The Incredible Ministry of Unanswered prayers

Group Question 1:

Movies or TV shows with the biggest twist endings or surprising moments?

Introduction

One of the universal and yet difficult parts of the Christian life is prayer. Prayer isn’t easy. Prayer is a global phenomenon and has had some place in almost every single culture that’s ever existed. But that doesn’t make prayer easy. Probably all of us here tonight can resonate with the idea that prayer is hard. We’re not as consistent as we’d like to be. We struggle to pray daily, or maybe even weekly, or monthly.

What makes matters even more difficult is when we actually pray for things and then it seems like nothing comes to pass. It can feel like we’re just throwing empty words up to the sky sometimes. It can cause us to doubt our faith, to wonder if God even hears us, to question whether he even exists or loves us.

This phenomenon is not unique to Christianity. People in other religions and worldviews struggle with this too.

The interesting thing to me about prayer is not its universality or how difficult it can be for people of so many different religions. No, the interesting thing to me is to see the answers offered by those worldviews when the prayers of people go seemingly unanswered.

Some worldviews tell their adherents that they don’t have enough faith. They say that if we just had more faith then our prayers would be answered. Some religions say that the gods can’t listen to all of our prayers at once. They say that the gods prioritize which prayers they act upon so if your prayer isn’t being answer then you must be of lesser importance to the gods. Other religions view god as scrambling around trying to answer all of our prayers. They say He’s wise but that He doesn’t have a perfect knowledge of what is to come and is therefore working to keep up with our requests. Other religions still will say that we’re not worthy to pray to God. They say that He doesn’t delight in our prayers but views that at times with annoyance. He has more important matters to tend to than our prayers.

Tonight, we’re going to look at what Christianity has to say about our seemingly unanswered prayers. We’re going to see what the Bible has to say about one of the most common and consistent struggles of our lives. I want us to see what the Bible has to say to us during those nights where we’re cried out to God with no obvious answer in return. I want us to see the hope the Bible gives us for when we’ve cried all of the tears we can cry and wept all we can weep in the loneliness of unanswered prayers.

My prayer tonight is that you would walk away with hope and a boldness and confidence to go to God in prayer.

Group Question 2:

What is something that you’ve earnestly and honestly prayed for that it seems like God has left unanswered?

Habakkuk

We are not the first people to struggle with “unanswered” prayers. Christians have struggled with this for thousands of years. In order to see what the Bible has to say about this, we’re going to be hearing from a saint that lived probably 2600 years ago. His name is Habakkuk. Turn with me in your Bible to the book of Habakkuk and we’ll see what God has to say to us through Habkkuk’s words.

While you turn there, let me give you a little bit of context so you can better understand the passage.

Habakkuk and the nation of Judah have been oppressed deeply by the powerful nation of Assyria. This oppression has led people to fall from faithfulness in God. Many people of Judah have begun to worship idols. They’ve fallen away from God’s laws and are doing horrendous things while claiming to be God’s children. There are only a remnant few of faithful people of God left in Judah. It’s in this horrible atmosphere that Habakkuk cries out to God.

We’ll begin in verse 1 of chapter 1. Let’s read what Habakkuk says.

Habakkuk 1:1-11

Verse 1: Habakkuk has been praying for a long time and it seemed as if God was not answering.

There is no such thing as an unanswered prayer

This may seem like a shocking thing to say. You can probably point to dozens and dozens of times in your life where your prayers seem to go unanswered.

But in order to understand the reality that there is no such thing as “unanswered” prayers, we need to step back and see the forest before we can see the trees. We need to get the big picture before we can get the details.

God is all-knowing.

He knows everything perfectly. He knows all things that have happened and that will happen because He planned and decreed them all. He knows us perfectly. He knows everything we have ever and would ever pray for. He knows every desire you have, even your deepest desires that no one knows about. Nothing you could ever pray to God or that you would even possibly think of praying to God is a surprise to Him. He knows it all.

God hears and knows every prayer your every prayer.

Jonathan Edwards reflected on this very point in his incredible sermon “The Most High A Prayer Hearing God.”

In that sermon, Edwards reflects on the very first half of Psalm 65:2 which says:

“O you who hear prayer,”- Psalm 65:2a

Edwards shows from that verse that it is of the very nature and essence of God to hear our prayers.

God hears every prayer you have ever prayed and that you ever desire to pray.

But you might say, “But Caleb, that doesn’t fully answer the question.” Just because He hears our prayers doesn’t mean He necessarily answers them. True, but before we can reflect on how God speaks to us, we have to know He actually hears us.

So how does God speak to us? How does He answer our prayers

If we only expect God to answer our prayers as we’ve prayed them then and he doesn’t answer them that way we assume He’s not answering or He’s not there. But ironically in the very moment we assume He’s not answering because He’s not answering our prayer exactly as we expected He may be very well be working to give us something even better.

Part of the reason we feel like our prayers go unanswered starts right here. If we don’t know how God speaks to us, we can be listening to Him in all the wrong places and miss what He is saying to us while assuming He’s not responding. It would be like furiously checking your email for a response on your computer and never checking your phone while God’s texting and calling you.

Even if we wouldn’t say this out loud, there is a part of us that is waiting for an audible voice. We’re waiting to hear the literal voice of God speak to us in response to our prayers. If that’s what we’re ultimately waiting for, it’s no wonder we assume God isn’t answering our prayers.

In reality, probably none of us, or in a rare experience an incredible minority of us will ever hear the literal voice of God. I think there are even times in Scripture where it seems like God is speaking audibly but He’s actually not.

We shouldn’t expect to hear the literal voice of God. But just because God probably won’t speak to us in a literal audible voice doesn’t mean God doesn’t speak or answer us. In fact, He speaks in several ways that are far more real and personal.

We don’t have enough time to break all of these ways down in detail but they are worth reflecting on momentarily.

The Bible

John Piper- “If you want to hear the audible voice of God open the bible and read it out loud”

God is wise to give us His word

Story about PhD guy getting his diploma in word but not writing. We trust written sources more.

God’s promises in Scripture

Cling to God’s promises in Scripture. He has an answer for everything we could ever ask for in some measure in His Word.

Praying for security? God has answered that in His Word.

Praying for strength? God has answered that in His Word.

Praying that you would feel known and loved? God has answered that in His Word.

Etc.

The Preaching of the Word

Wise counsel

Promptings from the spirit

Especially of thoughts you can’t shake or ideas that don’t immediately benefit you

Our Everyday Circumstances

Transcends space and time.

God weaves together out circumstances to a depth and detail that we can’t ever fathom

Don’t read too much into things but keep watch.

We may have to act.

Group Question 3:

What are times that God has spoken to you in these various ways (through Scripture, Preaching, Wise Counsel, Everyday Circumstances)

God will always answer our prayers, even if the answer doesn’t look like what we first expected.

Habakkuk 2:2-3

“Write the vision;

make it plain on tablets,

so he may run who reads it.

3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time;

it hastens to the end—it will not lie.

If it seems slow, wait for it;

it will surely come; it will not delay.

God Delights in Our Prayers

God Delights to Hear Your Prayers

Maybe you're someone here today who has been praying earnestly for God to answer a particular prayer of your's. May you've been praying for this particular thing for weeks or months to no seeming avail. Doubt has begun to slip in. You may wonder whether or not God even wants to or can hear your prayer. You may wonder if He is listening. If that's you, you need to hear this! God delights to hear your prayers. (Proverbs 15:8)

"The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight"- Proverbs 15:8

Maybe you're tempted to think that there's something about you that would cause God not to hear your prayers. Don't believe that thought! Not matter who you are, where you're from, or what others think of you, you can go to God in prayer.

"To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"- 1 Corinthians 1:2

If you're here tonight and you're a Christian, you can go to God with special boldness because of the mediation and sacrifice of Jesus on your behalf.

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession....Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need"- Hebrews 4:14,16

You can go to God at any time

Luke 11:5ff

"And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,"

"The only person who dares wake up a king at 3:00 AM for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access."- Tim Keller

You can go to God for anything

"do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."- Philippians 4:6

God even delights to hear our confused prayers. And He can hear them

Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed

"A Christian complains that they can't pray. They say, "O I am troubled with so many distracting thoughts, and never more than now." But has God put into your heart a desire to pray? Yes! God will hear the desires of his own Spirit in you.

Romans 8:26-27- "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because[a] the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

The Psalmist also tells us in Psalms 38:9 that "Our groanings our not hidden from God"

Then Sibbes goes on to say this powerful truth: "God can pick sense out of a confused prayer. These desires cry louder in His ears than your sins. Sometimes a Christian has such confused thoughts, he can say nothing, but as a child cries, "O Father," is not able to articulate what it needs. These stirrings of spirit touch the heart of God, and melt him into compassion towards us, when they come from the spirit of adoption, and from a striving to be better."

God hears our cries like a parent hears the cry of a child. A parent can know what a child is crying for even if the child isn’t using words. That cry beckons the parent to come to the aid of their child. The same is true of us. God hears our cries, ever our unspoken and confused cries and He comes to our aid.

God can and will do more than we could ever ask or imagine. (Habakkuk 1 and Eph. 3)

Surprise birthday party example ?

Ephesians 3:20-21

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

You would answer your prayers exactly as God has if you knew everything He knows.- Tim Keller

The cross is the ultimate example of all of this.

God answered the prayers of billions of people, but past, present, and future in the cross in a way that was abundantly more than they could’ve ever asked or imagined.

God will never give us a snake when we ask for a fish

Luke 11:11-12- “What father among you, if his son asks for] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

God often uses hard circumstances to bring about even greater gifts and answers

There are times when it feels like God is giving you a snake when He is actually preparing something greater for you than you could ever imagine.

Architecture story

God is working all things for the good of those who love Him

Romans 8:28

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

God does not desire to give us idols that we will set up against him

Sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers exactly as we want Him to because by doing so He would be giving us an idol that we would unintentionally set up against Him. Why would God give us something that would keep us from getting the best and would keep us from worshipping Him. Why would God give us something that He would want us to turn away from in the end?

I think this point is particularly applicable for us. There may very well be things that you’re praying for right now that God is not giving you for this very reason.

For some of you marriage and jobs are an idol right now. If God gave you a spouse tomorrow or that job you’ve always wanted tomorrow, you would turn it into an idol that you would unintentionally worship. God may be withholding that very thing from you right now until you slay that idol in your own life.

Husbands and wives and jobs make incredible gifts but awful gods to worship. If God gave you your idols right now, you would be sorely disappointed because you would put a weight on them that only God can bear. You would trust in them for your security and satisfaction in a way that would crush them. Only God can ultimately satisfy.

Many times when God takes us through trials or doesn’t answer our prayers exactly as we expect, He is trying to help us get rid of our idols while He prepares something even better for us. He is helping us to try and rely on Him over all else. Only then can we truly enjoy the gifts God gives us.

Sometimes we can look back and be thankful God didn’t answer our prayers as we originally prayed them.

I know I’m glad that God didn’t answer my prayers the way I wanted many times.

Maybe that’s the case with some of you. May you prayed that God would cause you to marry your middle school crush. Aren’t you glad that didn’t happen? I prayed for God to give me a brother and instead He gave me a sister. I couldn’t be more thankful. Maybe you prayed for God to give you a particular career and have since totally changed course in your life. Aren’t you glad He didn’t cause that initial prayer to come to pass as you expected?

We think we know exactly what we need, but God knows us so much better than we do.

Think about a little child. They might ask their parents for another cookie, to stay up late, or to play in the street of a busy neighborhood. The parent may say no to those wishes, not because the parent doesn’t love the child but because the parent knows what the child needs more than the child does! God knows what we need more than we do. If He’s not giving us what we’ve prayed for in the moment, we should trust him that we don’t need it right now or that we’re not ready yet, or that He has something better for us.

Continual prayer prepares us to receive the answer to that prayer

We can cry out to God but should still have a posture of faith

The Psalmist often cries out to God that God would hear his prayers. It's ok for us to do that too. This process of faith won't just suddenly take care of your sorrows of seemingly "unanswered" prayers. Cry out to God that He would hear you. Listen to some of these Psalms.

"Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!"- Psalm 55:1

"Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!"- Psalm 27:7

"Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief."- Psalm 143:1

"Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer"- Psalm 61:1

"O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth."- Psalm 54:2

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,

18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

19 God, the Lord, is my strength;

he makes my feet like the deer's;

he makes me tread on my high places.

Closing Prayer Time

Jesus' prayer in the Garden. In one sense, God the father didn't answer Jesus' prayer as Jesus wanted in His flesh. But in a deeper sense He did. Notice the posture of Jesus' prayer. Jesus prayed that whatever happened that God's will would be done. I think we need to pray with that posture. We should cry out to God for the desires of our hearts, but we should have the posture of faith and pray that god's will would be done.

Pray at your tables

Take time to pray right now at your tables individually to pray for what you desire most right now. It could be a job, marriage, opportunity, healing, or anything else. Pray that earnestly to God with the confidence that he hears, delights in, and answers our prayers. But pray that prayer with the posture of faith that God's will would be done and that He would help you to trust Him no matter how he answers your prayer. After you've prayed individually at your tables for a minute or so, I want you to pray as a group. You could pray about the same thing you prayed for individually, or you could pray about something else if your had previously prayed about something too personal. Whatever it is, pray with the posture of faith that God's will would be done and that He would be you to trust Him in that.