This is Robbie Dilmore from The Christian Car Guy and Kingdom Pursuit, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build a kingdom. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it and share it. But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. And now, here's James. So can we talk, I mean, have you ever prayed about something so long that maybe you lost faith that it could even happen?
If you have, you're not alone, and that's what we're going to be talking about today on encouraging prayer. That's right, Robbie. And as we do, we're going to set a ground rule. No judgment.
Because honestly, this is a very challenging thing. And it has happened to some of the most faithful people, including people in the Bible. So yes, let's talk about the biblical story. Here's a priest who's going into the altar before the most holy place in the temple. And this may have been the first time he was there.
We don't know, but that's possible because there were many priests serving at that time. And he was chosen by Lot. And as soon as he goes in, there's an angel standing there. And of course, Zechariah is terrified because this is no less than the angel Gabriel. And the first words out of the angel's mouth are, don't be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard.
Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear a son. And yes, the amazing thing about that is that Zechariah and Elizabeth are old at the time that the angel says this. And Zechariah tells Gabriel that much. How can I be sure of this, he says. And Gabriel is like, I'll paraphrase.
Now let me get this straight. Here we are, right in front of the holiest place in the temple, and I'm an angel who stands in the very presence of God, and I'm giving you this good news from him, and you don't believe it? Yeah, it really is amazing because, I mean, how often do you see an angel? And if you're Zechariah, when you first hear the words, your prayer has been heard, you know, because you're so old, you're probably thinking, prayer? What prayer? Exactly.
I mean, that's just the thing. He probably hasn't thought about that prayer in decades. And all of a sudden, there it is. And of course, Gabriel tells him he's not going to be able to speak for the next nine months because of his questioning it. But what this shows us is something very important about how the human heart works. You know that Zechariah and Elizabeth both had to have prayed and prayed about a baby, probably for years, and for the longest time, it didn't happen. And if you've ever had that happen to you, you know what that's like. God-level prayers, and that's really what their prayer was, their prayers from the heart. But sometimes what can happen is, when you pray and pray and pray, and nothing seems to happen, your hearts get calluses, if you will, and in those tender places because of so much use.
And I know that certainly happened to me. I mean, we prayed for years for our son to come to Jesus. And while we were praying, there were years when his drug abuse just seemed to get worse. Yeah, I remember you telling me what you later saw God do was so amazing because it was more than really you believed that could happen.
Yeah, that's right. I mean, it honestly, Robbie, I'll tell you, it honestly convicted me of my lack of faith, and my son and I write about that in our book Hope Lies Ahead. And that's why I can really relate to Zechariah in this, and I have a feeling I'm not alone.
Like him, I learned the same lesson. God is so good that sometimes even our questioning won't stop him from answering our prayers. And when he does that, we see that it's not we who made it happen, it's he. It's his kindness. It's not this kind of thing where, oh, suddenly I got up enough faith so that God will answer my prayer. That wasn't the case with Zechariah at all.
Instead, it was just a matter of God's goodness and God's timing. Oh, wow, that's so true. But it raises questions like, how do you know when to stop asking for something? That's a great question. And I honestly think that only God can show us that, Robbie. And he does, he will.
I mean, he has ways of speaking directly to our spirits so that you know that you know that you know you've heard from him. And I don't think that's the case with Zechariah and Elizabeth here. I mean, clearly, they had just given up. They had just given up hope. They thought they were too old.
And then maybe they became a little jaded along the way. At least it's clear Zechariah did. You know, an angel, an archangel is standing right in front of him and he's doubting what he's telling him. And, you know, just you don't question Gabriel. But he's been so disappointed for years. So why should things change now? I mean, you see how hard it got in that regard.
And I think this just shows us that we can't go there. When Jesus said, ask, seek, knock, those words in the original language are in present active imperative, which means keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. But when you do that, remember, most of all, not to lose sight of him. Do your best to keep the Lord as the greatest desire of your heart and not that thing that you're asking for. Yeah, that's so important because, right, he's greater than the answer to the prayer.
Right. I mean, he is so much greater than any answer to prayer. And he's greater than our doubts and our fears. And he can help us through them if we're honest with him about them and don't close him off. And that can be hard sometimes because, you know, again, these are often such good things that we may be asking for. And when they don't happen, and we can't understand why, man, again, that's tough.
But we need to let God interpret those circumstances for us and help us through them. And he's faithful. And he will.
I love what C.H. Spurgeon said about how God answers prayers. He basically said that we may ask for silver, and we may get that. But sometimes God answers with gold. And sometimes God answers with diamond.
And we can trust him. Oh, yeah, I like that. I think we can all talk about some unanswered prayers or delays to answer that ended up being blessings in themselves. I'll bet you, you know, if you wait that long, and then you get John the Baptist, it's worth the wait, so to speak.
Yeah, that's exactly right. And as always, what matters most is relationship with God in prayer. If we can stay in that humble, loving, trusting place with God, all will be well. So keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking, but keep loving and looking forward to him most of all.
Wow. So would you close us with a prayer today that we'll just do that, James? Yeah, let's pray. Lord, you know, you know how we're made. You know how we can question.
You know how we can doubt. And Father, help us to just go straight to you when we do, when it's tough. And we just wonder why. Thank you that we can. Jesus, thank you that even you called out why from the cross.
And we know how that turned out. And we praise you for it. But oh, Lord, help us just run to you and thank you that you are a good guy who loves to answer prayer. In Jesus name. Amen. You can hear more from Pastor James by visiting his website, jamesbanks.org, or by visiting Peace Church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray.
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