The Prayer of Zachariah

Luke 1:13–20 (ESV)

13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” 18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

DT: When God answers our prayers we must respond faithfully.

AIM: We will trust God to answer our prayers

Intro: Who is Zachariah? Zechariah is a priest who serves devoutly in the temple. He and his wife desired children but she is barren. They prayed but still they have no children.

What makes his story important? Zechariah is important for us because from his life we can learn to trust the hand of God in spite of how dismal life may seem. We also learn that we can depend on God to respond to our prayers.

Transition: There are three principles we learn about prayer from Zechariah. The first principle is . . .

Our Prayers Are Answered According to the Will of God (vv.13-17)

“13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name “John” 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

What is God’s Will- Whatever He desires. If God wills it, it will happen.

Zechariah is approached and given some good news. That the prayers of he and his wife, Elizabeth, have been answered. The angel (Gabriel) who brings the news tells Zechariah that God has answered their prayers in a great way. He is going to be the father of a boy who will be the forerunner of the messiah.

He will be great

He will be filled with the holy Spirit

He will turn many to the Lord

Zechariah, this is the will of God. I know you prayed about this some time ago but God has always had a plan. This is God’s plan. You prayed but you prayed for it to be your way but God did it His way.

Did I tell you what Zechariah’s name means? It means, are you ready for it? It means, “God Remembers”. Perhaps along the way Zechariah may have become discouraged, but his name says it all, God remembers!

Allow me to encourage you today.God has not forgotten you. God’s way is not always clear to us. I know you did not expect that. But even when God’s way is unclear it is always the best way.

Illustration: Jesus taught His disciples to pray in Matthew 6:10 “10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Transition: When we pray we pray we do not pray for our will.

Application: So why do we pray?

We pray for God’s will to be done

We pray to recognize God’s will

We pray to accept God’s will.

Transition: Here is another principle about prayer we learn from Zechariah. . .

Our Prayers Are Answered According to God’s Timing. (v.18)

“18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

God’s Timing- when God says so!

See according to Zechariah, this should have happened a long time ago. Zechariah, says, I’m old and my wife can’t have no baby at her age. (That is the intensity of that word, advanced. “my wife is advanced in years”)

Get this, Zechariah is telling God, it’s too late! TIME IS UP! There is nothing that can be done now. But see that because Zechariah was looking at things according to his own schedule.

Look, it’s never too late for God! Do you know why? Because God is not bound by time. Time follows God’s orders.

Illustration:

Application: We want right now answers from God but we are not in the position right now to handle it.

Transition: Here is the second principle . . .

Our Prayers Require Faith (vv.18-20)

“18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

Zechariah prayed and when his prayer was answered he did not believe it. His response was one of doubt and disbelief. He should have been jumping and shouting. Zechariah made excuses for why it could not be.

Zechariah based the potential of an answer to his prayer on what he could see. He should have been believing and perceiving what God will do.

As a result of Zechariah’s disbelief he had to walk around as a mute. (v.20) “20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

Illustration:

Application: How is it we want God to bless us right now and we are hesitating in our faith?

Transition: