When God Says No--Rom 1:10-15

When God Said “NO” to His Best Men, and to His Best Man
Romans 1:10-15

· The false ideas about prayer—
o God the Prosperity fairy
o God the Doting Grandfather
o God the Bank Account
o God the on-demand healer
o God the on-demand protector
o The idea that prayer is about our needs


1. The Background of Reigning Providence: Divine Providence means: God rules the universe to accomplish His own purposes and will. Or, as the contemporary Christian singer Twila Paris said: God is In Control

a. The pagan concept of "Luck.”
(1) The pagan concept for how the universe works when things are beyond their control, is the concept of "Luck." Luck is a pagan philosophical concept, and it has crept into our daily language: "Good Luck...", “My, that was lucky....", "I'm just a lucky guy...."
(2) The Christian should learn to avoid the use of the word and instead understand that it is not "Luck" which controls things, but Divine Providence. A Christian should say things like: "God bless you...", "God be with you...", "God send His angels to guard and guide you...", "God has blessed me....", "God's providence was at work in this..."
b. The nature of Providence--The exercise of God's Sovereignty, Omnipotence, and Omniscience together—Isa 14:24-27
(1) God's Providence is absolute—Rom 11:36, Eph 1:11, Eph 3:9-11
(2) Providence is the Trinity in Action: Jn 5:17, 19, Mat 11:27, Isa 40:12-15
(3) God guides the events of our personal lives--God has a plan for our lives, that plan is detailed, and He is working in our lives to bring His plan to fruition.
(4) God's plan for our life is detailed—Psa 139:15-18
(5) God works in our lives to bring His plan to reality—Phil 2:12-13
(6) God turns the evil intent of men to His gracious purpose—Gen 50:19-20
(7) God in His Providence cares over the very details of our lives—Mat 10:29-31, Psa 37:23-24

c. The Extent of God’s Providence—God providentially guides the Rise and Fall of nations and the events of human history—Dan 2:20-22, Acts 17:26, Dan 5:21 “…that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses…”

d. Implications of the Doctrine of Providence
(1) The births of nations are controlled by God
(2) The deaths of nations are controlled by God
(3) Great empires rise and fall at His command
(4) We are in His hands

e. The Doctrine of Divine Providence

(1) Is a gift beyond measure.
(2) The Bible says this is a comfort to God's people—Isa 40:1-17
(3) There is A Hand at the Wheel of History!!!
(4) Life, current events, struggles, crises, there is an Unseen Hand guiding the general course of all things.

f. Bottom line on Providence: God can do anything we ask—there is no limit to what He has the ability to do.

2. The Problem of “Unanswered” Prayer

a. The two Conditions for answered prayer—John 15:7 ""If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."

b. What do we want when we pray?
(1) We want what we want
(2) We want it now
(3) We want it our way
(4) If we don’t get that which we ask for, we think our prayers have gone unanswered.

c. God’s possible answers to prayer:
(1) Yes, right now
(2) No, never
(3) Wait for my time
(4) “Stop Talking!” (Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration and Elijah in the cave)
(5) But most people, when they think of prayer, think anything other than “yes” is not an answer.

d. Bad reasons for unanswered prayers
(1) Disobedience—De 1:45
(2) Holding on to sin—Ps 66:18
(3) Indifference—Pr 1:28
(4) Neglecting mercy—Pr 21:13
(5) Despising God’s Word—Pr 28:9
(6) Living in Sin—Mi 3:4, Is 59:2
(7) Stubborn—Zec 7:13
(8) Wavering—James 1:6-7
(9) Self indulgence—James 4:3


(10) But—what if there is no reason? What if the one hearing “no” from God is one of God’s own, even one of His best?

e. Some prayers that God will always answer with “yes”
(1) The prayer for wisdom—James 1:5-8
(2) The prayer for worship—Mat 6:9
(3) The prayer for conformity to His Will—Mat 6:10

3. Got said “no” to some of His best men

a. Sometimes, the “no” was really “wait”
(1) Job’s prayers and sacrifice for his children prior to the series of tragedies that devoured his whole family—Job 1:5—and Job made it plain that God was in charge of that situation—Job 1:21 "And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.""
(2) Abraham’s many prayers for an heir—Gen 15:1-6—delayed until it was laughable—Gen 18:12
b. But sometimes, God said “no”
(1) Moses’ request to see God’s Glory—Exodus 33:18-20
(2) Moses’ plea to be allowed to cross over into Canaan—Deu 3:23-27
(3) David’s prayer for his infant son—2 Sam 12:14-23

c. God said “no” to Paul

(1) Paul’s desire to come to Rome—Rom 1:10-13
(a) There was a valid and good spiritual reason to come—to share the gifts God had given Paul to make the church in Rome stronger
(b) There was no selfishness—if anything, this was a more dangerous place to be.
(c) Paul had prayed often, without ceasing—Rom 1:9-10
(d) Paul had often PLANNED to come—Rom 1:13
(e) Paul had a genuine NEED—to preach 1:14
(f) But Paul was prevented—by Divine Providence, mind you—from going there—until he arrived in chains, headed for imprisonment
(2) Paul’s thorn-in-the-flesh prayers—2 Cor 12:7-11
(a) Again, Paul’s request was valid
(b) Paul had done nothing to invite God’s chastisement
(c) God did what He did to prevent a problem with Paul
(3) Paul’s Surrender to God’s Providence—Romans 1:15—Paul was ready, because Paul followed the 4th petition of the Lord’s Prayer—Mat 6:10 "Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven

4. God said “No” to His BEST Man—Mat 26:37-44
a. The “cup” that Jesus was about to consume was more than physical suffering—
b. The “cup” that Jesus was about to consume was the cup of our sin, our guilt, our filth.
c. God said NO—But the Bible says He WAS HEARD—Heb 5:5-10
d. God said NO to PART of Jesus’ prayer, but there is one prayer that God always says “yes” to—“thy will be done.”

5. Applications
a. We must understand that our ultimate need is not to have our needs met, but to have our #1 NEED met—to have a real and living relationship with God
b. We must understand that when God says anything other than “Yes”, it is because HE has a plan which we cannot see nor fathom.
c. If God said “no” to His best men and His Best Man, why should we expect to have all of our perceived needs met? We should not.