GOD ANSWERS PRAYER!
TEXT: Jeremiah 33:3.
INTRODUCTION
Today, as we continue our journey into the Word of God,
Our focus remains firmly fixed on discovering...
“...those things most surely believed among us” (Luke 1:1).
And this is important – for us all,
After all, we’re going to be answering God’s call for our lives...
And reaching out to others with the truth of the Gospel,
This is what we are going to be sharing [the Bible]...
Because this is what we believe – Chapter and Verse.
In our previous lessons, we have already looked to some of the things
We believe about God, and about God’s Word,
While more recently we began to look towards our firm belief in Prayer.
Remember in Luke 11:1 – we find one of Christ’s disciples coming to Him
And saying: ...Lord, teach us to Pray.
And it’s through the example of “The Lord’s Prayer”
That Jesus has begun to reveal to us from the Bible...
The kind of heart we should pray with,
And the kinds of things we should actively be praying for.
In fact, we have had 9 lessons on The Lord’s Prayer so far,
And if anything – this has shown us that Jesus Prayer life was anything but shallow.
Everything was prayed with purpose and meaning,
And from Christ’s example of prayer - we have all had the privilege to learn so much.
However, one thing we have not yet learnt in all of this – is How God answers prayer?
And do you know something – God does answer Prayer – Amen!
Brethren, this is a big part of what we believe.
After all, if we didn’t believe that God answers prayer,
Then there would be absolutely no reason for any of us to pray at all.
We believe that God always has and always will answer prayer...
Because that’s what He declares He will do.
Turn with me now to our text today found in Jeremiah 33:3. Here the Scriptures record:
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Now Brethren, I have to be honest - because I love this verse!
Not only does it hightlight to us the fact that - God answers Prayer,
But it begins to enlighten us of this all important truth – God answers Prayer His way.
A lot of people miss this – they think their prayers have not been heard or answered
Because they fail to understand the way in which the Lord answers prayer.
Today – I want us to begin to explore this together,
I want to reassure you of your faith and belief that God can and does answer prayer.
1) GOD WANTS US TO CALL
Now looking back to our text...
The first thing I want you to see is that God wants us to Pray.
This is His wish and His desire for us.
Notice again with me the start of verse 3 in Jeremiah 33 because the Lord says: Call unto me
That term Call in the Hebrew means to: “cry out”…
Or to “personally summon or invite someone close”.
“Call to me” - God says…
“Cry out to me”,
“Make a personal address to me…
And invite me closer into your life.”
To which James 4:8 declares - Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.
“Just call upon me” – God says
Now that is a neat picture of prayer.
God wants us to call out to Him in this way – so that we can be closer together.
Command
Interestingly, the way this phrase is put together in the Hebrew
Sees it used in the imperative mood – which means it’s a command.
So these are instructions for us to follow.
“Call unto me” – God says.
“Pray to me…Because that’s what I want”.
God’s desire is that we would talk with Him.
He wants us to communicate with Him.
And I believe that this desire to communicate with God - rests deep within us as well.
It’s a heart-felt longing as God’s Children
To want to reach out and really connect with our creator and Saviour.
A longing that is so deep in fact - that to deny it...
Would mean us living out your lives every day
With a profound sense that something is missing.
Poor Communication
Did you know that Poor Communication is cited
As the number one cause for relationship failure today.
Who would have ever thought, that in order for our relationships to succeed…
We need to be prepared to talk with one another.
Well guys when it comes to our spiritual relationship with the Lord
It’s really no different.
A healthy spiritual relationship with God requires two-way communication.
Here’s how it works…
The Lord talks to me everyday with this [The Bible]
This is His Word’s to me.
And I in turn, converse with God everyday…
Only I talk to Him through Prayer.
That is how I share my thoughts and feelings with Him.
That’s how I pour out my heart before Him
That’s how I cry out to Him and call upon Him in my life.
People that don’t know the Lord think prayer is kind of weird
Because they don’t understand its purpose or significance
But It’s not strange…and It’s not weird…
It just how we talk and communicate with God
And it makes good practical sense for our spiritual relationship together.
Is Something Missing
And this is the point in this message…
Where you really need to STOP and ask yourself
“Is there something in my relationship with God that is missing?”
“Does my daily walk with God feel somehow incomplete?”
Because if it does - then we all need to pay particular attention
To the message God has left for us here in His Word,
Because He says: Call unto me .
When you feel lost in our sins…
God says call out to me.
When you are desperately alone…
God says invite me closer.
When we need guidance and direction…
God says ask me
When we need comfort and encouragement…
God says talk to me.
When we need help and reassurance…
God says pray to me.
Call unto me…God says.
That’s His command to us.
2nd Shortest Verse
Lets not forget about 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to:
17 Pray without ceasing.
Did you know this is one of the shortest verses in the Bible,
And what it effectively highlights to us
Is the importance of Prayer.
Paul simply says,
“Look – you guys need to Pray”,
And not just Pray once or twice…
But continually “Pray without ceasing”.
In other words – this is to be an ongoing action.
We are to Pray and keep on Praying.
We are to Pray - and continue in those Prayers.
We are to Pray, and Pray, and then Pray some more without stopping.
*All to which James 5:16 declares:
T
he effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Actively Praying
Interestingly, that phrase effectual fervent prayer speaks of a current action,
That is to say, this is a process that we are all to be involved in right now.
This is something that is to be “actively working” and “put into operation” in our lives.
And remember, the context in all of this – is how we are to be talking to God.
We are to be operating in prayer, we are to be working in prayer,
These are active prayers not idle prayers.
We are talking about Children of God - who being in right relationship with the Lord
Operate from a place and position of prayer in their lives,
Where they are presently and actively calling out to God.
And we are told that those kinds of prayers “availeth much”.
That means - prayer works.
It is beneficial and accomplishes a lot in our lives.
2) GOD WILL ANSWER WHEN WE CALL
So that’s the first thing…
God just says: “Call unto me” …“Pray to me”
Because that’s important for our relationship.
And then God goes on to tell us all why.
Notice again with me God’s message to us in verse 3:
Call unto me, and I will answer thee…
This is the second big thing we get from this verse.
God says - “when you cry out to me…
When you look to talk and converse with me,
When you Pray to me…I Will Answer Your Call!”
You Call and I will Answer – that’s the promise of God.
I love that – because it tells us that when we pray with the right heart,
Not only does God hear – but He answers.
How plain can God make things for us?
He says - Call unto me, and I will answer thee…
Jeremiah In Prison
Of course, this is all rather interesting when you consider the wider context
Of what is actually going on here in the book of Jeremiah,
Because the Prophet of God was actually in prison.
And He was in prison for speaking out about the sins of Israel.
To make matters worse - Jerusalem was being attacked by the Babylonians.
And their Defeat was certain.
The Glory of Israel was soon to become a distant memory.
And all seemed lost.
That is until the Lord proclaimed to Jeremiah this wonderful promise.
You see, even in the midst of such a dark and shadowy day
God gave Jeremiah this hope...
He said – “Jeremiah whatever your present situation is…
Just stop and call on me – and I will answer You.”
And do you know something…
God’s message to us is exactly the same.
The Year 2022
This year as we seek God’s direction
And as we seek to humble ourselves before Him as servants in His kingdom,
And take further steps of faith with the Lord according to His purpose,
God simply says – you call out to me – and I will hear and answer.
Tell me – is that what you believe?
*There is a song written and presented to the Chief Musician in Psalms 66:19
Which seeks to Honour and worship God proclaiming this:
19 But verily God hath heard me; He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me.
God hears and answers prayer!
When King Hezekiah humbled himself before the Lord
*And repented and prayed for His life - God sent His Prophet in Isaiah 38:5 saying:
5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
God hears and answers prayers!
*There was also a messenger sent by God to Cornelius in Acts 10:31
31 And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are held in remembrance in the sight of God.
Brethren we could keep looking at verse after verse like this,
Point and case being God hears and answers prayers – you can believe that!
3) GOD WILL SHOW US THINGS WE DIDN’T KNOW
And this is where things get kind of interesting – right.
Because we all know people who say
“Well - I have tried prayer and it doesn’t work”
“I have called upon God for this, and I have asked Him for that…
And none of it happened.”
“So either God wasn’t listening…
Or God doesn’t answer prayer.”
But brethren, nothing could be further from the truth.
Because God declares – when we pray – He will answer!
The thing to recognise though is that He answers according to His will not ours.
*James 4:3 talks about this saying:
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
In other word’s - your prayers are not being answered,
Because you are asking for the wrong things.
You are praying according to what you want
And purely based on what you desire in the flesh.
I’m sorry to be the one to declare this reality to you…
But God is not obliged to answer prayers - just because you want something.
*Where’s the balance? Well Jesus gives us the balance in John 15:7
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
So yes, God answers prayer – only there are few conditions which people seem to miss.
And brethren please understand we have to get the balance right.
When you are living according to God’s will…and according to His word,
Then you can ask anything you want – and it will be done.
Why – because then what you want – will be what God wants,
And God will always answer prayers according to His will.
You see, when you are living according to God’s will for your life
And according to God’s Word,
Then what you want – is going to mirror and match what God wants…
And those prayers will always be answered.
Remember God only wants what’s best for you.
And when our will is wrapped around His – then our prayer life will be transformed.
Sometimes in the flesh - we think we know what is best,
When in fact in the Spirit - God often has something altogether different in mind.
When we pray according to God’s will and purpose for our lives,
Those prayers will be answered.
What Do We Know?
Take a look at how the Lord finishes verse 3
Because in this verse God effectively tells us three things:
Firstly, He declares that His desire for us is to call unto Him,
Then Secondly He says, I will answer your call…
I will hear and reply to your prayers,
And then thirdly, He backs this all up by saying:
I will - …shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Now one glaring reality that immediately stands out to me here
Is that we don’t know everything.
There are some things that we “Know Not”.
Oh, we think we know – don’t we.
We think we “know” all about this thing called life.
We think we “know” exactly what we need…
When we need it, and what will best for us in the long run.
And so often - we pray along those lines.
“Lord – here’s what I need.”
But I wonder, can you see a small problem here?
Because God says there is still some stuff you don’t know.
There are some things that you can’t see.
But its ok because – if you Call unto me, pray to me… in accordance to my will,
God says I will …shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Hidden Things
Do you see that phrase mighty things
Well that can actually be translated directly from the Hebrew
To mean: “Hidden Things”.
You see, sometimes we pray for this or that,
Thinking it will fix everything…
When in reality what we actually need is hidden from us.
Remember all those people we’ve met who say
Prayer doesn’t work…
Well it’s not because God doesn’t answer prayer,
It’s because often they fail to really understand the way He is answering,
Or perhaps even more to the point…
His answer is not the one we they’re looking for – so they dismiss it.
God says that when we are willing to call upon Him,
To pray and keep on praying…
Then He will answer…
And may even show us things that we didn’t previously understand.
The Way Gods Answers
Now its true that the Lord can hear and answer our prayers in many many ways,
But if I was to summarise all of that – and bring it down to a manageable level
I would simply say that God answers prayer in one of three ways.
That is to say, He answers our prayers by saying:
“Yes”…”Wait Not Yet”…or “No - I have something better in mind”.
So lets explore this a little bit.
a) God May Answer YES
First – God can say Yes!
Ding… Ding… Jackpot – don’t we just love it when God says “Yes” to our prayers.
However the Scriptures reveal to us
That the Lord’s “Yes’s” are always conditional to His will.
And we’ve touched on this already tonight - but Let’s all turn to 1 John 5:14:
14 …This is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us:
15 And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.
That term petitions used there is the Greek really just refers to
“Requests made to God in Prayer”.
So does God Hear our Prayers – Yes!
Does God answer our Prayers – Yes!
But what’s the Key to it all…
Its asking…requesting… and praying - “According to God’s Will”.
Why do you think so many people are disillusioned about prayer?
It’s because they pray with a limited knowledge and understanding
Of what God’s will is in a particular situation.
They pray from a limited vantage point - where so many things are still hidden.
Guys there is big difference praying according to what
We want and desire in life…and with what God’s best is for us.
And this is the absolute truth, When we pray in line with God’s direct Will…
The answer will always invariably be - “Yes”.
b) God May Answer – Not Now
However, sometimes God answers our Prayers in others ways too,
And sometimes that is by saying - “Not Yet!”
And this is really a timing issue – isn’t it.
That’s not to necessarily say that what we want and desire is a bad thing
It’s just to say – that the timing isn’t quite right for it to come into affect.
You see, God is an eternal everlasting being and time is not concern for Him.
We on the other hand are conditioned by time…
And when we see something we want – we want it now.
But where does God’s will fit into all of that?
Sometimes God’s answer is to wait and be patient,
Not because what we are praying for is wrong
Or not in line with His will – but simply because the time is not right.
You see sometimes God’s answer to our prayers is – “Not yet”.
c) God May Answer - No
Look, the Lord always answers Prayers…
Sometimes by saying “Yes”
Sometimes by saying “Not Yet”
And then sometimes He just outright says “No”…
But please understand that the only reason God says No,
Is because He has something better in mind.
And this is always the toughest answer to deal with – isn’t it.
But we don’t always know what God’s overall plan is.
Often - we think we do…
And often we are just wrong.
You see just because God is not answering your prayers
In the way you think He should…
Does not mean that God is not answering.
No – is still an answer isn’t it.
Its funny sometimes watching my boys…
Because often they ask if they can do something – thinking this is going to be cool and great
But having no wider comprehension of their actions
Or of the possible consequences that may result…
If they actually get what they’re asking for.
Now if I tell my boys “No”
It’s because I can see the bigger picture and how they may be hurt
If they end up going down that road.
As a Dad I say no because I love my boys
I say no because I want to protect my boys
I say no because given their immaturity I know what’s best for them.
And its really no different with our Heavenly Father.
Have you ever prayed for something,
I mean earnestly prayed…
And had the Lord say No?
Only to latter on look back latter on in hindsight
And see that circumstances have changed or that other things have come to light
That you didn’t see and understand at the time,
And gone “Thank you Lord for not giving me what I prayed for.”
When God tells us “No” its because He loves us,
Because He wants to protect us…
And because He has something better in mind.
CONCLUSION
So then what have we learnt this evening?
Well I don’t know about you – but I have learnt three things:
Call Upon God
Firstly, God wants us to Call upon Him
To cry out before Him…
To share our hearts before Him…
And to invite Him closer to us in Prayer.
God Answers Prayer
Secondly, God always answers our prayers.
In fact, He promises that when we call - He will always answer.
The problem is we often don’t fully understand or appreciate just how prayer works,
Or the way in which God answers our prayers sometimes.
Things We Don’t Know
And that brings us to our third and final point tonight…
There are some things we don’t know.
Whereas God knows everything and is always able to see the big picture,
We ourselves are often limited in our view
Because things are often hidden from us.
And guys when it comes to the year 2022
I have to be honest in saying that there are some things that are hidden from me
And some things that I knowest not.
But I can tell you this – God says: “Call unto me - and I will answer”.
I believe - what we need to do is obvious,
We need to call out to God…
And then we need to really listen for His answer.
You see God has everything well in hand and under control.
And This is His message for you and I today…
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things [hidden things], which thou knowest not.
