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Why? - The Great Why

SPEAKER: Pastor Charlie Riley
September 10, 2022

The Great Why
September 10, 2022

The “Why”?
Faith and Prayer Are Absolutely Awesome and Powerful
and Yet At Times Can Be Incredibly Confusing and Frustrating

Zephaniah 3:5  (The Message)
The Lord is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, But the unjust knows no shame.

Joshua 21:45  (The Message)
Not one word failed from all the good words God spoke to the house of Israel. Everything came out right.

Yeah, But “Why?”
Why Did They Not Get Healed?
Why Did They Die?
Why Did It Not Happen?
Why Did It Seem God Failed?
Why Did Our Prayer Not Get Answered?

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

1 John 5:14-15
Now 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, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him

1. The Enemy
Daniel 9:3
Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

His Prayer Continues From Verse 4-19

Daniel 9:20
Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.

His Second Prayer

Daniel 10:2
In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks.

Daniel 10:12-14
Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.”

2. Our Motives
James 4:2-5 (The Living Bible)
You want what you don’t have, so you kill to get it. You long for what others have, and can’t afford it, so you start a fight to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask you don’t get it because your whole aim is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. 4 You are like an unfaithful wife who loves her husband’s enemies. Don’t you realize that making friends with God’s enemies—the evil pleasures of this world—makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy the evil pleasure of the unsaved world, you cannot also be a friend of God. Or what do you think the Scripture means when it says that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, watches over us with tender jealousy?

3. Our Broken Relationship
1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

4. Our Lack of Faith or The Abundance of Unbelief
Matthew 17:20
So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Mark 9:22-24
“And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

I know all those things and I did my part!
I Know The Enemy
I Know My Motives
I Know My Relationships
I Know My Faith

What Do I Do With My “Why”?

1. Focus On God’s Word
Numbers 23:19
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

I Want My “Why” To Be My Cry!!!

2. Realize: We Don’t Know All Or See All
1 Corinthians 13:12 (Amplified)
For now [in this time of imperfection] we see in a mirror dimly [a blurred reflection, a riddle, an enigma], but then [when the time of perfection comes we will see reality] face to face. Now I know in part [just in fragments], but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known [by God].

3. Always Try Your Best To Focus On The Eternal, Not The Temporal
2 Corinthians 4:17-18
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Hebrews 11:13-14
These all died 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. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.

4. Never Allow What You Don’t Know, To Determine What You Do Know
We know the Enemy Comes To Steal, Kill and Destroy
We Know Why Bad Things Happen – The Fall, Decisions and Satan
We Know God Will Never Leave Us or Forsake Us
We know God Is A Good, Faithful, Loving, Compassionate, Forgiving and Sacrificial Father
We Know He Loved Us So Much He Sent His Son To Die For Us

We Know He Wins and We Win In The End

1 John 5:4
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.