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.
D. GOD IS WAITING FOR COMPLETE OBEDIENCE
1. 2 Kings 5:10-14; “10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to [Namaan], “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
11 But Naaman went away angry….14 [Later] he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times…and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.”
2. Imagine Naaman after his 6th dip in the Jordan River. He comes up. He looks at his leprosy, but it’s still there. None of it has shrunken; there’s been no change of color; the spots are just as swollen and irritated as ever.
3. As Naaman is considering this, he seems to hear the mocking laughter of all his political friends back home;
4. “You traveled all that way and heeded to counsel of a flea-bitten prophet of Jehovah? Naaman! We thought more of you than that!”
5. Where is God? Why hasn’t something happened? God was waiting for Namaan to dip the 7th time; that was God’s command. Is there something we might not be doing? The ball may be in our court. Unanswered prayer might be OUR FAULT!
E. HE WANTS YOU TO SEEK HIM MORE; TESTING STRENGTHENS YOUR FAITH
1. Matt. 15:22-28; “22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to [Jesus], crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24 He answered [her], “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your
request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.”
2. Three times Jesus refused the request of the Syrophoenician Woman. He dismissed her requests, ignored her, and entered a house – leaving her standing on the doorstep. How could He be so heartless? Was it because He didn’t want to answer her request or didn’t like her?
3. No! It was because He had an even greater purpose for her life. He was actually provoking her to greater levels of faith!
4. She was one of the two individuals about which Christ bragged about their “great faith!”
F. PRELUDE TO GREATER MIRACLES
“Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days…39 “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 43 Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. John 11:1-3; 6, 39-44.
2. Probably the friends of Lazarus’ two sisters said, “Yeah! Your Jesus sure let you down! You sacrificed, gave money to support His ministry, went great distances to hear Him preach, you wined and dined Him at your home, but when you called for Him, He didn’t come! Now your brother Lazarus is dead. Jesus let you down!”
3. Say, “Shut Up Devil! Jesus just hasn’t shown up yet!” If Jesus had healed Lazarus’ original sickness, He never could have done the greater miracle of raising him from the dead!
G.TO SAVE SOULS
1. 2 Pet. 3:9. The Rapture may have been delayed, but if it has, it’s so that more souls can be saved.
2. MAN AT THE GATE CALLED BEAUTIFUL (Acts 3). Why hadn’t Jesus ever healed him? So Peter and John could preach and see 2,000 saved!
3. The man’s healing was delayed so many souls could be saved.
III. SO WHAT DO WE DO UNTIL WE GET AN ANSWER?
A. KEEP KNOCKING ON THE DOOR
1. When Jesus was teaching on prayer in Luke 11, he emphasized how we need to be persistent in praying, especially if we don’t see any immediate results.
2. He told the story of the man who had company arrive at midnight. He went to a friend’s house to get some food, but the friend told him to go away. He kept knocking and, at last, his friend helped him (Lk. 11:5-13).
3. Jesus indicated that God values and answers persistent prayers. Persistent prayer is evidence of faith and honors God. So keep praying. Even if it takes seven seasons of prayer, God will come through for you!
B. TRUST IN GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
1. Lastly we need to trust God. He knows what we need and is aware of our needs. He has promised to meet those needs.
2. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus chided us for worrying about our lives, what we’ll eat or drink, or what we’ll wear. “For the pagans run after all these things, AND YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER KNOWS THAT YOU NEED THEM” (Mt. 6:32.).
3. So we shouldn’t freak out if things go wrong. God knew it would happen; He’s not surprised. He has a remedy somehow. Trust Him to meet all your needs!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: ‘When prayers aren’t answered’
1. In the battle of Crescy, young Edward the Black Prince was given a contingent of warriors by his father and sent into battle while the king and other troops watched from a nearby hill.
2. The King assured his son, then only 18, that should the battle become too fierce for him to handle, he and the additional soldiers would come to his aid.
3. Things got pretty hot for the prince, so he sent a messenger to his father requesting immediate help. The King didn’t send it. Again the youth sent an urgent call, and the King replied…
4. “Tell my son that I am not so inexperienced a commander as not to know when succor is wanted nor so careless a father not to send it when it is needed.”
5. The king obviously wanted his son to experience, it at all possible, the thrill of victory on his own, so he deliberately delayed any aid. If it had been absolutely necessary, he would have charged to his son’s deliverance, of course.
B. THE CALL: WHAT’S THE PLAN?
1. So does our Heavenly Father delay, during some of our trials that seem overwhelming. Our Father is watching the battle, wanting us to obtain the victory and grow spiritually.
2. So hold on and pray! 1 Cor. 10:13. God will make a way of escape!
3. Let’s take authority over the devil. If you have a need, please come forward.
