Pain of Answered Prayer

Preliminary:

Invite to Isaiah 21.

Thanks for Testimonies and the Song -

If we ever need to be praying for one another it is now.

I strongly believe and can testify to the fact that God answers prayer!!!

E. M. Bounds writes in his classic work The Possibilities of Prayer

We affirm with absolute certainty that Almighty God answers prayer. The vast possibilities and the urgent necessity of prayer lie in this stupendous fact that God hears and answers prayer. And God hears and answers all prayer. He hears and answers every prayer, where the true conditions of praying are met. Either this is so or it is not. If not, then is there nothing in prayer. Then prayer is but the recitation of words, a mere verbal performance, an empty ceremony. Then prayer is an altogether useless exercise. But if what we have said is true, then are there vast possibilities in prayer. Then is it far reaching in its scope, and wide is its range. Then is it true that prayer can lay its hand upon Almighty God and move Him to do great and wonderful things.

Bounds, E. M. (2004). The possibilities of prayer (pp. 17–18). Logos Bible Software.

the songwriter concluded:

“God still answers prayer In His time, He’ll work a miracle He will never fail, Satan has lost the battle, When to the Lord you bow - God still answers prayer”

The old adage is God answers prayer in three ways:

Yes

No

Not yet.

“Noted Southern Gospel singer Vestal Goodman was performing a concert on a day that threatened rain. She led the audience in prayer, asking that God would delay the downpour. Suddenly it began to thunder, lightning flashed across the sky, and a pouring rain soon began to blow across the stage.

Vestal cried out, “Good Lord, people, He said no! Run for cover.”

- Stan Toler, God is Never Late, p66

Bro. Melvin Kirks - “Prayer is the breathing of the soul.” ....”Prayer connects us with the dynamo of heaven which supplies us with power for our daily needs. Enough power cannot be received at one time to carry you through your entire life any more than you can get enough power in a storage battery to last forever. It is the constant flow of power going into the battery as the power is being used which keeps it charged up until it is useable, and it is the constant flowing of the power of God which floods the soul and keeps it in tune with heaven, which gives us power to be overcomers and to live for God.” p 62-63

I believe it was Sis. Helen Perryman years ago who felt she had never really had a trial or faced a serious test, so she prayed for one. She later testified she would never pray that prayer again.

Before I get into the text or the message I wanted to share this with you-

Promises of Answered Prayer

The Bible contains numerous verses where God promises to answer prayers, both for personal needs, corporate needs, and the needs of others. Here are some key passages:

Personal Needs

1. Matthew 7:7–8“7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

2. **John 14:13–14“13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

Corporate Needs

1. 2 Chronicles 7:14 “14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

2. Matthew 18:19–20“19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Needs of Others

1. James 5:16 “16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

2. 1 Timothy 2:1 “1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;”

General Promises to Answer Prayer

1. Jeremiah 33:3 “3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

2. 1 John 5:14–15“14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

The promise by God to answer prayer is:

A. They are sure: John 16:23 “23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.”

B. They are simple: Matthew 7:7“7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:”

C. They are sufficient: Luke 11:13 “13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”

You might share how this verse became so real to you back in 2003 - 22 years old

Importunity in prayer - a shameless persistent insistence

Persistent Prayerfulness Pays off

Prayerfulness

An attitude by which a constant relationship between God and believers is developed.

Prayerfulness is a way of life

Psalm 5:3 “3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” ;

Psalm 55:17 “17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: And he shall hear my voice.”

Da 6:10-11,Daniel 6:13 “13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.”

Prayerfulness arises from a desire to be with God

Psalm 130:5–6“5 I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, And in his word do I hope. 6 My soul waiteth for the Lord More than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.”

Psalm 42:1–4 “1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my meat day and night, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? 4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: For I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.”

Prayerfulness arises from an awareness of need that can only be met by God and demonstrates a continuing trust in God

Prayerfulness needs to be maintained especially in difficult circumstances

Lk 18:1 See also Hab 3:16-19; Ac 16:25; 1Th 5:17; 1Pe 4:7

Examples of people whose prayerfulness proved effective

Hannah, who prayed for a child 1Sa 1:20 See also Isa 1:10-18

Elijah, an ordinary man who prayed Jas 5:17-18 See also 1Ki 17:1; 18:41-46

Nehemiah, a man who discovered God’s plan through prayer Ne 1:4 See also Ne 1:5-11; 2:4-5

David, sustained through trials 1Sa 30:6 See also 2Sa 22:1-4 pp Ps 18:1-3; Ps 3:1-8

Daniel, whose patience in prayer was rewarded Da 10:12 See also Da 9:1-19

Jesus Christ, who perfectly trusted his Father Heb 5:7 See also Lk 5:16; Jn 11:41-42

The early church, which was founded upon prayer Ac 1:14 See also Ac 2:42; 4:23-31; 6:4; 12:5

Paul, who prayed for all the churches which he founded or visited Col 1:9 See also Ro 1:9-10; Eph 1:16; Php 1:4; 1Th 3:10; 2Th 1:11; 2Ti 1:3; Phm 4

Dictionary of Bible Themes (8618 prayerfulness)

Prayer It’s Potential and Purpose

prayer, in the church

The prayer life of the NT provides a pattern from which the modern church can learn, both in terms of the importance of prayer, and also matters for prayer.

Prayer was at the centre of the life of the early church

They prayed when they met together Ac 1:14 See also Ac 2:42; 4:23-31; 12:12; 20:36; 21:5

They prayed about the selection and ordination of Christian leaders Ac 13:2-3 See also Ac 1:24-25; 6:6; 14:23

They prayed during persecution Ac 12:5 See also Ac 7:59-60; 12:12; 16:22-25

They prayed for healing Ac 9:40 See also Ac 28:7-8

Dictionary of Bible Themes (8619 prayer, in the church)

So we have talked about the reality of a prayer hearing and prayer answering God and the need to live prayerful lives -

But before I let you go this morning I want to ask you a question - have you ever had an answer to prayer that was painful or hard to understand?

This happens to the Prophet Isaiah - I haven’t forgotten our scripture...

Isaiah 21:4 - We hear a testimony of someone who found the answer of God to prayer painful.

Lets read

Isaiah 21:4 KJV 1900

4 My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: The night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.

Now while we do not have in the reading that Isaiah prayed to receive this message from God - many prophets would pray before receiving a message from God.

But this message has a great emotional impact on Isaiah - instead of being so thrilled he has heard from God - he is terrified, loosing sleep, and sense of pleasure and joy.

Lets look at why this happens:

Isaiah 21 is a prophetic oracle containing three sections, Isaiah 21 contains three distinct oracles:

The Fall of Babylon (Isaiah 21:1-10)

The Oracle Concerning Dumah (Edom) (Isaiah 21:11-12)

The Oracle Concerning Arabia (Isaiah 21:13-17)

While there is no direct indication that this was given as answer to prayer - it was God speaking to the prophet - which normally would be what we want - but the message was so painful

Isaiah 21:3–4 KJV 1900

3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain: Pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. 4 My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: The night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.

Have you ever received direction from God or an answer to prayer that you realized was not what you wanted?

I love reading G. C. Bevington every great once in a while just to challenge my faith and prayer life. In a recent skimming of it I found this forgotten story of a painful answer to prayer,

Bevington wrote about a personal experience he had.

I was holding another meeting in Ohio, and was invited to another place. So, when through with this meeting, I went to the woods to settle this call. I crawled into a hollow log, as it was quite chilly, in the fall; and there God told me to go, so I went. I preached three nights, when I was notified that I could not preach any more in the schoolhouse. Knowing well that God had told me to come, again I went to the woods, and into another hollow-log.

Can you imagine God sending Bevington to a place to hold revival and when he gets there he is told he could not preach. It would cause you no small amount of consternation. Pain, questions, confusion.

As was Bevington’s custom he went to the woods and would find a hollow log to pray in.

He says,

I lay there five days, and then came a puzzling circumstance. I began to get hungry, which usually means that the fast is called off; but I knew that I did not have the victory I was praying for, so I decided to remain in there until I heard from Heaven, or died in the log. My hunger was increasing and I was feeling weak, both of which were usually good evidences that the fast was called off, or that I was through. I mention this to show the danger of getting in ruts, as God works entirely apart from ruts.

The log was somewhat small, so that I was slightly cramped, and occasionally stretched out as best I could, by extending my arms out in front of me. While I had been telling the Lord that I was hungry and also that I was not satisfied thus far, on the second twenty-four hour watch after I began getting hungry, as I stretched out my arm, my hand struck something unusual there. I found more like it and, gathering them up, I concluded that they were acorns, and was impressed to eat them. Well, I never was fond of acorns; but, oh, they tasted so good. But I said, "How could acorns get in here?" as these seemed fresh. How long had they been in there, and how did it come that I had not felt them before, as I had been extending my hand out that far for some time? These questions came up and had to be met some way. Well, I ate the six acorns, and felt refreshed. This was at 6: 00 p. m. -- I struck a match to find out the time. I lay there all night, and the next morning in stretching I found six more acorns. I felt all around but could find only the six. Now, I found six fresh acorns in that hollow log three times a day for four days, until I had prayed the matter through, making in all ten days that I was in that log. Well it became quite a curiosity to me to know how these six acorns got in there, so on the last day I crawled out of the log, left my shoes at the entrance as a pretense that I was in there, and went some distance to a hollow tree and there concealed myself. At 11:45 there came six large gray squirrels. Each one jumped up on that log and dropped his acorn down a knot hole. I said, "Wonderful, wonderful, my God, here Thou hast been feeding me through these six squirrels;" and I just wept for joy to think that He was so mindful of my needs as to have these dumb animals obey Him. I said, "Elijah isn't the only one who was fed by animals." I crawled back in, oh, so humble. I have often wished that I could live feeling as humble as I have felt at times like this!

Well, I spent four hours more there, and then saw thirteen men and women down a-praying just outside the schoolhouse that I had been put out of ten days before; and they did not know that I was in the neighborhood. So out I got; and as I started down the hill, here came the man who had put me out of his home and the schoolhouse. He was bareheaded, and looked like Indians I had seen in Dakota, so wild and reckless. I didn't know just what to make of his actions. But I knew that I was in order, so we met, and he shouted, "O brother, pray for us. I am so glad to see you. Pray for us. I have been in hell these ten days." So we got down there by a log, and if ever you heard a man pray he did. He surely was in earnest. We remained there two hours pleading his case, and he prayed through in good shape, and said, "Now, come into our home again, and we will open the schoolhouse tonight." So we had a blessed time there for three weeks. Many sought and found God, all because I stayed in that hollow log even if I did get hungry.

And then its just like the Devil to try and take away God’s answers to prayer.

Someone found out by some means that I had been in that log and claimed that the squirrels fed me; and on the way to my lodging apartments he overtook me, and said, "Mr. Bevington, I understand that you have been up on the hill in a hollow log, and that you claim the squirrels fed you acorns there." I said, "How did you learn such stuff as that?" "Well, I got it straight, and I want to know the truth of it." "Well, I would like to know where you heard it." "Never mind that. Answer my question, please." "Well, Sir," I said, "I did and do claim that six squirrels fed me three times a day." He stopped me on the road, and said, "Mr. Bevington do you know that you are a thief? " "No, Sir, I don't know that." "Well, Sir, you are, and I can prove it to you. Those squirrels were putting up their winter food, and you ate it all up." Well, I tell you that staggered

me. I said, "Could it be possible?" It looked like it, so I went home considerably worked up about that transaction. The next day, for a better under standing of it, I went up there at 4:00 p. m., and crawled into that log, and could not find an acorn. I kept that up for three days, but no acorn. So that settled the question, and left it clear that God had made caterers out of the squirrels for this special occasion. I felt just like lying low at Jesus' feet, and giving Him a chance, believing that He would work all these things out, as He knows best.

Prayer is a powerful source for miracles, personal growth, and communing with GOd but there is often a complexity of answered prayers and the unforeseen challenges they may bring.

First there is the nature of answered prayer

Expectation vs. Reality

When we pray for guidance, we often expect clear, comforting answers.

I often pray that God would help us live pleasing to Him - not always thinking about what that means

It’s hard to believe it’s been two years, setting in the back of this church at a Bible School service - something that I believe is often not taken as seriously as they should be -

My life was comfortable, things were going good, we were in a nice rhythm and routine, we had our little life all wrapped in a package and was content to just leave it that way.

But God had something else in mind

I was setting back there when God’s revelation shook our world - and turned it upside down. Nothing has been the same since.

Reality can be unsettling or even frightening.

But I have found out - Where God guides - he provides

I have learned that even when God’s answers bring fear, panic, an end to fun - there is something better ahead

in reality every saint of God’s journey will include moments where divine guidance disrupts comfort and security.

Someone has rightly said, “It is not always bliss to have your prayers answered. When you ask God for guidance, you sometimes hear things you would rather not hear.

...Isaiah knew it. He prayed for light and trembled when it came:

But, just a moment! Is there anything on the other side?

Oh my yes -

Knowing you are doing what God wants you to do is the happiest, most joyful place to be.

God’s payday doesn’t always come on Friday

God has protected us, provided for us, touched our minds and bodies, given us strength and blessings....”good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, ”

Don’t be afraid to pray for God’s guidance, and don’t be afraid to follow it - even into the unknown - I promise it may be unknown but you won’t be alone.

You may not have squirrels feed you - but God has a way, and you can trust him and depend on Him.