Grace Fellowship Church Pastor/Teacher Jim Rickard Thursday, June 18, 2009

Memory Verse Heb 4:16, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

John 14:13-14 The Doctrine of Prayer Part 6

D. Four Categories of How God Answers your Petition Prayers.

1. Each petition prayer has two parts: a) The petition which is what you actually say; (including intercessory) b) The desire, which is what you really want.

2. God views both parts of your prayer as separate, and answers each part either positively or negatively.

Petition - Desire a. Positive - Negative b. Negative - Positive c. Positive - Positive d. Negative - Negative

E. Why Prayer is Not Answered.

1. The believer is under the control of the sin nature.

Psa 66:18, “If I regard wickedness in my heart the Lord will not listen to me.”

Righteousness God (R+) Man (R + / -) Love Pts. 2. & 3.

4. The love of God provides the means and the solution for effective prayer through the grace of God. Psa 66:19-20

Psa 66:19 ‑ 20, “But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer nor His lovingkindness from me.”

5. Because the believer rejects Bible doctrine.

Without Bible Doctrine you have no understanding of the mechanics of prayer or God’s will. 1 John 5:14-15

6. Indifference to or rejection of Bible doctrine produces three categories of ignorance which guarantee the malfunction of your prayer life.

a. Ignorance because of indifference to doctrine.

b. Ignorance because of wrong priorities. If wrong priorities persist in your spiritual life, you'll become a loser with no prayer life.

c. Ignorance because of the arrogance complex of sins: jealousy, bitterness, vindictiveness, implacability, etc.

Arrogant believers never get through to the throne of Grace.

7. Failure to execute God’s mandates. 1 John 3:22

1 John 3:22, “Furthermore, whatever we have asked, we receive from Him, because we continue to execute His mandates, and we keep on doing what is pleasing in His sight.”

a. Therefore, prayer is related to your fulfillment of the Plan of God and the execution of the Christian way of life.

b. To do "what is pleasing in His sight" describes spiritual adulthood when the believer reaches the peak in his prayer life.

c. Failure to execute His mandates and to attain spiritual adulthood impedes, obstructs, inhibits, and undermines all effective prayer.

Grace Fellowship Church Thursday, June 18, 2009 Doctrine of Prayer, Part 6 Tape # Doctrine of Prayer, Part 6 Why Prayers Are Not Answered Upper Room Discourse, Part 273 John 14:13-14; 1 John 3:22; 5:14-15; Pas 66:18-20 James H. Rickard Bible Ministries 2009