(This is the 5th sermon from the "Just One Question Series." The question this Sunday was "If God is supposed to answer all my prayers, why does it seem like he doesn't sometimes?")
 Aren’t You Listening?

 

          Isn’t it frustrating when someone doesn’t listen to you?  In the course of conversation, someone might ask you a question and as you begin to give your answer, you notice that the person’s eyes are going somewhere else, perhaps to the game that is on TV.  They give no reaction to any parts of your answer, even the things you feel are very interesting or surprising.  Maybe the person is even so brazen as to pull out his phone and check his new message as you are talking.  You know that he didn’t listen when you get done with what you have to say and he asks another question that you had just explained a second ago.  That can be very frustrating, and you want to just say to that person, “Hey.  Aren’t you listening?”  It sure doesn’t seem like that.  We forgive each other for doing that far too often, and it’s a little understandable when a big play is happening, or you are waiting for a specific message, that your attention is not 100%.  But could you imagine instances where it would be ridiculous for someone to not be listening?  If you call 911 and the dispatch person misses what you said because he is checking his cell phone we would be upset.  If you are explaining to the ER doctor what happened to your hand and he starts a conversation with another doctor, you might be a little peeved.  And don’t our prayers fall into this type of category?  We pray to God about lots of things, many of which are very important and the question today is what do we do when it seems like God isn’t listening.  Is he checking other prayers that popped up on his smart phone?  Is he distracted by everything else that is going on?  We know such thoughts are foolish, but then what do we say when it seems like God isn’t answering our prayers.

          That was the situation that Paul found himself in.  In his second letter to the Corinthians, he shared a very important prayer that he had offered to God.  “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.”  Paul had experienced an amazing vision that he had just shared with the Corinthians in the verses before ours.  Because of how great this vision was, he received a powerful problem, to keep him from becoming conceited.  What type of problem was this?  Well, he calls it his thorn in the flesh, something that continued to be present and painful for him.  He calls it a messenger of Satan.  We don’t know exactly what this thorn was.  Some think that it might have been some sort of problem with Paul’s eyes..  Some think it was an illness that he had picked up on his travels, such as malaria.  It could have been some sort of speech impediment, as some considered Paul less than a powerful speaker.  Whatever the thorn was, we can imagine what Paul wanted in prayer can’t we?  He tells us that he pleaded with the Lord.  He didn’t just nonchalantly ask, he begged God.  And this was not a one time thought for Paul.  He mentions three times, but you could imagine it being more than that.  Paul wanted this thorn to be gone and so he was busy and earnestly asking God for that.

          Can’t we understand what Paul’s reasoning must have been like?  I mean, this was not a selfish whiny person we are talking about.  This is the guy who suffered tons for the Gospel.  Beatings and shipwrecks and imprisonments.  He faced such things with confidence, so I am sure he wasn’t just thinking oh if only this problem was gone, things would be so cushy and easy for me.  No, more likely he had pretty good reasoning.  Lord, think how much more work I could get done for you if this thorn was removed.  How many more people could I have the strength and energy to reach with the Gospel.  It makes all the sense in the world that you would take this problem away from me God.  So why aren’t you listening?

          Our prayers might be different in some content from Paul’s, but overall, can’t you find some similarities between you and him.  When are the times that you really wonder if God is listening or not.  It’s not when you are having your wish list prayers.  You aren’t overly worried about God ignoring you if he doesn’t immediately grant you that blessing that you know you don’t need but would be sorta nice to have.  It’s not when you bring your little cares and problems to God, which is good to do.  He wants to hear all our cares and worries, but if he doesn’t supernaturally fix my brakes or help me drop the ten pounds I am working on, I don’t doubt he heard me.  No, isn’t it the really important prayers that make us stop and ask this question?  The prayers about granting my loved one some healing.  The prayers about helping to mend that fraying relationship at home.  The prayers about helping me succeed in a new school or job.  When those types of prayers seem to go unanswered, is that what makes us scratch our head and ask God if he is listening?

          And our reasons are pretty good too.  We are doing what he wanted us to do!  We know that Jesus is our friend and wants us to bring our burdens and grief to him.  We hear him say to us to cast all anxiety on him because he cares about us.  So we are doing what you wanted us to do, and besides, think about what could be Lord?  There are so many good reasons for you to grant this prayer.  Lord think about what that person could do for you if they were strong and healthy again.  Think about how much happier and thankful our home would be if this problem passed.  Think about what an unbeliever would see if you granted this prayer.  Think about how I could be a better witness for you if things go well in this new setting.  Why wouldn’t you answer this prayer?  The only reason you must not be doing it is because you aren’t listening.  And if that is the case, why bring these things to you?  Why keep praying, if I can’t count on you hearing me when I pray about the important parts of my life, what can I count on you for?  Why does it seem like you aren’t answering me when you promised you would?

          But note what God showed to Paul.  He gave him an explanation why he wasn’t answering that prayer to remove the thorn in his flesh.  “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  God showed Paul what he was accomplishing in him through this suffering.  First, he promised him that his grace was enough for him.  He had all that he needed with the mercy God had showed him.  And on top of that, God’s strength was being made clearer through Paul’s weakness.  Go back to the seeming good reasons Paul gave to take the thorn away.  This would move the Gospel forward Lord.  Instead God says, when you are weak and suffering, when you are persecuted and insulted, that is when the power is clearly seen in my truth in you.  That is when the power is clearly Christ’s and not Paul’s.  The Lord was really answering Paul’s prayer for him.  What Paul thought was the best way to answer that prayer yes was not what God considered the right answer, but God still answered it.

          God gives you this example of Paul this morning because through it he shows us this is true for us too.  He might not make it clear to us the exact same way he did with Paul.  He doesn’t audibly speak to us in answer to our prayers, but he does tell you and me the same thing he tells Paul here.  Sometimes his power is clearer and most visible when we are weak.  When we are holding on in the midst of a problem and are really to fall, his powerful hand that holds us up and continues to help us bear whatever we might be praying about shows his strength. 

          But even more than that he shows us that while we might want to be asking him, “Aren’t you listening?” in reality, we should be asking ourselves that question.  Aren’t we listening to what we say when we pray?  Aren’t we listening to ourselves say, “Not our will be your will be done,” even if that means suffering or heartache?  Did the Father answer Christ’s prayer with a yes in Gethsemane?  He did, because Jesus prayer was do this if it is your will.  And since it was God’s will to save the world, Jesus got exactly what he prayer for.  Part of the problem with our prayers is we only hear what we are saying and not what the Spirit says.  God promises to send his Spirit to intercede for us.  So the prayer we offer might be the last thing in the world we would want since it conflicts with God’s will and so the Spirit speaks up for us. 

          And so dear Christians, silence your earthly minded thoughts for a moment with me this morning and hear what we really are praying by the work of the Spirit.  Lord, show me that your grace is enough for me.  That even if I must face the worst problems imaginable and the biggest heartaches, your forgiveness and mercy in Christ is more than enough to pick me up.  Lord, I want you to do what is good and pleasing in your sight, not in mine.  That is my greatest desire and I plead for you to carry that out, even if I don’t understand it all the time.  Lord, help me to accept your will as what I really want when I come to your throne of mercy.  When we pray in such a way, we know God will always answer our prayers with a resounding yes, because we are asking him to do the very thing he most wants to do, the very best things for us.

          This certainly calls for faith, and there is a reason why we recognize that prayer is a fruit of faith and something that flows out of seeing God’s abundant goodness to us.  Don’t think Paul didn’t have days where he thought, “Lord are you sure it wouldn’t be best this way, with this thorn gone.”  You and I will still have days where we wonder if we really received a yes answer to our prayer, because it sure seems to be a no.  This is why we must always continue to couple our prayers with God’s Word.  Because prayer without the word is just a one sided conversation.  We need to hear God’s answers for us.  We need to see his promises to give us everything we ask for in Christ’s name.  We need to see the amazing child and Father relationship we have with God because of Christ, and that is why we can be confident that our perfect, holy, wise, and all powerful God is not going to fail to give us what is best in his sight.

          We don’t need to worry about God not listening to our prayers.  He promises to hear and answer all of them.  If you find yourself feeling as if he hasn’t been answering, stop and listen to what it is that we are praying.  Each of us has different specifics in our prayers, but we have the same over riding desire.  That God’s will be done.  That we ask all things in the name of Christ Jesus and receive resounding yes’s to the prayers that the Spirit offers on our behalf.  Listen to what you are really praying and turn to the word where God answers your prayers and see how he responds to us.  I have listened to your prayers and here is my answer.  Yes.  Amen.



 


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