When God Doesn't Answer Prayer | Pastor Darren Palmer | Faith Church

Praise the Lord. It feels like a long time since

I have shared on Sunday morning. And there's

been so much happening. This week, we've had

one thing after another. And this week, for a

couple days, I just went, oh, thank you, Lord.

You happy to be alive? Are you happy? To have

the breath of God in your lungs. His air fueling

you. Praise God. And so I am, because of that,

I'm looking forward to sharing this word with

you. I took two words and I combined them into

one. So that means I get to preach twice as long.

Is that right? Oh, oh, that was harsh. Who did

that? Brother Bill? Brother Bill? Wow. Yeah,

now you're not getting out till 1230, Bill. You

can all blame him. I told somebody this morning,

I said, I feel ornery today. I don't know where

that's going to take us. Thank you, Lord. But

if you'll go with me in your Bible to Acts chapter

Acts 12 · chapter mention

12. Acts chapter 12. I want to talk a little

Acts 12 · chapter mention

bit to us this morning as your pastor. We have

been through some things. And we're still going

through some things. And I want to take the time

to read an entire chapter. Is that okay if we

honor God's word that way? I'm going to read

Acts chapter 12. Now about that time, Herod the

Acts 12 · chapter mention

king stretched out his hand to harass some from

the church. Then he killed James. the brother

of John, with the sword. And because he saw that

it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to

seize Peter also. Now it was during the days

of unleavened bread, so when he had arrested

him, he put him in prison, delivered him to four

squads of soldiers, that's 16 soldiers, to keep

him. intending to bring him before the people

after Passover. Peter was therefore kept in prison,

but constant prayer was offered to God for him

by the church. And when Herod was about to bring

him out that night, Peter was sleeping, bound

with two chains between two soldiers. And the

guards before the door were keeping the prison.

Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him

and a light shone in the prison and he struck

Peter on the side and raised him up saying, arise

quickly. And his chains fell off his hands. Then

the angel said to him, gird yourself and tie

on your sandals. And so he did. And he said to

him, put on your garment and follow me. So he

went out and followed him and did not know that

what was done by the angel was real, but thought

he was seeing a vision. And when they were past

the first and the second guard posts, they came

to the iron gate that leads to the city, which

opened to them of its own accord. And they went

out and went down one street, and immediately

the angel departed from him. And when Peter had

come to himself, He said, now I know for certain

that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered

me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation

of the Jewish people. So when he had considered

this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother

of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were

gathered praying. And as Peter knocked at the

door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to

answer. And when she recognized Peter's voice

because of her gladness, she did not open the

gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood

before the gate. But they said to her, you are

beside yourself. Yet she kept insisting that

it was so, so they said, it's his angel. Now

Peter continued knocking. And when they opened

the door and saw him, they were astonished. But

motioning to them with his hand to keep silent,

he declared to them how the Lord had brought

him out of the prison. And he said, go tell these

things to James and the brethren. And he departed

and went to another place. Then as soon as it

was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers.

about what had become of Peter. But when Herod

had searched for Peter and not found him, he

examined the guards and commanded that they should

be put to death. And he went down from Judea

to Caesarea and stayed there. Now Herod had been

very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon,

but they came to him with one accord, and having

made Blastus the king's personal aide their friend,

They asked for peace because their country was

supplied with food by the king's country. So

on a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel,

sat on his throne and gave an oration to them.

And the people kept shouting, the voice of a

God and not of a man. And then immediately, an

angel of the Lord struck him. Because he did

not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms

and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied.

We'll stop right there. Father, I thank you for

your word this morning. And I just ask that your

anointing that is on your word would just flow

through my words this morning. And I just ask

that you would penetrate our hearts. Penetrate

our hearts in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, Stephen

was the first martyr of the church. You can read

about that in Acts chapter 7. But this situation

Acts 7 · chapter mention

was a little bit different. Because this was

the first of the twelve apostles. Judas was replaced

by Matthias in Acts chapter 1. And of those 12,

Acts 1 · chapter mention

James was the first to be martyred. In time,

11 of them would go on to be martyred. James'

brother John, who wrote the book of Revelation

late in life from the island of Patmos, would

be the only one to die a natural death. You need

to understand how James' death impacted the church.

James was an apostle. Paul taught us in Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 that the household of God, verse 20,

having been built... on the foundation of the

apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being himself

the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building

being fitted together grows into a holy temple

in the Lord. Paul taught us that apostles and

prophets were the foundation of the church. And

the twelve had been the foundation of the church.

Up until this time, the five -fold ministry is

also listed in Ephesians chapter 4, apostle,

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

prophet, pastor, teacher, evangelist. And Paul

said that the five -fold ministry is God's gift

to you so that you can mature and grow in your

faith in Christ. And so there are people that

are called into the ministry that this, that...

Paul is describing here that God uses to equip

the rest of the church to reach the lost and

grow the kingdom of God. So apostles were, especially

in that time period, viewed as incredibly important.

I believe that apostles are incredibly important

in today's time period as well. But we're talking

here one of the twelve. And it impacted the church.

Now, apostolic power was really important. In

Acts chapter 7, when there was revival in Samaria,

Acts 7 · chapter mention

who did Philip call when they wanted to receive

the baptism of the Holy Spirit? They called the

apostles, and Peter and John came and laid hands

on them, and they received the baptism of the

Holy Spirit. We see in the next chapter, in chapter

8 and verse 1, when the dispersion came. This

is when they tried to kick all of the Christians

out of Jerusalem. It says in verse 1, at that

time a great persecution arose against the church,

which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered

through the regions of Judea and Samaria, except

the apostles. The apostles had staying power

in the face of all of the government. And so

you begin to understand their strength. In Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 and verse 42, it says, They continued

steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles.

apostles. They didn't have a New Testament. They

didn't have a church full of teachers. They didn't

have YouTube to go and listen to. They didn't

have all of those things. The apostles teaching

the foundational truths was what they had. And

so they went from house to house. When problems

arose in the church, they at one point came to

the apostles and said, solve this problem for

us. But listen to what the apostles said. Therefore,

brethren, seek out from among you seven men of

good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and

wisdom, who we may appoint over this business,

but we as apostles will give ourselves to prayer

and to the ministry of the word. And so these

were the apostles. And now James is arrested.

Now his death came about more quickly because

when Peter was arrested, the Passover came. But

I want to ask you a question. Do you think when

James, the apostle, was arrested by Herod that

the church began to pray? I believe they did.

I believe that the church began to call out on

God. I don't believe that they just like Peter

better than James. For Pete's sake. That came

from the depths of my soul. They prayed for James

to be released. They sought God. They sought

the Lord. For his release. But what happened?

James. The apostle. Was put to death. By the

sword. These believers. You need to remember.

Did you know that all the apostles had been in

prison before? All of them. Let me read it to

you. Acts 5 .17. Then the high priest rose up

and all those who were with him, which is the

sect of the Sadducees, they were filled with

indignation and laid their hands on the apostles

and put them in the common prison. This is all

of them. But at night, an angel of the Lord opened

the prison doors and brought them out and said,

go stand in the temple and speak to the people

all the words of this life. And the story goes

on. James had been in prison before. Peter had

been in prison before. The angel of the Lord

had come and set them all free before. And so

they knew that God could work an incredible miracle.

And now James is arrested and the church is praying.

But he's put to the sword. And I want to ask

you a question this morning. What are you going

to do in your relationship with God when he does

not answer your prayer? What are you going to

do? We could just try to move on from the situation

that has just happened. But how many of you were

believing for Gary's healing? Yeah. Did you know

that even one of the Illinois basketball players

was praying for Gary's healing? In the final

four. I thought, who in this, Church has reach

like that. God didn't answer our prayer. And

we find ourselves in the middle of Acts chapter

Acts 12 · chapter mention

12. What are we going to do when God colors outside

the lines? Let me just share a few things here

that are true. One, life. sometimes happens outside

the lines of your theological box. People have

asked me, was it God that took Gary? And I don't

have an answer. I don't have an answer. But I

know this, that God sometimes colors outside

of my box. Things happen in this life that don't

fit neatly into the things that I believe. And

they're challenging. And God is showing us in

situations like this because you've all been

there. In fact, you can think of other times

in your life when you said, why God? did this

happen? And the truth is that he is bigger than

our understanding. The second thing is this,

that God is God and we are not. And you have

to be okay with that. I refer to the passage

that says this, my thoughts are not your thoughts,

nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For

as the heavens are higher than the earth, so

are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts

than your thoughts. And as much as God reveals

to us, he doesn't reveal everything to us. And

the passage in 1 Corinthians 13 that says this,

for now we see in a mirror, And there are times

in our lives where we feel like I am seeing clearly.

Everything is being blessed. Everything is happening

the way it's supposed to happen. I am seeing

clearly. But then there are times that smack

us in the face with the truth of this word that

we see dimly as in a mirror. He goes on and he

says, now I know in part, but then I shall know

fully. And that's where Gary's at right now.

He sees face to face and he doesn't speak in

tongues anymore. For the first time in his life,

he doesn't need to speak in tongues anymore.

You know, tongues are for this side of eternity.

They're not for that side of eternity. He sees

face to face. And that's good news. We see as

in the darkened glass, the King James says. And

fourthly, there are mysteries in the faith that

we cannot solve. When I was studying this passage

in Acts chapter 12, the Fire Bible notes say

Acts 12 · chapter mention

this, quote, God allowed James, the brother of

John, And one of Jesus' closest original disciples

to die. Yet he sent an angel to rescue Peter.

That James should die while Peter lived for further

ministry is an example of the mysterious way

of God with his people. James had the honor of

being the first of Jesus' original disciples

to be martyred in his faith in Christ. End of

quote. It's a mystery why God answers this prayer

and not that one. We sing a song here sometimes

called Miracles. I believe in you. I believe

in you. You're the God of miracles. The author

of that song wrote that song just after his child

passed away. And yet he still stood before the

church and said, I believe in you. You're the

God of miracles. Do you think that father has

an answer? And you're connecting with some of

this because you have had questions in your life.

And I just want to just draw off this passage

and say, so what should I do? What should I do

when I don't understand what God has done? And

the first thing that I want to call you to church

is this, to keep believing God. I want to say

that again, and I want to hear somebody say amen

when I say it. God wants us to keep believing

him. Amen? He wants us to keep believing him.

Our role is to believe God. Hallelujah. And in

Hebrews chapter 11, it says this. These all died

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

in faith, not having received the promises, but

having seen them afar off, were assured of them,

embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers

and pilgrims on the earth. Did you catch that?

God gave them promises and they said, Lord, I

believe your promises. But they died having not

received the fulfillment of the promise. And

sometimes that's the way that it is. That we

believe, we continue to believe God. Do you know

what brings pleasure to God? Do you know what

brings pleasure to Him? Faith. Without faith,

it is impossible to please God. So what is it

that pleases God? When a son, when a daughter

stands and says, I believe you. Hallelujah. I

believe God. I am standing in the place of faith.

You know what? You're bringing pleasure to the

Lord. And so I want to call you, and if you've

had something happen that you don't understand,

that God hasn't given you an answer on, or that

He hasn't answered your prayer, or if heaven

has been silent on something, I want to encourage

you to dig your spiritual heels in and keep believing

God anyway, church. Keep believing God anyway.

Come on. Secondly, I want to call you. to keep

giving yourself to prayer. God did not answer

their prayer for James. And when Peter was arrested,

did they throw up their hands and say, well,

I guess it's going to happen to Peter too. That's

not what they did. What did they do? They turned

up. their prayer even higher. And they sought

the Lord. You notice that phrase, it said, but

constant prayer was offered to God. And we can

infer that that prayer was on Peter's behalf.

Let me ask you another question. Did these believers

all have absolute, pure faith that Peter would

be released? When Rhoda came with the news that

Peter was free, they said, no. That can't be.

The moral of the story is don't send someone

named Rhoda to the door. Hopefully, is anybody

here named Rhoda? It's a beautiful name. They

didn't even believe, they didn't have full faith.

Yet, what did they do? They prayed anyway. They

prayed anyway. Can I encourage you to not allow

your feelings to determine whether you're going

to pray or not? What your mind is telling you

is sometimes different than what you know to

be the word of God. Can I encourage you to ignore

what your mind is telling you? Can I encourage

you all those feelings that are trying to bring

you down? Well, it didn't happen last month.

It didn't happen last week. I guess it's not

going to happen this week. Can I encourage you

to tune out those voices and to pray anyway?

Hallelujah. When you don't have absolute faith,

pray anyway. When you're discouraged and don't

understand, pray anyway. These believers gathered

to pray and they doubled down. And they said,

we're still going to trust in our Savior. Hallelujah.

Number three, when you don't understand. Guard

yourself from getting bitter. Guard yourself

from getting offended with the Lord. There was

a prophet that Jesus said was the greatest of

all the prophets. Anybody know his name? John

the Baptist. John the Baptist. He was Jesus'

cousin. Related by earthly blood. Arrested. And

he's in prison. And he had baptized Jesus. He

had prophesied over him. Behold the Lamb of God

that takes away the sin of the world. He had

baptized people alongside of Jesus' disciples

later on. He had watched. Jesus' ministry increased,

and what did he say? He must increase, I must

decrease. He was an awesome man of God. And while

he's in prison, and he sends some of his disciples,

and he said, would you go and ask Jesus, are

you the one or are we to wait for another? And

after seeing everything that John the Baptist

saw, you would think that by then he would know

the answer. He had heard all of the reports.

And so they came, and this is what Jesus said

in Matthew 11 verse 4. Jesus answered and said

Matthew 11:4

to them, go and tell John the things you see

and hear. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers

are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,

the poor have the gospel preached to them. Well,

can I tell you something? John already knew all

of that. John knew that there were miracles.

John knew. That the blind saw and the dead were

raised and the lame walked. John knew all of

that. Do you know what Jesus is saying to John?

He's saying this. John, I'm not going to tell

you. I'm not going to answer your question. And

then he said this. And blessed is he who is not

offended because of me. Right now, the spirit

of offense is raging through the church. We're

offended with people for how they voted. We're

offended with people for disagreeing in different

ways. Did you know that we can get offended with

God for things that happen in our lives? People

live in bitterness toward the Lord for decades.

Because of that time, God didn't answer my prayer.

Blessed is he who is not offended with me. Blessed

is he who, when they don't understand, hold fast.

Jesus would later say to Thomas after he was

raised from the dead, He, because Thomas said,

unless I see, unless I see Jesus, unless I put

my hands, my fingers in the holes in his hand

and his side, I will not believe. And Jesus appeared

to Thomas and said, Thomas, come here. Put your

hands, put your fingers in my hands. Touch my

side. Touch my side. Thomas, and Thomas said,

Lord, I believe. And Jesus said something. He

said, blessed are those who have not seen and

yet believe. Now there are areas of your life

where you see Jesus at work and you go, hallelujah,

I believe. I see the miracle. I see God at work.

It's powerful in my life. But what are you going

to do when you don't see? Blessed are those who

do not see and still believe. Hallelujah. You

have things happen in your life that you don't

understand, but you say, you know what, God?

I am still going to believe you. Who out there

will say that? I want to be like that. I want

to be like that. I want to be somebody that believes

no matter what. Oh, my God. Friend, lay down

your bitterness and your offense. Do you know

what you can do? You can just come to the Lord

and you can say, God, I allowed... bitterness

to come into my heart. Would you release me from

this bitterness? Will you just release me from

this offense? I've been offended with you, God,

and so I've been holding you at arm's length.

I don't want to do that anymore. Will you wash

me in your blood? Will you forgive me, God? And

will you help me be a person that is not offended

with you, that is blessed? Because I believe

no matter what. Do you know you can pray that

prayer this morning, and you can believe for

that to happen in you? your life. I've got one

more thing I want to share here in just a moment,

but I want to commend those of you who believed

for Gary's healing right up until the final moment.

I was there when several of you were praying

over Gary, believing for healing. And I was there

as Gary was declaring just a couple of days before

he passed, I am healed in Jesus' name. He was

declaring that. And I want to commend those of

you that stood in faith till the final moment.

That brings pleasure to God. And Gary was believing.

Even the day before, I laid hands on him and

I said, be healed in the name of Jesus. And he

was receiving that prayer. Many of you were praying.

And I want to commend those of you that have

taken a hard look into your own life. More than

one of you has come to me and said something

to this effect. Pastor, I saw. That Gary's life

counted for something. And I want my life to

count for something. And some of you have taken

an introspective look and said, what can I do

to make my life count for something? And I want

to commend you for that. And there are many across

this city right now. That are saying that same

thing. I want my life to count for something.

Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. And although I don't

understand it all. I know this. God is not going

to waste the death of his servant. And any suffering.

God does not waste suffering in the kingdom of

God. He uses it for his glory. And he transforms

many. Jesus said of his own life, he said, unless

a seed dies and falls to the ground, it doesn't

produce fruit. And I feel the same way for Gary,

that a seed has fallen to the ground and it is

going to produce fruit in people's lives across

this entire region in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah.

Church, you have done well. Keep. Believing God.

Keep believing God. I want to conclude with the

phrase that we see during Herod's tragic death.

He set himself against God. In verse 21, it says

this. A set day, Herod. A set day. On Tuesday,

during my devotions, I normally read four chapters

in my devotions. And on Tuesday, I read two verses.

And I was reading in Genesis chapter 21, and

Genesis 21 · chapter mention

it said this, for Sarah conceived and bore Abraham

a son in his old age at the set time of which

God had spoken to him. Everybody say set time.

So in Herod's case, we have a set day. In Sarah's

case, giving birth to Isaac, we have a set time.

And that was actually foreshadowing another miracle

birth that would take place thousands of years

later whose name was Jesus. In Galatians chapter

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

4, it says this, when the fullness of time had

come, God sent forth his son to be born of a

virgin whose name was Mary. And so we have a

set time for Herod. We have a set time for Sarah.

We have a set time for Mary giving birth to Jesus.

These are all set times. I began to think of

Daniel. Listen to this. In Daniel chapter 9 and

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

verse 2, Daniel, who had been deported to Babylon

as a teenager, is now in his 80s and later in

his life. And in Daniel 9 -2, it says, in the

first year, of the reign of the king, of the

new king, I, Daniel, understood by the books

the number of the years specified by the word

of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet that

he would accomplish 70 years in the desolation

of Jerusalem. Let me translate that for you.

Jeremiah said that the exile into Babylon would

last for 70 years. And Daniel, now reading that,

just did the math and said, 70 years are almost

over. Do you know what Jeremiah was saying? There

is a set time for deliverance, the deliverance

of Israel. Hallelujah. And so we have a set day

for Herod. We have a set time for Sarah and for

Mary. And now we have a set day, a set year for

deliverance from the exile into Babylon. These

are moments in time that are fixed. Hebrews 9

.27 applies to King Herod. It is appointed unto

man once to die and then to face judgment. An

appointed time. Wow. And I began to look through

these scriptures. And I came across Psalm 102,

Psalms 102:13

verse 13. And I want to declare a set time over

Faith Church this morning. I want to declare

a set time of favor. Psalm 102 .13, when I read

this on Tuesday morning, it went... And when

we read this, I think Suzanne read this scripture

at the seniors prayer meeting, which any seniors

can come to. It's at one o 'clock on Wednesday

afternoon. We can get you directions to be there.

We had 10 people there last time. It was awesome.

And when Suzanne read this scripture, the power

of God was released into the room. And it was

tangible. Those of you that, wave if you were

there. Wasn't it tangible? It just went... And

I just sat there kind of stunned at the power

of the Word of God. And I want you to listen

to this passage. Psalm 102 .13 You will arise

and have mercy on Zion for the time to favor

her. Yes, the set time has come. I want to read

that again. Because I don't know if you picked

up on that for you, for your family, for this

house. I want to read it again. You will arise

and you will have mercy on Zion for the time

to favor her. Yes, the set time has come. There

is a set time for Herod's death. There is a set

time for Isaac's birth. There is a set time for

the birth of the Messiah. There was a set time

for the deliverance of the Israelites out of

Babylon. And there is a set time for God to pour

out favor on his people. Zion oftentimes represents

the New Testament church. Friends, we are about

to enter in to the days of favor. Will anybody

say, I want that on my family. I want that for

my life. I want the favor of God on my life.

The favor of God. The favor of God is on this

house. The favor of God is in this place. I believe

that every person that attaches themselves to

Faith Church will have the favor of God upon

their family, upon their finances, upon every

aspect of their life. The favor of God is going

to come upon them. It's why healing happens.

It's why restoration happens. It's why God gives

back families in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. God is doing incredible works in

families right now, putting families back together,

drawing families by His Spirit, bringing prodigals

home, doing incredible things because the favor

of God is on this house. The favor of God is

on your life. I want to receive the favor of

God in everything that He is bringing into my

life. So I preached both of my messages this

morning. And I want to give you an opportunity

to respond if Alexander would come and the team

to play. Maybe you've been in a place where You

know you can't stay there any longer. Place that

God's calling you from. And you know that there's

a place that he is calling you to. And this morning

you want God to do that work. Do you know the

greatest miracle of all is when we give our life

to Jesus. Hallelujah. And just as a quick bunny

trail, the most important part of the celebration

of life was when Kathy stood up and said, when

Gary gave his life to Jesus, that the first word

that was ever spoken to him was this, study to

show yourself approved unto God. and that every

morning he had his Bible open, studying to show

himself approved unto God. And if you want to

be a person of significance, if you want to make

a difference in your world, there's no shortcuts.

You can't just come down to the altar and have

the pastor pray over you and then the rest of

your life will be great. It doesn't work that

way. You've got to get up tomorrow and you've

got to read the word. And you've got to get up

the next day and you've got to read the word.

And you've got to get up the next day and the

next day and the next day. And you've got to

get yourself in the word of God. There is no

shortcut. But there are moments in time where

we make a turn and we say, God, I want my life

to count. Maybe I've been a bit disillusioned.

Maybe God has not met my expectations. But I

am still going to serve Him. And I'm going to

turn this morning and I'm going to say, God,

I believe. you. God I believe you. I'm not abandoning

my faith. I believe you. I believe you. This

is our God. What a God. So, Father, in this room

right now, there are people that you are calling

by your spirit, saying, son, daughter, come up

here. Come up here to a higher place. And you

this morning, you want to answer that call. And

you want to say, God, I want to step into everything

that you've got for me. I want to enter in to

the promise of God for my life. If that's you

on the count of three, I just want you to stand

up and come down to the altar. In the name of

Jesus, whether it's one or whether it's 35 or

the whole group, it does not matter. You just

respond to what the Lord is doing in your life.

Something is going to shift in your life this

morning. In Jesus' mighty name. One, two, three.

Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. No more status quo. No

more sitting on the sidelines. Come on. No more.

No more. No more. No more. You're saying yes.

You're saying yes to God this morning. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.