I want to talk a little bit about prayer this morning, specifically, God answering prayer:

Luke 11:5-10: Then He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'

Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness (or persistence) he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

This parable shows the certainty of God's answer. It shows the benefit of persistent prayer. In verse 9, the ask, seek, and knock all mean continuously, like continue asking, continue seeking, and continue knocking. The next verse tells why, "you will receive an answer." The Lord consistently gives to those who persist in prayer. The Lord assures us of His concern and involvement in our lives.

Another parable in Luke, chapter 18:1-8

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'"

And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says, And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

If an unworthy judge is compelled by persistence to deal justly (she's just asking for justice, not an advantage) how much more will God, who is just, answer prayer. Psalms 145: The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. He will not delay his support when they are right.

Back to Luke, in v. 8, However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? This faith is shown by persistent prayer. When you stop believing that prayer will be answered, you stop praying. You've given up hope and faith. The only reason to stop praying is Christ's return.

There are four possible answers to prayer:

1. Petition granted but desire not granted
   • Psalms 106:15 And he gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
   • Numbers 11 The Isrealites desired meat, their petition was granted, but God said, "Now I will give you meat and you will eat it, not just for one or two days, but for a month--until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it--because you have rejected me." and while they were eating the meat, the Lord struck them with a plague.

   Have you ever heard: be careful what you wish for, you might get it?

2. Petition not granted, but desire granted
   
   • In Genesis 17, Abraham asks that Ishmael might be his heir, his request was denied but later Isaac was born.
     
   • In 2 Cor. 12 Paul writes he is given a thorn in the flesh to keep him from being conceited. He pleaded with the Lord to remove it, but God replied, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

3. Petition and desire granted.
   • 1 Kings 18, Elijah prayed for Baal's altar to be destroyed, his desire was for God's glory.
   • Judges 16, Samson asked for strength once more to get revenge on the Philistines for his eyes. Both were granted.

4. Both petition and desire denied.

Why does this happen? You pray and pray for something, but it never happens. Even though you have faith, and Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." And Matthew 7, "For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds." Maybe like 1 Thess 4, you "rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks." And in all other ways, you glorify God and follow Him.

WHY DOESN'T HE ANSWER?

Well, maybe he already has. I'm sure nearly everyone here has prayed for the recovery from illness or injury for someone. But the person remains ill or dies.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

This verse says God works for the good of those who love him. Look at Job, God allowed him to suffer many things. His friends and his wife told him to give up on God, but he didn't and ultimately everything turned out for his benefit.

Hebrews 12 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Now hold on. Do you ever think that maybe God doesn't answer prayers anymore? Does he still do miracles?

Many people have wondered the same thing.

There are now over 160 studies on the effects of prayer. Two-thirds show that the impact of distant prayer is significant. There are easily 130 studies that show that if you take prayer into the laboratory under controlled situations, it does something remarkable.

The most famous prayer study was conducted by Dr. Randolph Byrd, a cardiologist at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center. He took 393 people who had been admitted to the hospital with a heart attack. All of the subjects received the same high-tech, state-of-the-art coronary care, but half were also prayed for by name by prayer groups around the country. No one knew who was being prayed for--not the patients, the doctors, or the nurses. In the jargon of science, this was a double-blind, randomized prospective study-the very best kind.

The results highly favored the prayed-for patients, who had fewer deaths, fewer instances of CPR, less need for mechanical ventilation, less need for diuretics and antibiotics, and less pulmonary edema. The outcome was so significant that if the subject of this study had been a new medication, this would have been considered a medical breaththrough.

Some scientists have talked of the "problem of extraneous prayer." How do we know that those cardiac patients in the control group weren't being prayed for by friends and family? People often pray in a crisis.

For research purposes, scientists have gotten around this by doing studies of the growth of bacteria in test tubes. That way you guarantee the purity of the control group. Most likely, nobody outside the lab will be praying for the growth of bacteria. And you know what? It worked. This kind of study seems ridiculous, but this is where precise science can be done.

Now what if someone prays for healing and it doesn't happen. They might feel shame and guilt. "It worked for some stinking bacteria, but it didn't work for me." They may feel they haven't prayed hard enough or been spiritual enough. In some circles there is the belief that if you stay on a spiritual path everything will turn out all right. There's even a book that says that you'll never die if you achieve spiritual perfection. So if you get sick, that means you had some more spiritual work to do.

Look at John 9:1-3 As He went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man, nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

There is not a one-to-one correlation. One's well-being is not just as simple as being happy and praying properly. History is full of very spiritual people who were sick. Look at Job and Paul.

We should understand that prayer does have an impact, but it can't save us from death or guarantee we won't get sick.

Knowing this, what is the best way to pray? Again, studies have attempted to answer this question. For a decade, the Spindrift organization of Salem, Oregon has conducted experiments on the ability of a prayer-practitioner to effect changes in simple biological systems such as sprouting seeds or yeast cultures. Their findings show that the most powerful method of prayer is when the person uses a non-directed approach in which he or she does not attempt to tell the object of prayer specifically what to do, i.e. if he or she prays that Thy will be done or May the best thing happen.

Amazing isn't it? Matthew 6:9-10 This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, --You know the rest. Jesus told us the most effective prayer method 2,000 years ago.

This should be a comfort. It suggests that a wisdom higher than our own is at work, and that it is not up to us to know what specific outcome is best. Maybe it's enough to know that prayer works, and in all things God works toward the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.