Sermon Tone Analysis

Overall tone of the sermon

This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.18UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.14UNLIKELY
Fear
0.14UNLIKELY
Joy
0.5LIKELY
Sadness
0.57LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.63LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.53LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.65LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.88LIKELY
Extraversion
0.25UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.91LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.75LIKELY

Tone of specific sentences

Tones
Emotion
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
Language
Analytical
Confident
Tentative
Social Tendencies
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Emotional Range
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
! The Mystery of Unanswered Prayer
by Bill Hybels
/Text:/ Isaiah 55; Matthew 6: 9-13
/Topic/: How to cope with unanswered prayer
/Big/ /Idea/: God always has the right answer to our requests: “No,” “Slow,” “Grow,” or “Let’s go.”
/Keywords/: Prayer: Lord’s Prayer
 
! Introduction
* I’ve counseled countless people on the mystery and agony of unanswered prayer.
*If the request is wrong, God will say, “No.”*
* Like us, the disciples made inappropriate requests of Jesus, and he said, “No.”
* /Illustration: In this lengthy illustration, Hybels describes a time when the board of elders at his church prayed fervently for a person to fill a staff position.
Once they had decided who they wanted to join the team, Bill sat down to lunch with the man and prayed that God would provide the right opportunity for him to make the offer.
He sensed God saying, “No.”
Later, the elders discovered that the man had deception in his life and he would indeed have been a bad fit for the job./
/ /
*If the timing is wrong, God will say, “Slow.”*
* Like children, we dislike the words, “Not yet,” as God shakes his head at us.
* God has reasons for his “Not yets;” we must not insist we know better than he.
* *
*If /you/ are wrong, God will say, “Grow.”*
* Relational discord will cut us off from close fellowship with God.
* When we disobey, God says, “Why should I honor your requests when you don’t honor mine?”
* *
*When the timing is right, God will say, “Let’s go!”*
* God /wants/ to move that mountain for us; to change that circumstance; to answer that prayer.
* You’ll be amazed at how often God will say, “Let’s go!”
* *
*Conclusion*
* I encourage you to follow the greatest pattern of prayer of all time: the Lord’s Prayer.
!!  
!!  
!!  
 
\\ !
The Mystery of Unanswered Prayer
God always knows the right answer to our requests: “No,” “Slow,” “Grow,” or “Let’s go.”
by Bill Hybels
 
!  
It’s almost a weekly occurrence.
The conversations go something like this: “Bill, didn’t Jesus say, ‘Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be open?’
Didn’t he say that?”
Now, not being born yesterday, and being fairly confident in where conversations like this usually go, I sometimes play prophet, and I burst into the conversation and say, “Friend, what prayer have you been praying that you fear God is not answering?
Let’s get right to the root of the matter.”
It is amazing how often that response opens the door for an honest out pouring of confusion and frustration.
Someone says, “I’ve been praying for my husband to stop drinking, and he hasn’t stopped.”
“I’ve been praying for a job, but I can’t find one.”
“I’ve been praying for my wife’s depression.
Nothing has changed.”
“I’ve been praying for guidance, but no guidance has come.”
On and on the lamentations go.
I couldn’t begin to count how many people I’ve counseled over the mystery--I could even call it the agony--of unanswered prayer.
I have decided to use the same memorable little outline with all of you that I use from time to time in my counseling sessions with individuals.
It’s not original with me.
I have to credit a pastor friend of mine for his insight on this subject.
And admittedly at first the outline sounds trite.
But let me develop it before you dismiss its value.
If you’ve been praying and nothing seems to be happening, think on these statements with reference to unanswered prayer.
If the request is wrong, God will say “No”/ /to your request.
If the timing is wrong, God might choose to say “Slow,” go slow; wait.
If you are wrong—a distinct possibility for some of us—if something is amiss in your life, maybe God will choose, instead of granting your request, to say, “You need to grow.”
But if the request is right and the timing is right and you are right, chances are God will say, “Let’s go,” and grant the request.
Let me develop these statements so you can apply them more effectively to your own situations as you pray.
* *
*If the request is wrong, God will say, “No.”*
First, if the request is wrong, God will say “No.”
There are such things as wrong or inappropriate prayer requests.
You are aware of that, aren’t you?
Three famous disciples during the time of Jesus—Peter, James and John—accompanied Jesus to the top of a high mountain, and there, all of a sudden, God’s full glory descended upon Jesus.
The three disciples stood back in awe.
They beheld the splendor of God just a few feet away.
And they were so taken with Jesus’ transfiguration that they say, “Jesus, allow us to build shelters up here, and we’ll just live up here the rest of our lives, and we’ll bask in your glory.”
What was Jesus’ response, in a word, to their request?
“No.” “No.
I’m not going to grant that one, fellows.
We’ve got work to do down in the plains, down where people live.
We’re not just going to stay up here and bask in my glory.
No. Wrong request.”
One time James and John went to Jesus, and asked if they could make reservations for the best two seats in heaven.
They said, “We’d like one directly on Jesus’ left and one directly on Jesus’ right.
Could you arrange that for us, Jesus?” Remember Jesus’ answer to that request?
“No.
I’m not going to grant that one, fellows.
It’s a wrong request.”
Another time, Jesus and the disciples were denied a travel permit through a certain part of Samaria.
That denial aggravated the disciples so much that they requested Jesus to destroy the entire region with fire from heaven.
Remember Jesus’ reply to their request?
Jesus said, “No, I didn’t come to torch people; I came to transform people.
No, I’m not going to grant that request.”
Do you see the point I’m making?
The disciples were fully capable of making inappropriate requests of Jesus.
And when the requests were wrong, Jesus said no.
 
Are you capable of making wrong requests to God?
I am.
I do.
I probably will in the future.
Are you capable of making requests that are totally self-serving?
I am.
Are you capable of making requests of God that are patently materialistic, convenience-oriented, shortsighted, and perhaps immature?
I am.
And our God loves us too much to say yes to wrong requests.
If the request is wrong, God will answer the prayer, but his answer will be “No.”
And you wouldn’t want God to do anything less.
By hindsight I can thank God for saying “No” to prayers I thought at the time were appropriate.
Now by hindsight I say, “Thank you, thank you, thank you that you said no to that particular request.”
I remember one time when the elders had been praying for years about a particular need on our staff.
We needed a person.
We all thought of an individual at the same time and we prayed, “Oh God, would this person be the individual to help us in a certain area?”
We all agreed that we were going to pray that this person would be the one.
I was commissioned to meet with the person and ask him to join our staff.
So I went, commissioned by the elders, to ask that person.
I went to the restaurant, sat down with the individual, and had a nice lunch.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9