2 LENT 07 C

Sermon series on “The Mystery of Prayer”

One author wrote, “As my five year old son and I were headed to McDonald's one day, we see a car accident up ahead. Usually when we see something terrible like that, we say a prayer for those who might be hurt, so I pointed and said to my son, ‘We should pray.’

From the back seat I heard his earnest request: ‘Please, God, don't let those cars block the entrance to McDonald's.’”

A woman was at work when she received a phone call that her daughter was very sick with a fever. She left her work and stopped by the pharmacy to get some medication for her daughter. When returning to her car she found that she had locked her keys in the car. She was in a hurry to get home to her sick daughter. She didn't know what to do, so she called her home and told the baby sitter what had happened and that she did not know what to do. The baby sitter told her that her daughter was getting worse. She said, "You might find a coat hanger and use that to open the door." The woman looked around and found an old rusty coat hanger that had been thrown down on the ground, possibly by someone else who at some time or other had locked their keys in their car. Then she looked at the hanger and said, "I don't know how to use this." So she bowed her head and asked God to send her some help. Within five minutes an old rusty car pulled up, with a dirty, greasy, bearded man who was wearing an old biker skull rag on his head. The woman thought, "This is what you sent to help me?" But, she was desperate, so she was also very thankful. The man got out of his car and asked her if he could help. She said, "Yes, my daughter is very sick. I stopped to get her some medication and I locked my keys in my car. I must get home to her. Please, can you use this hanger to unlock my car?" He said, "Sure." He walked over to the car, and in less than one minute the car was opened. She hugged the man and through her tears she said, "Thank you so much! You are a very nice man." The man replied, "Lady, I am not a nice man. I just got out of prison today. I was in prison for car theft and have only been out for about an hour." The woman hugged the man again and with sobbing tears cried out loud, "Oh. Thank you God! You even sent me a Professional."

Last week I talked began a series of sermons on the Mystery of Prayer. The first part of that series was on the Nature of God and the Mystery of Prayer.

I talked about a major hurdle that we all face related to prayer and God. That hurdle is often a misunderstanding of who God is or what God’s nature is like. I shared that our prayers are often directed to a God whom we think is either not big enough to answer all the prayers that come his way, or that God is not interested in our puny little prayers. I tried to paint a picture of God (that is reflected in the Bible) as being omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (present everywhere at once), and omnipotent (all powerful). We can’t hope to begin to understand prayer until we begin to understand the awesomeness of God.

This week I want to talk about the mystery of answered prayer. You may wonder why I am talking about this instead of about the mystery of unanswered prayer. Well, have no fear. Next week I will be addressing that subject.

You may have never thought about the mystery of answered prayer, but if you think about it, why would God want to answer any prayers?

Acts 17:24-26 says this about God: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.”

According to Ps 8:4, David muses, “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” Along those same lines Job 7:17 says, “What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention?”

Not only do we wonder why God would even be concerned at all about us, we wonder why God would want to hear and answer our prayers,– “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts,” says the Lord in Isaiah 55:9

The Bible also tells us that God is Holy and that we, his creation, are unholy in the sense that we are sinners compared to the Holy God who is sinless. Our sin separates us from this Holy God and causes God to not hear almost all of our prayers.

So we might wonder, if that is the case, what are we to think about prayer?

The mystery of answered prayer begins to be solved by going back to the beginning. The Bible tells us in Genesis that God created human beings for his good purpose. The main purpose was so that we could have a relationship with Him. When sin entered the world that relationship was broken. God could have washed His hands of his rebellious creation, but He didn’t. Throughout Scripture we see that God is constantly reaching out to bring us back into a relationship with Him. His final effort to accomplish this was by sending His own Son, Jesus, to provide a way for sinful humanity to be reconciled to the Holy God. When a person enters into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, God desires to help that person when he or she calls upon God.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two (Jews and Gentiles) one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one(Christian) new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit” Eph 2:13-18.

God went out of His way to try to get his human creation to be in relationship with Him. Once that relationship is established, he wants us to communicate with Him. When we communicate with Him, God has said that He will hear that communication and respond.

As we pray in the name of Jesus, the mystery is that sometimes He answers our requests as we ask them. I remember when I was in seminary I was living on a shoestring. On one occasion, I didn’t know if I was going to have enough money to pay my rent. I prayed and a few days later a friend I had not spoken to in a while sent me a check. It was just enough to pay my rent. Why did God answer my prayer then? Outside of the fact that He wanted to remind me of his love and provision, I don’t know the answer. There were other times when I was in a similar situation and I prayed. Nothing happened. Sometimes God revealed to me that I needed to control my spending and live below my means. On one occasion a thought came into my mind that I had neglected the work of the Lord by not giving my tithe to the church. As I gave that amazingly God provided for my needs. I have learned to put a portion of my income (for me it is a tithe) into church as a way of reminding me that I need to be a good steward of the money that God allows me to have.

As Jesus taught His disciples to pray in His name, God also grants their requests in Jesus' Name. Jesus was and is the perfect example. Almost every single request and prayer Jesus asked of the Father was granted. This is because Jesus was continually within God's will. He and the Father are One.

We therefore must continue to mature and grow in understanding God's will as shown to us in every Word and Deed that Jesus said and did. We must put on the mind of Christ. We must learn to ask or pray what Jesus would in that circumstance. It will always be what is best for all those involved. Best is always measured according to God's will.

The simplest way to say it would be: God wants all men and women to accept His offer of love and reconciliation through the cross. Having done that, our spirits are more in line with His Spirit causing us to be more prone to ask for those things that are according to His will.

There are certain conditions upon which we may expect that God will hear and answer our prayers. One of the first of these is that we feel our need of help from Him. He has promised, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” Isaiah 44:3. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, who long after God, may be sure that they will be filled. The heart must be open to the Spirit’s influence, or God’s blessing cannot be received.

Our great need is itself an argument and pleads most eloquently in our behalf. But the Lord is to be sought unto to do these things for us. He says, “Ask, and it shall be given you.” And “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Matthew 7:7; Romans 8:32.

If we regard iniquity in our hearts, if we cling to any known sin, the Lord will not hear us; but the prayer of the penitent, contrite soul is always accepted. When all known wrongs are righted, we may believe that God will be more inclined to answer our petitions. Our own merit will never commend us to the favor of God; it is the worthiness of Jesus that will save us, His blood that will cleanse us; yet we have a work to do in complying with the conditions of acceptance.

Another element of prevailing prayer is faith. “He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6. Jesus said to His disciples, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24. Do we take Him at His word?

The assurance is broad and unlimited, and He is faithful who has promised. When we do not receive the very things we asked for, at the time we ask, we are still to believe that the Lord hears and that He will answer our prayers. We are so erring and shortsighted that we sometimes ask for things that would not be a blessing to us, and our heavenly Father in love answers our prayers by giving us that which will be for our highest good—that which we ourselves would desire if with vision divinely enlightened we could see all things as they really are. When our prayers seem not to be answered, we are to cling to the promise; for the time of answering will surely come, and we shall receive the blessing we need most. But to claim that prayer will always be answered in the very way and for the particular thing that we desire is presumption. God is too wise to err, and too good to withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly. Then do not fear to trust Him, even though you do not see the immediate answer to your prayers. Rely upon His sure promise, “Ask and it shall be given you.”

If we take counsel with our doubts and fears, or try to solve everything that we cannot see clearly, before we have faith, perplexities will only increase and deepen. But if we come to God, feeling helpless and dependent, as we really are, and in humble, trusting faith make known our wants to Him whose knowledge is infinite, who sees everything in creation, and who governs everything by His will and word, He can and will attend to our cry, and will let light shine into our hearts. Through sincere prayer we are brought into connection with the mind of the Infinite. We may have no remarkable evidence at the time that the face of our Redeemer is bending over us in compassion and love, but this is even so. We may not feel His visible touch, but His hand is upon us in love and pitying tenderness.

When we come to ask mercy and blessing from God we should have a spirit of love and forgiveness in our own hearts. How can we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,” and yet indulge an unforgiving spirit? Matthew 6:12. If we expect our own prayers to be heard we must forgive others in the same manner and to the same extent as we hope to be forgiven.

Perseverance in prayer has been made a condition of receiving. We must pray always if we would grow in faith and experience. We are to be “instant in prayer,” to “continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.” Romans 12:12; Colossians 4:2. Peter exhorts believers to be “sober, and watch unto prayer.” 1 Peter 4:7. Paul directs, “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6. “But ye, beloved,” says Jude, “praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God.” Jude 20, 21

I think it would do us good as we look at prayer to take the word "prayer," and run through the Bible tracing it out. I think you would be perfectly amazed if you took up the word "prayer," and counted the cases in the Bible where people are recorded as praying, and God answering their prayers.
A great many think it is only the perfectly righteous and pure that pray. But you remember who it was who prayed in this fashion, "Lord remember me when You come into Your Kingdom." You remember that Christ answered the dying thief's prayer.
We cannot but notice that every man or woman of God spoken of in the Bible was a man or woman of prayer. You have therefore very good authority and encouragement for asking God to hear your prayers, and for praying on behalf of others, as we are daily requested to do.

Still, the fact that God answers prayers remains a bit of a mystery. If we are to believe in God and believe that He answers prayers, then we must trust in His Word, the Bible. If the Bible says that God answers prayers, we can rely on that sure word, in spite of our feelings or experiences.

Our response to that confidence in His Word is to follow what it says. When His Word commands us to pray, we pray. When His Word says we are to believe that whatever we ask according to His will be granted, we are called to believe that.

A missionary doctor who worked in Central Africa told the following story:

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward, but in spite of all we could do she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator. (We had no electricity to run an incubator, either). We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived near the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle.

She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst. Rubber perishes easily in tropical climates. And “it was our last hot water bottle!” she exclaimed. AS in the West it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drug stores down forest pathways. “All right,” I said, “put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. “Your job is to keep the baby warm.”

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby.

I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily die, if it got chills. I also told them of the two year old sister, crying because here mother had died.

During the prayer time, one ten year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. “Please, God,” she prayed, “send us a water bottle. It’ll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.” While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added by way of a corollary, “And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she’ll know You really love her?”

As often with children’s prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say, “Amen?” I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything. The Bible says so. But there are limits, aren’t there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland.

I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived near the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses’ training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the verandah, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out.

Then there were knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked bored.

Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas that would make a batch of buns for the weekend.

Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the….could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out, yes, a brand new rubber hot water bottle. I cried.

I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, “If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!”

Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted. Looking up at me, she asked: “Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly to that little girl, so she’ll know that Jesus really loves her?”

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday School class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God’s prompting to send a hot water bottle, even near the equator. And one of the girls had put in a doll for an African child, five moths before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it “this afternoon.”

“Before they call, I will answer!” says God in Isaiah 65:24.

How about you? Even though we can’t understand the mystery of prayer, will you pray anyway, and believe God for great things?