When The Answer Is Disguised Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. When God answers prayer in ways we don't expect, we're reminded that it's Him we really need, not the answers. Today, making sure our relationships with God are strong, realizing that knowing Him is more vital than getting what we want. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, as you teach us about what to do when the answer is disguised, you're talking about the experiences of Moses and Abraham. I am, because they illustrate for us the fact that they came to know God and realized that they needed Him even more than they needed the answer to their prayers.

And that is so critical. Here at Running to Win, we are absolutely committed to the centrality of the gospel, like we frequently say, helping people make it across the finish line. I want to thank the many of you who support this ministry.

Perhaps some of you have prayed for us, but you have never been financially involved, and we understand that. But if you would consider becoming an endurance partner, that's someone who stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. Here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com. Of course, rtwoffer is all one word. And when you're there, click on the endurance partner button.

Or if you prefer, call us at 1-888-218-9337. And now we continue to remind ourselves that at the end of the day, we need God even more than we need the answer to some of our specific prayers. I read it a moment ago, but look at it very, very quickly. You'll notice it says in verse 24 of Hebrews 11, by faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God, catch it now, than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. Moses says, of course, there is pleasure in sin, but for a season, and these are fleeting pleasures.

These pleasures always have a bad aftertaste. And so the way in which we do it is we discovered that in seeking God, in seeking God, there is great reward. God said to Abraham, Abraham, you don't have to fear because I love this. I am your exceeding great reward.

I'm here. And when I'm here, there is a sense of rest and satisfaction and gladness. That's why the Psalms are so filled, so filled with exhortations to rejoice in God. It is because God himself rewards those who seek him. Well, of course, the $64 question is very, very apparent now, and that is, how do we seek God? A generation that has not sought God, who's looked at God as kind of a slot machine. In other words, Lord, I want this and this is what I want you to do for me and keep me from harm, keep me healthy, help me no longer to have the problems that I do, prevent me from accidents.

All those may have their place. But to a generation where prayer is primarily that, how do we stop in our tracks and say to ourselves, I want to seek God? I mean, if it is true that he generously rewards those who seek him, I want to be among those who take him up on it. Do you too want to take him up on it?

How do we do it? Well, aren't you glad you asked? I mean, that's such a good question. I need to commend you for asking it. Would you notice in your bulletin this morning, there is a card that I prepared and this card and you can reach for it right now. This card is entitled the rewards of faith. Larry Crabbe wrote a book entitled The Papa Prayer, and this Papa prayer really is a discussion of this mega shift that I'm talking about, where prayer goes from asking to relationship. And he in the book has a system outlined. Mine is different from his, but nonetheless I do commend to you what Larry Crabbe has to say and actually have some quotes from his book, which I might give you if we have enough time. So this is what I have prepared because this reflects actually where I am at in the journey of seeking God.

You'll notice and now with your card in front of you, notice first of all, how do you do it? You choose to agree with God. You choose to agree with God.

This has to begin with silence. I wait silently before the Lord, the psalmist says, because what you are doing now is exposing your life and all of the intense of the heart to a God who already sees you. And what you're saying is, God, not only do you see me, but show me what you see so that I can deal with it. What are the stones that have to be moved in my life in order to have a clear relationship with you?

What is standing in the way? This is known as confession. You've heard many times that the word confess means to agree with God. It says God, whatever you show me, I agree that bitterness is sin. I agree that this relationship I'm in is sinful.

I agree that the anxieties that I am bearing are sinful because I have things on my shoulders that you are supposed to carry and I'm carrying them. And that is the time when we come and we agree with God. I usually do this in silence. When I pray this way, as I try to do, if not every day, that's the way I want to pray.

So it begins with silence. By the way, I do pray every day, but possibly not exactly in this order. And I might say sometimes I don't follow the order.

This is not some kind of a new formula. All right, we're talking relationship here. You choose to agree with God in honesty, confession and surrender. You choose to adore God. You begin to read the Psalms.

Possibly you read about the blessings of God. Use a hymn or a chorus. Those of you who belong to the choir, you have certainly a jump on us here because, you know, you're constantly singing those songs of glory. I notice that the songs that we sing on Sunday oftentimes are in my mind during the week. And so what you do is you use the Bible, you use a hymnal.

I love to be able to just look into the face of God and say, Jesus, the very thought of thee with sweetness fills my breast, but sweeter far thy face to see and in thy presence rest. What you are doing is reminding yourself of God. You're reminding him, yes, on yourself, actually, of his attributes, but you're also reminding yourself of his relationship with you. And you're building that relationship.

This is a relationship that is going to be built in confidence. And so you come into God's presence and you do that. Third, choose to assure yourself. Choose to assure yourself. By that, I mean there are some of you who really aren't willing to let God love you.

Because you know right well that you are so unlovable that he really shouldn't. Isn't that true of all of us? Is there anyone here not shaking his head affirmatively?

Maybe I'm all alone up here. But the better we know ourselves, the more likely we are to say, God, you really shouldn't love me. And we all agree that naturally speaking, he shouldn't. The good news is he does.

He does love you. And you are the object of his affection and you are number one on his list of things to take care of in this befuddled universe. Indeed, the very hair of your head is numbered. And as I look over the congregation today, I can see that for some of you that might not be a big deal.

You might have your own hair numbered. And some of us are getting that way. You imagine the particular interest that God takes that not even a sparrow falls to the ground, but that the Heavenly Father notices it and sees that sparrow fall to the ground. So there is a time in this praying when you assure yourself this is a time when you worship God and you give him glory because of the fact that he exalts over you with praise, it says in the Old Testament. And so you're spending time thinking about what God has said and his promises in relationship to you, that you actually are valuable to God. Indeed, Jesus made the statement, he said that if your Heavenly Father takes care of the birds of the air, and they're here today and the grass is here today and it's gone tomorrow, will he not much more do so to you, O ye of little faith, for you are of more value than many sparrows. God cares about you. He cares about whom you should marry, and he also cares about whom you should not marry, and he cares equally. Isn't it better to seek him out?

I think so. Now we hurry on, you choose to assure yourself, you choose to ask of God. Now this is where the requests come in. The Bible says this very clearly, be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God. Now notice Paul does not give the same promise as Jesus.

The promises of Jesus have certain conditions certainly, and Paul has certain conditions, but listen to this again. Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, very important because you don't have faith unless you offer thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. This has to do with commitment. This has to do with so surrendering our concerns.

In fact, I'm toying with the idea of preaching an entire message on that topic. This means that we so give ourselves and our situation to God that we no longer fret about it because we see it as completely in God's hands. So we do make our requests, but we bring those requests and we leave them submitted to the will and the plan of God.

We think of Jesus in Gethsemane. Father, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me, but not as I will, but as thou wilt. You make the request and you submit it to God. Finally, choose to affirm your relationship. You affirm your relationship through taking a verse of scripture with you throughout the day. You see, when you read, I know it is often said, you know, that a chapter a day keeps the devil away. Well, not really, not if you can't remember what you read the moment you finished reading it. What you do is you read it to look for a promise, to look for an affirmation.

And so that actually is put into your mind for the rest of the day and you savor it for the rest of the day. That's the that's the verse. That's the promise that you camp on. And when this time is over, you leave, I say, on good terms with God. By that, I mean you leave in such a way that you say, Father, you know, I have to go to work. I have to catch the L. You know, I have to go to the bank or the office or the hospital or whatever. And so just know, though, that I'm not breaking fellowship with you.

We're going to keep in touch all day. That's the way you begin to seek God. You say, well, how much time does it take? Well, I'm not going to tell you how much time it's going to take.

Because if I gave you a time, it would be one more legalistic thing to do to fill your half hour or your 20 minutes or whatever. Let you and God to figure that out. You ask God how much time should this take?

It is amazing how a heavenly father can sometimes convey his will to a child who's willing to listen and to respond. Now, here's what you do. You take this. That's why it's separate from the bulletin. Don't put it on your refrigerator unless you pray an awful lot before you open the door.

And that might not be entirely bad. This is for your reading room. This is for the wall where you pray.

This might go into your Bible. If this is what you need each time as you begin, that might be a good place for it. But one thing is sure, this is considered very important as a guide. And it is only a guide. Sometimes these steps might be interspersed.

They might be different. But here is your guide and it'll introduce you to seeking God. Because remember what the Bible says. He rewards those who really do seek him out. It takes time.

It takes surrender. It can be painful. But there's no way to compare the reward. Bottom line, knowing comes before asking. Knowing comes before asking. This is life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent. Knowing comes before asking and God's will comes before our will.

That is essential. God's will comes before ours. A whole shift in the purpose of prayer. You say, well, Pastor Lutzer, you know, this message has just blown right past me because I don't think I even know God well enough, you know, to suddenly show up and say, here I am. And now I'm supposed to submit and you know, how do you even connect with a God like that? I mean, what's the first step?

How do you get into it? Well, so glad you asked. Once again, you're really thinking. Thank you.

Thank you so much for your thoughts. Here's a verse. It says in the book of Hebrews that we have boldness to enter into the most holy place.

That was known in the Old Testament as the holy of holies. We have boldness to enter into the most holy place by the blood of Jesus. That's the way you get to God. You acknowledge your sinfulness. You realize that you need redemption and forgiveness.

And Jesus Christ's blood was shed specifically for the purpose to take away the sin of sinners. And I know that on that point, you are eminently qualified, whoever you are, because we're all in the same boat when it comes to sin, born with it and do it. But that's the way you come. You come, I say, I come through the blood of Christ. I come to be forgiven. I come to be cleansed. I come to agree with God. And then you begin your journey of knowing him. And you look back in a year's time and I think I can say this is true of me. This is a little dangerous to say, but I really do believe that I know God better this year than I did last.

I certainly want to know God better in a year's time than I do now. Think of this. Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast of his might.

Let not the rich man boast in his riches. But he who boasts, let him boast in this that he knoweth me and understandeth me for I execute loving kindness, judgment and righteousness on the earth. For in these things I delight, says the Lord.

Jeremiah chapter nine. Let us be people whose joy is God. And let us pray. Father, this congregation of Moody Church with all of its abilities and gifts and diversity, may we move together as one person coming to know you better. We ask, O Lord God, that you might use this message as a beginning point for us to be taught how to seek you. And your word assures us that if we seek, we find. And your word also, O Lord, gives us the assurance that you reward of those who seek you out, make it our passion. And may we be able to say with sincerity, knowing you, Jesus, knowing you, there is no greater thing. You're my all.

You're the best. You're my joy, my righteousness. And I love you, Lord. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Well, this is Pastor Lutzer. I have to ask you, are you blessed as a result of the ministry of running to win? Are there times when you hear a message and you say, I wish that more people could have heard it? I want to thank the many of you who support this ministry so that we can continue to speak to thousands upon thousands of people every single day as a result of running to win.

Would you consider helping us? Here's what you can do to become an endurance partner. You can go to rtwoffer.com.

Of course, rtwoffer is all one word, rtwoffer.com. And when you're there, click on the endurance partner button. It'll give you the info you need to become one of our endurance partners. Or if you prefer, you can call us at 1-888-218-9337.

I'm going to be giving you that contact info again, because we believe it is so crucial that we give you the opportunity to hold our hands and to say we are partners together in sharing God's Word. Here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com. rtwoffer.com.

Click on the endurance partner button. Or if you prefer, call us at 1-888-218-9337. Let me give you that phone number again, 1-888-218-9337. It's time once again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Today's question comes from Ted in North Carolina, and I believe it's a question many people would like the answer to. He writes, There are some passages in the Bible that seem to teach that we can be physically healed through faith, yet we see very few genuine healings today.

How do you account for this? Well, Ted, I want you to know that, indeed, that is a question, as Dave mentioned, that many people ask. The bottom line is this. There is no promise in the Bible that we can be healed physically whenever we want to be. Oh, it is true that when Jesus died on the cross, that death included us, body, soul, and spirit. But we will not have the privilege of entering into our inheritance fully until the day of resurrection. In fact, Jesus died to abolish death, and yet we die. Even faith healers die.

So we need to understand that sometimes those promises that are referred to are misapplied and misunderstood. Now, secondly, the question of why we don't find a whole lot of healings today. It is true that in certain periods of biblical history, God did many miracles.

Then there were other times when there were fewer. But here's my question to you, Ted. Can you and I go on trusting God even if he doesn't heal?

You remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Our Lord is able to deliver us from the furnace, but if he doesn't, we will continue to trust him. Before Dr. James Montgomery Boice died, he gave a marvelous speech to his church. He said, if the Lord wants to heal me, he could heal me. Sure, go ahead and pray for my healing. But he says, I've not seen a lot of healings in my life. But he says, I'm dying trusting God and trusting his providence. That kind of faith honors the Lord our God. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer.

If you'd like to hear your questions answered, go to rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614.

Our nation seems to be heading toward more government control and less freedom. So what should Christians do when things are bad and getting worse? Next time on Running to Win, a minor prophet named Habakkuk takes aim at a world not unlike our own. Don't miss how to handle those times when the answer is disaster. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.