Do you have the courage to pray YET? Adapted from a Mark Scott sermon presented at the Kiamichi Men’s Clinic, 2012

1. Do you have the
courage to pray
YET?
Adapted from a Mark Scott sermon
presented at the
Kiamichi Men’s Clinic, 2012

2. Do you know how to pray yet? If we learn
how to pray yet, we’ll learn how to be more
effective for the cause of Christ. I’ve not
read it, but I’m told a book titled, “Faith and
Doubt” quotes a Pentecostal Scholar by the
name of Fredrick Dale Bruner who said the
Christian faith is always bipolar. The
Christian faith always advances, then
regresses, it matures, and then it falls back.
It grows then it somehow stumbles and it
does these at the same time it seems.

3. You remember that desperate Father who
brings his boy to the base of the mount of
transfiguration for the Apostles to heal &
they couldn’t do it. I guess they were
operating out of the power of the flesh. So
they couldn’t do it. Jesus with Peter, James
& John comes down the hill & asks what’s
going on.

4. I brought my boy to your disciples & they
couldn’t do anything. If you could help us,
and Jesus said, “IF, IF?” All things are
possible to him who believes and this
desperate Father said this, “I do believe,
help thou my unbelief.” It’s kind of the way
we find ourselves so often. The most
important word in the book title I mentioned
is AND! It’s not “Faith OR Doubt,” it’s “Faith
AND Doubt.”

5. They kind of tend to go together, if you will.
That book makes this statement, “Disciples
are not people who never doubt, they doubt
& worship, they doubt & serve, they doubt &
help other people with their doubts, they
doubt & practice faithfulness, they doubt &
wait until their waiting someday will turn into
knowing.” Fredrick Buechner, a famous
preacher from another generation, is
credited of saying,

6. “Doubts are the ants in the pants of the
Christian experience. They keep it alive &
moving.” Well if that’s true, then the old
minor Prophet Habakkuk, who takes us into
his prayer closet, must have had a lot of
ants in the pants. Because I think this minor
Prophet helps us know something about the
tension of faith & doubt & learning to have
the courage to pray YET.

7. I want to talk to you today about the book of
Habakkuk that wonderful minor Prophet. I
gotta tell ya I didn’t know much about the
book of Habakkuk. The Apostle Paul
evidently was “well versed,” so to speak, in
Habakkuk. In the first chapter of his letter to
the saints in Rome he says, For the
righteousness of God is revealed in the
gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written,
“The righteous by faith will live.” Romans
1:17 NET

8. If you have cross-references in your Bible
you’ll see Habakkuk 2:4 NIV “See, he is
puffed up; his desires are not upright—but
the righteous will live by his faith—
So the Apostle Paul builds his theme in the
first couple chapter of Romans from a little
remark in Habakkuk.

9. Paul ends his sermon in the synagogue at
Pisidian Antioch in kind of an odd way. Acts
13:41 NET 'Look, you scoffers; be
amazed and perish! For I am doing a
work in your days,: a work you would
never believe, even if someone tells you.'
“ Your cross-reference will cite Habakkuk
1:5 NIV “Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do
something in your days that you would not
believe, even if you were told.

10. Our outline of Habakkuk:
1 Hello!
2 Na-huh!
3 Say What?
4 CHILL!
5
Ok, can you follow that?

11. “Hello!”
Chapter 1:1-4
I think the first thing we find in this book as
we find the courage to pray yet is the
Prophet saying, “Hello!” Why is he saying
“Hello!” because it’s 600 BC & his world
is filled with idolatry & immorality, greed &
violence. Remind you of any culture your
familiar with?

12. This is the same time period as Jeremiah,
the weeping Prophet trying to get God’s
people ready for Babylonian captivity.
Maybe he’s battling with the seemingly in-
activity of God. “Hello! God, are you
paying attention? We‟re having trouble
down here. Things are not good down
here.”

13. Habakkuk 1:1 NIV The oracle that
Habakkuk the prophet received. 2 How
long, O LORD, must I call for help, but
you do not listen? Or cry out to you,
“Violence!” but you do not save? 3 Why
do you make me look at injustice? Why
do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and
violence are before me; there is strife,
and conflict abounds. 4 Therefore the
law is paralyzed, and justice never
prevails. The wicked hem in the
righteous, so that justice is perverted.

14. Do you feel this way sometimes? You watch
the evening news? The wicked hem in the
righteous, so that justice is perverted.
Habakkuk is having trouble with the
seemingly in-activity of god. It looks to him
like God is asleep on His deal. Anybody that
believes in the righteous or justice of God
can’t look at the current culture & be
satisfied. That would be impossible.

15. Let’s talk about City Crime Risk Index
Missouri for just a 100=National average
second. Rank City
1 St. Louis
Index
530
2 Atlanta 484
It has two of the 3 Birmingham
Alabama
380 (tie)
most crime ridden 3 Orlando 380 (tie)
cities in America. 4
5
Detroit
Memphis
369
361
6 Miami 346
7 Baltimore 339
8 Kansas City, 337
Missouri
9 Minneapolis 331 (tie)
9 Cleveland 331 (tie)
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/02/16/the-11-most-dangerous-cities

16. There are a lot of casinos which I am sure
has to do with the Missouri & Mississippi
rivers. Jefferson City had to pass a law
because we have 60,000 gambling addicts,
that’s bigger that the town of Joplin. 60,000
people who can’t stop gambling so they had
to pass a law limiting how much you can bet
at the table each night because it was killing
families.

17. So sometimes you just want to say, “God,
are You paying attention? Missouri‟s in a
mess. This is sort of a Bible belt state so
what‟s going on here God? Are you paying
attention?”
It makes you want to say,
“Hello!”

18. “Na-huh!”
But God address the Prophet & says, “Na-
huh!” It’s not what you think!” In chapter
1:5-11 God speaks to His troubled Prophet
& he says you don’t understand, I’ve got
this all figured out. I know it seems like I’m
not paying attention to you, but listen to this:

19. Habakkuk 1:5 NIV “Look at the nations and
watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am
going to do something in your days that you
would not believe, even if you were told. 6 I
am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless
and impetuous people, who sweep across
the whole earth to seize dwelling places not
their own. 7 They are a feared and dreaded
people; they are a law to themselves and
promote their own honor.

20. 8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry
gallops headlong; their horsemen come
from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to
devour; 9 they all come bent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners like sand. 10 They
deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh
at all fortified cities; they build earthen
ramps and capture them.

21. 11 Then they sweep past like the wind and
go on—guilty men, whose own strength is
their god.”
I am raising up the Babylonians, that
ruthless & impetuous people who sweep
across the whole earth to seize dwelling
places not their own? What a surprise to
this Prophet. At first Habakkuk had a
problem with the seemingly in-activity of
God.

22. Now you know what he’s got a problem
with? The activity of God, you’ve got to be
kidding me. “But God, I know that Israel is
bad, but Babylon is badder! This is terrible,
how could you use Babylon to punish us?”
One of the most disturbing truths I find in
the New Testament is For it is time for
judgment to begin, starting with the house
of God. And if it starts with us, what will be
the fate of those who are disobedient to the
gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17 NET

23. Ouch! Stings like a viper. So it’s like God
saying, “I’m going to deal with Missouri, I’m
going to handle that state. They can’t keep
doing this, no way. I’m going to take care of
that. I’m going to raise up
the…the…the…Taliban.”
“Say What?”
God you would take a group worse than us
to punish us? Oh, the weavings & waves of
God.

24. “Say What?”
It’s been said the shortest distance between
two points for God is often a zig-zag. He
often takes us on a journey we don’t
understand. So we go from “Hello!” to “Na-
huh!”
to “Say What?”
Chapter 1:11 to 2:1 “Say What?”
“You’re going to punish us with whom?” You
get it in verse 13 oh God, how could this
be?

25. 13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do
you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you
silent while the wicked swallow up those
more righteous than themselves?
Now the Prophet Habakkuk has another
issue trying to internalize this saying, “Can I
have faith in a God whose ways I don’t
totally understand? Is that possible?”

26. One Jewish scholar said it this way, “The
only faith worth having is a wounded faith.”
Sometimes our faith has to take some shots
before we really know what God it going to
do.
Habakkuk 1:12 O LORD, are you not from
everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will
not die. O LORD, you have appointed them
to execute judgment; O Rock, you have
ordained them to punish.

27. 13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do
you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you
silent while the wicked swallow up those
more righteous than themselves? 14 You
have made men like fish in the sea, like sea
creatures that have no ruler. 15 The wicked
foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he
catches them in his net, he gathers them up
in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is
glad.

28. 16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net and
burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net
he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest
food. 17 Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy? 2:1 I will
stand at my watch and station myself on the
ramparts; I will look to see what he will say
to me, and what answer I am to give to this
complaint.

29. “Just CHILL!”
So you move from “Hello!”
to “Na-huh!” to “Say What?” When we
come to chapter 2:2-20 I’d put it this way,
“Just CHILL!” “You can’t see it from
your prospective but I can so “Just
CHILL!” I want you to trust me in
something you can’t see.”

30. Jesus said something about that. John
20:29 NET Jesus said to him,
Habakkuk 2:2 NIV Then the LORD replied:
“Write down the revelation and make it plain
on tablets so that a herald may run with it.

31. 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed
time; it speaks of the end and will not prove
false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will
certainly come and will not delay. 4 “See, he
is puffed up; his desires are not upright—
but the righteous will live by his faith—5
indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant
and never at rest.

32. Because he is as greedy as the grave and
like death is never satisfied, he gathers to
himself all the nations and takes captive all
the peoples. 6 “Will not all of them taunt him
with ridicule and scorn, saying,” „Woe to him
who piles up stolen goods and makes
himself wealthy by extortion! How long must
this go on?‟ 7 Will not your debtors
suddenly arise?

33. Will they not wake up and make you
tremble? Then you will become their victim.
8 Because you have plundered many
nations, the peoples who are left will
plunder you. For you have shed man‟s
blood; you have destroyed lands and cities
and everyone in them.

34. 9 “Woe to him who builds his realm by
unjust gain to set his nest on high, to
escape the clutches of ruin! 10 You have
plotted the ruin of many peoples, shaming
your own house and forfeiting your life. 11
The stones of the wall will cry out, and the
beams of the woodwork will echo it.

35. 12 “Woe to him who builds a city with
bloodshed and establishes a town by crime!
13 Has not the LORD Almighty determined
that the people‟s labor is only fuel for the
fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for
nothing? 14 For the earth will be filled with
the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as
the waters cover the sea.

36. 15 “Woe to him who gives drink to his
neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till
they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their
naked bodies. 16 You will be filled with
shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn!
Drink and be exposed! The cup from the
LORD'S right hand is coming around to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.

37. 17 The violence you have done to Lebanon
will overwhelm you, and your destruction of
animals will terrify you. For you have shed
man‟s blood; you have destroyed lands and
cities and everyone in them.
18 “Of what value is an idol, since a man
has carved it? Or an image that teaches
lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own
creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.

38. 19 Woe to him who says to wood, „Come to
life!‟ Or to lifeless stone, „Wake up! „Can it
give guidance? It is covered with gold and
silver; there is no breath in it. 20 But the
LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth
be silent before him.”

39. Here’s what you do Habakkuk. Write on a
sign big enough so it can be read when a
guy carrying it runs down the street. The
righteous will live by his faith, that’s all they
need to know. In Habakkuk 2:2-20 you have
a series of things where God says to the
Prophet, “I’m going to take care of Babylon
in Babylon’s own good time.” He will
exercise his own judgment.

40. In fact chapter 2:8 says this, 8a you
(Babylon) have plundered many nations,
the peoples who are left will plunder you.
So God’s going to get His lick in. If you look
at the 2nd chapter you’ll see the Babylonians
broke many of the 10 Commandments.

41. You’ll also see 5 times the Prophet says,
“Woe to him,” “Woe to him,” “Woe to him,”
(Babylonians.) If there’s any message you
get right as you get to Revelations 22 it’s
this: someday wrong will be eradicated &
right will be vindicated. God will see to that!
So He says, “I’ll take care of Babylon, you
“Just CHILL!” Here’s what I want you
to know, the earth will be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the
waters cover the sea.

42. That’s not my first thought when the news
comes on every night. If I hear one more
time of some fella shaking a baby, one
more time of a murder my first thought is
not, oh yes, the earth will be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the
waters cover the sea.

43. No, the only way you can say that is by
hanging on by your teeth with faith that
somehow God will make this right. So you
finally get to chapter 3, now that’s my text,
I’m ready now to start.

44. Chapter 3, now we’re at,
It’s like he backs off in Chapter 3. Habakkuk
3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On
shigionoth. 2 LORD, I have heard of your
fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O
LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time
make them known; in wrath remember
mercy. 3 God came from Teman, the Holy
One from Mount Paran.
Selah

45. His glory covered the heavens and his
praise filled the earth. 4 His splendor was
like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden. 5 Plague went
before him; pestilence followed his steps. 6
He stood, and shook the earth; he looked,
and made the nations tremble. The ancient
mountains crumbled and the age-old hills
collapsed. His ways are eternal. 7 I saw the
tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of
Midian in anguish.

46. 8 Were you angry with the rivers, O LORD?
Was your wrath against the streams? Did
you rage against the sea when you rode
with your horses and your victorious
chariots? 9 You uncovered your bow, you
called for many arrows.
Selah
You split the earth with rivers; 10 the
mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of
water swept by; the deep roared and lifted
its waves on high.

47. 11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows, at the
lightning of your flashing spear. 12 In wrath
you strode through the earth and in anger
you threshed the nations. 13 You came out
to deliver your people, to save your
anointed one. You crushed the leader of the
land of wickedness, you stripped him from
head to foot.
Selah

48. 14 With his own spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour the
wretched who were in hiding. 15 You
trampled the sea with your horses, churning
the great waters.
16a I heard and my heart pounded, my lips
quivered at the sound; decay crept into my
bones, and my legs trembled.

49. See, now the Prophet has made a
transition. At first he didn’t understand. Now
he’s looking at things from heaven's point of
view, and now he’s shifted gears.

50. What he does, in words of highly-figurative
language he recounts the two big events in
Israel’s history. The exodus & the conquest,
The book of Exodus & the book of Joshua
are in chapter 3 in very figurative terms and
you finally get the big enchilada when you
get to 3:16. May I remind you, one of the
famous 3:16s of the Bible.

51. There are lots of them. One of these days
just look through your Bible and read all the
3:16s. You’ll be amazed at how many you
already know. Here’s one of them & this is
really my text. 16 I heard and my heart
pounded, my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones, and my legs
trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day
of calamity to come on the nation invading
us.

52. I heard What did he hear? He heard of the
coming judgment of the Babylonians. I
heard and my heart pounded, Literally, I
heard my inward parts pounding. my lips
quivered at the sound; decay crept into my
bones, Somebody said body & soul live so
close together they catch each other’s
diseases. and my legs, oh this is
interesting, trembled, can I play with that
word for just a minute?

53. The word trembled, râgaz in Hebrew
means, I’m all shook up, it really does. It
means to quiver, to shake, to quake, that’s
what this word means. If you do a little
concordance work on this word you’ll find
yourself in some interesting places. For
instance, you’ll find yourself in the book of
Genesis. You remember Joseph finally
reveals his identity to his brothers in a little
cat & mouse game.

54. You remember that? Then the brothers
were going to go back up & bring down
Father Jacob to Egypt to live. Joseph says
to his brothers to go get daddy Jacob.
Genesis 45:24 Then he sent his brothers
away, and as they were leaving he said to
them, “Don‟t quarrel (râgaz) on the way!”
Don’t you quiver, shake or agitate each
other, don’t you do it!

55. It’s also used in Exodus 15. Remember
chapter 15 when God brought Israel out
Egypt & wiped out the pursuing army in the
sea? Moses led the Israelites in a song.
Exodus 15:14 The nations will hear and
tremble; (râgaz) anguish will grip the people
of Philistia.
The nations will tremble when they hear
what God can do.

56. There’s another interesting reference to it in
1 Samuel 28:15. You remember when King
Saul had the witch of Endor summon up
Samuel. When she did 1Samuel 28:15a
NIV Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you
disturbed (râgaz) me by bringing me up?”
Why did you bring me back? Why did you
agitate my soul? Why did you… Some
interesting references.

57. But here is what’s really powerful, and this
is what I want to show you today. What’s
the next word? 16b Yet I will wait patiently
for the day of calamity to come on the
nation invading us.
“I know of coming judgment God. I know I
don’t understand your ways God, YET!” Do
we have it in us to pray YET? he says. Yet I
will wait patiently for the day of calamity.
That’s one of your better qualities isn’t it
folks.

58. Patience? Not one of mine. Wait patiently?
One guy reported seeing a sign,
“Antiques… while you wait” We’re not very
patient about anything. 16b Yet I will wait
patiently for the day of calamity to come on
the nation invading us. 17 Though the fig
tree does not bud and there are no grapes
on the vines, though the olive crop fails and
the fields produce no food, though there are
no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the
stalls,

59. Verse 17 Six lines, 3 couplets. Even though
the Hebrew word though only appears once
the translators are correct as they keep
repeating it. Though the fig tree does not
bud, I never lost any sleep over that. There
are no grapes on the vines, We might of
grown gardens, but not many grapes.
Though the olive crop fails, not too worried
over that.

60. You heard about the young guy who got to
the potluck salad table before anyone else
& sucked all the red out of the olives.
The fields produce no food, though there
are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the
stalls, Verse 17 kind of sounds bleak to me.
How about you?

61. Do you understand Habakkuk didn’t make
that list up? I didn’t know, but every one of
those things are in Leviticus 26 &
Deuteronomy 28 as terms of the covenant.
Do you understand what he’s saying? God,
even if you stripped away the promises you
gave us…what’s the next word? YET! You
talk about praying through clenched teeth.

62. 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be
joyful in God my Savior. 19 The Sovereign
LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like
the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on
the heights. For the director of music. On
my stringed instruments.
One person paraphrased that last part,
“Now put that to music!”

63. That’s what encourages me about
Habakkuk. If we’re going to make our life
count more for Christ, we’ve got to learn to
have the courage to pray YET! Now here’s
the deal, fig trees, grapes on the vine, cattle
in the stalls, sheep in the pen, that’s all part
of that old covenant. I believe what is said,
“It’s the Word of God for us, but not
necessarily the command of God for us.”

64. We live in a different age since Calvary. So
let’s just play with verse 17 & see how you
do. What if we change verse 17 to reflect
our world & where we are. What about this,
Though my kids disappoint me, don’t raise
your hand, but did you ever have that
happen?

65. You’ve heard the story about the
mischievous boy waiting on the school bus
one morning. The outhouse just happened
to be close to where he waited. One day he
pushed over the outhouse. When he got
home his dad met him. “Before you left for
school today did you kick over the
outhouse? The boy new he was had.

66. “Like George Washington when he
chopped down the cherry tree I cannot tell a
lie. Yes I tipped over the outhouse.” Dad
said “come here,” & he started taking off his
belt so he could whip him.
“Dad! George Washington’s dad didn’t whip
him when he chopped down the cherry
tree.” “Well George Washington’s dad
wasn’t in the cherry tree when he chopped
it down.” Sometime your kids disappoint
you.

67. How about this, though my spouse angers
me.
Did you ever hear the saying, “I didn’t say it
was your fault, I said I blame you!”

68. Though your kids disappoint you, though
your spouse angers you, though your boss
angers you, though your friends betray you,
I wonder if Jesus knew anything about that.
I’m asking you what you would put in verse
17. One military group had a statement.
The test of a good soldier is what it takes to
stop him. So what’s it take to stop you? Do
you have the courage to pray YET?
Sometimes you have to pray it through
clenched teeth.

69. A young married couple found out they
were going to have a baby. A short time into
the pregnancy the couple were sent to a
larger city for testing. It was found the baby
was not growing a brain. The doctor told
them the longest an infant born like this had
ever lived was 4 months. The child would
be born, but he was going to die. When the
due date came the doctor induced labor.

70. Jonathan Samuel was born & died. They
named him Jonathan because that means
gift of God, Samuel because that was the
baby so prayed for. At the funeral, before
the little casket was lowered into the grave
the young father slipped a note into the
casket. It read, “Dear Jonathan Samuel, I’m
already looking forward to getting to know
you someday. Love, Dad.

71. I think there is a man who knew how to pray
YET! Here’s the rest of the story. That
young husband & father sometime later had
a stroke & died. People who pray YET!
Believe things like this, he’s playing with his
son.