Prayer “How God Answers our Prayers”

Series: Prayer
Today: “How God Answers our Prayers”
Text: Old & New Testament


we are going to spend the next 2 weeks on prayer.

then November 18 is our Dedication Sunday, 1 service @ 9am, no children, youth or adult classes. Reps from Arbuckle Costic & Triplet Wellman will join us. Special morning of celebrating what God has done & dedicating this facility to his kingdom work

worker open house, Saturday, November 17, @ 7pm.
General public open house Sunday from 2-4pm.

then November 25, 13th annual Miracle Sunday Offering.

then December 2, 9, 16, 23 Advent & Christmas preaching. 2 services on 12/23 @ 9 & 10:30am, no classes.

then December 30 year-ending communion celebration in 1 service @ 10:30am

then starting new series in 2008 on the New Testament – will preach through the New Testament in 27 weeks, covering 1 book per Sunday. Overview of the New Testament flying at 35,000 feet.

Why 2 messages on prayer right now?
1st God is big on prayer. We can’t go wrong talking about prayer. We can’t go wrong praying. Other than Christ, prayer is the foundation of our relationship with God.

2nd I believe that God wants to build a stronger culture of prayer at CAC. So do our elders. So do others. We have to be intentional about this. These 2 messages are designed to increase our intentionality.

3rd I have a growing passion to see prayer permeate all that we are & all that we do as a church. So do our elders. So do others. The elders have asked Mike Higgs to be our Prayer Champion. Next week we will hear from Mike.

today – the 3 ways God answers our prayers. (This is ‘hot off the printer.’ I just finished it. I had a different sermon ready to go. But all that changed yesterday while I was in the Canby pool swimming a quick ½ mile)

God answers all of our prayers in 3 ways. ALL OF THEM! He says Yes, No or Wait.

Yes
Moses and God’s presence (Exodus 33:1-23)
Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai to find the Israelites worshipping & sacrificing to an idol they made – the golden calf.

33:3, 14 – God says enough is enough. Moses take these people with in into the promised land but I am not going with you

33:15-16 – Moses asks God to go with them

33:17 – God says ‘yes,’ I will go with you

God answered Moses’ prayer with a YES!


Nehemiah sent to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1-9)
in 586 BC the people of Israel were carried into exile in Babylon for 70 years. God released them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, the city wall & their way of life.

1:3 – Nehemiah discovers the plight of his country men & women

1:4-11 – Nehemiah prays. We can learn from this prayer:
Þ Appeals to God’s greatness & character (5)
Þ Confesses the sins of his people (6-7)
Þ Holds God to his promises (8-9)
Þ Asks for God’s favor, success (11)

2:8 – God answered Nehemiah’s prayer with a YES!

No
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-44)
the end for which the Word became flesh is near. Jesus was born to die. His sacrificial death for the sins of the world was imminent.
Jesus prepared for his death by praying – Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done (22:42).

Jesus asks his Father for a way out. Isn’t there another way to redeem humanity from their sin? Take the cross away from me.

Jesus sweats drops of blood. He’s full of anguish.

and his Father says NO. There is no other way.

Paul’s thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
12:1-6 – Paul experienced paradise (12:4) – heaven. He heard inexpressible things, things that a man is not permitted to tell.

12:7 – to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

12:8 – Paul prayed 3xs & asked God to take it away.

12:9 – God said NO. The thorn stays. I want you to learn to depend upon my grace & power.

Wait
Return of the Babylonian captives (Lamentations 3:19-26)
586 BC the Babylonians routed Jerusalem, destroyed it, carried away people into exile. Lamentations records the overwhelming sense of loss that accompanied the destruction of the city, temple & ritual.

in the middle of the book is a section that focuses on the goodness of God. He is a God of hope, love, faithfulness & salvation. As if to say, this is not the end.

3:19-22
Þ 21 I have hope
Þ 22 because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed – his compassions never fail
Þ 23 great is your faithfulness
Þ 24 the Lord is my portion – I will wait for him
Þ 25 – the Lord is good to those whose hope is in him
Þ 26 – it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord

SALVATION – this is a prayer for deliverance, restoration. The people had to wait 70 years for God’s YES. 70 years!

we pray & sometimes God says wait. And in the waiting ours is to grow stronger in the Lord. Stronger in patience, faith & trust. God does some of his best work in ‘the waiting.’

Yes No Wait
every time we pray God answers. There’s no such thing as an unanswered prayer. Yes No Wait. All 3 reveal God’s perfect will for us.

my experience has been that some of God’s best & deepest work in our lives, our church, come in the midst of his No & Wait. If he gave us everything we asked for we would be spoiled superficial Christ-followers.

the Paris train story
I have a friend who put me onto this story. Comes from Brian Zahnd, pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Josephs, Missouri.

Oct 2004 Brian & his wife were in Paris. 1 evening he went alone to Notre Dame Cathedral for a historical presentation. He arrived early. Went to famous English bookstore across the Seine from NDC, Shakespeare and Company – haunt of Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Elliot, Ezra Pound, James Joyce & other writers in the 1930s.

he brought a copy of Dostoevsky’s The Idiot. Attended the event at NDC. Before leaving he sat by himself in this massive cathedral & prayed that God would use him for his purposes while he was in Paris.

caught the train back to his hotel – it was after 10pm. Began reading The Idiot. At the 2nd stop a young Asian man got on & sat down opposite Brian even thought the train was empty.

the Asian man began a conversation with Brian. He, too, was reading The Idiot. They began talking books, philosophy, world views. Yu asked Brian if it was true that Dostoevsky was a Christian. Yes he was – Brian shared Dostoevsky’s story. 5 years hard labor in Siberia. Peasant woman gave him copy of Gospels as he entered the camp. Only reading material D had for 5 years. Became a Christ-follower.

Yu asked Brian what he did – I am a pastor. Yu – I am an atheist. Yesterday I went to NDC to see Gothic architecture. Felt myself wanting to pray while I was there. I tried. Told God I wanted to know him. I don’t think he heard my prayer.

Brian – God did hear your prayer. Less than 1 hour ago I was in NDC & prayed that God would use me in Paris. I got on board this train & you sat opposite me. God heard both our prayers & arranged for our paths to cross 2nite.

Yu had a Bible. Brian told him to read John’s gospel. Brian had to get off the train.

when I got off the train I felt like an angel. I have an assurance deep in my heart that my friend Yu has read the Gospel of John & made the Great Discovery that I & Dostoevsky & so many millions of others have made – Jesus is the Answer.

Music I listened to while sermonizing – Sting, Delirious, David Crowder Band, Chris Tomlin, Johnny Cash, Coldplay

Books I was reading & studied while sermonizing – The Living Psalms by Claus Westermann; Christ in the Psalms by Patrick Henry Reardon; Consuming Jesus by Paul Louis Metzger; Conversations with Wendell Berry edi by M.A. Grubbs; A Community Called Atonement by Scot McKnight; Psalms 1-50 by Peter Craige; Book of Common Worship: Daily Prayer;