Hot Topics: Unanswered Prayers – 05.21.23

Connect: Have you ever experienced disappointment with the Lord? What was that like for you? Maybe you are still there? What unanswered prayers are you struggling with now?

Engage: Quote by Tim Keller; One of the first things I learned was that religious faith does not automatically provide solace in times of crisis. A belief in God and an afterlife does not spontaneously comforting and existentially strengthened.

What do you think of this quote? Peter Greig’s 6 statements

1. Some prayers are stupid.

   1. James 4:3– we do not ask or we ask with wrong motives

   2. We do not often think about what we are praying. God is not a vending machine. He is a friend who wants to hear about what is going on with me.

   3. Where have prayers in your life been for your own comfort?

2. Some prayers contradict each other.

   1. Sun vs Rain–we are shortsighted – God holds a complex world in His hands.

   2. Joshua 5:13-14

      a. Vs 14 Neither–God sometimes is not on either side and we must trust God that God is doing something bigger.

3. Life is full of trouble.
   a. 1 Peter 4:12 – we expect life to be towards ease and expectation towards ease. – Where have you experienced trouble and you have wanted ease? Where has the church bought into this?

b. We often feel that God owes me.– We deserve comfortable life? Where have you seen this in your own life? John 16:33 – “ You will have trouble but take heart for I have overcome the world

What do you think of this quote by Tim Keller? – It is remarkable that in all of His writings, Paul’s prayer for his friends contains no appeals for changed in their circumstances.
Romans 8:20-21 – We are a fragile people – Where do you see this fragileness in life today?

4. Sometimes God has something better for us. John 15 / Isaiah 55:8

   1. Where do you need to trust that God has something better for you?

   2. God will either give us what we ask or give us what we would have asked if we knew everything He knows. Tim Keller What do you think of this statement/

5. Free Will
   a. Where does God step in or over ride our prayers?
   b. What kind of God are you in relationship with? John 17:20-21

God’s prayer of that the church will become one – it is slow process

c. Where have you been waiting on God? How have you experienced God in the waiting?

Example of the dripping water into the crack – that freezes and then it breaks open.

6. God wants something deeper- John 15:16-17
a. Are you willing to give up your prayers for a deeper relationship with Jesus?
b. We often do not pray when things are growing well.

Apply: There was so much to unpack this week – Which one of these reasons is God inviting you to dig deeper into?
What is the invitation for you this week, that God is asking you to look at?
How is your prayer life going be different this week considering this message?