Shut Up Devil, God’s Just Not Shown Up Yet

SHUT UP DEVIL, GOD’S JUST NOT SHOWN UP YET!

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: $500 loan

1. An old Native American wanted a loan for $500. The banker asked, "What are you going to do with the money?" he asks the Indian. "Buy Silver, make jewelry, and sell it," was the response.

2. "What have you got for collateral?" "Collateral?" replied the Indian. "Something of value equal to the value of the loan.

3. "Have you got any vehicles?" "Yes, 1949 Chevy pickup," replied the Indian. "How about livestock?" "Yes, a horse, but it has no teeth," replies the Indian. The banker decided to make the $500 loan.

4. Several weeks later the old Indian was back with a roll of bills and paid off his loan. "What are you going to do with the rest of that money?" the banker asked.

5. "Put in hogan", replied the Indian. "Why don't you deposit it in my bank," the banker asked. “We’ll take care of it for you and whenever you want, you can withdraw it."

6. The old Indian, with a knowing look, leaned across the desk and asked the banker, "What you got for collateral?"

B. TEXT

“For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise” Heb. 10:36.

C. THESIS

1. Tonight we’re going to look at the dilemma of unanswered prayer, why God doesn’t answer, and what to do until He does answer.

2. The title of this message is, “Shut Up Devil, God’s Just Not Shown Up Yet!”

I. THE DILEMMA OF UNANSWERED PRAYER

A. PROBLEMS ARISE

1. You're trying to walk by faith. Problems arise. A sickness comes. Your car breaks. An unexpected large bill lands in your mailbox. There's a major problem with your spouse. The problem doesn't go away though you've prayed about it.

2. The enemy tempts you, mocks you with the thought:

“You have no faith; you're not good enough or God would've heard you/taken care of you. God is against you. God doesn't work that way anymore. Our church/its leaders don't have any faith. God is not faithful.”

B. GETTING “ENOUGH”

1. The devil keeps running his head, like a dog that won't stop barking. Finally, you get enough; you get tired of listening to the devil.

2. Have you ever gotten the spirit of slap? You’d like to give people a piece of your mind, but there wouldn't be enough to go around. Like the public school teacher in a class of loud kids who won't listen – who yells "Shut Up!"

3. The accuser keeps accusing God. You get tired of it. The Lord bound the evil spirits from speaking (Mark 1:24-25, 34). The Greek says "Be muzzled." The Amplified version says, "Hush up!" Don’t you want to tell him that sometimes?

II. REASONS WHY GOD DELAYS

But often the reason God hasn’t answered has nothing to do with the devil. God, in His wisdom, is doing what’s best for us. Now, that won’t stop the devil from twisting the picture to his negative take, but we’ll see how he’s so wrong.

A. IT’S NOT GOOD FOR YOU

1. In 2 Kings 20:1-6, God told King Hezekiah that it was God’s will for him to die. Hezekiah pleaded to live, even against God’s counsel, and God finally gave him his wish.

But it wasn’t God’s best; God's best was for him to die.

2. During the 15 years he gained, he bore a son named Manasseh who was the worst king who ever reigned in Judah and he brought God's judgment on Judah because of his actions. So sometimes God doesn’t answer because it’s not good for us!

B. NOT THE RIGHT TIME YET

1. The Jews for generations plead for God to send them their Messiah, but the right time hadn’t arrived.

2. Gal. 4:4, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” God didn’t answer earlier because it wasn’t the right time yet!

C. IT IS ANSWERED, BUT NOT VISIBLE YET

1. Dan. 10:2-3,5, 12-14; “2 At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. 3 I ate no choice food….until the three weeks were over….5 there before me was [an angel]. 12 [Who said]….Since the first day that you set your mind to

gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days….14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future.”

2. God had answered Daniel’s prayer from the first day, but the answer didn’t materialize for 24 days, when the angel finally arrived. So it’s possible God can already have answered but it not be visible yet to our perception.