God's Glory Church

Do any of you wish God didn’t answer your prayers? If yes, then today’s sermon is not for you. Today I would like to talk about how to receive an answer to prayer.

It’s no secret that we don’t like being rejected. It is important for us to be heard and even more important is to receive answers to our questions. If one of the people ignores us or simply does not answer our questions, then this may offend or disappoint us. It is unlikely that we will ask such a person for anything else and, most likely, next time we will not ask him.

So it is with God. If it seems to us that He does not answer, then whether we like it or not, we will have little desire to pray and ask Him for something.
God understands this:“He also told them a parable about how one should always pray and not lose heart, saying: in one city there was a judge who did not fear God and was not ashamed of people. In the same city there was a widow, and she came to him and said: protect me from my rival. But for a long time he didn’t want to. And then he said to himself: although I am not afraid of God and I am not ashamed of people, but, as this widow does not give me peace, I will protect her so that she does not come to bother me anymore. And the Lord said: Do you hear what the unjust judge says? Will not God protect His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night, although He is slow to protect them? I tell you that he will give them protection soon. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?(Luke 18:1-8)

How to avoid disappointment? How to pray and not lose heart when it seems that God has forgotten about you? The key point is faith. It is important Who you believe and what you do when the answer does not come right away.
There is a wonderful story in the Old Testament about Elisha and one Bible Institute student:

“And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha: Behold, the place where we live with you is too small for us; Let us go to the Jordan and take from there each one one log and make ourselves a place to live there. He said: go. And one said: Do me a favor, go you and your servants. And he said: I will go. And he went with them, and they came to the Jordan and began to cut down the trees. And when one felled a log, his ax fell into the water. And he shouted and said: Ah, my lord! and he was taken into custody! And the man of God said, Where did he fall? He showed him the place. And he cut off a piece of wood and threw it there, and the ax floated up. And he said: Take it for yourself. He stretched out his hand and took it.” (2 Kings 6:1-7)

Elisha – (Heb. Elisha) translated as “God helped.” How did God help the unlucky student? How did His help manifest itself? And can we take something from this story?
The first thing we can see in this short story is that for God there are no big problems or small problems. Any of our problems are important to Him, and what is important for us to do is clearly identify our need and open it to God. Without recognizing your need, it is impossible to receive an answer from God.

“Identify your need and tell God about it”

Even Christ, before healing a person, asked: “Do you want to be healthy?” (John 5:6) You may tell me that it is foolish to ask a sick, paralyzed person if he wants to be healed. But God doesn’t think so. He does not impose His decisions and answers on us; He wants us to recognize the need ourselves and ask Him for help.

The second thing that is important for us to have in our hearts in order to receive an answer is a point of support or a point of faith. It is very important to have a foundation on which we can rest. As one ancient scientist said: “Give me a fulcrum, and I will move the Earth.”

“Find your footing in God”

What was the basis for the faith of the widow of whom Christ spoke? She believed in God’s faithfulness and the power of persistence. What did Elisha’s student believe? He believed in his teacher as God’s prophet and that through him God could perform a miracle. What can be a fulcrum for us today? This could be anointing with oil, coming forward to pray, touching through the laying on of hands, or praying for the sick person’s belongings. Jesus very often healed through touching a person, and even those who touched Him by faith also received healing.
Third, it is important for us to make the decision, the answer that the Lord offers. The son of the prophet we read about in our story needed to take the miracle that God did for himself. Yes, Elisha did most of the work, but the ax would have remained in the water if the unlucky student had not reached out his hand and taken it. In another story, a widow came to Elisha for help. “And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do to you?” tell me what you have in your house? She said, “Your servant has nothing in her house except a vessel of oil.” And he said: go, ask yourself some vessels on the side, from all your neighbors, for empty vessels; gather a lot…”(2 Kings 4:2,3)

She had a serious problem: they wanted to take her children into slavery for debts. But who solved her problem? You will say – God! But how did He do it? Through the woman herself, through her obedience to the solution that God offered her.
Jesus did this often. To one he said: “get up and walk…”, to another he smeared mud on the eyes and said: “go wash…”, to the third: “go show yourself to the priests…”. And many many similar things. What does this all mean?

“Make the decision that God tells you”

“He heals the brokenhearted and heals their sorrows…” (Ps. 147:3)

The lives of many people, like an axe, were intended by God for useful work, for serving God, but they are lost. Many people set great goals for themselves, but suddenly slipped from their “axe”, flew away and plunged into the water of sin. The axes intended for the building of the House of God have sunk into vanity and care, plunged into the dirt of this world and lie there useless. How to save such an ax? How not to be disappointed in God?
Identify the need and tell it to God, find the basis for your faith and accept the solution that the Lord offers you.