Unanswered Prayer - Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. One thing I know from reading the Word of God, God's not a divine vending machine. That's just not who God is.

He doesn't do that at all. In fact, God always puts a very keen condition on things. And as strange as it sounds, there are huge movements in the prosperity movement of the Evangelical Church in America that would teach exactly the opposite of this verse. It teaches that God exists so that He can fulfill every dream and want and desire you've ever had. That's why there is a God.

It couldn't be further from the truth than what He says. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana.

Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. What do you think of when you see the Word or hear the Word prayer? I mean, what do you think of? What's it like?

Can you describe it? I think a lot of us would think like Winston Churchill did when he was trying to describe Russia. He said this, Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. And for a lot of us, if you really think about prayer, that's the way it turns out.

Well, I can say it this way. I took a doctoral class at the seminary on prayer. And before you could go to the seminary and we would discuss prayer, the pre-reading requisite was 50 books. So we had to read 50 books before you go and talk about prayer. So I read the 50 books. We went and talked about prayer.

We all sat around for half a day for a full week. And when it was all done, I didn't understand anything more about prayer than I did when I hadn't read the books yet. It's an amazing thing when you think about prayer. You see, some people over the years, some people would say that prayer makes God change his mind. That's what prayer can do. Other people say, no, prayer can't possibly change anything because God's immutable and God will do his will. Well, scripture seems to reveal a mystery here. It reveals that there is a sovereign God and man's involvement is all part of God's sovereign plan.

Now, to your benefit, I can say this. I'm not going to try to solve the mystery of prayer today, so I'm not talking about that. I'm going to talk about a question that we all have on a very, very practical level when it comes to prayer. It's sort of revealed when David in Psalm 61 says this, hear my cry, O God, give heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth, I call to you when my heart is faint.

David says, I cry out to God. And you know what he gets back? Nothing. No answer.

You ever done that? Ever prayed about anything and then you said, why doesn't he answer my prayer? Why is there no answer?

I've been praying and praying and I don't get anything back. Well, on a certain level, it's a mystery and God operates the way God operates. But on another level, what I want to talk about this morning is something different, and that is, is that you might be surprised when it comes unanswered prayer.

This isn't new to us. And it's not because, you know, I'm not a very spiritual Christian. That's why my prayers go unanswered.

Now, I'll give you a couple of examples. Habakkuk, one of the prophets, he said this. Oh, Lord, how long shall I cry and you'll not hear me?

Job and Job 31 said this. Oh, that I had one who would hear me. Oh, that the Almighty would finally answer me. David said in Psalm 13, how long, O Lord, will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me? Even the best of us have the same question. Why doesn't God answer our prayers? And so the Bible speaks to this, but in a very particular way. It might be because of you.

Or me. God may not answer your prayer, not because of his mysterious sovereignty, but because of you. Because of me. I want to look at several reasons God gives us today in his word. Go with me to James Chapter four in the New Testament and an obvious one in James four verse two.

James writes this. He said you lost and you do not have. So you commit murder.

I think that's hyperbole. He said you are envious and you cannot obtain. So you fight and quarrel.

Then he says this. You do not have because you do not ask. Sometimes there are no answers to our prayer because we don't pray.

And that's quite interesting. You see, I think we all want what Jesus called an abundant life. Who wouldn't want that as a child of God? Who wouldn't want a life that's filled with joy and peace and hope, regardless of what the circumstances are around you? Everybody wants that.

Maybe. Maybe there's something else we want even more. So we end up defining what we want a little bit differently, I think, than God would want us to.

He said you lost and he said and you are envious. Well, what do we lust and are envious about? What other people have. It's sort of the American dream. We want what we see other people have. And we believe that will make us happy. If I get what they have, then I'll be happy.

Somehow it's interesting that won't do it. I'll give you another little verse to help us frame up. Turn back to James chapter 1 and verse 17. James writes this, he said, every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. So how many good things come from above?

All of them. Every. He said every good thing and every perfect gift comes from above. See, one of the problems we have, that's what God says I have.

It's James's way of saying what Jesus said when he said, I've come to give you life and give it to you abundantly. It's every good thing. Our problem is we don't necessarily believe that. You see, our problem is that we're not every good thing. There's so much out there that are good things. I mean, I've said this over the years, but in America, what is better than more?

Nothing. There is nothing better than more. We live for more. And when we have more, we live for more. That's the American dream.

We want to do this. He said, no, every good thing comes from me. So even if we get sometimes the things that we think is good, and by the way, how do we know we want something else?

Because we lust after it and envy after it. Just what James said later. This is what we want. And then we just assume. And he said, look, if you would ask me, I would give you every good thing. Not your definition of every good thing, my definition of every good thing.

I'd give you that. So we don't ask. You see, we really don't ask.

That's the way this happens, and it happens often like that. That's why Paul told us, the Thessalonians, look, you need to be about praying without ceasing. It doesn't mean go into a room and pray. It means just your whole thought life should be strictly on God. Why?

Do I want good things in my life? Yeah. Where does every one of them come from? God. So I want to be in prayer with God. So, but sometimes I never ask. Notice back to James 4.

Look at verse three, the next verse. You ask and you do not receive. Why? You ask with the wrong motive so that you may spend it on your pleasures. So God won't answer your prayer.

Why? Because of your motives. You have completely the wrong motives. In other words, he says, a lot of our prayer life is selfish and worldly. That's our prayer life. We end up becoming selfish and worldly.

We want what we want. One thing I know from reading the word of God, God's not a divine vending machine. You know, and he's not a sugar daddy. That's just not who God is.

He doesn't do that at all. In fact, God always puts a very keen condition on things. And as strange as it sounds, there are huge movements in the prosperity movement of the evangelical church in America that would teach exactly the opposite of this verse. It teaches that God exists so that he can fulfill every dream and want and desire you've ever had. That's why there is a God.

It couldn't be further from the truth than what he says. He said, you pray from a worldly point of view. Go with me to First John Chapter five, First John Chapter five in verse 14.

And now we're going to see the condition of what we get. First John five, 14. John writes this. He said, This is the confidence we have before him. Now he's going to be talking about prayer. Don't underestimate how important that phrase is. Can you and I have total confidence when we go before God in prayer? Yes, that's what he says. You can. And is that how you really think or do you go?

I'm going to go to God in prayer, close my eyes, cross my fingers and just hope something happens. That's not confidence. But John says you can have total confidence when you go before him. Here it is that if you ask anything. That sounds good, doesn't it?

Now, the next phrase is what you don't like. According to his will. If you ask anything. According to his will. He hears us. And we know that if he hears us and whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from him. You can have you can ask God anything.

And you'll get it. That sounds pretty good, except for the phrase according to his will. Wow.

Yeah, we we often omit that. I saw some time ago on television a guy that was saying that the worst thing that a Christian could ever do is to pray to God and say according to your will. That was the worst thing a Christian could do. It's not according to it. So it's according to my will. You see, that's what prayer is. And if I have enough faith in my will, God's going to do what I ask him to do. That's blasphemous.

Doesn't work at all. Remember Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer? Do you remember what little part of the Lord's Prayer he said? He said, Your kingdom come.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Do you remember when Jesus is play sweating droplets of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before the crucifixion? And his request was, Father, let this cup pass from me.

His next words, Nevertheless, not my will be done, but yours. So I don't think Jesus lacked faith. You see, that wasn't it at all. There is a lacking of faith that can have an effect. And we'll look at that in a moment.

But certainly not that one. That's not the way this works. In fact, if you're really honest with yourself. When it comes to this, what are you saying to God? Here's my prayer, God, your will be changed. I want your will to be changed to my will.

That's what I want. Change your will to meet my will. That's a lot different than your will be done. They say to God, your will be changed.

See, that sets things up in a very, very different way. Every time I pray and you pray, one of the things I should be doing is thanking God for everything he's done. In fact, does the Bible say you to give thanks to God for everything? Yes. How about in everything? Yes. How about for all things? Yes. See, that's the way I should pray.

His will be done. You see, he asked that. Everything that God has ever accomplished in my life or yours, every good thing is accomplished in your life.

You know who did it? God did. I should praise him for that.

Thank you. You see, that's the way this should work. He wants us to be dependent on him moment by moment, day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year. That's his will for us. That's what God really wants. So, sometimes we don't pray and other times we pray, but we do it with the wrong motives. David backed us up in one of my favorite verses of the Old Testament.

First time I saw it, I highlighted it. Psalm 37 4, delight yourself in the Lord and he'll give you the desires of your heart. There it is. Do I want the desires of my heart?

Yes. However, I want to get those if I delight myself in him. So, that tells you what kind of heart I have. So, if my heart is totally delighting in him, he'll give me whatever I desire. But often, I won't be desiring if I'm delighting in him so many of the things I go to the Lord and pray for.

You see, that's a very important part. Now, God allows us to pray our humanity. He allows us that because I don't know everything. So, I'm allowed to pray that. But just as Jesus said, let this cup pass from me, I can pray for anything I want, but always with a nevertheless not my will be done but yours. See, I don't know everything, Lord, but you do. So, we sometimes pray with the wrong motives. Now, go back with me to James 1 and starting in verse 2. This is where faith really comes in and it's interesting. James writes, consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials. This is a hard verse.

I've talked about it many times. I am to consider it all joy when my life faces its most difficult challenges. Now, when you face those, is joy the first thing you think of?

Oh, boy, I just got that diagnosis. Praise God. You see, it's hard for us. You see, but he said, no, it doesn't matter what the trial was. I'm sovereign over everything and I love you.

Don't worry about that. So, he says, consider it all joy, brethren, when you encounter various trials. Well, what's a trial there for? Knowing that the testing of your faith, that's why I go through trials and so do you. God allows us to go through trials to test our faith. Now, he doesn't test our faith to see how far along we are. He tests our faith so you see how far along you are.

There's a difference in that. God already knows where you're at. You and I have a tendency to very much underestimate or overestimate our faith. He said, but if you go through a trial, it creates endurance.

Wow. And let endurance have its perfect results so that you may be perfect, teleos, complete, and lack of nothing. God says a trial will be good for you to grow you up. You will grow spiritually in the worst days of your life. God says, yeah, that's what's going to happen.

Now, the hard part for us is interesting. If I'm going through this or you are, there's a question that lingers in our head. Why, God? Why am I going through this?

Why do I have to go through this? I don't understand. I think we've all had thoughts like that.

We've all done that time and time again. So, here's what James writes. He said, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously without reproach, it'll be given to him. You want to know why? Just ask me, I'll give you the wisdom to handle your trial. Wow.

That's pretty good. Oh, there's a condition. I have to ask in a particular state of mind, what's what happens. But he must ask in faith, without any doubting. For the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being double minded man, unstable in all his ways. Well, if I don't ask in faith, God won't give me wisdom. You see, he won't help me through it. Now, please understand, you and I should have wisdom when we go through various trials.

What do you mean by that? Hasn't God told us a lot of things? Did God ever say these words to you from Romans 828? All things in your life will work together for good. Did God ever say that? Does that help you at all?

This is going to work for your good. I have to believe that, don't I? How can this be good? God said it was good. God said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you.

Always be here. He said, I'm always for you. He said, if you're going through a terrible trial, come to the throne of grace and I'll give you the grace and mercy that you need. You see, God's already told us all that. That's wisdom and insight into what I'm going through.

See, that's the case. That's why someone like Paul, who went through terrible, terrible things, he considered it like James said, all joy. Why did Paul think that?

He had wisdom. He actually believed what God said. See, the problem for us is we know what God said, but we don't believe it.

I can't see how any good's coming out of this. You see, well then, God's not going to give you any insight or wisdom into it if that's our primary concern as a person. Fourthly, I want you to go with me to Psalm 66. Psalm 66.

And this becomes pretty convicting. Psalm is attributed to David even though the superscription does not necessarily say so. Verse 18. Now, notice what David says. David says, if I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Do you get that? If I regard wickedness in my heart, he will not hear me. Do you ever think of that? Do you hold certain sin in your heart? God says, I'm not going to listen to you. Period. I'm not.

It's kind of a universal principle. By the way, does David know anything about this? Did David commit any sins that you're aware of? He's a man after God's own heart, but did he do anything? I mean, well, yeah, he committed adultery and then murdered the husband. Does that sound sinful to you? It is. But immediately, David went and confessed to the Lord, right?

No. David knew he was king. No one can hold me accountable. So for a year or a year plus, David just held onto it.

I'm not sure even how guilty he even felt. And then God sent Nathan to him, a prophet. And Nathan pointed out, look, you're the man. And David realized, I'm found out. So then he writes two confessional songs. A year later.

And what happened during that year? David said, I was in anguish. Spiritually, I shriveled up completely.

Spiritually, my life was void. What's happening? God's not listening to David. He isn't going to listen to David until David acknowledges his own sin.

He's not listening to him. See, David regarded that and held onto it in his life. So put me now to Isaiah 59.

Now illustrate it again. Isaiah, chapter 59, verses 1 and 2. Isaiah 59, verses 1 and 2.

It starts out with a really good statement and then the condition. He says, behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor is his ear so dull that it cannot hear. God's sovereign.

He can do anything. He hears everything. That's who God is.

But there's the word. Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God. Your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. God said, I'm not listening to you. You've harbored your own sins.

And you've kept them. You see, that's what David said. Boy, if I cherish this in my heart, this sin, I'm not listening to you. And that's easy to do because Jeremiah tells us that a heart of a man is desperately wicked.

And then Jeremiah says, it's deceitful above all things. And for you, who does your heart deceive? You. You see, who does your heart deceive? You. That's the way this works.

That's how desperately wicked it is. When we were living in Plano, I was going through seminary in Texas, attending a church. I had two pastors, and one of the pastors who taught was an extraordinarily gifted guy, a very good counselor. And he and his wife had five children.

They're like the model family. And then he decided to have an affair on his wife and move in with one of his counselors. And so he moved to the neighboring town. And the elders of the church then went down and confronted him at the door with his mistress. And he told them, look, you're completely mistaken. Never has my relationship with Jesus been this close and this rich as it is right now.

Do you know what that is? That's deception. This is a guy who left his wife and five kids, and he says, it's great. I'm great with the Lord now. No, he's not. That's a lie.

See, that's what your own heart can do to you. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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