Charles Stanley - The God to Whom We Pray
Is the God whom you worship big enough to handle all the challenges you bring to Him in life? All of us bring Him all different kinds and they come from all different avenues and often times they come suddenly. Sometimes we can see them coming a long ways down the track. All different kinds of challenges, all the way from things that are material like finances or things that are emotional like loneliness. Is the God you worship big enough to handle all of those challenges? Well, it depends upon the God whom you worship.
And I wonder if someone gave you a piece of paper and said, "Describe your God to me". I wonder if you had to place on that paper just single words to describe the God whom you worship, the God whom you serve, the God to whom you pray. I wonder how much of a blank sheet of paper you could fill. If you were listing in only single words the nature, the character, the works of the God whom you serve.
Well, I want you to turn if you will to Nehemiah. Because in this passage of scripture, I believe the most important element in our prayer life is to be found. And while there are many things that are very important, I believe there's one thing that overrides all the rest. And probably one of the reasons that many people's prayers are not answered is because they're not aware of this. And this first chapter is about a man who prayed just like you and I pray. He had a challenge just like you and I have often times challenges in life. And I want you to see how God worked in his life because it's a beautiful pattern. A very encouraging pattern for all of us who pray to our heavenly Father.
So, let's begin with this first verse that's, the Bible says, "The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. And they said to me, 'The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the walls of Jerusalem are broken down and its gates are burned with fire.' Now it came about when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, 'I beseech Thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments".
Now he continues his prayer a little later on, but this is the prayer I want us to notice primarily here. And that is, here's a man who, who has a view of God that brings him such absolute confidence and overwhelming assurance that God is indeed going to hear his prayer. Now, let me just say that I think the most important aspect of prayer, there are lots of elements in prayer, but the most important element in prayer, I believe, is the view of our God. Who is this God to whom I'm praying? My view of God is the bottom line, the foundation, of all of my praying. To whom am I praying?
In so many religions of the world, they pray to a god who is transcendent, a god who not only is invisible, but a god who is untouchable. And there's nothing about their god that is sympathetic and loving and good, nothing about their god that says that he pursues them with goodness, that he's stored up goodness for them. And so, when you look at the other religions of the world, there's nothing in all existence to match the Christian faith. We have a God who is absolutely, and the only God we have, and He is the only God. And our God is absolutely unlike all the gods of other religions in the world. And so, he starts his prayer out, "O Lord God of heaven".
Now, when you think about all the elements in prayer. For example, somebody says, "Well, now wait a minute. Now, what about, what about this whole idea of praying in the will of God? Isn't that the most important thing that you and I find out what the will of God is and what we're to ask"? Well, that's very important. Somebody else says, "Well now, doesn't the Bible say that if we regard iniquity in our heart, if we sin against Him, that He will not answer our prayer? And therefore, isn't a clean heart extremely important"? Very important.
Somebody says, "Well, now wait a minute. What about my motivation? Isn't it necessary, isn't it very essential that I have the right motive, the right reason for asking God for something"? Absolutely. "And now what about this whole idea of faith? Isn't that the absolute, ultimate bottom line? And that is, if I don't believe Him, how in the world is He gonna answer my prayer? Because He says it's all based on our faith, the trusting Him. This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, we know that we have the petition that we desired of Him. Isn't all this based on our faith and trust in Him"? Absolutely. "Then how can you say that the bottom line, the most important thing is the view of the God to whom we pray"?
Well, let's look at that for a moment because I want you to see why it's so very important. I believe it's one of the primary reasons that so many people will start praying some things and stop. They get challenged with big things in life and they think, "Well, you know, I know that God hears and answers prayer, but". So, I want you to look at three words here now, and I want you to jot them down if you will. And because I'm gonna ask you to give 'em back to me in just a few moments and to respond to something. I want you to notice this prayer because what we're looking at here is this man's view of God. I mean, he was a tremendous leader. But when God sent him on this mission, God did a marvelous work in his life. And I want you to notice this prayer and I want us to look at these words.
Notice first of all what he says. He says, "O LORD God". Now I want you to look at the word LORD. That word, LORD, if you'll notice is all in what? It's all in capital letters. Capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. What is that word and what does that word mean? That is the word that means, that is translated "Jehovah" or "Yahweh" in the Hebrew. Jehovah is the word. It is found sixty-eight hundred and about twenty-three times in the Old Testament. It's not even found in the first chapter of the Bible which has the word "God" thirty-two times. But, this word "Jehovah" is not in, is not even in the first chapter of the Bible.
Well, what did he mean when he said, "O LORD"? I believe Nehemiah understood who this God was to whom he was praying. I believe he understood clearly who this God was. Because you see the word "Jehovah" to him meant the God who is eternal in His being, the God who is self-existent. That is, nobody brought Him into being and nobody can take Him out of being. This is, this is the God who is absolutely faithful to every single one of His promises. This is why he says, "An awesome God who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness of those who love Him and keep His commandments".
This was the God, this was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the God who loved them. This is the God of grace. This is the God of mercy. This is the God of justice. This is the God who cared for His people. This is the God who rescued them. This is the God of loving kindness and tender mercy toward them. And so, when He says here, O LORD God, this is the God who fills the heavens. This is a God, this is the God in whose presence everything, everywhere is in the presence of this God. This is the awesome God of mankind. So, when he says, begins his prayer and says, O LORD God, he knew exactly to whom he was speaking.
Now notice that second word is God. This is the word "Elohim". And this is the word that singles out God as a God who is infinite in His being, infinite in His power, who has all power. He's the Sovereign God of this universe. This is the God, this is the God, this is the word found in Genesis chapter one, verse one when it says, "In the beginning God". This is the aspect of God who is the creator, in all of His creative ability, in all of His power and might to speak the worlds into being. Turn if you will to Hebrews chapter eleven. And you'll remember this chapter is primarily, we think, in terms of faith.
But I want you to listen if you will to this third verse and we'll start with the second verse. Hebrews chapter eleven verse two. Listen to what he says. He says, "For by it," that is, well let's start with verse one, we're talking about faith. He says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it," that is, by faith, "the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible". That is, he's saying that God, when He created this world, did not take something that was in it, that was already in existence and create this world. But He spoke this world into being.
So, when you hear of all the theories of evolution and all the rest, you can put 'em all together and you can know this for sure, that behind every theory and behind every single bit of matter in existence that will ever exist, there is this awesome eternal being who is called God, Jehovah God, Elohim. That is, the one who is known for His creative ability, known for His might and His power and control. He is the sovereign God of this universe. So often times when you'll hear these men and women in the, in the Old Testament talking about the LORD God, why wouldn't they just use one word? Why don't you just say Lord? Why don't you just say God? Because they understood the full meaning of these words. And if you'll notice here, he says He is a keeper of His covenant for those who love Him and keep His commandments.
Now, I want you to look at one other word for God here. Notice if you will in the eleventh verse. When he comes down to the eleventh verse, having confessed the sins of His people, if you'll notice that word "Lord" is in little letters, capital L, little o, r, d. What is that word? That word is Adonai and that is the word that indicates God's rulership. That is, He is the one who is Lord overall. He is the one who is ruling. He is the master. When we talk about His lordship, in the Old Testament then, you've got these three words that he uses. First of all, there is the word "LORD", secondly "God" and then "Lord" here. So, we said there are three words. First of all is Jehovah or Yahweh. Secondly, Elohim, and the third is Adonai.
So, here's what you have. You have a God who is described in this fashion. You say, "Well are you talking about three gods"? No, we're talking about one God whose names are different because they give different aspects of God. And because the language is so exacting, God wants us to know all that He is. For example, we say in English, love. You can love chocolate, you can love a man or a woman, or you can love some thrill. You can love all kinds of things. But in the Greek language they had different words for love that meant different aspects of love. When we come to God, here's what we have. We talk about God Jehovah, He is absolute in faithfulness. When we say, God who is um, a God who is a God of all power, we talk about a God who is infinite in power, absolute in power, total control.
This is the God we're speaking of here, Elohim. And the God who is master and ruler over all, He is the God Adonai. So, when somebody says, "Well now wait a minute. Tell me about your God". Here's what you'd tell 'em. You say, "Well, there is Jehovah, absolute in faithfulness". Absolute in faithfulness. You can count on Him never to renege on a single promise. That is the very nature of God. And that is the reason this word is here. Lord, Jehovah, Yahweh. Absolute in faithfulness. He will keep every single promise He has ever made. It is His nature to do so. He cannot contradict His own nature. Here is God in whom you can place your trust anytime anywhere. Every single promise you never have to worry about, will He or will He not? Elohim, infinite in power.
This God who makes His promises is a God who has the power and the right to fulfill every single one of them. You never have to worry about God not being able to do anything. He is a God who knows no limitation of His power. He is the sovereign God of this universe. He is in control of every single thing by His power. This is the God who created it all. This is the aspect of God in all of His creative ability. Then there is Lord, that is, Adonai. He is the master, He is the ruler. He's the one who says that He is to be Lord and master over our lives. He's to control us for His good and for our good and for His glory and honor.
So, when somebody says, "Who is the God, who is this God that you serve"? He is Jehovah, listen, Jehovah, absolute in faithfulness. Here is a God who is infinite in His power, infinite in His power. Here is a God who is ruling over every single solitary thing. Well, now when I come to God in prayer and I look at this and I think, "Well, Lord, now, who is this God that I'm praying to"? You see, that is the very basic bottom line, because it's going to affect everything I do. And I want to show you in a few moments why it affects what we pray and how we pray. Who is this God? Here is God, absolute in faithfulness, infinite in power, ruling over everything. Jehovah, Elohim, Adonai.
So, when somebody says, "Well, tell me about your God". You can just tell 'em three things. Jehovah, absolute in faithfulness. Elohim, infinite in power. Adonai, absolute Lord. That is your conviction. That is who this God is. Now so when, here is Nehemiah coming with this challenge in his life, appears to be absolutely impossible. Here he is a servant and what does he do? "O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God". So let me ask you a question. How many times when you come to God in prayer do you stop to think who He is? Or do you just simply say, "Lord, God, Jesus"? How many times do we stop to think about who is this, Lord? And this is why I think if you read the prayers of the Old Testament, how often they would say, "O LORD God".
Then they usually will use some words to describe something about Him. But is it not true that most of us when we pray, we will say, "Now Lord, here's what I need. God, here's what I want". And instead of making, putting any emphasis on the personhood, we put our emphasis on what we want this God to do for us. And so, I want you to notice what he says here now. He says, look at this verse, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God. Great referring to God's power and might and ability to do anything and all things. But then he says He is great and what? Great and awesome.
Now we sing often times about our awesome God. What in the world do we mean by an awesome God? Well, usually when we talk about awesome, people usually relegate that or think in terms of bigness, size, largeness, how great something is in size. That's not what this means. When he talks about our great and awesome God, that word awesome here means reverence, that is to be feared. When the Bible says we're to fear God, that does not mean I'm to be afraid of Him or scared of Him, but it means I am to revere Him, listen, as the righteous, holy God that He is. When we think in terms of Jehovah, this is the righteousness of God. This is the holiness of God. That word encompasses so much about Him. Not only His grace and love and mercy and kindness and goodness, but His justice, His holiness and His righteousness. We're coming to that, that's the God we're coming to.
Will it make any difference what I ask? Yes, it will. Will it make any difference about my response? Yes, it will. And so, when he says, "Our great and awesome God. O LORD God of Heaven". And, he says, "The great and awesome God". One who is to be respected, one who is to be revered, one is to be praised, one is to be worshipped, one before whom we are to stand and sit and kneel humbly before Him. That's who He is. He is not this man upstairs. He's not some god that we just think about in terms of some colloquial kind of attitude. This word, Jehovah, was so sacred that the Bible says in the twenty-fourth chapter of Leviticus, Moses said, "Here's the law. Anyone who disgraces that name, Jehovah, anyone who blasphemes that name, anyone who profanes that name, the penalty is death by stoning".
That was their concept of God. And today people just throw His name around, and often times in profanity. And what they don't understand is the Bible says, "We shall give an account". We shall give an account to God for our language and our speech. And when people use God's name as a profane way, you know what it says? It says they know nothing about His nature. They know nothing about this God. And somebody can say one time it's God this with a three-letter or four-letter word behind it, or whatever it might be.
Then the next thing you know you hear them talking about, "Well, I do pray". Who in the world do they pray to? You can, listen, you cannot profane the name of Almighty God and then get on your knees and cry out to this God and ask Him for help. You don't know the God to whom you're speaking. He is the Lord, God of this universe, the ruler of all mankind. He is absolute in His faithfulness, listen, infinite in His power, and He is Lord overall. And when He says He's absolute in His faithfulness, that means He will keep His promise, His, listen, His promise to punish the wicked as well as be good to the righteous. You have to remember that part. He's not just a one-sided kind of God. And so, when he prays, he prays to someone that he understands.
Well, look at this. Somebody says, "Well, all right, now wait a minute. How does this affect my praying? Can't I just say Lord and God hear me and answer my prayer"? Why yes He can. Well, how does it affect it? Well, let's think about it in this light. When you and I come and we say, "Lord God," which is what Nehemiah said. See we use the same terminology. The question is, "What do I understand about that? Who is the God to whom I'm praying? Is this a God that I can just wrap up in one word and just move right on, or is there something else"?
Well, think about it this way. My view of God is going to, is going to influence and greatly affect what I ask Him for. If I just see God as some people see Him, just somebody sitting up in heaven just waiting to give me everything I want, that's going to affect some things I ask for. If I understand who God is, it's going to affect what I ask Him because I'll know that by His character there are some things, He's not gonna give me. There are some things He will withhold. There some things He desires to give. He is a God so good and so full of goodness and grace and mercy and love. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! God is interested, God is ready, God is sitting on ready waiting to answer my prayer. God wants, He wants this in your life.
If I understand who He is, He's a God who certainly is faithful to His promises, therefore I can come to Him and here's a particular need I have. And He said, "Here's a need that He will certainly meet, then I can come to Him". It will affect, listen, my view of God will affect what I ask for. Not only that, it will a view how, listen. It will affect how big my petitions are. And haven't you heard people say, "Well, I couldn't ask God for that". Meaning, well that's too much. Let me ask you something. How much is too much for an infinite, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, all gracious, good, eternal creator of all things. That's why the Bible says, "Anything too difficult for God"? And the answer's what? No.
If there's nothing too difficult for Him, and I come to Him and I understand who He is, it will affect what I ask for. And it's gonna effect of how much of it I ask for. And see, often times we limit ourselves into what we ask and how much we ask for because we ask on the basis of what we think we can do. We ask on the basis, listen, of our resources. We trust God for what we think we can come up with. Listen, we're to trust God on the basis of who He is, what He has promised. How big is this God, how great is this God, how awesome is this God? It's going to affect what you ask for. The second thing your view of God's gonna affect is this. It's going to affect your lifestyle. Because you see, if I understand that God is holy and righteous and pure. If I understand that He's a God who wants the best for me and wants me to walk in oneness with Him, that's the kind of God, then it's going to affect how I live. It's gonna affect my behavior.
How am I gonna come to God, living in deliberate willful sin, holding onto sin, at the same time expecting God to answer my prayer? It will affect, listen, it will affect the purity of our heart. It will affect our behavior and our conduct. It's going to affect how we think, how we relate to people. It's going to affect everything about us. Because if I understand who He is, He's the God of righteousness and holiness. He is a God of goodness, yes, and mercy and love and all the rest. But He's a God who wants the best for us. And wanting the best for us says the best view is to obey Me. Being omniscient and being all-wise, I know what is best for you. Obey Me, that's what's best. Is it going to affect my behavior and my conduct, my view of God?
Yes, it will. Because if I only see Him as somebody up in Heaven out yonder, some impersonal being or some force who somehow gets me what I want in some fashion or some way by my efforts or somebody else's efforts, it'll have no effect whatsoever in the way I live. The third thing it's certainly going to affect is my faith. If I see God as a distant God. If I see Him as one who has favorites, plays favorites. If I see Him as a God who is prejudiced. If I see Him as a God who's stingy, who rules by rules and regulations. If I don't see Him as a God of grace and love and mercy. If I don't see Him as a God of kindness and forgiveness. Then when I come to Him to make a request, if I don't have the right view of God, I'm not going to be able to believe Him.
You can say, "Well, I believe He's omnipotent, He's omniscient, He's omnipresent, He's all those things, but I don't know whether He can answer that for me or not". Why not? Because He's a God, listen, He desires the best for His children. He wants to pour out His blessings upon us. Listen, it's no testimony to who God is by being stingy. It's no testimony to God by withholding blessings from us. Well that's nothing to Him. Listen, it's in His goodness and love and mercy that He draws. And you remember what Paul said. He says, "Don't you realize that it's by the goodness of God that often times we are led to repentance"? It's we see God expressing who He is and so we come to Him and say, "Well, does it, listen, does my view of God have any effect on my prayer"?
It certainly does. It affects what I ask for, how much I ask for. It affects my relationship to Him, my relationship to others, my conduct and my behavior, and it affects my faith. Am I able to believe Him? Well, what's God able to do? The truth is it will affect every aspect of our prayer. And our view of God is going to affect ultimately, every aspect of our life. And so, it does make a difference how we view God. Now, but let's think about how many people view Him. They don't see Him as a holy, righteous God. But I think about many people when they pray and let me ask you this question. How much time or how often when you pray do you spend any time at all talking to Him about Him? Or do you just simply talk to Him about what you want from Him.
That is, do you see God primarily as a giver? Is that the way you see Him? Primarily as a giver. If you could analyze your prayers, more than likely for many people, that's the way they see God. Now they wouldn't say, "Oh no, I don't, no". Stop and ask yourself the question. The last time I prayed, what did I say? Did I bring Him my need? Did I tell Him what I needed to have? There's nothing wrong with that. He says, "Ask and it shall be given you". But was that my emphasis? Was that the only interest I had? God, I'm in trouble. How do people see God? The giver. Some of them see Him as the operator of 911. When they get in trouble, call on God. Some of them see Him as a lifesaver. And Lord, I'm in trouble, please help me. Please help me, God. That's not the God of the scriptures.
And so, you say, "Well, does it affect the way I pray? Does it affect my answers to prayer"? Yes, indeed it does. It affects every aspect of it. And so, when I think about God, He is not my servant. He's not a bellhop, just sitting in heaven waiting for me to call on Him for something else. Jehovah, absolute in faithfulness. Elohim, infinite in power. Adonai, master and ruler. This is the God of grace and love and mercy and goodness and kindness and forgiveness that Jesus came to make it possible for you and me to have a relationship with Him.
Now let me ask you this question. Is answered prayer a way of life for you, or is it an exception? Are you interested in the giver Himself or just the gift He has to give? Do you want to understand and to experience a loving relationship that is so intimate, so indescribably fulfilling, so complete that nothing in this life can possibly match it no matter what. That's the God who is available to you and to me if we will only make ourselves available to Him by trusting His Son Jesus as our savior, asking Him to forgive us of our sins which He will do the moment we ask Him based on His death at Calvary, bringing us into a relationship with Him.
Listen. That relationship is the beginning, listen to this. It is the beginning eternal unbreakable, non-negotiable, irrevocable relationship forever and ever and ever and ever. We are the sons and daughters of Almighty God. God of goodness and love and mercy toward us. That's His invitation to you. And my friend, you would be foolish to turn down an invitation from the God of this universe who has been willing to offer His Son to you as a gift forever and ever and ever. And with it comes eternal life and every single blessing you'll ever need.
Father, when we say, "We worship You, we love You, we adore You". We pray the Holy Spirit will enable us to know how to do that in a fashion that your heart is blessed by our blessing You and honoring You. We thank You for the wonderful gift of prayer, the most awesome privilege we have in our whole life. The privilege to touch anybody anywhere in space or on this globe. The capacity to touch through prayer anybody anywhere, whatever their need, whatever their hurt, whatever their burden, we thank You and praise you. And we ask for those who've never trusted You as their savior. Would You help them to understand? Life doesn't really begin until it begins with You and then it never ends because You are absolutely eternal and all that You possess in us is eternal. I pray the Spirit of God'll take this simple message, apply it to each one of our hearts. Let it transform the way we pray, not to come to You as the great giver, but to come to You as our great and mighty God. And we pray this in the name of Your Son Jesus, amen.