(Note. I haven't messed with it to make minor edits or revisions that I might've if I had started my study earlier. What you're getting here is the manuscript of the sermon unaltered).
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How does one talk to God? In past centuries, nations and peoples have ranged from philosophers who thought of God as absent or disinterested to imaginative folks who described a pantheon of gods to the tribal peoples who sacrificed valuables and even people to non-existent gods of the elements in a vain attempt to curry favor.
In recent years, popular fads relating to prayer have arisen, from the bizarre to the heretical. One popular method of prayer is known as the name-it-and-claim-it. Taking their cue from passages that say, “You do not have because you do not ask,” and similar ones, these people imagine that God is waiting up in Heaven like a genie in a bottle, just waiting to spoil them with whatever they can think of to ask. These types of prayers invariably lead to disappointment.
The thing to remember in all of this is that prayer is first and foremost a method of speaking to God. And in order to approach God and speak to Him, one must consider His character. For those of us who are followers of the God of the Bible, we recognize that God loves us and blesses us every day.
However, sometimes we forget what God has revealed of Himself and imagine that if a particular request we make is not met in the way we requested, the prayer did not work. The truth is that all prayer requests are answered in some way. Either God says, ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘not yet’.
The reasons why he does not answer every request in the way that we ask are many. I’ve identified for us today: 6 Reasons Your Request Is Not Met.
- 1. No Faith
“5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;”
And in Hebrews 11:6,
“But without faith it is impossible to please [God]”
God loves us and desires to bless us, this is clear from passages like Matthew 7:7-11,
“7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
God does indeed desire to bless us, but too often we fail by simply going through the motions. We don’t think God will act or suppose in our subconscious mind that it might be too difficult for even God to accomplish.
Yet, God recognizes our weak faith. He is compassionate and long-suffering with us. Remember from Mark 9, the story of the man who’s son was possessed by a demon that made the boy mute.
“17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not…[22b] But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. Mark 9:17-18, 22b-27.
The man admitted that his faith was weak, yet Jesus healed His son. God bears with our weaknesses, but that it not an excuse to be unconcerned about our lack of belief. As far as it is within our control, we are to trust in the power of God to answer our requests. To approach Him without faith is a slap in the face to God, and as James said, one who does so should not expect to receive anything from Him.
Sometimes this requires persistence. A lack of an immediate answer does not always indicate a refusal on the part of God. Sometimes, God desires to test our faith by waiting. Unless God has made it clear to you that the answer is, ‘no’, we should continue in prayer for the things we have asked of Him, trusting that they will come to pass:
“1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’” 6Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:1-8.
- 2. Foolish Prayers
Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest on Mt. Carmel. The prophets of Baal made an altar to Baal and Elijah made an altar to God. The winner would be the one who’s God devoured the sacrifice with fire from Heaven. God answered Elijah and devoured his sacrifice with fire. Not long afterwards, the drought that had encompassed the land for 3 years ended when Elijah prayed to God to renew the rain.
But after the victory at Mt. Carmel, the people had killed the prophets of Baal, now proven false, by the command of Elijah. Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, sent a message to Elijah that she would have him executed the next day.
“4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”” 1 Kings 19:4.
Jonah likewise prayed to have his life taken away after God had mercy on the city of Nineveh when they repented of their sin.
These kinds of prayers represent foolish prayers. Our lives are in the hand of God, He decides when we live and when we die. For some it is early in life. Others God graciously allows a full and lengthy life. But make no mistake, the timing behind when we all leave this life is God’s choice alone. Nothing happens outside His control. For Elijah to suggest that it was time for his life to finish it’s course was the height of foolishness. Yet, we must recognize that after all Elijah had gone through, he had a time of weakness, just as we all do. No one is perfect, and most of us never even approach the heights of Elijah’s accomplishments. Yet far too often we pray presumptuously, with concern as to our needs and desires, not God’s.
James, in his epistle writes,
“1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:1-4.
Far too often, the reason our requests are not met because they were foolish requests. Our life is not our own, we are children of God. We were slaves of sin, redeemed by God. We belong to Him. Yet as adopted children of God, we have a standard to live up to. We are to be like Christ. When we pray, “in Jesus’ name, amen”, we are invoking the name of Christ. As Christ is our mediator who brings our requests before the Father, and as we as Christians are being conformed into the image of Christ, our requests must be consistent with His character. If we are simply asking for things to fulfill our desires and without concern for anyone but ourselves, the request may very well be rejected.
- 3. Ignoring God
The clearest example I am aware of is King Saul. In 1 Samuel, the Israelites were ruled over by God through the use of intermediaries. These men were judges and God communicated His will to the people of Israel through them. But the people had tired of judges and went to Samuel, the man God had appointed to judge the people, requesting that God appoint a king to rule over them that they might be like all the other nations. God acquiesced to their request and gave them a man named Saul to be their king.
From the start, Saul showed a reluctance to be king, but quickly acted as a king should to protect his people. However, in two key instances, Saul pointedly disobeyed the Lord’s direct command in a situation. God then sent Samuel to anoint David as king. As Saul had disregarded the Lord’s words, so also, the Lord turned from Him. In the end, Saul faced a battle against the Philistine army that he felt he could not win. Then he cried to the Lord, yet the Lord did not answer. When Saul consulted a medium to raise the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel, God allowed Samuel’s spirit to speak to Saul. Samuel told Saul that because he had refused to obey God, He and his sons would die in the battle. The next day, that very thing came to pass.
“9 One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” Proverbs 28:9.
Yet, this is only true for those who are not truly repentant. One thing we learn about Saul from Scripture is that he was utterly incapable of admitting his faults. Samuel practically had to draw him a picture when confronting him with his direct disobedience to the command God had given him.
In the book of Jonah, the prophet was told by God to tell the city of Nineveh of the impending judgment of God. Jonah instead fled the opposite direction by boat. When storms threatened to destroy the boat, Jonah recognized it was a result of his sin and instructed the sailors to throw him into the sea that their lives might be saved. God sent a big fish to swallow Jonah. He was 3 days in the belly of the fish. During this time, He prayed and repented of His sin to God.
“15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. 16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalm 34:15-18.
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