Dalton First United Methodist Church Podcast
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Dalton First United Methodist Church Podcast
The Mystery of Unanswered Prayers - Pastor Steven Usry
The Mystery of Unanswered Prayers - Pastor Steven Usry - July 16th, 2023
Ever wonder why some prayers seem to vanish into thin air? Do you ever feel like you're talking to a brick wall instead of the Creator of the universe? Join us as we peel back the layers of the perplexing mystery of unanswered prayers.
You are listening to the Dalton First United Methodist Church podcast. To learn more about Dalton First United Methodist Church, visit us online at DaltonFUMCcom. We hope that today's message from Pastor Stephen Usry inspires and encourages you.
Speaker 2:The message I want to share with you today about prayer is a little more complicated than a sandwich, but I hope you'll open up your outline. In the very back of your worship guide you'll find the message outline always provided out for us, and there's a pin located somewhere on the seat back there in front of you. I'd invite you to grab a pin, if you will. I hope there's not only some things that you want to write in that outline, but some scriptures you might want to circle or some things you might want to write in the margin that maybe you would be thinking about today when it comes to prayer, we're going to specifically talk about the mystery of unanswered prayer I heard. By the way, it was a joy to get to worship last weekend online. We have a lot of people who worship every week with us online and I want to just pause for a moment to say thank you to Blake Fine, who did a wonderful job last week sharing from God's Word from this pulpit. I appreciate Blake. I've had many of you already say what a wonderful job he did. I also appreciate Courtney Hitchens, who did our children's sermon last week in the treasure box. She did a wonderful job in my absence as well.
Speaker 2:You know, I heard a joke this past week about a mom who was trying to pray with her son at night time and she was teaching him how to pray. He began his prayer by saying God, I ask you to bless mommy and I ask you to bless daddy, I ask you to be with our family. And then real loud that he said, and I ask you to give me a brand new bicycle. And his mother stopped him and said stop right there, neil, why are you screaming that? God's not death, he said, but grandma is, and she's in the next bedroom over. You know so many times prayer.
Speaker 2:We probably don't hear enough about prayer and think enough about prayer and certainly have leaned into the model of thinking about prayer, especially when it's unanswered. By the way, there are times when we pray where we feel like our prayers are just unanswered. I think many of us have had that moment where it feels like you pray. The metaphor I use is I prayed before and I felt like there was a cinder block ceiling about four feet above my head and I felt like that prayer was getting the wall and coming right back. Have you ever been there before? Let me tell you how that sounds as a pastor? Because I've been blessed to be a pastor for a lot of years and it's almost every week or every couple of weeks that I'll have somebody come to me.
Speaker 2:And this is kind of how that conversation begins Pastor Stephen, doesn't the Bible, doesn't it, say, didn't Jesus say, ask and it will be given to you, seek and you'll find, knock and the door will be opened. Doesn't the Bible say that? And instead of talking about what the Bible says, I actually normally just cut to the chase and I'll ask a question like this Is there a prayer that you've been praying that has gone unanswered? And it's really confusing for me. You know, when I ask that question, oftentimes what happens is this beautiful openness, happens this beautiful moment where they're able to say yes, and I'm broken heart about it because I've been praying and it just doesn't seem like anything is happening. I've had folks tell me they were praying for a mate or to find a significant person in their life. They've been praying for a long, long time and you know what kind of heartache that can be for a single person who's praying to meet the right person. Why isn't God answering that prayer? I've had people say I'm praying for my husband to stop drinking and nothing's changed. I've had people say I'm praying for my wife and the depression that she's going through. Why doesn't God take it away? There are a lot of serious prayers that are right here in this body today. There are prayers that right here.
Speaker 2:If we were to come to this microphone and we say we've been praying about this, some of us have been praying about some things for some very, very, very long times, and so what I've learned as a pastor is that there is a mystery to unanswered prayer, but sometimes it's. You know, my sermon title is today the Mystery of Unanswered Prayer. Maybe a better title would be the Agony of Unanswered Prayers. So when someone's praying, we just go God, where are you? Are you hearing my prayers at all? You know, years ago and I do originate this I try to stand in other people's shoulders as much as I can and learn from other people Years ago I ran across a little simple prayer that helps, I think, in some ways explain when our prayers are not answered, and I have it there for you in your message outline today as a matter of fact.
Speaker 2:If you haven't, yeah, I will give you all four points right out of the gate today, all right. And then we're going to talk about all of them, and here's kind of the simple understanding about unanswered prayer. The first one is if the request is wrong, if what you're asking for is wrong, god's going to say no. The second one is if the timing is wrong, god will say slow, slow. If you are wrong, if something in you is wrong, god will say grow. And the fourth one is when all those things get lined up, if the request is right, if the timing is right, if you are in the right place, if the timing is right, god will say let's go. Let's talk about that, because I know that there are some big prayers that you've been praying. The first one is simply this if the request is wrong, god will say no.
Speaker 2:By the way, did you know that sometimes we ask for things that are not legitimate? Did you know that sometimes we ask for things that are just bad requests? Yes, you do that and I do it too. Okay, we do this. And how do I know we do this? I know it because I have said things. I've asked for things that were selfish and materialistic. Before, I've asked for things that were short-sighted, and it's not just me. You know the disciples of Jesus. They asked Jesus for some things and Jesus didn't always say yes. A few examples One time there was this moment we called the Transfiguration, where some of the disciples went up to Jesus on top of the mountain and, all of a sudden, jesus was revealed in glory, and it was such a glorious moment.
Speaker 2:The disciples as a matter of fact, that scripture is there in your helmet the disciples one of the disciples, peter, said Rabbi, it's good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. That was the request, but it was a bad hand request. Why? Jesus looked back to Peter and said no, I didn't come here to stay on a mountain top. I came here to go down into the plains to be with the people. No, we're not going to stay up here and stay at all. It was a bad request. And in a word, do you know what Jesus said to that request? No, no, that wasn't the only moment. There was another moment where the disciples were walking down the road and they were talking about who was the greatest.
Speaker 2:They even came to Jesus and said we'd like to have the top two seats in your kingdom when it's time, one on the left and one on the right. In a word, jesus said no. No, that's not for me to give out. If you read the gospels, you will find over and over again that the disciples were very capable of requesting things that were wrong requests. One time the disciples were wanting to go through a certain area and they were denied a travel permit by a certain town that wouldn't have come through the area, and the disciples were really offended by this and they'd seen Jesus do phenomenal miracles. As a matter of fact, here in the Bible it says in Luke 9, james and John said Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven and destroy them, destroy the town? And Jesus basically said hold your jets, boys. You know I didn't come here to torch people. That's not what I came here for. I came here to bring people to the Father, to transform people. No, we're not going to do that. Guys, I've learned across the years that there are just some requests that we make. They're not good requests. So I give you an example.
Speaker 2:One time we were looking to hire somebody on a staff and we're looking for the right person. I was convinced that we had a whole SPRC team that was really convinced that we had found the person that was the right person. And so we voted as an SPRC team, after interviewing the candidate, to hire the person. And then I went to lunch to go give the job offer away. And I'm sitting at lunch and all these wonderful people had prayed about all this and clear as day God would not let that job offer come out of my mouth. I just knew. I knew that I wasn't supposed to move forward, even though we, until that moment, we had thought it was the right thing to do. You know how hard it was for me to go back to some people that I loved and cared for, that trusted me as their pastor, and say I know, we said that's what we're supposed to do, but I couldn't do it. Some's not right. I wish I could tell you the full story, but it would be too personal.
Speaker 2:But later on we found out that it was exactly the thing that God was stopping us in our tracks and keeping us from harm, keeping us from danger. God was saying no and, by the way, sometimes the no's are the most unculturable things at all. Right, none of us wants to hear a no. None of us wants to even hear that our requests are wrong. But the truth of the matter is, sometimes our requests are very immature and, by the way, god loves you too much to just greet all of your requests when the request is not good. So you know, what would I say to a person about that if it seemed like God just kept saying no, no, no, no.
Speaker 2:What I normally say is this is a moment for you to review the request. Maybe it's a moment for you to consider modifying whatever you're asking God about and to look at it a different way. Come at it from a different angle, because something is not right about your request. I want to write that in the morgan. Whenever God says no, you go back and say am I? What am I after here? Am I after it for the right reasons? Am I short circuiting some things? What's going on? When the request is wrong? God's going to say no because he loves you too much to say yes. Here's another thing, though when we have an answered prayer that the timing is wrong, god will say slow.
Speaker 2:Now, any of us who are parents who have kids, or how about this one? Any of us that were kids or maybe you're still a kid, I don't know Every one of us knows what it's like to have to answer the question with a not yet. Think about how many car trips you've been on. Are we there yet? The answer is not yet. Kids normally don't understand the timing of this. We can be three or eight hours away, but not yet is just. They fall apart. They want to kick in scream when we get a not yet. By the way, that doesn't. It might change in its form a little bit from the time they're three to the time that they're nine, to the time that they're 12, to the time that they're 16 or 19. But, trust me, wherever they are along the way, if they're asking for the ball or the toy or the car and we say not yet, if not going to be received, well, right, Not yet is hard for us to receive.
Speaker 2:But, by the way, when God has to say not yet to us because the timing isn't right, god isn't intimidated by our kicking in or screaming any more than we, his parents, were when our children were throwing their temper tantrums, right? No, god knows more than us, he sees more than us, and there are moments where he is going to say no, I just know more than you do, and so the answer to what you're asking, it's a good request, but the answer to what you're asking is not right now, not yet. The Bible says this in Psalms 55, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways. My ways, declares the Lord. Heavens are higher than the earth, so are my wings higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. I think this is one of the reasons that Jesus, because you're going to have some moments where not yet is the answer to the prayer. This is one of the moments where Jesus told the parables sometimes about not giving up. Don't lose heart when you pray, you just keep praying and you keep praying and you keep praying.
Speaker 2:I think Jesus knew something about us that when we get a not yet, we can lose faith sometimes and lose heart. It's hard to get a not yet, but, church, let me remind you of something A delay is not a denial. Sometimes God is going to delay on answering your prayer requests, but that doesn't mean he's saying no, he's actually just saying not yet. And so there are reasons and we cannot know those reasons. That's part of the mystery and the agony of unanswered prayer. Sometimes they're to grow deeper and wider, broader character in us. Sometimes it's to grow our patience stronger. Sometimes it's to build our trust more that we would trust him more. Lots of different reasons that God could have of saying not yet. But when the request is wrong, god's going to say no. And when the timing is wrong, god's going to say slow, not yet. What are we supposed to do in that moment? Keep praying, don't lose heart, keep bringing our request to our Father.
Speaker 2:Now there are also some moments where we are wrong. And if you are wrong, if something is going on inside of you that is wrong, god's going to say no, grow by the way. This is sobering. No one's supposed to think that something is wrong with us and that may be the reason. God's not. He's granting our prayer requests. None of us, as a matter of fact, I can tell you, ready for a confession, out of all the people across all the years of my ministry, 30 years of ministry I've never had somebody that was struggling with unanswered prayer who looked at me and said maybe it's me, pew, pew, pew. They never said that he lied. Because it's a lot easier to look at God and say come on, god, you need to do X or you need to do Y and come on, where are you at? It's so much easier to blame God or to blame other people than to look in that mirror and to say maybe there's something in my life that's not right and it's the reason that God isn't answering that prayer. You know, psalm 66 says that we can have sin in our hearts. We can have hidden sin in our hearts and it will affect our prayer lives.
Speaker 2:In Matthew, chapter five, jesus is talking about a story about somebody coming to the altar who has unforgiveness in their heart for a brother, and he says no, no, stop right there, you need to go get that fixed. What he's talking about there is really relational discord and I think sometimes that can be what we have going on in us. So we need to go get fixed before our prayers are gonna be answered. Listen, men, husbands, the Bible says it's right there in your outline, 1 Peter 3.7,. In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. Treat her as you should, so your prayers will not be hindered. This is a good word for men, but, by the way, don't you agree that we could say that same thing to women as well? Right that you should treat your husband with understanding as you live together. Treat him as you should, so your prayers will not be hindered.
Speaker 2:You know over and over again in Scripture, the reason God was not acting or performing or moving the way people requested that he did was there was stuff going on in them. Maybe you remember the story in the book of Malachi. God had told his people I want you to get your best lambs and I want you to bring your best offerings to me. But see the people that done the math and they knew that if they took their best lambs to market, they could get the highest dollar. They could get the highest dollar for it. And so they started taking their best lambs to market and they started taking their sick lambs, their diseased lambs, their crippled lambs, their blind lambs, to God. And all of a sudden, god seemed distant. All of a sudden God seemed far away. Why? Because God was saying listen, you're not being obedient, you're not doing the right thing by me. Why do you think I'm going to do the right thing by you. God will not be mocked.
Speaker 2:So there's moments where we need to look ourselves in the mirror and say you know what? It's something in me and what's the word from God at this moment. Now listen, church. If there's something in us, you know what God's saying. He's saying grow. I need you to grow. I need you to grow, I need you to move, because something inside of you is keeping me from doing what you want me to do. Now, here's the good news when the request is the right request and the timing is the right timing, when we are in the right place, god loves to do what we asked him to do, what we beseech him to do, what we pray for. When it all lines up together, you would be amazed at how many times God says now let's go. When it's all right, let's go. He loves Now listen. He loves to answer prayer. As a matter of fact, we underestimate how much God really wants to perform and do miraculous things for His children.
Speaker 2:So when you struggle with unanswered prayer, it's a little simple outline, isn't it? But I hope you can remember it. I've held on to it for years because it reminds me. When I'm praying, I'm asking God, god, what are you? I'm looking for the answer. Sometimes he's saying no, sometimes he's saying slow, not yet. Sometimes he's saying grow, and that's a real big moment where I've got to look inside of me. And sometimes God is saying let's go, let's go.
Speaker 2:You know, this morning I want to close by just reflecting with you, if I can, on Jesus' model for prayer. You know, every Sunday morning, almost every Sunday morning, we together, full voice, share the Lord's prayer together. I remember as a little boy learning the Lord's prayer to church just like this in Augusta, georgia, and I just want to lean into that prayer. Put it at the very top of your outline today to just remind you of some very important things about what I think Jesus was communicating to His disciples when he said this then is how you ought to pray. So notice what Jesus said.
Speaker 2:Our Father Jesus was showing us in your prayers. Remember who God is. He's not some far away deity, he's not some far away entity, or he is your Abba, he is your Father, and that means that you are His child. Claim that, our Father, who art in heaven. It reminds us that God has a much bigger picture than we do, than we do right, that God is infinite. He's not finite. He's immortal. He's not, like us, mortal. He knows all. He's omniscient. It reminds us that God is a big God and so when we bring our request, he can know way more than we could ever know. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. This is a moment for us to begin our prayer with some communication about worship. It means set apart, honored. It means glorified, it means other than it means holy. One of the things you need to make sure is always in your prayer, long before you get to your supplications or your requests, is a moment of worship just worshiping God for who he is.
Speaker 2:I love how Jesus said your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What Jesus was teaching the disciples was to pray. It's not about what I want, it's not about my will. More than anything, I want your will, god, because your will is a perfect will. My will is flawed. I want your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Speaker 2:And then Jesus went on. He said Pray this way, give us today our daily bread. This is the model that we took to the children right, that we can bring anything to God, anything to God and ask him to be our provider. And then also and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And in a line that we quote that we read, but lean into the deeper understanding. We need to live with this understanding that we need to confess we are sinners all the time. Every one of us needs to live this life Of repentance and confession, but not only that. We need to live this life of forgiveness, forgiving those who have wounded us and done us wrong. This is a beautiful portion. In the very center part of the prayer, jesus goes on lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Is this reminder that God protect us from a very real foe and enemy of our souls? God guard us from the evil one. And then we add in that an ending in worship right, yours be the power and the glory forever. It's this beautiful picture of beginning worship and ending in worship, declaring who God is.
Speaker 2:Church, some of you have been praying for some things for some very long time. I hope. I hope, even if it's agonizing and even if it's mysterious, that you understand that there is this beautiful power when God's people, his children, praying, don't give up praying, don't get discouraged and lose heart. Your Father cares for you and he cares for your needs. Hey, would you pray with me? Godly, thank you that you care for us. And, by the way, Jesus, one time when you were teaching, you invited the people to cast their cares onto you.
Speaker 2:God, we hear that for us today because there's some of us here who've been praying for some things and it just seems like we've struggled because we haven't seen your hymn that work like we thought it ought to be at work. We haven't seen things move like we thought they should. Oh God, help us to be a people of resolve, of perseverance when it comes to our prayers. And when I pray today, especially for the person in this crowd who has been praying the longest and who's agonized the most, god, I pray that you would give them strength. I pray that you would remind them that you care for them and that you know their heart and that, god, in due time, you will always do what is best for them. Now, thank you for your goodness over our life and help us, even this week, to commit ourselves to being a people of deep, abiding, fervent prayer. We pray this in your most holy name, jesus, amen.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Dalton First United Methodist Church podcast. If today's sermon resonated with you, we encourage you to share it with someone who might benefit from the message. Join us for worship and stay connected at daltonfumccom. God bless and see you next week.