Answered Prayer - Alden Gannett — From the Pulpit & Classic Sermons

Welcome to From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons. Each week we bring you a different message from some of history's greatest speakers in the Christian faith and powerful sermons for modern preachers too.

This week we have Alden Gannett with his message, Answered Prayer.

Reading the Whole Counsel of God

Dr. Ironside was a great blessing to me a number of years ago when I was just alive and heard him on a Bible conference platform up in New York State. And I recall his telling how he had his own devotional life.

And the point that I remember most about his discussion was the fact that he considered it very important to read through the Bible at least once a year. And I remember his telling us at Dallas Seminary some years later that he had read through the Bible forty times in addition to any of his studies.

And that meant he'd read the Bible through for the last forty years, at least once each time. His principle was, which I think is exceedingly valid, we should know all the counsel of God. And we get lopsided, you know, like our kids eating hamburgers and French fries.

You know, you go out to supper somewhere and that's all they want. You ask them what they want for supper, that's it. And they don't get a balanced diet that way. Now Dr. Ironside's method was to have a balanced diet in your Bible readings.

He said, read six chapters a day. Two chapters begin in Genesis, two chapters begin in the Psalms, two chapters begin in the New Testament. And then he said, this way you have your appetizer, you have your meat and potatoes, and you have your dessert.

Now, many people don't feel they can read six chapters a day. But if this is at all possible, here is one method. Another method is to read through the entire Bible by simply starting with Genesis and reading through Revelation.

This does become discouraging to some people because they get bogged down in the genealogies, and get bogged down in some of the historical portions of the Old Testament. But this certainly is a good way.

If you're a new convert, I encourage your reading through the Gospel of John several times, and then on through the New Testament, and then pick up a method going through. Now my own particular method is reading through the Bible once a year, which suggestion I got from Dr. Ironside, but I use a bit of a different approach.

I do start with Genesis and read through the Scriptures. I've taught through the Bible a number of times, and so the genealogies don't bother me as they might a new convert. But in addition to reading from beginning with Genesis, I like to read one of the Psalms each day.

So starting January 1st, I read Psalm 1, and January 2nd Psalm 2, and then when I finish Psalms, I read one proverb a day. Today is June 2nd, and I read the second chapter in Proverbs. By the time I get through Proverbs, I'll go back and start with Psalms again, and read through the Psalms and Proverbs then twice in the course of a year.

You remember there are 150 Psalms, 30 Proverbs, that's 180 times 2 makes 360. So you can go through the Bible through these very nicely twice a year. I like these for the devotional, the worship aspect of a quiet time.

Now, if you actually divide the chapters of the Bible and divide them by 365, you get three chapters a day for six days a week, and four chapters a day for the seventh day of the week. If my mathematics are correct, that's the way it works out.

And so you can literally read only three chapters a day, and four chapters on the Lord's Day or some other day, and on the average of this, you can read through the entire Bible in the course of a year.

Let me encourage you not to get discouraged in your Bible reading if you get a difficult portion, a portion you don't understand. Don't worry about this, just keep on reading, and the more you read, the more it will dovetail together.

There's a whole lot of the Bible I don't know tonight, and I've studied it formally for nearly 25 years, and there is much in the Bible I do not know. But every time I read through, I get more, and more of it fits together, together, together through Bible reading.

Reading Devotionally for God to Speak

Now, I have a philosophy about Bible reading that some people disagree with, and I respect every writer there to disagree. But I don't do my Bible study when I'm reading. Other people do. Brother Willie, you may do this, and this may work just fine for you.

For me, I read devotionally, and by that I mean I'm reading something for something for my heart. Of course, I have my formal Bible study with courses I teach at the Bible College, and study for such a series as we've had this weekend and so on, and so I have ample opportunity for formal study.

But I like to read simply for God to speak to my heart. I'm not ignoring facts. I want to glean every fact I can. I want to glean the historical, the biographical, the theological, but at the same time, I want God to speak to me.

Somebody asked the question one time, well, how much of the Bible should I read a day? And the reply came, read until God speaks through your heart. And that's the best answer I've ever heard. Read until God speaks through your heart.

He may speak to you in one verse, one chapter. It may take several. But read until you get some food. You'd hate to go all day hungry, wouldn't you? I certainly would. And so, read until God speaks through your heart.

The Four A's of Receiving the Word

Griffith Thomas suggested four A's that have been a great blessing to me, and I think I've shared them with some of you in years past right here. But let me repeat them fairly for you without going into great detail.

One A he suggests is attention. Any time you come to the Word, give attention to it. Get your mind off other things. And it takes time, you know, to give attention to the Word. You must set aside something else.

Give attention to that Book. The second A he suggests is application. Look now for something to be applied to me. My wife needs this, and my friends need it, and somebody else needs it, but I need it.

And so I ask the Lord for something for me that day. Application. Attention, application. The third A he suggests is aspiration. And by this, Dr. Thomas, means pray over it. Pray about what you've read, and this has been a great help to me in my own devotional life, to enlarge it, to enrich it, to pray about what I've seen in the Scriptures.

If I've seen the Lord, then I worship Him as I've seen Him revealed in the Word. He's put His finger upon sin in my life. I confess that sin to the Lord. He gives me a new challenge to face, then I reach out in faith to claim that wonderful truth that God's given me in His Word.

And then the fourth A he suggests is action. Action. Action. It's so easy to give attention, to say, that's exactly what I need, to get out on our knees and pray about it, but then not act upon it. Now if you'll take these four A's and apply them to any time you are confronted with a word in a worship service such as this, in a Bible study, in your quiet time in your family worship, it matters not.

Give attention to the word, application of that word to your own heart. Then pray over it, and then act upon it. Perhaps your Bible reading will become more meaningful to you as a result. Now, after you've read the Word, then pray.

Prayer as Worship, Confession, and Intercession

Pray. Let the Word prepare you to pray. Now, what do you pray about? Well, the scriptural prayers begin with worship and adoration, and so are we to do this. Scriptural prayers include confession where this is needed, and we name our sins to God.

And scriptural prayers include the matter of praying for the needs that are before us, our loved ones certainly, our own personal walk with God, our neighbors and loved ones here for whom we are concerned.

We pray for others. We pray for our missionaries. We pray for Christian workers. We pray for our government. We pray for the fields of the Word. We become specific and definite, as we've heard this week.

We pray about these things. Now, what time of day is best for your quiet time? I've discovered that this is best for the individual. The scriptural pattern again and again in Psalm 5, for example, and Psalm 55 speak of David having met the Lord in the morning.

I like the morning best, but I like that old adage, early to bed and early to rise. My wife says I haven't been made wealthy yet, nor wise, but keep trying. But I do like that schedule. For other people it's horrible.

You don't have any better sense than to go to bed at twelve or one o 'clock at night. Well, you know, I've discovered at my young age that you can't get up in the morning unless you go to bed at night.

That's profound. You'll find out in a while. Now, for some people who don't wake up until the middle of the morning, the best time for you is at night. Have your quiet time when you're awake, but at least when you open your eyes in the morning, connect the day to God.

It is the day which the Lord has made, and dedicate it to him and to his will and his glory. Now, how long should you have a quiet time? If I'm speaking to somebody who's never really gotten started, start with five minutes.

Start with ten minutes. You've heard about people who pray for an hour and pray for all day and pray for all night. You start with five minutes, or start with ten minutes, and let it be meaningful. And don't be legislated by somebody else's time.

You'll find it will grow. The first time I talked to my dear Redhead, I just tapped her on the shoulder at a prayer meeting at Holton College and asked her for a date, and we talked there just a few moments walking down the stairs.

But on the way down from Birmingham last Wednesday, we noted our clocks, and we spent six and a half hours talking before we ran out of something to. But this grows on you. Don't worry if the other fellow spends an hour.

You spend the time that's meaningful. Don't make it legalistic. Make it important to you. A definite time, a definite place. Well, you say, Preacher, I'm just so busy. I've got so many things to do. You have just as much time as every other human being.

The question is discipline, not time. The question is priorities. You have to make a value judgment on that which is good, and that which is better, and that which is best. That which is important, that which is more important, that which is most important.

You have to do this every day and other things. You have a choice of three things to do, and you choose what you must do first, and you get to it. And when it comes to a spiritual exercise, we have to determine what's most important and do that first, if it's at all possible.

I trust after these days of study on the subject of prayer, that God has indeed challenged our hearts anew to faithful, diligent ministry of intercessory prayer, and that we shall hear of greater and greater blessings from this place because of what God has done in answer to prayer.

The Certainty of Answered Prayer

Now, our text tonight is Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7. An exceedingly familiar text, beginning with verse 7. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

For everyone that asketh, receiveth. And he that seeketh, findeth. And to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask of fish, will he give him a serpent?

If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them but what? Ask him. Our subject tonight is the certainty of answered prayer.

The certainty of answered prayer. All of us as believers know what it is to go to God in prayer, to get off our knees and go about the day, not even expecting God to do anything. Because our conversation that day, our actions that day, betrayed the time we spent before God praying about a given matter.

Does God mean it when he says, Ask, and it shall be given you? Does he mean it when he says, Seek, and ye shall find? Does he mean it when he says, Knock, and it shall be opened unto you? For everyone that asketh, receive it, and he that seeketh, findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened unto you?

Is this promise true? Are the promises we've shared together this weekend, yea and amen? Or must we sit here tonight and say when it comes to the subject of prayer, we cannot trust God or his word? Now, not one of us will buy that, will we?

We stand up and fight, yea, some of us would die for the full authority of Scripture. We say this is the cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith, the full authority of the written word of God, amen and amen.

Well, beloved, it follows them that his prayer promises are yea and amen. That's exactly what's promised. Now, will you notice in these verses, first of all with me tonight, the nature of the promise.

There is the human side, there is the divine side. We saw these very verses in Luke chapter 11 our first day together, but look at them briefly with me again tonight. The human side is asking, the divine side is giving.

Ask, it shall be given to you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth, and he that seeketh, findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened unto you.

Do you notice? Ask, ask, ask is repeated in various forms in these verses. Brother Willie gave me a book by Guy King on prayer secrets, and I got to read just a bit of it. And there Guy King spoke of this very promise here in Matthew chapter 7, and one going to a friend in need, as it is in the context of Luke chapter 11.

And he speaks out and asks for his need, and he gets no response. And so he walks through the gates and walks around the yard and walks around the back of the house because he is his friend. He has the freedom to do this, and he seeks for his friend and still doesn't find him.

So then he goes to the door and knocks on the door to seek his friend, to get his need. Now, God's appointed way of getting things is to ask. As has been said often enough this weekend, for God to have given this to us.

Don't stumble over the simplicity of it, beloved. It's like the gospel. People say it's too simple. Call unto me and I will answer thee. Surely great and mighty things which thou knowest not. Hitherto ye asked nothing in my name.

Asking ye shall receive that your joy may be full. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do. And whatsoever he shall ask the Father in my name, he will do it, you see.

Whatsoever he shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Ask, ask. Ye have not because ye have not. Ask not. The Bible is repeatedly giving us this very, very fundamental approach in our relationship with God.

We come to him and say, asking. And we've seen this week, asking specifically, asking believingly, asking in the will of God, asking in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at the divine side. Verse 9,.

Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? God's in the giving business. Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? Why, not even a human father would do that.

If ye then being evil, he doesn't congratulate us here, but tells us the truth. Ye being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children. Oh, don't you love this? How much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them who do what?

Asking. Did you notice the word give over and over and over again? We ask and God gives. We ask and God gives. So simple. So simple. But we stand rebuked tonight that we're too busy to ask. We're too busy with so many good things to take time simply to ask.

Or we've been so occupied getting the answer that we forgot to ask. God says, ask, and it shall be given you. Will you notice secondly the importance of this promise? The importance is seen in the fact that seven times in these few verses, he said the same thing.

It's important when you say something two or three times. Notice, ask, it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, it shall be opened unto you. Look at verse 9. What man is there of you whom if his son ask bread?

Verse 10. If he ask a fish? Verse 11. If ye being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Could it be simpler?

But because our Lord repeats it again and again and again, he is saying, don't miss it. Don't miss the fundamental importance of the principle. All take time to ask. Take time to ask. Set aside other things, and take time before God to pray.

How much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them who ask him? Will you notice thirdly the proof of the promise? And the proof of the promise is the answer. My father used to tell me as a boy, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Three Kinds of Answers to Prayer

The proof of this promise is the answer to the promise. Now you've heard repeatedly what I'm about to say, but I say it again and again because it's so important that we be reminded again and again. I don't know where the devil gives the Christian more fit than right here in this business of prayer.

Do you? There is much more doubt in our minds and hearts than right here that God's really not going to answer, that God's really not interested in my problem, that God has forgotten all about me, that God is no longer concerned.

This is the devil's lie from the pit of hell. We're his children, and he loved us enough to give his son to die for us on the cross. And he who spared not his own son, but gave him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us what?

All things. That's the Father's heart. Now you've heard repeatedly there are three kinds of answers to prayer. But will you mark tonight, as we review them again, that all three are answers? This promise says, if it says anything, that God's going to answer, that God must answer to keep his word.

That's what this promise says. If we ask, we'll receive. If we seek, we'll find. If we knock, it shall be opened. For everyone that asketh, receive it. And he that seeketh, findeth, send to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

If language says anything, if it means anything, this text says, God must answer every single prayer. That's a big statement, isn't it? But that's exactly what these verses say. Now, you say, put it as a catch somewhere.

No, there's no catch, there's no gimmick. It's just that there are three kinds of answers. They're all answers, and they're real answers, and they're meaningful answers, and they're the right answers from God.

When God Answers Yes

Look at them quickly with me. The first is that answer, yes. That all we all love. We say, how good the Lord was, he answered my prayer. The inference is, how bad he would have been if he hadn't have given what I asked for.

Now, turn to John, chapter 4. A text which illustrates for me very vividly this quick answer of yes, and all we love this. John 4, beginning with verse 46. You remember the story? Well, the healing of the nobleman's son.

So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine, and there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him and besought him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

Here's a real need, an urgent need, a son at the point of death. You know anything more urgent than that to a person? Then said Jesus unto him, except ye see signs and wonders you'll not believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.

And Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way, thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. You know the rest of the story? The man went, and met the servants coming, and inquired what he began to amend.

And it was the very hour when the Lord said, Thy son liveth, and the man believed, and his whole house. Now God delights, delights, delights to say yes to us when we pray. Just as we parents delight to say yes to our children, and grandparents to grandchildren, and great-grandparents to great-grandchildren around here.

Wonderful when you can say yes. Ah, but we know as parents that there are times when it's best to say no. Isn't that right? The youngster has a knife in hand, and he's running around chasing his kid sister around the bedroom.

Well, you know the modern psychological approach now. Don't frustrate the little thing. He must express himself. Who will execute me that knife? All right, this is the second answer. There are times when God says no.

When God Answers No

Now, there are some writers on the subject of prayer who say that the only true prayer is when God says yes. I disagree. I disagree. Turn with me, please, to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Here is the Apostle Paul praying.

You and I have enough confidence in the Apostle Paul to believe that he was a man of God, though human to be sure. A man of prayer, of great prayer, who not only knew prayer, but would teach it as he does throughout his epistles.

He has a personal problem, and that personal problem was a thorn in the flesh. We are not told it was his wife. No, he was single, and his pockets did jingle. No, that isn't to follow either. All right?

No, as far as we know, he was single. We conclude that this is a physical infirmity, something very real to us. We know what it is to have physical problems, physical needs, and we pray about them, and we should pray about them.

Now, in this context, and I won't take time for the details of the context, when you look at verse 7 now, And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, and read the early part of the chapter to see this, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

God then had given to him this weakness in the physical for a specific purpose. For this thing I besought the Lord three times, that it might depart from me. Can't you hear the Apostle Paul? Lord, you called me to preach and teach the word, and here I go across the mountains and through the valleys and across the sea to get the gospel, and Lord, you know how much stronger I'd be, how much more effective I'd be in the service of Christ.

Lord, if you'd heal this problem, it may have been his eyesight, it may have been something else. And the Lord says no. Now, Lord, you know how this is a problem to me. You know how I'm hampered in the work.

You know how much farther I could travel and how more effective I could be and how much stronger I'd be, whatever was the problem. Lord, if you'd just heal this. And the Lord says no. Lord, I'd put up with this thing about as long as I think I can.

Now, Lord, you know how faithfully I've served you. I don't know how Paul prayed, I'm just putting words in his mouth right now. Lord, you know how faithfully I've served you. You know how I've given up all to serve you.

You know how important it is that we get over there into Europe and get over there into Asia. Lord, you know how we've got to go and go and go. And Lord, you know how hampered I am with this thing. It felt like an exceedingly reasonable request.

And what does the Lord say? Verse 9, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. That's the nicest way you ever heard no in your life, isn't it? Remember the time we were up in London.

Our eldest boy consistently acts like his father, and I've met nearly every school teacher he's ever had. And this time the school teacher sent home a note saying, I'd like to have Keith, I'd like to have your parents come to the open house.

Well, we'd been at this long enough to know what that meant. So our boy, we came to the open house. After the other folks had left the room, we came in and we said, We're Keith's mother and father, and we smiled meaningfully to the teacher and she smiled meaningfully to us.

And we are asking, and it says, What's the problem this time? We said, How's our boy doing? She said, Well, you have a fine boy. He's just got one problem. Well, what's that? His interest span isn't long enough.

That's the nicest way I've ever heard that said. All right. My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in weakness. That's God's way of saying no. God said no to the Apostle Paul. And there are times he says no to you and he says no to me.

And someone has said, When God says no, he always has something better. Do you believe that? The reason that statement is correct is because it's omniscience that says no. It's the all-wise God who says no.

It's the infinitely loving Heavenly Father who says no. It's the God of righteousness and goodness and faithfulness and truth who says no. And when He says no, you can be sure He has something better.

Did you ever thank Him for a no? Did you ever thank Him for a no? My first year in seminary, my wife was working on her Ph .D. That means putting hubby through. And so she was downtown working as I was on the seminary campus preparing for the Lord's work.

And I was so anxious to preach. I had pastored up in New York when I was going through college a bit, and I was so anxious to have the ministry of the Word, and at the same time an extra dollar or two if this had come in to help pay the bill.

And my wife was working at a downtown department store, and she was beside a Baptist deacon's wife. And they were working together, and my wife just shared the fact that her husband was at Dallas Seminary, and he'd love enough for me to preach.

And this wife said, Well, listen, I'll tell my husband. Our church has a mission church, and this mission church is without a pastor right now. So my wife came home and told me the story, and so we started praying the Bible.

And the deacon's wife told her deacon husband, and the deacon husband told the pastor, and the pastor came out to see me. We talked a bit about things, didn't agree on everything, but it looked as if things were fine, and he invited me down to speak to their training union in a night or two to address them, and if I was acceptable to the mother church, then I would be given an opportunity to preach in the mission church.

Well, I got down there that night and expounded some portion of the Word, and those people just sat there and drenched it in, and they came up afterwards and said, My, how we appreciate the Word! And I thought, Well, I'm in!

And the pastor said, You'll be hearing from me shortly. Now, that was in the fall of 1944, and I hadn't heard yet. Six months later, the pastor was dismissed from the church on serious charges, and God spared me from that whole mess.

How good of our God to say no! Later on, there was a Bible church outside of Dallas that needed a pastor, and the pastor was leaving, graduating, and he came to me and said, Brother Alden, would you like to candidate for the church?

I said, Fine, I'd love to. I was anxious again to have a full-time church, and so we talked together, and he said, I'll present your name to the deacons, and I haven't heard from them yet. What did the Lord do?

He knew he had teaching for me in Bible institutes and Bible colleges, and so the next fall I was free to accept a teaching position at the Dallas Bible Institute half-time, and after graduation I stayed there for five years, teaching in that school.

That was the thing the Lord did for me, and he said, No over here, because for me he had something better. There's been God saying, Has God been saying no to you lately? Thank him. Thank him. Thank him.

When God Says Wait

When God says no, he always has something better. Now there's a third kind of answer, and that's the hardest of all, isn't it? Wait. Wait. Wait. Who wants to wait? In this jet age, when you come up to a signal light that's red, and there's a car in front of you, and it turns green, and in one split second that lady sits there, and you play on your horn, and you get out the window and say, How greedy must it get before you'll move?

Sure. We don't like to wait these days. No. No. But there are times the Lord says, Wait. Let's look at this in principle in Matthew chapter 15. I'm aware of the fact now that the chronology is not long, but the principle is here.

Matthew chapter 15, beginning with verse 21,. Then Jesus went from there, and departed into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same borders, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David.

My daughter is grievously vexed with a demon. Here is a Gentile woman, a very real need, with a nobleman that was his son, with a Seraphonician woman that's her daughter, here demon-possessed. A burdened mother for her daughter, just as some of us here tonight are burdened for our children, for their salvation or their growth and maturity in Christ.

And so she comes to the Savior, and look at verse 23,. But he answered her, Not a word. Ever been there? Lots of times, haven't we? And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us.

Ha! She's just a Gentile, you know. She's a nobody. She's just a nuisance. Get her out of your hair. Forget her. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the Lord's sheep of the house of Israel.

She was a Gentile, so he was putting her off again. Then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. Or as we say in Alabama, Lord, help me. No, Lord, I need help. But he answered and said, It's not right to take the children's bread, that of the Jews, and to cast it to the dogs.

The Jews considered the Gentiles dogs in that day. He's putting her off again. He's saying, Wait again. She said, Truth, Lord, I love this. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.

She won't be denied. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, being unto thee even as thou wilt. And their daughter was made well from that very hour. I repeat, the chronology is not long, but the principle is here.

Again and again and again the woman was put off. And again and again and again the woman came back in faith to the Lord who was able to heal her daughter. And the Lord replies, Great is thy faith. We have seen already this week together that this is one reason for perseverance in prayer.