What Prayer Will Likely Not Change

Introduction

Welcome to all of you, and so glad you’ve come back on a Sunday evening. I hope that the lesson that I’ll be presenting over the next few minutes will have great benefit in your life. And I believe it can, because one of the things that we’re going to be talking about tonight is that union with God, as we talked about this morning, being in Christ and being his vessel, union with God contains incomparable benefits. Incomparable seems to be a big word, but it just has to do with compare and saying nothing compares to the benefits of being in union with God. Incomparable. And sometimes we struggle to see that, and sometimes we struggle to appreciate that, and people lose their faith and don’t persist and persevere like we talked about this morning because they lose sight of the incomparable benefits that are provided.

Now, I’m not going to talk about all of them. In fact, I only want to talk about one of them tonight. And that is the access that is granted to us at God’s throne, that we can go to Him with our prayers. If God is responding to your prayers and my prayers, that is indeed a powerful thing. And of incomparable benefits. So, one point of this sermon tonight: no wimpy, powerless praying. We’re going to pray with power. Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14, actually, beginning in verse 14 and going through verse 16. We have a great high priest, which is the theme of the book of Hebrews, because of what Jesus has done and where he now is as our high priest, all of the benefits that are ours as his faithful people.

We have a high priest, Jesus, the Son of God, according to Hebrews chapter 1, sits at the right hand of the Father. Let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. He understands the human condition because he lived it. But one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet he did it sinlessly, the Hebrew writer says. And then verse 16, this powerful admonition and conclusion. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy. Because we have lived this life not without sin, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help in time of need. Prayer can be a powerful thing in the life of the believer.

But here’s where the caution comes in tonight. Prayer, as powerful as it is, as much as it accomplishes in the believer’s life, and perhaps even in the world, it is not a magical fix for all of life’s ills. And the reason why I want to draw that to your attention is that’s exactly how a lot of people view prayer, even people who are in Christ. Because they have not studied this matter thoroughly and considered the biblical information as it relates to the subject of prayer, they think that because they’re Christians, now they have this hotline to God that somehow just fixes everything that goes awry in life. And if that’s not happening in your circumstances, then there must be something wrong in my relationship with God.

He must not be listening to my prayers. He must not be responding to me. I must not be his child. But prayer is not a magical fix to all of life’s ills. And so I want to talk to you tonight for a little while about what prayer will likely not change. As most of you know, I went to the annual golf tournament in Lyndale, Texas, just north of Tyler. The golf course that we play is the Garden Valley Golf Course, a very difficult track, but pretty.

But this is not the PGA. In fact, our fearless leader of 20 years, Ricky Jenkins, had this as his saying, as he talked about the rules by which we were going to play and our difficulty in comparison with those who play on television. This is not the PGA, this is the GPGA, which means Gospel Preacher Golf Association. We have our own website. It started with 20 fellas, 20 gospel preachers, and now we let the Christians come. And still only about 20 preachers. That’s not implying preachers aren’t Christians, but that’s been a big joke for a long time, too. Now it’s about 90 guys, and we have somewhat of a separate tournament between preachers. I don’t compete against the non preachers, except in the scramble on the very last day, Thursday, that’s all integrated.

But as far as the actual competition, I’m competing against preachers. And so as the tournament unfolds, and I thought about this for I’ve been struggling in recent years with my golf game. You know, it’s really my, I don’t shoot, at least not very often. And I used to play tennis, but don’t really enjoy all that sweating anymore. And so now golf is about my only outlet. And I try to play once a week, and Brent Moody and I are big golfing buddies, and try to get together once a week, play around the golf and get out of the office, let our minds rest. And so that’s my one outlet. And when that’s not going well, when you’re not playing like you used to, it can be very frustrating.

And I’ve had some of my most frustrating moments in recent years at the GPGA. In fact, I’ve been embarrassed. I’ve embarrassed you as a church, and you don’t even know it by how poorly I have performed. And so I’ve been working on my game, and Brent’s been helping me, and I’m playing better. But you know, no amount of praying would help me to shoot in the 70s. Okay? That’s a good score if you don’t know anything about golf. Not many scores in the 70s last week. A few. But no amount of praying is going to cause that to happen. I’ve only shot in the 70s a few times in my whole life and on an easier courses than that one. So that’s not going to happen.

And God is not performing miracles. We don’t live in the age of miracles. So if I hit a ball that heads off into the woods, it’s not going to, in mid-flight, unless there’s a hurricane force wind, and then it won’t be a miracle. It is not going to just magically turn and come back into the fair way. Or the putt that’s going awry gets next to the hole and said stops and then turns and then goes in. That would be a miracle. God isn’t going to do that. Not that he doesn’t have the power to do that. He’s not going to do that. But I’ve got to tell you, because of my struggles in recent years, Sherry even prayed for me this year. And I think it worked.

No, I didn’t have my best scores ever at the tournament. But I enjoyed it more than I have in recent years. It was actually fun for a change. And actually, that’s where I got this idea for the lesson. Alright, more on that in a bit. Even answered prayer does not mean that the request that you make will be answered affirmatively. We know that, right? From the story of Paul. And in regard to his thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan that buffeted him. He entreated the Lord three times that it might depart. And after the third time, and that’s another whole message in and of itself, he didn’t respond after the first time in a direct way or the second time, but by the third time, and I’m sure Paul would have just kept on going had he not gotten this response from God, which basically was, I’m not going to take it away.

I’m not going to fix it. My grace is sufficient for you. Power is perfected in weakness. He goes on to say. Now I want you to turn to 1 John 5.15. This is not on the slides. I almost threw it in, but I said, ah, they can turn. 1 John 5.15. 1 John 5.15. Let me just tell you. 1 John 5.15 is not a blank check. Okay? And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from him. Now, what John is not talking about in 1 John chapter 5 is the nature of those requests. He doesn’t specify that. But I’m pretty sure if you attempt this, why don’t you attempt this week and see if I’m not right about this?

You know, a million dollars would really help me out. I could pay off my mortgage. I could do a lot with millions. I could help a lot of people. So, Lord, I’m asking that you put a million dollar check in my mailbox. Go ahead and try it. See if you think. No, oh, I know it has to be a prayer of faith. So believe it. And pray that and see if that $1 million check comes. And if that happens, I’ll get up here next week and say, I was wrong. And I’m so happy for you. And we’re all going to start praying for a million dollar check. That’s not what John is saying. He’s not talking about every request that you might make. Because right here, Paul made this request and did not get what he asked to receive.

1. Requirements for Effecting Change Through Prayer

Okay? So there’s some limitations. The point is that if you’re in Christ, if you know him, God will respond to your request and he will grant your request. Not that any kind of request that we might make will be answered. So what prayer will likely not change? And we’re going to look, first of all, tonight at some factors that are involved in our praying. The first of which is the requirements for effecting change through prayer. Don’t misunderstand. Prayer can change things. I’m talking about when prayer may or may not change things. But prayer works. Prayer changes things. Even when the answer is what it was to Paul, prayer works because God responded. God answered him. God heard him. But it wasn’t the thing that he was hoping for.

And we can all go to James 5.16. Everybody’s probably on your list. You can quote it right. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much or avails much. So, why say that, James, if it doesn’t affect things? Prayer affects things that would not have otherwise occurred. Your praying makes a difference. That’s what James 5.16 must be saying. There’s another text in this regard that sort of struck me this week. I’ve not really thought much about it. I’ve quoted it many times. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, when he urges that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men for kings and all who are in authority. Now, we’re not talking about praying for Christians here. We’re talking about people who wield authority.

Kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. God desires all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Verse 4. But if you think about verse 2 for a second, wait a minute. Doesn’t God know that we would sort of like to have a tranquil and quiet life and all godliness and dignity, and why isn’t he automatically providing that? Why is he making that dependent upon our praying? Or at least perhaps affect it. I mean, the fact that we could live a quiet life in tranquility, in all godliness and dignity, that might come about just as the result of prayer. And I guess I’ve never really thought about that a whole lot.

Why God made that subject to praying? But he does. So that’s something for you to think about this week. We can help our government officials by praying for them, even if we’re not big fans. Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension. 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 8. But not everyone can affect change through prayer. This is reserved for those, as we showed this morning, who are in union with Christ, who are righteous. The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears attend to their prayers. But that’s not all that verse says. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. He’s not going to respond to those who do evil at any request that they might make.

And somebody said, well, where does that leave the seeker of truth? That’s another whole sermon. And whether or not God is actually responding to their prayer, or he’s simply responding to a promise that he who asks receives. He who seeks finds, and he who knocks, the door shall be open. Which is in the context of the prayer of the righteous, actually, in Matthew chapter 7 in the Sermon on the Mount, but probably as an application to those who are seeking truth by which to be saved. I mean, God provided Philip to teach the nobleman, and at that time did so in a miraculous way in Acts chapter 8, so that he could find the truth that he was of a disposition to receive. So we can talk about the prayers of Cornelius coming up as a memorial before God in Acts chapter 10.

But that’s not really the point of the sermon. Well, let’s just look generally. You walk the path of wickedness, God’s face is against you. You walk the path of righteousness, God will hear. But even everyone who is in Christ may not engage in successful praying. We see that also in 1 Peter chapter 3, a few verses earlier in verse 7, when the fellow who does not deal with his wife in an understanding way, who does not acknowledge her weaker vessel status, and so give care and concern for her, it says that his prayers might be hindered. His prayers will be hindered if he does not treat her in this understanding. Wait, by the way, that word hindered is akin to the one we studied in Bible class this morning, the word thwarted in regard to Satan thwarting Paul from going to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 18.

Same, it’s a synonym at the very least in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 7. In other words, our attempts at praying are thwarted by our poor treatment of our spouse. And particularly the man is held in great responsibility toward the weaker vessel that he is married. And so just don’t rest on the laurels of being in union with Christ. God expects us to treat our spouses in a certain caring, understanding way. But there is another limiting factor, and that is avoiding wrong motives and worldliness. Look at James chapter 4. This is the warning that he offers in regard to prayer. James chapter 4, verse 2, beginning. He says, You lust and do not have. Okay, that would be a wrong motive. You lust and do not have, so you commit murder.

And you are envious and you cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. That’s another thing about prayer. You need to ask to receive. But he says, you ask and do not receive because your motives are wrong. You ask with wrong motives, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Maybe that’s one reason why the million dollar check prayer doesn’t work. Because it’s all about you and what you want and your desires, your motives are wrong. And perhaps that is the implication in 1 John chapter 5 that is not the nature of those requests that God hears, but requests that are consistent with his will and its furtherance in our lives and in the lives of others.

And he says, You adulteresses, in other words, you’ve got another lover, and it’s the world. Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God, having wrong desires and wrong motives, a too deep of an affection for the world. Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. You’ve now gone over into the face of the Lord is against those who do evil category. So it’s not just, wow, I was baptized into Christ and now I have access and union. Your behavior ongoing is going to make a difference as well. The way you treat others, not just your spouse. I mean, if you hate your brother, as we talked about recently from 1 John chapter 3, your prayers are going to be hindered.

2. Extraordinary Results, but Still a Limited Effect

And so walking in righteousness, asking with the right motives, all of these are factors or requirements for effecting change through prayer. Now, point number two. And there are three of those. Here’s the second one. Certainly, the benefits and the results of the prayers of the righteous and God responding to them are extraordinary. Extraordinary results. You think about we can change governments, as we saw in 1 Timothy chapter 2. We can help people’s physical and spiritual circumstances, as we saw in James chapter 5. I think there’s an issue there with both physical illness and even more spiritual illness in James chapter 5. Pray for one another that you may be healed. We can prayer can do extraordinary things. And so I want you to understand that it’s extraordinary, but still there is a limited effect.

And as wonderful and effective as prayer is to effect change, not every circumstance will be something desirable and pleasing. I think that’s one of the mistakes that we make in regard to prayer. We’re going to pray to God, and my circumstances are going to improve automatically. It’s going to get so much better, and probably by tomorrow. And we think that by praying, these circumstances that are less than desirable, that it’s all going to magically go away, and everything’s going to get better, but it will not alter every circumstance. And it is no insulation against pain. It doesn’t mean you’re not ever going to experience pain, physical or emotional. It is no guarantee of pleasant times. There were people who were praying to God in the first century who were martyred.

Who were put to death. That involved pain, I think. Their circumstances weren’t pleasant, especially for their family members. But in Philippians chapter 4, as Paul writes this from prison, right? Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. My circumstances may be less than what I desire, but I can rejoice in these circumstances because I have a right relationship with God and I have a hope in the future, as we’ve talked about. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Let your forbearing spirit forbearing. The word forbearing implies that things aren’t absolutely wonderful. You’ve got to forbear. Let your forbearing spirit be made known unto all men. And then I like this. Paul, how can you, how can you manage prison? How can you persevere in that?

He says, the Lord is near. The simple statement: the Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing. But in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Don’t just keep asking. Thank God. Take inventory of what He’s already given you. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, with prayer and supplication and thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. Turn it over to him. And the peace of God, knowing that it’s in his hands. And he controls the future, and he’s going to bring me home. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Okay, so I’m not going to start shooting par. 72 by praying more. Because you know there’s this issue in golf called talent. Why is that so funny, Noah?

And I’m glad he laughed because ask him about bowling. Okay?

I may not have been given sufficient talent anyway. But golf’s a minor thing, isn’t it? What if you’re in a troubled marriage? Why am I looking at you, Christine? It’s not a troubled marriage. But she said something about Gary earlier. Okay. You’re stuck with him. And that’s really the point I want to make. I mean, this hasn’t been going well. There’s been some friction. There’s been some conflict. Lord, please, I can’t. I can’t endure this any longer, or so we think. I can’t endure this any longer. Would you please remove them? Thank you for another laugh. Would you get rid of them? Please. Maybe not a painful death, but could I start over with someone else? Could you give me another more suitable spouse? Now, remember my title, what prayer will likely not change.

Do you need really a new spouse? Or as I’ve said before, do you need to learn to love and serve regardless? Whether it’s reciprocated or not. To turn the other cheek. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. He coals of fire on their head. Perhaps there’s some qualities that we could cultivate that would help us to persevere and make us more like Christ. And perhaps that’s what we need. Perhaps another spouse would result in the same kind of friction and conflict. And I bet some of our couples who’ve been doing that young couples training have probably learned some things like that, heard some things like that. He’s not going to change your marriage status necessarily. From bound to unbound. Some horrible things happen. People do horrible things and leave mates high and dry without a situation where they’ve put them away for adultery.

They just leave the marriage.

That’s unfair. But there is one cause for moving on with another mate, and that is when a mate has been put away for the cause of fornication. I want to preach a sermon that talks about definitions of divorce and when a scriptural divorce has taken place and when divorces are final. I want to do something like that in the very near future. But sometimes the innocent suffer for the guilty. Isn’t that what Jesus did? And my heart goes out to these people. I wouldn’t want to be in that circumstance. I feel terrible that they’re going to have to now live alone for the rest of their life or until their mate dies, that ends the binding when the mate dies. One has been free at that point to be bound to another.

And that may or may not happen, but Paul extols the virtues of the single life in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. In fact, he says, in light of the present distress, it’s better to be single than to be married. Whatever that present distress was. You can do it. I know it’s not easy in our society, but you can live singly and serve the Lord acceptably.

Because the strength is held by those who are acting unlovingly and hatefully. And we think, boy, this troublemaker, this person who’s causing division, man, why doesn’t God just take him out? A bolt of lightning when he’s outside, working in the yard. The church would be so much better off. But my experience has been, and it was the experience of Asaph that sometimes the wicked prosper. Even those who are circling among the Lord’s people. Who are acting hypocritically. Who maybe perhaps were loving but have become unloving in their treatment of others. They may or may not go away. Good brethren will be falsely malign. Paul dealt with his share of it. I’ll tell you what else, Pete. He’s not going to heal every sick loved one either.

Some people get so down and out spiritually. This beloved person that they cared so much about, that was so much a part of their lives that they died. They were 95.

Your grandparents aren’t going to live forever. It is a point a man wants to die. Ultimately you’ll be that person. And you may not make it to 95. We think God has so disappointed me because this beloved person that I care so much about so much a part of my life has died. Sometimes prayer for the sick will help them to recover. But sometimes they will not.

Everyone ultimately passes away. And those are just a few circumstances. But I want to go back to 2 Corinthians 12, because here’s the key. You’re hoping God will cause things to change in this circumstance, and perhaps that person won’t go away. Or someone does go away that you care a lot about. But something is said to the Apostle Paul that we need to always keep in mind. And that is that his grace is sufficient for you. Whatever the circumstance.

But we will. If we persevere in faith and depend upon God and depend upon his people, we can get through it. God says, my grace is sufficient for you. The fact that you have access to the throne of God, that you have the hope of a glorious eternity in his presence where all the pain will be gone and removed forever. My grace is sufficient for you. You know what our problem is? Sometimes we shake our fist at God and say, No, it’s not enough. I want more. I demand more. That’s our problem. God’s grace is sufficient. But again, I don’t want to suggest by suggesting that there is a limited effect sometimes in the things that we pray. Remember this, he is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.

He can do more than you can even imagine, and things may be happening as a result of our prayers that we’ll never be able to gauge. So don’t question their effectiveness. Don’t question what is being accomplished. Even as we pray for people that are lost, who knows when they might ultimately grasp it and get it and obey it. God can arrange circumstances. He can do things in the world, and he demonstrates that on every page of the Bible. God can do things in the world that changes things dramatically without miracles. There’s more of that in the Bible than there is actual miracles. So don’t question the power of prayer and its extraordinary ability to change things, but just understand that it may not alter circumstances to where we might like them to be.

3. What Constant Prayer Does

One final point.

I’ve talked to you about what prayer is not likely to change. But let me tell you what constant prayer does. Now, he will not give you everything that you might want. God is not a cosmic vending machine. And I think that’s somehow why we want to treat God in prayer. Just pull the lever and I get what I want. That’s not what 1 John chapter 5 and verse 15 is saying. God is not a cosmic vending machine. But I want to give you three things that constant prayer will do. And this is very powerful. It’ll keep you focused on what you need to be focused on. And that’s the unseen realities. Because as I said this morning, we can lose sight of that. We can lose sight of the fact that the Lord is near.

In Philippians chapter 4 and verse 5. We can lose sight of the real power in the universe and in the world that is wielded by our sovereign God. And it keeps us focused on the soul and not just my soul, but the souls of others. And eternity, where all of this is headed, and on God, who is the creator of all. And secondly, the reason why we need to not lose heart in regard to our praying and get discouraged and stop and pray at all times is because it nurtures your sense of dependency. If we stop praying, you know what that says? I’m depending on old number one. I don’t need him. I’m doing pretty good all by myself. The person who is in constant prayer is expressing and not only showing their dependence upon God, but they’re showing themselves.

Conclusion

But they’re dependent upon God. It nurtures your sense of dependency. And finally, it appeals to the ultimate source of help. I don’t know what he will and will not change in every circumstance, but I do know when I pray to him as much as others have done and can do in helping me, there is not anybody who can help me as much as he can. He is a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46 and verse 1. I’ve gone to the one who has the most power of all to affect my circumstances. And I want to conclude with this. I talked about what prayer will likely not change. I want to tell you what prayer will absolutely not change. Prayer will not alone bring you into union with God.

As we saw this morning. Did you see it? Remember the graph? I love the chart. Remember the chart? Prayer wasn’t on the chart. That is not the means by which one turns from the dominion of Satan unto God, from darkness to light. Oh, people may be praying when they find themselves in the circumstances of in their sins and being children of wrath, but that’s not what delivers us from sin initially. But it is those things that we talked about this morning faith leading to repentance, confession, and baptism. It is no substitute for those initial responses that God requires. But once you are in union with Christ, there is what has been called, that’s not a biblical phrase, but it is consistent with what the Bible teaches.

The second law of pardon. The first law of pardon is those requirements that we talked about this morning. The second law of pardon is that when you’re in Christ and you find that you have committed sin and transgressed against God, you can do what Simon of Sorcerer was instructed to do by Peter. Repent and pray that the thought of your heart might be forgiven you. And he asked Peter to pray for him. And that can be done as well.

And of course, he prayed along. The second law of pardon. So if you’re in this audience tonight, you need to be concerned about your state, as we said this morning. Have you come into initial union with God? Perhaps you found yourself not in the faithful place over a period of time that you need to be. Perhaps you need to respond in some public way. Perhaps you just need to appeal to your brethren to pray for you. Now, why would you do that? Hmm. But there’s over a hundred people here who have access to the throne of God. And if prayer accomplishes much, let’s get a hundred people pray. What good could come from that? Extraordinary things. Let’s pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the access that we have as your children through prayer.

We know we are we are weak. We sometimes sin and fall short of your glory and act foolishly, and we’re so mindful of the cost that was paid for our sins, the precious blood of the Lamb. And we appeal for its cleansing power now. And we thank you for hearing us, being merciful to us, and helping us. And we pray, our God, that you would continue to help us. Help us to walk in your ways. Help us to help others. Our God, we pray that you would lead us to glory. And we know that you can. Help us to be faithful to the end. Give us strength and courage. And we pray for those that we know who are lost. For anyone in this audience who needs to respond to your invitation, we pray that they might embrace it this very hour.

May we say something, show them something, teach them something from your word. We know that saved souls is what it’s all about, our God. And we want to be numbered among that great throng in your presence for all eternity. In Jesus’ name. Amen. You’re subject to the invitation. Come now as we stand and sing.