One of the biggest mysteries in the religious world is the mystery of unanswered prayers. You see it everyday; people who are receiving a blessing God and people who are not. Why is it that many prayers are being answered and many prayers are not being answered? Recently, our church just completed 30 days of prayer and consecration. If you were to take a vote of the people who participated, you will find that many converts received a blessing but there were some who didn’t. How does God determine who will receive a blessing and who will not?
In this passage of Scripture, Jesus is dying on the cross. He takes a blow that was meant for us. Matthew says that on that Friday evening, Jesus cried out with a loud voice asking why God has forsaken Him? There was no response from God and he allowed His divine plan to go forth. What if God did say something or do something when Jesus asked why he had forsaken Him? Where would be today if God had not remained silent?
The most troubling thing about preaching in this day and age is that you have many “so called” preachers who are just motivational speakers rather than preachers. If a preacher never mentions Jesus in their sermons, then they are just a motivational speaker. A real preacher’s sermon must have the blood of Jesus as the foundation of the message. This message seeks to provide you a nice theological package containing three items to help you deal with unanswered prayers.
The first item in your theological package is as follows; there are some days that God is going to be silent and heaven gets quiet. Don’t mistake silence for absence. Think about the last time your child said something crazy to you. More than likely, you probably experienced a moment of silence because had you reacted in that very moment, you might have lost it. Just because God did not answer you in that moment, doesn’t mean that he doesn’t hear you.
The second item in your theological package is this: God's relationship with us is one in which he intends to go through us to use us for the bigger picture. He is bruising you so He can use you to take care of business down here on Earth. Recently, a father who just buried his son who died while serving in Iraq asked the preacher, “Where was God when my son was dying in Iraq?” The preacher responded, “He was probably in the same place when my son was killed.” For God to take care of business on Earth, he had to bruise His only begotten son.
Finally, the third item in your theological package is to call again. If God does not answer your prayer the first time, call again. If he doesn’t hear your prayer the tenth time, call again. If it takes you several nights, all night, keep calling. You may be in the Friday evening of your impossible situation. Keep calling for Sunday morning is coming.
Posted By: Alban Burney
Monday, May 5th 2008 at 12:17PM
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