Sermon for The Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 10, 2026.
There’s a common thought among people, even Christians, that some prayers go unanswered, that God might not answer you if He’s too busy or you’re too sinful. Maybe He doesn’t like what you’ve done, so He’s giving you the cold shoulder, the way a friend or family member might treat you when you’re not getting along.
It’s not true.
Dear saints, God hears and answers every one of your prayers. He would be a pretty, twisted God if He didn’t, given that He commands us to pray to Him.
It’s not a suggestion.
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18. “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
In this morning’s Epistle lesson, the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Paul to say, “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people…” (1 Tim. 2:1). He says that praying “is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.” (1 Tim. 2:3)
So, why do people think God doesn’t answer prayer? Why do we, faithful Christians, treat prayer like it’s a one-way street and not an intimate conversation with the one and only almighty God?
Why do we have the Lord and ruler of all, the King of kings’ personal cell number, and forget to use it?
Well, for the same reason, the Israelites in our Old Testament text “spoke against God and against Moses.” God had shown them that He is the one true, all-powerful God by miraculously rescuing them from slavery in Egypt; He had revealed His faithfulness to them time and time again, and they loathed His gifts. Being able to pray to the Father as His own dear child is a gift, an amazing gift. We stop praying or act like God doesn’t answer prayer because He doesn’t answer our prayers exactly how we want. He doesn’t give us exactly what we want. We don’t pray to God because we’re bratty little kids who don’t get our way. God gave the Israelites miraculous manna to eat. Did they appreciate it? No. They “loathe[d] this worthless food.” (Num. 21:5)
We’re the kid who gets a bicycle for Christmas, but we’re not happy with it because it’s not the right brand. It’s true. This is the sinners that we are. It’s a tired analogy, but we’re kids who don’t understand why Mom and Dad make us eat our vegetables when all we want for dinner is Chocolate. Our good parents don’t give in to our wants, because they know it’s not good for us, and so we throw a fit and refuse to eat dinner, arms crossed in protest.
But in Christ, something changes. In Jesus, we hold to Psalm 105:1, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon His name.” In Christ, we learn the truth of Isaiah 65:24, that God is always listening to our prayers. “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”
What does Jesus say in John 16, in our Gospel reading: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever your ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you…. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:23b, 24b)
Today’s introit confirms that God does hear your prayers, Christian, and He does answer them. The text is from Psalm 66:1-2, “Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name. I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. But truly God listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love for me.”
It’s a trick of our enemy that we entertain the idea that God doesn’t answer our prayers. It’s exactly what the devil wants us to think, and the Old Adam within is quick to convince us to listen to that liar.
Christian, the cross is the answer to our prayers. The crucifixion of Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is a clear testament that God is listening. You know this, right? God the Father sent His Son to be hung on a pole so that you and I would pray to Him. Jesus is our bronze serpent. Or to say it more clearly, the bronze serpent that God told Moses to make in answer to his prayer on behalf of the Israelites is a type of the cross of Christ. It points us to the cross. The Israelites were bitten by poisonous snakes. They were dying, and in their desperation, they turned to God for help. God listened and gave them a remedy for what plagued them. And that remedy looked like the very thing that threatened them. The same is true for us today.
We are plagued by death. Many people see death as a reason not to pray to God, death, and all the hardships of life that come from living in a sinful world. But there is a remedy for death. He has heard our cries and attended to the voice of our prayer. His response is the death of His only begotten Son. God says that everyone who is bitten by that ancient serpent whose lies brought death into our world, and that’s everyone—we all have been duped by the devil; we all sin, and so we all desperately want to avoid death—God says to you that when you look to Christ’s death put on display for all to see, you will live. This is why we hear in 1 Timothy 2:3-6 that prayer is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”
The answer to every single prayer is truly the crucifixion of Christ, “which is the testimony given at the proper time.” Christian, you are loved by God. Our Father in heaven doesn’t ignore us. He loves us. Jesus teaches us this. John 16:27, “[T]he Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”
When we look to the cross for the answer to our prayers, we see just how ready God is to answer them. When we look to Christ’s sacrifice as the answer to our prayers that we pray in His name, we don’t grow weary of praying, doubtful that God is listening, but, on the contrary, our joy becomes full. We begin to shout for Joy to God, singing the glory of His name, because when we look to that precious death on a pole, which cures us of the poison of our own deaths, we see, without question, that God has and does listen to our prayers, that He has and does attend to the voice of our prayer. We see clearly that He hasn’t rejected our prayers or removed His steadfast love from us. He hasn’t, Christian. Not at all.
Every week, when we receive Christ’s Body and Blood with the bread and wine at His altar we are strengthened in the truth that God answers our prayers. Every week we are confessing His death until He comes again, confessing that even when we are faithless, He is faithful. (2 Tim 2:13). Truly, at the altar we receive the answer to our prayers that we ask in Jesus’ name. We are forgiven of our sins. We are given life eternal with God, and we are rescued from the devil and all the threats of this death-ridden world.
“Whatever you ask of the Father in [Jesus] name, [that is, in accord with His good and holy will] he will give it to you.” (John 16:23) Look to the cross and see how sufficient the grace of God truly is. See the love God has for you on display at Christ’s crucifixion and believe in Jesus, trusting that “in [Him] you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; [Jesus says,] I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Amen!
Rev. Tyrel Bramwell 
Leave a comment