Be Careful What You Pray For
Notes
Transcript
Intro; When we pray, we know that God hears our prayers and that He will answer our prayers according to His good will in His timing.
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Now with that mindset of assurance we have in the scriptures from the Lord, we should pray without ceasing, AMEN!!
That’s what Habakkuk has been doing about the continual rise of sin in Judah amongst God’s people. How evil was winning and righteousness was on the decline!
And in his prayer, we see that he prays as if God is not listening [possibility], but for sure, he prays that he knew God’s heart had to be broken over the condition of His people.
The purpose of prayer is not to get God to do our will, but to know God so we can do His will.
Prayer is not a tool for manipulation; instead, it's a conduit for transformation.
Now I believe that Habakkuk prayed in this situation even as we do today with this mindset;
“Lord send a revival, forgive your people, save the souls of men, but judge the wicked that your name will be glorified!”
But remember this;
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
“Be Careful What You Pray For”, God is listening and He will answer!
Text; Habakkuk 1:5-11
5 “Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
6 For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, A bitter and hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth, To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
7 They are terrible and dreadful; Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
8 Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead; Their cavalry comes from afar; They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.
9 “They all come for violence; Their faces are set like the east wind. They gather captives like sand.
10 They scoff at kings, And princes are scorned by them. They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.
11 Then his mind changes, and he transgresses; He commits offense, Ascribing this power to his god.”
1. God Always Answers Prayer; 5
1. God Always Answers Prayer; 5
God had been listening the whole time Habakkuk had been praying, and when the time was right, God answered.
Folks, we need to trust by faith that God will answer prayer in one of two ways, “Yes or No”. That answer is according to His will, way and by our faith.
Mark 14:35–36 (NKJV)
35 He went a little farther, and 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. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”
Jesus knew sin had to be paid for, for man to be forgiven. He also knew that it was possible for God to take this cup [suffering, separation from God] away, but only if it was God’s will.
God said “No” to Jesus, so it could be “Yes” for us.
7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,
8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
God revealed to Habakkuk that He heard his prayer and that His answer was on the horizon. All he had to do was look at what was happening in the nations surrounding him. God was going to work a work [answer his prayer] in a way that would be “utterly astounding”!
2. Out of Left Field; 6
2. Out of Left Field; 6
God was going to send the Chaldeans, a bitter, hasty nation for the answer to Habakkuk’s prayer. What? Where did that come from?
Out of left field- completely unexpected, a surprise, strange
The phrase refers to a play in baseball in which the left fielder [furtherest from home or first base] throws the ball to either base, surprising the runner and getting them out.
Habakkuk was certainly surprised to the answer of his prayer! God was going to do the unthinkable. God was going to use the Babylonians, a more crude, more sinful and more wicked people than Judah, to administer justice upon their sin!
Look at how God describes these people;
[6] A nasty, ruthless people who take what they want and would conquer the world
[7] They were feared and dreaded by all people and they made their own laws doing what they wanted to do
[8] The Babylonians had mastered a new way of warfare, a calvary instead of heavy chariots, and they were a very swift and vicious calvary. They have no fear of their enemy charging into battle with a relentless pursuit to conquer just like an eagles pursuit of it’s prey, ready to devour them.
[9] They intend to inflict violence [hamas; malicious conduct intended to injure another] and take as many prisoners as possible to distribute them throughout their empire to make them slaves and servants [Daniel]
[10] They mock kings and rulers and laugh at fortified strongholds because there have been none that could stop them. It was their practice when they captured a city that they would parade the kings through the streets like circus animals. King Zedekiah of Judah was paraded around, then forced to look at his sons being flayed and burned alive before his eyes and then his eyes were gouged out so that the last thing he saw would haunt him the rest of his life, [2 Kings 25]
[11] Pride is their power and their god. Do you remember what Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of Babylon, that God is using to judge the sin of Judah said after he destroyed it;
30 The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?”
There is no way that Habakkuk, nor anyone else would ever imagine that God would do this to His people. After all, they were God’s chosen people, His treasured people above all on the face of the earth!!
But God is no respecter of persons either in salvation or in the judgment of sin! Judah had become so corrupt, sinful and rebellious, they were beyond the point of repentance. They had mocked and persecuted the prophets that God had sent, and turned to pagan idols and social acceptance.
Could it be possible that God is doing the same thing today in America in the judgment of our sin?
After 9/11, America turned towards God but not to Him. There’s a big difference. We turned in his direction, but we did not repent of our sins. Turning toward God is good but it never lasts. Only turning to God in repentance can change an individual and a nation.
I believe God is using the same method today that He used in Habakkuk’s day. A ruthless people to judge our sin in America. Islamic, immoral, godless people of all walks are conquering our communities and country, by making their own laws, doing as they please, swiftly and with relentless effort. They are inflicting violence to make others cower down to their demands. They laugh at our constitution, and mock God’s commands. And pride of self is what drives them!
Some might say, “You’re crazy preacher, God would never do something like that!”
I might be, but God has done stuff out of left field before that is completely unexpected and a surprise to man.
No one, especially the Jews, thought that their Messiah would come to die on a cursed cross for the sin of the world! No, they thought He would come and deliver them from Roman occupation, but He came to deliver them and all mankind from SIN! And to do that He died on Calvary for us! Paul even uses Habakkuk 1:5 in his message to the Jews in Antioch that they would not perish;
38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins;
39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
40 Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:
41 ‘Behold, you despisers, Marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, A work which you will by no means believe, Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”
God will use any and all means to get one to repent and be saved, but He won’t extend His grace forever!
3. How Should We Respond;
3. How Should We Respond;
Pray and Repent
1 I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected.
“Stand my watch” is to pray that we can see what God is doing. Praying for divine insight into His chastening hand, and humble ourselves and repent of our sin and surrender to His will. A prayer of true faith is accepting God’s will, not demanding Him to fulfill ours!
Live by Faith
4 “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
The thing we need the most in these troubling times is faith. Don’t allow the confusion and challenges of our time to rob our faith. In spite of all the chaos around us, God is seated on His throne!
Close;
We need to always pray and faint not! And we need to “Be Careful What We Pray For!”
God’s work is not dependent on any earthly government or political party. God’s work is determined by His will and revealed through our faith!
So maybe we need to pray, “God, send a revival, and let it begin in me!”
