Prayer review, Part 16: God’s “no” has benefits to the believer; John 15:16.

Title: Prayer review, Part 16: God’s “no” has benefits to the believer; John 15:16.

 

Opening prayer:

 

 

 

Point 4: Petition and desire.

 

4. Negative - Negative. The answer is no to both the petition and the desire, God doesn’t answer either.

 

The sooner you get over your answer of “no” and stop your whimpering over it, the sooner you’ll be on the way of conquering the adversity with the doctrine in your soul and experience the tranquillity and happiness of God.

 

The plan of God was not designed to coddle babies or to pat fearful believers on the head with colloquialisms. The plan of God is designed to create invisible heroes who possess the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

ROM 8:15

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

 

Adoption is not had by prayer. It is received by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So we have negative - negative prayers by the Lord and the greatest of the CA and one has a legitimate desire to bypass future suffering horror while the other is a non-legitimate desire to have suffering stop while in it.

 

But Paul is allowed certain weakness, as we are, but the Lord Jesus Christ is not, and so His prayer is unique, but it still has application to us.

 

a. Mt 26:36-46 is Jesus’ prayer for the possibility that the cross could be bypassed.

 

This prayer is not according to God’s will and in the tremendous grief of Jesus Christ the question is asked, if there be another way.

 

Prayer not lining up with the will of God cannot be answered. When Jesus went to Gethsemane the night before His death to pray, the answer to His prayer in eternity past by God the Father was “No.”

 

God hears your prayers twice.

Matt 26:36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and  said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 

 

A nice depiction of the CA. You stay here on earth while I, the Christ, go over there {right hand of God] to pray, to intercede, don’t fall asleep!

 

This is a call to all of us to not fall asleep at the wheel but to remain alert. We have been asked in privilege to assist the war on terror [AC]. If we don’t do it the war is won with or without us, but what a privilege.

 

EPH 5:14-16

 For this reason it says,

"Awake, sleeper,

And arise from the dead,

And Christ will shine on you."

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

 

Matt 26:37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed.

 

Matt 26:38 Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me." 

 

Matt 26:39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt." 

 

The protasis is a first class condition, meaning that Jesus does think that this may be a possibility. This makes sense, for why else would He be asking?

 

The possibility of passing by the cross does not line up with the reality - there is no other way.

 

Asking this three times solidifies in our Lord’s thinking that there is no other way and the answer to His petition is no.

 

It is not wrong to ask God for the possible as long as you are humble enough to accept “no” as an answer.

 

Matt 26:40 And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?

 

Matt 26:41 "Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

 

They should have been interceding for the Lord, but they failed in this and fell asleep.

 

Matt 26:42 He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Thy will be done." 

 

The petition is to bypass the cross and the desire is to bypass the suffering horror of taking the sins of the whole world. The answer to both is no.

 

I dedicate this to the spiritual tough guys who brag about how they can face anything and always are ready to correct others who have grief in their heart over future suffering. We will never meet this amount of suffering, yet we will grieve at less than this since we are always less than Him. Is His grief a sin? No.

 

Matt 26:43 And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

 

Matt 26:44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.

 

Matt 26:45 Then He came to the disciples, and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

 

Notice His acceptance of the reality. There is no whining or complaining about the will of God even though it includes much suffering.

 

Matt 26:46 "Arise, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!"

 

The two negatives of petition and desire multiply to a positive—our Lord went to the Cross as a substitute for us.

 

However, when the possibility is answered no then we mustn’t forget that the reality is still ahead of us.

 

When prayer is answered “negative - negative” the doctrine you have must be applied to the reality, and so it was with Christ, HEB 12:2.

 

HEB 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

 

HEB 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus [occupation with Christ], the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

 

Be concentrating on Jesus, the Prince-Ruler and completer of doctrine, who instead of His present happiness [misery was substituted] endured the cross, having disregarded the disgrace, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. [HEB 12:2 corrected]

 

HEB 12:3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility [much more than we could face] by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary [fatigued] and lose heart [fainting soul].

 

HEB 12:4 You have not yet resisted [hold the line of battle] to the point of shedding blood in your striving [military word - fighting] against sin [OSN];

 

We may ask if we think there is an alternative to the hostility we are about to face, but when the answer is negative - negative we must consider Him and apply the doctrine we have.

 

Again, the result of a negative negative prayer must always be application of doctrine to the reality of what you’re facing.

 

The positive believer possesses the common sense to know when he’s being a spiritual wimp and just wants out of the adversity and when he thinks there could be the real possibility of an alternative.

 

We are never to pray for the removal of adversity when we are in it.

 

We find this situation in our next example.

 

As we’ve noted, we can pray for wisdom in the adversity as assistance to the doctrine we apply as well as for reminders of doctrines we already know. In that, we are asking for enlightenment and insight for ourselves. We can do the same for others as we know them to be facing adversity.

 

b. In 2 Cor 12:7-10 Paul prayed three times that God would remove his thorn in the flesh. This was a prayer that could not be answered.

 

The motivation was wrong and the prayer was wrong.

2 Cor 12:7 And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me —  to keep me from exalting myself!

 

2 Cor 12:8 Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

 

2 Cor 12:9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

 

Then He assured me for my benefit, `My grace has been and still is sufficient for you. For My power is made complete in a state of weakness [human incapability to solve the problem; helplessness].

 

The perfect tense of lego “has said” means that Paul recalled doctrine after receiving no answer. Again, here, as in all prayer, it is for our benefit.

 

When prayer brings no answers the believer has to go to his storehouse of doctrine. It’s either that or the world system.