I think we could say pretty readily that
there's few more dangerous things in life than
ignoring danger signals.
If you're driving along and see in traffic
that there's a particular sort of danger signal
out there and it's a barricade or a
flashing light and if you were just to
ignore it and just make your way right
on through and then end up in an
accident, well, everybody would blame you and rightly
so.
You were warned there was a flashing light
going on and you should have taken heed
to it.
Well, you know, I think that there are
certain danger signals in our Christian life that
we find very easy to ignore and I
feel that my heart and my mind was
awakened to a danger signal in my own
life yesterday and I want to talk to
you about it tonight and I would imagine
that in many or most, if not all
of us, you'd be in somewhat of the
same place I am when it comes to
often ignoring this danger signal and the danger
signal I want to talk to you about
tonight is the danger signal of unanswered prayer.
We may have never thought of it that
way before.
What kind of a danger signal could unanswered
prayer be in the Christian life?
Well, I want you to think just for
a moment about some of the spectacular answers
to prayer that you've heard about, you know,
maybe in sermons, maybe you've read about them
in books.
I mean, there are some pretty spectacular things.
I mean, I recall stories from my own
reading.
I can think about events in the life
of George Mueller.
Maybe you've heard the name of that man
before as a mighty man in prayer.
Lately I've been reading a lot about the
life of a man named James Edwin or
and about great answers to prayer in his
life.
One of my favorite stories concerns a man
named Hudson Taylor, who was a great missionary
and a man who founded what was known
as the China Inland Mission.
Hudson Taylor was a great, mighty man of
prayer.
And when he was a young man, he
determined that he would go as a missionary
to China and that he would go purely
on faith.
This was in the day when there was
not a lot of communication between the Western
world and China.
So he knew that as a missionary in
China, he would be totally out on his
own and he couldn't depend on other people
for help.
So he said, I have to learn how
to depend upon God alone.
And he said, there's no sense in starting
that when I go out in the mission
field.
I'm going to start right now to learn
how to depend on God alone.
And so Hudson Taylor determined, for example, that
he would never tell another person his needs.
Never.
He would trust that God would tell that
person his needs.
And he would say, I'm going to tell
God and God will tell that person.
Now, he didn't say that everybody should do
that or that was normal Christian living.
That was just a conviction on Hudson Taylor's
heart.
And he was a young man before going
out on the mission field.
He worked as an assistant to a doctor
and he had determined before he started that
job that as a test of his own
faith, he would never ask the doctor for
his salary.
Never.
And so if the doctor gave it, he
gave it.
If he missed a payday, he missed a
payday.
But he would never ask the doctor for
his pay.
Well, one day, his resources were down to
almost nothing and the rent was due that
night when he came back home to the
house where he was living.
He had to bring the rent or he
was out on the street and the doctor
was already overdue in paying him his paycheck
by many, many days.
And just day after day, he slipped into
day after day of the doctor forgetting.
But Hudson Taylor said, I will not tell
the doctor my need.
I will not remind him.
The money was his by right, but he
refused to tell the doctor his need.
And so this man in his young 20s
just prayed and prayed and prayed.
Then towards the end of the day, this
day when he so desperately needed the money,
the doctor walked in and he said, young
Hudson Taylor, he said, I am afraid that
I have forgotten your pay.
I'm very sorry about that.
And Hudson Taylor, oh, thank you, Lord.
Oh, praise you, God.
You've answered my prayers.
And then the doctor said, you know, it's
too bad that I just made that bank
deposit and they have all my money, all
my cash.
It won't do me any good to write
you a check because it's the end of
the day on Friday.
I guess I'll just have to pay you
Monday.
Sorry about that.
Well, Monday was no good for Hudson Taylor.
And so he was absolutely crushed.
You know, his every disappointment came flooding in
upon him at that moment.
And so he prayed and he prayed and
he prayed and he said he was mixing
some kind of potion for the doctor, you
know, for use, some medicinal use.
And he said he was glad that he
had to go from one room to another
because tears were streaming down his face and
he didn't want the doctor to see it.
Well, he stayed around another hour or so.
And then just before he went home and
he had to work a little bit later
there.
So it was getting seven, eight o'clock
at night, getting late in the day.
All of a sudden, there should come a
knock at the door.
And it was a messenger, a courier at
the door.
And the doctor answered it and the courier
gave him an envelope and he said a
few words and then he left and the
doctor turned to Hudson Taylor and he laughed
and he said, isn't this funny?
This envelope is from one of my wealthiest
clients.
And for some reason, he couldn't go to
sleep at night tonight until he had brought
me this money in cash.
And it was more than enough to cover
Hudson Taylor's need.
And he went home with the money.
And of course, he fulfilled his obligations.
Well, you hear an answer, a prayer like
that.
And doesn't it get you excited?
Oh, that's great.
And friends, we could spend all night.
I could tell you about great answers to
prayer in the life of George Mueller and
J.
Edwin or and Hudson Taylor.
But you know what I have to say?
Honestly, I don't know how many great stories
of great, spectacular, dramatic answers to prayer I
could give to you for my own life.
And I'm not saying that there's none.
Not that there's none.
Of course, we know God answers our prayer.
But honestly, now, if we were to have
a testimony meeting tonight of great answers to
prayer in the last month among us, it
might be a pretty short meeting, right?
Maybe in the last year.
Now, again, I don't want to imply for
a moment that there's no great answered prayer
among us.
Certainly there is.
We have to admit there's something inside of
us that says not very much.
Now, the conviction that came to my heart
yesterday.
Was it came upon me like like a
wall crashing down upon me?
Is that I think nothing of unanswered prayer.
It doesn't seem to bother me at all.
As if the idea is I take these
prayers and I just kind of throw them
up to heaven and what sticks sticks, what
doesn't falls down, you know, hey, what can
you do?
I think sometimes when it comes to prayer,
as it's evident in our heart, when unanswered
prayer doesn't bother us at all, that we
sort of have what you might call the
slot machine idea of prayer.
You know what the slot machine idea of
prayer is, is you just keep putting in
the prayers and pulling the lever.
But and you know, every once in a
while you get a payout, right?
But, you know, you don't put in a
coin and expect to pay out every time,
do you?
You just keep putting it in and, you
know, you'll get your payout from time to
time.
But you just understand that you don't get
one on every coin or even on most
coins.
Friends, I don't think that God ever wanted
us to have a slot machine idea about
prayer ever.
Matter of fact, I believe that God wanted
us to be concerned about unanswered prayer, and
that's the first challenge I want to give
to you tonight.
How concerned are you about unanswered prayer?
I think we have an amazing example of
concern over unanswered prayer in the Scriptures.
That's what I want you to turn to
tonight.
First, Second Corinthians, chapter 12, verses seven through
nine.
Again, Second Corinthians, chapter 12, verses seven through
nine.
I'll go ahead and start reading it, and
I hope you can catch up quickly there
in your Bible where we read.
This is the Apostle Paul speaking.
He says, And lest I should be exalted
above measure by the abundance of the revelations,
a thorn in the flesh was given to
me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me,
lest I be exalted above measure.
Now, I want you to see what Paul
says there in verse seven, that there came
some kind of trial, some kind of tribulation
into his life.
I believe that if you take a look
at the text carefully and weighing all the
evidence, I believe that it was probably some
kind of bodily infirmity that struck Paul.
But I don't think it's important.
I think if it was important, God would
have been very specific about it.
I think God left Paul's problem deliberately vague
enough so that we could identify with it
no matter what our particular problem was.
But I want you to see Paul had
a problem.
And what did he do with it?
Look at it there.
Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord
three times that it might depart from me.
So do you get the picture here?
Paul's got a problem and he prays about
it.
Lord, let this thing depart from me.
Nothing happens.
Lord, let this thing depart from me.
Nothing happens.
A third time, Lord, let this thing depart
from me.
By the third time with no answer, it
bothered Paul.
It bothered him that he sought God for
something a little deeper about this, and that's
where we come to the next verse.
And he said to me, my grace is
sufficient for you.
My strength is made perfect in weakness.
Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in
my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me.
You see, this is what I want you
to grab from this.
The point is simply this, that unanswered prayer
seemed to bother the apostle Paul.
He didn't pray three times about it and
go, well, oh, well, who cares?
I guess it won't be a jackpot on
this one.
No, he said, I've got to seek God
deeper for this.
And God showed him an answer to the
prayer, but not in the way Paul was
expecting.
Or we might even say not even the
way Paul was hoping for.
But here was a real answer to the
prayer.
No, Paul, I'm not going to do this,
but I'm going to do this and bring
a surpassing glory through the situation.
I want the point to be this in
your heart and my heart.
Friends, I read that and got convicted because
most of the time, unanswered prayer doesn't even
bother me.
Maybe it doesn't even bother you, either.
You don't even think twice about.
It bothered Paul, I think it should bother
us.
Let me ask you another question here.
How much unanswered prayer do you think there
was in the life of Jesus?
None.
Not a single prayer was unanswered.
Every prayer of Jesus's was answered, and wasn't
Jesus's prayer life an example to us, it
should be an example, as now I know
what you think of, you think, well, yes,
Jesus's prayer life is an example of me,
you know, our father who art in heaven,
all of that business.
And he's an example of prayer.
Friends, I think he's an example, not just
in the performance of prayer, but an example
in the answering of prayer.
We should expect answers to our prayers, and
it should bother us when our prayers are
not answered.
Now.
Why does prayer go unanswered before I answer
that question, I have to give two cautions,
two things to caution you about, or your
mind might be set off in completely the
wrong direction when we talk about these specific
reasons why prayer may not be answered.
The first caution is this, we understand that
prayer is more than asking for things.
I know that's what we're focusing on tonight,
but I just need to say it.
So we're all on the same page.
Prayer is more, much more than asking for
things.
I don't want to act like the whole
matter of prayer is rushing into God's presence.
You know, here's the God's to do list
and you lay it on his throne.
OK, God, do all this and you should
expect an answer to all of that.
That's not the point.
Friends, prayer is more, much more.
We might even say that the minority portion
of prayer is asking for things.
Nevertheless, an important part of prayer is asking
for things.
And when we do ask, we should ask
with expectancy.
Or why are we asking at all?
Are we doing the thing of just throwing
up wishes to heaven and seeing what sticks?
Now, that's the first caution.
Second, I think it's very important that we
take a caution and understand what we mean
and what we don't mean by unanswered prayer.
We don't mean by answered prayer that God
does everything that I want him to do.
That's not what I mean by answered prayer.
You see, God can answer prayer in several
ways.
He can give a yes answer where God
says yes to your prayer.
That's what we all want, right?
Well, next, God can give you another kind
of answer.
He can give you a no answer to
your prayer, right?
He can say no to your prayer.
What I want you to see is no
is still an answer, isn't it?
God can say, wait, he can give you
the weight answer to your prayer.
The caution I want to give you here
is that no and weight are still answers
to prayer.
I'm talking about something different here, friends.
I'm not talking about a yes answer.
I'm not talking about a no answer.
I'm not talking about a weight answer.
I'm talking about an unanswered prayer.
You see, Paul received a no answer to
his prayer in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12, right?
Lord, take this from me.
And God told him, no, I'm not going
to take it from you.
I'm going to give you my triumphant grace
so that you can triumph in this infirmity
rather than triumphing over this infirmity.
His prayer was answered after deeper seeking.
So when we talk about the danger of
unanswered prayer, we're not talking about God saying
yes to every prayer, no or weight answers
are fine.
And listen, when it's in our best for
God to say no, or when it's in
our best for God to say, wait, we
want him to say that.
Right.
I bet we could stand and have a
great testimony meeting tonight about all the no
answers to prayer that we thank God for
immensely.
Amen.
Now, our problem isn't no answers.
Our problem isn't weight answers.
It's unanswered prayer.
Where you just kind of pray and nothing
comes back.
And so you stop praying.
You put the quarter in the slot machine,
you pull the lever.
Well, nothing there.
Let's move on.
You threw the wish up to heaven, it
fell back down.
Well, you know, there's a lot of fish
in the sea.
Let's move on to something else.
I think that there's something wrong with that.
Now, let me give you an example of
unanswered prayer and a way that I have
found myself in my own life making excuses
for unanswered prayer.
You see, I think one area where we
see a lot of unanswered prayer is in
our prayers for other people.
We often pray for God's work in other
people, don't you?
I certainly do.
You want God to work in other people.
Those are good prayers to pray.
But you see, how many of those prayers
do you really see answered?
How many of the prayers that you pray
for God to do a work in somebody
else, do you really see come to pass?
Now, I find that in that I see
a lot of excuses in myself.
It might not be bold enough to say
probably in you also.
A lot of excuses for unanswered prayer.
Well, you know, I can pray, but it's
really just up to that person whether or
not they respond to God's work.
I can pray, but, you know, I mean,
it's really up to them.
Listen, we need to expose that kind of
thinking for what it is.
It's an excuse.
Do you know why it's an excuse?
Because the Bible clearly tells us that God
can change the heart of man.
We understand that, don't we?
God isn't powerless in the heavens saying, well,
you know, my child prayed to me and
I could change this person's heart, but but
I'm not going to.
Can I read you Proverbs twenty one one?
The king's heart is in the hand of
the Lord, like the rivers of water.
He turns it wherever he wishes.
Now, God can do that with the heart
of a king.
He can do that with the heart of
anybody.
Or how about this?
Proverbs sixteen nine.
A man's heart plans his way, but the
Lord directs his steps.
Do we understand that?
God is able to change.
Well, listen, do I need to give you
any more evidence than holding up a mirror
right in front of your face?
God has changed your heart, hasn't he?
And I bet for many or most, if
not all of us here, God changed our
hearts in response to prayer from somebody else.
Were there people praying for you before you
came to Jesus or before?
There was a radical change, perhaps in your
Christian life.
People were praying for you.
Well, you old hard hearted, cold hearted sinner.
How did God ever get through to you?
Well, he did, didn't he?
And he did it oftentimes through the prayers
of other people.
I also like Ezra chapter seven, where Ezra
thanks God for working on a king's heart.
Ezra chapter seven, verse twenty seven says, Blessed
be the Lord God of our fathers, who's
put such a thing in the king's heart
to beautify the house of the Lord, which
is in Jerusalem and has extended mercy to
me before the king and his counselors and
before all the king's mighty princes.
So I was encouraged at the hand of
the Lord.
My God was upon me and I gathered
leading men of Israel to go up with
me as we're thanking God, because God, in
response to his prayer, changed the heart of
a king now.
Seeing that God can change hearts.
Why is it that I or you or
maybe I should say we see so few
hearts changed by our prayers.
Well, we could say perhaps that the problem
is with God.
It's it's God's fault.
You know, God just doesn't want to change
these people.
I mean, he could if he wanted to,
but he doesn't want to.
Is the problem with God, my friends?
Of course not.
God wants to do a work in those
people.
Well, is the problem perhaps with the person
that we're talking about, maybe the problems with
them, you know, they're just too hard for
God to get through to.
Oh, God can get through to some people,
but he can't get through to them.
Well, of course not.
God can change them.
Well, what's the problem then?
Again, I think we have to say that
the problem is with us.
Now we're getting down to business.
It's time to slough off the excuses.
And to say unanswered prayer is not God's
problem.
It's not that person's problem.
It's my problem.
Now, again, let me take pains to point
out.
I'm not talking about no answers to prayer
and I'm not talking about weight answers to
prayer.
We recognize those readily and we thank God
for them.
We're going to see tonight where when somebody
was listening to the Lord, God told them
no in a specific situation.
God told them, don't pray for this person
any longer.
I'm not going to do a work in
them.
Well, that's an answer to prayer, isn't it?
You see, I'm not saying that God does
everything we want him to.
I'm not saying that we figure out the
to do list and just lay it before
God.
No, please don't anybody think that for a
moment.
But I think that if we're diligent in
prayer and if we're sensitive to the Lord
and if we're passionate about the things he's
passionate about, first of all, he's going to
guide us in our prayers.
Secondly, when he doesn't intend to move in
a certain area, he'll tell you.
And you'll listen.
So, friends, let's get back down to it.
What are some of the reasons for unanswered
prayer?
Now, you might be surprised to find that
the Bible gives a bunch of reasons for
unanswered prayer.
I guess the first thing I want to
say before we embark on this list together,
don't let the size of this list intimidate
you.
You know what?
If you're not convicted by this tonight.
You're either dead or why don't you come
on up and we'll pray for you to
get saved, because as we go through this
list, I think that every one of these
convicted me in some way or another.
And so this is going to be a
very challenging list.
Friends, I'm speaking to you very plainly tonight
and I'm setting up the bar high.
But I hope that maybe we'll get a
little bit tired of setting the bar low
in our Christian life.
And we want to say, well, Lord, let's
see what great things you might be able
to do through us, so let's take a
look at some of these reasons for unanswered
prayer, understanding that God wants to draw you
into a fruitful, effective prayer life.
Friends, these obstacles can be put out of
the way as we walk in the Lord
and diligently pursue him.
OK, what's the first obstacle?
By the way, these are in no apparent
order.
Like I say, the Lord gave me most
of these just well, actually, during prayer meeting,
God brought both of these to my mind.
And so it's in no particular order.
Maybe if I taught this study on another
time, I'd come up with another order.
So the first reason for unanswered prayer I
want to talk to you about is not
abiding in Jesus.
Let me read you John chapter 15, verse
seven.
Listen to this from Jesus.
If you abide in me and my words
abide in you, you will ask what you
desire and it shall be done for you.
Now, that's one of those passages that we
like to piously quote.
But if we really believe it, it's going
to bother us, right?
If you really believe it, you're going to
say, oh, if there's not a lot of
answered prayer in my life, I must not
be abiding in Jesus as close as I
thought I was.
Or maybe there's another problem in my prayer
life.
But you get the point here.
Friends, if you're not abiding in Jesus, if
your life isn't found in him, if Jesus
isn't on your heart and in your mind,
then friends, you're not going to see much
answer to prayer.
You see, unanswered prayer isn't a matter of
something that just didn't happen to click.
You know, the coin didn't click through that
time when you pulled the lever on the
slot machine, unanswered prayer might be God's way
of telling you you're not abiding in Jesus
the way you thought you were take a
look at that in your life.
All right, what's another possible reason for unanswered
prayer?
Well, plainly put, we could say it's unbelief.
That's Matthew chapter 17, verse 20 and 21.
So Jesus said to them, because of your
unbelief, the disciples were asking why they could
not cast the demon out, why their prayers
were ineffective in delivering a man who was
possessed by demons, Jesus says, because of your
unbelief, for assuredly, I say to you, if
you have faith as a mustard seed, you'll
say to this mountain, move from here to
there and it will move and nothing will
be impossible for you.
However, this kind does not go out except
by prayer and fasting.
Do you get the point here?
Jesus says because of your unbelief, you pray,
but you don't really believe.
Friends, I don't know about you, but that
is convicting to me.
I find myself again sometimes in that posture
of just sort of casting up words to
heaven without real faith behind them, without real
grounds from a promise or principle in God's
word saying, Lord, this is what you said.
Now, please come fulfill your word.
I believe, God, I believe in your promise.
You know what?
Maybe if I was really filled with faith,
it would make me pray less.
Because I wouldn't pray for as many things,
because I would think clearly, do I have
reason to trust God for this instead of
saying, well, God, do this, do this, do
this, do this.
Well, women, do you have a ground of
faith?
Do you have a promise or a principle
from God's word that relates to this situation?
Maybe greater faith in our prayers would make
us pray for fewer things, but see far,
far greater results done.
We can't duck it, friends.
Sometimes prayer is not answered because simply we
have unbelief in our life.
Might I say one other thing, too, and
I'll speak very boldly on this point.
Friend, your unbelief is a sin.
It's especially a sin for a child of
God.
Now, I believe unbelief is a sin in
the heart of somebody who doesn't know Jesus.
Of course it is.
But if you're his child, how much more
should you trust?
How much more should you have received of
his mercies?
I love what Charles Spurgeon says in some
of his most eloquent sermons.
He says, you know, the problem is, is
that you've been trying to trust God.
The Bible says nowhere to try and trust
God.
It just says, trust him.
Stop trying to trust him.
Matter of fact, by saying you've been trying
to trust God, but you find it very
difficult, it's as if you're saying to God,
well, I'm trying to believe that you're truthful,
but I'm having an awfully hard time believing
it, God.
You know, I want to give you the
benefit of the doubt, God.
But, you know, you're just going to have
to perform a little bit better before I
can really trust you.
God forbid.
We need to recognize unbelief for what it
is, it's sin.
We need to confess it before God and
ask him to cleanse us from the blackness
of unbelief upon our hearts.
Well, this same passage brings us to another
potential reason for unanswered prayer, and we could
say that it's a failure to fast.
Did you see it there in Matthew chapter
17, verse 21?
Jesus said, however, this kind does not go
out except by prayer and fasting.
Well, friends, if you're not fasting for something,
perhaps that's the reason why your prayer wasn't
answered.
You say, well, what am I supposed to
do?
Fast about every little thing.
Well, no, friends, I guess there's sort of
a progression on this, right?
If there's a spiritual problem or a spiritual
dilemma that seems especially tough, especially difficult to
challenge, then maybe it is time to say,
God, I'm going to dedicate a time of
fasting and prayer to this issue.
This person's soul is so important to me
that I'm going to fast and pray for
them.
This man or this woman who's caught up
in the blackness of sin, they're a believer,
God, but they're backslidden and their heart is
hard.
I care about them so much, God, that
I am going to dedicate a time of
fasting and prayer so that they can be
delivered from that darkness.
Now, you see, maybe that's not the first
prayer you pray for them.
But it belongs somewhere along the progression, doesn't
it?
If you care for them.
So, friends, a failure to fast can be
a reason for unanswered prayer.
Here's another one.
If we're not convicted enough already.
First, Peter, chapter three, verse seven.
Husbands, likewise, dwell with them, meaning your wives,
with understanding, giving honor to the wife as
to the weaker vessel, as being heirs together
of the grace of life, that your prayers
may not be hindered.
Friends, that is a reason for unanswered prayer.
You have a bad marriage relationship.
I don't know how to cut it any
more sweetly than that.
It's just a pretty blunt point right there,
isn't it?
Now, I know that in first Peter, chapter
three, verse seven, he's referring just to husbands.
I might take a little bit of exegetical
liberty and say that if a wife is
similarly misbehaving in her marriage and not doing
what she needs to do in her marriage,
I think that's another reason for God not
to answer prayer.
But even if we were just to take
it towards husbands, husbands, is there any question
that the scriptures are very clear on this?
If you're not being what you should be
as a husband, if you're not doing what
you should do as a husband, your prayers
are hindered.
See what I said about a danger signal.
You're driving along.
The lights are flashing at you.
Your prayers aren't answered.
Very few of them are.
You seem to have very little power with
God to use an old expression in prayer.
Friends, that's a warning sign to you.
You should start going through your mind and
saying, wait a minute, is something amiss in
my life?
This is a warning sign.
Maybe, maybe my marriage isn't what I think
it is.
Maybe I'm not as good as a husband
as I thought I was.
You see how you need to give diligent
attention to this.
And so a bad marriage relationship can be
a reason for unanswered prayer.
Well, let's keep going on here.
We'll take a look at the book of
James, chapter four, verse two, for another reason
for unanswered prayer.
It's simply put, you don't ask.
Well, friends, you say, well, wait a minute,
I mean, I pray about this and this
and the other thing.
Well, do you ask God to do anything?
Do you realize and I hear this a
lot in prayer meetings, I hear it a
lot where people will go on and on
about a situation as if they're informing God
about the situation, but they're never asking him
to do anything.
Well, friends, as it says here in James,
chapter four, verse two, you lost and you
do not have you murder and covet and
cannot obtain.
You fight in war, yet you do not
have because you do not ask.
Get down to asking.
Ask God to do something.
Isn't it funny when we think about it
now, maybe we look down at our prayer
life and we say, well, no wonder there's
not much answered prayer, I'm so rarely asking
God to do anything.
And friends, you know what?
Oftentimes not asking God is a manifestation of
unbelief.
There's been a gradual lowering of your sights
in your Christian life.
You say, well, you know, I want to
put God on the spot.
You know, maybe he doesn't want to answer
this.
And so why ask?
I'll just tell God about it and he
can decide to do whatever he wants.
Well, friends, that's not prayer.
That's not going before the throne of God
in intercession.
Be a little more bold now, base your
boldness upon the confidence of God's word.
If you're going to ask, ask scripturally.
In other words, you're praying for somebody else's
salvation.
Come to the Lord and say, Lord, you
say in your word that you do not
delight in the death of the wicked and
that it's your desire that no man perish,
but that all come to salvation in Jesus
Christ, Lord, I know this is your heart.
So I pray that you would bring salvation
to this person.
You see, you're asking God to do something,
but you're asking based on a promise.
So, friends, this is very important to get
down to asking in prayer.
You know, when we pray together, especially in
a prayer meeting, please watch those informational prayers,
maybe we should call them info prayers like
infomercials.
You know, I read about a prayer meeting
once where a guy was going on and
on and on in this, and finally there
was a Scottish man who was leading the
meeting and he just couldn't take it anymore.
And he called out to the man who
was going on and on and on.
He said, open your eyes, man, you're preaching
again because he had stopped praying a long
time ago.
He was preaching a sermon instead of lifting
up a prayer.
Well, that's another reason for unanswered prayer, not
asking.
Now, what about another reason?
Well, you can just look to the next
verse in the book of James for that
one.
James chapter four, verse three, where we read,
you ask and you do not receive because
you ask a miss that you may spend
it on your pleasures.
Verse selfish praying oftentimes is a reason why
our prayers go unanswered.
Friends, let's be honest about this.
Oftentimes, our prayers are infected with selfishness.
Here's a wife crying out to God for
the soul of her husband, and she's pleading
with God, God, save my husband, God, save
my husband.
But in her heart, the real motivation for
God to save her husband is selfish.
Save my husband, so he'll treat me better.
Save my husband, you know, for my sake,
God.
Well, friends at root, that can be a
selfish prayer.
Why not ask God to break your heart
with a concern for the soul and the
eternal destiny of that man and pray the
prayer for the right reason?
Isn't it funny how we can pray for
totally the right thing out of a selfish
motive?
Oh, Lord, you know, you're out of work
and God provide work, provide work, provide work,
and the real reason why you want God
to provide work is so you don't have
to trust him day to day.
It's not to be obedient, it's not to
say, Lord, you say in your word that
a man should make his living by the
work of his hands.
And so I want to be available.
I want to fulfill your word.
No, but there's a gentle little twisting of
the compass point right there and you're a
few degrees off, but those few degrees off
make you pointed towards self instead of pointed
towards the glory of the Lord.
Friends, selfish praying is a reason for unanswered
prayer.
You know, I guess it just doesn't take
a whole lot of interpretation, does it?
Does anybody need any great interpretation on James
four three?
You ask and you do not receive because
you ask a miss that you may spend
it on your pleasures.
It's all about you in your prayers.
Your heart isn't for the glory of God.
Now, let me talk about another reason, friends,
I need to tell you, I don't even
think I'm halfway through this list, take a
deep breath, ask the Lord to be gentle
with you on these things, but yet to
speak clearly to your hearts.
I don't want anybody under a cloud of
condemnation, but I do hope that there is
plenty of conviction of the Holy Spirit going
on here.
The next reason for unanswered prayer is disobedience.
You could turn in your Bibles to First
John, chapter three, verse twenty two.
Let me read this to you.
And whatever we ask, we receive from him
because we keep his commandments and do those
things that are pleasing in his sight.
That's a promise, isn't it?
Whatever we ask, we receive.
That's answered prayer, isn't it?
Friends, that's George Mueller style answered prayer.
That's Hudson Taylor style answered prayer.
That's J.
Edwin Orr style answered prayer.
Whatever we ask, we receive from him because
we keep his commandments and do those things
that are pleasing in his sight.
Well, maybe you're not keeping his commandments.
Now, friends, listen, I know what you and
I say.
I've been saying this to myself for a
long time.
Let me just be transparent and open before
you.
I've been saying this to myself for too
long.
Well, you know, nobody's perfect.
We all have our weakness, don't we?
We all fall short.
So what's the big deal?
You know, yeah, look, yeah, I know I'm
not totally obedient in this area, but, you
know, I have my thing and you have
yours.
No.
No, by God's grace, no longer.
Now, not for a moment do I deceive
myself into thinking that I'm sinlessly perfect.
Believe me, every moment of every day reminds
me that I'm not.
Yet, friends, don't you want to live knowing
that there is no known area of compromise
in your life?
That to your knowledge, your life is lived
in full surrender.
Friends, there are plenty of sins of omission
in our lives that we have to deal
with, but first we can deal with the
sins of commission.
I'm just not going to do those things
anymore.
By the power of God's grace, I'm going
to carry on the battle against those things.
Again, I think one of the things that
the Lord is just saying to us, and
this is let's raise our sights a little
bit here.
Maybe not just a little bit, but say,
listen, friends, this is something we need to
get serious about.
Stop making excuses about a disobedient walk.
And when the Holy Spirit convicts you of
something, deal with it.
Don't make excuses about it.
Respond to the spirit's conviction and do it
immediately.
So what about that sin of the flesh
in your life?
What about the Internet pornography that you look
at all the time?
What about the drunkenness in your life?
What about the difficulties that you have?
What about the broken vows that you have?
Oh, you've made many, many promises to God,
haven't you?
You've broken those promises and you've never said
you're sorry to God for those broken promises.
Maybe the promises were foolish and you must
laugh them off.
Friends, they're not foolish to God.
They're broken vows and you need to ask
him to forgive you.
God is open and ready to forgive.
He's ready to cleanse you, but confess your
sin to him.
You've been committing the sin of gossip or
criticism or backbiting.
Call it for what it is, it's sin
and it needs to be confessed and it
needs to be forsaken.
These things hinder your prayer life.
Stop making excuses.
Listen to this from Isaiah, chapter one, when
you spread out your hands.
Now, friends, that was the posture of prayer.
It's as if Isaiah is saying, when you
fold your hands and close your eyes.
When you spread out your hands, God says,
I will hide my eyes from you.
Even though you make many prayers, I will
not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean.
Put away the evil of your doings from
before my eyes.
Cease to do evil, learn to do good,
seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless,
plead for the widow.
Isn't that heavy?
God says, you're praying, my fingers are in
my ears.
I'm not listening to your prayers because there's
sin and compromise and disobedience in your life.
Do you see the danger signal flashing?
There's been years of this.
You've been driving right through the danger signals.
Friends, you and I, and it's been convicting
to my heart.
I haven't even cared.
I think nothing of it.
Some prayers are answered, some prayers aren't.
Friends, a a lot of unanswered prayer in
our life.
Should make us turn to God.
Let's say, why?
What is it, God?
Now, if you do turn, the Lord is
so rich, I stopped off reading in that
passage from Isaiah.
Let me read you the very next verse
that comes where I left off.
Come now, let us reason together, says the
Lord.
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall
be as white as snow.
Though they're red like crimson, they shall be
as wool.
Well, friends, isn't God the best?
He's so firm with us.
We're saying you've got to get real about
your sin.
You've got to deal with it.
And then he says, and I'll wash it
all away.
I'll forgive you.
Friends, the point of it isn't to make
you feel horrible and to make you walk
around under this cloud of depression and condemnation.
The goal of it is liberty and cleansing
and freedom in your relationship with the Lord.
That's the point of it.
But until you see it, you can't reach
it.
All right, let me deal with another reason
for unanswered prayer.
Well, I don't know.
It seems like the list gets longer instead
of shorter.
The more I go through it.
Another reason for unanswered prayer is not praying
in God's will.
First, John, chapter five, verses 14 and 15,
say this.
Now, this is the confidence that we have
in him, that if we ask anything according
to his will, he hears us and we
know that if he and if we know
that he hears us, whatever we ask, we
know that we have the petitions that we've
asked of him.
Isn't that great?
You know, sometimes while your prayers are unanswered,
you're not praying in God's will.
You think that the goal of prayer is
to get your will done.
That's not the goal of prayer.
The goal of prayer is to get God's
will done.
And you say, well, if God, if it's
God's will, then why does he need me
at all to pray?
Because you are a co-laborer with Jesus
Christ.
He wants to draw your heart into his
heart.
He wants to draw you into his work.
And there are things that God waits to
do until you come and join with him
in prayer.
It's that simple.
The friends, the goal is to get God's
work done, pray according to God's will.
Here's another passage that describes why our prayers
can be unanswered.
And it's James, chapter five, verse 16.
A reason for unanswered prayer is unconfessed sin.
Confess your trespasses to one another and pray
for one another that you may be healed.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man
avails much.
What's the prayer that avails much prayer that
comes after the confession of sin?
And sometimes that's what we need to do,
we need to confess our sin.
And might I remind you of some important
words about confession.
I believe the circle of your confession should
be the circle of your sin.
If it's private, secret sin, then you don't
need to make a public confession of it.
You may need to make a public declaration
of your need.
You may need to say to some other
people, you know what, I'm bound up in
secret sin.
I ask God to forgive me of it,
will you pray for me, too?
You don't need to reveal the details of
it.
You shouldn't.
Then again.
If your sin has been against the body
of Christ, if your sin has been public,
then perhaps a public confession is in order.
God has done great things through such brokenness
in people's hearts before.
But a lack of confession of sin is
one reason why prayer is not answered.
Friends, here's another reason again from James chapter
five, and that's because prayer may be unanswered
if it is cold and passionless.
Here, James says, confess your trespasses to one
another and pray for one another that you
may be healed.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man
avails much.
Elijah was a man with a nature like
ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would
not rain and it did not rain on
the land for three years and six months.
And he prayed again and the heavens gave
rain and the earth produced it through.
Friends, that's power and prayer.
What did he do?
He prayed earnestly.
Friends, honestly, can you say that you pray
earnestly?
I'm convicted on this point, aren't you?
You're just putting the coins in the slot
machine.
Sometimes people put more coins into a slot
machine with more feeling than we pray.
Sometimes at least then they're really rooting for
a payoff.
And sometimes with us, it's just sort of
casting the wishes towards heaven.
And what sticks, sticks.
No more of that for us, friends.
If this is God's will, if we believe
that this is what God wants, then we
can be passionate about it in prayer.
Let me go on to another one.
And, you know, each one of these reasons
could be a sermon in itself.
But I don't think we could take a
20 part series on reasons for unanswered prayer.
Here's the next reason.
The reason for unanswered prayer is prayerlessness and
a lack of persistence in prayer.
You remember the parable that Jesus spoke about
the widow who would not give up before
the judge?
And she kept bugging the judge and bugging
the judge until the judge answered.
Now, God says, Jesus says to us, it's
not that God is like an unjust judge.
It's that if it worked with an unjust
judge, how much more will it work with
a loving father in heaven?
Be persistent in prayer.
One of the reasons why we see so
few prayers answered is we're just prayerless or
we lack persistence in prayer.
We don't stick with praying for something.
You know, we pray and we pray a
couple of times and if nothing happens, well,
then we just give up and it's an
unanswered prayer.
You didn't hear a yes.
You didn't hear a no.
You didn't hear a wait.
You didn't hear anything.
You just gave up.
Maybe it's time to say, no, I'm going
to God, I'm going to keep praying for
this.
I'm going to pray for this regularly.
God, I'm going to set the little signal
thing on my watch.
And when it beats every hour, I'm going
to pray for that thing.
I'm going to lift it up before you,
God.
Maybe you'll pray with that heart that David
spoke about in Psalm fifty five, seventeen, where
it says evening and morning and at noon
I will pray and cry aloud and he
shall hear my voice.
He's going to pray all through the day.
It's not going to be it's going to
be prayer and prayer and prayer.
You know how it is when you have
a family member, maybe a child who's very
sick.
All day long, you're thinking about it, aren't
you?
All day long, the sick child is on
your mind.
You can't get away from that thought.
And that's how we need to be burdened
with something in prayer and to see God
do something great through.
Let me bring up some other ones quickly.
Time is getting away from us.
Matthew chapter five, verse 23 and 24 describe
another reason why prayer may not be answered,
and it's because we sin against others.
Jesus said, therefore, if you bring your gift
to the altar and there, remember that your
brother has something against you.
Leave your gift there before the altar and
go your way.
First be reconciled to your brother and then
come and offer your gift.
Well, you're coming to the altar of prayer,
aren't you?
But the problem is, is that there's something
between you and your brother.
Now, I'm not saying that everybody likes you.
That's not necessary for prayer.
Jesus didn't say why your prayers aren't answered
if somebody doesn't like you.
But remember what Paul said in the book
of Romans.
He says, as much as it's within your
power, you live at peace with all men.
Can you say that you're doing that?
If you've done wrong, have you confessed it?
Have you asked that person for forgiveness?
Maybe they didn't receive it.
Well, then that's up to them.
But if you ask for it, have you
tried to set it right?
Have you done what you could?
See, friends, if you can't, that can be
a reason why your prayers aren't answered.
Matthew chapter 18 gives us another reason why
our prayers may not be answered, and that's
because of a lack of unity.
He says again, I say to you that
if two of you agree on earth concerning
anything they ask, it will be done for
them by my father in heaven.
We agree together.
So if there's a lack of unity in
prayer, that can mean that your prayers will
not be answered.
Here's another one.
Oh, I think this next one is very
important.
Psalm 32, eight.
A reason why your prayers may not be
answered is because you're not listening to God.
Maybe God's trying to tell, you know, maybe
God's trying to tell you, wait, and the
only thing you're looking for is, yes, the
only thing you're looking for is the thing
to be done and God's trying to answer
your prayer by guiding you into a no
answer or a wait answer, but you're not
listening to him.
Again, I want to emphasize that when I
say unanswered prayer, I'm not talking about getting
every prayer answered.
Yes, before God.
But I think that if we abide in
the Lord and follow after him, he'll give
us a sense in our spirit about what
he wants to do and things.
Let me read you two very convicting passages
from the book of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah, chapter seven, verse 16.
God told Jeremiah this.
Therefore, do not pray for this people, nor
lift up a cry or a prayer for
them, nor make intercession to me, for I
will not hear you.
Well, that's an answer to prayer, isn't it?
God's saying don't pray anymore.
All right.
You answered me, God.
Very similar thing in Jeremiah 11, 14.
So do not pray for this people or
lift up a cry or a prayer for
them.
I will not hear them in the time
that they cry out to me because of
their trouble.
Do you get the point there?
If we listen to God, he can guide
us into the answer of the prayer.
Let's go quickly through a few more.
Another reason for unanswered prayer is that you're
not praying in the name of Jesus.
John, chapter 14, verse 13 and 14.
And whatever you ask in my name that
I will do that the father may be
glorified in the son, if you ask anything
in my name, I will do it.
Well, what does it mean to pray in
the name of Jesus?
Surely it means just to tack on in
Jesus name at the end of every request,
right?
No.
Praying in the name of Jesus means two
things.
First of all, you're praying on Jesus's authority
and standing, not your own.
You're coming on Jesus's account, on Jesus's merits,
not your own.
You're not saying, Lord, I'm so righteous, answer
my prayers.
No, you're saying, look, I'm found in the
righteousness of Jesus.
I'm coming in his name, not my own.
But the second thing that it means to
pray in the name of Jesus is to
pray as Jesus would have you pray.
To pray as his emissary, to pray as
his representative, so to speak.
If you don't pray in the name of
Jesus, your prayers may not be answered.
Well, we could go on several more.
I'll just speak quickly about pride.
Of course, we know how pride can be
a reason for unanswered prayer.
We know that God resists the proud, but
gives grace to the humble.
We know that lying and deceitfulness can be
a reason for unanswered prayer.
Hear a just cause, O Lord, attend to
my cry.
Give ear to my prayer, which is not
from deceitful lips.
If there's lying and deceitfulness in your life,
it can be a reason for unanswered prayer.
Let me conclude with two more, one of
them you may have never heard before.
I have to say, I can never remember
hearing this verse of scripture before.
Of course, I've read the Bible through several
times.
I don't ever remember hearing this verse before.
Isn't it wonderful when you find a verse
that you never knew was in there?
And it's a reason for unanswered prayer.
Proverbs 28, 9 describes a reason for unanswered
prayer, lack of Bible reading and Bible teaching.
You say, what?
Let me read it to you.
Perhaps you should turn their Proverbs chapter 28,
verse nine.
One who turns his ear away from hearing
the law.
Even his prayer is an abomination.
That's heavy, isn't it?
Now, why do I say Bible reading and
Bible teaching?
Because hearing the word in the ancient world
signified two things.
That's how they would read, because they would
always read aloud in the ancient world.
But it also means hearing, teaching of God's
word.
If you don't give yourself the Bible reading
and put yourself under Bible teaching, that could
be a reason for unanswered prayer.
I never saw that one before.
Isn't that remarkable?
Then finally, one more that I must bring
up before we conclude.
Matthew, chapter six, verse seven, a final reason
for unanswered prayer.
And by the way, I can't say with
any kind of certainty whatsoever that this is
an exhaustive list.
And isn't that depressing?
Friends, think about it.
I mean, this has been an overwhelming list,
hasn't it?
I've almost deliberately made it that way so
that we would see that there are many
things that we need to give attention to
when we see that danger signal of unanswered
prayer.
But look, a final reason why our prayers
may not be answered is because we're trusting
in the length or the form of our
prayer.
Matthew, chapter six, verse seven.
And when you pray, do not use vain
repetitions as the heathen do, for they think
that they will be heard for their many
words.
You know what, friends, it's not the length
of your prayer that determines it'll be answered.
It's not the form.
It's not using King James English.
It's not speaking at a certain volume.
But it is heart.
It is passion.
It is a warmness in your heart about
prayer.
It is faith.
It is belief.
But it's not a particular length and it's
not a particular form.
You trust in those things.
And that may be a reason why your
prayer is not answered.
All right, so what do we do about
this?
I've.
Raised up the bed of the dump truck
on you and just.
Flooded you with this tonight.
Think how I felt in my study yesterday
morning when the Lord was convicting me of
all of this.
Now, I hope you feel some of it,
too.
So what do you do?
Well, friends, I think the first thing that
we need to do is that we need
to take heed to the danger signals.
Start waking up to this fact.
That we should be living lives of exciting
answer to prayer.
What greater testimony can you give to somebody
who doesn't know the Lord than that of
answered prayer that you won't believe what happened?
And you explain the situation.
And it's absolutely miraculous answer to prayer.
What can they say to that?
They're absolutely astounded.
What a great testimony that is.
Would to God that our lives would be
filled with those testimonies.
What a great work of God that would
be innocent among us.
The second thing I would say to you
is to get a bigger vision for what
your prayer life can be.
I am convicted of this, my friends, that
there's been, might I say, a lowering of
the sites.
Well, you know, a lot of prayer just
doesn't get answered.
I guess that's how it is.
No, I want to take it more seriously
and be more discerning and say, if prayer
is the ability to influence heaven, if it's
the ability to move the hand of God,
then I need to take it seriously.
And I need to labor in prayer.
And I need to think very seriously, Lord,
what do you want to do and how
can I help pray it into being?
How can I help pray it into action?
God, you can do great things through prayer.
Not through me, but through prayer.
It's the hand of God doing the work.
But friends, prayer can move the hand of
God.
Third, I think we need to resolutely refuse
to make excuses.
Friends, can we agree on doing that together,
that we're just going to refuse to make
excuses for unanswered prayer?
We're just like, well, that's the way it
is.
That's the way it has to be.
No.
Now, we're not going to be afraid of
no answers.
We're not going to be afraid of wait
answers.
Those come from the loving hand of God.
But friends, we need to have a heart
for prayer and not make excuses for our
prayer life or for unanswered prayer.
Next, I think we need to honestly confess
our sin.
Look, where you've been in sin in this,
confess it, clear it away, be washed white
as snow.
What does the Bible say?
We know that if we confess our sin,
he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sin and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
I want that, don't you?
Why do you think I'm transparent before you
telling you my own failings in this?
Oh, it's not just because I'm such a
great guy.
And, you know, Mr. Personable up here, friends,
I do it because I want to be
clean.
I want to confess my sin before the
Lord and before you.
So that I can be clean and so
that I so that I can have more
power in prayer.
Finally, I think the key for us to
do something about this is to walk forward
very confident in Jesus.
Friends, God is excited when we pray.
God wants this in your life even more
than you do.
Oh, how he wants his people to be
awakened to the vitality and the glory of
what he can do in and through prayer.
The friends walk confidently.
God is with you as you do this.
God is for you.
He wants to do great things in and
through you.
If your heart is for this, your heart
is totally in God's will.
You can know confidently that he wants to
accomplish this.
So.
I would suggest to you.
That you think through the things that we've
talked tonight, there's things that you need to
confess, there's things that you need to get
right, get them right.
But let's say, Lord, keep working through us
till we become people of answered prayer.
Stop ignoring the danger signals.
I'm going to pray right now, if the
worship team will come up, we'll we'll have
a song together and maybe in between a
couple of songs, we'll leave it open for
some prayer.
Father, we do thank you for your word,
even when it brings a strong message to
us.
So, God.
Do not leave us in the place of
conviction.
We are thankful for conviction of your Holy
Spirit, Lord, but we ask that you would
give us the strength and the grace to
set these things right before you and to
walk free in the cleansing power of Jesus
Christ.
Lord, make us a people of answered prayer.
Father, I think what you did through 120
people who had their prayers answered on the
day of Pentecost, we touched the whole world.
Lord, make us a people of prayer.
Lord, you could absolutely rock this world to
the answered prayer of these people in this
room.
Lord, flashing through my mind right now are
so many things that I think I should
have said or maybe I went on too
long about or or I forgot to say
something about this.
Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit would
be diligent to make up all that's lacking.
And that you'd guide us into these things.
Thank you, Lord, for your presence tonight.
In Jesus name.
Amen.