Welcome friends to the line of fire as we continue in the school of prayer. Today I just want to shout out that God answers prayer. That is our focus today. God answers prayer.
Kind of an exclamation point on everything that we have been teaching. I have a whole other series. I may get to it immediately. I will start it next week.
I may get into something else first and come back to it. These have been Foundations of Prayer. I have a whole other series that we are going to do on Foundations of Intercession which is going to another level entirely. But these are the foundations of the foundations we have covered first. This is the last class in this series on Foundations of Prayer.
I want to talk today about God being a prayer answering God to encourage your faith. One reminder before we go further, if you are new to this podcast, this radio broadcast, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. You can subscribe to Courage in the Line of Fire. That is the name of the podcast.
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If you are not getting it, go to thelineoffire.org and click subscribe. Obviously, if we are praying people, then the greatest obstacle to seeing our prayers answered, if we are seeking to honor the Lord and walk with Him, the greatest obstacle is going to be unbelief. Because prayer is a faith transaction.
It is not just fleshly discouragement or lack of understanding or demonic attack. Those are hindrances to prayer. Obviously, if we are living in disobedience to God, we cannot pray in faith. If we don't pray at all, we cannot pray in faith. But if we are seeking to honor Him and praying regularly, unbelief is going to be the biggest issue. If we really believe what the Bible said, nothing would be able to stop us from pressing into the presence of God and getting our prayers answered. Think of an unbeliever who picks up a book of the Bible and reads the promises about prayer. Like, wow, you Christians really believe this. You must pray all the time. There are all these amazing promises. You must pray all the time. Jesus said, ask and I will be giving you seeking of fire, knock on the door, be open. Wow! All things are possible. The unbelief is calling me and I will answer you.
Wow! You must pray all the time. Well, we kind of pray, but sometimes we really don't.
Why? Often it is unbelief. We can spend long amounts of consistent time in prayer over long seasons of life, and yet we are still praying in unbelief. I mean, the more time you spend with God, the more your faith is built. But we can go through the motions and not really have faith. And think of it, we have no reason for fear or discouragement or depression if we really believe the word.
Romans 8-33, who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Often with our words we say we believe, and in our heart we want to believe, and we even flirt with faith, but we don't live in consistent faith. So if we know, think of this, if we know we are praying according to the will of God, that is one. Two, we are not harboring bitterness and unforgiveness, that is a condition Jesus puts on things. And three, we are not walking in open, unrepentant sin, then why are our prayers not being answered?
If we know they are according to the will of God, maybe it is our lack of faith. Now we have talked about that. We have talked about that.
Now I want to continue to encourage your faith and build you up. My goal is not to say, I am doing this wrong, you are doing this wrong, but hey, let's do it like this. One of my colleagues said a really good coach is not just going to say, okay, let's say a baseball player, your swing is wrong. They are going to say, hey, do it like this. See, let's look at that old, oh, you see that old film, you drop your shoulder here.
Okay, all right, how do I get out of the habit of dropping the shoulder? The coach is going to show you the right way to do it. So God is going to show us the right way to break through.
Numbers 23, 19. These are key scriptures about faith and prayer and God's faith in us. They tell us about the nature of God. Can I just bathe you with the Word? Can I just saturate you with the Word for a little while? Picture yourself like a plant and that plant needs some sunlight and that plant needs some fresh water and you open the shades of the house and the sunlight comes in and you start pouring that water on or it is outdoor plant and the clouds move away and that sun comes and the rain starts to drench and those roots are, oh. Let these words be like sunlight and rain so that you as a living plant will flourish.
Numbers 23, 19. God is not a man that he should lie or change his mind. He speaks and then acts. He promises and then fulfills. Isaiah 56, 6 through 13.
We'll read excerpts of this. God's ways and thoughts are higher than those of the wicked so the wicked should repent of their thoughts and ways and turn to God's ways and thoughts. God's Word does not return empty but will accomplish what he desires. Jeremiah 1, 12. He is watching over his Word to perform it.
Titus 1, 2. God cannot lie. Hebrews 6, 13. God swore by himself to Abraham since there was no one greater for him to swear by. He went out of his way to be as emphatic as he could be to Abraham so that he would bring his Word to pass. Every day we see that Word being fulfilled through the Jewish people Israel and through Jesus the Messiah. God told Abraham, I know in the natural.
This is hard to believe so I'm swearing by myself. His whole being is backing his promises. Psalm 34, 4. I sought the Lord and he heard me. He answered me. There's a song written in the last few years, Trust in God.
Boy that's a great song. I sought the Lord and he heard and he asked me. That's why I trust him.
That's why I trust him. John 1-4. Who sinned, this blind man or his parents know this happens that the work of God might be manifest. Jesus is the light of the world. Matthew 7, beginning of verse 7.
Let me just quote it to you. Jesus, this is Jesus. Can you trust Jesus? If there's anyone in the universe that you can trust, Jesus. The fullness of God in bodily form. Jesus at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us.
Jesus said to you and me, and in Greek it's continual. Keep doing this. Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find.
Knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. And he who seeks finds. And the one who knocks, the door is opened.
What man is there of you? If his son asks for bread, we'll give him a stone. Or if he asks for fish, we'll give him a snake instead. If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give good things to those who ask. And that's Matthew 7-11. Luke 11-13. How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.
Wow! This is, I don't know about you, but this is edifying to me to be reminded. Matthew 17-20. If you have faith as a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for you. Faith is a mustard seed.
Why? Because we're talking about Almighty God. Almighty God. My little faith in the hands of Almighty God can move mountains. Jeremiah 32-37. Nothing is too hard for God. It is not arrogant to think nothing is impossible if we pray.
Nothing is too hard for God. Matthew 21-22. All things you ask for in prayer, believing you'll receive. All things you ask for in prayer, believing you'll receive. Jesus, Jesus said it.
Oh, if you and I could just picture, we're sitting at his feet, we're one of the disciples, and he looks at us and says, all things that you ask in prayer, believing you'll receive. He's not lying. He's not lying. He is the ultimate truth teller. He himself is the truth. He's born to bear witness to the truth.
He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. He's telling us this. Jesus, I believe you. Jesus, I believe you. I am going to lean on you more. I'm going to trust you more. I'm going to step out more.
I am going to do that. All right, let's take a quick break. And then on the other side of the break, I'm going to give you more words of encouragement. We serve a prayer answering God. These are promises that God who cannot lie made to you and to me as his children.
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Thank you in advance for standing with us and thanks to our co-sponsor, Triveda. All right, some more promises, some more promises. And some I'm reading the actual verse, some I am summarizing. Zechariah 1, 1-6, didn't the words of the prophets overtake your forefathers? One day we will see that every word God has spoken is true. See that's what Zechariah says, the Lord says to him, the prophets of past generations, they prophesied these sins were going to happen. You didn't believe him. Did they happen or not?
They did. Okay, so now God's speaking again. God's speaking again. Mark 9, 22 and 23, Jesus says back to that man, we talked about him earlier in the week, the father of the demonized boy that had those severe fits, demonic power trying to kill his son. He said, the man says, Jesus, if you can do anything, help my son because his disciples, he couldn't do it. He asked the disciples, they couldn't drive the spirit out. Jesus, if you can.
If, if, if I can, I'm Jesus. All things are possible to him who believes. Yes, it's true.
It's true. Again, we're talking about in harmony with his will, in harmony with his plan, but many times in life, my only solution is God has to work a miracle because there is no earthly answer. I've done the best I know how.
I've done everything I know how. I've sought to obey and, and be faithful and loyal, but unless he comes through, it's all over. That, it's a, it's a precarious feeling, but it's a beautiful feeling when you know I can trust him, I can trust him, I can trust him, I can trust him. Mark 11, 22 to 25, have faith in God, whatever you ask for in prayer, believing you'll receive. Luke 1, 18 and 19, when Zechariah doubts the angel Gabriel who appears to him and says, how shall I know this? Gabriel gives him a promise and there's something of unbelief in Zechariah's words.
Later in the same chapter, Mary and Mary, when Gabriel appears to her, it's like, all right, how, how am I, how's this going to happen? But it was, it was a word of faith because he doesn't rebuke the answers. Here was Zechariah, I was like, okay, I know you're the angel telling me, but how, how can I, you know, really it's a bit of a stretch.
Seems a bit extreme. That's, that's why he's, he can't speak until the baby's born, until John the Immersive is born. It was a sign to others, but it was part of his unbelief. But, but notice what Gabriel says when he says, how am I going to know this? Zechariah says, how am I going to really know? We're too old to have kids. We're going to have a child. This child is going to be the forerunner of the Messiah.
How am I going to know this? Gabriel answers, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. You're questioning this angel, this, one of the two angels named in the Bible? You're, you're questioning Gabriel who comes from the very presence of God? Comes from God's very throne.
Well, how am I going to, how is this going to be? No, he's faithful. Gabriel could tell you, God doesn't lie. God doesn't lie.
And he has all power. And I've just come from his presence with this word for you. When you read the Bible, it's God speaking his word to you.
When the Spirit gives you something, you know that, you know, it's God speaking his promise to you. Again, Luke 1 37 with God, nothing is impossible. Put your, put your situation there and then put it under that promise with God, nothing is impossible. Put your, you got a bulletin board, some chalkboard or some thing on your refrigerator with magnets or wherever you write something.
This is my situation and in the natural is impossible. And then stamp on top of it, put over it, write over it, nothing is impossible with God. That situation is in the category of nothing is impossible with God. Luke 11 5 through 8, because of the man's persistence, not his friendship, the friend gets up and gives him what he needs. Being persistent with God. He put that in the Bible because of his, not just persistence, his importunity, his boldness that's there for us. Luke 18 1 through 8, the unjust judge says, lest by this widow's continual coming, she's going to wear me out.
If the unjust judge is going to give, is going to give her justice, even though he has no compassion for her and is not a person of high ethical standards, how much more will our God see that we get justice if we cry out to him day and night? Acts 27 25, Paul's on the ship, storms, everything's going to be destroyed. I have faith in God, he says, that it will happen just as he told me. All faith brings us into this realm of the supernatural. It brings us into this realm of the impossible. It brings us into this realm of what God says rather than what the world says or circumstances say or our finances say or our body says or our local church attendant says or or the world news says.
It brings us into the reality of what God says and then we have peace in the storm and then God works out his purposes and even silences the storm. Romans 8 32, if God did not spare his own son but gave him up freely for us all, how will he not with him also freely give us all things? Whatever we need to do as well, whenever we need on the journey to see him glorified, if he gave his son all this other stuff is easy in comparison. 2 Corinthians 1 20, as many promises as God has made they are yes in Jesus. In other words, if that promise is relevant for your life, that is a promise that is stamped yes by the Lord. If he gave principles in the Old Testament, if you live by this you'll see this, that's stamped with a divine yes in the New Testament.
1 John 5 14 and 15, 1 John 5 14 and 15, this is our assurance. If we ask him for anything according to his will, he hears us and if we know that he hears us, we know we have the petitions we desire. John 14 13 and 14, Jesus says, whatever you ask my father in my name, I will do it. We've been quoting John 15 7, Jesus says, if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask what you will, it will be done for you. Psalm 37 4, delight yourself in the Lord who will give you the desires of your heart.
And then these words from Jesus, these words from Jesus, I want to leave you with these words. John 16 23 and 24, speaking of after his resurrection, in that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete. One of the greatest joys you can have in life is the joy of answered prayer. One of the greatest joys you can have in life is the joy of answered prayer. Think of it like this. If you had a situation, one of your kids is in the hospital, touch and go if they're going to make it.
Little by little by little they get better and the doctors say, hey, we were worried but thank God the medicine worked and the surgery worked. Well, you're grateful. You're thankful. You're thanking God as well. Let's just say you're a secular person.
You didn't pray. It's like, wow, I'm so glad. And you're thanking the doctors. Yeah, well, good, you should.
They worked hard and God gave them the skills and the wisdom. You should appreciate that. But think how different it would be if the doctors come in and they shake their heads and say it's over. There's nothing more we can do for your child. We are so, so sorry. So sorry. It's just going to be a few more days and they're gone.
But there's nothing more we can do. And you go home and you get alone or you get with your friends and you shut yourself in a room and you sob and you wail and you cry. And then you come to that place of faith. And you say, God, you promised that my child would be healthy. You promise that maybe have that promise from the Lord. You said this in your word, your character, nature, such and you and you, you pray, you pray, you cry out. And miraculously, the next morning, your child, the doctor said, we don't know what to have.
What happened? We're going to keep another day for observation. But they're perfectly fine. We've never seen this in our lives. Well, of course, you thank the doctors for all they did.
They only could go so far. And you're thrilled. You're thrilled. You're thrilled. You're thrilled.
Your kid's healthy. But you're super thrilled because God answered. You're super thrilled because he came through for you. So I want to encourage you. Pray like you never prayed. Give yourself to prayer. And yes, you'll go through trials where prayers aren't answered. And yes, your faith will be stretched. But you will begin to see your own relationship with God deepening because you're spending quality time with him. You will begin to see your own faith rising because more and more prayers are being answered.
And then you'll have the joy of asking and receiving. And it's not just the answer, but you did this together with God and he came through and he's real. It's all real. It's all real.
It's all real. God can be trusted. Let's cry out to him and seek him earnestly. He will never leave you or forsake you.
He himself is faithful. This is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks so much for tuning in. Just a reminder that we are listener supported. If we have been a blessing to you, if you're being enriched in the word and prayer and your own walk with God through this broadcast, then stand with us so that we can reach many, many more and bless many, many more. Together, friends, we're making a difference. So go to thelineoffire.org, thelineoffire.org and click donate.
