Conditions of Answered Prayer Part 1

Introduction

Well, good morning. So wonderful to see so many out. Wonderful to have our visitors. Turn, if you will, to Matthew, the seventh chapter. We’ll be starting there in just a moment. I appreciate that song that was just led. You never mentioned him to me. And if if you read the bulletin, evangelism was also the topic in the bulletin, you might think that I would be preaching on evangelism today. And somehow I feel like I should be. But I’m not. And but that is something we all need to have on our minds, and I appreciate the reminders. In Matthew chapter 7, beginning of verse 7, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said, Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you.

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds. And to him who knocks, it will be open. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? I just kind of think of that for a moment. So you have a son coming and asking his father, can I have some bread? Well, the father is certainly not going to say, Well, why don’t you try to eat this rock right here? Verse 10, or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? Again, sort of a bizarre picture. Of course. If a son says, Daddy, can I have a fish to eat? The father’s not going to say, Well, I how about you just eat this snake?

Verse 11. If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who’s in heaven give good things to those who ask him? And so, just as we as parents would not give to our child something that would be harmful to them or not helpful to them, if they’re asking us for something that would be good for them, we give them that which is good for them. God will give that which is good to those who ask. When we, as uh as loving children, come to our loving Father and petition him. Well, have you ever wondered why aren’t my prayers being answered? I mean, I’m I’m asking and I’m not receiving, I’m seeking and I’m not finding, I’m knocking and the door’s not being opened.

1. We Need to Be Living a Godly Life

It sounds so simple, but it’s not happening for me. Well, I would like to suggest to you that if your prayers are not being answered, that it’s because I believe you are not meeting God’s conditions for answered prayer. And in my study of Scripture, I have found that there are at least five conditions for our prayers to be granted. We’re going to look at two of these this morning, and Lord willing, I’ll have a part two on this series to finish up a week from today at the same at the same hour. The first condition for answered prayer is that we need to be living a godly life. If you’ll be turning to John chapter 9. John chapter 9. In this chapter, Jesus heals a man that had been blind.

And uh in John chapter 9 and verse 31, this blind man, he is speaking to the Pharisees who are questioning him. He says, Now we know that God does not hear sinners. But if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, he hears him. Well, he was saying that because the Pharisees thought that Jesus was sinful.

And so this blind man, well, he’s not blind anymore, is saying, now, how can someone do this thing, this miracle that would be a sinner? We know that God does not hear sinners. Now he was not inspired, but the statement that he made is a statement that could not be denied, and is a statement that is shown to be true in many passages in the New Testament as well as in the Old Testament. And so I want to start in Psalm 34 and look at a number of passages that emphasize that God does not hear sinners. Psalm 34. Now the context of this is this idea of distress and calling upon God in these times of distress. And verse 15, starting, said the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Look at the ones that God listens to. It is the righteous. It is those who it is those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. You know, in time of distress, in time of calamity, in time of tragedy, it seems that just about everybody cries out to God. I recently had a conversation with someone who told me that he’s either atheist or agnostic. He wasn’t sure which.

And he said, Well, I guess all we can do is pray. And I said, But you’re an atheist. And you’re saying that we need to pray. I just found that to be, in a way, it was encouraging, but now that I think about it, it’s almost a little discouraging that here’s this individual that has no use for God, no belief in God, but now that there’s tragedy, now he needs God. You remember when 9 11 happened? I mean, some of you weren’t alive, but most of us were. You remember on the news all the talk about prayer and God and faith. I mean, I had never seen that on the news before. And but after the dust settled, that came to a screeching halt. People call on God when they need him, whether they serve him or not.

But who are the kinds of people that God hears in times of distress? It is not those who have no use for God and no belief in God and don’t call upon him every day. It is those who trust in the Lord, those who he regards as righteous. In the 66th Psalm, we see a similar context here of calamity and calling upon God. Psalm 66. I’d like to begin in verse 16 there.

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me.

What is the reason that the psalmist gives here for which his prayer was answered? It was the fact that he did not regard iniquity in his own heart. That doesn’t mean he was perfect, but it means he wasn’t living a life that was devoted to sin. And then verse 20, blessed be God who has not turned away my prayer nor his mercy from me. If you want to be able to say that and rejoice in answered prayer, then make sure that you do not regard iniquity in your own heart. Before we can expect for God to grant our requests, we must repent and turn away from the wickedness that is in our heart. In Proverbs 15 and verse 8. Proverbs 15. And verse 8, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who follows righteousness. Very simple. Verse 29. The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous. And then we have in Proverbs 28 and verse 9. I’m just kind of touching on these. They don’t require much commentary. They’re pretty self-explanatory. Verse 9 of Proverbs 28, one who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. Now you might think, well, of course, uh, you know, the sin of the wicked man, the sin of someone who turns his ear away from the law, that’s an abomination, you know, his lying lips, his adultery, or whatever. But you might think, well, maybe at least his prayer would be somewhat pleasing to the Lord.

Even his prayer is an abomination. It’s not that it’s slightly pleasing to the Lord. If he turns his ear away from the law and he tries to pray to God, that prayer to God is a thing that is offensive. It is disgusting, it is repulsive. We’ve all had that friend who just shows up when he wants money. Have you ever had that kind of friend? You know. He shows up and he acts interested in, you know, wants to catch up, and oh, this is great. And then I need some help. Okay, I’ll help you. Well, then you don’t hear from him. He doesn’t care about a relationship with you, and then he shows up one day down the road, and sure enough, after a little conversation, pretending like he’s interested in you, then he’s just asking for more money.

After a while, you’re going to grow weary of that. You’re not going to put up with that. In fact, it’s going to become an abomination to you and your eyes, because you’re going to realize that this individual has no use for me except for what I can give them. Now, think about how God views when people have no use for him, they have no use for his law and his ways, but then they have a need. And they think that they can just come before God and that God would just shower his blessings upon them at that time. And they just take the blessings and then go on about their merry way, ignoring God. You know, it doesn’t work that way. And that to God is an abomination.

Even if that one goes to God to praise God. Here’s an individual that doesn’t praise God with his life, doesn’t praise him with his heart, but he wants to praise him with his lips. That is offensive to our God. It is an affront to him. It is an abomination. Why? Well, because that individual is separated from God because of sin. In Isaiah 59, in verses 1 and 2. It says, Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. I mean, this is the time of the divided kingdom when Isaiah was doing his prophetic work.

It was a time of great sin. And so, well, why isn’t God hearing our prayer? Isaiah says, I’ll tell you why he’s not hearing your prayer. It’s not because there’s something wrong with God. It’s not that, well, you know, he’s just hard of hearing. It’s not that his hand is just too short. He can’t reach down there and fix the problem that you’re asking him to fix. Sometimes we might wonder when our prayers are not being answered, God, is there something wrong with you? Are you not the powerful God that you tell me that you are? Are you not the keeper of promises that you say that you are? You say that when I ask, it will be given. Well, brethren, we need to realize that if our prayers are not being answered, the problem is never God.

It is never God. The problem might be you, but it’s never God. And in this case, the problem with sin in Isaiah 59, 1 and 2. Sin is the separator. Now we all sin from time to time, but the difference is which lifestyle do you live? Do you live a lifestyle of righteousness and once in a while you mess up and you sin and you pray for forgiveness? And if you’re a Christian, you have the right to do that. Or do you live a lifestyle of wickedness and once in a while you mess up and do something right? Which lifestyle do you live? That’s the question. If you are a person who lives a lifestyle of wickedness, you’re separated from God. You have no relationship with him.

And if you have no relationship with him, you have no communication with him. Our covenant relationship with God is always lined up with the ability to communicate with God and with him answering our prayers. One preacher defined prayer as the means by which we attain oneness with God. I thought that was an interesting definition for prayer. It’s certainly one of the means for attaining oneness with God. So we’ve looked at several Old Testament passages to make this point that God does not hear sinners. Let’s look at a couple of New Testament ones. In James 5.16. James 5.16, it says the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Not just the effective fervent prayer of anyone, but of a righteous man. So we again need to make sure that we are living that righteous lifestyle.

Turn, if you will, to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3. And we’re going to look there in verse 7. This really is a beautiful verse as it applies to marriage and as it applies to prayer. 1 Peter 3 and in verse 7. Husbands likewise dwell with them with understanding, talking about their wives. Giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. Now what does this mean that husbands need to dwell with your wives with understanding? Well, I think it pretty well means what it says. It literally means according to knowledge. And so we need to strive to understand her and be patient and give honor to her as to a weaker vessel.

Now, does that mean, you know, less important? Does that mean inferior? No. It might be like the difference between that, you know, big gulp cup that you get from 7-Eleven and a cup that is in your wife’s China collection. You know, one preacher preached on this and he passed around the big gulp cup. You know, you can drop that and throw it on the floor, do whatever you want to with it, it’ll be just fine. By the way, you don’t put that one up in the china cabinet with a light on it. But then there was this piece of fine china that he had, this delicate cup. Beautiful. And he passed that around. And I’m telling you, you handled that one a lot differently than you did the big gulf cup.

And so the point here is you give honor to her as to the weaker vessel because that’s a vessel that deserves honor. That’s the delicate teacup. And that meant that’s how we need to dwell with our wives. That’s how I need to dwell with my wife with understanding, with love. We need to cherish our wives. Now I’m not up here to preach on marriage today. But I wanted to make all of this to apply to the very end of the verse. Why are husbands told to view their wives that way, to dwell with them as understanding, as being heirs together of the grace of life? The end of the verse says, that your prayers may not be hindered. So, husbands, if we’re not cherishing our wives, if we’re not honoring her, and putting her up, as it were, in this place of honor, and understanding her, then God is not hearing our prayers.

And what does that indicate about our relationship with God if God’s not hearing our prayers? We don’t have a relationship with God. It’s a pretty serious matter. Now you see, we could apply this to all sorts of things. You could apply it to bring your children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, that your prayers may not be hindered. Children, obey your father and mother, honor them that your prayers may not be hindered. Love your enemies and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that your prayers may not be hindered. Do not forsake our own assembling together, that your prayers may not be hindered. Do you see? If we have a broken relationship with God, then our prayers will not go any higher than the ceiling.

One other aspect of a Christian life that’s so very important and is connected with prayer is forgiving one another. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus, in verse 12 in the model prayer teaches to pray, forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven those who are indebted against us. And then in the commentary, at the end of the prayer, at the end after he teaches the model prayer, he comments on verse 12, and he says in verses 14 and 15, for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. So if you go to God in prayer, asking for forgiveness, which probably we do often and we should.

And you have not forgiven someone that has done something wrong against you. They have cheated you. They have maybe slandered your name. They have done you wrong in some way, shape, or form, and you’re holding a grudge still in your heart, and you expect that you can go before God and say, God forgive me of this massive debt that I have against you. Think again. God will not answer that prayer according to what Jesus teaches here. He will not answer that prayer because you haven’t forgiven another. And so forgiving one another is just one aspect, a major aspect, however, of living a godly life. So we’ve looked at all sorts of passages in general and in specific ways about how we must live a godly life if we are to expect God to hear and answer our prayers.

But the question might come up are there ever times when God hears the prayers of someone that is a non Christian? And I want to answer that. I have to answer that with yes, because of Cornelius. If you’ll be turning to Acts the 10th chapter. And beginning in verse 1 of Acts chapter 10, there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment. So this man’s a Gentile. And in verse 2, a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always. He is what you might call a God fearer. Okay, he wasn’t a Jew, but he was one who feared the God of the Jews and gave generously of his means and prayed always.

I mean, this guy is very devout. He’s very religious, but he’s not saved. How do I know that? Well, chapter 11 and verse 14, Peter was going to preach words by which Cornelius and his household would be saved. So that means in this condition, he’s unsaved, but he’s very spiritual. Verse 3, about the ninth hour of the day, that’s about three o’clock in the afternoon, the Jewish hour of prayer. He saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, Cornelius. And when he observed him, he was afraid and said, What is it, Lord? So he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. So here’s this man that’s a non-Christian, but he is devout, and his prayers are a memorial before God.

Something that God views as a beautiful thing. In fact, when Cornelius is later explaining this in verse 31, he says that the angel says, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. And so what can we deduce from this? I believe that we can deduce from this that there are at least cases in which God will hear the prayers of those who are non Christians if they are seeking God’s will and if they are living right, like we see Cornelius doing. I don’t know what all prayers God will hear and will not hear. I’m not sure what all Cornelius was praying. I can imagine that at least God would hear the prayer, Lord, lead me to the truth.

2. We Must Pray God’s Will

And answer that. So, I wanted us to see that caveat. To sum up, God hears the prayers of the saved who are doing his will and the unsaved who are seeking his will. Now, the second condition of answered prayer, and the last one we’re going to deal with in this morning’s lesson, is that we must pray God’s will. Turn, if you will, to James chapter 4. James, the fourth chapter. And I want to begin reading actually in verse 1. I know I have verse 3 on the slide. Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you do not have, because you do not ask.

And I’ll just pause there for a moment. So the attitude here is, I want things. So how am I going to get them? I’m going to have to go and take them for my own. Take them for myself. I may have to take it from somebody else. Instead of, all you had to do is ask. And God would take care of you. But you have to ask with the right motives, because verse 3, you ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. I remember when I was young. I don’t remember how young, but I lost some money. It seems like it was a $20 bill. And I went into the laundry room and started praying that God would help me to find this $20 bill.

Because I was afraid that’s where it had gotten lost in the wash. And do you know why I was praying for this $20 bill? You know, was it so that I could help some needy person or I had some real serious need? No. It was because I wanted to go to the skating rink. And I needed to spend this $20 at the skating rink. Do you think God’s going to hear a prayer like that? I don’t think so. Because I was asking amiss. I was asking with wrong motives that I may just spend it on my pleasures. Not to say that we cannot ask God to give us things. We need to pray as Jesus taught in the model prayer, give us each day our daily bread.

But we need to be careful of our motives. That’s what I’m saying. And so make sure that our motives are ultimately to praise God. If our motives are self serving, worldly, or materialistic, then our will and God’s are diametrically opposed. And so ultimately, we are not praying God’s will if we have selfish motives. In Matthew chapter 6 and in verse 10, Jesus taught to pray, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And so our real desire in prayer should be to seek for God’s will to be done above all else. And I can think of no better example of this than Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. If you will turn to Matthew chapter 26, that’s one account that we have. This is shortly before Jesus is going to be arrested and then put on trial and of course crucified.

And he goes into the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives, and he takes Peter, James, and John with him. And he instructs them to sit here while I go and pray over there. We see that at the end of verse 36. Then in verse 39, and he went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed. Now he’s praying this in agony. And Luke mentions that he was he was sweating as, as it were, great drops of blood, whether that’s to be understood that it was coming out as blood, or it was just dripping as blood might drip from a wound. But this was an agonizing prayer. Oh my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. And then again in verse 42, it says again a second time, he went away and prayed, saying, Oh my Father, if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it, your will be done. In verse 44 mentions he prayed it the third time, saying the same words. Let this cup pass from me. He did not want to have to drink this cup that was coming. But his ultimate desire was to do God’s will. Let me ask you, was his prayer granted? Did God allow this cup to pass from him? No, his prayer was not granted. He had to drink the cup. So we need to realize, sometimes we feel, well, why are my prayers being answered?

We need to realize that even Jesus prayed something that was not granted by the Father. And the one reason it wasn’t is because it wasn’t the Father’s will that this cup would pass from him. In fact, you go over to John 18. Now, it’s interesting, isn’t it, that when Judas came and this band of men to arrest Jesus, that Jesus didn’t run or flee. In fact, he had to go out to them and say, I am He. And then after they fell to the ground, he had to say it again. But after Peter whips his sword out and cuts off the right ear of the servant of the high priest whose name was Malchus, we read in verse 11, so Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into its sheath.

Shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? It’s fascinating when you realize that he had just prayed, let this cup pass from me moments before. But now he knows and sees that he’s going to have to drink this cup, and he is resolved in his mind to submit to the will of the Father. Shall I not drink this cup? Which the Father has given me. And so our attitude needs to be whenever we are praying that God would remove something and we realize that it’s not going to be removed, that we submit to the will of the Father in loving trust and be willing to drink whatever cup it is that the Father is giving us. We have a similar situation, totally different in some ways, but similar in others, in 2 Corinthians chapter 12.

If you will be turning to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Now, Paul here is dealing with defending his own apostleship. And at the beginning of chapter 12, there, he’s speaking of visions and revelations. Actually, one specific vision where he was taken up into heaven, into paradise, that is. And in verse 7, he says, unless 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, do we know what this thorn in the flesh was? We don’t know. But that’s a figure of speech. Apparently, this was some malady he was going through, or some trouble he was going through that was causing suffering, and he wanted it removed desperately.

He calls it a messenger of Satan that was sent to torment him, but he also says it was given to him lest he be exalted above measure. Because he was having all these revelations. It could be easy to become prideful in that case.

Now can you relate to that? Have you ever had a thorn in the flesh that was some trouble in your life, maybe some physical malady that you were going through, and it was just excruciating. And you just prayed, God, and you prayed to God many times, take this away from me. And then it wasn’t taken away. Well, you know what? If that’s the case, you can relate to Paul, the apostle, who did that very thing. And in verse 9, of course, we realize that Paul had direct revelation from Jesus. 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 and reproaches and needs and persecutions and distresses for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. What we have to realize, brethren, is we have to realize that God’s desire is not to take every malady out of our life and every ounce of suffering that we could possibly have. It’s not bad to pray that God would remove this or that. But we need to remember, and it is a healthy mindset to just keep in mind that God’s desire is not to heal all the sick people in the world. I mean, isn’t that what heaven’s for? When all the problems are taken away. We need to realize that sometimes God allows us to suffer through these things because it will make us better.

It will make us more humble. It will draw us closer to God. I had a conversation with a man just recently. I preached the gospel meeting last week in Palm Springs Drive, and they have a member there that had a stroke years ago, years ago. And we were talking about that, and he was telling me that, you know, he can’t even read anymore. And the different struggles that he has. He said, But I believe that God caused this to happen to me. Now, of course, he has no revelation to know that for sure, but he said, I’ll tell you what, it has humbled me because before all this I could do anything. And before all this, I didn’t really need God. But now I know that I need God.

So whether God did send that directly or not, we sure know that whatever suffering a person is going through, be it you or me or anyone, that it can make us better. And God’s desire is not to take away all of our problems. Sometimes He allows them to happen. And we have to realize that God knows best. We may think we know best. We may think that things will be better. My life needs this problem to be fixed. But we see things from a very temporal standpoint. We have a very small understanding, but God has all understanding and all knowledge and all wisdom. He knows best, and ultimately our heart needs to be one. Whatever we request of God, that we are willing to submit to His will.

We cannot always know God’s will in a matter. Sometimes we can. I mean, if you go to God in penitence as a Christian, praying for forgiveness, having forgiven others, you can rest assured that your sins will be gone and removed. And don’t doubt that. In fact, that’s another condition to have faith. We’ll talk about that next week. But there are some things we, you know, sometimes we cannot know God’s will. You cannot know when you pray that it will rain, that it’s God’s will. Maybe there are other people in the same area praying that it will continue not to rain. You can’t know if it’s God’s will that someone who is sick will get better. It might be God’s will that that person not get better.

Conclusion

We can’t always know God’s will. Therefore, we sometimes cannot know whether a prayer will be answered. But we can know that if a thing that we are petitioning God for is God’s will, that God will indeed answer it. And that, of course, assumes that we are living a godly life, as well as meeting the other conditions for answered prayer that we will talk about next week. If you’re not a Christian, and you’re living in sin, you’re a slave. You’re a slave to sin. And you are separated from God. I hope and pray that you will consider your relationship. It’s not important that you just feel close to God. It’s important that you can know from studying God’s word that you are close to God, that God really does have a relationship with you.

And to know that when you go to Him in prayer, that He will hear your prayers and grant your requests. That is a privilege that the Christian has who is living right before God. If you want to have a relationship with God, it’s the greatest life you can imagine. You can start that relationship today if you are outside of Christ by coming to the Lord, believing in His Son Jesus Christ, confessing faith in His Son, repenting of your sins and being immersed in water, and then continuing to obey the gospel until the day you die. And in the end you will be saved by the grace and by the mercy of our God through His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. If you’re a Christian and you would like our prayers, and you would like us to help you in any way spiritually, we would love to assist you if you would come to the front as we stand and sing the song of invitation.