When Heaven Is Silent

- Think about some of the surpassing great revelations that God has given to you. Go back to the book of Psalms. Listen as the writers struggle with their own questions about unanswered prayer and a God that seems far away. Listen to them complain over the fact that at the time when they most needed to see God’s face, that His face seemed to be hidden. And then listen to them find confidence in the promises of God that will never change no matter how our world may be changing all around us.

3. Continue praying to God. “three times I pleaded”

- Paul’s prayer was persistent and it was passionate.

- When Paul talked about praying 3 times, that doesn’t mean that he casually prayed over this need 3 times and then quit. It doesn’t mean that he added an addendum at the end of his breakfast, lunch, and dinner prayers: “Thanks for this food, God. And oh yeah, if you would be so kind, please take away this problem that I’ve got.” No, Paul pleaded with God! The word that is translated “pleaded” is the same word that is used to describe the way that Jairus asked for the healing of his daughter who was dying (Mk 5:23). It was how a leper sought cleansing from his leprosy (Mk. 1:40). And it was how a servant begged his master for mercy over a bill that he owed so that he would not be thrown into prison and separated from his family (Mt 18:29). How would you pray if your daughter was dying? How would you pray if your limbs were being destroyed with leprosy? How would you pray if you were getting ready to be separated from your family that you loved because of a debt that you owed?

- The first response that many people give when God doesn’t come through for them is that they give up on God or they give up on prayer. And that’s before they ever get to the pleading level. They may have hinted, suggested, or even asked, but they haven’t pleaded. It may very well be that God is just waiting until you are flat on your face before Him laying it all on the line, humiliating yourself in His eyes before He will give you the answer to your prayer. “God resists the proud but gives grace unto the humble.”

- The only reason that Paul quit praying this particular request was because God gave Him an answer. It just so happened that that answer was “no”. Paul accepted that answer and continued on with his life.

- P.U.S.H. – Pray Until Something Happens. Don’t give up praying until something happens either to change your situation or to change you. A little boy told his teacher one day that he had lost his marble. He asked if he could have prayer that God would enable him to find it. She was a Christian, and so she agreed. The next day, she hesitantly asked the little boy if he had found his marble. He answered, “No ma’am, but he took away my desire for it.”

4. Listen for God’s voice. “My grace is sufficient”

- In the first few days after the downing of the twin towers, specially trained crews brought in listening devices so that they could hear the sound of people trapped inside the rubble. They were so sensitive that they could pick up a sound of someone crying out for help or even the sound of a human heartbeat.