Sermon Tone Analysis

! Tough Questions – Real Answers

!! Why Didn’t God Answer My Prayer?

!! April 29, 2007

A pastor named David Asch often went to the library to study.

On a recent trip he saw a car with a bumper sticker was parked in the first space, so it was unmistakable – you saw it the moment you pulled into the parking lot.

It confronted you as you walked to the parking lot from the library.

The bumper sticker read, in large, loud letters, “*Nothing fails like prayer*.”

Nothing fails like prayer.

Now, it is one thing not to believe in prayer, or to think those of us who do pray are misguided or even foolish.

But to go to such lengths to ridicule and discourage prayer is something else altogether.

You have to wonder, what happened to this person?

What prayer didn’t get answered the way they wanted it to and caused this crisis of faith?

What had happened to cause them to conclude that God didn’t care about them?

Before we can answer this question about prayer we must first understand the nature of prayer.

It is so much more than a heavenly 800 number or the secret language of a magic lantern in which a genie lives who will give you three wishes.

It’s much more than simply a method of getting whatever we think we need or want at the moment.

*Before you can understand why God didn’t answer your prayer you must first explore the nature of your relationship with Him.  *

!

Marriage is a Metaphor for the Christian’s Covenant with God

!! “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!

For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”

!!! Revelation 19:7

One of the metaphors that is used to describe our bond with God is the idea of a marriage.

Here in Revelation John speaks of the church as the bride who is wedded to the Lamb of God in a forever covenant.

Now, a covenant is a contract between too parties.

It is characterized by four distinctive elements.

!

Every Covenant has Four Distinctive Elements

!!

An AGREEMENT is reached

!! VOWS are exchanged

!! A SYMBOL is given

!! A PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT is made

A covenant which includes four distinct characteristics:

There is an agreement between the parties of the covenant.

In marriage it is to share a life and to build a home.

In our covenant it is to share a life and to build an eternal home.

There are promised that are made with witnesses who will attest to the making of the covenant.

In marriage we say vows, promising to be faithful until death.

In our covenant with God we accept his promise of salvation through Jesus and commit ourselves to him as our Lord in life.

There is a sign which seals the covenant.

In marriage it is a ring.

In our covenant with God it is our baptism in water in which we picture our death, our burial, and our resurrection with Him.

There is a public acknowledgement which proclaims to the world that a covenant has been made.

In marriage we have a license at the county court house.

In our covenant with God we share the Lord’s supper in which we *remember* what Jesus did for us, *renew* our covenant with God and *proclaim* our faith in him.

This establishes the covenant we have with God.

But everyone knows that this is the easy part.

It’s easy to get married.

It’s a lot tougher to be married.

These four distinct characteristics create the relationship – but living out day after day is the real key to any relationship – whether it involves your marriage to your spouse or your covenant with God through Jesus.

Relationships are hard work and sometimes confusing.

We fail occasionally – or often to understand what the other person wants, needs, desires, and hopes for.

The answer?

Good communication involving not only the passing on of information but the sharing of feelings, hopes, fears, dreams, and desires.

Prayer is the conversation in our relationship with God.

Prayer is the communion and communication in our relationship with God.

Think of it as the glue that holds us together with him.

Sometimes we talk to God and it certainly seems as if he is not there – that he is not listening and he doesn’t even hear our prayers let alone answer them.

But there are some reasons.

They are simple and significant.

Let’s look at the different possible reasons that God didn’t answer your prayer.

The first is pretty harsh.

! Are You Offending God?

!! 17 “…Is it a trivial matter for the house of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here?

Must they also fill the land with violence and continually provoke me to anger?

Look at them putting the branch to their nose!

!!! Ezekial 8:17

This is from a preacher in the OT named Ezekial.

He is speaking to the people of Israel after the destruction of their country due to their idolatry and their rejection of God.

This rejection was evidenced in every part of their family life, their business ethics, their culture and it had even spread into the temple itself.

The had become more and more focused on themselves and less and less devoted to God and his ways.

They had become more and more Godless and had gotten to the point that they were blatant in their disregard of God – so much so that they were deliberately offensive to God!

Look at the phrase, “They put the branch to their nose.”

This was originally /to My nose/ (/appai,/ being changed to /appam/).

The earliest and most primitive text was toned down the awful extent of Judah’s sin.

The original harsh words of Ezekial were softened and made politically correct!

What Ezekial was saying was that the “branch” of the /Asherah/ were being set up in the temple grounds.

The Asherah was part of the worship connected to Baal, a Canaanite God.

Trees were planted in groves and then shaped or cut into poles to represent Baal.

What exactly they looked like we don’t know but it’s clear that when this was done on the temple grounds that they putting the stench of idolatry right there.

This was his temple and the branch of the Asherah tree had been put right under the nose of Jehovah God.

The stuck their sin of idolatry right in his face.

Sin is offensive to God.

But to blatantly and continuously thumb your nose at God is really offensive to God.

The sin that God will not abide is not the sin itself but the blatant, in your face, continued rejection of his presence and his ways.

Look at what it does to the relationship.

Marriage is not destroyed by the offence itself but by the hardened heart that refuses to love.

I need to ask you some very important questions.

If God is not hearing your prayers is it possible that you have turned from him?

Have you hardened your heart against God? 

*Let me ask this question – Have you given your love, your worship, your time, your treasure, your talents to someone other than to God himself and then expect him to come running when you offer up a prayer asking for a better job or relief from the pain in your back?*

Look at the next verse.

!! 18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them.

Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.”

!!! Ezekial 8:18

Frankly, it is the blatant rejection of God’s love that really ticks God off.

So much that he can’t and won’t hear the prayers of that person… not that they sincerely pray at all anyway!

When there is anger in a relationship because of the sin of one party against the other the result is a total and complete breakdown of “hearing”.

If you are in a marriage that is marred with continual anger and hostility you can rest assured that there is an injury involved and that the pain of that injury has been vented toward you.

When marriages go harsh and anger replaces intimacy it is often because someone has not been loving the one who is angry.

It is just that simple.

The only way to bleed off that anger is to humbly seek forgiveness and to change your ways.