ANSWERS TO PRAYER
27 February 2005

I. Introduction
-- Luke 11:1-10

1. One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
2. He said to them, "When you pray, say: "`Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
3. Give us each day our daily bread.
4. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. '"
5. Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
6. because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'
7. "Then the one inside answers, `Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.'
8. I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9. "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
10. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

-- share with you some about the life of George Mueller -- George Mueller living in the early 1800's in Bristol, Englad -- He dedicated his life to ministry and wanted to prove in his life that God answers prayers -- in the course of his life, he became known as a man who depended on prayer in all circumstance
-- when he died at the age of 92 years, he had built 5 large orphanages starting from scratch with no funds, received almost $7-1/2 million dollars, and saw over 50,000 specific answers to prayer in his life
-- let me give you an example of one famously answered prayer in his life
-- one morning at the orphanage, there was no food for breakfast and no money to buy food -- all the children were gathered there in the dining hall, waiting to be fed before school -- the workers didn't know what to do, but Mueller did
-- he told them to go ahead and set the table for breakfast with cups and bowls just like normal -- then he had the children take their places and he led them in prayer -- "Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat."
-- about the time he finished the prayer, there was a knock on the door -- The baker stood there, and said, "Mr. Mueller, I couldn't sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn't have bread for breakfast and the Lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some fresh bread, and have brought it."
-- Mueller thanked the man and they brought the bread inside -- now they had food, but still nothing to drink but water.
-- No sooner had the baker left then there was a second knock at the door -- It was the milkman. -- believe it or not, but his milk cart had broken down right in front of the Orphanage -- since they would have to empty the wagon to repair it and since the milk would go bad before they could get it delivered, he wanted to know if the orphanage could use it
-- within minutes of praying and thanking God, God provided both food and milk to the orphans that morning and showed every single one of them the power of prayer

-- this morning, I want to take a few minutes and talk about prayer -- in the passage that we opened with, Jesus shared with His disciples and us how to pray to God and then made a remarkable promise to us

-- look back at verses 9-10 [read vs. 9-10] -- "everyone who asks receives"

-- do you believe that? -- do you believe that God answers every single prayer that you pray to Him?
-- scripture bears out that He does -- we always receive an answer -- but the problem is that sometimes He doesn't answer prayers the way we wish

II. Answers to Prayer
-- most people think that God answers prayers in one of three ways -- Yes -- No -- Wait
-- but, if you read through the Biblical account -- both Old and New Testament -- you will see that God actually seems to answer prayers in five different ways
A. No
-- let's talk first about the "No" answer -- we've all experienced times in our lives when we've prayed for something and God told us "No" -- we talked about that briefly last week -- God saying "No" may be why we have some names on the back of our bulletin who have been on there for at least the past five years -- the Apostle Paul experienced it when God refused to remove the thorn from his flesh
-- but, the thing we need to keep in mind is that when God says "No" -- He is really saying, "No, I love you too much"
-- some of the greatest blessings in the world come through unanswered prayer and through prayers where God says, "No, I love you too much"
-- C.S. Lewis once said that if God had given him everything he'd asked for, his life would have been a mess
-- in the Old Testament, King Hezekiah asked for more life when God told him he was about to die -- and God granted Hezekiah's prayer even though His initial answer was no -- the king lived to regret his request for a longer life as he opened the door for the Babylonian conquest
-- we don't like to hear "no" answers, even if they are for our own good -- I know in my own life, there were many prayers that I earnestly prayed to God and that He answered with "No" -- at the time I didn't understand -- but now I do -- God was not just saying "No" -- He was saying "No, I love you too much -- I have greater plans for your life"
-- if God had answered my prayers in the way I wanted Him to, I would not be here today serving in this church -- I would not be married to Kim -- and I would have missed out on many, many blessings -- God loved me enough to say "No"
-- a great example of God's compassion in saying "No, I love you too much" is in the story of Lazarus -- the sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus asking Him to heal Lazarus -- they knew He could do that -- but He said "No" -- He didn't go to see Lazarus for three more days -- until Lazarus had died and was buried
-- why? -- because He loved the sisters of Lazarus too much -- He wanted them to know Him not just as a Healer -- but also as a Savior -- also as One who held the keys to eternal life -- if He had said "yes" and healed Lazarus as they wanted, they would have missed out on knowing Him as the Messiah -- He said "No" because He loved them too much -- and He tells us "No" for the same reason

B. "Yes, I thought You'd Never Ask"
-- the next way God answers prayer is by saying "Yes" -- but God doesn't just say "Yes" -- He says "Yes" in several different ways
-- the first way is the way we are accustomed to -- we pray and God says "Yes" and our prayer gets answered just as we want -- but what God is actually saying is not just "Yes" but "Yes, I thought you'd never ask"
-- in the book of Matthew, chapter 20, we read about two blind men crying out to Jesus as He walked by -- "Son of David, have mercy on us" -- He stopped and went to them and asked them "what do you want me to do for you?" -- they answered, "Lord, we want our sight" -- He touched their eyes and they were healed and became His disciples
-- can't you just sense what Jesus was thinking as they called out to Him for healing? -- "Yes, I thought you'd never ask"
-- God does this a lot with new Christians -- He tends to reward the first steps of faith of new Christians by letting them see answers to prayer in their life -- kind of like a toddler just learning to walk -- parents and grandparents -- remember how you would get on one side of the room and call out to your child or grandchild -- and as they started walking towards you, you would respond and encourage them? -- and when they finally made it you would hug them and love them or give them a toy or treat? -- that's exactly what God does with new Christians -- He encourages them in their faith by answering their prayers with, "Yes, I thought you'd never ask -- Here you go"

C. Yes, and Here's More
-- but that's not the only "Yes" answer that God gives -- He also answers prayers by saying, "Yes, and here's more" -- how many of you have prayed for something and then had your prayers answered with even more blessings than you asked for? -- that is something God delights in doing
-- we can see a clear example of this in the life of Jesus -- when the friends lowered the paralytic man down through the hole in the roof -- praying that he would be healed -- what did Jesus do? -- He healed the man physically -- but He also said, "and here's more" and forgave the man of all his sins

D. "Yes, but not what you expected"
-- the final two ways that God answers "Yes" to our prayers requires more faith on our part -- the first is when God tells us "Yes, but not in the way you expected" -- how many times have you prayed for something and then had God meet that request in a totally and completely different manner?
-- I think that happens a lot -- God tells us in His word that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts -- most of the time when we pray, we already have worked it out in our heads and we think we know just how God is going to answer our prayers
-- maybe we pray for help with our finances, and we think we're going to get a raise -- but then a check from the insurance company comes in the mail -- or we receive a tax refund that we didn't know about -- I can't tell you how many times that has happened to me -- that's just God telling us "Yes, I'll answer your prayer, but just not in the way you expected"
-- it's just like I've shared in my testimony before -- I went to a Promise Keeper's event and rededicated my life and asked God to use me in ministry -- I knew God would say "Yes" but I really thought it would be through being a Bible study teacher -- but God said, "Yes, but not in the way you expected" -- and He blessed me by calling me to be a pastor
-- another real example of this we see in our lives is when we pray for someone to be healed and then they die -- I have seen this happen over and over -- we think that God has answered our prayers by saying "No" but He's really said, "Yes, but just not in the way you expected" -- instead of healing them here to live longer in an imperfect and fallen world, He gives them the ultimate healing by allowing them to enter eternity with Him -- when we pray and things don't work out like we expect, we need to remember that God doesn't work for us and that He is the God of the Unexpected

E. "Yes, but wait"
-- the final way God answers our prayers is by saying "Yes, but wait" -- this is another answer that requires faith on our part -- for reasons known only to God, there are times when He tells us He is going to grant our prayer request, but then we end up waiting for the answer for a long, long time
-- I know of people who have faithfully prayed for salvation for family members, but never saw it in their lifetime -- God did say "Yes" -- but the answer came after years of praying
-- think about the story of Abraham and Sarah in the Bible -- God promised they would have a child and that their descendants would outnumber the stars -- but years and years went by with no baby -- God was telling them "Yes, but wait" -- finally, when Sarah was over 90 years old -- God finally said "Yes, the time is now" -- and they conceived Isaac
-- the ultimate example of this is in the coming of Christ -- from the time of the fall in the Garden of Eden, mankind looked forward to a Savior -- God had promised a Savior -- but years and years and years went by until Jesus was born in Bethlehem -- we had to wait for our blessing
-- likewise, God has promised us that Jesus will come again -- the Apostle John closed the book of Revelation with these words "Come, Lord Jesus" -- but God told him -- and us -- "Yes, but wait" -- and we continue to wait -- in faith -- for Jesus to return

III. Closing
-- as Jesus told us in this passage, God always answers our prayers -- everyone who asks, receives -- he who seeks, finds -- and to him who knocks, the door will be opened
-- we just need to keep in mind the different ways that God answers our prayers when we pray to Him -- and trust that He always has our best interests in mind through His answers -- no matter what they are or what they seem to be to us
-- I want to close by sharing with you some principles that George Mueller worked out in his life based on his experiences with prayer -- I pray that these would enlighten you as you continue to seek God's face through prayer
"First, we should ask only for that which it would be for the glory of God to give to us; for that, and that alone, can be for our real good. But it is not enough that the thing for which we ask God be for His honour and glory,
secondly, we must ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus, expecting it only on the ground of His merits and worthiness. Thirdly, we should believe that God is able and willing to give us what we ask Him for. Fourthly, we should continue in prayer till the blessing is granted; without fixing to God a time when, or the circumstances under which, He should give the answer. Patience should be in exercise, in connection with our prayer.Fifthly, we should, at the same time, look out for and expect an answer till it comes. If we pray in this way, we shall not only have answers, thousands of answers to our prayers; but our own souls will be greatly refreshed and invigorated in connection with these answers."
-- let us pray