There's No Such Thing as Unanswered Prayer

Caleb Eissler

Habakkuk • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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Prayer is one of the most fundamental but sometimes tricky parts of the christian life. In this sermon we discuss how we should respond when God does not answer are prayer or not how we wanted.

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Transcript

Prayer

God, we come before you in awe of the fact that we can talk to you and that you actually hear us. We don’t need a priest or a mediator. We can come right to you ourselves. In fact you ask us to do just that. Father, as we prepare to talk about unanswered prayer. I pray that you would be with those who have been crying out to you to what feels like no answer. I pray that you would give them hope today. Help them trust you and help us all have a renewed and deepened boldness as we go to you in prayer. Thank you for sending your Son to make a way for you to be glorified and us to be saved from our sin. It’s in Jesus’ mighty name we pray…Amen.

Intro

One of the most universal, yet difficult, parts of the Christian life is prayer. Prayer isn’t easy. Probably all of us here today can resonate with the idea that prayer is hard. We’re not as consistent as we’d like to be. We struggle to pray daily, or maybe even weekly, or monthly.

What makes matters even more difficult is when we actually pray for things, and then it seems like nothing comes to pass. It can feel like we’re just throwing empty words up to the sky sometimes. It can cause us to doubt our faith, to wonder if God even hears us, or question whether or not He even exists or loves us.

Today, we’re going to look at what the Bible has to say about unanswered prayer. We’re going to see what the Bible has to say about one of the most common and consistent struggles of our lives. I want us to see what the Bible has to say to us during those nights where we’ve cried out to God with no obvious answer in return. I want us to see the hope the Bible gives us for when we’ve cried all of the tears we can cry and wept all we can weep in the loneliness of unanswered prayers.

My prayer is that you would walk away from our time together with hope and confidence to go to God in prayer, even about those things you’ve prayed about for year with seemingly no answer.

Habakkuk

We’re not the first people to struggle with “unanswered” prayers. Christians have struggled with this for thousands of years. In order to see what the Bible has to say about this, we’re going to be hearing from a saint that lived probably 2600 years ago. His name is Habakkuk.

During our time together, we’re going to take a 30,000 foot overview of the whole of book of Habakkuk to see what we can learn about unanswered prayer.

If you have your Bibles, turn or tap with me to Habakkuk 1:1.

As you turn there, let me give you a little bit of context so you can better understand the passage.

Habakkuk and the nation of Judah have been oppressed deeply by the powerful nation of Assyria. This oppression has led people to fall from faithfulness in God. Many people of Judah have begun to worship idols. They’ve fallen away from God’s laws and are doing horrendous things while claiming to be God’s children. There are only a few faithful people of God left in Judah. It’s in this horrible atmosphere that Habakkuk cries out to God.

Habakkuk 1:1-11

Now let’s see what God has to say to us through the book of Habakkuk.

“The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted. “

Even from these first few verses it is clear that Habakkuk is crying out to God in distress and He has done so for some time now. We see this clearly when Habakkuk says, “O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” (Hab. 1:2). Habakkuk has cried out to the Lord to answer his prayer for a long time to and he can’t seem to hear a reply from God.

Habakkuk’s prayer is one of good and just motives. Habakkuk is crying out to God to bring justice to Judah. Habakkuk wants punishment brought to the oppressive Assyrians. He also desires to see the people of Judah follow God’s law again rather than cast it off for immorality and idol-worship. It seems to Habakkuk as if God is just standing back and letting violence and injustice take place. Doesn’t God desire justice? Doesn’t He love righteousness? Why is He not doing something? These questions addle Habakkuk’s mind as he cries out in prayer.

Habakkuk understands our struggle of praying for good things to no seeming answer. He knows our tears and his experience of them are on display here.

Habakkuk desires good for the people and glory for God in His request, so why is God not answering? It is in this longstanding and belabored anguish that God replies to Habakkuk in verses 5-11.

“Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand. At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!”

God’s reply to Habakkuk is shocking and awe inspiring. If you listen closely, you can almost hear Habakkuk’s categories of answers to prayer crumbling in the midst of God’s response. God tells Habakkuk that He is doing more than Habakkuk could ever ask or imagine. He’s not just assuring Habakkuk that he’s answering Habakkuk’s prayer, but that He’s going to do so much more than Habakkuk is crying out for.

God will bring justice through the army of another nation. He will direct the Chaldeans to bring justice to the Assyrians and the faithless of Judah.

In short, God is answering Habakkuk’s prayer in a way that will blow his mind.

In the midst of Habakkuk’s prayer and God’s response, what can we glean about our own prayer lives and our experiences with unanswered prayers?

There is No Such Thing as an Unanswered Prayer

The first truth we can glean is a shocking one and it’s this: There’s no such thing as unanswered prayer.

This may seem like a ridiculous thing to say. It may even seem insensitive. You can probably point to dozens and dozens of times in your life where your prayers seem to go unanswered. You can point to times where you’ve prayed for ca loved one’s cancer to be healed or for you to a get a job you desperately needed or for God to healing a hurting situation in your life and yet God hasn’t answered your prayer as you expected. In fact it’s felt like God gave you no answer at all. So you might be thinking, “Caleb, how could you possibly say there’s no such thing as unanswered prayer. That’s one of the most ridiculous and insensitive things I’ve ever heard!”

But in order to understand the reality that there is no such thing as “unanswered” prayers, we need to step back and see the forest before we can see the trees. Here are a few truths that will help us make sense of this.

God is All-Knowing

First, God is all-knowing. He knows everything perfectly and exhaustively. He knows all things that have happened and that will happen because He planned and decreed them all. And He knows us perfectly and exhaustively. He knows everything we have ever and would ever pray for. God knows your every desire, even your deepest desires that no one else knows about. You will never surprise God with your prayers.

God Hears Your Every Prayer

The second ground truth is this: God hears your every prayer.

Psalm 65:2 reminds us that God hears our prayers. All of them.

Does it ever feel like God doesn't hear you? Can you feel like, with all of the millions praying to God around the world, that God must surely be listening to more important things than your prayers? 18th century theologian and pastor, Jonathan Edwards, has an answer for you in his famous sermon “The Most High a Prayer Hearing God.”

He says, “Though millions pray to him at once, in different parts of the world, it is no more difficult for him…to take notice of all [prayers] than of one alone.”

God hears every prayer you have ever prayed and that you ever desire to pray.

How Does God Speak to Us?

But you might say, “But Caleb, that doesn’t fully answer the question. Just because He hears our prayers doesn’t mean He necessarily answers them.”

True, but before we can reflect on how God speaks to us, we have to know He actually hears us. So how does God speak to us? How does He answer our prayers?

Part of the reason we feel like our prayers go unanswered starts right here. If we don’t know how God speaks to us, we can be listening to Him in all the wrong places and miss what He is saying to us, while assuming He’s not responding. It would be like furiously checking your email for a response on your computer and never checking your phone while someone’s texting and calling you.

Even if we wouldn’t say this out loud, there is a part of us that is waiting for an audible voice.

In reality, probably none of us, or in a rare experience an incredible minority of us will ever hear the literal voice of God.

But just because God probably won’t speak to us in a literal audible voice doesn’t mean God doesn’t speak or answer us. In fact, He speaks in several ways that are far more real and personal.

We don’t have enough time to break all of these ways down in detail but they are worth reflecting on momentarily.

The Bible

The first way God speaks to us in through the Bible. God’s Word delivered to us in the Bible is His primary and most reliable revelation to us. If you want to hear from God, the Scriptures are the first and chief place you should go. God has specially delivered His Word to us through the hands of men to apply to people of every generation in every nation for all time. If you’re waiting to hear the audible voice of God, John Piper has a word for you: “Open your Bible and read it out loud.”

The Preaching of the Word

Another way God speaks to us is through faithful preaching of the Bible.

God has specially ordained preaching to be a means of grace to His people.

When you hear a sermon and feel convicted of sin or encouraged in the faith, that is God speaking to you.

In both the Old and New Testament, preaching is used by God to speak to His people (Ezra 7:10, Romans 10:14, etc.).

Of course, unfaithful and unorthodox preaching does not reflect God’s voice. But when the Word is truthfully preached as God intended, then God’s voice shines forth.

Wise Counsel

Another way God speaks to us is through wise counsel.

This counsel should be in accord with Scripture, and when it is, God can speak through it.

A great atmosphere where this all comes to life is in accountability groups or mentoring relationships. When someone calls out sin in your life in love, that’s the voice of God speaking. When someone encourages you with biblical truth, that’s the voice of God speaking. Cherish wise counsel and test it with the Word of God so that you can listen for God’s voice in it all.

Promptings from the Spirit

The next way God speaks to us is through promptings from the Holy Spirit.

This way of hearing God’s voice, like the next, must be used carefully with great discernment. This tactic can be terribly abused for wrong ends.

When I speak of promptings from the Spirit, I mean intense thoughts that you have an incredibly hard time shaking. Promptings from the Spirit are deep senses toward a certain action or idea. When these promptings are in-line with Scripture, there’s a chance they might be God prompting you.

But even when these promptings line up with biblical teachings, I’m sometimes wary.

When these thoughts are consistent, continual, and not directly of any benefit to me, I take particular notice of them. If you sense a prompting like this, test it with Scripture. God will never give you a prompting that contradicts Scripture. If you ever have a prompting that doesn’t square with Scripture it’s not from God. So test the prompting with Scripture and if it seems to be in-line with Scripture, then and run it by trusted Christian counsel. If after this, you are encouraged to pursue the prompting, it may very well be a sign that God is speaking to you.

Listen to these promptings and pursue them. God speaks powerfully through them.

Meditation and Our Everyday Circumstances

Finally, God speaks to us through our everyday circumstances.

This tactic, like the last one should be used carefully, but when done well is one of the most consistent and profound ways God speaks to us.

The God of the Bible transcends all of space and time. He planned, decreed, and upholds every second of reality down to a microscopic and metaphysical level we can’t even fathom. He weaves our everyday circumstances together with unspeakable knowledge and wisdom.

In a real sense, there is no such thing as a coincidence.

In light of this, it makes sense that God often speaks to us through our everyday circumstances, and we should listen to Him in them.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean reading the tea leaves or imputing infinite meaning into every tiny detail of our lives. Instead, it looks like being aware of our everyday circumstances and keeping watch as to directions these might be pointing over time in combination with meditating on scripture, hearing wise counsel, and listening to biblical preaching.

Are there doors that God continues to open that are in line with Scripture, in-line with promptings you seem to have from the Spirit, and that are encouraged by wise, Christian around you? Then pray about them and investigate them. Or are there doors that God keeps closing? That also might be a sign of God’s direction. Does God seem to be connecting details of what you’re reading in Scripture, what you’re hearing in biblical sermons, what you’re being encouraged to do be wise counsel, and the opportunities in front of you? These are the things we should be on the lookout for. It takes work to transcend our immediate desires to see the direction God might be leading us.

As you apply Scripture to your life and reflect on your everyday circumstances, over time you can begin to see God’s movement in your life. The more you listen for God’s voice in these different ways, particularly in tandem with one another, the better you will get at hearing the voice of God in your everyday life.

God Delights to Hear Our Prayers

But it’s not enough for us to realize that God hears our prayers and that He actually responds to them. Just because He hears our prayers and responds to them, doesn’t mean He wants to.

Some of you may wonder if God even wants to hear your prayers. You may wonder if your prayers are a burden and annoyance to Him.

If that's you, you need to hear this! God delights to hear your prayers. Proverbs 15:8 proclaims this truth with clarity: “The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.”

God actually delights to hear your prayers. Think about that. What an amazing truth! God smiles when you pray to Him. Your prayers show an incredible reliance on God that shines forth to his glory. Knowing you make God smile when you pray should make us smile and beckon us to pray even more. Your prayers are not a burden to God. They are a supreme delight to Him. He loves to hear your prayers, no matter how small.

If you're listening to this and you're a Christian, you can go to God with special boldness because of the mediation and sacrifice of Jesus on your behalf spoken of in Hebrews 4:14,16:

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession....Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need"

Not even the time of day or any other circumstance should keep us from going to God in prayer. You can go to God at any time!

Tim Keller sums up this truth in a beautiful line for children of God: “The only person who dares wake up a king at 3:00 AM for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access."

Not even the things you ask for should stop you from going to God in prayer. You can go to God for anything!

God even delights to hear our confused prayers. Even when we can’t articulate our prayers and desires, God can hear them and delights in them.

Romans 8:26-27 says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

The Psalmist also tells us in Psalms 38:9 that, “Our groanings are not hidden from God."

God hears our cries like a parent hears the cry of a child. A parent can know what a child is crying for even if the child isn’t using words. That cry beckons the parent to come to the aid of their child. The same is true of us. God hears our cries, even our unspoken and confused cries, and He comes to our aid.

With those truths laid out, let’s jump back to the book of Habakkuk.

God Will Always Answer Our Prayers, Even if the Answer Doesn’t Look Like What We First Expected

As we saw in Habakkuk 1, the prophet Habakkuk cried out to God for a long time to what seemed like no answer. When God finally replied, He revealed an incredible truth: He was answering Habakkuk’s prayer in a way that was far different than what Habakkuk was expecting. Yet, after God responds, Habakkuk didn’t see the immediate results of God’s answer so He cries out to God again in Habakkuk 1:12-2:1.

After Habakkuk’s call to God for results, God replies with these words in Habakkuk 2:2-3:

“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”

Even though Habakkuk doesn’t see the evidence of God’s answer yet, God assures Him that it will surely come. God’s words are sure and steadfast. They will not fail. God is working and there is no doubt about it. God tells Habakkuk to trust Him and watch for the wonders He is working.

This Word for Habakkuk applies just as much to us. God will always answer our prayers, but those answers may not look like we expect. God doesn’t always answer our prayers with a “Yes.” Sometimes He says, “No” or “Wait.”

But here’s a powerful truth we need to remember when God doesn’t seem to be answering our prayers as we expect.

When you pray for something in line with the will of God, He will give you what you asked for or something even better!

Just because God doesn’t answer our prayers as we might expect doesn’t mean He won’t answer them or that His answer will be lame. The opposite is true!

We can see a helpful example of this in our everyday lives when we plan a surprise birthday party.

Imagine you have a friend who has a birthday coming up. You conspire together with several other friends to plan a big surprise birthday party with your friend’s favorite food, family, and friends. Your friend is the type that would love parties like this. As their birthday draws near, your friend proposes to make dinner plans with you and the other friends who had been planning the surprise party on the same day and same time as the surprise party you’ve planned. Your friend wants to spend a birthday with friends eating his favorite food and his dinner plans seem like an easy way for him to accomplish that. To his shock, you and your friends decline the invitation. Your friend is hurt and confused. He can’t see a good reason why you would say, “No.” Your friend was expecting a particular response from you and you answered in a different way. At this point, your friend may begin to question your friendship and goodness. Ironically, at the very moment he may begin to doubt you, you are planning something even better for him than he is expecting or imagining. It won’t be until he steps into the party to the collected yell, “Surprise!” that it will all make sense. When that happens, all of his waiting and doubting will be redeemed. In throwing him a surprise party, you have answered his wish better than anything he had asked for, and He is glad because of it.

Many times, God’s answers to our prayers are just like that. May we not assume the worst or doubt Him when He doesn’t answers our prayers just as we expect, while He is working to give us something greater than we could ever ask or imagine.

God Can and Will Do More Than We Could Ever Ask or Imagine

When we remember that God knows, hears, answers, and delights in our prayers, it beckons us to pray. Once we pray, we can cling to this incredible truth: God can and will do more than we could ever ask or imagine in response to our prayers. We see this in Habakkuk 1:5 when God says to Habakkuk: “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.”

Paul echoes this sentiment in Ephesians 3:20-21 when he says:

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Let’s not fall into the sad irony of doubting God’s existence and responses by expecting a specific answer from Him, while He is working in a glorious way for our good that we’re completely missing. This is a sad and common phenomenon of the Christian life for many of us.

In falling into this irony we are forgetting a profound truth articulated by Tim Keller:

You would answer your prayers exactly as God has if you knew everything He knows.

The Gospel is the ultimate example of all of this. God answered the prayers of billions of people, whether past, present, or future, in a way that was abundantly more than they could’ve ever asked or imagined when He sent His Son Jesus to bear our sin and shame at Calvary. In the Gospel, we find the reason for our hope and the ultimate answer to all of our prayers because in the Gospel we found the way to know and enjoy God forever.

1 Peter 3:18 tells us that

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.”

God Himself is the ultimate answer to our prayers. He is what we ultimately need. God is the only One who can truly satisfy us, give us peace, and give us the eternal joy we seek. If we have nothing but God we have everything. He is what we need and He is the ultimate answer to our each and every prayer.

Despite trying to cling to the truth that God can and will do more than anything we could ever ask or imagine, it can still be hard to believe it when we pray to God and only seem to encounter hardship. In these times we must trust the truth of Luke 11:11-13. God will never give us a snake when we ask for a fish. Listen to what Jesus says in this passage when speaking of prayer:

“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

God will not give us something lesser when we pray to Him, even if the opposite seems true at first. He will always give us something good. This doesn’t always mean that He will give us what we want, but He will always give us what we need.

God Often Uses Hard Circumstances to Bring About Even Greater Gifts and Answers to Our Prayers

Even though God will not give us a snake, it can definitely feel like He has at times. It is in these times that we can trust that God is preparing us for something greater than we could ever imagine. When God answers our prayers different than we expect, we can be assured it will be a better answer than what we prayed for.

Hard circumstances prepare us to receive the gifts and answers God intends to give us. God uses difficult times to sanctify us and draw us nearer to Himself and in the process will ultimately do a work beyond our dreams if we will trust Him.

Romans 8:28 is a famous text that is often abused, but when used well it is a comfort beyond belief. If you are a Christian, God really does make “all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28 reminds us that every second of history in every place in the universe is being used for our everlasting good and God’s glory.

Even pain and hardship can be used for our good and God’s glory. Many times, God will answer our prayers, in part, with hard experiences to prepare us for something even greater He has for us.

Ultimately, the beauty of hard circumstances is not the circumstances themselves, but the fact that in them we are drawn closer to God. Pain and hard circumstances show us that we are not sufficient in ourselves. We need God to provide. When times are easy, we can be intoxicated into thinking we are in control. When life spins out of control, we’re remind that ultimately it’s God who is in control and that it’s Him that we truly need.

God Does Not Desire to Give Us Idols That We Will Set Up Against Him

Sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers exactly as we want Him to because by doing so He would be giving us an idol that we would unintentionally set up against Him.

I think this point is particularly applicable for us. There may very well be things that you’re praying for right now that God is not giving you for this very reason. Maybe for you, marriage and jobs are an idol right now. If God gave you a spouse tomorrow or that job you’ve always wanted tomorrow, you would turn it into an idol that you would unintentionally worship. If God gave you something that you would turn into an idol then he would be acting as His own enemy if He gave it to you.

God may be withholding that very thing from you right now until you slay that idol in your own life.

Husbands and wives and jobs make incredible gifts but awful gods to worship.

If God gave you your idols right now, you would be sorely disappointed because you would put a weight on them that only God can bear. You would trust in them for your security and satisfaction in a way that would crush them. Only God can ultimately satisfy.

He is helping us to try and rely on Him over all else. Only then can we truly enjoy the gifts God gives us.

Sometimes we can even look back and be thankful God didn’t answer our prayers as we originally prayed them. I can think of so many times I have prayed for things and God has answered my prayers in another and better way and I couldn’t be more thankful. God knows what I need more than I need.

We think we know exactly what we need, but God knows us so much better than we do.

Think about a little child. They might ask their parents for another cookie, to stay up late, or to play in the street of a busy neighborhood. The parent may say no to those wishes, not because the parent doesn’t love the child but because the parent knows what the child needs more than the child does!

God knows what we need more than we do. If He’s not giving us what we’ve prayed for in the moment, we should trust Him that we don’t need it right now, or that we’re not ready yet, or that He has something better for us.

Continual Prayer Prepares Us to Receive the Answer to That Prayer

Sometimes it can feel like we’re praying for the same thing for weeks, months, and years to no avail. Yet, even in these times, God is doing a work.

In our fervent prayer, God may be preparing our heart to receive the very thing we have been praying for.

When you ask for something only once, it means far less to receive it than if you earnestly asked and pleaded for it for a long time. In the deep and extended times of prayer and longing, God is working graciously in us so that we might enjoy His coming gifts and answers to our prayers even more. He is preparing our hearts to praise Him in response to His gifts. He is reminding us that His answers to our prayers are actually gifts and not things we deserve or have earned. God’s work in our waiting and fervent prayer is grace upon grace.

Honestly Cry Out to God

God doesn’t just want to hear our prayers. He wants to hear them honestly. Shrouding prayers in white-washed, pious language doesn’t fool God. God already knows the depths of your desire and distress, so why hide it from Him? Pray honestly. We can often struggle with this, but the Psalmists often didn’t. The Psalmist is often so honest that it can make us really uncomfortable.

Listen to some of the ways that the Psalmist cries out to God to hear him.

"Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!"- Psalm 55:1

"Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief."- Psalm 143:1

"Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer"- Psalm 61:1

The Psalmist is praying with a raw honesty that exhibits deep faith. You only speak that honestly to people you truly know and love. When we cry out honestly to God, we are showing our faith in Him that He actually can and will respond. We are showing that He responded before and that we desire for Him to respond again. God will take a prayer of deep and raw honesty over a shallow and falsely pious prayer any day.

Prayer and the Posture of Faith

As we draw our exploration of “unanswered” prayer and the book of Habakkuk to a close, let’s draw near to the final words of Habakkuk. Turn with me to Habakkuk 3:17-19. Habakkuk says this:

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

Habakkuk ends the book a changed man. He trusts in the goodness of God even as He doesn’t see the fullness of God’s answer to his prayers. Habakkuk models for us the posture of faith we should have as we pursue God in prayer.

The ultimate example of this posture of faith paired with deep honesty can be found in Jesus’ prayer just before His crucifixion in Luke 22:42.

Jesus knows the incredible burden He is about to bear and in a moment of brutal honesty prays, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Jesus is crying out to His Heavenly Father that God might provide another way for salvation to be accomplished; a way other than the brutal flogging and crucifixion that Jesus was about to experience. Jesus was pleading with the Father to bring froth another plan so that He might not have to bear the just wrath and punishment of God for the sins of God’s people.

Jesus is incredibly honest, but alongside of His heartfelt cry, He says a striking and faith-filled line: “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

This is the posture of faith we must have as we cry out to God. This is the posture of faith we must display in our fervent prayers; deep honesty and deep faith.

If Jesus had only been looking for God to answer His prayer exactly as He has prayed it, He would be sorely disappointed and tempted to doubt God’s goodness and existence. In a real sense, God didn’t answer Jesus’ prayer as He wanted. In the coming hours, Jesus would be given a false trial, beaten, flogged, crucified, bear the wrath of God for the sins of the world, and would be laid in a tomb. Nonetheless, God was still answering Jesus’ prayer. God was working a wonder beyond all imagination.

In a far more real and profound sense, God answered Jesus’ prayer in a much greater way.

Through the horrors of the cross, God made a way for sinners to become saints, enemies of God to be adopted into the family of God, and for Jesus’ name to be exalted above every name to the glory of God the Father. In doing so, God didn’t just answer the prayers of Jesus, He answered the prayers of billions of people past, present, and future. In crucifying His Son, God gave us a perfect mediator who intercedes on our behalf and allows us to go with boldness to God in prayer. In sending His only begotten Son to the cross, God made a way for us to know and enjoy Him forever.

In giving up Jesus in the Gospel, God gave us our ultimate answer to every prayer we could ever pray: Himself.

May we cling to this glorious truth as we pursue God honestly with a posture of faith in our prayers.

Let’s pray.

God, we thank you that you hear our prayers. We come before you right not asking that you would help us cling to you in faith when we struggle to see what you are doing or saying. Help us see your goodness, beauty, providence, and care in all things. God, we proclaim, that you are the greatest gift we could ever receive. You are all we need. We are the only one who can truly satisfy us. You alone are our ultimate delight. Thank you for sending your Son so that we could love and enjoy you forever. It’s in His mighty name we pray by the power of the Spirit…Amen.

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