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[0:00] Take your Bibles and turn to Psalm 116. Psalm 116. Pastor John has asked me to read this entire psalm.

[0:14] ! Psalm 116. I love the Lord. I love the Lord. For He heard my voice.

[0:25] He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me.

[0:36] The anguish of the grave came upon me. I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord. O Lord, save me!

[0:48] The Lord is gracious and righteous. Our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simple-hearted. When I was in great need, He saved me.

[1:01] Be at rest once more, O my soul. For the Lord has been good to you. For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

[1:15] I believed. Therefore I said, I am greatly afflicted. And in my dismay, I said, all men are liars. How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?

[1:30] I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people.

[1:41] Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. O Lord, truly, I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.

[1:53] You have freed me from my chains. I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem.

[2:10] Praise the Lord. If God is good, and He is, then what should our response be to His goodness?

[2:22] We've come to that place in our study where we are answering that question. What should be our response, and how are we responding to the goodness of God?

[2:34] Every one of us live on the receiving end of God's goodness all day, every day. And last week, we began this part of the application by saying that we should respond with praise and thanksgiving.

[2:49] That because God has been so good to us, we ought to be praising Him. We ought to talk Him up. We ought to tell others how good He is.

[3:01] Tell myself how good He is. Tell God Himself how good He is. That's praising Him, and it's a fitting response for one who receives so much.

[3:12] And then we ought to be overflowing with thanksgiving as well. Thanking the giver to His face for His good gifts. So that's only fitting for us who are on this end of God's goodness.

[3:28] So what I want you to realize this morning is that God is interested in your response to His goodness. I gave her a husband and children.

[3:45] How is she responding to those gifts? I gave them a mother to love and care for them. How are they responding to my gifts?

[3:59] He's not apathetic about that question. He gives and then watches to see our response. You remember God's goodness to those ten lepers who cried to Jesus for pity.

[4:15] How many responded in praise and thanksgiving? They all were cleansed, but only one of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back praising God in a loud voice.

[4:27] He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him. And he was a Samaritan. So he alone responded in praise and thanksgiving to the goodness of God that was shown to him.

[4:41] And did you see it? It did not pass unnoticed to our Lord. He asked, Were not all ten cleansed?

[4:54] Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and to give praise to God except this foreigner?

[5:07] So Jesus is watching for our response to God's goodness. Indeed, He's expecting it. It's a searching question, isn't it? Where are the other nine?

[5:18] They ought to be here. They weren't overlooked, but rather marked out for rebuke, just as the Samaritan was noticed and marked out for praise that He, a foreigner of all people, should return praise to the God of Israel.

[5:36] So our response to His goodness matters to God. That's what I want you to see. Now this morning, we'll see the difference that the goodness of God is to make in your prayer life.

[5:48] Your communion with God, your spirit-to-spirit fellowship with God is to shape and is to fashion, is to be shaped and fashioned by God's goodness.

[6:03] So if we're profiting from this study on the goodness of God, it ought to show up in your prayer life. That's what I'm saying. And not just that your prayer life is filled with praise and thanksgiving.

[6:14] That was last week. But now this week, it ought to show up in your petitions, your requests, your asking of God. So that's our study for today.

[6:26] Our response to God's goodness is to pray. Now, why do we ask God for things in prayer? Well, because we're poor and needy and we need what He has.

[6:44] And that inescapable reality, I need what He has, is not an accident. It was purposefully designed that way from the very beginning, even before the fall, that we are the needy ones and God has what we need.

[6:59] And the law of God's kingdom is that asking is the way to receiving. Ask and you will receive. So God's goodness is meant to have a powerful effect upon our asking then.

[7:17] And it's to influence each of the three time zones of our asking. Before, during, and after prayer.

[7:29] prayer. So, before prayer, it should allure us to God in prayer. During, it should be pleaded with God in prayer. And after, it should leave us expectant from God after prayer.

[7:44] So, we'll look at those three things God's goodness should do for us in prayer. First of all then, God's goodness should allure us to God in prayer.

[7:55] His goodness operates as a motivation to pray. It's a great magnet to draw us to prayer. You've been to a junkyard and seen that big magnet hanging on the end of a crane and it swings over the garbage dump and that which is metal will be attached to it.

[8:15] It draws it to it. And our prayers are to be drawn heavenward by the goodness of God. That's the great magnet. Prayer's sweet work but it is hard work.

[8:29] And that hard and difficult aspect of prayer is due to our flesh and due to the tempting devil and alluring world. So, we need some strong motives. We need some powerful incentives to pray if we're to press through the obstacles and all the things that would draw us aside from prayer.

[8:48] And that goodness or that something that helps us to persevere through those hindrances is the goodness of God. We just had read for us Psalm 116 and the beginning of this psalm is so precious where David is going to be reciting the goodness of God in this chapter.

[9:11] Verse 7 he says, Be at rest once more O my soul. The Lord has been good to you and how can I ever repay the Lord for his goodness to me all his goodness to me.

[9:23] No small part of God's staggering goodness is that he heard and answered David's prayer and not just once but often and that ought to stagger us too that he hears us and that he answers our prayers.

[9:40] And so he says in verse 1 I love the Lord because because he heard my voice he heard my cry for mercy and because he turned his ear to me I will call on him as long as I live.

[9:56] Now if I came to your door and knocked and asked for something and you gave to me and I responded well because you've given to me I'm going to be knocking at your door as long as I live. You might not take it as flattery.

[10:07] You might rather be rid of me. I've already given to you and now be gone. But can you see the goodness of God that he takes that as an honor upon him that we would we would say God because you have heard and answered my prayer I love you and I am not going to stop asking from you.

[10:27] It's his goodness you see that's drawing like a magnet David to pray because of how good he's been in answering. If he delights to give I'm going to delight to ask as long as I live.

[10:47] We're going to look at a lot of texts you won't have time to turn to them. 1 Samuel 12 21 aged Samuel is giving his farewell address to Israel and he warned them do not turn away after useless idols that can do you no good neither can they rescue you.

[11:06] And how different is that from your God the Lord consider what great things he has done for you. So one of the allurements of idols and of Baal worship and all the rest was that well that was the God of fertility he'll bless your fields your wombs everything in your house and field.

[11:27] And so they would go to Baal for blessing. And here Samuel was saying be careful be warm beware don't turn away from God to worthless useless idols that can do you no good.

[11:42] Have you not found that your God can do you good? They can do you no good so don't turn away from them. God is the one who does good.

[11:56] He gave us his son. He pardons our sin. He gives us peace in the storm. Perseverance uphill difficulty patience under pressure joy and affliction love for the unlovely wisdom in confusion.

[12:13] He has what you need and he gives to those who ask him. So again God's goodness in doing us good should draw us to him in prayer and cause us to spurn any other God's substitutes.

[12:27] We have the giver himself. Why should we ever turn away? And then our Lord Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray. And you remember how he taught us to say our father in heaven.

[12:40] And then he focuses on the goodness of our heavenly father to encourage us to bring our request to him. Notice how he does this. Matthew 7, 9 through 11.

[12:51] Which of you fathers if your son asks for bread will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish will give him a snake? I should suppose after receiving so many stones and snakes the son would quit asking father wouldn't he?

[13:07] And Jesus says well you're better than that. You're better fathers than that. I know you are. You don't treat your children that way. If you then though you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts gifts to his children to those that ask him.

[13:32] Now what assures the much more certainty of the father giving good gifts to his children? It's because he's not evil like you fathers are.

[13:43] If you being evil still are managed to come up with good gifts for your kids what will your heavenly father who's not evil but good? how much more will he give good gifts to his children?

[13:58] You see again it's the goodness of God therefore ask and you will receive seek and you will find knock and the door will be open. This is the kind of father we come to and I know of no more powerful motive to ask from God than his goodness according to Jesus that's the carrot alluring us often to the throne of grace with our requests you're familiar with Hebrews 11 6 anyone who comes to him that's another way that the Bible explains prayer it's coming to God and anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he is the rewarder of those who earnestly seek him.

[14:45] So who will come to the Lord in prayer? Who will make requests of him? Well only those of whom two things are true. First of all they believe he's real. They believe he is.

[14:56] He exists. And second they believe he's the rewarder. The rewarder of those who seek him. You see if you don't think he exists you won't bother talking to him.

[15:07] And if you don't think he rewards you won't bother asking him for anything. Oh but he does exist and he does reward and that's why we keep coming to them this this God in prayer.

[15:20] It's his goodness as a real rewarder that makes seekers of him in prayer. He rewards your asking so ask is the point. So how good is your heavenly father?

[15:35] Your answer to that question will have a tremendous influence upon your prayer life. How good and generous is he in his giving? well when we needed a savior to be damned in our place he had what we needed right there beside him in heaven.

[15:56] The only mediator between God and the only one who could reconcile us to God. The only one whose death would be a fitting sacrifice to pay for all of our sins forever.

[16:10] And he did not spare him but gave him up for us all. That's how good our heavenly father is. Therefore if he didn't spare him but gave him up for us all to that hellish cross how much more with him along with him will he not also give us all things?

[16:32] If he's given you heaven's greatest treasure will he not give you everything else that you need along the way? What more could he do to prove the goodness of his heart to you Christian?

[16:46] I mean he gave you his choice as treasure the son of his love for all eternity and so what do you want him to do to prove that he loves you?

[17:00] Oh rather embrace that love receive that love and be drawn to that father in love to ask him for all of your needs. He's for you.

[17:10] he gave you his son. And then James 1 5 because God gives generously without finding fault I should ask. Trials is the context.

[17:22] We've been in a few and you know that when we're in trials we get confused and we don't know what we ought to do. Maybe some of you have felt that in new ways this past six weeks or so and you don't know what to do.

[17:39] I mean you don't know what's around the bend so how can you know what to do now? And that's the way it is with all trials. There's this need for wisdom. We don't have it but he does.

[17:50] He has what I need and so I need to ask him for wisdom. Now what's going to allure me to ask God for wisdom instead of going around and complaining and wondering what am I going to do and wringing my hands?

[18:02] What's going to allure me like a carrot to go ask him? Two things. It's what he does and what he doesn't do. What he does is that God gives generously not meager portions not stingy like Scrooge but generous like grandma loading up your plate at dinner.

[18:23] Here have some more. That's generous isn't it? And that's the kind of God you have when you come asking for wisdom. He gives generously to those who ask. And then there's something he'll never do without finding fault.

[18:39] He's not a fault finder when you come asking for wisdom. Oh, you again? Weren't you just here this morning? Weren't you here last week asking for that? You'll never get that from God.

[18:52] Rather, he's delighted. He has another opportunity to give to one of his favored sons and daughters and to delight in you receiving wisdom having sought it from him.

[19:03] And that again, the goodness of God is to draw us heavenward with our prayers, our asking.

[19:16] So that's number one. You see, that's the before prayer. What should get us to God in prayer? Well, his goodness ought to just draw us like a magnet. Secondly, once we get to God in prayer, how should God's goodness affect us during our praying?

[19:32] Well, his goodness should be pleaded with God in prayer. Pleaded. You know, kids, that's what you do when it's your bedtime and you're wanting to stay up another 30 minutes.

[19:45] You plead with mom and dad. This should cause us to plead the goodness of God with him in prayer. And if you're familiar with the prayers of the Bible, then you know that God is appealed to in prayer on the basis of his character.

[19:59] He's asked to do certain things because of who and what he is. It's a way of hanging your request upon his character, his attributes.

[20:12] So let's notice a few requests that are made because God is good and how God's goodness is pleaded in prayer. Psalm 119 verse 68 is a classic verse on the goodness of God.

[20:26] I've been quoting the first half of it many times in this series. We looked at this verse early on, but when we read the entire verse, Psalm 119 68, we find that the declaration of God's goodness in the first half is connected to a prayer request in the last half.

[20:47] Here it is. You are good and what you do is good. Prayer request, teach me your decrees. the attribute of God's goodness is appealed to as the reason for answering this request.

[21:07] Attribute of God, you're good. Prayer request, teach me. You see, you see the way that God's goodness is being pleaded in prayer. He hangs his request upon God's goodness.

[21:20] It not only allures us and brings us to pray, but when we pray, it leads us to hang our promise, or our request upon God's very nature, who he is and what he does.

[21:35] He's good. So, because you are good and you do good, do me the good of teaching me. You see how he does it? Here's a ready-made prayer for you as you come to God's word, whether you're at home reading it, hearing it read, hearing it preached, here it is ready made, ready for you to pick up and use.

[22:00] You are good, and what you do is good. Now, do me the good of teaching me. Because every time I come to this book, I need God to do what I can't do.

[22:14] And every time you come and hear preaching, you need God to teach in a way that I cannot teach. you come to his word and what do you need?

[22:26] You need light, you need enlightenment, you need to understand what does this mean? And then, what does this mean for my life? How should this change me and the way I live?

[22:38] You need to be taught that. You may come with a cold heart and you need a warm heart. You need to leave with a burning heart that wants to love and obey God's commandments.

[22:51] You come to his word and maybe you're feeling something of the rebellion of your heart. There it is. Yes, I see what you're commanding me to do or I see what you're forbidding me to do, but my heart, I just know that I've got this desire to do what you're telling me not to do.

[23:13] Well, God can teach you to want to do what he wants more than what you want to work in you both to will and to do his good pleasure.

[23:26] You may come before a promise of God and say, oh, I have so much need of faith just to take God at his word, to believe it, and then to live as if it were true. He can teach you that too.

[23:38] And he will because he's good. You see, it's his goodness that teaches us. We have so many needs, but our teacher is so good and he can do all of those things and so much more.

[23:51] He can do what I can't do. All I can do is deliver the truth to your doorstep and there it sits. Do you know what God does? He doesn't do that. He doesn't just dump truth on your doorstep and say, well, deal with it.

[24:03] No, he opens your eyes and shoves some in that way. He opens your ears and goes in that way. He puts his truth on the inward part, you see. And he enlightens your mind and he stirs your affection with his word.

[24:20] And what he's teaching you as you're reading it or hearing it, he's convicting your conscience and he's bending your will around to his. No preacher, no reader of scripture can do that.

[24:35] But he can. He's the good teacher. You are good. You do good, so teach me. Teach me.

[24:46] Teach me to be more holy and happy. Teach me to hate sin, to hate my sin and to love righteousness the way that Jesus does.

[24:58] Teach me to seek first the kingdom of God. That's top priority of every day, of every moment of the day, to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness, trusting you to provide all the other things that I need.

[25:13] Teach me the secret of contentment, not just in theory, but in practice. Teach me a greater love for your will than for my will.

[25:27] Teach me to set my heart on things above, not on things of the earth. Teach me to overflow with thankfulness. Teach me patience. Teach me to be a wiser winner of souls.

[25:40] Teach me to pray. Teach me to know you and to delight in you. Teach me to love you as your angels love, one holy passion filling all my frame. Teach me to love my neighbor, my brothers and sisters and enemies like you do.

[26:01] Teach me that forgetfulness of self out of a greater interest in others' concerns. Teach me. teach me to abide in Christ and so to bear fruit to his glory.

[26:17] And Lord, teach me all of this because you are good and you do good. No, do me good and teach me. You see what a huge thing the goodness of God is?

[26:29] It can hang all kinds of our requests upon it and still support it. And that's what we're to do in prayer. Maybe it's forgiveness of sins that you need.

[26:43] We all need, don't we? As we sin daily in thought and word and deed and deeds left undone. David in Psalm 25 is troubled with the sins of his youth.

[26:55] Maybe you've been troubled by the sins of your youth, of your B.C. days before Christ and some of the wickedness and rebelliousness. In Psalm 25 and verse 7, he makes use of the goodness of God.

[27:10] And he says, Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways. According to your love, remember me. For you are good, O Lord.

[27:24] You're good. Forgive and forget those sins of mine. Don't treat me according to them, but treat me according to the goodness of your love. He's hanging his hope for forgiveness upon the goodness of his love.

[27:39] Psalm 69, 16. Answer me, O Lord, out of the goodness of your love. In your great mercy, turn to me. David here is in trouble as he often was. He's got enemies who hate him and want to kill him.

[27:50] He's helpless. He needs to be rescued. And there's none to help him. And so he pleads for help from the goodness of God's love. Answer me, O Lord, out of the goodness of your love.

[28:03] You in any kind of trouble? anything that causes you worry and fear? Here's the ready-made prayer for you. Turn to the help of the helpless and ask him to help you, to answer you out of the goodness of his love.

[28:23] Hang your request upon his good heart. Psalm 109, 21. So this is pleading God's goodness in prayer.

[28:55] it's an attribute that will bear the weight of many petitions so give God this reason to answer your prayers because you are good so what have we seen?

[29:09] well we've seen the goodness of God should allure us to God in prayer and then the goodness of God should be pleaded with God in prayer and now the last time zone it should leave us thirdly expectant from God after prayer so we've been drawn by the goodness of God to pray and when we've prayed we've asked God for this goodness sake to teach us to do whatever it is that we need forgive us, help us, deliver us now after we've prayed and we're going away as it were how should God's goodness affect us?

[29:48] so if you meet me after I've had a session of prayer with my heavenly father how should you find me? chin dragging all discouraged, depressed, anxious and worried or rather my head lifted up joy in my heart spring in my step why?

[30:10] well I've just come from the throne that rules the universe and my good father the king heard every word of my request and he delights to give good gifts to his children father knows, father cares so I'm leaving my burden there and I'm expecting good from his hand and I'm confident of it so he's the lifter up of my head I've not been to some bankrupt businessman trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip squeeze something out of someone who doesn't have it to give no I've just laid my request before the richest most generous cheerful giver of all my father who finds exquisite joy in giving good gifts to his children so as I leave the throne of grace I do so in great hope great hope what is hope?

[31:03] hope is that confident expectation of future good so I leave the throne of grace with confident expectation that good is coming my way so in a great time of need with no help anywhere in sight Jeremiah can nevertheless say in Lamentations 3.25 the Lord is good to those whose hope is in him to those who seek him why can we seek God with such hope?

[31:34] well because he's good to those who put their hope in him to those who hang their hope on his goodness he's good and he's so good that in our darkest hours you know what Lamentations it's a lament it's five chapters of nothing but crying your eyes out at God's judgment upon Jerusalem and what their women are doing to their children in Jerusalem because of God's judgment upon them there's no good anywhere in sight and yet because the Lord is good we can have hope in his goodness even when we can't see it he's so good that in our darkest hours we have every reason to be confident as we ask from him to go away with with good hope good hope so as I come away from prayer maybe nothing's changed yet

[32:37] I'm still as poor and needy as I ever was still as much needing God but I've been to Father about it I've I've poured out my heart to him and he's heard he's heard my every word he's heard the very sighs and groans of my heart and knows what they mean and my welfare is not only his concern but it's his delight and so my request is in good hands and I live in the hope of his goodness Psalm 5 David who often appears before God's throne as poor and needy is here again and this is his cry give ear to my words oh Lord consider my sighing isn't it isn't God good that he he hears not just our words but even the sighs of the heavy heart knows exactly what we mean so give ear to my words oh Lord consider my sighing listen to my cry for help my king and my God for to you I pray now here it is verse 3 of Psalm 5 in the morning oh Lord you hear my voice in the morning

[33:50] I lay my request before you and wait in expectation expectation there is in the goodness of God every reason for me to be expectant after praying what a way to spend the whole of your day waiting in expectation in expectation of God's answer I've been to father I dropped the burden at his feet and now I just I'm waiting in expectation I'm wondering how is he going to pull this one off what's he going to do to answer my prayer to meet my needs as he's promised to do I have a reason to wait in expectation because of my good father George Mueller was an evangelist in the 1800s and he's perhaps known best for his orphanages in Bristol England over his lifetime he cared for over 10,000 orphans he started 117 schools to teach them at one time he was caring for 2,000 orphans who looked to him for their daily needs mothers how would you like to have that burden laid on your doorstep every morning he had gobs of needs but Mueller had a God who had what he needed and so we're not surprised to find that George Mueller was a man of prayer and he shares this with us that it is my established habit to go to God is the first thing of every day that I might lay my requests before him early so as to be before him all day long in a spirit of joyfulness let me read that again it's my habit to go to God is the first thing of every day that I might lay my requests before him early so that I might be before him all the day in a spirit of joyfulness

[36:06] I'm not going to drag this burden and this care of 2,000 orphans around with me all day long no I'm going to start the day out and drag it to my heavenly father and leave the burden there so that I can then go and live the day in the joyful expectation that father knows father cares father's promise to meet all of our needs I can trust him the joy of hope the joy of expectation from a good father who answers the prayers of his children do you live in the the joy of hope do you live daily in the joy of hope concerning your daily needs your future needs Mueller shows us that there's enough goodness in God to do that with the cares of 2,000 children so moms and dads there's enough goodness in God for you to do that with your small brood make Mueller's habit

[37:17] David's habit your habit in the morning oh Lord I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation that's living upon the goodness of God that's rejoicing in the hope of future good and that's the birthright of every child of God Thomas goodness was a Puritan who wrote a book called the return of prayers he said there's prayers and there's the return of prayers you understand there's prayers and there's the return of prayers and he likened it to a London merchant man who owned a fleet of sheep of ships that he sends out across the ocean laden down with merchandise to sell and to trade in far off lands and Goodwood says prayer is sending off our ships to heaven we send them off to heaven and what does the owner of these sailing ships do this

[38:27] London merchant man well he's been counting the days and marking the calendar and when the time draws near for them to be arriving back home he goes down to the sea with his looking glass and he's looking for them any side of them on the horizon because he's expecting them to come back no merchant man would send ships across the ocean if he didn't expect a return of those ships he's waiting in hope praying believer you sent off your prayers to heaven are you watching are you waiting in confident expectation for the return of your prayers or do merchant men have more reason to expect a return of their ships than you do of your prayers sent to heaven to your good father in heaven it's

[39:29] Elijah there's not been rain for three and a half years whatever clouds might have arisen in the morning they were clouds without rain that blew over and that's the forecast and that's been the reality for three and a half years and now God says it's going to rain Elijah and he's on Mount Carmel he's just had the showdown with Baal who claims to be the rain god you remember and now he's prostrate on the ground with his face between his knees and he's praying for rain he's praying like crazy for rain and after a period of prayer he says to his servant go up on a high position and look toward the west across the sea because that's where rains came in Palestine from the west and the servant runs up and he looks and he comes back and there's nothing there master no sign of rain and that doesn't discourage

[40:32] Elijah oh I guess I got it wrong maybe God's not down on his face another season of prayer go see go see go look now there's nothing master after the seventh time seventh period of prayer he comes back master there's a cloud the size of a man's hand just coming up over the horizon and Elijah says that's it the rain's coming go tell Ahab to get down from the mountain because before the rain stops him expectation you you looking for your answers to your prayers like Elijah was you don't send a servant to look if if you think you're just looking in vain he really expected an answer and yes it came in God's own time and does that mark you or or are you too often like I am like the church in Acts chapter 12 and

[41:36] Herod has just beheaded James the apostle and he's arrested Peter and he's planning to do the same with him on the morrow and the church is holding a prayer meeting all night at Mary's house and lo and behold God answered prayer he sent an angel on a jail breaking mission to fetch Peter out of jail and he's out of jail and he's walking through the streets of Jerusalem and he comes to Mary's house and he knocks on the door and Rhoda comes to the door the servant girl and she recognizes his voice and runs back into the room where all these prayer warriors are praying you see he's here Peter's at the door and they all said praise the Lord let's start singing our praises for answered prayer no they didn't they would rather believe that Rhoda has had a temporary insanity than to believe that God answered their prayers you're out of your mind they said must be his angel because can't be

[42:44] Peter we all know where Peter's at he's in prison remember that's why we're here praying that God would get him out of prison oh you were you mean you sent those ships up and didn't expect an answer granted they didn't have a promise granted James had not been spared but are we not often like that that we so are not expecting we send up these prayers and we we're not watching like Elijah like the merchant man and so when God answers we we're shocked he hears and answers prayer sure he does that's that's the God that he's revealed himself to be God help us he's he's good and his goodness deserves honor he's good enough for us to expect good from his hand after we've laid our request before him since no good thing does he withhold from those that walk uprightly so God's goodness a powerful magnet drawing us to prayer a powerful argument to plead with God in prayer and powerful reasons to go away expecting good from God's hand in answer to our prayers so may the goodness of God radically shape our prayer lives both before during and after maybe some here need a major overhaul the goodness of God has not weighed in much at all maybe some need some fine tuning and oh I need to come before God with a sense of how good he is just pause before you pray and remind yourself of some of these things we talked about this morning

[44:43] I do believe that those who have been examples to us in prayer would tell us that we too quickly rush into prayer without reminding ourselves who we're talking to and whether we need to do that before we pray or at the beginning of our prayer to remind ourselves in praising him who he is and his good heart toward us to draw our hearts so that we start hanging our prayers upon his goodness his greatness all that he is his faithfulness his love so some need major overall some need adjusting but some here need to come to this good God and ask right up front for the biggest best gift that he has to give and that's his son Jesus Christ and salvation in him do you know he's so good that he doesn't turn anyone away that comes to him and says save me for Jesus sake

[45:44] I'm a poor sinner I can't save myself I deserve your damnation but I've heard that Jesus is a savior your word promises that he turns no one away so I'm coming just have mercy upon me for Jesus sake he's so good he can't turn that away he's never turned anyone like that away and so however you came this morning you can leave he's so good that you can leave expecting that he heard you expecting that he saved you expecting that he doesn't make a promise that he doesn't fulfill come and welcome to Jesus hallelujah what a savior well let's pray to him shall we our good and gracious king come and teach us more of your goodness that we might stand in awe of it and teach us as only you can by putting into our inward parts this goodness that you are and so convincing us of your goodness that we will run quicker and more often to you in prayer and because you're good I ask you to meet the needs of every single one here or at home watching whether they be physical needs and concerns or spiritual needs magnify your goodness show how good you are in answering our needs and please forgive us that we have so belittled your goodness that we've not asked for more that we've been slow to ask we've doubted that we should ever receive oh give us to be so gripped by your goodness that it would indeed radically shape our prayer lives to the praise of your goodness to the praise of your dear son that you did not spare but gave up for us we ask these petitions then in his name and just ask that since you didn't withhold him don't withhold any good from us as we pleaded in

[47:57] Jesus good name amen we're going to sing a song God of the ages I think it's just a fitting thing for us to sing at this time as we face something in our history that is unique to us let's let's remember that the God that is our God is the God of all history the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ the God of the apostle Paul and Peter the God of our fathers he's our God so let's confess him and trust him as such stand with me as we sing who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew who knew!

[48:53]