Tag Archives: Zechariah and Elizabeth

How to Receive an Answer from God (Part IV) – Letting God Answer for His Own Purpose

27 Friday Jul 2012

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It is not unusual for Christians to hear a challenging word from God, only to take a step of faith to trust God, and then afterward experience even more difficult situations. During these times we can get very discouraged because it appears our very obedience is the reason for our difficulties. Why would obedience create more problems? Because, God has a higher purpose! The Lord has a higher purpose for your life as well.

 
Luke 1 reminds us God was looking for parents He could trust to bring John the Baptist into the world. Zechariah and Elizabeth demonstrated their trustworthiness, for they did not turn against God or stop serving Him when things weren’t going their way. Their whole married life they had been praying for a child, but were not able to conceive. Yet, they both remained faithful.

Job is another servant of the Lord who remained faithful in good times and bad. When events turned against Job…

 

Job fell to the ground in worship and said: The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.  Job 1:21-22

 

Even Job’s wife told him “Curse God and die!”  Mrs. Job must have been a lovely woman to live with! Job simply replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:9-10)

There is always a choice for us when things are not going our way. We can lose faith and turn from God, or we can totally trust Him. Someone said, “Sometimes a roadblock is not a dead-end, but a detour to a new road in life.” When we let God answer our prayers for His purposes we will probably experience a roadblock like those just mentioned. If we remain faithful to God’s larger purpose, we will discover it is not the end of the road. It is only a change in direction leading us to God’s new destination for our life.

Do you want to be used by God for His purposes? Do you want your prayers answered your way, or do you want something bigger and better which God has purposed for you? Zechariah and Elizabeth waited a long time and suffered disgrace and discouragement. But when their prayer was finally answered… it was their son who was chosen to point the world to Jesus.

I believe, more than ever before, we need people to point the way to the Lord. I am not talking about people who act religious. As I have stated before, the world is on to us.

 
A man was flying from Seattle to San Francisco. Unexpectedly, the plane stopped in Sacramento along the way. The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft, the plane would re-board in 50 minutes.

Everybody got off the plane except one gentleman who was blind.

The man noticed him as he walked by and could tell the gentleman was blind because his Seeing Eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of him throughout the entire flight. He could also tell he had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached him, and calling him by name, said, “Keith, we’re in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?”

The blind man replied, “No thanks, but maybe my dog would like to stretch his legs.”

All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a Seeing Eye dog!

The pilot was even wearing sunglasses. People scattered. They not only tried to change planes, but they were trying to change airlines!

 
Who wants to board a plane with a blind pilot! Likewise, we need real prophets, leaders, teachers, and preachers. We need the Lord to raise up real prophets like John the Baptist. In order for this to happen…we must be willing to let God answer these types of prayer in His Own Time, in His Own Way, in His Own Power, and for His Own Purposes. It will not be the easiest road because we will have to grow up in our faith and we will have to accept His plan over our own. Are you ready?

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

How to Receive an Answer from God (Part II) – Letting God Answer in His Own Time

25 Wednesday Jul 2012

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God tells us up front that His ways are not our ways. His ways are bigger and better…. beyond what we can even think or imagine! If the Lord’s ways are bigger and better, then why do we always appear to be disappointed with His bigger and better stuff?  Could it be that we don’t really believe all that “good stuff” the Bible tells us about and are always bracing ourselves for disappointment.

There was one clerk in a large candy store who always had people waiting in line, even when the other clerks were standing around with nothing to do. The manager finally asked her why she was so popular with customers.

“It’s easy,” she responded. “The other clerks always scoop more than a pound of candy and then start taking away. I always scoop less than a pound and then add to it.”

The Lord works the same way with us many times.  With one hand, the Lord scoops and delivers a smaller than expected portion, lays it on the counter and watches our response.  If we become dejected and despondent, then He knows whether we are totally grateful.  If we are truly grateful for His blessings, He then, with His other hand, lays an even greater scoop of blessing on the counter.

In Luke 1 we discover that Zechariah and Elizabeth wanted children. So, when things were not going their way, they prayed for God to intervene. They wanted what everyone else wanted and most were getting. But God wanted to give them someone special – a unique son for a unique purpose. God needed a special set of parents to raise a prophet.  He delayed their answer because He had a much better answer in mind.

Still, day after day, month after month, and year after year, babies were being born to families and friends.  This couple saw life move on for other people. For Zachariah and Elizabeth, it didn’t appear too difficult for God to answer the desires and wishes of other parents.

One of the keys to receiving from heaven is to not become jealous of what other people are receiving from the Lord. If we continue to think along these lines, bitterness can creep into our thought life.  Our problem is that we simply want what everyone else is getting. God never promised He would answer in “fair fashion”. Fair is a man-made standard. If God gave us what is fair, we all would have been destroyed long ago.

The Bible does say the Lord is “merciful, kind, and just” and He will answer accordingly.  When our prayers are delayed, most become content to settle for less than what God originally promised. The key is to not become disenfranchised over a delay.

Golfer Arnold Palmer once played a series of exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia. The king was so impressed that he proposed to give Palmer a gift. Palmer said, “It really isn’t necessary, Your Highness. I’m honored to have been invited.”

“I would be deeply upset,” replied the king, “if you would not allow me to give you a gift.” Palmer thought for a moment and said, “All right. How about a golf club? That would be a beautiful memento of my visit to your country.”

The next day the title to a golf club with thousands of acres, trees, lakes and a clubhouse was delivered to Palmer’s hotel. The moral of this story is: In the presence of a King, don’t ask for small gifts!     (Brennan Manning, Lion and Lamb: The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus (Baker, 1986)

 

God’s word encourages us to ask God for His best and wait for Him to move in His time.  Ephesians 2:20 which says, “God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

Do you believe this verse?  Trust the Lord and release the power which is at work with you!

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

How to Receive an Answer from God (Part 1)

17 Tuesday Jul 2012

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A mother of five took one of her daughters, age 9, out for a mother-daughter breakfast. During their meal, she courageously asked her daughter, “How do you think I could be a better mom?” The young girl thought for a moment. Then she promptly related, “Well, you do yell a lot. I know you’ve been praying about that, but it isn’t really working yet.”

Touché! A quip like this had to hurt just a little. Why doesn’t prayer “really work” sometimes? Why do some of our most earnest and sincere prayers appear to go unanswered?

In this blog and following, I am going to focus on our attitudes in prayer. My focus is not about “the how to’s” of prayer, or the “whys” of prayer, but our attitudes. Maybe you’ve sincerely attempted prayer but are still not netting many results. If so, then follow along as I attempt to examine four attitudes which will help get results from heaven.

Time is one of the biggest issues most face when it comes to prayer. In order to receive from God we must be willing to let the Lord answer in His own time. If you are like me… I want what I want, when I want it. I want answers to my prayers right away. After all, I think that what I’m praying about is important and God should answer…quickly. But it’s not always in my best interest or God’s, for Him to answer immediately. During these moments it is imperative to maintain the belief that the Lord has our best interest at heart. If the Lord delays, it is the very best for all concerned.

God often delays answering our prayers because we are not mature or responsible enough to receive. The question becomes can we handle it?

A hundred years ago, who would have thought it would have been possible to send pictures through space? Who would have imagined that somebody standing in front of a camera in New York could be seen by people in Washington? Who could have imagined that instead of waiting for the news to arrive in a newspaper, you could see it happening for yourself, live? A hundred years ago they would have said it was impossible. This is not the case now.

Who would have thought a hundred years ago, it would be possible for people personally to send their own pictures and videos through space to be on the news which runs 24/7. Yet, this happens everyday.

Now, even children and teenagers have this capability. Many have learned the hard way that just because they can, doesn’t mean they should post every pic and video of themselves. Many of them have chosen to send naked pictures of themselves for the whole world to see. Just because we have been given this power doesn’t mean it has been the very best thing for us.

Being willing to wait for something you want or even need is a sign of maturity. Not being willing to wait is a sign of immaturity.

This wasn’t the reason Zechariah and Elizabeth’s answer was delayed in Luke 1. In verses 6 and 9 we see that they were upright, blameless, and kept faithfully serving God despite their disgrace and disappointment in not having a child.

 

This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men. Luke 1:25

 

Yes, this elderly couple was “disgraced” by God’s lack of movement in their lives. Ever been there? Do you think God is even concerned when He delays our prayers? Maybe He is in heaven laughing at our disgrace. People wrongly conclude we are “less spiritual” because God has delayed our prayer requests.

Real maturity is loving God despite it all.  Mature people do not stop loving God when life doesn’t make sense. Zachariah and Elizabeth kept plugging away with their faith and love for God intact.

As strange as it may seem, God’s delays are not God’s denials! He needed someone He could trust to not deny Him when their prayers weren’t being answered right away. He wanted to answer Zechariah and Elizabeth’s prayers in a miraculous fashion. This meant that their answer would not arrive right away. This also meant they were the “exceptional parent material” God needed to raise a prophet… not just any prophet … the prophet that would usher in Messiah.

 
Cable television tycoon Ted Turner has often been quoted as being critical of Christianity. Turner made some very revealing remarks at a banquet in Orlando, Fla., in 1990. On this occasion he was given an award by the American Humanist Association for his work on behalf of the environment. Turner said he had a strict Christian upbringing and at one time considered becoming a missionary. “I was saved seven or eight times,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. But he said “he became disenchanted with Christianity after his sister died, despite his prayers.” (Spokesman-Review, May 1, 1990. http://www.christianglobe.com.)

Here is a man who didn’t pass the “prayers delayed test.” In fact, this test actually changed the course of his life. His personal prayers were not answered by the Lord, so he chucked his whole relationship with God.

 

 

I am sure we have all considered giving up on prayer at one time or another. We get discouraged and quit praying for a season because deep down we wonder if prayer really makes a difference. In Zechariah and Elizabeth’s case, God wanted to do something greater than they had originally requested. God trusted them because they would not give up on Him when their prayers seemed to be going unanswered.

Have you given up on God because He appeared to be deaf to your concerns? Or, are you still faithfully serving Him despite the delay in getting what you have been praying about? Can God trust you to not deny Him when the answers to your prayers are delayed?

Zechariah couldn’t believe the angel’s good news. He doubted what he was hearing.

 

Zachariah said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” Luke 1:18

Even good, sincere Christians have doubts at times! Why did he doubt the angel’s message? Because he knew he and his wife were “well along” in years. I am feeling a little advanced in years myself these days. They knew that it would take a full-blown miracle for them to have a child! We tend to doubt God when the answer to our prayers requires an actual miracle.

This is the difference between Mary (Jesus’ mother) and Zechariah. Mary did believe God could do a miracle. Zack, because of his age… couldn’t make the leap.

Different issues create certain problems for people. Some can’t believe God for a restored marriage. Some can’t believe God for restored health. Others can’t believe God for a financial miracle. Bottomline… You will hear words like, “That’s impossible!” In other words, “I can’t believe that will actually happen for me. God might be able to work a miracle in somebody else’s life, but not mine.”

The way to correct this is to speak and believe like Mary. “Be it done to me according to Your word.” Luke 1:38

 
Blessings,

Pastor