When I first started learning about the kingdom of God and the authority we have as children of the King, I went all in. At that time, the business I owned was not doing well and so I was determined to put into practice all this new faith stuff I was learning. I put my confidence in this verse: Mark 11:24 “24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” So, I went to one of our locations early in the morning when no one else was around, so I could pray. I began to shout and declare authority in the name of Jesus over the business and all that I was supposed to have as a citizen of heaven. I shouted and prayed fervently over the space that God’s favor would be there. I left that morning feeling confident that things were about to change. And you know what happened next? Things changed alright, they actually got much worse. Nothing that I prayed for came to pass. Did I not pray long enough? Did I not shout loud enough? Did I not say enough formal words? Should I have been kneeling instead of standing? What did I do wrong? Prayer is not about how long, how loud, or even how many Thees and Thous you say...Prayer is about having a key to unlock what you need. Have you ever prayed really hard for something and it didn’t happen? How did that affect your prayer life afterwards? Did it affect your belief about how God works? Did it affect your belief about God’s love for you?
What has your experience as a disciple of Jesus taught you to believe about prayer? Does it change God’s mind about your situation? Does it change your mind about your situation? Can your physical situation in the earth realm really be changed by talking to an invisible God in the heavenly realm? Today we will begin to answer an important question: As disciples of Jesus, how should we respond to unanswered prayer? Let’s start by looking at some verses that will shed some light on this problem. This first one should really open our eyes. James 4:2-3 “2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” This is most certainly the number one reason prayers don’t get answered. Or perhaps I should say the reason that prayers get answered with a “no.” It’s because you want something to fulfill the desires of your flesh. God is not interested in giving you things that will make you even more self-centered. This verse answers why I didn’t get what I wanted for my business. When this verse talks about spending on your own passions, it is clearly talking about money...or anything that gets you more money. Are you already spending more than you make? Is God obligated to get you out of a financial mess that you made? No. Imagine this scenario...You really want to go on that dream vacation that you believe you deserve, but you already know you cannot afford it. So, what do you do? You pray that God would provide a way. Then the very next week you get something in the mail...A pre approved credit card with a $5,000 limit. Cancun, here I come!
Now was that God answering a prayer or the enemy trying to get you to dig yourself deeper into debt, so that there is no way you can afford to give at church? When the credit card bill comes, you start praying again: “Lord, You know how much I desire to give to further Your Kingdom, but You know my financial situation and that there is no way I can pay these bills and also give at church. Thank You for Your understanding Jesus. Amen” Does anything in that scenario honor God or advance His kingdom? You have to stop and examine: What are your motives for asking something from God? Are you only concerned about what’s in it for you? Is your request aligned with God’s will for you? You came to the father in the name of Jesus, but did you represent what Jesus wanted for you or just what you wanted for you? If your boss asked you to do something as part of your job and it required something you didn’t have, you would put in a purchase request with the owner. But first, you’d have to have your boss sign off on the request. In essence, you are telling the owner “my boss, said I needed this to get my job done.” The owner then approves the request because it moves his company goals forward. That is what you are doing when you ask God for something in the name of Jesus. You are bringing the authority of the name of your Lord into the situation. But before you do that, shouldn’t you make sure He has signed off on what you are asking for? Or have you just forged His name onto something you wanted?
Do you know if Jesus has approved your request before you send it to the Father? Here’s a question to ask before you use the name of Jesus in your prayer. Does what your praying for advance God’s plans or just yours? If you request an audience with the King and all you do is use the time to tell Him what you think you deserve, you have wasted your time. What about if you are definitely praying for something that is God’s will? What are you expecting God to do? This next passage from Acts tells the story of Peter and a young girl named Rhoda. It shows how much faith the Acts church had. Acts 12:1-17 “1 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. 2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword, 3 and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.” Alright, here we go, the church was earnestly praying, so this should be good. Acts 12:6-11 “6 Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on
your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” 9 And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. 11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” There you go, now we’re talking. God moves and does a miracle, just like the church was praying for. It’s time to celebrate what God has done, right? Well, let’s see...just read on. Acts 12:12-15 “12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” So the church was praying and claiming that God could answer their prayers, but all the while they were not actually believing that He would. When Rhoda told them that their prayer had been answered, they told her that she was crazy. Acts 12:16 “16 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.”
They had to see it in order to believe it. Does that sound familiar? Is that what it looks like to operate in faith? Sight is the opposite of faith. Sight follows faith, it does not precede it. God answered their prayer because they were praying according to His will. God wanted Peter released from prison. So, do you even believe that God will do what you are praying for? Or are you praying, “just in case” it actually works? Would you be surprised if your prayer was answered? If so, you were not praying in faith, you were praying and doubting at the same time. James 1 5-8 “5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” Are you praying and doubting at the same time? Did you see the consequences of doubting when you pray? You should not expect to receive anything from God. God will not reward your doubting His ability to accomplish something. If you are going to doubt God’s ability while you are praying, you are just wasting your time. The bible calls this being double minded and it will cause you to be unstable in all your ways. Living like this will make you look crazy. You check your phone and the weather forecast is 100% sun with no rain in sight...and yet you still carry an umbrella, just in case...you look crazy. You know there are no clouds in the sky, but you can’t be sure, so you doubt the weather report. You look unstable.
If you ask God for His will for your life and at the same time doubt that He will tell you...you look unstable. We are starting to see a pattern emerge in the scripture. This next verse is the key to unlock they mystery of how to get your prayers answered. 1 John 5:14-15 “14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” Our prayers must align with God’s will. And what is God’s will? Jesus told us, when He taught us to pray. “Your kingdom come, Your will be done...”. After we acknowledge who we are talking to and recognize His holiness, we are to ask for what He wants first. Our desires must align with God’s desires. God did not put us on the earth to accomplish our will, but to accomplish His will. Therefore, Prayer is not a license to get whatever we want...it is a license to be used for God to get whatever He wants. This may surprise you, but prayer is us giving God permission to move in the earth realm. Now, I know that didn’t sit well with a lot of you, but hang on a minute and I’ll explain to you what I’m talking about. What if you gave your child authority over something of yours and you told them it was their responsibility to care for it and therefore, you wouldn’t interfere. Then you saw them doing something with it that would harm it or themselves. Should you jump in and stop them?
Your first instinct is to probably say, yes. But you said you wouldn’t interfere. So the answer must be no, because if you did, that would mean you have broken your word not to interfere. You have the power to fix it, but not the authority. You gave that to the child. So now we see the problem. You have the power, but not the authority...and the child has the authority, but not the power. You are going to have to partner together to get the situation resolved within the rules. The child must use his authority over a situation in order to utilize the power of the parent. The child needs to ask you for help, then you would be free to fix the issue without breaking your word. You will have operated within the rules you set. When Laura and I were first married, her father told me this: He said that he would never interfere in our marriage...but if I ever needed anything, all I had to do was ask and he would do whatever he could to help. I had all the authority in my household, but I didn’t have all the power to take care of some problems. All I had to do was ask, and he would jump in...but I had to ask first. This is how God operates. This is why God doesn’t just supernaturally jump in to fix things and do His will on the earth. He uses us to accomplish His will on the earth. God doesn’t move until we call on Him. Why? Because He gave us dominion over the earth and He does not work contrary to His law. Man has the legal authority in the earth.
Psalm 115:16 “The heavens are the Lord's heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.” This is the word of the King, and The King’s word is the law and not even the king can break His law. If God broke His word and jumped in to fix things, overriding man’s authority, then who’s to say He wouldn’t break His other promises? God gave the rulership of earth to man. That is His law. God’s integrity is at stake, and He will always be proven trustworthy. Therefore, He will always work through the will of man, to accomplish His will on the earth. That is why He doesn’t just jump in and fix things Himself. He will not break His own law. Kingdom Key: Prayer is You using your authority to bring about God’s power in a situation...to accomplish His will. James 4:13-16 “13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” Have you been “claiming” things outside of God’s will and trying to force it to happen through your prayer and confessions? When you approach a king and ask for something that does not line up with his goals for his kingdom, what do you think the answer is going to be? Even if it seems like it would be for his benefit, only he knows what the long range plans are for his kingdom expansion. So, if he says no, you have to accept his will in the matter, because your plans did not align with his.
Does God want you to get that promotion? If it aligns with His will for your life and the purpose He created you for, then yes absolutely. But if His purpose is for you to expand His kingdom right where you are, then no. The lack of a promotion should not be seen as a punishment or that God has not favored you, or that He loves you less than the person who did get it. His will and purpose for your life should be the thing you are praying about. You don’t ask God for the promotion...you ask God to put you where you can be the most effective as an agent of His kingdom expansion. Prayer is the means by which you align your will to God’s will. And when that is done, you can apply this verse. Mark 11:24 “24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” If you want to see your prayers answered, here are some important questions you must ask yourself as you begin. Are you praying for God’s will or for yours to be done? Do you have doubt in God’s ability to accomplish it? Are you ready to start partnering with God, by using your authority, to bring about His power...to do His will?
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