In the book of Hebrews chapter 11, I have six texts of Scripture this
morning I want to read to you. I'll read them as I get to them.
But I want us to begin with my first text here in Hebrews chapter
11 and verse 6. I want to look at the subject
this morning of unanswered prayer. Maybe the reasons for unanswered
prayer. And I want to begin at the very
basic, very basic reason for unanswered prayer. I have talked
to lost people and asked them about seeking the Lord to be
saved. Seek the Lord for His mercy.
I've had many lost people to tell me, make a statement to
me, something like this. I did pray to God. I did ask
God. And He didn't hear me. And I've
had saints, believers, I've experienced this and all of us experienced
this, unanswered prayer. And I want to begin this morning
with these six passages of Scripture to look at this. And I want to
begin on purpose being very, very, the basic aspect. Begin where we all begin with
seeking God, praying to God for salvation, for mercy. And the
first passage I want to read is found here in Hebrews chapter
11 and verse 6, speaking of faith. Enoch had this testimony that
he pleased God. In verse 6, But without faith
it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Now I'm saying this is the very
basic because If a man's going to be saved, the Bible says he's
going to seek the Lord. He's going to call upon the Lord.
And this is where he began seeking God for the salvation of his
soul. And if a man has begun to do
that, he needs instructions. Here is the instructions that
he needs. He needs to know this. He needs
to remember this. He needs to believe this verse. He that comes to God must believe
that He is. He that comes to God. We know
this is not a physical coming. Nobody physically comes to God. God is a spirit. He's an eternal
spirit. It would be impossible to come
to God physically. If we did and saw His face, we
would die, wouldn't we? This is a heart coming to Him. A heart seeking Him. When you seek Me with all your
heart, this is prayer. He that cometh to God in prayer. And I'm not even saying that
it's words. Sometimes prayer isn't what we
speak necessarily. It's the heart, isn't it? The
Lord told the Jews, He said, you draw near to me with your
lips. You honor me with your mouth, but your heart is far
from me. You worship me in vain, He said. So it's the heart seeking, not
physically. And you know, it may be, it don't
matter the condition of a person's body, He may be standing, he
may be prostrate, he may be kneeling, he may be walking, but this is
the heart seeking God. He that cometh unto me must believe
that I am. And that's the second thing here. He that, he must believe, he
that cometh to God in prayer must believe that he is. must believe that God exists. You and I have seen movies where
somebody's been in trouble. Some kid or some adult, they're
in trouble and they go out by themselves and get along under
the stars or something and they make this statement and it seems
so humble. If there is a God, if you really
exist, help us. Now that may seem so humble But
that's a prayer that will not be heard. He that comes to God
must believe that He is. And it may sound humble for a
person to say, Oh, I'm too bad. I'm too unworthy. I'll just not
pray. That's not a humble prayer. That's
unbelief. That prayer dishonors God. He
that comes to God must believe that He is. And it's only faith
that pleases God. We talked about that this morning,
didn't we? It's just faith to please God.
And a man can't please God any other way except it's by faith. Everything we do pleases Him
if it's done by faith. Faith honors Him. And unbelief
grieves His heart. And everything around us, the
Bible says, declares that God exists. The creation declares
that. It preaches to us, yes, I have
a creator, I have a God. Our conscience tells us that,
doesn't it? God has left me in a conscience.
And that conscience declares there's a God. We're accountable
to God. And my goodness, look at the
Bible. The Bible begins with, in the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. This is a book about God, isn't
it? He that comes to God must believe that He is. He that comes to God in prayer
must believe that God exists, that He's real. But there's something
here that has to be emphasized. And it's this. He that comes
to God must believe that He is God. That's what that's saying,
isn't it? He that comes to God must believe
that He is God. Those who truly begin to come
to God in prayer by faith, they have this sense that God is God. That He's different than they
are. that He's outside of them, that He's above them, that He's
over them. They may not be able to articulate
His glory and tell of all of His attributes, but they're humbled
by this sense that God is God. And I tell you, you take a man
that is really, truly seeking God in prayer, He would never
deny God's authority and God's right and God's power and God's
existence. A man that doubts that, he does
not come. He does not come. Those who say,
I've sought God and He didn't hear me, then need to examine
themselves by this verse and say, do I even really believe
that God exists? Do I believe that He's the Creator?
Do I even have this sense of His awesomeness, His eternality,
His power? If you said to one who was beginning
to seek God, Do you realize that all the nations before Him are
as nothing? Do you know that you before this
God are just a drop in a bucket, that you're nothing, that you're
vanity? Do you realize that there's none
like Him, that He has no equal? Do you know that He can do His
will and none can stay His hand? And He don't have to give account
to anybody for His doings? You know what that person would
say? I believe that! I believe that! I think, brothers
and sisters, if you find a man or a woman that is truly seeking
God according to this text, and you opened up your Bible to that
person, and you represent God as He's revealed in the Bible,
they would bow to it. Because they believe that God
is God. Somebody said, do we have to
believe in the sovereignty of God? You better bet we do. And
what does that mean? That doesn't mean some system
of theology. That means that God is God. When
we come to Him, we've heard some people say that you've got God's
hands tied. Is it possible for a man to come
to God thinking in his heart that I control God? That I somehow have to release
Him? I've got Him over a barrel and
I've got to let Him up. If that man says God didn't hear
me, then I can tell him why. You've not come to God in prayer,
believing that He is God. Boy, there's a sense, you can
just read this, and you can get the sense of what the Holy Spirit
was relating here. That we're not coming to a human
being. We're not coming to a mere king.
We're approaching to the everlasting God. And he says it is. This makes
this third part of this verse here amazing. He that cometh
to God must believe that he's God. And look at this. He must
believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him. Must believe that he's good.
Isn't that what that means? I think Martin Luther would say
that. He must believe that God is good. I put that little statement
in the bulletin a few weeks ago, you might remember. He said the
highest degree of faith is to believe that God is good
though He damns so many and saves so few. To believe that God is
good. And that's what this verse here
is teaching us. To believe that God is good right
in the teeth. of our sin and our unworthiness. Isn't that a miracle of grace?
That poor broken publican that stood in the temple and beat
upon his chest and said, God be merciful to me, a sinner.
You know what that man believed about God? That God was good. That He was a rewarder, not of
some merit, but a rewarder of mercy. that God would be found
of those who really sought Him in His goodness. How good is
God to hear me call for mercy and justify me and save me? How good is God? And that's what
this verse here is saying. It's difficult to believe that
God is this good. in the face of our sinfulness
and evil. How good is God that He could
save me? That He could forgive all my
sins? How good is God? And buddy, I
tell you what, to say I believe in the goodness of God and to
believe it is two different things, isn't it? Gail was telling me
this last week that she was listening to a message by Brother Mayhem. I think she said it was a time
of hedged in by threats and promises. Hedged in by threats and promises.
And boy, sometimes the threats, the threats can almost drive
you to despair, can't they? And then you've got these promises.
You've got these threats lest we presume upon His mercy. You've got these promises lest
we despair of mercy. You've got His justice that threatens
us because of our sins. You've got His goodness that
promises to save us when we seek it. He that comes to God must
believe that He is. And that He is a rewarder in
spite of our badness. God is good. He's not like us,
is He? He's not like us. You may do
some things to me and I don't want to see your face. I don't
want to hear your apologies, nothing else. Just leave me alone.
Let me get on with my life and you get on with your life. But
here we have rebelled against God, spit in His face, shook
our fist at Him, and now to say, I believe that He's so good.
that He may be merciful. He may save me. Boy, that is
a great deal of faith, isn't it? And then, in this part of
the verse, He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Diligently seek Him. You see these fellas talking
about Well, I prayed to the Lord. I did. I did pray to Him. How
many times did you pray to Him? Well, I think probably two. I
called my doctor's office the other day and the phone was busy.
You think I quit calling? I put it on speed dial. What did I do? I needed to talk
to the doctor's office. If we're serious about this,
If this is critical to us, that God hear us twice? I prayed twice? I sought Him twice? How important is it this morning,
dear soul, to you that God hear your prayer? How important is
it to you this morning that God save you? How important is forgiveness
of sins to you this morning? Is it important enough to seek
Him with all your heart? Diligently seek Him? When you seek Me with all your
heart, you shall find Me. We seldom do anything with all
our hearts. Some things are very important
to us. I go to my study, and I'm out there studying the Scriptures,
looking up verses, taking down notes. And it's all I can do
to keep my mind on what I'm doing, especially on a beautiful day.
I'm out doing something else in the yard or something in my
mind. It's difficult to do anything
with all our hearts. I was reading a little It's a
little comical story, but it's a true story. A lady was telling
about her mother and said she often saw her mother in her bedroom
and she always had the little nightstand that she knelt by
and prayed. Sometimes she said her prayers
were long and one time she opened up the door and she was watching
her mother pray. And she said just every little
bit she had get a pen and she had a pad there and she'd write
down something on that pad and she'd lay back down and start
praying again. She thought, man, she's writing down these deep
thoughts. She's having these deep thoughts about what she's
praying about. And she said her mother finally left and she went
in the bedroom and said, I thought I'd, you know, I'll see what
she has wrote. And she looked at that little
pad and it was a grocery list. It was a grocery list. It's sort of funny to think about
that, but how does that go in the light of this? diligently seek Me." And this
is the reason why sometimes you talk to lost people and they
say, well, I prayed but God didn't hear me. Did you seek Him diligently? Were you honest with Him? Were
you serious with Him? Were you sincere with Him? Brothers
and sisters, I just earnestly believe this morning I don't
care who a man or woman is or what they've done in their lifetime.
I believe every man and woman and boy and girl who seeks God
as this verse instructs them to seek, I believe they have
a promise that God will hear. I believe they have that promise
that God will hear. He will hear. The second passage,
the second scripture I have is over in the seventh chapter of
the book of Hebrews. There are so many places that
we could go on this, but here's another reason that, and it goes
right back to the basic essential thing again, in Hebrews chapter
seven, and look here in verse 25. In verse 25. For prayer to be heard, God must be sought. diligently
in faith as God, and He must be sought through the One Mediator. Look what it says in verse 25.
Wherefore He is able, the Lord Jesus Christ is able, to save
to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him. Now you don't have to mark that
with your pencil, but mark that little word there in your mind,
by. That's another one of these little
words that has humongous implication. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make
intercession for them. This little word by, that means He's the only way.
That means God can only be approached by Him. By Him. You know, in Clarence
S. Joe and I, we'd go to a ball
game. We came over to Carmel. And you
guys whipped up on us in that basketball game. Beat us. But
we got there at this Carmel High School. We couldn't find the
main entrance. We drove all the way around that
building. We found a side door, and we
saw some people going in the side door, but you could tell
that wasn't the main entrance. So we drove all the way around
the building, and finally, on the other side of the building,
we found the main entrance. We went in the main entrance,
paid the price to get in the gymnasium, and sat and watched
the ballgame. The other people came in the side entrance and
made their way, I suppose, down through a hallway and finally
got out into the gymnasium. There was a side entrance into
that place. But listen, that's not so when
a man comes to God. There's only one way to God. There's only one door to salvation
and eternal life and the kingdom of God. And that's by Jesus Christ
the Lord. By Him. Listen to this. Verily I say unto you, I am the
door. By me. There's the word. By me,
if any man enter in, he shall be saved. I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
except by me. By me. You know who will be saved. You
know who God will hear. Those who come to Him by this
one mediator. But you know this text here,
this text here even gets more critical than that, doesn't it? And we could say it like this,
only God will hear those whom Jesus Christ prays for. Ain't
that what he's saying in that verse? He's able to save them
to the uttermost who come to God by Him, seeing He make of
intercessions for them. Wasn't that what he said? Father,
I don't pray for the world, but I pray for them whom You've given
me. He says, Peter, I have prayed
for you. God won't hear any man. in this matter of salvation,
but that man who has a mediator, who prays for him and pleads
his cause. It's not only that we come to
God by a mediator, there's a reason. The mediator is the one that
makes us accepted. He's the one that intercedes
to us for us, isn't he? I met a young man yesterday morning
for breakfast. I wanted to meet him for a while,
and we met, and we were sitting there talking, and he asked me
a question that's been on a lot of people's mind this last week.
Billy Graham died Wednesday morning, I guess, and he asked me this
question. He said, what do you think about
Billy Graham? That ain't the first time I've
had that question asked, but thought on a lot of people's
mind. I don't have to give my opinion
of Billy Graham. But let me give you Billy Graham's
opinion of the way of salvation. This is from his own mouth that
I've read and I've seen myself. And this goes along right with
this verse and shows how important this is. He was doing an interview
with Robert Shuler, The Hour of Power. And Shuler asked this
question. He said, tell me what is the
future of Christianity? And Graham said, I think there
is the body of Christ which comes from all the Christian groups
from around the world or outside the Christian groups. I think
everybody who knows Christ and loves Christ, whether they are
conscious of it or not, they are members of the body of Christ.
I don't think we're going to see a great sweeping revival
that will turn the world to Christ at any time. God's purpose for
this age is to call out a people for His name and that is what
He's doing today. He is calling out a people whether
they come from the Muslim world or the Buddhist world or the
Christian world or the non-believing world. They're members of the
body of Christ because they have been called of God. They may not even know the name
of Jesus, but they know in their hearts that they need something
they don't have, and they turn to the only light they have,
and I think that they are saved and going to heaven with us.
Sure. What I hear you saying is that
it's possible for Jesus Christ to come into a human heart and
soul and life, even if they have been born in darkness and never
had exposure to the Bible. Is that the correct interpretation
of what you're saying? Graham, yes it is, for I believe
that. I have met people in various
parts of the world in tribal situations. They have never seen
a Bible or heard about a Bible, and they have never heard of
Jesus. But they believe in their hearts
that there is a God and have tried to live a life that is
quite apart from the surrounding community in which they live.
Sure. This is fantastic. I am so thrilled
to hear you say that. There is a wideness in God's
mercy. Grail. There is. There really
is. What did I just read to you?
I read to you that there's a side door. Here's somebody that's
never heard the name of Jesus Christ. And yet they can go to
God. They can somehow make their way
down the hallway and wind up in the kingdom of God, in heaven
at last, where you're going. What is that? That's another
door. Is it not? What did Peter say about this?
He said there is none other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must We must be saved. Graham said they never heard
the name. Then how can they approach unto
God? He said the prophets gave him witness that through his
name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of
their sins. God said to Noah, I'm sending
a flood. And there was one way to escape the wrath of God, and
that was in that ark. How many doors, how many ways
was there to get into that ark? One door. One door. There was no side doors to escape
from the wrath of God. One door. If you'd have been
down in Egypt, close to midnight, and you were outside the house,
and you were a firstborn son, you wouldn't have ran just to
any house. You wouldn't have said all that matters, just get
in a door. You would have looked for a door
with a blood on it, wouldn't you? A bloody door. And that's this door. This door
is a bloody door. It's a redeeming door. It has
Christ's name on it. That's the door of eternal life.
The Lord Jesus said, He that don't enter by me, but climbeth
up some other way, some other way. What's Billy Graham talking
about? Some other way. They never heard
of Jesus. That's another way. And what
did our Lord Jesus say? They're thieves and robbers. Turn to James chapter 4 with
me for the third one. Just back over to your right.
James chapter 4. the reasons for prayers not being heard. Brothers and sisters, I believe
the Bible teaches. I believe it holds out absolutely
no hope. I don't care if you live in the
United States. I don't care if you live in the
dark jungles of New Guinea. I don't care if you live somewhere
in the rainforest. You have no hope of salvation
if you don't hear of Jesus Christ and come to God by Him. Now if
the heathen are saved without him, if they're saved without
the gospel, for God's sake, leave them alone. Leave them alone. It would be worse to go there
and preach to them and then reject the gospel. Leave them alone
if they can be saved without it. That's critical, isn't it? I'm not telling you my opinion
of Billy Graham. I think you know what he believes. Here's another reason for prayers
not being answered and James tells us like this in James chapter
4 and look in verse 1. From whence come wars and fightings
among you? Come they not hence even of your
own lusts that wars in your members? You lust and have not, you kill
and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and you war
and you have not because you ask not, and yet you ask and
receive not because you ask amiss. that you may consume it upon
your own lust." He doesn't categorize these things that they ask for.
He just says, anytime we ask for things, it's just lust to
fulfill the desires of our flesh, to satisfy flesh. He said, God
is not going to hear that. He's just asking a myth. We have
to determine what those things are, don't we? That's a myth.
I want you to look at another passage with me. It's not on
the text, but look. I want to show you Solomon's
prayer, what he asked for in 1 Kings chapter 3 right quickly.
Look over there with me, 1 Kings chapter 3. Look here how Solomon prayed.
I think he's a good example to us how we should pray when we
pray. I have prayed amiss. I have prayed
and it's been so evident that it was amiss. Things happen in
my house or to my house or to my car and I get so grieved about
it. And Lord, I just need a better
house. I need some remodeling work or
something. Lord, I need this. And isn't
that amiss? I need a better car. Isn't that
amiss? You don't need a better car. You want a better car. Isn't
that the way we are? And sometimes you pray amiss
and don't even know it. I have noticed sometimes the
motive of my heart. Lord, bless the message this
morning. Would you bless the message?
But when I dug down deep in my heart, it wasn't as much the
message as it was I wanted to bless it. I wanted to feel good. I wanted people to say, man,
what a message. But how much was it for His glory,
the increase of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and the good of
poor lost souls? How often we ask amiss and we
go off wondering, why wasn't I hurt? Look here what Solomon said.
David had died and Solomon had come to the throne. And boy,
he felt like a fool. And he says here in verse 5,
1 Kings chapter 3 verse 5, In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon
in a dream by night and said, God, and God said to him, Ask
what I shall give thee. What would you have asked for?
Man, what would you have asked for? What could he? You ask and
I'll give it to you. Well, in the last portion of
verse 7, he says, I am but a little child, I know not how to go out
and to come in. And verse 9 is his request. Give
therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that
I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge
this so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord
that Solomon had asked these things. And God said unto him,
Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for
thyself long life, neither hast thou asked for thyself riches,
nor hast thou asked life for thine enemies, that ye may kill
them, they die. But thou hast asked for thyself
understanding to discern judgment. Behold, I have done according
to thy word. Lo, I have given thee a wise
and an understanding heart, so that there are none like thee
before, neither shall there be after thee. Boy, don't this put
the nail in the coffin of this prosperity gospel, health and
prosperity gospel. You haven't asked even for help
for a long life. You've not asked for wealth.
You've not asked for a nice house or a new vehicle. What have you
asked for? An understanding heart that you may know me better. Isn't that what He said? Oh,
to know Him better. To understand the Lord better. His Word, His ways. to understand
my own self, my need, to be understanding with God's people. Boy, that's
what we need, isn't it? And not these other things. And I guess the reason sometimes
that we're not heard. I'm ashamed of myself. I'm ashamed
when any more when I pray anything about these temporal things.
when I have brothers and sisters in New Guinea who are living
without electricity. And brothers and sisters in the
Yucatan living in little huts with dirt floors. And me praying,
Lord, I need a new door for my house. I need a new roof. This one is leaking. Asking a mess. Seek ye first. and seek You foremost,
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness." I bet he'll hear that prayer. 1 John chapter 5. Look over here
quickly for the fourth thing. We'll go through this as quick
as we can. 1 John chapter 5. I think this is one of the most
difficult things about prayer when we pray is to discern the
Lord's will, God's will in our prayers. Still talking about
Why prayers go unanswered? Look at what He says in 1 John
chapter 5 and look at verse 13 through 15. Verse John 5, 13. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that
we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will,
He heareth us. And if we know that He hears
us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petition that
we desire of Him. When we pray and it's God's will,
then He'll answer that prayer. That's what John is telling us. If we can know God's will and
we ask according to His will, then He hears us and gives that
to us. You know, sometimes a man may
have the greatest motives, the best motives, God-honoring motives,
and he may pray to the Lord and it still not be God's will. This
is one of the, sometimes it gets us so frustrated about prayer
because we pray and the prayer is good. Paul desired the salvation
of the nation of Israel. He wanted to see a great awakening
in that nation. He wanted to see those people
come to Christ. He said, I have this continuous sorrow over them.
And I pray to God that they might be saved. But you know something?
It wasn't God's will to save them. It just wasn't God's will
to save them. Paul finally said, the wrath
of God has come upon them to the uttermost degree. Sometimes
that's the way it is in prayer. We pray. And our prayers are
God-honoring, and it would be for the good of His Church, but
it's not His will. And you know what happens to
us when we find that out? We just submit to His will. It
doesn't mean we quit praying. We continue if the prayer is
God-honoring. But we have to do as our Master
said, Father, not my will, but Your will be done. And you know
what? When we find out that we prayed
and our prayer has been God-honored, but it's not His will to answer
it, we can know this, that if it's not God's will, then it's
right. Then it's good. I've had children
that I've prayed for. My children. You guys have children
you've prayed for. We have lost loved ones we've
prayed for. And up until now, it's not been God's will to save
them. Did we quit praying for them? No? Well, we have this
submission that's in our heart. Lord, if it's your will, if it's
your will, and if it's not, then we're content with that offering.
And it always turns out good when we find out whether it's
God's will or not. It always turns out good. Sometimes
we can't understand. If this is for God's glory, why
can't it be His will? That's confusing sometimes. But
if it's His will, it's good, no matter if it crosses my will
or not. You think Paul, when he wanted
that thorn taken out of his flesh, wasn't that a good thing to get
that thorn away from him? That was a messenger of the devil.
And he prayed three times about it. And the Lord said, no, it's
not my will. But how did that turn out in
the end? Didn't that turn out good? He said, I've experienced
because of this thorn the power of Christ working in me. I am
so thankful that it wasn't the Lord's will to remove this thorn.
When Martha and Mary prayed about their brother, Lord, if you'd
have been here, he wouldn't have died. Can't you detect just a
little bit of resentment in their voice? Both of them said the
same thing. We prayed and we even sought help from you, but
Lord, you didn't show up and our brother died. I bet you they were glad that
the Lord's will was done and not theirs when the Lord Jesus
said, Lazarus, come forth, and they saw the glory of God. He
may not answer your prayer because it's not His will. But if it's
not His will, then know this, it's going to be better for you
that He didn't answer your prayer because His will is much better
than ours, is it not? When the Lord Jesus said, when
His sweat becoming great drops of blood falling down to the
ground on that cold night in the Garden of Gethsemane, Father,
if you be willing, remove this cup from me. Aren't you glad
that the Father wasn't willing? And the Lord Jesus wasn't rebelling
against the will of God. He was showing us that He was
a man. He was a man that could feel,
that could fear. And He was showing us that we
weren't going to be saved with some little prick in His arm or feet or hands. We weren't going to be saved
apart from great sorrow and agony on His part. Aren't you glad
it wasn't the Father's will to remove that cup? And He submitted,
Father, not My will, but Your will be done. Two more texts right quickly.
You'll turn over to Psalms chapter 66. Psalms chapter 66. Let's
look at this one right quick. Two more, then we'll close. Psalms chapter 66. And look in
verse 15. 66 verse 15. I will offer unto thee burnt
sacrifices of fat ones with the increase of rams. I will offer
bullocks and goats. So come and hear, all ye that
fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was praised, extolled
with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear me. This is another reason for unanswered
prayers. If I regard iniquity in my heart.
This word regard means to cherish or approve of or have respect
to. Let me just read a little paragraph
by John Gill. He said this much better than
I did. Here's what he said about this passage. He said of David,
there was iniquity in his heart. as there is in every good man's
heart, and a great deal, too. It is full of it, and should
be regarded in some sense so as to guard against it, and pray
to be kept from it, that it may not break forth unto action,
and so as to loathe it, to abhor it, and to be humble for it,
but not as to nourish it and cherish not to take delight and
pleasure in it. That is to regard iniquity. If I look upon it, it may be
rendered, that is, with approbation approved of it, and satisfaction
in it, and ordered his conversation according to it, or acted the
deceitful and hypocritical part in prayer, then his petition
would not have been heard. And Gil finishes up with this,
the Lord will not hear me. For the Lord heareth not sinners
that delight in sin and live in it, neither profane sinners
and hypocrites. For if there is ever a time to
examine your heart and keep your heart with all diligence, it
is when we are going to the Lord in prayer. Because if we regard
iniquity, He will not hear us. He will not hear us. The last one quickly let's look
at, it is found in Psalms chapter 22. Look over to your right,
over to your left in Psalms chapter 22. And let's call this the awful
trial of prayer. The awful trial of prayer. Prayer
is one of the most difficult things I ever did in my life.
There are periods when the children of God have in prayer that they
have this awful apprehension. This apprehension. Not only that
the Lord is not hearing them, but He's hid His face from them. He hid His face from their prayer.
And sometimes they have this awful apprehension that He's
even angry with their prayer. Now, I'll show you that in the
Scriptures. I'll read them to you in just a minute. But, this
is one of the most awful things awful burdens about prayer is
when you go for periods of time and you just got this awful sense,
this awful apprehension that God is not even listening to
you pray. He's not hearing you. I can't explain that, but I think
every Christian, after a while, experiences that. They have some
sense of that. And I want to use the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself for an example here in chapter 22 of Psalms. Look what he said in verse 2,
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not, and in
the night season, and am not silent. Now, the reason we know
this is the Lord Jesus because of verse 1, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? And we know what kind of condition
and state that he was in. Look over in verse 16. Dogs have
confessed me. The assembly of the wicked have
enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my
feet. I may tell all my bones. They look and stare upon me.
They parted my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesta. Be not thou far from me, O Lord,
my strength. Make haste to help me deliver
my soul from the sword and my darling, my precious life from
the power of the dogs. And boy, sometimes we face this
condition of the Lord not hearing our prayer in our most trying
moments. You ever experienced that? The
Lord Jesus experienced that in the garden, in the judgment hall,
and upon the cross when He said, My God, my God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me? And that's what makes it so dreadful.
It seems in the time where you need Him most, He seems to hide
His face. And man, if you can pray through
those times and hang on through those times, you have His grace
in your heart indeed. The Lord Jesus could find no
comfort in His friends, certainly no comfort in His enemies, but
on the cross He could find no comfort in His Father. Only afflictions. Why do you
not hear me? David was afflicted by this.
Listen to his prayer in Psalms 42. My tears have been my food
day and night. Well, they continually say unto
me, where is your God? That's what the devil comes and
whispers. When God seems to hide His face and don't hear us, He
comes to us and says, where's your God now? You're in trouble. Why don't He answer you? Why
don't He deliver you? Boy, if you've never faced this
trial, this is a trial indeed. And it got worse with David's
apprehension. Listen to Psalms 80. O Lord God
of hosts, how long will you be angry against the prayer of thy
people? Was he angry? I don't know how
you could explain that, but in David's apprehension he was.
Listen to Jeremiah in Lamentations chapter 3. When I cry and shout,
he shuts out my prayer. And then he says to the Lord,
he has this complaint. You have covered yourself with
a cloud that my prayer should not pass through. Listen to David
again in Psalms 88. Oh Lord, God of my salvation,
I have cried day and night before thee. Let my prayer come before
thee. Incline thine ear unto my cry,
for my soul is full of trouble, and my life draws near unto the
grave. I am counted as them that go
down to the pit. I am a man that has no strength."
Oh Lord, why don't you hear? And boy, in times like this,
it's trying, isn't it? You know why I think the Lord
does this to His people? He's going to see how sincere
they are. How much do you need me? How
much do you want me? We ain't going to buy him off,
are we? When we get to thinking that
he's just so cheap that he can be bought off with a few words,
that's when he hides his face and says, I'll show you. I'll
send trouble. When you get into trouble, then
you'll see how cheap you can buy me. Then I'll delay long
enough that you'll realize, oh, how I need Him. It's desperate. And then you'll seek Me. Then
you'll seek Me with all your heart. Sometimes, brothers and
sisters, sometimes we think that just a little prayer will do
it. We often say, let's have a word of prayer. Don't we? I
say that all the time. Let's have a word of prayer. Some of
you say that too. And that's all right here. We say that.
Boy, I tell you what, let some certain trouble come and let
God hide His face. A little word of prayer won't
do it, will it? And the Lord said, I'll hide
my face and I'll see. I'll see. I'll close with this. I think you here this morning
and you've really sought the Lord for yourself. You know Him. You have some value for your
soul. You would have to agree with me. The most important thing
in anybody's life is for God to hear their prayer. When I seek Him, for Him to hear
me and be merciful to me and for Christ's sake to save me
and forgive me and give me eternal life. That's the most important
thing between eternity. And that being said, the greatest
blessing that we could obtain is for God to hear our prayers. Because if He hears our prayers
and He answers, then it's well with our souls, isn't it? The Lord bless this message.