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Praying so that God will answer
Psalm 17
Good morning everyone.
Great to see you.
My name is Brian one of the pastors at Epping.
A warm welcome to you if you are new or visiting EPC.
Well, would you like to know how to pray and be sure that God would answer?
That’s all of us right.
Wouldn’t that be great?
My guess is that this, you’ve had times when you prayed and you asked God for something – my constant prayer over the past few months ‘Lord please heal my children, they have “insert sickness.”
I’ve prayed desperately that the kids would just have a week of no sickness.
We’ve all at some point been desperate.
We’ve prayed about sickness, death, disease, work, worries and fears, we’ve prayed about the future.
We pray for all sorts of reasons.
Wouldn’t be great to pray and have God answer?
And if you’re not a follower of Jesus this morning, I’m sure for you it’s the same.
Wouldn’t it great if you can pray to and be sure God would answer?
Surely you want that.
In our Psalm this morning, King David prays to God.
It’s a desperate cry to God.
And like last week, he seeks refuge from his enemies.
And in Psalm 17, we find that David is confident.
God will answer his prayers.
This is clear.
Look at Psalm 17:6
He’s sure that God will answer, not if or might.
He will.
So that’s our big question; how can we be sure God will answer your prayers?
Friends, here’s how you can be sure.
There three things you need to know.
Listen carefully.
First,
1. Be pure and innocent (17:1-5)
Let me add.
Be completely pure and innocent to your enemies.
Come to verses 1 to 5 with me
“Hear a just cause, O Lord;” Right there you hear what David is saying?
This is a just cause.
He is bringing a court case to God.
And he is saying; I am in the right.
I am not guilty.
Hear this case Lord I’m innocent.
I have done nothing wrong to my enemies.
He’s not saying I’m innocent through and through.
Right.
If he was.
Well we’d have a problem.
Because David is the bloke who committed adultery with Bathsheba.
David arranged her husband Uriahs death.
He’d be lying.
And if it was before that event, this is just naïve talk.
How can you possibly say I’ve never sinned?! It's more precise what he is saying; he’s saying when it comes to my enemies.
I have done nothing to deserve this.
I have done nothing wrong.
So David cries.
Attend to my cry! It’s an urgent desperate cry.
Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit.
I’m honest.
This is genuine.
I’m not being deceitful.
I’m not lying.
Then verse 2 “From your presence let my vindication come!
Let your eyes behold the right!
I’m not asking for mercy.
I’m asking for justice.
Declare me right.
If you’re wondering if David is seriously saying this; he goes further.
Yes I am really true innocent.
Look at how sure he is.
Verses 3 to 5
“you have tried my heart” – right there.
He’s saying probe my heart.
The heart is the seat of your affections, your true loves, your real hates.
Put that on a spiritual cat scan.
Probe my heart.
You know what’s going on in here.
I’m innocent.
He goes on.
Verse 3 “you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing”
He's tossing and turning in bed at night.
He wrestles with the constant mind games.
Why has everything fallen on him?
Don’t we do the same thing?
The night time is the time we wrestle with all these thoughts.
Things you’ve stored up in the day.
When we’re in troubling circumstances, that’s when our minds go into overdrive.
You wake up.
What could I have done differently?
What could I have said?
Sometimes staring at the ceiling is not such a bad thing.
He counts it as God visiting him.
It’s bad if we don’t come to God, hear him speak to us in his word.
But for David, that’s nothing to hide.
There’s no sinful motive.
He’s confident God will find nothing.
His heart is pure.
God has tested him.
Even my mouth see there end of verse 3 “I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress” you and I know how easy it is to let slip a terse remark.
Someone cuts you off… expletive.
How hard is it to tame the tongue?
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