zechariah, if you want a sign ¡V here it is ¡§And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.¡¨ Zechariah doubted God and a sign of silence was given. But let this encourage us also - Even blameless people slip up and God doesn¡¦t destroy them. God is a God of patience and continues to work with us and often despite us.
12. The Angel Disappeared And Zechariah Retreated From The Temple.
Meanwhile, The People Outside Were Becoming A Bit Worried. This was usually a relatively quick ceremony, and Zechariah should have been out long ago. Where was he? Had he been struck dead by God or collapsed? This was a dilemma for the priests when the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies. So if he was killed by God for touching something he wasn¡¦t supposed to touch, a rope was tied to his leg so that the priests could pull his body out. So imagine the shock of the people when he lingered.
13. What Relief When They Saw Zechariah Appear.
They were relieved but more perplexed when he started waving his hands. He was mute. Imagine trying to dream up signs for angels, and babies and Elijah, etc. When the week of service was over, Zechariah went home to Elizabeth ¡V he still couldn¡¦t talk. But Elizabeth became pregnant, just as the angel had promised. And if this part about a son came to pass, so would the rest about saving Israel.
14. Listen To Elizabeth¡¦s Testimony (Vs 25) ¡V Her Disgrace Was Gone.
¡K ¡§The Lord Has Done This For Me,¡¨ She Said. ¡§In These Days He Has Shown His Favor And Taken Away My Disgrace Among The People.¡¨ Not having children was seen as a real cultural disgrace for Elizabeth and Zechariah. God touched them and removed their disgrace while at the same time working to the salvation of Israel. God Can Remove Any Disgrace You Carry.
15. God¡¦s Touch For You.
I Wonder What Your Disappointment Is At The Moment? Do you believe that God can touch you and satisfy your deepest needs? He can! He wants to! Are you in the same situation as Zechariah and Elizabeth ¡V literally they had given up the hope? Don¡¦t give up ¡V nothing is impossible for God. He can reach down and touch you at the most unexpected time in your life. Unexpected for us maybe ¡V but not for God. God¡¦s touch always comes in God¡¦s perfect time. Are we ready for God¡¦s touch? And when He does touch you ¡V Don¡¦t doubt it was God. I know a God who wants to touch you ¡V so be open to it and wait patiently for it.
Illustration: Donkey Being Covered With Dirt
CONCLUSION: FOUR ATTITUDES WE NEED TO GET OUR PRAYERS ANSWERED
1. You Must be Willing to Let God Answer IN HIS OWN TIME.
2. You Must be Willing to Let God Answer IN HIS OWN WAY.
3. You Must be Willing to Let God Answer IN HIS OWN POWER.
4. You Must be Willing to Let God Answer FOR HIS OWN PURPOSE.
BIBLE VERSES ON GOD CAN DO ALL THINGS: COME UP FOR PRAYERS
1. Matthew 19:26 But Jesus beheld [them], and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
2. Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
3. Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
4. Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, [and] there is nothing too hard for thee.
