Introduction: A fifth grade boy who had heard a sermon on persistence in prayer was praying by himself in his room one night. As his dad passed his door, he heard the boy praying over and over again, "Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo." The next day, the dad asked his son what we were doing. The boy replied that he had given the wrong answer on a test for the capital of Mexico, and he was praying that God would make Tokyo the capital of Mexico. I think the boy was a little unclear on the concept, don’t you? But sometimes, we do the same. We want God to adjust to us rather than our seeking what God wants and adjusting to Him.
Read John 11: 17 – 27
Gleaning from the text we can be assured that God answers prayer in three different ways.
1. YES - Jesus would make Lazarus alive but Mary & Martha had not asked it of Him.
In Acts 3 & 4 the disciples received exactly what they had asked for – healing a cripple.
I believe all of us respond very well to this sort of an answer from God.
2. WAIT - Why does God want us to wait? Reasons!
(a) He wants us to focus on Him. (We tend to focus on our need than on God.)
Exodus 20: 3 “You shall have no other gods before {3 Or besides} me.”
Matthew 6: 33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
(b) He wants us to trust in Him. Just the way we trust the chair we are sitting on that it will not break and make us fall on the ground but will keep holding us up till the service gets over. How much we trust the chair we are sitting on but we can’t trust …….?
Proverbs 3: 5 – 6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
(c) He wants to change our attitude. Prayer is building our relationship with God.
Philippians 2: 5 “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”
Example: Drive at an early age. Not matured enough to handle it.
(d) He wants to give us a greater gift. (Lazarus’s healing would be good but resurrection was better.)
Isaiah 55: 8 – 9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Illustration: There was a man marooned on an island who was desperately looking for a boat to come by and rescue him. After many days praying and asking God to send a boat to rescue him, he sighted a boat and his hopes were lifted. He ran out on the beach took some shirts and waved them to get the attention of the boat. But they didn’t see his shirts signaling to them and went on by. He was so downhearted and so downcast he began to accuse God. “God, why didn’t you answer my prayer? God, why didn’t they see me?” As he walked back to the hut he had constructed, he saw that the hut had caught on fire and was going up in smoke. He said, “Now, God, what have you done? The boat passed by and missed me and the hut that I’m living in has burned down.” About that time he heard the boat coming back. When he was rescued he asked them, “Why did you come back? They said, Well, we got your signal.” He said, “No, you didn’t get my signal. I waved my shirts until I was exhausted, you didn’t get my signal.” They said, “We saw the fire you built to let us know that you were there.” [God works in His way not ours.]
3. NO! [Just can’t accept this answer] But why does God give us such an answer?
If our request is wrong, God will simply say, “No!”
(a) Doesn’t fit into God’s plan for our lives.
Illustrations: (i) A girl with brown eyes prayer for having blue eyes.
(ii) The mission field is placed with the same kind of people everywhere.
(iii) Paul requested God to take away the thorn in his flesh. (2 Corinthians 12: 7 – 9 “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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.”
(b) Our relationship with other people is not right. (Husbands/wives; Parents/children etc.)
Matthew 6: 15 “But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
1 Peter 3: 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.”
(c) Our prayers are selfish. (wrong motives)
James 4: 2 – 3 “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. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
(d) We have disregarded God’s commands OR have un-confessed sin.
Proverbs 28: 9 “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.”
Psalm 66: 18 “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”
(e) All our hopes are in this world and not in eternity with God.
Illustration: God promised Abraham that he would be a great nation. It took a lifetime for fulfillment.
Hebrews 11: 13 & 16 “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
(f) We have no relationship with God. (He has no obligation to hear your prayer.)
Matthew 25: 37 – 41 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ "The King will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ "Then he will say to those on his left, ’Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
Conclusion: So, how does God answer prayer? Let me suggest the following memorable outline:
1. If the request is wrong, God will say, “No!”
2. If the timing is wrong, God will say, “Slow / Wait!”
3. If you are wrong, God will say, “Grow!”
4. If the request, timing and you are right, God will say, “Go / Yes!”
God is not some kind of celestial slot machine. You don’t pop in a quarter or two’s worth of prayer, hit a button, and expect to receive exactly what you want.
God is not a genie in a bottle. You don’t rub the bottle with your prayer, and expect God to pop out, and do as you bid.
Illustration: Martin Burnham was a missionary pilot for New Tribes Mission in the Philippines. In the summer of 2001 Martin and his wife Gracia were captured by the Islamic rebel group Abu Sayyaf. They were held captive for 376 days. During the rescue on June 7, 2002 Martin was killed in the crossfire. Later, reflecting on their ordeal, Gracia Burnham wrote these words:
"Sometimes I wonder: why did Martin die when everyone was praying he wouldn’t? Why does Scripture lead you to believe that if you pray a certain way, you’ll get what you pray for? People all over the world were praying that we’d both get out alive, but we didn’t."
Gracia asked God for deliverance, but it was not given to them - at least, not to Martin.
