Date:      19th March 2008                                                                    (Wednesday PM)                                                                                Ref: A0373

Place:     Kambah P.S.

Title: Hear My Prayer

Text:        & Psalm 143:1

Illust:     This evening we all come into this place with needs, personal needs, needs in our families, relationships, finances, health, friends, circumstances & situations, corporate needs, fruitfulness, growth, expansion, finances; Lots of need & much of the need is beyond our strength, efforts, ability, intelligence to even come close to meeting / addressing - Our only hope, our greatest need is for God to move on our behalf.

I.                   Boldly to the Throne

A.               Hear & Give Ear

i.                 When your children want something from you, a drink, food / treat / play – How many know they do not just come & ask once. Indeed they do not even take no as an answer. There seems to be no limit to their persistence. – Truth if you are desperate, if you want something then you will be persistent.

           In our text the David implores God “hear” & “give ear”

      Str 8085 שָׁמַע, שֶׁמַע [shama`] 1 to hear, listen to, obey. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to hear (perceive by ear). 1a2 to hear of or concerning. 1a3 to hear (have power to hear). 1a4 to hear with attention or interest, listen to.

      Str 238 אָזַן [’azan] 1 to hear, listen. 1a (Hiphil). 1a1 to hear, listen, give ear.

ii.               If you recognise your need, your inability to cope, to bring about change then you will be desperate for God, & for Him to “hear” & “give ear” to your supplication

iii.             Wonderful blessing that we have is that we can come into the presence of God & present our needs to Him

         Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (KJV)

           & we can & should be persistent.

         Matthew 7:7-8 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 he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (NKJV)

           The parable of the persistent widow  ~ & Luke 18:1-7

B.               O Lord

i.                 Think about this, it is an invitation if you will, to pester God. – To be persistent before the creator of the universe God

           Reading an article on the M51 Spiral galaxy that is considered to be a classic example of a spiral galaxy.  – The article stated;

      “At a distance of about 30 million light years from Earth, it is also one of the brightest spirals in the night sky. A composite image of M51, also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy, shows the majesty of its structure in a dramatic new way through several of NASA's orbiting observatories.”

         Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (NIV)

           Man acknowledges the majesty of the heavens, the creation but largely ignores the creator.  ~ & Romans 1:18-23

ii.               He is The “Lord”, ~  Jehovah – the name of God revealed to Moses at the Burning bush.

         Exodus 3:15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ (NKJV)

      We have the War Memorial. It is a reminder of the sacrifice of the past, memorials are to bring to mind to have something to rely on to remind us of events / debts / promises of the past.

iii.             God links His name back to Abraham, Isaac & Jacob; His covenants with them, His name is a memorial Jehovah is the covenant keeping God

           When we pray to Jehovah, we know that He is faithful.

         2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. (NKJV)

II.                 My Prayer

A.               Pray

i.                 We simply must pray.  -  Yet I will hazard a guess that none of us pray enough, yet we all have desperate needs, we know people who are unsaved, desperate. – Yet we don’t pray or we pray little. – We have an invitation to come to God & pester Him, yet we daily walk past the open door of heaven with the big flashing neon sign ‘enter here with your requests’ think about it, this is what all the many scriptures that relate to prayer are; a neon signing pointing us to the throne of Grace.

         1 Chronicles 16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. (KJV)

ii.               The Psalmist cries out ‘Hear my prayer’ – A man accustomed to pray, to prayer. – The coming before God to speak to Him, commune with Him, have relationship

      prayer, plea, request, petition, i.e., of speaking to or making requests to God[1]

iii.             What an awesome privilege to be taken advantage of

B.               Supplications

i.                 The psalmist doesn’t stop there however, he continues ‘Give ear to my supplications!’ A man with needs, & He brings those needs before Jehovah. Prayer & supplications, communicating with God and bringing Him the needs of your life.

      Str 8469 תַּחֲנוּן [tachanuwn,] n m. From 2603; AV translates as “supplications” 17 times, and “intreaties” once. 1 supplication, supplication for favour. 1a to man. 1b to God. ,   -  plea for mercy, i.e., a petition or supplication as a request for kindness

ii.               It comes from a Hb root word חָנַן, חָנַן [chanan]; which is translated as “mercy”, “gracious” “merciful”, the picture is that we come as a supplicant requesting the mercy the grace of God for our lives. Help in time of trouble & need.

      Vines: “Generally, this word implies the extending of “favour.” Often when it is neither expected nor deserved.”

iii.             We are encouraged to come to God with every need, not hesitating to boldly go before the throne of Grace, the place of unmerited, undeserved favour to bring our supplications for Him to meet our needs.

         Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; (NKJV)

III.              Answered Prayer

A.               His Faithfulness & Righteousness

i.                 Could it be that the reason we don’t enter that place to bring our petitions before God is that we are unsure that He is willing to meet the need.

         Psalm 28:2 Hear the voice of my supplications When I cry to You, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. (NKJV)

ii.               The desperate need that we have is to be answered, to see, to realise that God has heard our prayer / our supplication & has / is answering / responding. – Calls for faith. – This is why a lot of the Bible is a description an example of the faithfulness of God.

         Isaiah 26:4 Trust in the Lord forever, For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength. (NKJV)

         Psalm 33:4 For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth. (NKJV)

         Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He. (NKJV)

         Psalm 37:3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. (NKJV)

iii.             In Your faithfulness answer me, ~ Praise the Lord, it is not our faithfulness that determines the answer, it is God, Jehovah’s faithfulness to His name, His word, His glory. This is what we can rely upon as we come to Him.

           Over & over the bible assures us that God does hear & will respond

         Psalm 28:6 Blessed be the Lord, Because He has heard the voice of my supplications! (NKJV)

         Psalm 116:1 I love the Lord, because He has heard My voice and my supplications. (NKJV)

B.               Pray Believing

i.                 This evening we need to be like the psalmist to pray & bring our supplications to Jehovah being persistent & expecting an answer

         Psalm 102:2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily. (NKJV)

ii.               Believing that as we do He will hear & in His faithfulness He will answer & respond as He has said He will.

         Psalm 94:9 He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see? (NKJV)

         Isaiah 65:24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. (KJV)

iii.             Needs’ to be a little bit of persistence, a pressing through. – Lets press through to see what great things God will do.

IV.             Altar Call

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[1]Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (DBLH 9525). Oak Harbor;.