If you will open your Bibles
with me to the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk. I'll give you a few minutes to
find this book. It's actually the fifth from
the end of the Old Testament. I want to bring my message today
from Habakkuk's experience with prayer. But first, I need to
say a few words about Habakkuk. You know, men have designated
the last 12 books in the Old Testament as the minor prophets. The term minor was never intended
to mean that we are to give less credit or their prophecies have
less authority than the other word and prophets of old. Simply means that their prophecies
were not nearly as long as Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Isaiah and Daniel. The Apostle Paul in two letters
in the New Testament, Romans and Galatians, in which he emphasizes
this wonderful truth of justification by faith apart from the works
of the law. Quotes from Habakkuk, you notice
in chapter two and verse four. We read, behold, his soul which
is lifted up is not upright in him, That is, the man who is
proud and boastful and haughty and self-sufficient, doesn't
need God, doesn't need anyone. He can take care of himself.
He can make himself right with God by his works. His soul is lifted up. In him is not upright. But, and
here's what the Apostle Paul quotes in the New Testament in
emphasizing how that men are saved, men are justified by faith
apart from the works of the law. He quotes this verse, but the
just shall live by his faith. It is not their faith really,
it's the object of our faith. The faith by which we believe
in Christ is the gift of God itself. Or by grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God. But the most important thing
about faith is the object of our faith. Faith didn't die for
us. Faith did not satisfy the justice
of God for us. But Christ did. Christ did. And you notice how it is here
in this text, that Joshua lived by his faith. We might understand
that by His faith, that is the faithfulness of Christ. By His
faith, by His obedience, perfectly, absolutely obeying the law of
God to establish a righteousness by which God might be just and
justify to all who believe in Christ. Or His faith may refer
to the faith by which we believe, trust in Jesus Christ. The just
shall live by his faith, that is, eternal life, salvation comes
by faith in Christ. Most of these, or many of the
minor prophets, I should say, they identified the time in which
they prophesied, usually by naming the kings. either the kings of
Judah or the kings of Israel, during which they prophesied,
but we see Habakkuk, he didn't do that. But most are in agreement,
if you look in chapter 2 and verse 20, that he did live and
prophesied to Judah, and he did so before The Babylonians conquered
Judah and burned the temple, destroyed the temple, because
he writes here, but the Lord is in his holy temple, making
us believe that the temple there in Jerusalem was still standing
when he prophesied. But this morning, I want to speak
to us about his prayer, concerning his prayer, the experience that
Habakkuk, this Old Testament prophet, had with prayer, and
the lessons for you and I. Notice in chapter one, there
are three things about Habakkuk's experience of prayer. Habakkuk,
first, Habakkuk cried unto the Lord. You notice that in verse
two. O Lord, how long shall I cry? We read of men praying, of men
crying unto the Lord early in the scriptures. You know, in
Genesis chapters one and two, we have the account that God
gives us of creation. God who created the heavens and
the earth and all things therein, and how he created man in his
own image. And then in chapter three, We
read how that Satan tempted man and Adam, he disobeyed God and
he fell. The fall, we speak of it. He
sinned against God. And he was a representative man.
He represented you and he represented me. For by one man, the scripture
says, sin entered into the world and death by sin. We all come
into this world with what men have called original sin. It
begins with us in sin, David said, in sin did my mother conceive
me. It's as old as you are, the fact
that you have a sinful nature, that you come into this world
with a sinful nature. We read about the fall in Genesis
chapter three, and then we read about God declaring how he would
redeem man, how he would save man. And it would be through
the seed of the woman, the seed of the woman. All of us, we are
seeds of man. But there was one who came into
this world who was the seed of a woman. And that, of course,
was the second man, the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. And just as we were lost by the
work of a man, the first man, so we may be saved if we are
saved by the person and work of the second man, the second
Adam. But my point is, Genesis 1 and
2, creation. Genesis 3, the fall, the promise
of the Redeemer. Then Genesis chapter 4, we have
the account of Abel offering a more excellent sacrifice unto
God, and his brother Cain being rejected. Why? Because he brought
a sacrifice which was from the earth, and the earth was cursed. He brought a sacrifice that was
a work of his own hands. What a lesson, my friends. If
you're here today and you think you're going to stand before
God one day, and you will stand before God, and you believe you're
going to be accepted because of anything that you have done
by the works of your hands, you're going to be like Cain, and you're
going to be rejected. Abel was received on the basis
of his sacrifice. the innocent dying in the stead
of the guilty. But then in that same chapter,
Genesis 4, we read about Seth, that is another son of Adam and
Eve, about Seth and his family, and the scripture says to us,
then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. My point is,
that early on we read about the fact, and that doesn't mean there
that that's when men began to pray. Adam prayed, Abel prayed,
men before. But it seems with Seth, there's
more men, of course, in the world, and maybe there's even a gathering
when men come together to pray. But prayer, men cry unto the
Lord. The psalmist David He gave his
testimony in many ways concerning prayer, but one testimony is,
this poor man cried. That's what we're talking about,
crying. Habakkuk said, I cried unto the Lord. Oh Lord, look
at the text. Oh Lord, how long shall I cry? How long shall I pray? David
said, this poor man. Have you ever been made to see
your poverty, your sinfulness, your need? Have you? Oh, thank God if you have, because
many people come into this world and they go out just like they
came in, lost, have no need of a savior. Well, they have a need,
but they don't know their need. They don't see their need. But
oh, when God the Holy Spirit convinces a person that he's
a sinner, and one day he's going to stand before Almighty God,
a God who is so holy that even the pure angels are not pure
in his sight. This poor man, David said, cried
unto the Lord. And the Lord heard and saved
him out of all his trouble. In the New Testament, when God
relieved the fears of this disciple, Ananias, you can read about this
in Acts chapter 9. But Saul of Tarsus, the Lord
had revealed himself to Saul of Tarsus, who was a Pharisee,
who was doing everything he could to destroy the name of Christ
and was afflicting the people of God. And God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, appeared unto him and He was blinded, of course, and
he was sent to a place for three or four days. And then God sent
this man, Ananias. He said, Ananias, you go. Ananias said, I've heard of that
man. I've heard of that man. I don't
want to go there. He didn't say that, but you can
see that's how he thought. I've heard of that man. And do
you know how the Lord relieved the fear of Ananias? With these
words. Behold, he prayeth. Behold, he prayeth. Our Lord
told a parable one day of two men. He said they both went up
into the temple to pray. One man, he was a religious man,
a self-righteous man. Scripture said he prayed with
himself. He just went over how good he was. I fast twice in
a week, I give tithes of all, and I'm certainly not like this
publican over here. He prayed, the scripture says,
with himself. He wasn't praying to God. He
wasn't a poor man crying unto the Lord. But all that other
man, that publican, what did he do? He smote upon his breast
and he said, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. He recognized
his need of a sacrifice, of a propitiation. That's what that word there means,
merciful. Provide a sacrifice for me that
will cleanse me, that will take away my sin. And the Lord Jesus
Christ said, that man went home to his house
justified. Isn't that wonderful? Doesn't
that thrill your heart to think that God justifies sinners? That those of us who have offended
God, who have sinned against God, who are sinners not just
by what we do, but our very nature is sinful, that God has provided
a way, and it is Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me. A way by which our sins are washed
away, a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. A way by which
a man like that man could go into that temple that day, lost
on his way to hell, and cry out for mercy. And the Lord say,
he went home justified. Someone said one prayer that
God will always hear is a cry for mercy, when a sinner cries
for mercy. That's my first point, Habakkuk
cried unto the Lord. But second, notice in the text,
Habakkuk imagined that the Lord did not hear him. O Lord, how
long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? Habakkuk imagined that
the Lord did not hear him. What made the prophet imagine
that the Lord did not hear? Well, there are two things, my
friends, that especially cause God's children to think that
the Lord does not hear them. The first is that awful, ugly
sin of unbelief. Unbelief causes God's children
to imagine that the Lord doesn't hear, just like unbelief makes
a child of God imagine that God has forsaken him. Have you ever
had that experience? Many of God's children have.
They feel like the Lord's just forsaken me. What would cause
a man to, a child of God now, a believer, what would cause
a child of God to imagine, and notice I'm using that word, imagine. What would cause a child of God
to imagine that the Lord had forsaken him? Unbelief. Because God's word is very clear. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. And it's unbelief that will cause
a believer to pray and to imagine, to imagine that God doesn't hear. The second thing that will cause
a believer to imagine that God doesn't hear is self-will. Self-will. Let me explain what
I mean. We pray, as in the case of Habakkuk,
the Lord doesn't answer immediately as we will, and so we imagine that he didn't
hear. See what I'm saying? Self-will. We pray and God doesn't answer
as we will, which is right now, if not yesterday. Self-will,
our will, not God's will, but our will, and so seeing that
God doesn't answer immediately, we assume and we imagine, well,
He doesn't hear. He doesn't hear. Or we pray,
and the Lord, now listen, First, He doesn't answer immediately,
as we will. But second, He doesn't answer
in the way that we will. Our will. He doesn't answer in
the way that we will. And so we imagine He doesn't
hear. I want to show you one verse
of Scripture that tells us when God will not hear. Look back with me to Psalm 66.
Keep your place here, but Psalm 66 and verse 18. Now I'm speaking to God's children
about prayer. When I say that, I'm not saying
every person in this building today is one of God's children.
But this is the children's bread. that I'm preaching. If you're
not one of God's children, then this is not for you. But I'm
talking about God's children. There's only one reason that
I found in the Word of God where God says that He will not hear. And it's here in Psalm 66 and
verse 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear me. Now, when you look at that verse
of scripture, first of all, recognize this. There is iniquity in the
hearts of God's children. There's none of God's children
here today who have a heart that does not have iniquity in it. It's one thing to have iniquity. It's another thing to desire
iniquity. Love iniquity. That old man that
still is part of us, he desires iniquity. But the new man, what
the psalmist is saying here, if I regard iniquity in my heart,
then the Lord will not hear me. It's much like the apostle James
says in the New Testament, you ask and you receive not because
you ask amiss. to consume it upon your own lust. That is to regard iniquity in
our heart. So first of all, Habakkuk, turn
back with me, Habakkuk cried unto the Lord. Second, Habakkuk
thought the Lord did not hear him. Imagine that the Lord did
not hear him. But third, this is the last thing
I want to say about his prayer. Habakkuk did not like the Lord's
answer. He didn't like the Lord's answer. If you notice, he says, in verse two again, O Lord, how
long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? Even cry out unto thee
of violence. and thou wilt not save, thou
wilt not save. He cried out to the Lord concerning
the violence, the wickedness, the evil, the sin of the nation
that he was a part of. He cried out unto the Lord, and
no doubt he was like you and I, we cry out for our nation.
And we cry out that God would revive, awaken, send a great
awakening in our country like God did early on in the days
of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield and some of those
men who preached, the tenants. We cry out like Habakkuk did,
seeing the violence, the wickedness. Oh, Lord, save! He's crying out,
what, for revival, for an awakening? The Lord answers his prayer,
but not in that way. If you notice in verses three
and four, why dost thou show me iniquity, and cause me to
behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are
before me, and there that raise up strife and contention. Therefore
the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth, for the
wicked doth compass about the righteous, therefore wrong judgment
proceedeth." He's complaining to God about the condition of
Judah and asking the Lord to save. The Lord answers his prayer,
but not in the way that Habakkuk asked. If you look down to verse
5, Behold, you among the heathen, and regard and wonder marvelously,
for I will work a work in your days which you will not believe,
though it be told you. Now here it is, Habakkuk, this
is the way I'm going to deal with the wickedness and the sin
that you're crying against. For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans,
that is the Babylonians, that bitter and hasty nation, which
shall march through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling
places that are not theirs. Their terrible and dreadful,
their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
Their horses also are swifter than the leopards and are more
fierce than the evening wolves. And their horsemen shall spread
themselves and their horsemen shall come from far. They shall
fly as an eagle that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for
violence. Their faces shall sup up as the
east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings,
and the princes shall be a scorn unto them. They shall deride
every stronghold, for they shall heap dust and take it. God answered Habakkuk's prayer,
but not in the way he desired. He desired that the Lord would
save, and God said, I'm raising up the Chaldeans. You see that in the Old Testament,
and we think that somehow the God of the Old Testament is not
the God of the New Testament. That's wrong. That's completely
wrong. The same God who ruled, reigned,
Sovereignly reigned in the Old Testament, raising up one nation
and putting down another nation. Using wicked men many times,
wicked nations to chastise and punish the nation of Israel. That's the same God who's still
in control today, my friends. He still rules and reigns among
the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. Let's
not fall for Satan's lie that somehow God has, as I put in
one of the articles in the bulletin today, that God has created this
creation, wound it up like a clock and just set it all out there
running. Oh, no. God is in control. God is in control of all things
at all times and all places. And He is working His will, as
the scripture says. worketh all things, not most
things, not the majority of things. The Apostle Paul said he worketh
all things after the counsel of his will. God answered. And here's what disturbed Habakkuk. Look with me, if you will, in
verses 13 and 14. This is what really disturbed
Habakkuk. He had prayed First he said the
Lord didn't hear him. The Lord told him, oh yeah, this
is the way I'm answering. And now he says, thou art of
pure eyes sent to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.
Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and
holdest thy tongue, when the wicked devour the man that is
more righteous than he, and makest men as the fishes of the sea.
as the creeping things that have no ruler over them." What he
is saying here is simply this. You've raised up a nation that
is even more wicked than my nation. That can't be right. You're punishing
us by a nation that's even more wicked than we are. Oh yeah,
it's right. It's right because God did it. And whatsoever the Lord does
is right, always. Why? Because he's holy, just,
and good. Now I want to give you three
truths that we should know about prayer. We've looked at Habakkuk's
prayer. I've tried to point out these
three things. First of all, he prayed. Second,
he didn't think that God heard him. And third, he didn't like
the way God answered his prayer. Well, there's three things I
want to bring out to you and I about prayer. First, and I'll
be brief, first, all prayer, A-L-L. All prayer must be honoring
to God. All prayer must be honoring to
God. It is a way God has ordained
for us to worship and honor Him. That's what prayer is. It's a
way that God has ordained for His children by which we may
worship and honor Him. When the Lord Jesus in the Sermon
on the Mount taught on prayer, he said, when thou prayest, it's
assumed that his disciples, his followers would pray, yes. And he also said, for your father
knoweth what things you have need of before you ask him. This
means that we are not praying when we pray, we're not praying
to inform God. God knows everything. We're not
praying to inform Him. He knows our need before we ask. But you see, our prayer must
be worship. It must honor. It must acknowledge
Him as the giver, the giver of all things. For of Him and through
Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever, the
Apostle Paul wrote. In prayer, we are simply acknowledging
what He tells us here in His Word. Every good gift, every
perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. We
acknowledge Him as the Father of creation, the Father of lights.
He created the sun, the moon, the stars. He created light,
and he is also the father of spiritual light. A man comes into this world,
as I said, lost, depraved, dead in trespasses and sins, and what
he needs, he needs God to shine the light into his heart. And
Paul tells us, just as God in the beginning commanded light,
Let there be light, so the same God of creation must shine into
the heart of a lost man or woman to give the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. A lost person, he's heard
of Christ, he's heard of Jesus, doesn't mean that much to him
one way or the other. He doesn't have any love for
Christ. Why? Because he's never seen Christ,
not spiritually. And I'm not talking of a vision
of Christ, I'm speaking of seeing Christ, seeing your need of Christ
and seeing Him presented Through the Word of God and God the Holy
Spirit shining in your heart to give you the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, in the person
of Jesus Christ, you now see, if He shined into your heart,
you now see how it is that a holy and just and righteous God can
forgive you, can justify you. can sanctify
you, can glorify you. How? Through Jesus Christ and
His work. That's the only way. He shines
in our heart to give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face,
in the person of Jesus Christ. So, first of all, all prayer
is in honoring God. Number two, all prayer must be
in submission to God. You've heard some people, and
maybe some of us have been guilty of it, shameful as it is, but
you've heard some people, they say they're praying, it's more
like they're dictating to God. This is what I want you to do.
This is what you need to do. This is the way it should be.
That's not prayer, my friend. Prayer is submitting to God,
submission to God. And we have this promise, I won't
ask you to turn, but it's in 1 John chapter 5 and verse 14
and 15, the apostle said, this is the confidence that we have
in Him. Now listen, here's our confidence,
that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know
that He hear us, Whatsoever we asked, we know that we have the
petition that we desire of Him. We have this confidence. If we
ask anything according to His will, He hears us, and if He
hears us, we know that we have that which we asked. Why? Because
we ask according to His will. This is a way we must understand
John 16 and verse 23. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
these are the words of the Lord Jesus. Whatsoever you shall ask
the Father in my name, he will give it you. Someone said, well,
that's just a carte blanche. You can ask anything, everything,
any whim, any desire. No, no, no. Don't be deceived,
my friends. Our Lord said, If you, whatsoever
you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. But
what does it mean to ask the Father in Christ's name? It means
to ask for Christ's sake, for Christ's sake, to ask as though
Christ himself was asking. And how did the Lord Jesus Christ
ask of the Father when he was here in this world? He prayed,
not as I will, but as thou will. To ask in the name of Christ
is to set aside my will and to ask for Christ's sake. All prayer must be submission
to God. And the last thing, all prayer
must be trusting God. Real prayer is coming to God,
telling Him my need or the needs of others, committing my way
unto the Lord, and then leaving Him to do what seems best to
Him. This leaves God to answer the
prayer in whatever way He deems best. And His way may be different. It may be different from what
my flesh would desire. I may ask the Lord to do a certain
thing for myself or someone else. He may answer in a way that's
completely different from what I really desire. But you see,
I must submit my will to His will. And I must trust in Him
to do what is right. What is right. Now let me make this statement
in closing. This is true whether you see
this or not. Every Emphasize that word, every. Every real prayer of faith that
has ever been prayed, has ever been offered to God, has been
answered. Every one, no exception. Every
real prayer of faith that has been offered to God has been
answered. You know, one of the hymns that
we sing sometimes, which I like, I know you like it as well. Praise
ye the Lord, the Almighty. And I especially like the words
of one of the lines, one of the stanzas. It is, praise ye the
Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth. shelters
thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth. Hath thou
not seen how thy desires ere have been granted, and what he
ordaineth? You can see that, can't you?
If you've known the Lord for any time at all, I know walking
with the Lord, those words are special to you as they are to
me. Hath thou not seen how thy desires e'er have been
granted in what he ordaineth? What he ordaineth. Praise ye
the Lord. the Almighty. May the Lord bless
this word to all of us here today.