"Asking According to His Will" Charlie Woodward, 7.14.2024

·40 min·4 clips

With only eight dollars in his account, Charlie Woodward describes a panic attack and a sudden, inexplicable peace.

The episode is a sermon by Charlie Woodward from Christ Church InTown, based on 1 John 5:12-15. It opens with a prayer and an acknowledgment that a previous section (1 John 5:6-12) was skipped due to the speaker's illness. Woodward begins by discussing verse 12, emphasizing that true, eternal life is found only in Christ, contrasting it with the 'shadow life' of worldly pleasures that offer diminishing returns, illustrated by his personal experience with drugs in high school. He then explores the tension in Christian faith between its 'earthy' nature (embodied existence, physical resurrection) and its 'heavenly' orientation (not loving the world, which is passing away). Woodward introduces the 'beatific vision'—the promise of seeing God face-to-face—as the unifying aim. He cites a quote from John Piper challenging whether one desires heaven's gifts or God himself. Transitioning to prayer, Woodward examines verses 14-15, noting that prayers aligned with God's will (e.g., for sanctification, salvation, needs) are heard, but God may answer 'no' or 'not yet'. He argues that many get angry at God for breaking promises He never made, advocating for a 'heavenly framing' where some 'no's are 'not yets' answered only in the resurrection. To support this, he reads several scriptures: Paul's hardships (1 Corinthians 4:11-13, 2 Corinthians 4:7-12, 11:24-28, 12:7-10), the suffering faithful in Hebrews 11, and Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane. Woodward shares two personal anecdotes: praying for three boys in Belize who then accepted Christ, and a financial crisis where he had only eight dollars but experienced a miraculous peace, followed by provision. He contrasts this with another financial 'no' where he had to sell his house, which later led to seminary and his pastoral role. The sermon concludes by acknowledging that even answered prayers end in death, but the ultimate promise is being with Christ, urging listeners to keep praying, trust God's faithfulness, and be captivated by the beatific vision.

As heard by us

A sermon on praying with confidence when God's answer is no, not yet, or a greater yes beyond this life.

Prayer is the sermon's center, but the deeper question is how faith holds when a good request is met with no, not yet, or silence. Working through 1 John 5:13-15, it pushes back on the idea that God's faithfulness has to arrive on the timetable of the person praying.

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Why you'd press play

When a good prayer meets a faithful no or not yet, this episode helps you separate God's promises from your timetable.

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