ASKING THE HARD QUESTIONS--PART III

SERMON TITLE: WHY DID GOD NOT ANSWER MY PRAYERS?

SERMON THEME: KNOWING GOD'S WILL

WHAT DID JESUS MEAN WHEN WE SAID WE COULD ASK FOR ANYTHING IN HIS NAME?

JOHN 14:13-14

¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

· PRAYER IS POWERFUL, BUT PRAYER IS ALSO CONFUSING.

PROVERBS 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

· SO WHY IS IT THAT SOMETIMES YOU ASK GOD TO DO SOMETHING, IN HIS NAME, AND YOU BELIEVE THAT HE WILL DO IT, BUT HE DOES NOT ANSWER YOUR PRAYER.

ISAIAH 55:8-9

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

WE NEED TO BUILD AN UNDERTANDING OF THE NATURE OF GOD AND THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER.

· PRAYER IS NOT ABOUT YOU, PRAYER IS ABOUT GOD.

· GOD DOES NOT EXIST TO SERVE YOU,YOU EXIST TO SERVE AND GLORIFY GOD.

· THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER IS NOT TO GET GOD TO DO YOUR WILL.

THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER IS TO KNOW GOD SO YOU CAN DO HIS WILL.

WHAT PRAYER IS NOT, AND WHY GOD MAY NOT ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS

I) MAYBE YOUR PRAYERS ARE DISCONNECTED BECAUSE OF BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS.

MARK 11:24-25

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 them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

· YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH PEOPLE IMPACTS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

MATTHEW 5:23-24

²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

· GOD IS NOT A BUTTON TO BE PUSHED, BUT A RELATIONSHIP TO BE PURSUED.

I PETER 3:7

⁷ Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

II) MAYBE YOUR PRAYERS HAVE THE WRONG MOTIVES.

MATTHEW 6:5

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 others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

· WHEN YOU ASK ,YOU DO NOT RECEIVE BECAUSE YOU ASK WITH THE WRONG MOTIVES.

James 4:2-3

² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so 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.

III) MAYBE YOUR PRAYERS LACK FAITH.

MARK 9:22-24

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 one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

· THE WAY YOU ARE MADE RIGHT WITH GOD IS BY YOUR FAITH BECAUSE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD WITHOUT FAITH.

MATTHEW 9:29-30a

²⁹ Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; ³⁰ and their sight was restored. 

· YOU DO NOT PUT YOUR FAITH IN FAITH, YOU PUT YOUR FAITH IN GOD.

IV) MAYBE YOUR PRAYERS DO NOT FIT INTO GOD'S PLAN.

I JOHN 5:14-15

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.

WHEN YOU PRAY, IT HAS TO FIT INTO GOD'S PLANS BECAUSE YOUR PLANS ARE NOT GOD'S PLANS.

II CORINTHIANS 12:7-10

⁷ or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

· THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER IS RELATIONAL. IT IS FOR YOU TO GET TO KNOW GOD, SO YOU CAN DO HIS WILL.

PRAYER IS TO REMIND YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL, SO THAT YOU WILL STAY CLOSE TO GOD WHO IS IN CONTROL.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6

⁷ or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.