Running To Win 15 Minute Version

Dave McAllister: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Prayer is something of a mystery. We're commanded to ask in faith without doubting. The answers sometimes come from unexpected directions, even unrelated to what we asked for. Today, another perspective on the matter of unanswered prayer: answers in disguise.

Dave McAllister: From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Today, Pastor Lutzer continues his series on the triumph of unanswered prayer. Now, join us as we hear a message on what to do when the answer is disguised.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Let's bow our heads in prayer one more time, please. Father, you have been faithful. And we ask that during these moments, your faithfulness might again become very clear to us. And Lord, it's not what I can do or what my words can do, but it's what your Spirit does. Do something permanent and lasting and transforming to all who listen, whether by radio or here in the sanctuary or by internet. We ask today, Father, that this message shall be transforming for all who listen because of the power of your Spirit and your word. In Jesus' name, amen.

"I'm never going to bother God with another request again. Why should I? I don't want to be hurt." Those are the words of a woman who is angry with God because he refused to answer the prayer that she and hundreds of others had prayed for their pastor.

He was a young man diagnosed with cancer with a young wife and small children, and the church loved him. So they decided to sign up for all-around-the-night prayer meetings, everybody taking a half hour, and so prayer was being offered to God on his behalf 24/7. And then they prayed all night, too.

I remember being at a conference with about a thousand people, and all of us stopped to pray. The young man was there at the time in a wheelchair, and we all prayed for him, and yet he died. And now she's bitter because God did not answer her request.

How do we relate to unanswered prayer? We've been talking about the answers being delayed, and sometimes the answer today will emphasize is disguised. We'll also be talking about the answer when it is denied, and we'll also be speaking about disappointment with God. Because haven't we all been disappointed with God?

We can relate to this woman, can't we? We maybe didn't say the words, but we've all felt it. Where was God when we offered a request in his name for his glory, meeting we think all of the conditions, and it did not happen? Well, that's what we've been discussing in this series of messages, the triumphs of unanswered prayer.

But today, what we're going to do is to shift focus and talk about a paradigm shift in our own minds regarding prayer. And what we're going to stress is that in our praying, we have to move from getting. We have to move from the mentality of getting to the mentality of relationship, so that we understand that we have to know God before we ask of God.

And we have to understand God's ways. And another way to describe it is that the emphasis no longer is on my desires and what I think God should do, but on God's desires and what he wants to do. It is a paradigm shift that can transform your prayer life and make it into a time when you earnestly look forward to it and you can hardly help yourself when it's time to pray.

And prayer becomes entirely different than simply asking. And maybe afterwards, we can understand a little better some of those extravagant promises that we've all heard from the lips of Jesus. Well, today's text is Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11, that's the section that we've been camping on in the last couple of weeks.

Hebrews chapter 11 and verse six. I think it's one of the most important and explosive verses in all the Bible. All the Bible is inspired, but there are some words that certainly ought to be transforming, and this verse should leave us changed forever. For without faith, without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Because he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he rewards those who seek him. If you check the Greek text, you'll know that the word that talks about diligently seeking him, that that word actually is emphasized. And I like the translation that says God rewards those who diligently seek him out.

Today we're going to learn how to seek God out, and for many, the journey is going to begin today. Now as we look at this text, a couple of things become very obvious. First of all, it's clear that faith should have an object. Our faith should have an object, namely God.

You say, "Well, Pastor Lutzer, I'm not a person of faith. I don't like this idea of faith. I don't exercise faith." Oh, yeah? You go to a doctor whose name you can't pronounce, he gives you a prescription that you can't read, you take it to a pharmacist whom you've never met, he gives you a substance that you haven't analyzed, and yet you take it. That is faith. All right?

Everyone who's ever eaten in a restaurant has exercised faith, sometimes more than others. Of course, we all live by faith. But what is it that the text is telling us? It is to come to God in faith. You must believe that he is and that he rewards those who seek him out. What God are we talking about?

It is God with a capital G. It's the God who created. I marvel at how scientific the Bible is. Genesis chapter 1, verse 1: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." There you have all of the elements of science in those ten words. In the beginning, the concept of time. Created, the concept of energy.

The concept of God. In the beginning, God. There you have personality. Created the heavens, there you have space. And the earth, there you have matter. It's that God who created the stars and calls them all by name, so that you and I might know who we are worshipping. It is that God whom we worship, and it is that God to whom we come.

He is a creating God. Einstein was enamored with the universe. In fact, someone who knew him said that they thought that Einstein was a fundamentally religious man, but he had no time for organized religion because the preachers of his day were talking about a God that was a lot smaller than the one that he had encountered in nature.

Well, may it never be said that at Moody Church we have a small God. We have a great God, the God who creates. It's the God who redeems. When people give a testimony, they often say, "Well, you know, I came to know Christ," or "I found Christ as my savior." We understand what they mean.

But strictly speaking, my friends, you didn't find Christ; Christ found you. There isn't a sheep on planet Earth that goes looking for the shepherd. The shepherd came looking for you. It's the God who created, but the God who seeks and the God who finds.

And so you should really say when you give your testimony, "You know, God found me back in," and then give the year and the date. Well, he's always found you, but that's when he zeroed in on you and said, "I am working in your life to bring you to faith," and it happened.

It's also the God who speaks. And what does this God say from the book of James? "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." This is the God who said when he was on earth, Jesus, "Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls."

This is the God who invites. He who comes to God must believe that he is, and so we come. We come because of the God of nature, but because of this word, he's a God who speaks and a God whom we can at least a little bit understand. Now, notice what the text is saying also, that faith as we come in faith, it has a reward.

God rewards those who diligently seek him. He rewards. You know, there is a form of Christianity that does not have a reward. There's a form of Christianity that says we need to obey God because that's what you ought to do. Why should you go to church? That's what you ought to do.

Why should you read the Bible? That's what you ought to do. Why should you witness? That's what you ought to do. It's what you should do. That kind of Christianity is legalistic, and it is dead. And it's proven by the fact that young people—not our young people, but across the nation—young people who leave high school often times when they go into college never return to church.

They go their own way because they've only been introduced to an "ought" kind of Christianity. "You should do this." That's anti-biblical. Yes, there may be times when you do something even though you don't feel like it. And when you do, I should say this: What should happen if you come to church and you don't feel like praising God, and yet you get to the church and there they are praising God as we did this morning?

What do you do? Do you sing or don't you? Do you want to be a hypocrite or not? Here's the answer. If all that you do is sing, then you could be a hypocrite. But the way in which you do it is this: You sing, yes, and while you're singing, you're repenting and saying, "Lord, my heart is cold. Lord, I'm distracted because of A, B, and C. And therefore, Father, bring me into the joy and the gladness of this moment." Then you can sing, and the gladness of heart begins.

Yes, my friend, you and I always have to go back to the basics of the Christian life, don't we? We have to be able to worship God with a sense of freedom and always remember whatever barriers are there in need to be taken down. I'm holding in my hands a book written by George Sweeting entitled *How to Begin the Christian Life*. For gift of any amount, we're making it available, and by the way, this is the last week that this book can be yours. Thanks in advance for helping us as we get the gospel to many.

Dave McAllister: Erwin Lutzer, beginning "When the Answer is Disguised." Next time, more on what's really going on when answers seem disguised.

The New Year is a time for beginnings. We'd like you to have a book by George Sweeting on *How to Begin the Christian Life*. It tells new believers how to follow Jesus. This book is yours as our thanks when you give a gift of any amount to support Running to Win.

For details, call 1-800-215-5001. That's 1-800-215-5001. Online, go to offerrtw.com. That's offerrtw.com. Or write to Running to Win, Moody Church, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is a ministry of the Moody Church.