Sermon: When Will God Answer?

#1747
Martin G. Collins
Given 10-Feb-24; 61 minutes 2024-02-10

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For prayer to be effective, it must be thoughtful, not misapplied, not vague, not confused. Sometimes fear and desperation cause us to be unclear and lacking in specifics in our prayers. Consider this lighthearted fictional illustration:

A Christian in ancient Rome was being pursued by a lion and he ran through the streets and into the woods, dodging back and forth through the trees, dodging the lion. Finally, it became obvious that it was hopeless—the lion was going to catch him. So he turned suddenly, faced the beast, and dropped to his knees. "Lord," he prayed desperately, "make this lion a Christian." Instantly the lion dropped to his knees and prayed, "Thank you for this meal of which I am about to partake."

This is obviously a ridiculous example, but it expresses the point. If we are not clear and specific, we may receive an answer other than what we intended. It is not that God cannot tell what we really want, but what He wants us to think deeply about what we ask Him to do.

Although prayer may be a simple thing in one sense, it can also be made very difficult. And obviously, we are the ones who make it difficult. It is sometimes an excuse for not thinking—an excuse for avoiding dealing with the problem or a negative situation. Why not just dump the problem on God so we do not have to deal with it ourselves?

What causes people to neglect praying or stop praying altogether? Here are five major causes of losing heart in praying: defilement, doubt, danger, distractions, delay. Let us touch very quickly, just briefly on each one.

1. The defilement that sin causes kills interest in spiritual exercises such as prayer. Sin hinders effective and sincere prayer. It will stop it dead!

Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

That is pretty definite, is it not?

2. Praying with doubt is faithless, making the prayer ineffective and useless. Doubting the inspiration of Scripture and the power of God hinders prayer. According to the apostle Paul,

I Timothy 2:8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Justice, faith, and prayer go hand in hand. So also do unbelief and non-prayer.

3. Sometimes prayer must be done at dangerous times. Danger weeds out the cowards from the courageous.

Please turn with me to Daniel 6, verse 10. Now Daniel faced real danger in praying, but kept on praying even though there would be the probability of a death sentence for him. And it led to the lions den, as you well know.

Daniel 6:10-12 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Then these men [that is, the other leaders] assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. And they went before the king and spoke concerning the king's decree: "Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?"

Daniel 6:16 So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, "Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you."

He did not realize, I do not think, that he was being prophetic there. He prophesized what would be the result of that arrest. Humanly speaking, Daniel was left all alone to face his fate. Yet, Darius' last words to Daniel pointed to a higher Source of help, "Your God will deliver you."

Today these dangers come in various ways. The lesser danger of embarrassment often affects more people than the danger of physical harm. We seem to want to avoid embarrassment above all else.

4. Satan is the master of causing distractions, especially during our prayer time. He may send such distractions as wealth, secular interests, or confusion.

Proverbs 15:16 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble.

Probably everyone, while praying, has experienced their minds wandering off in other directions, thinking about everything except what we should be praying about at the time. I do not know if there is a human being on earth who has not experienced that.

5. Few things cause us to lose heart more in our praying than when God delays answering our requests. What if God does not answer our prayer right away? What if we wait patiently but God makes us wait longer? What then? It has happened to most people, I think, in the church.

Maybe with the passing of time, the trial becomes more involved or hard to take. Delays are such great causes of losing heart that when the answers to our prayers often appear to take a long time to come, we should persevere and not grow weary in praying to God, meaning we have to hunker down and ask God for strength to bear up under the trial or whatever we are going through.

So we pray intently about it and we may even fast. We believe we have faith that God will intervene and we have done our part. But still, it seems God has not intervened. And so we doubt our own faith and wonder about the true level of our conversion. We question why we do not seem to have the faith that the faithful listed in Hebrews 11 had.

But did God always grant His faithful people immediate relief from their troubles? According to the scriptural accounts, God often and immediately intervened on behalf of His people. But there were many times when He delayed delivering the faithful and He made them wait while He tested their character, perseverance, and faith. King David wrote,

Psalm 11:5 The Lord tests the righteous.

When God tests us, it is to bring about a good result. Sometimes a test is designed to further His plan of salvation for humanity. And sometimes the test is for our own good to develop the character in us and to show God and us where we are spiritually strong and where we are spiritually weak.

Even the righteous patriarchs and prophets went through anguish and suffering. James 5:10 explains this, "as an example of suffering in patience." We understand from this that they were not immediately delivered out of every trial they had to endure. So they were faithful people who would not have understood suffering and developed patience had they not experienced the kind of trials that are common to humans.

Even though Moses received many immediate and miraculous results following prayer, he also understood the experience of agony and testing. Some went on for days, some continued for months, and some persisted for years. And through it all, Moses developed patience and perseverance.

David praised God in,

Psalm 138:3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me.

So David received quick answers to some of his prayers, which is what we all desire. But there are times when God made David wait and sometimes he had to wait for a long time.

Psalm 13:1 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?

Psalm 35:17 Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue me. . .

So he got quite desperate in some of his trials.

David wrote about his prolonged suffering. He wrote about a debilitating plague of a sick bed, of enemies gloating over his condition, and even of his own friends turning against him, as well as his relatives keeping their distance.

Please turn with me to Psalm 41. Psalm 41 is about the blessing and suffering of the godly, which is what many are experiencing now and we all experience off and on.

Psalm 41:1-4 Blessed is he who considers the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sick bed. I said, "Lord, be merciful to me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against You."

So David prayed for healing since death may have been quite near at the time. Eventually, it was David's turn to rejoice because God ultimately did heal him and bring him back from the edge of the grave, but only after David waited.

Back a few chapters to Psalm 6.

Psalm 6:2-6 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled; my soul also is greatly troubled; but You, O Lord—how long? Return, O Lord, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies' sake! For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks? I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears.

Psalm 6:9 The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.

Although there were many miracles in the first century of the church that are recorded, God's people still had to cope with many lasting infections and diseases that did not go away immediately. Their faith was sorely tried as they waited.

Please turn with me to II Corinthians 12, verse 7. The apostle Paul had his faith tested. And when he prayed for relief from his thorn in the flesh, God spoke to him directly, telling him specifically that the Lord's will was not for him to be healed because his spiritual strength was more important.

II Corinthians 12:7-10 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. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for 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. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

So he recognized the spiritual healing that was going on in his mind and that it was for his own good as well as for his ability to serve Jesus Christ. Paul recognized that one of the main reasons God did not heal him of his fleshly thorn was to help him remain humble. That was one of the many things.

Now, please turn over to I Peter 1, verse 5. The apostle Peter addresses faithful Christians who suffer for a while with serious trials. The conviction of their faith was tested by fire.

I Peter 1:5-7 Who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time [speaking of Christians]. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So God has a higher, more important, and more distinct reason for why we go through suffering: so that we can arrive at that point at the revelation of Jesus Christ, meaning the second coming of Christ.

Moses, David, Elijah, Stephen, and Paul are only a few examples of how those with faith had to endure while waiting patiently for God's intervention.

Please turn over to Hebrews 11. As you well know, Hebrews 11 contains a compilation of faithful saints. In faith, many times they received immediate miraculous answers to prayer and often they did not. Starting with the first righteous man, Abel, who was murdered in cold blood, many faithful, righteous people have suffered severe trials, deprivations, and afflictions. They had to wait for God to intervene according to His will and within His time frame.

Hebrews 11:35-39 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection [that is, the resurrection of the firstfruits]. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise.

Yet! That is, not until the resurrection.

While a lack of faith can certainly cause answered prayers to be delayed, a delayed answer does not necessarily mean that it was caused by a lack of faith. If we have given our lives to God, we should not allow a delayed answer to discourage us.

So "the Lord tests the righteous." The faith we have, God exercises, He refines, He perfects, and He increases. And to it, He adds patience.

Now, Jesus Christ will not accept us into His Kingdom unless we change, unless we overcome sin, unless we keep His commandments. There are spiritual lessons for us to learn and character we must develop. This is the reason that God sometimes allows us to be in situations where our trust in Him and His faithfulness and love toward us is severely tried.

We know that Christ could intervene every time on our behalf from whatever or whoever is afflicting us, since nothing is too difficult for Him. But He does not always do it when and how we think He should. Sometimes we have a hard time dealing with God's delays to intervene. It is against our human nature to wait, and waiting for God takes patience.

God is always in total control of the situation. He may allow seemingly negative things to happen to us. But His delay is always for our ultimate good. God knows what He is doing and the best time to solve our problems.

This is the kind of patient faith that we must develop if we want to be part of His Kingdom because as rulers with Christ in the Kingdom of God, we will have enormous responsibilities governing His Kingdom.

There will not be confusion or rebellion in the Kingdom of God. God is not going to allow a situation to arise where an individual, ruling some far off corner of the universe, billions of light years away from His throne, decides that he can only wait so long for results from doing things God's way and he takes things into his hands. That will not happen! The people God chooses for His Kingdom will not have that type of an attitude or mentality. And then, after that, it is time to do things some other way (according to a person that would think that way)—some way God has not ordained.

To the human mind God says,

Isaiah 55:8-9 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

God's ways are true and just and we must conform to Him in obedience and faith.

Revelation 15:3 They [that is, those who have victory over the beast] sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: "Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!"

So to rule with Christ, we must have developed, with Christ's help through the experiences of life, unshakeable faith that God's laws are always right and that He always knows best.

Now, initially, the patriarch Job had been greatly blessed by God. And when God removed those blessings and allowed tragedy to hit him, it was for Job's ultimate good and for our example. Please turn over to Job 13. Now, from the written account, it is easy to see that Job did not immediately understand everything. It took a long time for Job to completely profit spiritually from the trials that came upon him. In the meantime, even as his mind groped for a reason for the trials, he spoke words that we should take time to meditate on.

Job 13:15 "Though He slay me [that is, God], yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him."

Job's statement here means that Job was determined to maintain his integrity and defend his character though his sufferings might so increase that he loses his life. This gives an indication of his resolve to maintain his righteousness even despite his sufferings. He had set his purpose to confide in God. This was spoken of in one of Job's better moments and was his deliberate and established intention. This deliberate purpose expresses what was really his prevailing character. And though occasionally, when he became frustrated, he voiced different emotions and feelings.

The same holds true for all of us under duress. We are much more likely to express our frustrations than when things in our lives seem much more under control.

The Hebrew word from which trust in Job 13:15 is translated is from a root word that means to wait, stay, or delay. It usually expresses the idea of waiting on someone with the expectation that he will help. Consequently, it means to hope. The sense here in this verse is that Job's hope was in God. And it applies that even at death by God's hand, he would still trust and hope in Him. Despite his frustrations, he had resolved in his mind to wait patiently for God's intervention.

We must arrive at this point of complete submission, obedience, and faith if we want to survive and benefit with sterling character through our many trials. Faith in God requires complete trust. Waiting for His intervention requires patience. The answer to prayer may come right away or it may take days or weeks or even years!

Is our character such that it will stand the test? It often requires personal sacrifice. Are we so strongly committed in our allegiance to God that we would die for Him even though He is the one who allows our suffering and death? If God makes us wait now, it is for our good later.

Lamentations 3:26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Now wait quietly, in the original is literally "be in silence." That is, we must not complain at all.

Please turn to James 1. Now, Job survived his trials because he had hope and waited patiently. If we can learn to be patient, God will teach us everything else we need to learn in our trials. James explains how to gain from trials.

James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

So the testing of our faith produces patience. We wait, God acts!

Please turn to Isaiah 64. Isaiah points out that Israel's God is unique in that He does act. Unlike the world's idols, the omnipotent Eternal God intervenes. He never fails to meet those with true faith who wait.

Isaiah 64:4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him.

The true God is totally different from all other gods. He responds to our needs, but He does it at the best possible time.

Some Christians lose faith because they fail to understand exactly what God has promised for this life. God promises to deliver out of every affliction those who trust him.

Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

That is quite a guarantee.

But God does not promise when He will openly act. Sometimes He does it right away, sometimes He does not. And whether God intervenes immediately or makes us wait, He has specifically promised that He we will not be tested with more than we can take and that all things eventually work out for good for everyone involved.

I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation [or the trial, you could put in there] will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

So exactly how and when is up to God. After all, the primary goal of our faith is not that we are completely free of every physical problem and difficulty in this life. The main goal of our faith is to glorify God so that so we may receive salvation and eternal life.

God says we should make all our requests known to Him. He would not tell us that if He was not going to listen. Though He does not promise that He will intervene in them all immediately, He does promise us peace of mind. This does not mean that when we pray, we should not expect God to answer immediately. We should never assume we have to wait for a long time. But we should understand that it may be God's will that we do. Hope should drive us to expect an answer at any time, but we have to be prepared for it to take a while if it does not happen immediately.

While committing the matter to God in faith by asking Him to intervene, we also have more to do. We must obey God's law, work to gather research and advice on what we may do to remedy our problems. Some physical things are possible to bring back to their proper state with doing certain things. Sometimes it is wisdom that God gives us to help and aid in our healing. So we have to expect that He will grant us the wisdom to go through these things.

We can ask God to answer soon and we should expect Him to answer soon, as He often does. But if He delays noticeable intervention, we should not get depressed. Depression, as you know from the many things that are written today and research, that depression causes disease. It causes disease to get worse as well.

Please turn to Psalm 27. God is deeply interested in everything that involves His saints—everything. We must continue asking and believing and patiently waiting for His intervention.

Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!

Now turn with me over to Colossians 1. The apostle Paul explained that he prays regularly that God would impart His spiritual power to God's people, not for selfish reasons, but so that we can live for God in a worthy manner.

Colossians 1:9-11 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy.

So the purpose of His God-given power is to provide the divine strength needed for us to attain godly virtues, to persevere in faith, and to resist temptation and deceitful teachers, so we may know the joy of the Lord.

The Parable of the Persistent Widow in Luke 18:1-8 teaches the necessity of patient, persistent, and persevering prayer and is much like the Parable of the Persistent Friend in Luke 11:5-13. Both parables are preceded by the mention of prayer, although delivered under different circumstances or situations. They both show the absolute and measurable contrast between God and humans, and the evidence that God is sensitive to the saints' pleading and urging.

Both parables show a person granting a request because of their selfish motives. In the Parable of the Persistent Friend the persevering prayer was for necessities. In the Parable of the Persistent Widow, the persevering prayer is for protection. Both parables conclude that God will not fail us as friends and acquaintances often do.

Please turn to Luke 18. The Parable of the Persistent Widow is especially linked with the last days and the final great crisis and painful circumstances the faithful remnant must face. A major resource for those who remain true to God at this time of great turmoil is prayer. So vengeance is God's alone and He will punish all who harm His elect and He will judge our oppressors. But as we wait for deliverance, persevering prayer is our supply of patience.

Now, the Parable of the Persistent Widow is preceded by an exhortation from Christ showing our duty in prayer, our dedication to prayer, and our resistance against our human tendency to discontinue prayer. It ends by indicating that prayer is a matter of faith.

Luke 18:1-8 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.' And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'" Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

In verse 1, Jesus said that men and women "always ought to pray and not lose heart." To "not lose heart" or "not faint" means to not grow weary, to not to give in to evil, and even to not turn coward.

The common human tendency to grow weary in prayer is an easy trap to fall into, but it still must be resisted. We know that it is our Christian duty as the elect of God to pray fervently and to not lose heart.

Jesus begins the application of the Parable of the Persistent Widow with the word "hear" in verse 6. Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said." So we will learn little or nothing in any area if we do not listen when lessons are being taught. This is an obvious and fundamental truth but is very often ignored.

Developing a good listening ear will advance our ability to learn. It is our ears, not our mouth that brings us knowledge. And if we do not listen well to the truth, our mouth will not speak the truth well either.

And so in examining Jesus' encouragement to pray persistently, we find the comparison that He makes between God and the unjust judge deeply revealing in this way. In the parable, Jesus did not compare God with a good man, but a godless man to give emphasis to the vast difference between what this unjust judge was and the righteous God is not.

The character of each is at opposite ends of the spiritual spectrum. The conduct of this unjust judge gives evidence of his chaotic, corrupt judgments. The judge saw himself as Christ saw him, as a man who did not fear God, nor has any concern for anyone else. So this judge was not concerned with God or the widow, but only himself. He could not be compelled to do anything.

He had prostituted himself in unrighteous judgments. And if this unjust judge could avenge this widow, whom he disdained, how much more does the righteous God do to avenge His elect? And we see in this parable, God's willingness to hear and answer the supplications of His own elect. He answers our prayers when offered according to His will.

In Luke 18, verses 5, 7, and 8, the word avenge, used by the unrighteous judge and of God, means the working out of his vengeance, not in the sense of retaliation, but of justice. And if God's elect is wrongly treated, we can be sure His retribution toward the offender will be swift.

If a mere selfish feeling exists with the unjust judge who avenges the widow, how much more will a selfless God come to our aid? We can expect substantially better treatment from a God of lovingkindness than a heartless judge.

The widow did not prevail because her plea was so pervasive. She only spoke eight explicit words. Sometimes too many words reveal a scarcity of desire or a lack of purpose because we ramble on. God has assured us that He hears and answers prayer. We must have the faith of Jesus Christ that He has what we need. He enjoys hearing us ask according to His will and He desires to give us abundantly what we should have.

Now, in the Parable of the Persistent Widow, Christ compares His own response to what God would do to that of the judge's response to the widow's plea. There are three main comparisons here and in each case, Jesus shows that God's response will be far superior to that of the judge. Let us look at the comparisons.

First of all, we are going to compare possibilities here in Luke 18:7, "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears with long them?" That phrase, "Shall God not avenge His own elect?"—if the unjust judge finally granted the widow her request, would not a just God do the same for His saints? The answer here implies an absolute "Yes!" And the point implied is that if anyone is going to help the needy, it will certainly be God.

Here is a major point of the parable. If a bad man will succumb to the mere force of the persistence of a person who is requesting that which he hates to hear, how much more certainly will a righteous God be moved by the faith and believing prayers of those whom He does love? If the widow could break down the resistance of a wicked judge to take her case, we can certainly count on God (who does not resist us) to take our case. The possibilities of help are far greater with God than with the wicked judge.

God assists the righteous. He answers prayers to be faithful to His own character and allows us to choose our actions toward Him. Biblically, the faithful are allowed to suggest to God that He should respond because His honor, glory, grace, mercy, and trustworthiness requires it. Such prayers by the saints suggest that God is pleased when His character is appealed to but not presumed upon.

Now, let us touch on some examples here. Abraham based his prayer on God's character in Genesis 18, verse 25.

Genesis 18:25 "Far be it from You [as Lord] to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

So that was Abraham's appeal to God, pointing out that He is a righteous judge.

Moses appeals to God's faithfulness to Himself when he prays in,

Exodus 32:12-13 "Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, 'He [that is, the Lord] brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm of Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel [Israel being the name of Jacob], Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'"

Moses appealed there and then God responds to Moses' prayer positively in,

Exodus 32:14 So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

So all Moses did was point out God's promise to take them into the land and give them the Promised Land and remind God of that. God was well aware of that but for whatever reason, God accepts those issues that people point out in their prayers. It has an impact.

Daniel recognized God's stance in prayer as being that of a compassionate God whose aim is to be steadfast to His own mercies.

Daniel 9:18 "O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies."

There is another indication that we cannot rely on our righteous deeds necessarily. I mean, we have to be obedient and that type of thing, but we should more properly and more definitely rely on God's mercies.

Daniel 9:19 "O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name."

Jesus also recognized His Father's attitude in prayer as being that of a caring Master whose goal is to be faithful to His own supreme will.

Luke 11:2 So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

So prayer is an exchange of confidence (mutually faithful) between God and His elect saints. God is positioned in mercy waiting for our obedience, while we are positioned in trust, recalling His promises. God can use any and everything possible to answer our prayers. And when He does, good results are certain.

The second comparison that I would like to make here is compassion.

Luke 18:7 "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?"

The phrase "His own elect who cry out day and night to Him."—the judge's lack of compassion can be seen in his callousness toward the widow's plight and suffering. The judge was not moved with any gracious enthusiasm to help the widow. But notice how God's enthusiasm compares. God is full of compassion for His own people in that He bears long with us. This is seen in two ways: the naming of His people and the hearing of His people.

First, in the naming of His people, God calls us His own elect. This name not only indicates divine sovereignty, but it also very strongly indicates divine affection. This name is a term of affection representing His great and special love in choosing us out of the world and giving us mercy and the potential for eternal life. His own elect is one of those names that shows His great love for us. And this love shows that God is more compassionate for the saints' needs than the judge was for the widow's needs.

Second, in the hearing of His people "who cried out day and night to Him," God hears differently than the unjust judge. Both heard the audible signs of cries for help. God was touched by that; the judge was not. God expressed His great compassion for the Israelites when He told Moses that He had heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters. "For I know their sorrows," as recorded in Exodus 3:7. So God says, He knows the sorrows of His people. God does not turn a deaf ear or harden His heart to the earnest cry of His own elect. And so the compassion of God for His saints' needs is much greater than the compassion of the judge for the widow's needs.

Now, please turn over to I John 3. We are to reflect the same compassion to anyone who needs our help. First and foremost, to our families and the church, as we reflect what God does for His elect. Our compassion must mirror His, not only in being without partiality but also in that it is expressed in action, which may involve personal sacrifice.

God first set the standard for personal sacrifice by offering His own Son as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins.

I John 3:16-18 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

The third comparison I want to go to is procrastination.

Luke 18:7 "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night, though He bears along with them?"

The phrase "though He bears along with them" is the one I want to concentrate on. The judge procrastinated in answering the widow's request. But Christ said that God often does the same thing. But in comparing procrastinations, we find that they are very different.

The judge procrastinates because of his lack of compassion, shortfall of conviction, and non-receipt of compensation, compensation being bribes and similar gifts. But God delays answering prayer for entirely different reasons—and His reasons are all noble. In a good sense, God procrastinates, but not in a condemning sense.

He procrastinates to give time for people to repent of their sins and to learn lessons. God procrastinates so people will have time to build up faith, which is often done by delay. He procrastinates to allow for the best set of circumstances to exist for the answer to be manifested. And when God delays, it is not out of indifference as it was in the unjust judge's case, but because of God's wholehearted interest in working things out for our good.

In these three comparisons—possibilities, compassion, and procrastination—we are greatly encouraged to pray. If the widow got the unjust judge to act on her behalf, how much more can we be assured that a just and holy God will act on our behalf? It is a guarantee! We just do not know when and in what way it will happen. We also we certainly hope that it is immediate, and often it is.

Luke 18:8 "I tell you that He will avenge them speedily."

God's commitment to answering prayer contains two dynamic elements: certainty and speediness. Now, when God says He will, it is as good as done. Nothing is more certain than the "He will" or the "I will" of God. Now people promise and fail, but God never fails to keep His promises.

At first glance, it may appear that we have a contradiction in Luke 18, verse 8 regarding speedily. Just before this sentence, He says, "I tell you that He will avenge them speedily," we read, "though He bears long with them."

The answer to what seems like a discrepancy is that speedily here refers more to the suddenness of the answer than the speed of coming. Speedily does not indicate soon but suddenly. When a crisis arrives, God's answer to the prayer is sure and sudden. In one sense, sometimes it is like a thief in the night—unannounced, without prior notice of when.

God may delay the answer to our prayer, but when it comes, it can come very suddenly. If speed is not in the quickness of the answer, then look for speed in the suddenness of the answer. Either way, unlike the unjust judge, God moves with speed when the time is right to answer our prayers and intervene.

Luke 18:8 "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

Some margins read the faith. "Will He really find the faith on the earth?" The faith delivered to the saints will be a scarce commodity when Christ returns. It is our solemn duty to keep the faith despite persecutions and trials.

Two important things are shown here: the character of the end times and the condemnation of faithlessness. First, we know that great wickedness and heresy and apostasy will exist at the end time just prior to the return of Christ to earth. And second, the word nevertheless, in verse 8, condemns faithlessness. And even though God works wonderfully in answering prayer as Scripture promises, nevertheless many people will not believe.

God has given people every reason to believe. Even in His creation, His invisible attributes are seen, but people refuse to believe. God has given people every reason, but their abundance of faith is in the wrong things, like excessive food and drink and other material things, as well as entertainment.

So God has given humanity the glory of the physical realm and He has given them signs and wonders. He has provided many infallible proofs by which to believe, but they still will not believe. And as a result, the end times are manifesting wholesale unbelief and rebellion.

Please turn over to Mark 11, verse 22. God has given us every encouragement to pray, to live His way of life, and to have faith in Him, but we still must work at making our call and election sure. Prayer is absolutely necessary for the development of our intimate relationship with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

Mark 11:22-24 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you will have them."

Jesus is recorded in,

Matthew 21:22 [as succinctly promising] "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

Now, the intent of the teaching of Jesus and the apostles was never reduced to people forcing themselves to believe what they did not really believe. Instead, it is related to genuine trust in God and obedience to and discernment of His will.

Please turn over to James 1, verse 5. Now, our prayers must be in line with God's will. Is it God's will that a mountain be removed right now, at this moment? Probably not. Then will God grant your request to move a mountain if it is against His will? But we just had a guarantee that if we had enough faith, we could move a mountain. Listen to what James has to say.

James 1:5-8 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James points out that without faith, our request will not be answered. And he emphasizes the importance of faith in asking. So if we ask God to move a mountain, is that really a faithful request? What would be the motive right now to ask such a thing? Pride, entertainment, just because it is there, like the reason for climbers to climb it. Would you be asking amiss?

James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

In James 5 we are familiar with James' statement about the prayer of faith and that it will save the sick.

James 5:14-15 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

So when we offer prayer in faith, we are exercising confidence in God. And notice it says there, "the prayer of faith." One very faithful person can have an impact. We should not ask for the world to pray for us or everyone to pray for us necessarily, if we are trying to force God into something. It is not wrong to ask people to pray for you. But if you are doing that just to force God to rectify the situation, then that would not be the right way to ask. So it has to be humbly.

And you can ask as many people or as few people as you want and God will answer the faithful prayer. James is not saying that the faithful belief means that the sick person recovers immediately, but that we should have unwavering confidence in God. We should have a confident belief that He will do what is best for all concerned—the individual, the family members, and the church family members.

Let us begin to wrap this up. We must acknowledge that God is in control and on His throne and ask Him to grant us wisdom to do our part. We do our part by expressing our earnest desire and by asking what we can do to fulfill the works that go with living faith. Then leave our worry with Him, while we continue to seek ways to work with Him to resolve the problem. The prayer of faith is to be accompanied by action on our part. But our actions will be in ineffective without God's guidance.

Our prayers must not be negative or overly emotional. Rather than destroying ourselves with negative emotions like society does, we must keep things in their true perspective. Anger, resentment, jealousy, destroy faith in God's goodness and justice, and affect our attitude toward everything.

Now for final scripture, please turn over to Psalm 37. Instead of giving in to self-pity and resentment as the world does, we must focus on trusting God. Trusting in God means faith in God; especially the more difficult aspect of faith, submission to His will in knowing that He will resolve the problem. And in this attitude of surrender, we will find peace and joy.

Psalm 37:3-7 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land; and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.

So by having a positive response to a bad situation, with God's help we can make wise decisions about how we are going to positively attack the problem. "Trust in the Lord" is expressed here in active obedience to and reliance on God. To commit our way to God is not simply abandonment of negative thoughts, but as a full commitment to overcome our feelings of anger, resentment, and discouragement, replacing them with faith and joy in the Lord.

While verse 3 expresses trust as "doing good," verse 5 expresses trust as "waiting patiently" for God to act. "Your way" in verse 5 relates to our whole life. God the Father expects His children to be children and to put themselves completely under His fatherly care.

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