How Do We Pray So God Will Hear Us?

Daniel 9:4–19 NIV

4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. 7 “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. “Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. 15 “Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. 17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

Q. What is the kind of prayer that pleases God and that he listens to?

A. First, we must pray from the heart to no other than the one true God, revealed to us in his Word, asking for everything God has commanded us to ask for.1

Second, we must fully recognize our need and misery, so that we humble ourselves in God’s majestic presence.2

Third, we must rest on this unshakable foundation: even though we do not deserve it, God will surely listen to our prayer because of Christ our Lord. That is what God promised us in his Word.3

1 Ps. 145:18-20; John 4:22-24; Rom. 8:26-27; James 1:5; 1 John 5:14-15

2 2 Chron. 7:14; Ps. 2:11; 34:18; 62:8; Isa. 66:2; Rev. 4

3 Dan. 9:17-19; Matt. 7:8; John 14:13-14; 16:23; Rom. 10:13; James 1:6

Last week as we reflected on QA 116, we were reminded that Jesus called his Father's temple, a house of . . . . Prayer. Jesus calls the Church, which is the Temple of the Holy Spirit....Not a house of preaching or teaching, not a house of music or worship, not house of justice or fellowship.. . . But a house of prayer. Why prayer? Well, maybe the words of the Catechism express it best, "prayer is the most important part of the thankfulness that God requires of us.”

We also reminded ourselves that schooling in the practice of prayer is lifelong. While it is often said that prayer for the Christian is as breathing for the human, breathing comes naturally, but sincere, honest and confident Christian prayer does not.. . it is learned and only made possible by the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus closest disciples, when they saw and heard him pray, said to their Master, "Lord, teach us how to pray."

Through prayer, God invites us into a special communion with Him.

In Jeremiah 33:3 we read these words,

Jeremiah 33:3 NIV

3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

Prayer draws the believer into great and unsearchable things that we cannot know except by the Spirit of God. Charles Spurgeon, a fine 19th c. preacher, writes, "The saint may expect to discover deeper experience and to know more of the higher spiritual life, by being much in prayer." He then goes on to use a picture that we find in Ezek. 47 of a river that flows out from underneath the temple. The prophet sees the river and initially is led by a man through water that is ankle-deep, then through water that is knee-deep, then through water that is waist deep, and then through water that was so deep and wide it could not be crossed. And Spurgeon suggests that the experience of prayer is like wading through that river. Most of us are only up to our ankles, some to our knees, but God invites us to swim in the river of prayer until we can't touch the bottom, because God promises that when we call upon him, he will answer us and "tell us great and unsearchable things that we do not know."

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Last week Sunday I shared my experience of praying with a gentleman at Brooklyn Tabernacle. And as he was praying, praying with sincerity, with authority and with confidence, praying through the promises of God written in his Word, I found myself like the disciples saying, "Lord, teach me how to pray."

And of course that is what we hope the Lord will do for us, as we go through this sermon series based on the Lord’s Prayer, but through the lens of the Heidelberg Catechsim.

This whole section of the Catechism is intended not just to teach us about prayer.. .but especially HOW to pray.

The Catechism, in the way it introduces this section on prayer, suggests that prayer is learned, we experiment in prayer, we grow in prayer. And one of the main reasons I say that is because of Q&A 117. "How does God want us to pray so that he will listen to us?" The original German text of the Catechism would translate something like this, "What belongs to such a prayer, the kind that pleases God and that God will listen to.?''(Klooster, Our Only Comfort, 1059)

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We all know the difference between hearing and listening, don't we? I used to wake up every morning to the news on my clock radio. And the intent is that I will catch a bit of today's news, and weather. But do you know how often Kim will say to me, so what's the weather going to be like today? And I'll say, I haven't a clue.. . I missed it.. . almost every morning I hear the radio, but don't listen to it.

[Reminds me....”What Women Want” movie…]

Our question and answer is not simply concerned with prayers that God will hear.. . no doubt God here's all our prayers.. . the Catechism teaches us about praying so that God will listen. The parable of the Pharisee and tax-collector comes to mind (Luke 18:9-14)..[EXPLAIN]..... . God no doubt heard both of their prayers.. . but Jesus says he only listens to one of them. Isaiah 1 : 15 says,

Isaiah 1:15 (NIV)

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.

God invites us to learn how to pray so that he will listen.. .

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So how do we pray so that God will listen??

First, "we must pray from the heart to the one true God who has revealed himself in his Word asking for everything he commands us to pray for." At one point in the book of 1 Kings 9, King Solomon comes before the Lord a second time and the Lord says to him, "I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me;" And what the Catechism is emphasizing in this first thought, are perhaps captured by those two words in 1 Kings.. . . We must pray "before God." I already mentioned the Pharisee who went to the temple, but clearly he did not pray BEFORE GOD. "It is not because you enter a church and sit in a pew that you are before God.” (The Power of Prayer in a Believers Life. 138) We can be sitting in our chair with our Bible on our lap and still not be before God. Our hearts must be sincere and focused on the God of the Bible. Sometimes our hearts can be focused with a song, or a Scripture passage, or a picture, or just with silence.

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But we must focus on the God of the Bible. We often carry around pictures in our mind of a God who does not match the one revealed in Scripture. Maybe we think of God as high and aloof, one who doesn't care about the details of our lives. Maybe we think of God as one who overlooks minor sins and so we don't bother with confessing them. Maybe we think of God as angry and punishing. But notice how in Daniel's prayer how frequently he directs his prayer to God and describes him with a rich language that is taken from the Bible. "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands.. .Lord, you are righteous.. .The Lord our God is forgiving and merciful...”

It is clear that Daniel knows the God who he prays to and so must we.

Praying from our hearts flows directly into the second thought of this question and answer. Second, "We must acknowledge our need and our misery, hiding nothing, and humble ourselves in his majestic presence."

Henri Nouwen as he observed the spirituality of the Eastern Orthodox church and its deep recognition of human sinfulness. He writes that “There is a great beauty to [this recognizing of human sinfulness] because it can show God's splendor and grace in the face of human depravity." (Reaching Out without Dumbing Down, 91)

In Isaiah 59 we read,

Isaiah 59:1–2 NIV

1 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

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Unconfessed sin in our lives prevents God from "listening" to our prayers. Yes he can hear us, but he will not listen to us. He loves us too much to let our unconfessed sin linger in our hearts and lives. Genuine prayer is generously sprinkled with regular, heart-felt confession.

Last week I shared a story about an experience that Pastor Jim Cymbala had in his very early years as pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle. Early in his pastorate, at a time of desparation when he as a pastor felt completely helpless to bring transformation to this fledging congregation in the heart of Brooklyn, he called the small group to the front to pray. "If we don't see God help us.. . I don't know.. ..and one of the first things that takes place is confession.. . the usher who had been stealing money from the collection plate comes to the front pleading, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't do it again! Please forgive me."

In chapter 9, Daniel pleads to God for his people.. ."we have sinned and done wrong.. .we are covered with shame.. .we have rebelled.. . .we have sinned against you." When was the last time in our prayers that we cried out to God from the depth of our beings, "I have sinned and done wrong.. . ! !" When was the last time we have been overcome with shame and remorse on account of our sin, and called out to the mercy seat of God for his compassion.

In his book the "Praying Church Sourcebook" CRC Pastor Alvin VanderGriend writes, "The Great Awakening, the East African Revival, the Welsh and Korean Revivals, the movement at Asbury College and the one in the Solomons in the '70s, as well as the revival of individual people the world over all the time-what do they all have in common? Repentance.” (Praying Church Sourcebook, 263)

1 John 1:9 NIV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

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We must spend time before our holy and righteous and merciful God in regular confession. Yes our sins have been forgiven in Christ and for that reason as Jesus shows Peter, our whole bodies don't need to be washed. Just the feet.. . because the feet picked up the dust and the dirt of the day. Regularly confessing to God in prayer is tending to the sinful dust that we pick up and it needs to be washed.. .it needs to be confessed.

And so the Catechism says, what the Bible teaches, “We must acknowledge our need and our misery, hiding nothing, and humble ourselves in his majestic presence."

The important result of this teaching.. .and one that is hard for us to hear.. . is this.. .if you feel God isn't listening to your prayers, if you feel he is not answering even though you are praying in His will according to the promises of the Bible.. . then maybe it's because of unconfessed sin. God will listen to our prayers when we confess all our known sin to him, feeling genuinely sorry for it and turning away from it and clinging to the forgiving mercy of God.

Thirdly, our prayers must rest on the unshakeable foundation of the person of Jesus Christ. [In Daniel's prayer, he implores God.. .for the sake of his Name, for the sake of the Temple which bears his name. He implores God on the basis of his mercy and compassion and faithfulness to the covenant. In other words there is a foundation upon which Daniel rests his prayer. He appeals to God on the basis of God's love and his mercy and his promises. He DOES not appeal to God on the basis of HIS OWN merit, goodness, or faithfulness.... he rests his prayer on the foundation that God himself has provided.

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And so must we.

We rest our prayers on the Name this is above every name. We rest our prayers on the Living Temple. We rest our prayers on the mercy and compassion of God shown to us in the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. We rest our prayers on the covenant promises that Jesus has secured for us in imputes to us in our baptism. We must rest our prayers on an unshakeable foundation....and that foundation is none other than Jesus Christ...

Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says, [remind the congregation of the inaccessibility of the Holy of Holies…the most holy place]

Hebrews 10:19–23 NIV

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

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Christ has opened the way for us into the throne room of GRACE. Christ himself intercedes for us before the Father. All our prayers rest on the finished work of Christ.

We began this message talking about how prayer is something we continually learn. Life itself is a school for prayer. Some maybe are thinking, I can't pray the way the Catechism talks about prayer.. . I'm not spiritual enough, I don't know my Bible enough, I'm not good enough.. .I can't pray that way.. . you know in a very real sense you're right. Prayer itself is always a work of the Holy Spirit. Luke 11 promises that our Father will give us his Holy Spirit when we ask. We must continually call upon the Spirit of God to fill us so that we will be able to pray. Q&A 116 teaches us that God gives his grace and His Holy Spirit to those who pray continually and groan inwardly...

Praying to God, to help us pray is how we continue our journey in the school of prayer.

Let me share with you this extended quote from a book that blessed me richly when I was just getting started as a pastor, serving my first congregation… I recognized that I had much to learn about prayer....SAY MORE.....

"By now you may feel overwhelmed by your own inadequacy in prayer. But on this point you could make a grave mistake by overlooking the spy who lives in the heart of every believer. I am thinking of the Holy Spirit, who constantly labors in us to open us up to God's Word and will. We may be completely closed off to a line of biblical teaching and not know it, but then in our presumption we end up in situations that … threaten to swallow us up. At that time the Spirit begins to force questions upon us, probings from heaven that surface irresistibly in our minds.

We may press these down, but the questions persist. What we are experiencing is the Holy Spirit doing an "inside job" on us, opening doors and letting in truth that seems quite alien to us naturally. And this is always true of prayer. Prayer is always mysterious, partly alien, and to pray effectively is to break through what Richard Lovelace has called "invisible barriers." But released by the Spirit, we do learn to pray as individuals and as congregations. The Spirit is sovereign. Prayer is His gift, and He will succeed in teaching his church to pray.” (John Miller, Outgrowing the Ingrown Church, 103)

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Consider sharing our Alpha experience....Kim praying for Sahar...