Sermon Tone Analysis

[Play Video] "Can You Hear Me Now? Good"

You've seen the commercial, "Can you hear me now?

Good!"

In 2001 Verizon Wireless hired 50 people to travel the country and test the company's cellular network.

They each averaged 100,000 miles a year, going to various, out-of-the-way-places, and testing the Verizon Network.

In 2002 Verizon hired thirty-four-year-old Paul Marcarelli of New York City to be the "personification" of those 50 testers.

And yes, those are his own glasses!

He became simply known as the "Test Guy" and in the Verizon commercials you would see him, on his cell phone, in a variety of places and situations testing the Verizon network.

And of course there is always a connection, and it is ‘good'.

Now the phrase, "Can you hear me now?" has become part of our cultural vocabulary.

If we would be honest this morning, many of us would ask the initial question of God—“Can you hear me now?”—only to respond, “Gee, I’m not sure.”

Few questions vex faithful believers as much as that of petitionary prayer, especially in view of the extravagant promises in the New Testament that those who ask, receive—whatever they may ask.

These promises are always understood to be qualified—one must ask with faith, or one must ask with the qualifier “nevertheless, thy will be done,” as Jesus did in his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

But such a qualifier is important for it reveals that authentic prayer is the submission of the person to God.

Prayer is not a battle with God whereby we wrestle blessing from him.

It’s power consists of discovering His will and making it our own, not in demanding that He conform His will to ours!

Our text for this morning is 1 John 5:13-17.

We only have one, perhaps two message left in our journey through 1 John.

If you've been with us, you would know that John is quite concerned with helping his readers know how to tell apart those who belong to God and those who don't belong to God.

This morning, John wants to remind us that if we belong to God, we can have confidence in making requests of God.

We call this prayer and this passage is a guide to being more effective in our prayers.

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I. THE FIRST KEY TO EFFECTIVE PRAYER IS KNOWING IT’S FOR BELIEVERS

* /“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”/

(1 John 5:13, NIV84)

#. in this letter, the Apostle’s primary purpose in writing has been to offer pastoral encouragement, and to instill confidence and hope by reminding his readers of the fellowship with God and with each other that they now enjoy

#. despite the defection of some members of the Christian community there in Ephesus, his readers can be assured of inheriting eternal life because their faith has been authenticated

#. both their faith and their practice, being in harmony with each other, is evidence that they truly have Christ

#. because they believe in the name of the Son of God they have eternal life and abundant life and all the blessings that go with these

#. one of those blessings is the ability to come before God in prayer

* /“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”/

(Hebrews 4:14–16, NIV84)

#. because our fellowship with God is personal and intimate, like the relationship between a loving parent and child, those who have eternal life also have assurance in approaching God in prayer

#. the crucial question becomes: Does God respond to the prayers of the unregenerate?

#. certainly there is no question that God “hears” all prayers

#.

God is omniscient, and therefore hears and sees everything that transpires on Earth (God is really good at multi-tasking!)

* /“For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.”/

(Proverbs 5:21, NIV84)

#. the Scriptures seem clear: God is not obligated to answer the prayers of the lost though He may choose to do so when it suits His sovereign purposes

* /“We know that God does not listen to sinners.

He listens to the godly man who does his will.”/

(John 9:31, NIV84)

* /“The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”/

(Proverbs 15:29, NIV84)

* /“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”/

(Isaiah 59:2, NIV84)

* /“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”/

(1 Peter 3:12, NIV84)

* ILLUS.

Suppose you happen to be out shopping at the local Toys-R-Us.

You’re there to purchase a toy for your nephew’s birthday.

With you is your ten-year-old daughter.

As you’re trying to make a decision regrading what to get your nephew, your daughter approaches you with a doll.

She looks at you with those adoring eyes and says, “Daddy.

You are my beloved father and I know that you love me and desire for me to have a sense of abundance and joy in my life.

Will you please buy me this doll?

I will be every so grateful and besides it will magnify your generosity and love toward your daughter.”

Well, you have three responses that you can give your little girl: “Yes”, “No” or “Let’s wait.”

(Or if she actually spoke like this you might be asking “Who are you and what have you done with my daughter!”).

Of course you tell her “yes” and she goes skipping down the isle to say, “Mommy, daddy said yes!

I just love him!”

And your chest swells with pride because this is your daughter whom you love and you really do want her to experience the abundance of your love and blessing.

Now, suppose a few minutes latter, a child you’ve never seen before approaches you and says, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I saw how generous you were with your daughter.

I don’t suppose you’d buy me this radio-controlled car, would you?” You’d probably stare in disbelief at the audacity of the child’s request, and then simply ignore him.

And you’d do so with a clear conscience because you’re under no obligation to respond to the requests of one who is not your child.

#. it’s not a perfect illustration, but I think you get the point

#.

you’re obligated to respond to your child

#. you’re not obligated to respond to someone who is not your child

#.

The First Key to Effective Prayer Is Knowing It's for Believers

#. do you have Christ in your life?

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II.

THE SECOND KEY TO EFFECTIVE PRAYER IS UNDERSTANDING GOD CANNOT BE COERCED

* /“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”/

(Matthew 6:7, NIV84)

#. the idea here is that of coercing an answer out of God by simply wearing him down until He finally gives in

* ILLUS.

Years ago, I remember talking to a Pentecostal preacher who claimed that he had figured out how to get God to answer any prayer, anytime.

He believed that everything we need to know about getting what we have what we asked of him, is in the Bible.

All we needed to do was pray a certain way, believe a certain way, and God would come through.

He would have to because God responds favorably to anyone who prayed in faith and asked it in Jesus name.

Here you have it: Name-it-and-claim-it theology.

#. but what happens if the prayer for healing, or the new house or the changed spouse, or the better job is not answered?

#. according to the Pentecostal preacher, either the person praying or the person that is sick simply doesn’t have enough faith

#. what people like this are implying is that they’ve got God figured out

#. they know how He operates

#.

God is totally predictable … that He responds a certain way in a certain situation every time that situation occurs ... we just need to figure out the formula

#. this is, of course, a simplistic—even an idolatrous—view of God that is simply not taught in the Scriptures

#. this kind of prayer treats God as a means to an end, and God the Creator refuses to be used by His creation

#. we need to understand that God does not always answer us in the way that we would like

#. throughout the Bible we see examples where God’s response to a person's requests is yes — (Exodus 9:29; 33, NIV84)

#. we also have examples throughout the Bible where God’s response was a flat-out no—(2 Corinthians 12:7–10, NIV84)

#. we also have examples throughout the Bible where God responds to a believer's petitions by telling them to wait!—(Luke 1:5-7; 11–13, NIV84)

#. if God answered every prayer or petition with a "yes", some of us would have egos so big that we would become insufferable to be around!

#. sometimes our prayers have implications for other people that we cannot see, but God does

* ILLUS.

Most of you are familiar, at least in part, with the story of King Midas.

The legend says that King Midas was a very kind man who ruled his kingdom fairly, but he was not one to think very deeply about what he said.

One day, while walking in his arboretum, he came upon the elderly Satyr, Silenus, asleep among the flowers of the King's garden.

Midas recognized him and treated him with hospitality, entertaining him for ten days and nights with politeness, while Silenus in turn entertained Midas and his friends with stories and songs.