Big Problems - God is Bigger

Introduction

One day I asked a boy, "Do you pray?" "No, sir," her replied, "I carry a rabbit's foot." "If a rabbit's foot is so helpful for you to carry, why didn't it help the rabbit?" I asked. But prayer helps. It helps the one  who prays and it helps the one for whom prayer is made.

I. Mark the Subject - What Is Prayer

Prayer is asking and receiving, and there are two parts to prayer; your part and God's part. Your part is to ask. God's part is to answer. If you do your part, God will do His part.

A. How Slow we are to Ask

We worry and wrangle, we scheme and slave, we pout and plan, but we don't ask. Isn't that a strange and shameful way to treat a Royal invitation?

B. How Swift are we to Give Up

The Food Editor of a newspaper took a call asking, "How long do you roast a 20 pound turkey?" "Just a minute," she replied as she turned to consult her chart. "Thanks," said the caller, and she hung up. Many of us are like that caller. We have a problem, and we pray. But we take off. We don't tarry for an answer. That is why many prayers are not answered.

In prayer we accept God's invitation to allow Him to employ His wisdom, His wealth and His works in the alleviation of our distresses. It is like opening the door to the doctor and turning the sick one over to his compassionate care, or like opening the door to a millionaire and allowing him to grant our wants with his wealth. It is not coaxing or coercing God, but giving Him our permission to help us as His wisdom, power and love directs.

If you do your part and ask, God will do His part and answer. He will not fail you. He never forsakes His people, never forgets His promises, and never forfeits His pledges. He is faithful in all things and at all times. He said, "Call unto Me, and I will answer thee."

If you do your part and ask, God will not fool you. If you ask for bread, He may surprise you with peanut butter and jam, but never a boulder.

When the favorite general of Alexander the Great asked him for something almost worth a kingdom, the emperor answered, "It may be too much for Paramenio to ask, but it is not too much for Alexander to give."

II. Mark the Source - Where Does Prayer Begin

With God. He puts it in the soul of man to pray. The wing of a bird seeks flight, the fin of a fish seeks water, and the heart of a man seeks God.

Our hearts need God. The world has provided four our eyes and ears, our touch and taste, but not our hearts. Only God has provided for our hearts, and He puts it in our hearts to pray. Prayer is instinctive, but it is also inscribed in the Scriptures. Hear the Father Say, "Call unto Me, and I will answer thee." Hear the Son say, "Ask, and ye shall receive." And of the Spirit it is said, "The Holy Spirit helps us in our praying." Man has been praying ever since God put it in his soul to pray. He has prayed in privacy and in public. He has prayed in the sky, on the sea, and under the sea. Man has prayed in times of adversity and prosperity, in times of poverty and plenty, in times of war and peace, all because prayer is inscribed in his soul and in the Scriptures. When we pray God helps us not because we are good but because He is God. He answers not because we love Hum, but because He loves us. He blesses not because of who we are but because of who He is.

A. He Is Omniscient

He knows all about you and me. He knows your condition and circumstances, your pains and problems, your temptations and trails, your weaknesses and wants, and He cares. He is always thinking about you and watches everything that concerns you. Lovingly He waits to help.

B. He Is Omnipotent

C. He Is Omni-existent

He abides forever and is ever the same. He is not interested one day and indifferent the next. He is faithful in all things and at all times. He who heard your prayer yesterday will hear your prayer today, and no prayer is too hard for Him to answer. He who kept Joseph in Egypt will keep you. He who gave His children water to drink and food to eat day after day in the wilderness will fill to the full your needs.

D. He Is Omnipresent

Wherever His children are, He is ever by their side. No one and nothing can separate you from Him. Angels won't and afflictions can't. Our fears today and our foes tomorrow can't. The devil can't and death can't. David Livingstone, the great missionary-explorer of Africa, was found kneeling at his bed, but his spirit had been taken home to heaven by the angels. On his bed was a little pocket Bible which he always carried. It was lying open, and his index finger rested on his favorite Bible verse, Matthew 28:20, "Lo, I am with you always."

III. Mark the Scope - Anyone Can Pray

Anyone can pray, anytime, and anywhere. King Hezekiah prayed on his bed for lengthened life, and the Lord healed him, adding fifteen years to his life (2 Kings 20:5-6). Hannah prayed in the tabernacle for a son, and the Lord blessed her with a son whom she named Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11). Elisha prayed that no rain would fall and none fell for three and one half years; then he prayed for rain, and down it came (James 5:18). Eliezer prayed for guidance in finding a wife for Isaac, and the Lord led him to Rebekah (Genesis 24:1-27). Bartimeus prayed for sight sitting beside the road and instantly this blind man saw (Mark 10:46-52). The dying thief prayed on the cross for salvation and the Lord said to him, "Today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:39-43).

Men have prayed a short prayer, as Peter's three-word prayer when he was drowning and the Lord rescued him (Matthew 14:30). And a ten-paragraph prayer as Moses' dedicatory prayer and the Lord consecrated the temple (2 Chronicles 6:12-42).

Men have prayed morning, noon and at night, as David did; in childhood, as Samuel did; in youth, as Timothy did; in the prime of life, as Paul did; and in old age, as Simeon did.

One night an ex-convict said to me, "Well do I remember the first time I really prayed. I was robbing the home of a wealthy and wicked man. Suddenly I heard footsteps. I knew he would shoot me if he found me. I jumped out of the window and landed head first into a dumpster. There I prayed, 'Lord, save me. Save me from all my sins, and save me now' and the Lord did."

IV. Mark the Simplicity - Our Lord Invites

"Call unto Me." How sweet and simple is that invitation. Prayer may be as simple as a baby's cry or as eloquent as a tear. It may be uttered as swift as lightning or as slow as a snail. It may be as secret as a heart pain or as public as a billboard advertiser.

This call is an outlet of bereavement and the inlet to blessings, and outlet of gloom and an inlet to gladness, an outlet of sorrow and an inlet of solace, an outlet of trouble and an inlet of triumph.

When you call He will give you His calmness for your confusion, His lift for your load, His peace for your perplexities, His triumph for your temptations, and His wealth for your wants.

Keep on calling and you will discover that this habit is a Christ-revealer, a doubt-dispeller, a holiness-promoter, a love-inspirer, a power-provider, a sin-killer, and a victory-bringer.

Yesterday I saw a little girl become awfully frightened in a strange place. She hadn't been to school, she knew nothing about grammar, but she knew her father. She simply cried, and held out her arms. As quick as a wink that father rushed to her cry. Our heavenly Father is always watching, caring and listening for your call. Whatever your need, wherever you are, just call, won't you?

V. Mark the Surety - Our Lord Promised

"Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not." Get it, and don't forget it! Nothing and no one can make God break His word.

A. Sometimes the Answer is Direct

We needed a warehouse in which to store our paper for printing, our tape boxes for mailing, our props for videotaping, and our yard equipment. One evening, while Mrs. Guido and I were praying for a warehouse our phone rang. Bonne and Joe Hamstra asked, "What do you want more than anything in all the world?" "A sixty by one hundred warehouse," I replied. "Buy it," said the callers, "we will send you a check today."

B. Sometimes the Answer Is Delayed

Delays are not denials. But why the delay? Does God need persuading? No, but we need preparing. The athletes need training, the musicians need practicing, and the Christians need disciplining. But God's clock is never slow.

King Herod persecuted Christians. He killed the apostle James, and he arrested Peter and imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of sixteen soldiers. His intention was to deliver Peter for execution. But earnest prayer was going up to God for his safety. God could have rescued him the first time they prayed for him. But it wasn't until the night before he was to be executed that the Lord delivered him. God's clock is never late.

C. Sometimes the Answer Is Different

When I was a student at Moody Bible Institute a young lady asked me to pray for an unspoken request. Every day, sometimes twice a day, she would ask me, "Are you praying for my unspoken request?" "Faithfully and fervently," I answered. One day a professor asked, "Are you praying for a certain girl's unspoken request?" "Yes," I replied. "Her request," he continued, "is that you will fall in love with her and marry her." "Lord," I cried, "cancel the order."

It is written in Matthew 7:11, "How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?" Every time you pray, you receive something. And that which you receive is a "good thing." And it is always something you need, for Matthew 6:8 says, "Your heavenly Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him."

D. Sometimes the Answer Is Dazzling

We had a car that we called flattery, because it got us nowhere. The mechanic one day told us to keep the oil and change the car. So Mrs. Guido and I gave ourselves to praying for a new car. We were videotaping one season and we saw a beautiful new car pull into the drive. Bill Stillwell jumped out and came running to me. "I have promised the Lord," he said, "that if the Lord gave me a dealership you would never have to buy a car. He gave me the Buick dealership in Downers Grove, Illinois. Here's your first Roadmaster. Every six months I will bring you a new Buick to drive." Bill has been doing this for over twenty-five years.

You can't beat the Lord!

Conclusion

Our text says, "Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." The word "mighty" signifies "inaccessible." That is to say that when you pray, God does things which no one else can do. He does the impossible. And He says, "Bring Me your biggest problems, your greatest needs, your hardest situations. Nothing is too hard for Me!"

John Newton put it like this:

Thou are coming to a King,

Large petitions with thee bring

For His grace and power are such

None can ever ask too much.