Does God answer prayers? –Sometimes God says “No”.

In John 11, Mary and Martha wanted Jesus to heal their dying brother, yet Jesus allowed Lazarus to die. Why did He say “no” to these grieving women who loved Him so much? Because He had greater things planned for Lazarus, things that no one could possibly have imagined.

“No” is one of the hardest answers we can receive. But, once again, it is important to remember that God is all-knowing and is aware of the entire timeline of history. He knows every possible outcome of every possible choice in every possible situation; we do not. He sees the “big picture”; we see a partial brushstroke. Proverbs 3:5 says to “trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” When we get a “no” answer, we must trust that whatever we asked for was not God’s will.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

Join Us At Beach-Schmidt

This Sunday @ 10:00 am

All church BBQ to follow

How God answers our prayers

This week we are looking at how God answers our prayers. God has promised that, when we ask for things that are in accordance with His will for our lives, He will give us what we ask for.

In the first two chapters of 1 Samuel, Hanna prays and asks God to give her a baby. She had been unable to conceive which, in biblical times, was considered a mark of shame for a woman. Hannah prayed fervently—so fervently that a priest who saw her praying thought she was drunk. But God heard Hannah, and He allowed her to give birth to a child.

Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” John 14:3. If you have prayed specifically for something and God has granted it to you, then you can be assured that it is His will. Nothing happens without God allowing it to happen. ^”And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose”. Romans 8:28

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

Join Us At Beach-Schmidt

This Sunday @ 10:00 am

All church BBQ to follow

Does God answer prayers?

This week we are looking at why Goes not always answer our prayers. God has promised that, when we ask for things that are in accordance with His will for our lives, He will give us what we ask for ¹⁴ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14–15. However, there is one thing to add to this: we may not always like the answer.
We pray for a lot of things—some good, some bad, some really pointless. But God listens to all of our prayers, regardless of what we ask ⁷“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” Matthew 7:7. When we talk to Him, He has promised to listen and respond.

Keep in mind that prayer is not our way of getting God to do what we want. Our prayers should be focused on things that honor and glorify God and reflect what the Bible clearly reveals God’s will to be. If we pray for something that dishonors God or is not His will for us, He is unlikely to give what we ask for. God’s wisdom far exceeds our own, and we must trust that His answers to our prayers are the best possible solutions.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

Join Us At Beach-Schmidt

This Sunday @ 10:00 am

All church BBQ to follow

How to Pray For a Miracle Part 5

Jesus’ encounter with a blind man has been showing us how to pray for a miracle. We’ve learned we are to pray passionately, persistently, precisely and positively and today we conclude by praying with praise and thanksgiving. When a miracle happens, we are to express our gratitude.

In Luke 18:43 “Immediately he received his sight and followed  Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it they also praised God”

Notice the two things this guy did AFTER he received his sight,

He followed Jesus and he gave thanks to God.

Those are the two things you are to do after you've received an answer to prayer. You follow Jesus more closely and you give thanks to God.

The scriptures tell us that ten lepers came to see Jesus. They were social outcasts. Nobody wanted to touch them. Nobody wanted to get close to them for fear that they too might get leprosy. Jesus touched them and healed them all. They all went away. It says later one of them -- only one of them -- came back to thank the Lord. How sad. When a miracle happens, we are to express our praise and thanks.

I believe you should thank God while you're asking, not just after the answer comes. While you're asking, you should maintain the attitude of gratitude. "Thank You, Lord, that You've already provided for so many other needs. I thank You for what You've provided in the past and You're going to provide in the future. Here's what I need right now.

Let me ask you a question. What do you take for granted in your life that God has so graciously given you that you need to be grateful for?

I believe that we need to be as precise in our thanking God as we are in our asking God. We don't just say, "Thank You, God, for all my blessings." No, name them one by one. Make a list of things to thank God for. Just like you ask specifically, you thank God specifically.

Gratitude and praise should to be a part of the permanent lifestyle of a believer. The Bible says "Rejoice in the Lord always." Always rejoice in the Lord!

Come this Sunday and learn about what to do when God DOESN”T answer your prayers.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

It's not too late to join the women of C3 on Saturday at 10am for a Ladies Brunch! Karen McCullough will be sharing her testimony on what God has been doing in her and her families life! And you will be given a sneak peak at the upcoming ministry, “Moms In Prayer”.  Great food, fellowship and God's word! Hope you can make it! E-mail  womens@celebratejesus.org

How to Pray For a Miracle Part 4

Jesus’ encounter with a blind man has been showing us how to pray for a miracle. We’ve learned we are to pray passionately, persistently, precisely and positively. In other words we need to pray expecting that God will answer. In Luke 18:42 Jesus said to this blind man, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you."

Focus on the word "faith."  The blind man expected God to answer.   

Remember the story in the Bible where the father wants Jesus to deliver his demon possessed son and the man said I believe, help my unbelief.

Be honest with God, trust Him and then make GOD sized requests which will help your faith grow like a muscle. 

Mark 11:24 says "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it will be yours."  What an incredible promise! " Now we are warned in the Bible not to ask for things with the wrong motive: ie “I want my boss to get shingles so I can take over his job. Let me win the lottery so I can buy a Porsche”.  Instead we are talking about praying positively and expecting results.  

How can you be more positive in prayer? The Bible says that faith comes by hearing the word -- so get into the word of God. Learn what God has promised. 

There are hundreds of promises from God in the Bible you can count on.  

Here are two of those promises of God I have been trusting in lately:

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Matthew 6:26

Philippians 4:19 My God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus."

This Sunday Pastor Brant and myself will both be dealing with the important question, “What if God DOESN”T answer my prayer?”

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

Make It A Point To Be @ Beach-Schmidt

How to Pray For a Miracle Part 3

Throughout this week we are looking at how Jesus’ encounter with a blind man shows us how to pray for a miracle. We have learned to pray passionately, pray persistently and to pray precisely.

Praying precisely means to not be vague in your prayers. Be specific. Tell God exactly what you want in detail. Not only do we have a problem when we pray careless prayers where our mind and heart really isn't in it fall short when our prayers become cliché.

When you pray, "God bless my family or God bless America" how do you know if that happens or not? It's so vague. When you pray you need to be specific like the blind man who knew exactly what he wanted.

“Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" "Lord, I want to see," he replied. vs. 40-41

He knew exactly what he wanted and his request was clear and precise.

If Jesus Christ were to say the same thing to you, "What do you want Me to do for you?" What would you say? Would you pray a general prayer like “Bless Me”? Would you be able to answer specifically as this blind man did?

James 4:2 says "The reason you don't have what you want is because you don't ask God for it. You have not because you ask not."

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

How to Pray For a Miracle Part 2

Throughout this week we are looking at how a blind man shows us how to pray for a miracle.

“Those who led the way rebuked (the blind man) and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Luke 18: 39

The Blind man is persistent. He reminds me of the woman who sought healing from Jesus thinking after she had tried every thing else. She believed that if she were only be able to touch the hem of His garment, then she will be healed so she crawled through the crowd to get to Jesus.

I like people like these two who are determined. I admire their tenacity. Nobody's going to stop them from getting their requests to Jesus. That’s the way to approach God, with persistence. The verse says “he shouted all the more”. Even more loudly he said he wanted a miracle!" He's passionate and he's persistent.

Are you relentless in praying for your needs? Or do you just pray for them and then just drop them when the answer doesn't come immediately. Do you give up too soon?

Colossians 4:2 says "Don't be weary in prayer. Keep at it. Watch for God's answers." He's saying, don't quit too soon. Jesus said it like this in the Sermon on the Mount, Ask… Seek… Knock…"Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking."

Need a miracle? Be passionate and persistent as you ask God in prayer.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

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