One night a father heard his young daughter speaking, although she was alone in her room. The door was cracked open just enough so that he could see that she was kneeling beside her bed in prayer. Interested to find out what subjects a child would bring before God, he paused outside her door and listened. After tuning in to her prayer he was puzzled to hear her reciting the alphabet: “A, B, B, D, E, F, G …” She just kept repeating it. He didn’t want to interrupt her, but soon curiosity got the best of him and he broke into prayer, “Honey,” he asked, “what are you doing?”

“I’m praying, Daddy,” she replied.

“Well, why are you praying the alphabet?” he asked.
She explained, “I started my prayers, but I wasn’t sure what to pray. I decided to just say all the letters of the alphabet and let God put them together however he thinks best.”

When it comes to prayer have you ever felt that way? You knew you needed to pray, but just weren’t sure how you should go about doing it. Maybe the words escaped your mind or you were uncertain about what would be the best way to go about doing it.

Don’t feel bad! You’re not the first person to think that! In Luke 11:1, Luke records, “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.” When you look at the prayer life of Jesus you find that he set’s a rich example of what prayer is all about.

Luke 11:1b-2a (NIV)
…. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say…

Jesus’ best friends and closest followers watched Jesus ministry and observed his rich prayer life and obviously noticed how he spoke to the Father with ease. He seemed to always have the right words to say and his prayers were powerfully answered. So, they asked him, as we can too, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Jesus granted their request. He gave them a guide for how they can pray. The writers of the Bible recorded it and today we call it, “The Lord’s Prayer.” Perhaps a more appropriate title would be “The Disciple’s Prayer” because it was given to Jesus’ followers so that they could pray with power!

So, tonight, I want to take a closer look at this particular prayer. The words in this prayer are not necessarily what should be repeated ritualistically in prayer but more of an outline of how and what to pray for. I believe that Jesus was giving His disciples a model for prayer that they could base their prayer life on.

begin with praise

Praise happens when we talk about or sing about who God is. It’s verbalizing certain things that we know about His character. It is speaking about the great things he has done in the world and in our lives. Jesus put it like this…

Matthew 6:9 (NIV)
9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

Notice that Jesus first describes God as “our Father in heaven.” He’s our father, not some uncaring, unnoticing deity. This was a concept that must be understood.

The writers of the Old Testament had a much different concept of their relationship to God than we do today. When the scribes who copied the Old Testament scriptures wrote the word for God, Yahweh, they would throw away their pen, never to use it again. They reasoned that once it had written the word, Yahweh, the pen was disqualified to write anything else. (David Jeremiah, Prayer, the Great Adventure p. 84)

The Jewish people couldn’t conceive of God as Father. It was very hard for them to think of Him in relational terms, but that’s exactly the thing Jesus wants us to recognize in our prayer.

He is the God who is near

He is a present help in times of trouble. He is Emmanuel, God with us. Still there is another aspect of God’s person that we should not forget.He is the God who is Most High

Hallowed means “holy,” or “set apart.” It’s the recognition that the Creator is distinct from His creation. God is totally pure, far wiser than we are, and more powerful than the largest exploding supernova. We begin in prayer by getting our mind right with regard to whose presence we’re entering into.

When John F. Kennedy was President of the United States, Life magazine published photos of his children, John Jr. and Caroline, playing with their toys on the floor of the Oval Office. Those images captured the hearts of the American people like nothing before or since. Why? I think it’s because it bridged a gap between two thoughts: Kennedy was the President of the United States, but he was also a father. He held ultimate political power in the Free World, but playing at this feet were two little kids who called him Daddy. I don’t think your kids would have been allowed to do that. Nor mine. But his kids were. Why? He was their father. He was not only President of the United States; he was also their dad.

In the same way, God is both our Father and the Lord of Glory. We can approach Him confidently in prayer because we are His dearly beloved children, but we must never forget that He is also the Sovereign of the universe.” (David Jeremiah, Prayer the Great Adventure pp. 89-90)

An ancient Orthodox writer wrote, “God cannot be grasped by the mind. If he could be grasped, he would not be God.” We are profoundly different God and I, which explains why friendship is not the primary model used in the Bible to describe our relationship. Worship is.” (Philip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God, p 110)

Prayer recognizes the proper relationship between us and God.

Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

If you’ve crossed the line of faith you don’t have to come to God trembling in fear. You have access because you’ve been forgiven and adopted as his child. On the other hand, you don’t treat God as your good buddy, “Bubba”. He is a friend but He is not like the guy or the girl next door. No, He is our holy, heavenly Father. It is praise and worship that ushers us into His presence.

Psalm 22:3 (KJV)
3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel.

surrender to God’s priorities

Matthew 6:10 (NIV)
10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We will only see powerful prayer when we approach God with the right attitude. Here Jesus calls us to submit ourselves totally to God. In asking that His kingdom come we’re essentially giving up control of our lives and handing it over to God. In a kingdom, there are only two classes of people, the ruler and those who are ruled over.

There must be a recognition of our place within God’s kingdom and a surrender to His rule before he’ll answer our prayers in a powerful way. He won’t entrust His stuff to us if we’re going to misuse it to selfish ends.

Richard Baxter, a great Puritan thinker and writer, well understood the real truth. He used to write these words whenever he was asked to sign one of his books: “Lord, what Thou wilt, where Thou wilt, and when Thou wilt.” In the old Puritan manner of speaking he was saying, “Lord, whatever you want, wherever you want it, and whenever you want it, that’s what I want.” (David Jeremiah, Prayer, the Great Adventure p. 106)

Does it scare you to pray like that? Well it should! But that’s where faith comes in! If we believe that God is good and on our side we understand that he’ll only tell us to do that which is for the best.

This then, is also why we need to seek the mind of the Father when we pray. How many times do you being praying by asking God how He would have you pray? One of the reasons Jesus sent the Holy Spirit is so that we would have access to the mind of the Father. It is important friends that we speak out loud and vocalize our prayer when we pray, but it is more important to open your ears first to what the Spirit of God may be directing you to pray for.

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)

ask for God’s provision.

After we’ve focused on who God is and submitted to his rule in our lives we can then go on to ask for His provision. Jesus said to simply ask…

Matthew 6:11 (NIV)
11 Give us today our daily bread.

Obviously, this was intended to move us beyond a request for food. Here we simply ask God for our needs, not our wants. Notice what’s really being asked for here, “daily bread.” And we’re to ask for today’s only, not tomorrow’s. God will meet our legitimate daily needs, but not necessarily the luxury things we ask for.

Indirectly, this single verse clues us into how often we should pray and bring our needs before God. We’re to seek him daily. People who seek him consistently each day are the one’s who experience his powerful answers to prayer. Those who are most dependent on God tend to be those He uses in significant ways.

Whatever your needs are, bring them to God on a daily basis. Even if you think they’re petty, go ahead and ask. Our heavenly Father delights in giving us good gifts the same way you delight in giving your children what they need. Ask specifically. Ask confidently. Ask persistently. Ask with faith. Just don’t give up.

Dr. Helen Roseveare, missionary to Zaire, told the following story. “A mother at our mission station died after giving birth to a premature baby. We tried to improvise an incubator to keep the infant alive, but the only hot water bottle we had was beyond repair. So we asked the children to pray for the baby and for her sister. One of the girls responded, ‘Dear God, please send a hot water bottle today. Tomorrow will be too late because by then the baby will be dead. And dear Lord, send a doll for the sister so she won’t feel so lonely.’ That afternoon a large package arrived from England. The children watched eagerly as we opened it. Much to their surprise, under some clothing was a hot water bottle! Immediately the girl who had prayed so earnestly started to dig deeper, exclaiming, ‘If God sent that, I’m sure He also sent a doll!’ And she was right! The heavenly Father knew in advance of that child’s sincere requests, and five months earlier He had led a ladies group to include both those specific articles.” (Our Daily Bread, March 18, 2002)

examine your personal relationships

Here come one of the toughest parts of the Lord’s Prayer. When you realize the magnitude of what Jesus recites in the next verse it makes you think carefully before you say it.

Matthew 6:12 (NIV)
12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Think of the person who has done you the most wrong recently. Now pray, “Lord, forgive me of my sins the way I’ve forgiven so and so.” God wants us to reflect on our relationships with people because they can be an indicator of our own relationship with God. If we harbor unforgiveness we’re not right with God. Don’t expect answers to prayer if you’re holding out on forgiveness. Now hear me here. I am not talking about going to others and asking for their forgiveness. Though that is important that is not what Jesus prayed in this prayer. I’m talking about your willingness to go and forgive others.

Jesus was so serious about this point that at the end of His prayer He elaborated on this verse.

Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)
14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

This stuff is serious business, if we’ll use the same mercy towards others that God has extended to us our prayers will take on a whole new character and power. Implied in this part of the prayer model is that we pray for the needs of others. I mean that’s what is assumed we do. But then this statement takes things one step further – we have the opportunity to go beyond forgiveness and prayer for the needs of others and allow God shape us to be like Him!

seek God’s protection

Next is what could be one of the more puzzling verses of the Bible.

Matthew 6:13 (NIV)
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

You see this verse is hard to square with another portion of the Bible that says:

James 1:13 (NIV)
13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

So how do we square off those verses? Here’s how. First of all notice the location of this particular verse. It follows, “Father forgive us…”. Temptation is an enticement to sin. It is only natural then that following the prayer seeking the forgiveness of sin that we ask for deliverance and protection from the things that lead us to that sin in the first place! God never leads us to sin. Never. He does test us, however. He allows trials in our lives that are intended to draw us nearer to Himself and strengthen our faith and dependence on Him. Often, within the midst of trials and struggles we encounter a temptation to sin. That temptation comes from either ourselves – our own evil desires – or Satan, the enemy.

Another way to read this verse then is, “And keep us from those places, situations, circumstances where we experience temptation and rescue us from the evil one.” In other words, if I can avoid testing and still be close to you, please let it be, but if not help me to overcome temptation with your power. We have a promise in the scriptures that God will bring us through those times. Our part is to pray and ask for wisdom to see it coming.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)
13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

CONCLUSION

Friends, prayer can change your life. Take this model of prayer given by Jesus and build your own daily time with God. You’ll find that not only does God consistently answer your requests, but He’s changing you in the process.

The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.
(C.S. Lewis)

A deacon had a parrot that said, “lets kiss, lets kiss.”
The Pastor had a parrot that said, “lets pray, lets pray.”
So the deacon asked the preacher if he could leave his parrot with the pastor to influence his parrot so that it wouldn’t say, “lets kiss…”
So the pastor kept the deacons parrot and it began to recite, “lets kiss, lets kiss.”
The pastor’s parrot immediately began to say, “Praise the Lord! My prayers been answered!”
(quoted in “Are your Prayers Answered?” by Ted Sutherland)

Recap previous messages in the series:
- yes, not yet, and no
- no faith
- broken relationships (with God, with each other)

There are a number of scriptures we are going to be looking at as I share the final message in this series but I want to begin with what James writes in chapter 4 of his letter,

1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
James 4:1-3 (NIV)

Let’s focus on that last verse for a moment, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

Two quick things to observe when looking at another reason for why God doesn’t answer prayers:

1. You do not receive because you ask with wrong MOTIVES
2. Wrong motives are harbored in the desire to spend what you get on YOUR PLEASURES.

Some people approach prayer like they do a soft drink machine. What do you do when you go up to a soft drink machine? You put in your money, you make your selection, you punch the button, and you wait for your soft drink to drop out of the machine. The whole transaction takes a few seconds. If the soft drink doesn’t drop out of the machine, you get ticked-off. You push the machine. You hit it, and if that doesn’t work, you write a nasty little note that says, “This machine took my money!” and you leave it on the machine. Some people approach prayer like that! (“Answered Prayers” by Roger Thompson)

Many people think that God is always going to answer their prayers the way they want them answered and in the time that they want them answered. And when God doesn’t perform the way they think God ought to perform, they feel cheated. They think God is not a “good” or loving God. I’ve had people tell me that they no longer believe in God because their prayer wasn’t answered. It’s like they’re saying: “So, there, God. If you won’t do what I want, I won’t believe in you.” One individual I’ve counseled was convinced God was out to get him because it seemed like not only was God not answering his prayers but things were getting worse!

Prayer is not given to us as a way to present our demands to God! Prayer is not like presenting our Christmas wish list to Santa Claus. Prayer is all about our relationship with God, not about getting what we want.

There was a woman who had a different understanding of prayer. She wanted a swimming pool in her back yard. Her husband was in the anti-swimming pool camp. He didn’t want one, said they couldn’t afford one, that they didn’t need one. No, no way, no how were they going to have a swimming pool in her back yard. Then she put feet to her prayer by calling the swimming pool company and ordering a pool. And when the pool was delivered, she charged the cost to her husband’s credit card, all the while proclaiming that God gave her the swimming pool! (“Answered Prayers” by Roger Thompson)

Prayer is not about swimming pools or new cars or houses or clothes or CD players or stuff. Prayer is all about our relationship with God. When we pray for things – stuff – we tread close to missing the point that prayer is about or relationship with God….Jesus demonstrated the way we are to approach prayer when he was in the Garden of Eden.

Here’s the setting: Jesus had just finished the Last Supper with his disciples. In just a short while, he will be arrested, tried, and executed. In between his last meal and his arrest, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives to pray. Do you remember what Jesus prayed?

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:39 (NIV)

Yet this wasn’t the only time he prayed. Matthew records three times Jesus going to pray this prayer…

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
Matthew 26:42 (NIV)

So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Matthew 26:44 (NIV)

This account about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is no doubt included in scriptures for a number of reasons by the Holy Spirit but among those reasons I believe a predominant one is to demonstrate that even Jesus modeled the importance of our prayers being according to the will of the Father!

So in our text from James 4:3, James is writing that when we ask according to our own will, according to our own desires that are independent of God’s will and His desires our prayers won’t be answered. Now this is a pretty obvious conclusion to make although it’s not so readily practiced in our prayer lives. The truth is, that if we pray something that is not of God’s will – it won’t be answered. If we pray according to God’s will – it will be answered (providing that the other factors that I’ve already talked about in this series are in order!)

The question then is,

How do we know if our prayer is consistent with God’s Will?

Does the prayer align with God’s nature and character?

Some examples:

a. Holiness

God will never give you anything that would lead you to impurity and sin. Any prayer request motivated by lust, sensuality, or sinful passion is against the character and nature of God.

b. Love & Mercy

God is a very loving and merciful God. He will never pay attention to prayer requests that are expressed to Him out of anger, hatred, jealousy & envy.

See for example the story of Balaam and King Balak in Numbers 22-24. Balak paid prophet Balaam to pronounce a curse upon Israel out of fear that Israel would invade and take over his land. God’s answer wasn’t very pleasant to Balak – in fact, God commanded Balaam to pronounce a blessing, instead of a curse, upon Israel.

c. Honesty and Trustworthiness

If your prayer is motivated out of dishonest or dishonorable desires, God will not honor such prayers.

An example of such motives is found in the scripture that was read at the beginning of the service this morning – I want to refresh our memory by reading once again verse 5 and 6:

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:5-6 (NIV)

Jesus is giving a clear warning about prayer here to the disciples and it begins with do not. It is a warning to not pray with a wrong motive as demonstrated by the “hypocrites” in Jesus’ example.

We may look at this and think automatically that this line could never describe us. The Greek word that Jesus uses here is hypocrites (hoop-ok-ree-tace’) which was used in Greek theater. This word was used to describe an actor who wore a mask and played a specific role. A hypocrite is a person who pretends to be something they are not. An actor playing a specific role and nothing more.

How many people come to church wearing “masks”? How often do we show up just to “play the part”?

We hid our pain, our turmoil, our trials, our anger behind the mask of a painted smile and fake our way through. We put up masks to hide our brokenness. We put up masks to hide our true feelings and emotions.

We show up at church to fulfill our role, whatever it may be. We take on a role, play the part.

But we must important this simple truth. God sees through every mask you wear and every role you play. There is no hiding yourself from God. You cannot be hypocritical with God because He knows the truth already.

All of us are a little hypocritical at times. There are times when we pretend life doesn’t hurt. We pretend things aren’t hard at times. We pretend our lives are OK all of the time. We pretend and we become less and less genuine. Do you know that the term is for something or someone who isn’t genuine? Fake!

So in this passage then, how are the people being “fake”?

i. What they are fake about – The love of prayer
Jesus said that these hypocrites loved to pray and at first glance that sounds pretty good but as I’ve said before, when we read scriptures – context means everything! The word that is used here for love is not centered on God and His divine love but rather is focused on the brotherly love and acceptance of humanity. The core issue here is that the focus was completely wrong. The love that Jesus speaks about is not motivated by God but by human selfishness.

ii. Where they are fake about it – In worship and in public
Is Jesus saying that public prayer is wrong? Absolutely not! There is nothing wrong with praying aloud in church. The issue here is not public versus private prayer. The key issue that Jesus is dealing with is “showboating” prayer.

In other words, the hypocrites made it a practice to pray in public places to show others that they were praying. The purpose was to make themselves look good, pious and spiritual. This would be like __________ going over to the grocery store and just shouting out a bunch of prayers in the bakery department to be seen by other people. It would be as fake as a three dollar bill.

iii. Why they are fake about it – to be seen by men.
Who is getting the attention by that kind of praying? The person giving the prayer and the focus on God is completely lost. The goal of prayer ought to be to enter into a deeper awareness of the presence of God. You do not pray to be with others, you pray to be with God. It’s been said that worship is meant to have an audience of one – meaning that God is really the only one that matters when we worship. The same thing is true when we pray. It is not to get the attention of others but to enter the presence of God Almighty.

If our prayers are self-centered and hypocritical in nature they will accomplish nothing.

d. Generous and Just

God is incredibly generous and delights in showering blessings upon His people. He is also a just God and sin and evil does not survive for long in His presence.

If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.
Proverbs 21:13 (NIV)

Listen, if you are a person who hoards and stores anything that you get. If you are a person that is stingy when it comes to helping those in need, the poor, the widows, orphans. What do you think is the motivation behind your prayers when you pray? More than likely it will be that your life will be enriched, that your house will be enhanced, that your barn can get bigger all for your own benefit. In God’s eyes, this is wrong motives – it doesn’t line up with His generous and just character, and nature.

A pastor could be praying for revival and be praying with wrong motives. How? By praying not chiefly so that God may be glorified and people saved, but that his church might begin to grow and other pastors might look up to him as an effective evangelist. In “The Power of Prayer” and “The Prayer of Power”, R.A. Torrey tells of one minister who was praying for revival so he would not lose his church. He told of another minister who was praying to be baptized with the Holy Spirit because he thought he would be paid more if he was. (“Some reasons for unanswered prayer” by Freddy Fritz)

So it is important that our prayer is consistent with God’s character and nature in order for it to be His will. Now before I go further I need to clarify something. Most Christians make a big mistake in prayer. They go around constantly saying, “God, is it Your will that I ask for this?” over every little item. How do you know if you are like this? Well as I started going over the list of character traits and the nature of God – did you think to yourself, “I’ve got to get this down, I’ve got to remember this, next time I pray I’m going to match up what I pray against this list, Is there anything I’m missing?” The reality is, for most of you, after you walk through these doors at the end of the service you won’t remember even one item from that list.

The real issue is not “God, what is Your will regarding this specific circumstance?” The real issue is “Am I in God’s will as a person?” If my life is in harmony with God, then my desires are going to be in harmony with God!” I love this quote attributed to Saint Augustine,

“Love God and do what you please”

On the surface that seems like a license to the very thing James warns against. But it really cleverly summarizes what I’ve already stated. For, if you really love God with all Your heart, you’re not going to want to do what displeases God and indeed the desires of your heart will line up with the desires of His heart!

Is it no wonder then, that Jesus urgently shared with His disciples the importance to abide in Him? I shared this verse last week but it is worthwhile to refresh your memory here,

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
John 15:5-8 (NIV)

So you don’t have to constantly say, “Is it Your will?” When you go to buy a new car: “God is it Your will that I buy a brown Chevy or a gold Mercedes?…God is it Your will that I order the steak or the pork chops?” No, you don’t have to ask god’s will on every little item like that. You get your life in God’s will and say, “To the best of my knowledge, I’m trying to do what’s right, Lord. I want to live in Your will.” Then you ask according to your desires. You get in God’s will!

But then how do you know if you really want God’s will for your life? Simple. How eager are you to read the Bible? How eager are you to spend time in His presence in prayer, and worship? How excited are you about getting together with other believers to serve, to worship, to pray, to learn God’s word together? The only way you can know the will of God is by reading and doing the Word of God. And God’s word tells you God’s will.

The wonderful promise of scripture is this,

14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him.
1 John 5:14-15 (NIV)

CONCLUSION

In this series of messages I’ve had a chance to share with you some of the discoveries I’ve made in scripture in answering the question, “Why God doesn’t answer prayer?” I’ve learned (and hopefully you have as well) that there are predominately three main reasons for unanswered prayer: (briefly expand on each point verbally as the Spirit leads)

? lack of faith
? broken relationships
? wrong motives

I want to conclude with a poem that helps put everything back into perspective.

I asked God to take away my habit
God said, No.
It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.

I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, No.
Patience is a byproduct of tribulations;
It isn’t granted, it is learned.

I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, No.
I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.

I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No.
Suffering teaches you to lean on me instead of yourself.

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, No.
I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.

I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me.
God said…Ahhh, finally you have the idea
(quoted in the message “Why does God sometimes say “No” to my prayer?” by Marc Axelrod”)

I began a series last week in which I’m reading and studying the Bible to seek the answer to the question – Why do some prayers go unanswered? I asked you folks last week to shout yes if you believe God answered prayer and the majority of you certainly indicated so – but you also agreed that there are times when you have prayed that what you prayed for didn’t happen. It’s the paradox which we live in tension with as Christians – believing that God answers prayer, and certainly seeing examples of that in our lives – but then there are also many examples of it seeming like our prayers are bouncing off some sort of impenetrable force field around heaven.I believe that God has revealed through His written word clear teaching about the prayers that don’t reach Him, that He chooses not to hear, or that He simply says no to. Today we’re going to look at one of them.

There was a young girl who once wrote a missionary, to let him know that she was keeping him in her prayers. She had been told not to request a response to her letter because the missionary was very busy so she began her letter with these words; “Dear Mr. Missionary, I am praying for you, but don’t worry, I am not expecting an answer.” (quoted in “5 Attitudes of Effective Prayer” by Bruce Ball)

The sad thing about this story, is that it summarizes how too many Christians pray. We bring issues before the throne of God, but we don’t really expect any answers. We pray for help, and then immediately look for some way that we can fix the problem we are praying about. We ask God to help us, and at the same time we are asking for his help, we are also planning on what ?we’ are going to do to solve the problem. Frankly, because we simply don’t trust that our prayers are going to cut it and that God will work a miracle!

James, the half-brother of Jesus writes in the beginning of His letter to the church -

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
James 1:5-7 (NIV)

James is talking about asking God, praying to God for wisdom and that asking of course, is a key to receiving. But in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, James further clarifies by saying that the person asking must believe and not doubt. He warns that those who doubt when they ask shouldn’t expect anything in response from God. I believe that through James inspired words we are getting insight into something that hinders prayer. And it is connected to the words believe and doubt.

I believe that one of the greatest things that hinders our prayers and keeps them from being answered is that we don’t really believe that God will answer what we are praying for. In other words there is a lack of faith.

Today, we’re going to focus in on three different accounts found in the gospel – two that are stories of what Jesus did with His disciples and one is a parable that Jesus shared. These historical stories certainly gave me insight into how lack of faith is detrimental to prayer and I hope they challenge you in the same way they challenged me.

The first story we’re going to look at was read this morning from Matthew 21, but I want read the parallel account recorded in Mark 11:12-25. It’s the same event but from a different perspective.

12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it. 15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” 18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. 19 When evening came, they went out of the city. 20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” 22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
Mark 11:12-25 (NIV)

If you like to highlight in your Bible and mark up important words you can get ready because I’m going to point out a couple to you this morning.

There are many observations that can be made in this story – and believe me, I’ve got quite a list in my study notes. But I want to focus in on what Jesus has to point out about prayer. When the disciples exclaimed in astonishment their surprise at the obvious decay of the fig tree. Jesus responded with a teaching of faith in prayer.

In verse 24 Jesus basically says that if you believe that you have received whatever you ask for in prayer, it will be yours. Underline verse 24. In verse 23, he gave a obviously tremendous picture of the power of prayer in saying that such prayer can even move mountains. But there’s a clarification here, “…if anyone says to this mountain, ?Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen. It will be done for him.’” (vs 23) Underline “does not doubt” and “but believes”. Three emphases: faith, no doubt, and belief.

Here’s some questions that come out of this:

Why is faith so important?

In other words, “Why does God not answer prayer with no faith?”

our faith must be in God, not in what we are praying for.
I think we have to back up a little bit before we answer that. When we pray, what is our faith to be in? In other words, are we to have faith in what is being prayed for or faith in God? Notice, how Jesus began his response to the disciples. What did he say? “Have faith in God!” When we pray, our faith shouldn’t be in what we are praying for but instead in the one we are praying to. Our faith must be in God, not in what we are praying for! There must be the correct understanding then that the solution to whatever we are praying for is determined and provided by God. Why is this important? I’ll expand on this further in the series but let me just give one answer.

Our motives. Take finances for example. How many of you have prayed for God to help you get out of debt? I don’t about you, but I know that my prayers often take of shape of something like this, “Lord, please bring some money our way that we can use to pay off our debt.” Or “God, it’d be so nice to win the Tim Hortons roll-up-the-rim to win car, so I can cash it in for the money…to pay off our debt.”. Come on, there’s gotta be someone in here who’s prayed that? Or at least thought it? Here’s the problem. What we put our trust in is revealed in what we pray for. Think about that for a moment. When you pray for money to pay off your debt – is your faith in what the money will do, or what God will do?
So, faith in God is important.

Now back to why faith is important when it comes to prayer.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

Did you catch that? Without faith it is impossible to please God. Anyone who comes to him must what? Believe that he exists AND that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Faith, or to clarify, faith in God is important when we pray because it’s the only way God will listen! Put simply, he will not respond to a faithless prayer.

Is it even possible to pray without faith? I think it is.

Is faith believing that God can do it? ?I believe God can do it!’ That is not faith. When you believe God can, that’s just a fact. God can do it whether you believe it or not. ?I believe God might do it’. That’s not faith either. That’s hope. You hope He might. ?I believe God will do it.’ That’s faith. Not believing God can do it, not believing God might do it, but believing God will do it. Faith! (“From Five Conditions of Answered Prayer” by Jeff Seaman)

Lack of faith hinders God from answering your prayer! Mark records about how people’s unbelief even hindered Christ from doing great miracles in his hometown.

5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.
Mark 6:5-6 (NIV)

What produces “lack of faith”?

So what is it that produces lack of faith? Doubt! Jesus clarified to His disciples… “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt” (Matthew 21:21 NIV). Faith is affirming that yes God will do something PLUS believing that there is nothing preventing that from happening (i.e. no doubt). How many of us can say that we pray with that assurance?

This brings me to the next story I want to share with you. It is recorded by these same two gospel writers, Matthew and Mark. I’m going to read from Mark’s account,

14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. 16 “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. 17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” 19 “O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”
Mark 9:14-29 (NIV)

Notice Jesus bemoans the lack of faith around him (“O unbelieving generation”). Jesus again highlighted the importance of faith in answered prayer when he said, “Everything is possible for him who believes”. Notice the father’s response, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Such a contradictory statement on the surface. The father is essentially saying to Jesus, “I believe, but I don’t believe, help me to believe” This a good example of our own approach to praying in “faith”. The problem is – the father already displayed the reality of his “belief” in his earlier statement to Jesus when he said, “But if you can do anything” (vs 22) In other words, he was still riddled with doubts! The Message Bible translation puts it this way,

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!” Mark 9:24 (MSG)

Doubt can come from many sources (some valid, some not so valid).

• There may be doubt that it’s not God’s will. This can be valid doubt as we’ll see in a later message in this series. If we aren’t sure something is God’s will – then more than likely, the prayer is not going be answered. And as we’ll see, if something isn’t God’s will of course it won’t be answered! But correspondingly, if there is no doubt that something is God’s will – the resulting believing faith produces powerful prayer!

“Every promise of scripture is a writing of God, which may be pleaded before Him with this reasonable request, ?Do as thou has said’” (Spurgeon)

“We must turn God’s promises into prayer, and then they shall be turned into performances” (Matthew Henry)

“…though the Bible be crowded with golden promises from board to board, yet will they be inoperative until we turn them into prayer…God’s promises are given, not to restrain, but to incite to prayer.” (F.B. Meyer)

“Promises show direction in which we may ask, and the extent to which we may expect an answer” (Ted Sutherland in “Are Your Prayers Answered”)

Where this doubt becomes invalid is when there is a clear promise of God in scripture that highlights His will. We have license to believe that it will happen! Don’t doubt it!

• “I don’t deserve this to happen” (the idea that there’s something wrong in my life/or in the life of the beneficiary). Again, this can be a valid doubt. If there is unconfessed sin, or harbored unforgiveness in your life then the doubt that is produced will render your prayer powerless.

• “It’s un-natural (scientifically) for it to happen” “It’s impossible”. This is the hangup for those who don’t believe in God and correspondingly don’t believe in miracles. In other words, what they believe is that everything has a natural explanation. Is this a valid doubt for Christians? Of course not. But really, believers don’t doubt that God can do something -rather our doubts fall into the first two categories I talked about.

The important thing to remember is that where there is lack of faith, there is an abundance of doubt. Sometimes that doubt is there for valid reasons. But many times it isn’t. With doubt you will not see answers to your prayer.

Is “quantity” of faith important?

In the particular story with Jesus healing the demon possessed boy there’s something that Matthew records Jesus saying, that is often referred to in any discussions on faith and I think it’s important I address it as well.

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:20 (NIV)

Jesus is responding to the disciples questions about how come they couldn’t drive out the demon from the boy. Jesus answers, that it is because they have so little faith – which hopefully we get by now. But then Jesus says something that sparks another question, “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed…”. Why does Jesus use the mustard seed in this illustration? (show people a mustard seed and they’ll see how small it is). Can faith be measured by quantity? Is there a certain degree of faith that one has that flips the switch to powerful prayer? Do we “work up” faith?

I believe really what’s happening here is that Jesus is using the mustard seed as a hyperbole. That is, a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement to make a point. In other words, Jesus is really saying, “any amount of faith is sufficient…the measure of your faith isn’t of greatest importance – whether your faith is the size of a mustard seed or a mountain, it doesn’t matter because you either have faith, or you don’t.”

For example: If I put a drop of water in a cup and then I take a different cup and fill it to the brim with water. What cup has water in it? The answer is – “they both do”. Just because one cup has only a drop in it doesn’t’ mean it doesn’t have water in it.

Likewise with faith. Although we can’t see faith like we can see the water in a cup, the principle is the same – it doesn’t matter how much “faith” is in the cup, because any faith is enough. The question isn’t, how much faith you have – it’s do you have any doubt? Because if you doubt, you don’t believe! That’s what Jesus is teaching here.

Okay, so that’s fine and dandy – hopefully you’ve grasped the importance of faith in prayer and how lack of faith will result in unanswered prayer. But that leaves a question. Assuming that a person prays in faith, without any doubts brought on by unconfessed sin, or uncertainty that it’s God’s will, are there cases where their prayer still does not get answered and if so, why?

The truth is, the Bible does record instances where Godly people have prayed with faith and God hasn’t answered…at least right away. That’s the key – sometimes unanswered prayer is just a matter of our wanting things right away getting in the way of God’s perfect timing. God’s perfect timing does not always happen right now. Remember this phrase:

God is not always on time, but He is always in time. (Doug Henry in “What do we do with Unanswered Prayer”)

You see, lack of faith will result in unanswered prayer. However, faith filled praying must be persistent because sometimes God’s answer isn’t what we expect! Even though faith can’t be directly measured in quantity, it can be measured by persistence.

Sometimes when we pray we give up too soon! In Daniel 10 we learn that he had been given a vision and persisted in prayer for three weeks, seeking understanding for the vision. On the 24th day a heavenly visitor came and delivered the interpretation of Daniel’s vision. Before doing so the being indicated that he had been dispatched from the moment Daniel set out to understand what God was showing him but had been detained by the demonic “Prince of Persia”. What would have happened if Daniel gave up?

Luke tells us (Luke 2:36-38) about when Jesus was taken as a small child to be dedicated at the temple in Jerusalem there was a very old widow eighty four years of age who had worshiped night and day, fasting and praying in the temple. We aren’t told what she fasted and prayed about but attention is drawn to the fact that she was among those blessed to know who the child was that Mary and Joseph brought that day. Would she have experienced that if she gave up on praying?

This brings me to the third and final story we’ll look at this morning. This is actually a parable that Jesus told his disciples. Luke begins his account of this parable with the words, “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up… Watch on the screen a modern retelling of this parable.

{show Sermon Spice Video – “The Persistent Widow“}

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:1-8 (NIV)

Now, I think it’s important to clarify the difference between persistence and empty repetitiveness. In Matthew 6, Jesus is giving instructions to his disciples on prayer and there are a number of things he said (I’ll be coming back to many of them in the next two messages) but I want to focus on verse 7…

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Matthew 6:7 (NIV)

We must be careful when we pray persistently for something that it doesn’t become habitual and mere repetition. Not giving up in prayer does not mean simply saying the same thing over and over again like a mantra. “Not giving up” has more to do with praying faithfully than with praying repetitively. Having habits can sometimes be good but in the case of prayer habits can be destructive. Ensure that when you are praying persistently for something that it is not from habit but is genuine, sincere and with the same emphasis and faith as when you first prayed it.

CONCLUSION

Hopefully, today you’ve gained some insight into one of the reasons for why prayers go unanswered.

William Penn, the founder of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, was well liked by the Indians. Once they told him he could have as much of their land as he could encompass on foot in a single day. So, early the next morning he started out and walked until late that night. When he finally went to claim his land, the Indians were greatly surprised, for they really didn’t think he would take them seriously. But they kept their promise and gave him a large area which today is part of the city of Philadelphia. William Penn simply believed what they said. Should we do less with God? (quoted in “Are Your Prayers Answered” by Ted Sutherland)

As Jesus said to his disciples, so I say to you – Have faith in God! Remember the words of Paul,

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)