Parkland First Baptist Church
Sunday, February 28, 2021

      • Ephesians 2.8-9CSB

      • 2 Kings 12CSB

      • 2 Chronicles 24CSB

      • Psalm 50CSB

      • Matthew 9CSB

      • Matthew 10CSB

      • Matthew 11CSB

      • 2 Kings 13–14CSB

      • 2 Chronicles 25CSB

      • Psalm 53CSB

      • Matthew 12CSB

      • Amos 1–3CSB

      • Matthew 13CSB

  • Lord Reign In Me
  • Only By Grace
  • Victory In Jesus

  • 4 Attitudes To Have In Receiving Answers To Pray

    Last in the series on "Pray Can Change Your Life"
    Looked at
    Purposes of Prayer
    5 Attitudes for Answered Prayer
    How To Pray for Your Problems
    Today our topic is How To Receive Answers From God
    Luke 1:5-23

    You Must Be Willing To Let God Answer In His Own Time

    God often delays answer
    Why?
    V. 18 Zechariah asked "How can I be sure?"
    He had stopped praying years before. The angel said your prayer will be answered
    V. 13 God heard your prayers. Heard= Already happened
    God answered immediately, delayed sending the gift
    Like kids, big difference between "No and Not Yet"
    Mark of maturity - How long can you wait?
    Lost faith, no patience
    Why delay? To prepare us, get us ready
    We need to grow up.
    Frustration we think we're ready before God says we're ready
    He wants to change your attitude before giving.
    Start with changing me instead of the situation
    God is never late, His timing is perfect
    God's delay is not God's denial
    What do I do? Keep praying until
    Get answer
    Get assurance your going to get answer
    God reveals it is not His will

    You Must Be Willing To Let God Answer In His Own Way.

    Not only in His time, but also in His own way
    His ways are usually bigger and better
    What would have happened if He had answered Zechariah and Elizabeth's prayer?
    Ordinary baby
    Delayed and got John the Baptist
    The forerunner of Jesus
    Problem with Prayer
    We ask too little
    Want it too quick
    We aim too low
    Eph. 3:20, “Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.”
    Praying for 75 members by year 2025
    If receive all at once we'd be overwhelmed
    Get like the way God gave His people the land - a little at a time
    John D. Rockefeller, "I won't give a man a million dollars at once because it would overwhelm him."
    God says, "Let me answer in my time and my way"
    Praying for a job, don't worry God has it
    Praying for finance success, don't worry God has it
    Sometimes best not to get what you pray for
    Prodigal son
    Got inheritance and it ruined him

    We Must Be Willing To Let God Answer In His Own Power

    Let God do it without your help - its a miracle
    Truth in this story is God often waits until its humanly impossible to act
    He gave Zechariah and Elizabeth a baby after the child-bearing age
    Who gets the glory - God does
    Same with Abraham and Sarah
    Abraham helps God out with Hagar
    God says not the right way
    Angel came and said you will have a baby
    In Romans 4:20 (KJV) it says Abraham "staggered not" or did not waver in unbelief
    Told Sarah - she laughed - didn't believe
    Got a child
    God waited so it would be an out right miracle
    When you pray don't be surprised if it gets worse before it gets better
    Marriage - spouse more hateful
    Finances - worse
    Martha and Mary - Lazarus
    Lazarus was sick
    Asked Jesus to come
    He intentionally delayed for 3 days
    Then he went
    Lazarus was dead
    Martha and Mary asked where have you been?
    Just believe and see glory of God
    Lazarus come out that's a rhema
    Another time was when Jairus’ daughter was sick
    Jairus comes and gets Jesus
    On the way, woman who had been bleeding for 12 years touches Jesus
    He stops
    Imagine Jairus' feelings
    Goes on and servants say she's already dead
    Jesus said don't worry keep on believing
    Raises girl
    While you are waiting keep eyes open to see confirmation of God's power in other people's lives

    You Must Be Willing To Let God Answer For His Own Purpose

    For whatever reason He chooses
    Why does God answer prayers? For our growth and for His glory
    Why did He answer Zechariah and Elizabeth? He needed a John the Baptist
    Joseph, dreamed of being ruler, slave, prison, the 2nd in command in Egypt
    Look at Paul - a great example of letting God answer his prayer according to His timing, His way, His power, and for His purpose
    Look at Romans 1:7, “To all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 10, “always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.” 15, “So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”
    Paul's desire was to preach in Rome
    Romans 15:20, 24, “My aim is to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that I will not build on someone else’s foundation.” “Whenever I travel to Spain. For I hope to see you when I pass through and to be assisted by you for my journey there, once I have first enjoyed your company for a while.”
    Did God answer Paul's prayer? Yes
    Acts 28:16, “ When he got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.”
    He was under house arrest
    He went to Rome as a prisoner on his way he was shipwrecked, chained up, in the winter, bit by snake, not the best way to go to Rome
    Point - Paul made it to Rome in God's way
    How did he get there?
    Through Felix, Agrippa, Caesar, God works through some unlikely people
    God's own timing - Paul may have packed his bags many times, God is never in a hurry
    God's own purpose - Why did Paul want to go?
    To preach
    God wanted him to go to write a bunch of letters
    They became the NT
    Paul's desire was to impact the world
    He thought the only way to do that was to preach in Rome
    Instead God wanted him to write the Bible
    Which had the greater impact?

    How Do I Apply This?

    When you pray
    If the request was not right God will say No
    If you are not right God will say Grow
    If the timing isn't right God will say Slow
    When all is in place God will say Go
    Prayer
    Are you willing to let God answer
    In His own way
    In His time
    In His power
    For His own purpose
    Why are you praying for what you are praying for?
    Health - What are you going to do with your body
    Finances - What are you going to do with the money
    Will God get any glory out of it?
    Lord, Help me to know you better, realize how much you love me. Show me Your plan for my life and help me to cooperate with it. Jesus Christ come into my life and make me a Christian, a new person. I want to know you. Make Yourself real to me. I want to believe in you. I do. Thank you for loving me, for dying for me, and help me understand it.
    ​
Parkland First Baptist Church
office@parklandfirst.com
253-531-0121
http://www.parklandfirst.com
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