Unanswered Prayer - Your Will Be Done

Read

Matthew 6:9–13 (ESV)

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Recap

The last two weeks we’ve been talking about two amazing types of prayer that God invites us to participate in with Him as our loving Father. Intercession (Kingdom Come) & Petition (Daily Bread). And throughout this time while talking about the wonder of God allowing us to be apart of His grand plan of saving the world through providing for the daily needs of His children, we’ve frequently had to address the mystery of these types of prayers as well.

And this week we’re gonna sift through this heavy topic by focusing in on the phrase: “Your will be done.” And not so much the idea of submitting to God’s will when everything is going peachy. But submitting to God’s will when things aren’t.

Sometimes when we pray Heaven roars with dramatic answers to our most desperate prayers, Heaven even whispers answers to our more “mundane” average requests, but hat do we make of when heaven answers with silence?

“Your will be done” - Unanswered Prayer

What do we do when we wonder why God would so easily answer the average and for go the obvious desperate prayers?

Becca, Cousin Matt, Our Miscarriage

Stories like these and so many others hammer home this mystery of unanswered prayer.

And throughout the life and the ministry of Jesus we see multiple times where the prayers he prays raise a few questions. The Gospel writers don’t withhold the facts from there accounts. Scripture doesn’t shy away from the this topic.

Stories of Jesus and unanswered prayer

Mark 8:23–25 (ESV)

23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

John 17:20–23 (ESV)

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

These prayers show the fact that even Jesus prayed prayers that need more prayer and ones that have yet to be fulfilled. But there is one prayer that Jesus prayed in this category that stands out among the rest.

Mark 14:34–36 (ESV)

34 And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” 35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Here we see the three things that make this topic so perplexing...

Abba Father - Loving God that wants to bless

All things are possible for you

Remove this cup from me. Not my will but yours be done.

This prayer nearly mimics the beginning of the Lords Prayer itself.

Then.... Silence. Jesus’ prayer isn’t answered. He experiences extreme torment so that many could be saved. Jesus knows very specifically what it feels like to feel unanswered prayer.

So now let’s look at some of the teachings of Jesus to help us understand this dynamic of perplexing prayer.

In maybe His most famous and impactful teaching, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the subject with prayer by giving us three directives.

Matthew 7:7–8 (ESV)

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Here Jesus is giving us the progression of prayer. Remember the purpose of prayer is relationship and every relationship has a beginning and moves toward an desired result.

Children start out doing nothing but screaming for what they need, then they move toward more sophisticated forms of communication and trust, and hopefully the relationship grows to where the child wants to know and remain close with their parents for the their entire life.

In the same way needs drive us to prayer initially, then we progress toward a place of peace in the trust and relationship that we have with our Eternal Father.

Here’s that plays out in Jesus’ instruction in the Sermon on the mount:

Ask

This again is the most natural state that we find ourselves in. It is driven by the many needs that we come across in life. From the common needs, to the gut punches and interruptions throughout life, to the enormous needs of our world.

We are constantly put into those positions outside of our control so we do the only thing we know....we ask.

Seek

This particular type of seeking is meant to be specifically seeking God. Although we begin seeking the fulfillment of our needs, we must begin seeking and trusting the Giver and not just the gifts.

We start seeking the gifts we end up seeking the Giver

Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV)

13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Ephesians 1:3 (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

Knock

This a fascinating choice of words based on the culture it was written and the culture we find ourselves in today.

Mancy and I never eat at the table

In Jesus’ time, some of the most significant times were around the table. Table Fellowship.

To share the table with someone was give them dignity, value, and worth. This is why Jesus was criticized so much for the company that he kept. People like you and me.

To share the table with someone was give them dignity, value, and worth. He invites up to keep knocking on His door so that we can keep sitting at His table.

In the original language these instructions are read “keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.

This is the ultimate vision of prayer that Jesus wants us to grasp. That prayer isn’t just about getting things but rather getting God. And the way that we do that is to keep accepting His invitation to Table.

Trinity painting by Andre Rublev

"Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of himself. Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive him and keep him as your own,"

- Mother Teresa

And the skeptic says “That’s fine and all but what if your asking ends up not receiving...

Jesus knew this would be a tough one to digest so He literally gave us a story just for our doubts and frustrations.

Luke 18:1–8 (ESV)

1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

In this story we have two characters that represent those that participate in prayer.

The Widow

Woman

Widow

Persistent

Granted “quickly” - Kept Bothering

The Judge

Jesus isn’t saying that the Father is a corrupt and disinterested judge. Rather he is saying that if even this judge was willing to grant this widows request then surely the Heavenly Father would love nothing more to grant the request.

Even this judge was willing to grant this widows request then surely the Heavenly Father would love nothing more to grant the request.

Matthew 7:11 (ESV)

11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

“Prayer is not begging God to do something for us that he doesn't know about, or begging God to do something for us that he is reluctant to do, or begging God to do something that he hasn't time for,In prayer we persistently, faithfully, trustingly come before God, submitting ourselves to his sovereignty, confident that he is acting, right now, on our behalf."

- Eugene Peterson

Now if your observant this may sound like more of the same. Jesus is telling us to pray with persistent faith and we should expect to receive an answer. But what does this mean for my unanswered prayers right now? What is God up to while I’m praying and getting nothing in response?

What is God up to in the in between?

God is storing up all of our prayers

Revelation 8:3–5 (ESV)

3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

When God makes all things new He will use all of the prayers that have ever been prayed to transform the world into the world He’s been working toward all along. Every proper prayer will be answered to bring for the new creation.

Tears of joy

Psalm 126:5 (ESV)

5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!

This passage promise something wonderful beyond belief. That not only is God aware and collecting every tear that we shed but He will also use them to bring forth joy into the world once and for all.

Revelation 21:4 (ESV)

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Psalm 56:8 (ESV)

8 You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

That new creation is seeded by the prayers of God's people and watered by their tears. Both are key ingredients in the remaking of the world.

-Tyler Stanton

His word to the widow and to us is simple.

“I hear you, and I am making all things new.”

Practice

Daily Prayer Rhythm

Morning - Pray for a good day

Midday - Intercede for the lost

Evening - Gratitude

Prayer Framework

Pause

Rejoice

Ask

Yield

Prayer Posture

Find a posture that works for you that intentionally sets your entire self. Body and mind pointed at God. These examples might help.

Running

Sitting in your living room chair with a cup of coffee

Rocking chair on the porch

Walking in the woods

Kneeling

Sitting

Standing

Whatever gets you to a place of your heart set on things above…Thats where your should be.

Tone

When you pray this week, remove all the common Christian jargon, and truly approach the Father like His child. When you pray imagine the Father relaxed and eager to hear your requests.