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Does God Listen?
Welcome to week 3 of the series “Power of Prayer”.
Next week we will finish this series with a look at what Jesus said about prayer when the disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray.
We kicked off this series two weeks ago by defining prayer.
What is prayer?
It is simply talking to God.
It is our opportunity to communicate one on one with our Father in heaven.
Part of communication requires that we not only talk, but listen as well.
Last week we thought about what it means to listen to God.
Specifically we talked about how to recognize God’s voice.
We also talked about “shema”, which is the Hebrew word for “listen” in the OT.
“Shema” means more than just hearing what God says, to Him it is listening and doing.
So, what do I do when I talk… I listen… and nothing happens?
I don’t hear God speaking.
I prayed but nothing changed.
Sometimes it feels like I do all the talking, all the listening, and God doesn’t do anything.
Is God even listening?
Does He even hear me when I pray?
A journalist was assigned to the Jerusalem bureau of his newspaper.
He gets an apartment overlooking the Wailing Wall.
After several weeks he realizes that whenever he looks at the wall he sees an old Jewish man praying vigorously.
The journalist wondered whether there was a publishable story here.
He goes down to the wall, introduces himself and says: "You come every day to the wall.
What are you praying for?"
The old man replies: "What am I praying for?
In the morning I pray for world peace, then I pray for the brotherhood of man.
I go home, have a glass of tea, and I come back to the wall to pray for the eradication of illness and disease from the earth."
The journalist is taken by the old man's sincerity and persistence.
"You mean you have been coming to the wall to pray every day for these things?"
The old man nods.
"How long have you been coming to the wall to pray for these things?"
The old man becomes reflective and then replies: "How long?
Maybe twenty, twenty-five years."
The amazed journalist finally asks: "How does it feel to come and pray every day for over 20 years for these things?"
"How does it feel?" the old man replies.
"It feels like I'm talking to a wall."
Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt like you were talking to a wall.
Like God must not care about your prayer.
Like your prayer was just in a pile of other prayers when God clicked the “Answer All” button and typed “NO”.
Don’t be nervous.
God isn’t going to strike you with lightening for raising your hand.
I sure have felt that way.
There have been several occasions in my life where I have prayed for something simple or something serious and didn’t feel like God even heard me.
I will never forget God’s first lesson for me about prayer.
Who remembers Chat Rooms like “MSN Chat” and “IRC”?
Those were a thing when I was a kid.
Today, people just text their friends on their phones, but when I was a kid that was how we texted our friends.
You could even get in chat rooms and meet people with similar interests, but I never did anything like that.
I remember when I first became a follower of Christ I was pretty naive when it came to prayer and what it meant to “ask God for anything.”
Around that time, I got to spend some time in chat rooms with friends and and one day on MSN Chat my cousin introduced me to a friend of his that he went to school with.
In chat she seemed nice, but extra-curricularly I managed to learn more about her and developed this Jr.
High crush.
Now, I’m not proud of this, but one day I thought, “Well… The bible says I can pray for anything, right?
Maybe I should test this.”
So on my way home from school I prayed, “God, when I get online tonight let this girl be online too.”
Later that day, I booted up the family computer, logged in to MSN Chat, scanned the friends list, and there it was… The little chess piece looking icon with her name next to it.
“ONLINE”!
I couldn’t believe it!
“God, you really do answer prayers!
I’ll never doubt You again!”
So the next time… “God, do it again.
When I get on, let her be there!”
I get online, scroll the friends list, her icon is shaded out.
Not online.
“What happened?
Maybe next time.”
So next time I pray again.
Still nothing.
Then again, and again, and again.
Now, I know what you’re thinking and NO, SHE DIDN’T BLOCK ME!
After I gave up I would see her online every now and then, so don’t be so mean.
Looking back that whole thing was silly, but for a kid who was a new believer that sort of super important life altering moment can have a huge impact on your prayer life.
Why listen to my one prayer, but not the others?
Did I do something wrong the next time?
Did I do something different?
Did You want to surprise me but since I started to expect it you made the opposite happen?
Was it all just a coincidence and You were never even listening to begin with?
I know that was a silly example, but I’ve had big ones too.
Like the time my Christ centered marriage ended literally over night and I prayed over and over and over again that God wouldn’t let it happen.
Or when my dad was sick and we prayed over and over for God to heal him.
And then at the end when we wanted him to jump out of the hospital bed and tease us about worrying about him for no reason.
Then when we knew it was over and I was haunted by the fact that I couldn’t even say goodbye.
The last conversation I would ever have with him was a phone call I made to him to see what he thought was fair to pay for an oil change.
What do you do when it seems like God isn’t listening?
Why didn’t God answer my prayer?
For the rest of our time together, I want to talk about what matters to God when we pray.
WHAT MATTERS TO GOD WHEN YOU PRAY?
Before we dive in it is important to remember that I am not telling you why God didn’t answer your prayer.
We are NOT saying that if you do these 5 things, God will answer your prayers.
This is not a check list for God to grant your wishes.
These are 6 truths that are found in scripture about what is important to God when it comes to prayer.
If you are taking notes, the first thought is this...
WHAT MATTERS TO GOD WHEN YOU PRAY?
YOUR RELATIONSHIPS MATTER.
Our relationships matter to God.
The way we treat other people.
Are you forgiving others?
Are you growing in your relationships with one another?
In Mark chapter 11 Jesus said this...
Mark 11:24–25 (NLT)
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