Prayer (2)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 3/1/2015
Last Sunday we began a brief series on prayer. In Matthew 6, Jesus reveals four secrets to a successful prayer life, urging us to pray sincerely, pray secretly, pray simply, and pray securely. But even when we follow Christ’s prescription for prayer, there’s no guarantee that God will answer our prayers the way we want him to.
I’d like to start this morning by sharing a short scene from the movie Bruce Almighty. For those who haven’t seen it, God (play by Morgan Freeman) gives Bruce (Jim Carey) divine power, but with great power comes great responsibility, including the responsibility to reply to millions of prayers each day. Let’s see how Bruce handles this responsibility.
NEXT SLIDE: Bruce Almighty Clip
Many of us might be thrilled at the thought of a “blank check” from God. Ask for anything you want and the answer will always be yes! In the movie, it seems like a good idea at first. Some people get rich when their stocks triple overnight, one woman loses 47 pounds on the Crispy Crème diet, but when 400,000 people win the state lottery rioting ensues. By saying yes to everyone Bruce caused more problems than he solved.
I think most of us are mature enough to recognize that God must sometimes say no. Millions upon millions of people pray every day. God hears hundreds of thousands of requests for help, healing, and happiness per hour. When two opposing coaches pray for a victory, God can’t say yes to both of them. When 400,000 people all pray to win the lottery, it’s probably wiser for God to say no. Sometimes people just ask for the wrong things either out of selfishness or shortsightedness. So we understand that God sometimes says no.
We just don’t like it when he says no to us.
So my question is—what do we do when God says no?
If anyone knows the answer to that question, it’s Paul.
Paul knew how to pray. His first encounter with Jesus left him blind and befuddled in a borrowed bedroom for three days. For those three days, Paul fasted and prayed. Nothing else. He didn’t eat. He didn’t sleep. But he prayed. Years later, Paul occupied a Roman dungeon, his hands and feet in stocks. Yet, in the middle of the night, those damp dungeon walls echoed with the sound of singing and prayer. Throughout the 13 New Testament letters Paul wrote, he references prayer 59 times, assuring the Christians of Thessalonica, “Night and day we pray earnestly for you” (1 Thessalonians 3:10 NLT). Paul was clearly a man of prayer. If anyone knew how to get results, it was him. Yet, on at least one occasion, God said no.
I’ll let Paul tell you the story:
So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. 8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NLT)
Many of us can relate to Paul’s experience. When a loved one’s life hangs in the balance. When the lump is diagnosed malignant. When the money runs out before the month does. When a dear friend is in the ICU. When our marriage is struggling or our kids are straying. We pray. We praise God when he says YES! We show up at church the next week and tell everyone what a miracle God did. But what about the times God refuses our request? I think Paul’s experience helps us know what to do when God says no. First, let’s talk about Paul’s problem.
• PROBLEM
Interestingly, Paul doesn’t explain exactly what his problem is; rather, he simply refers to it as “a thorn in the flesh” (vs. 7 NIV). Such vivid imagery, isn’t it? The sharp end of a thorn pierces the soft skin of life and lodges beneath the surface. Some have suggested that Paul suffered from malaria, epilepsy, or a degenerative eye condition. It may have even been a particular sin that Paul struggled to overcome. Whatever the case, it was a chronic debilitating problem that hindered his ministry and prevented him from serving God to the best of his ability.
I for one am glad that Paul doesn’t tell us what his problem was; if he did I might not be able to relate to it. But as it is, we all know what it’s like to have a “thorn in the flesh.”
The cancer in the body.
The sorrow in the heart.
The child in the rehab center.
The red ink on the ledger.
The felony on the record.
The craving for whiskey in the middle of the day.
The tears in the middle of the night.
Thorns in our flesh.
The part that catches my attention is where Paul says that God gave him this thorn in the flesh “to keep me from becoming proud” (vs. 7). I can relate to that. I think that’s why I stink at basketball; God’s got to keep me humble somehow! What’s important here is that Paul saw a higher purpose for his problem. There was a reason that thorn pierced his flesh.
Giraffes know all about that by the way.
In A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond tells about the birth of a giraffe. It’s a rather strange thing. The first things to emerge are the baby giraffe’s front hooves and head. A few minutes later the plucky newborn is hurled forth, falls ten feet, and lands on its back. Within seconds, he rolls to an upright position with his legs tucked under his body. From this position he sees the world for the first time.
The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over the calf. She waits for about a minute, and then she swings her long, pendulous leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it cartwheels head over heels.
If the baby doesn’t get up, she takes another swing at it. The struggle to rise is monumental. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks it again to stimulate its efforts… Finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs.
Then the mother giraffe does the most remarkable thing. She kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up! In the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with the herd, where there is safety. Lions, hyenas, leopards, and wild hunting dogs would all love a baby giraffe dessert! If not for the mother’s seemingly cruel treatment, that baby wouldn’t last a day.
Just like that mama giraffe, God has a purpose for our problems. Paul recognized that his pain served a purpose; yours does too. We may sometimes feel like God is knocking us to our knees, but we have to trust that he’s doing it for the right reason. And, as someone once said, “When life knocks you on your knees… well, that’s the best position in which to pray, isn’t it?”
And that’s just what Paul did. Next this tale teaches us about persistence in prayer.
• PERSISTENCE
Paul prayed not once, not twice, but three times that God would remove his thorn in the flesh. He writes, “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away” (vs. 8 NLT). The number three is not insignificant, by the way. Jesus likewise prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane that God would take his suffering away. The number three was significant in Jewish culture. It represented completeness. Of course, we’re not limited to repeating our prayers three times. Jesus encourages persistence in prayer. He says, “So I say to you, keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9 HCSB). God rewards persistent prayer. Often times, God says no just so we’ll keep asking, seeking and knocking.
I’m reminded of this pastor who walked into the church office one morning carrying a double cholate layer cake. Seeing him walk in, the church secretary says, “I thought you were on a diet.” The pastor replied, “Oh, I am. But it was God’s will for me to buy this cake.” So she asked, “And how exactly do you know that?” The pastor explains, “As I drove by the bakery, I saw the cake sitting in the window. So I prayed, Lord, if it’s your will for me to buy that cake, please make a parking place available directly in front of the bakery… and on my 10th time around a spot opened up!” I can’t say that’s the best way to determine God’s will, but at least he was persistent!
I witnessed a memorable example of persistence when I was still in high-school, attending a local Church of Christ. Some adolescent prankster, probably named Chris, thought it would be funny to steal the “T” off the church’s sign so that it read: Church of Chris. One of our church leaders, an elderly man named Bob Limburg who was a very talented wood worker, simply carved a new T and replaced it. But, when we showed up to church the next Sunday, the T had been stolen again. So Bob returned to his wood working shop, carved another one, and replaced it. But, again, the next Sunday the T was gone. This went on for several weeks, so Bob started churning out Ts by the dozens and stopped by the church every day to replace the stolen letters until finally one day, Bob stopped by the church and found lawn and leaf bag full Ts sitting by the door with a note that simply said: you win!
That’s the kind of persistence God wants us to have in our prayer life. Sometimes when we pray and pray and don’t see the results we’re looking for, we feel like God isn’t listening or maybe that he doesn’t care. Don’t lose hope. Don’t give up. Paul put it this way: “Never stop praying” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT). I hope that you will continue to be persistent in prayer, no matter how discouraging the circumstances seem.
But I will be honest with you, sometimes no matter how passionately or persistently you pray, God still says no. Those are the times we get to experience the true power of prayer.
• POWER
Jesus prayed so passionately in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Lord, take this cup from me.” Yet, God said no. Paul prayed persistently, “Lord, take it away.” Yet, still God said no.
Maybe you can relate. “Take it away,” you’ve pleaded. Not once, twice, or even three times. You’ve out-prayed Paul. He prayed a sprint; you’ve prayed the Boston Marathon. And you’re about to hit the wall. The thorn in your flesh radiates pain, and you see no sign of tweezers coming from heaven. But what you hear is what Paul heard: “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (vs. 9 NLT).
The true power of prayer is not in getting what we want, but in experiencing the grace of God in the midst of life’s disappointments and disasters. We know God’s not a vending machine. We don’t insert coins, press button and expect a treat to be dispensed. Yet many of us go to him only when we need something. We expect him to give us what we ask for and when he doesn’t… we get upset, irritated, angry. Questions and doubt rise in our minds. Sometimes we try to force things to go our way. God is bigger than the vending machine he gets reduced to in our lives. He created us. He loves us. He breathed life into us. And he longs to have an intimate relationship with us. When our deepest desire is not for the things of God, or a favor from God, but God himself, we cross a threshold.
Today Joni Earekson Tada is an evangelical Christian author, radio host, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization that ministers to those with disabilities. This ministry is dear to her heart because forty years ago Joni became a quadriplegic as a result of a diving accident. Stuck in a hospital in Maryland, Joni would listen for hours as her friends read her stories from the Bible. Her favorite was the story of a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Jesus encountered him lying by the Pool of Bethesda and healed him. Like the man in the story, Joni pictured herself lying on a straw mat by the Pool of Bethesda and she prayed for hours on end that God would heal her as he healed that man twenty centuries earlier. When God didn’t, for a long time she felt like God wasn’t listening or that he didn’t care.
Thirty years later, though, she and her husband Ken took a trip to the Holy Lands and one of the sites that they visited was the Pool of Bethesda. While resting by the guardrails overlooking those now dry, dusty ruins, Joni was struck by the realization that God hadn’t given her the response she was looking for all those years ago; he’d given her one far better. Overwhelmed by emotion, she began to thank God for not healing her. Because if he had, she never would have discovered the secret to intimacy with God, nor would she have an international ministry that has touched the lives of thousands. It was in the prison of her wheelchair that she experienced prayer’s true power—grace.
God’s words to Paul were his words to Joni… and his words to you: “My grace is enough for you. When you are weak, my power is made perfect in you” (vs.9 NCV). Whatever our problem or plea, God’s grace is enough. God’s grace is enough to solve every dilemma, wipe every tear, and answer every question. It’s more than we deserve and greater than we can imagine. His grace is enough.
Conclusion:
So what do we do when God says no? First, trust that God has a purpose for every problem. We may not be able to understand it, but God loves us and he knows what he’s doing. Secondly, we don’t give up. Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. Finally, rely on his grace. The true power of prayer isn’t about getting things from God, but getting God himself.
Invitation:
Maybe you’re suffering from your own thorn in the flesh. Maybe you’ve prayed and prayed and you’re beginning to wonder if God can hear you. If so, let me invite you to share your prayer with us so that we can pray with you. Let God’s grace sustain you and wash over you as we stand and sing.
