back to indexWhen God Answers ‘No’ to Our Prayers
Chapters
0:0 Introduction
0:40 Sermon
6:0 Message
00:00:08.960 |
and John Piper joins us today over the telephone. 00:00:12.280 |
You know, Pastor John, we get a steady stream of emails 00:00:14.620 |
from listeners who ask about unanswered prayers, 00:00:18.080 |
like this one from a podcast listener named Luis. 00:00:28.320 |
according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 00:00:32.640 |
But I don't see God providing as his word says he would. 00:00:36.560 |
My prayers go up, but it seems like God is silent, 00:00:40.200 |
or he consistently answers me with an implied no. 00:00:44.560 |
This causes me to feel discouraged and ignored. 00:00:52.760 |
- I think few things have caused me to search my soul 00:01:01.040 |
than the fact that I have called upon the Lord to do things, 00:01:06.040 |
which I think are in perfect accord with his will, 00:01:12.600 |
and yet he has not, or not yet, seen fit to grant, 00:01:17.600 |
or at least grant in the way that I asked or hoped for. 00:01:21.680 |
So I don't look upon the problem of unanswered prayer 00:01:44.160 |
so that I understand both from scripture and from experience 00:01:54.200 |
and it might be helpful if I give two Bible passages 00:01:59.200 |
for you to think about and see whether or not 00:02:10.820 |
with regard to the way he answers his children 00:02:23.080 |
and so it's had a wonderful effect over the years. 00:02:25.040 |
The other one is a brand new insight from Genesis 17, 00:02:28.480 |
and it's right off my devotional front burner, 00:02:46.040 |
"And to the one who knocks, it will be opened." 00:02:49.960 |
And then he uses this analogy, which helps me so much. 00:02:53.840 |
"Or which of you, if his son asks him for bread, 00:02:59.640 |
"Or if he asks for a fish, would give him a serpent? 00:03:03.100 |
"If you who are evil know how to give good gifts 00:03:06.280 |
"to your children, how much more will your Father, 00:03:11.280 |
"who is in heaven, give good things to those who ask him?" 00:03:23.240 |
And what's striking here is that God promises 00:03:26.400 |
to give good things to his children when they ask. 00:03:39.080 |
And since he's comparing himself to our own parenting, 00:03:47.200 |
especially when they're two or three years old, 00:03:49.920 |
everything they ask for because they don't know 00:03:55.640 |
I remember once my son Benjamin asked me for a cracker 00:03:58.800 |
and I'm just totally eager to give him a cracker 00:04:13.920 |
But I wouldn't give it to him because I knew better 00:04:22.340 |
And so that day he got something that he didn't ask for 00:04:26.060 |
and didn't want as much as he wanted a cracker, 00:04:34.660 |
And I think the words of Jesus point in this direction 00:04:58.240 |
And we can't imagine how it could be bad for us, 00:05:02.040 |
how it could be moldy to have God save our family. 00:05:08.240 |
So I don't presume to say this is a quick fix. 00:05:17.160 |
should be embraced even if the application of it 00:05:20.040 |
to all situations is a little harder for us to grasp. 00:05:23.760 |
So that's the first help that God has given me 00:05:27.140 |
in regard to how prayers are sometimes answered 00:05:34.120 |
And in a sense, this passage from Genesis 17, 00:05:38.520 |
Genesis 17, 15 to 20 is an application in one way 00:05:49.120 |
"And God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, 00:06:08.360 |
I will bless her and she shall become nations. 00:06:16.880 |
And then Abraham fell on his face and laughed 00:06:29.560 |
And Abraham said to God," now this is a prayer, 00:06:39.600 |
In other words, God let Ishmael be the chosen seed. 00:06:57.160 |
as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.' 00:07:01.600 |
And then he says, 'As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 00:07:06.600 |
Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful 00:07:53.640 |
And that's what makes me do what I'm gonna do to Ishmael. 00:08:42.200 |
bringing in other texts, especially Matthew 7, 00:09:03.520 |
So these two passages, Matthew 7, Genesis 17, 00:09:24.320 |
I really believe that God always gives good things 00:09:38.480 |
The blessings we receive may not be in the form 00:09:42.000 |
of the things we ask, but they are owing to our prayers. 00:09:46.320 |
They're owing to our prayers and they're good. 00:09:54.800 |
according to Revelation 8, verses one to five, 00:09:58.800 |
when all the prayers that have ever been prayed 00:10:29.960 |
and not one expression of "Thy kingdom come," 00:10:36.120 |
not one of those prayers will have been prayed in vain. 00:10:44.680 |
And we have a whole episode on this text in Revelation 8, 00:10:54.880 |
But Tony, you ask, "How can I find episode 630 00:11:00.320 |
Go to our online home at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn. 00:11:03.960 |
And there you can explore all 1,200 of our episodes 00:11:10.520 |
Or you can browse a full list of our most popular episodes, 00:11:12.960 |
read full transcripts, even send us a question of your own. 00:11:16.320 |
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our listeners are given to the sin of sulking 00:11:31.440 |
And if that's one of your struggles, you join many others. 00:11:49.480 |
Have a great weekend, and we'll see you then.