Where Are Our Blessings
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Introduction
1.
We
are talking about the blessings that God has released but never reached us
2.
Prayers
unanswered by God are a different topic
3.
There
are certain prayers answered by God, but never reached us
4.
Where
are they now?
5.
They
can be:
i.
Delayed
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ii.
Diverted to someone else
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iii.
Stolen by someone else
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iv.
Destroyed so that we do not enjoy it.
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How We Know That Our Prayers Are Answered By God
1.
No
intimation is given to you by God except His promise
2.
He
has given you the promise to answer your prayers in advance
3.
If
you fulfill all criteria of heaven, you can be sure that your prayer is
answered
4.
If
you do not fulfill any criteria you cannot get answer from heaven, however you
force God
Three Factors
That Determine God’s Answer
1.
Whether it
is God’s Will to Answer?
1 John 5:14, 15
14
And this is the confidence that we have
in him that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us
15
And if we know that he hear us,
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
1.
If
God answers all our prayers, it would be disastrous to us
2.
We
are far from perfection
3.
Prayer
conforms us to God’s will
1.
Whether it is
God’s Time to Answer?
1.
Hanna’s Prayer for a son
1 Samuel 1: 10,11
10
- And she was in bitterness of soul, and
prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.
11
- And she vowed a vow, and said, O
LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid,
and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine
handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his
life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
i.
Hanna prayed for years
ii.
It was a long wait for his parents
iii.
Samuel had to live at a certain time in order to
accomplish a particular mission in Israel
2.
Nehemiah’s prayer for rebuilding of Jerusalem
i.
He
wept and mourned for certain days and fasted and prayed (Nehemiah 1:4)
ii.
Answer
came in God’s Time
iii.
It
occurred on a specific day
iv.
From
the day, 69 weeks of years (483 years) would be completed to determine the very
day that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey and hailed as Messiah
(Daniel 9:25)
2.
Relationship
with God
- Abide in Jesus
John 15:7
- “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and
it shall be done unto you.”
Observe,
in order to have influence with God, we must:
1. Be united
to Christ - if ye abide in me.
2. That in
order to be preserved in this union, we must have our lives regulated by the
doctrine of Christ - and my words abide
in you.
3. That to
profit by this union and doctrine, we must pray - ye shall ask.
4. That every
heavenly blessing shall be given to those who continue in this union, with a
loving, obedient, praying spirit:-ye shall ask what ye will
If
by communion and the study of the word we abide in Christ, our prayers will be
of such a nature that it will fully accord with the divine counsel to answer
them, for they will be prayers tending toward fruitfulness.
I.
Delayed
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1.
It
happened in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, under whom was the
Israelites.
2.
Daniel
was praying and mourning three full weeks.
3.
In
the four and twentieth day of the first month, he was sitting by the side of
the great river, Hiddekel
4.
An
angel appeared to him and spoke:
Daniel 10: 12, 13
12 Then said he
unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine
heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were
heard, and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince
of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael,
one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings
of Persia. {chief: or, first}
prince
of the kingdom of Persia –
i.
the angel of darkness that represented
the Persian world power, to which Israel was then subject.
ii.
This
verse gives the reason why, though Daniel's "words were heard from the
first day" the good angel did not come to him until more than three weeks
had elapsed
5.
We
understand from this incident that:
i.
Every
country – geographical region – has a guarding spirit.
ii.
Jews
were living as exiles under the Babylonians and later Persia.
iii.
Judea
was conquered by Babylonia and later Babylonia was conquered by Persia
iv.
So
the area and its people were under the guardianship of the prince of Persia
Ephesians 6:12 - For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places. {flesh...: Gr. blood and flesh} {spiritual...: or, wicked
spirits} {high: or, heavenly}
powers - exousia exousia,
ex-oo-see'-ah
(in the sense of
ability); privilege, i.e. (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom,
or (objectively) mastery (concretely, magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token
of control), delegated influence:--authority,
jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.
6.
As
long as one is under the supremacy of the evil spirit, no answer from heaven
will reach him
7.
His
blessings are delayed
II. Diverted To Someone Else
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Genesis
30 : 25 - 27
25 - “And
it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send
me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.
26 - “Give
me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for
thou knowest my service which I have done thee.
27 - “And
Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry:
for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.
Genesis
30 : 30
- “For it was little which thou
hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD
hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own
house also?
Genesis
31: 36 - 42
36 And Jacob was
wroth, and chided with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is
my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?
37 Whereas thou hast
searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it
here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge between us both.
38
This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy
she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not
eaten.
39
That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I
bore the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by
day, or stolen by night.
40
Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by
night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
41
Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years
for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my
wages ten times.
42
Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac,
had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine
affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked thee last night.
III. Stolen
By Your Enemy
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John 10: 10 - The
thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that
they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Luke 11:21 - 22
21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace,
his goods are in peace:
22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon
him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted,
and divideth his spoils.
IV. Destroyed
So That We Do Not Enjoy It
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John 10: 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal,
and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly.
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