FBC Live! - Sunday, September 12, 2021

[Music] do [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning and welcome to worship we're so glad that you decided to join us this morning my name is vicky alloway and i'm the preschool ministry director we love ministering to our young families i hope one day that you will visit us in person for worship and if you do i love to meet you if you have preschoolers you can enter at the welcome center and i'll be there to help get your child checked in i'll gladly show you the safe secure kid-friendly environment where we teach children about god's love i hope your heart is prepared for worship if you haven't already grab your bible and prepare to dig into god's word we'd love to know where you're watching from so be sure to comment and tell us where you are if we can help you in any way feel free to reach out to us in the comments section or email us at info fbcdecatur.org [Music] good morning and welcome to worship at first baptist church decatur we're so glad you're with us today if you're a guest with us either online or in person please take a moment and fill out our connection card at fbcdecature.org connect your input's important to us and we would enjoy returning a message to you but also if you're a guest and you haven't had a chance to meet our pastor then we hope you'll join him immediately after our service in the coffee bar it'll only take a few minutes to say hello and blake even has a gift waiting on you one of the things i love most about first baptist church is the servant attitude of our people this november we get to put that servant attitude to work as we will host pastors from across our state at the annual alabama baptist pastors conference now we've moved the conference from huntsville to our church this year and we need 60 volunteers to help with registration greet serve lunch and dinner and minister to these pastors while they are here on our campus it's happening all day and into the evening on monday november the 15th now if you'd like to make a difference here that day please sign up to greet and serve at fbcdecatur.org events next sunday all of our adult sunday school classes will meet in the rock to hear from catherine renfroe catherine is the director of evangelism for the north american mission board and is passionate about helping you easily share your faith with others we'll all meet in our usual places to get started then move to the rock later so simply do as you usually do next week and go straight to your sunday school room also next sunday we are beginning a new small group for married couples in their 30s through their mid-40s which will be led by ryan and sheryl goss if you're interested visit fbcdecature.org connect and click the i'm interested button and then join us near the lafayette street elevator on the second floor next sunday middle schoolers our basic training bible camp is set for saturday september 25th it's from 9 to 1 p.m so come and play games like dodgeball and ultimate relay but more importantly to spend time looking at the basics of how to study the bible and answer the questions like what what the what is the bible and how should we pray parents i want to encourage you to join us and participate in activities with your students it begins at 10 45 that would be the perfect time for you to join us and lunch is provided for everyone and the cost is completely free so make sure you go register at fbcdecature.org events now get ready church because we get to celebrate the best thing ever and it's baptism would you turn your attention to the [Music] well baptistery morning church it's so good to see you this morning and can there be a more exciting way to begin our service than to see one who has trusted jesus as her savior to follow through in baptism what an exciting day it is today and kennedy today everyone out here rejoices with you for this decision that you've made kennedy is jesus christ your lord and savior amen kennedy based on what you've told us that jesus lives in your heart it's my privilege to baptize you not only as my neighbor but now as my sister in christ the bible says we're buried with christ in baptism raised to walk in newness of life when it first happened the minutes felt like hours the hours felt like days and the horror of what happened one detail after another could hardly be processed much less understood then days turned into weeks and weeks turned into years memorials were built wars were fought victims names were read survivors tried to pick up the pieces over and over again but no matter how much time has passed we vow to hold these memories we will never forget those who were taken from us the world changes and shifts this way in that but one thing stays constant one thing is steady god god weeps with us god mourns with us god bottles up our tears and records them in his book he is closer to you than your own breath and remains the cornerstone of life god is the solid ground holding us up as the world moves beneath us it's as true today as it was on that day our god reigns he reigns over principalities and powers his dominion stretches beyond what our eyes can see and when the thief comes to steal kill and destroy our god reigns we will always remember good morning everyone would you stand with us in worship today we welcome you today to sing and worship with us here at first baptist decatur we're glad you're with us in the hope that we have in christ we sing today for he is our hope and our confidence would you sing with us now [Music] my hope is [Music] i dare not trust the [Music] sweetest in jesus name [Music] is [Music] the storm he is lord when darkness seems to hide his face i restore his unchanging grace [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] when he shall come with trump itself oh his righteousness alone for less to stand before the throne [Music] christ [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] lord [Music] oh we're here to join today church to glorify that name that is above all names the name jesus christ thank you you may be seated it's so good to see you today welcome to worship here at first baptist decatur whether you're here with us in the sanctuary here with us online we're just delighted to have you with us today christ is our cornerstone he is our only hope he's our only hope for our own lives and he's our only hope for the nation and the world that we have today and as believers in christ we have a part to play in the hope that this world experiences in christ and that part that we can play no matter where we are no matter what we do no matter how great our influence is or how small it may be or how small we may feel it be it is great because in christ through prayer we can change our world and we're asked and commanded to do so the apostle paul wrote these words in first timothy chapter 2 he said i urge you first of all that prayers and intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people for kings and all who are in high positions that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life godly and dignified in every way this is good and it is pleasing to god our savior who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth and tanya if you'll back that up one slide for me there's one thing i want to point out there when we talk about prayer and praying for our world when we talk about praying for people who are in authority when we talk about praying for those who lead our country take note that god says it is a good and it is pleasing thing in the sight of god our savior to pray so today as we did in our encounter service wednesday night as we did thinking of this weekend and what it represents from 20 years ago i want to ask you to pray with me if you don't mind father today we're so grateful that we can be in your house we're so thankful father that we can seek you in worship that we can seek you in prayer today and that today god we can hear from your word which is truth eternal truth god we want to take the truth of your word that commands us to pray for our leaders today we want to lift up locally the people who lead our community for tab bowling for all of the city council want to pray for people who are leaders in the school system for our teachers for those who serve our community our firemen our police officers nurses doctors [Music] lord and ask you to be lord over this community and to guide and direct them in their lives and in the decisions they make we want to pray for our state we want to pray for governor kay ivey today for cabinet for the people who lead and guide and direct her that father god through your holy spirit you give them wisdom in their decisions to lead and rule well today we want to pray for our president joe biden we want to pray for the house of representatives for the senate for the people who lead our country father to ultimately be led by you for father as believers we know that they're not the final authority o lord that you are the final authority and so we seek you god on their behalf and we pray that father god you'd guide and direct their steps and we pray god that you would heal this country that you would heal this land and that father you would bring about a great revival and renewal in our churches god we're desperate for it it's obvious we need it lord [Music] and so god please bring it and lord we just join our hearts together as one lord make us mindful to pray more diligently make us mindful to pray more diligently for those who lead us and help us god to honor you and to walk in the fear of god in all that we do and in the interactions that we have with people o lord we're just so thankful today that we can join our hearts together to do this and we pray all of this in jesus name amen would you stand as we continue to worship and you just join in in worshiping as you feel comfortable doing [Music] creation what a beautiful name it is [Music] what a beautiful name it is nothing compared to this what a beautiful name [Music] so jesus my sin was greater what a wonderful name it is what a wonderful name it is the name of jesus christ what a wonderful name it is nothing compares to this what a wonderful name it is the name of jesus what a wonderful name of jesus [Music] the heavens are roaring the praise of your glory [Music] [Music] god is is [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] rise to me [Music] says [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] raised [Music] [Applause] is [Music] blessed [Music] thank you everyone you may be seated let's take our bibles and prepare to hear from the word of god there once was a pastor who had a six-year-old little girl not you anna reese by the way all right and she noticed that every time her dad would get up to preach when he would stand behind the pulpit that he would bow his head so one sunday when they were on their way home from church the little girl asked her dad she said dad what are you doing every time that you bow your head before you begin to preach the sermon and he began to say well honey the reason i'm bowing my head is i'm praying and i'm asking the lord to help me preach a good sermon and she thought for a minute she looked at him and she said well how come he doesn't do it this morning we're going to be talking about unanswered prayer last week we talked about how many times we don't receive some of the gifts that god so graciously longs and desires to give his children simply because we don't ask that god is our heavenly father he wants to give us good things but we don't come before him the two things that we said last sunday we need to come boldly before him and we need to be persistent in asking those requests and many times we simply don't do those things understanding that he's a good father and he desires he longs to give his children good gifts but this sunday i want to address the elephant in the room i must admit that this has been one of if not the most challenging message that i've written in the time that i've been here it's been challenging because i'm convicted over the last two or three weeks as i've been preparing and writing and studying and praying and asking the lord for conviction and wisdom and direction and to be honest with you i'm not a master on this subject in fact i would be ashamed to admit to you how many times i fail to live out what i'm about to preach this morning so i just want to be transparent with you as we discuss this delicate subject of why sometimes god doesn't seem to answer our prayers when we do come before him why is it that sometimes even though we are sincere even though we are bold and we are are persistently taking those requests why is it that sometimes he doesn't answer if we had time to go through the room i know that each and every one of us we could give examples of times maybe a season in our life in which we would say we were genuine in taking our requests before the lord we were authentic in pouring out our need for him to respond to a certain situation we we believed even with all of our heart that surely what i'm asking for it has to be in line with god's will and yet he didn't respond chances are he did respond but he didn't respond in the manner or the time or in the way in which we asked him to friend what do we do with that how do we continue to come before the lord in prayer as we're we're commanded to when we aren't sure how or why god allows or causes certain things to happen in our life before i begin to get into some of the reasons as to what scripture says why sometimes god doesn't respond the way that we ask him to i want to preface uh this message with two foundational truths two things that i hope will set the stage or set the table for why god may not be answering some of our prayers the first foundational truth is this and that's that i simply don't understand fully the mystery of prayer i don't do i believe in it absolutely do i believe that prayer changes things absolutely do i do i know that god has answered prayers yes have we are we thankful that he gives us in this disciples prayer that we're studying examples of how we are to pray again the answer is yes but church i cannot fully explain how or why sometimes it seems as if god's answer to our prayers are an overwhelmingly yes and yet at other times it seems as if he's silent sometimes it seems as if his answer is no and friends isn't that what makes prayer a mystery aren't you thankful that we don't have to understand how everything works we don't even have to understand how how someone responds in order to trust them right think about it do you know how all the technology in your home works do you know how the internet works no but do you trust it until it fails right thanks charter um do you believe do you can you understand and you understand how everyone in your life operates and how they think and how they choose to respond think about your kids no way you don't understand what was they what were they thinking right even your best friend even your spouse there are times in which you don't understand them but you continue to trust them why not because of the answers they give you not because of what they do but you trust them because of the relationship that you have with them and we are going to see that we trust god in prayer not because he gives us the answers we want not because he responds in the way which we can try to manipulate him but we trust him because he is our heavenly father we trust him because we know that he is for us the second foundational truth is this and that is that men and women all throughout the bible even in the old testament they have struggled with the same question that we struggle with today which is simply unanswered prayer you can look at the prophet habakkuk and he cried out o lord how long shall i cry for help and you will not hear or cry to you violence and you will not save job he struggled with unanswered prayer as well job said oh that i had one to hear me oh that i had the indictment written by my adversary king david a man after god's own heart he struggled with an answered prayer didn't he just read the psalms and you'll see all throughout there his struggle and his honesty of why are you not responding in certain ways just one example in psalm 13 he says how long o lord will you forget me forever how long will you hide your face from me all three of these old testament heroes they struggled with the same thing that we still struggle with today which is why does god sometimes not seem to show up or answer our prayers in the way in which we ask them and what i find amazing is yet even though these old testament heroes even though they struggled even though they questioned god god in his incredible wisdom and his incredible grace he chose to keep those scriptures within the word why i think part of the reason is because he's telling us that it's okay to not have everything figured out it's even okay to express your frustration or even at times to express your disappointment over god's response or his lack of a response in prayer in church while i cannot give a definitive reason as to why god sometimes says no where he doesn't seem to to respond the way we want him to or even at times while we feel so distant from him this morning i do want to share some principles with you that we see all throughout scripture in regards as to why god may not answer some of your prayers in the way in which you're praying each sermon i use anywhere between 7 and 10 resources i spend anywhere from 10 to 15 hours a week just in research and putting messages together but i want to be honest with you there are three particular resources this week that have been really helpful to me and so i want to share them with you if you need further research on this subject one where there were two incredible sermons by david jeremiah that i would love to point you to there were two articles also by charles spurgeon and there's a book that i'm reading by j.d greer about prayer and he just it's called just ask so again i can share those with you later but if you're looking for further information there you go all right let's jump into some of the reasons why our prayers may not be answered reason number one god may be working on you god may be working on you last week one of the main verses that we we kind of camped out on was from james who's the half brother of jesus and listen to what he said in james chapter 4 verse 2 he says you do not have why because you do not ask but it doesn't stop there if you keep on reading in the very next verse james says sometimes you ask and even though you're asking you're not going to receive look what he says you ask and do not receive why here it is because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions in other words we ask sometimes for things but we ask with the wrong motives we ask with the improper desires in our hearts we pray in hopes that something something other than jesus himself will fulfill in us a need which only god himself can fill how many times have we been guilty of praying god if you'll just give me this material possession then i'll be fulfilled if you'll just give me this job promotion if you'll just give me this house if you'll just let me succeed in this hobby if you'll just let my child succeed here if you'll just give me a spouse lord if you just give me this then finally i will be ultimately and completely fulfilled james is saying right here that we are to find our joy that we are to find our complete fulfillment not in anything that god provides but instead in god himself sometimes god says no or wait and listen to me when he says no when he says wait it may not be because he's punishing you it may be because he's purifying you he's teaching you that yes his gifts are a blessing and yes he desires he longs to give good gifts to his children but we should not be dependent on anything other than his presence alone in our life his presence should be enough i go back to the example that i used last sunday of aladdin's lamp aren't you thankful that god didn't give you everything that you asked for when you were 5 years old or 10 or 15 or even 25 years old of course so god is your loving heavenly father and he may withhold certain answers in your prayers in order to make you more dependent upon him he may withhold his answers in order to conform you into the likeness of his son which is his ultimate goal jd greer says if answering our prayers in a decade means that we will grow more christ-like each day until then well we shouldn't be surprised when god delays his response when you remember that he is your father then you can praise him even in the midst of his delays even in the midst of his silence speak why because we trust him we continue to persist in prayer because we trust that he's our father we trust that he is for us and we trust that his timing is always perfect there are other ways also that he may be working on us number two maybe there is an unconfessed sin in your life maybe there's unconfessed sin in your life john bunyan who wrote the christian classic pilgrim's progress he says this prayer will make a man cease from sin or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer let me read that again prayer will make a man cease from sin or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer listen to all throughout god's word we are told that unconfessed sin that it can hinder our prayers psalm 66 18 if i cherish iniquity in my heart the lord would not have not have listened proverbs 28 9 if one turns away from his ear from hearing the law even his prayer is an abomination isaiah 1 15 when you spread out your hands i will hide my eyes from you even though you make many prayers i will not listen your hands are full of blood isaiah 59 verses 1 through 2 behold the lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save or is ear dull that it cannot hear but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your god and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear it's not just in the old testament peter mentions in the new testament as well first peter 3 12 for the eyes of the lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer but the face of the lord is against those who do evil hear me carefully on this when we trust christ as our savior when we confess our sin and we trust him as our lord and savior the penalty of all of your sins past present and future it's paid for you no longer have to worry about am i going to be held accountable for my sins no you're forgiven for all of those sins no matter what sins you may commit but of course we know that as human beings as long as we live in this flesh that we're going to continue to sin regularly right and as we sin then that's what we're called to do to confess and ask for forgiveness of our sins that's the part of the lord's prayer we're going to get to next week where he says and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors church unconfessed sin can hinder our prayers it doesn't mean that it's the main reason that he's not answering you the way that you want him to but the point here is that scripture makes it clear that unconfessed sin can hinder your prayers reason number three maybe you're asking with unrighteous motives again i go back to the verse in james james four verse three you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions you can pray with a sincere and genuine heart but your motives and your focus can be more on yourself more on your enjoyment than god's glory remember every time we pray even before we get to the part where we're mentioning our requests and telling god what we we're asking him to do we are to pray lord your kingdom come your will be done i'm not saying that you've got to say those words exactly but what i am saying is that we should always in our hearts and with our lips be saying god over and above anything that i'm about to ask you i long for i desire your kingdom i want your will to be done more than anything i'm about to ask lord your will be done how many times are we guilty of praying thy will be changed right god i want your will to change not your will be done i'm guilty of that i'll admit it mike fleisher in his book prayer blockers he writes this he says we must remember that god's ultimate concern is not with our team winning the ball game but in himself being glorified in the process his ultimate concern is not that we would all have perfect health but that we would offer up every ounce of our health to his glory and honor his ultimate concern is not that we have a high paying job but that we praise him and we are thankful for all that he provides his ultimate concern is that we are consumed with his glory in whatever state we are in and i believe that god delights in giving even the smallest of things to his children but we must weigh the motives of our hearts against the substance of our request we must ask is my desire in this to see god glorified in my life or am i just wanting this because it'll make me happy reason number four maybe you have an unresolved conflict in your life jesus had several instances where he mentions this in mark 11 verses 25 and 26 he says and whenever you stand praying forgive if you have anything against anyone so that what your father also is who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses in matthew 5 23 and 24 he says so if you are offering your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you leave your gift there before the altar and go first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift again god has made it clear that our acceptance before him it's made only because of what jesus did for us right jesus died in our place the only way that we are made acceptable for him is that we we understand what jesus did and we trust him we confess and repent of our sin and we make him our lord and savior that is our only hope for salvation but he also tells us in his word that our fellowship with him that our prayer relationship with him that it is conditioned upon our relationship not only with him but also our relationship with other people he says if i have offended my brother that i am to go and make that relationship right or my prayers will be hindered he also says if my brother or my sister has offended me that i am to go to my brother i am to go to my sister to restore or repair that relationship or else my prayers will be hindered again these are jesus's words they're not my words the responsibility is mine the responsibility is yours in either case to make things right with your brother and then to come before the lord with your prayers now hear me if you are harboring anger if you have resentment or unforgiveness towards another believer god says it's not going to shut down your prayer he's still going to hear you but he does say that it will hinder it he does say that it will get in the way of your prayers church we can't just gloss over that so before we move on to the last three ways let me ask you is there any unconfessed sin in your life is there any unresolved conflict in your life between you and specifically another believer those things hinder your prayers if so take action that's something that you can actually do something about your prayer life hinges upon those two things and understand forgiveness is not forgetting what the other person has done forgiveness is not denying what someone else has done it's also not minimizing their sin against you it can still be sin it can still hurt and they can still be a hundred percent of the wrong but forgiveness is simply choosing to let god be the one who determines the appropriate course of action in dealing justly with the person who's offended you i'm releasing that sense of judgment i'm going to trust god to deal with them i'm not going to to long or try to get revenge upon them see church there's only so much room in your heart and you can choose to fill it with bitterness and unforgiveness and resentment or you can say look there's only so much room in my heart and i want to be filled with god's grace and his goodness and his love and his forgiveness but you have to make the choice what are you going to fill your heart with so let me ask you how much is it worth to you to hold on to that grudge how much is it worth to you to refuse to forgive another believer are you going to let what a person has done to you hinder your prayer life with your all-powerful all-loving all-gracious heavenly father i'd beg for you to weigh what it's worth before you refuse to let go of that bitterness and that resentment in your heart number five maybe the reason god hasn't answered your prayers because god has a greater plan by using the disciples prayer as as a model we've already admitted our love and dependence upon god how because we're calling out him as not only our father but what abba our dearest dad there's a loving relationship there not only do we have a loving relationship we also recognize that he is holy because he's not just our dearest dad he's in heaven we recognize that his thoughts are far above our thoughts and his ways far extend what we may consider the right thing to do isaiah puts it this way for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways declares the lord for the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts friend when we remind ourselves how infinitely greater god's wisdom is how infinitely greater what god's experience is than ours then it can help sometimes make sense why what he does best in our life doesn't make sense to us why does it make sense why doesn't feel right because we have to remind ourselves his ways are greater than our ways his thoughts are higher than our thoughts and so it doesn't make sense to them let me give you an example right now in our household these are my kids favorite candy it's called nerds gummy clusters by looking at the congregation today i'm guessing not many of you have had nerds gummy clusters all right they're like the nerd drops if you've ever had them but they kind of they make them up into small parts noah the other day told me daddy i would eat these all the time if you would let me i would eat these for breakfast lunch and dinner and they would be so delicious and i said well i got a problem your mom's probably not going to let us eat them for breakfast lunch and dinner right she's more disciplined than i am why why would we not let we know that this would make them happy they would enjoy it we know they went why wouldn't we let them eat them why because we have more wisdom we have more experience we know that while they may enjoy this while this may be great in the end it's not for their good it's not going to help them it's actually going to harm them do you see where i'm going here with this sometimes i think that's the way that god views our request we request these things and the god is up in heaven saying i know that you really want that i know that that would make you happy right now i know that would give you joy right now but what you really need is not those nerd gummy clusters you really need your fruits and vegetables you really need your protein so while i know it's not going to make you happy now i've got a greater plan for you and i'm going to make you go through this i'm going to take you through this you're going to feel my presence i'm going to carry you through that and in the end years decades from now you're going to understand how you could feel me and your your relationship with me grew but it's not going to make you happy right now but you got to trust me because my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts are greater than your thoughts we sometimes have to trust when our prayers go unanswered that god is working a plan that is far greater than anything we could even imagine paul says this oh the depth of the riches and the wisdom in the knowledge of god i could stop right there let me say that again the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of god how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways for who has known the mind of the lord or who has been his counselor john piper in an article that was written dozens of years ago he made this one statement he said at any given point god is pursuing about 10 000 different good things in your life and you are usually aware of only about three of them think about that we only see a very small piece of god's grand design and most of the time we have no idea what he is doing and what's happening behind the scenes and what's happening over here because we can't see but just because we can't see just because we don't understand doesn't mean that god isn't working we trust him even when we don't like it even when we're unhappy why because he is good and because he is our father and because he has earned our trust because of who he is number six god may say not yet we typically think that when god answers our prayers there's two answers right yes or no but many times it may not be yes or no but instead god may respond with not yet sometimes we have to wait days or weeks or months or even years before god gives us what it is that we've asked from him but remember it's not because god is holding something back from you it's not that he's waiting until you say it just the right way or get the phrase the right way or you stand on your head or you use the right translation or you use the right words and no he is our father and he will always do what is best but sometimes his timing is not on your timing the last book of the bible in revelation chapters 4 and 5 we see the resurrected jesus and he's opening up a scroll that contains god's plans to deliver his people and to destroy his enemies and it talks about what the angels are doing listen to what it says in roman revelation 5 8 it says the angels each holding a harp in golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints isn't that an incredible picture these bowls that the angels are holding they are filled with the prayers of god's people who have long cried for god to bring his kingdom here on earth they are prayers for god to make things right here in this broken and fallen world and up to this point it seems as if these prayers have gone unanswered but church here's the good news don't miss this one day one day his people's prayers will all be answered with a mighty yes it may not be today you may not receive the answer on this side of eternity but one day on that day the lord will answer your prayers and ways far beyond anything that you can even ask or imagine but they will be answered not on this side of eternity but instead on the other side of eternity but make no mistake about it every promise every promise that god makes to his children they are yours and some will be given to you here on this side of eternity but some will have to wait until we are face to face with him in heaven but either way his promises to his children are always yes and amen and seventh and finally i saved this one for the end the reason that you may not be experiencing an answer to your prayers is because you may not be his child i want you to hear me carefully on this i want you to hear me with a tender heart god always promises to answer prayers but all throughout scripture his promise to answer prayers are given exclusively to his children jesus says this in john 9 31 we know that god does not listen to sinners but if anyone is a worshiper of god and does his will god listens to him nowhere in scripture does god ever promise to answer the prayer from someone who is outside of his family that is someone who has not surrendered their life and said that jesus you are my lord and savior i'm going to follow you he does not promise to answer those prayers remember prayer is a family exercise what was the definition that we're using for prayer it's not just communication with god it's relational communication it's the relationship it's the communication between your dearest father and a son between your dearest father and a daughter sometimes he will answer the prayer of non-christians we're not saying that he never does of course sometimes he does he's a gracious god he's a loving god and he can do whatever he chooses to do right but he makes no promise in scripture to answer those prayers but friend here's the good news the good news is that anyone anyone can become a son or a daughter of his by accepting jesus christ as their lord and savior listen to what jesus says but to all who did receive him who believed in his name excuse me john says he gave the right to become children of god if you place your hope and trust in jesus christ then you can be assured of this god will hear and god will answer your prayer just like he answers the prayer of every other one of his other children but you must make the choice that you are going to surrender your life that you are going to trust in jesus as your lord and savior i don't want to take another moment and go throughout the the rest of the service without asking you have you fully surrendered your life to jesus not do you come to church not do you think that jesus was god's son now do you think that yes he's he's the father is he your lord and savior is he your ultimate treasure do you desire him more than you desire anything else in this world is he your lord and savior the most important question that you will ever answer the rest of your life and if not then why not today why not today confess your sin why not today say jesus i know that i've been trying to earn your love i've been trying to earn your favor and now i'm just laying it all down i confess that there's nothing within me that makes me worthy to be in your presence there's nothing in me that makes me worthy to be a child of yours but i know that you sent your son jesus who died in my place who paid the penalty that i deserve that he died and he defeated sin and death he's alive today and today i'm trusting him as my lord and savior i'm placing my hope my value my worth is in jesus and what he has done i confess i repent and turn from my sins and i'm following you lord you come into my heart be my lord and savior have you done that before have you trusted jesus as your lord and savior friend i wish i genuinely wish that i could give you some simple formula i'm a type a personality i wish i had a three-step plan that he said if you do these things in these this order then god will answer every prayer you ever pray in the way you want and the timing you want he'll give you everything that you want it doesn't happen that way does i can't explain why or how god allows certain things to happen in your life there are some things that we simply we're not going to be able to answer on this side of eternity we'd be foolish to try to explain them that doesn't mean that we lose our trust we continue to trust not because of the answer that he gives or doesn't give but we continue to trust because we have a relationship with our father and we have to learn to be okay trusting even when we don't have all the answers even when all the puzzle pieces don't fit on this side of eternity think about this paul himself the greatest christian who has ever lived he struggled with unanswered prayer remember three times he prayed for the lord to do what lord remove this thorn in my flesh we're not sure exactly what that thorn was but what we do know is that paul desperately he genuinely prayed lord please remove this thorn in my flesh surely paul prayed the right way right surely paul had the right word surely paul was sincere and he asked the lord to do this and yet what did god do he chose to not remove that thorn here was god's answer to paul's sincere prayer 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 of my weaknesses why so that the power of christ may rest upon me god didn't remove that thorn in paul's flesh because god knew that thorn would deepen his dependence on god god knew that that thorn would prove to paul that god works best through broken and weakened vessels and friend i don't know what you're going through right now i don't know what difficulty that you're experiencing right now but perhaps just perhaps the reason that god has you where you are today in this dry season in the season of confusion as to god why will you not answer my prayers i'm coming genuinely and sincerely i keep coming but i don't feel your presence right now perhaps he has you where you are to encourage you to deepen your dependence upon him perhaps he has not answered the prayer that you've been praying because he wants to show you that he works best through broken and weakened vessels who come before him admitting that there is nothing good within us there's nothing that we have to offer god friend god is always working he's always moving the question is this are we looking for what god is teaching us or are we only focused on the gifts and the answers that he gives us [Music] he's teaching you something even in the midst of the waiting he's your loving heavenly father he has not turned his face away from you he has not removed his hand from you he wants to work in your life he's teaching you something even now miss what he's teaching you don't miss the fact that he's deepening your dependence upon him simply because you didn't get the answer that you wanted simply because he's not on your timetable do you trust him do you trust him just when things go your way or do you trust him in every season and every stage of your life would you pray with me [Music] heavenly father we come before you grateful for the relationship that we have with you [Music] a relationship as a father and a son or a father and a daughter that we don't have to depend or pretend like everything's okay when it's [Music] not you desire to hear our true emotions and feelings and your god and you can handle our frustrations and even our disappointments lord even in those seasons we don't lose our trust in you we don't understand but we choose to trust heavenly father would you deepen our dependence upon you even in this moment would your holy spirit reveal to us even now in this moment what it is that you're teaching us what it is that you're revealing to us what it is that you're preparing for us something that we can't even imagine but we know that you're good we trust you lord i know that in a room this size and that those who are watching online that there's someone right now who just has a broken heart [Music] someone who is hurting and [Music] they just need to feel your presence [Music] i pray your peace over them right now i pray that they would feel your presence in a real and a mighty way even in this moment i pray that they wouldn't trust their feelings they wouldn't trust their circumstances but they would trust in the heavenly father who may be saying not yet because i've got a greater plan for you lord would you take our lives would you use them for your glory take this church take our facilities take our budget take our people lord take everything that we have and use it for your glory expand your kingdom lord we pray that this church would be used for your glory alone we pray your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven strip away any pride in our lives trip away any pride for our children our grandchildren [Music] remove any pride that we have and anything that this church has to offer apart from the holy spirit working and moving in the midst of your children [Music] we desire for revival to take place we desire for men and women for students to come to know you in a real and personal way for more people to go through the experience of baptism because they place their trust in you [Music] we pray for healed marriages we pray for prodigal children [Music] we pray for those that are in the underground right now that don't know you that your holy spirit would move and work upon their lives and that you would bring them salvation lord if there is someone here today that doesn't know you i pray that they would turn to you and they would find a savior who loves them and who is willing and ready to welcome them into your family lord take our lives and use it for your glory for it's in your name that we pray amen would you stand with me and as we have this hymn of invitation if you have a decision to be made public i'd love to meet you down front but for the rest of us let's use this time to say lord i'm turning my eyes upon you reset my focus so that i'm fully committed to you let's sing together [Music] is [Music] turn your eyes [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] jesus we adore you we hold you our savior [Music] sometimes we just have to continue keeping our eyes on him no matter the struggle that we're going through let's just sing that to today and continue worshiping [Music] what a glorious [Music] [Applause] [Music] lift jesus eyes jesus we adore you we hold you our save forever true oh jesus [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] we adore you we hold you our savior ever true oh jesus [Music] oh jesus we turn our eyes [Music] church what a great day it's been today to see kennedy go through with baptism and we're so thankful for her family that's here today and we rejoice with you and her commitment to follow through and obedience to jesus and we look forward to to others i want to encourage you if you've never been baptized if you've never taken that next step of obedience you've trusted christ as your savior then we would love to help you make that happen and today we also have two families that are joining our church and we're always thankful that the lord adds to his body as he sees fit first i want to introduce to you my friend andrew andrew edson is coming he's been visiting with us for a while and today he said you know what it's time for me to make this my church home and church family don't you rejoice with andrew and next we have the davidson family if y'all want to come up here we have dane and dana as well as their sons conley and cage conley i mean sue's cage joined a few months ago and had to drag his parents here and so we're glad that you did even though your neighbors of tim and libby you still joined and so we're we're thrilled to have you as part of our church family don't we rejoice with the davidson's being a part of our church god continues to do a great work in his church and i pray that we continue to be faithful to him let's remain humble this is his church and we want to faithfully follow him thank you andrew and so as you as you leave here i would encourage you to come give a fist bump come say that you're thankful to meet this family and if you're a visitor or you have not had the privilege of meeting you i'd love to meet you in the coffee bar and i hope that you have a great rest of the day you're dismissed thank you again for joining us this morning at first baptist we want to help each person find a place where they belong because we know how important community truly is for each of us if you would like more information about any of our ministries or our bible study options leave a comment on the connection card at fbcdecatur.org connect have a wonderful week [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: FBC Decatur AL

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Keywords: FBC, First Baptist Church, Decatur, AL, Worship, Alabama, Church

Id: WiQHoxmfyJ4

Length: 78min 37sec (4717 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021