Best of 2020: In Case of Emergency: God is Bigger Than Your Problems

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by some special friends of this ministry. Pastor Greg? I wanted to say a special word of thanks to the Harvest Partners who make this ministry possible. Next time you're online, check out Pastor Greg's personal blog at blog.GregLaurie.com. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Pastor Greg Laurie comments today on the Lord's Prayer. Now if we wrote the Lord's Prayer, it would probably sound like this, Our Father who art in heaven, give us this day our daily bread. But as I think about the awesomeness of God, it will cause me to see my problem, challenge, need in a different light.

It won't change it necessarily, but it will change my perspective. Because listen to this, God is bigger than your problem. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace how sweet the sound. Again you hear when the angels are singing.

This is the day, the day when life begins. Are you facing a challenge right now? A trial? A tragedy? A crisis?

A loss? God knows what you're going through. He's concerned about what you're going through. And he has the power to get you through. But today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out he wants us to come to him and ask for his help. Prayer is a vital part of surviving the toughest of challenges life throws our way. Today's message is from our collection of top ten most requested presentations.

This is the day, the day when life begins. Have you ever been in what appeared to be an impossible situation with no way out? Let me restate that question. Are you in, right now, an impossible situation with no way out? Or have you ever desperately needed or even wanted something but it seemed there was no way you would ever have it?

Have you ever thought there was no future for you and for you it was just too late? If so, you need to know more about the power of God and what can take place through prayer. For one thing certainly stands out in the pages of Scripture is that prayer can dramatically change situations, people, and on occasion even the course of nature itself. But the thing that prayer changes the most is us. And who knows more about prayer than Jesus.

And so that is what we are going to look at here in just a moment. The disciples came to him. They said, Lord we have a question. Would you teach us how to pray? Jesus gave them this prayer which shows prayer is something that can be taught. You need to be taught how to pray.

And sometimes you are taught by watching others do it. And you are taught of course by reading Scripture. And there are certain principles that you can engage when you pray. Now we call this the Lord's Prayer and there is nothing wrong with calling it that.

The Bible never addresses it as such. I don't think it really was a prayer. Jesus himself prayed. You say, well of course he did.

No actually he didn't. Because Jesus would never need to pray. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us because Jesus never sinned. If you want to read the real Lord's Prayer the prayer that only Christ could pray. John 17. That is the Lord's Prayer.

It is rather long. It is a prayer only Christ could pray. This could better be described as the disciples prayer or maybe the template for prayer.

But call it what you like. We think of it as the Lord's Prayer. It is a model for all prayer. I am going to be reading from Matthew 6 verses 9 to 14. And I will tell you what I want us all to do this out loud together. This is the New King James Version.

Let's read it together. In this manner therefore pray. Our Father in heaven. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Isn't that a beautiful prayer. I love that. The Lord's Prayer.

Now we think of this maybe as the big gun. In case of emergency break glass and pray this prayer. There is nothing wrong with that. If you are in a moment of crisis and you just say our Father who art in heaven that is ok. You pray that prayer. You are having a hard time getting to sleep at night. Just go through that prayer. Think about that prayer. Ponder that prayer.

That is all good. But it is not just the big gun so to speak. It is not just the in case of emergency prayer. As I said it is a model for prayer.

So here is point number one if you are taking notes. You have complete access to the Creator of the universe through prayer. You have complete and total access and all stage paths if you will to the Creator of the universe through prayer.

Let's start at the beginning. Our Father who art in heaven. So you just call Him and you say Dad I need to ask you a question.

That is called access. That is a relationship we are talking about here. This is God Almighty but I have Him on speed dial. I have His private number.

I can access Him anytime I want. That is relationship. Ok you have relationship with God. You are His daughter. You are His son. He loves you. He lights up when you walk into the room. He wants to hear from you. He wants to talk to you. He wants to spend time with you.

It is never a drudgery. It is always a delight and the same should be true for us. This is your Father in heaven. A Father who will always be there. A Father who listens. A Father who loves us. Your Father in heaven.

You say but that is a problem. In heaven. Heaven is so far away.

I need someone here on earth. Well for starters God is omnipresent. Which means present everywhere so He isn't heaven in here. But is heaven really that far away? I think we think you know here is the sky. And now here is the solar system. And now here is the third heaven. And it is just so so far.

And maybe in a sense that is true. But in another sense heaven is closer than you realize. Heaven is another dimension.

It is a supernatural realm. So for the Father in heaven to step into your world is nothing to Him. He is here. My Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So God is deeply involved and deeply concerned about what you are facing right now.

If it concerns you it concerns Him. Our Father who art in heaven. Notice it is our Father in heaven.

Not my Father in heaven. We are being taught by Jesus to pray with other believers. He doesn't teach us to pray give me this day my daily bread. And nor does He teach me to pray forgive me my sins as I forgive those who sinned against me. He teaches me to pray give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. There is nothing wrong with asking God to forgive you of your sin and provide your daily bread. But the emphasis here is this is something we should do together. Christians need to pray with Christians. It helps doesn't it? Have you ever had a burden? You are overwhelmed with something. You see a Christian friend and you say can we pray?

Yes. And after you pray it feels so much better. That is because there is power in unified prayer. That is why Jesus said if any two of you will agree on anything it will be done of your Father in heaven. Now of course we need to be aligned with the will of God. But the point is praying together makes all the difference in the world. The Bible tells us to bear one another's burdens. Don't do it alone. Don't do life alone.

Don't try to be a solo Christian. Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name. So we do this together and then of course we give Him honor and glory. But what does Jesus teach us in this template for prayer? When you pray you say our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now if we wrote the Lord's Prayer it would probably sound like this. Our Father who art in heaven give us this day our daily bread. Let's just get down to business.

Here is my list. Now there is a place for petition. Nothing wrong with asking the Father in heaven for what you need. But notice that Jesus says first take time effectively to contemplate the greatness of God.

Now there are exceptions. If you fall off a ladder and you are on your way down help will do. Ok. You can't even finish the Lord's Prayer. God help. Or maybe you are out surfing and a great white shark is approaching you and you know because you hear the music.

Because John Williams is over there directing his orchestra and you don't know why they are even on the beach. Whoa. He is getting closer. God help me. God deliver me.

God save me. The shark is getting closer. And then you say God I just pray He is a Christian shark. Meanwhile the shark is saying for this meal that I am about to receive I give thanks.

These are the jokes people. I don't know what to say. But as I think about the awesomeness of God. As I contemplate the greatness and bigness of God. It will cause me to see my problem, challenge, need in a different light. It won't change it necessarily. But it will change my perspective. I will see it differently because listen to this. God is bigger than your problem.

Whatever it is. God is bigger. And so my Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be your name.

Set apart be your name. Honored and glorified be your name. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We hear from so many people who find Christ through Harvest Ministries. And it's a blessing to know that God is using His word to touch hearts. Pastor Greg, thank you for leading me to Christ three years ago at the Harvest Crusade. Although I'm not perfect, I realize that Christ in all His glory. Has made me want to become a better man because of everything you taught me. Through the word of God, I am now at peace. I've struggled my whole life with addiction.

And I've only overcome that battle because of everything that's been revealed to me. And I want you to know that you had a major influence on my life. And I can't thank you enough. God bless you and harvest eternally. An encouraging story of how God's word is changing lives through the ministry of harvest. Do you have a story to tell of how Pastor Greg's teaching has touched you? Call us and let us know at 866-871-1144.

That's 866-871-1144. Well, we're giving careful consideration to the Lord's Prayer today. As Pastor Greg presents his message, In Case of Emergency, one of last year's most requested studies. And thanks to our Harvest partners and others who support this outreach for their help in making today's teaching possible.

Point number four now. Prayer is getting God's will on earth, not my will in heaven. Prayer is getting God's will on earth, not my will in heaven. Verse 10, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I've heard people say, I've been wrestling with God a lot in prayer.

Really? I hope you're losing. You don't want to talk God into something that is not His will. Not that you could.

But why even try? You see, prayer is not about changing God's mind. It's in many cases about changing my mind. Prayer is not pulling God my way. It's pulling me His way. So I'm saying, Lord, I want Your kingdom to come and I want Your will to be done.

Now when I talk about the kingdom, I'm really just saying, Lord, I long for heaven. Every Christian has been pre-wired to know God. And they've been pre-wired to long for a place they've never been to before. Sort of a homing instinct.

We see it in the animal kingdom. God has put it in humanity as well. We long for heaven. We're homesick for heaven. So when I'm praying, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, I'm just saying, I long for the day when I'll be in heaven in the presence of the Lord. But I'm also saying, I long for the day when Jesus will come back to this earth again. Because the word that is used here, by Christ, come, is a word that means something that's sudden and instantaneous. So effectively when I say, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, I'm saying, Lord, please come back and do it soon.

And it's also a personal request. I'm saying, Lord, I want Your kingdom in my life. I want Your rule in my life. Jesus said, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.

And by that He meant, when He was with a group of people, I'm here. Wherever I am, that's where the kingdom of God is. So when I say, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, I'm saying, Lord, I want Your rule in my life. I want You to be in charge of my life. I want to give You the master key of every door in my little house. I want to give You all my passwords. You can access all my social media accounts. You can access anything I look at. Here it is, Lord. My wife has all my passwords.

I hope yours does, too, or your husband. But no secrets, Lord. I want You to have access. You say what You want to say.

You do what You want to do. This is what Jesus meant when He said, seek first the kingdom of God. Also when I pray, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, I'm praying for the salvation of those that don't know the Lord. And we can play a part in bringing that kingdom to others, can't we? God's kingdom is brought to this earth every time a new soul is brought to Jesus.

Point number five. God wants us to bring our needs before Him each and every day. God wants us to bring our needs before Him each and every day. Verse 11, give us this day our daily bread. Now, if you're on the keto diet, you'll have to change that, I suppose. Give me this day my daily meat and cheese, I suppose. Give me this day my daily bread.

Now, what does this mean? Well, it's obvious, bread. Bread was a staple of the first century diet, so it includes that, but bread speaks of everything. It speaks of your finances. It speaks of a roof over your head.

It speaks of your health. Just everything you need in life, my daily bread. It's a funny thing, back in the 60s, it was an expression for money. Someone might come up to you and say, hey, man, do you have any bread? By the way, that's my default 60s way of speaking. I think everybody in the 60s, hey, man, uh, uh, do you have any bread?

Yeah, too many drugs. But God wants to provide everything you need in life, and it's a reminder that everything I have in life is provided for me by God. Notice it says give me this day my daily bread.

It doesn't say give me this month my monthly bread or this year my yearly bread. The Lord will sometimes allow things to happen in our lives that will remind us we need Him every day. Maybe you're going through something like that right now. All of a sudden, oh, wow, you have this financial crisis. All of a sudden you have this health scare. All of a sudden you have this problem in your marriage or you have this problem with your kids or you have this other problem, and it's like, uh, God, help.

That's okay. Sometimes He'll allow these things to remind us that He's the provider, and we need to come to Him each and every day, not just asking for stuff but giving Him glory for the stuff He's already given. When's the last time you just prayed a prayer of thanks? Oh, Lord, thank You for this. Thank You for providing for this. Thank You for my wife. Thank You for my husband, giving Him thanks.

Point number six. God wants us to ask for and extend forgiveness to others. Now, some people don't think they need forgiveness. Oh, I don't know that I really sinned today. Seriously?

No? I can't think of a single impure thought I got? I didn't lose my temper once. I don't think I've sinned at all. Well, you're sinning right now with pride, by the way, but whatever. No, we sin every day.

We really do. And the Bible says if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But then it also goes on to say in 1 John 1-9, if we will confess our sin, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So I need to ask God constantly for forgiveness. I think most of us get that.

I think most of us want that. But here's where it gets tricky. Forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are indebted to us. Wait, what? Yeah, forgive people. But Greg, this person, they hurt me. This person bullied me on social media. This person insulted me. This person did something that's so horrible, I can't forgive them ever.

Really? Jesus said you better be praying not only for your daily bread, but you better be praying and extending forgiveness every single day. I like what C.S. Lewis said about this and I quote, Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive. End quote. It's a great concept forgiveness. I love forgiveness until it's time for me to forgive someone that doesn't deserve it.

Now let's just concede the point. They don't deserve it. Therefore I will not forgive them. Okay, hold on now. Do you deserve forgiveness? Well, no?

Okay. You don't deserve forgiveness, yet God gave it to you. Why would you not extend it to another person as well? The Bible says you've been forgiven. Therefore be tenderhearted, forgiving others.

But listen to this. One person put it this way. Forgiveness is not about absolving the perpetrator. It's about healing the victim.

Here's another statement I like. Forgiveness isn't giving into another person. It's getting free of that person.

Get it? See in a way it's even not about that person. Let's just say here's this person. He did this thing to me. I choose to forgive him. Doesn't deserve it. Did it anyway. Who's getting free now?

Him? Not really. But I am. Because that's not driving me crazy. So when he walks in a room I'm not seething over in the side. Because I've let it go.

Let it go. And forgive as you've been forgiven. God wants us to ask for and extend forgiveness to others. Pastor Greg Laurie, with insight on the importance of forgiveness in following the Lord's model for prayer, laid out in what we commonly call the Lord's Prayer. Pastor Greg has more to come in this message called In Case of Emergency. Did you hear all of today's study here on A New Beginning? If not, you can catch up by going online to harvest.org. Oftentimes the online version contains several more minutes of insight from Pastor Greg. So check it out at harvest.org. Or to get this best of message on CD call 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Pastor Greg, I was struck by a social media post of yours recently that really crystallizes our burden for this new year and what we plan to do moving forward. You write this, Our country is in dire shape, spiritually and morally. And it's my firm conviction that the only hope is the proclamation of the Gospel.

I don't see anything else that can turn America around. That's just such a concise statement of what we're all about. The Gospel can save our culture from ruin. And I'm so glad to say that we have a tool we can put into our listeners' hands that will help them do their part in making that a reality.

Yes, well that tool is called a rush of hope. And many of our listeners may remember that we put it out on our social platforms, harvest.org, etc. And it's been shown around the United States now on television. But now we're offering it to people for their gift of any size.

They have their own copy of it on DVD. And here's how this works. Here's your job.

Here's your mission should you decide to accept it. It is to get people you know that are not yet Christians in front of a screen. Now it might be a tablet screen. Could be a phone screen.

Better yet, a TV screen. Where you show them a rush of hope. What is a rush of hope? It's what we call a cinematic crusade.

Beautifully filmed with a lot of incredible scenery from Montana and Colorado. But the main focus of the film is how God can intervene in difficult situations and transform human lives. Like the story of young Bart Millard who had his mother walk out on him and he was left to be raised by his alcoholic, abusive father. But God intervened in his life and was able to change Bart's heart enabling him to forgive his father and have an impact on his father coming to Christ later in life. We also have the compelling story of Jeremy Camp who was a newlywed but tragically his bride Melissa got cancer and he walked with it through it hoping God would heal her but ultimately she tragically died. But this is a story of how he was able to face this with faith and still have hope and trust in God and believe even when circumstances were hard. Interwoven throughout a rush of hope is a message I give offering hope to the viewer and ending with a gospel presentation where we even lead folks in a prayer.

All you have to do is get someone to see it. We're effectively doing the heavy lifting for you and at the end of them watching it you can turn to them and say did you pray and ask Christ to come into your life with Pastor Greg and if not would you like to do it right now? Get your copy of A Rush of Hope. This will be a tool that will help you reach people with a gospel like never before. Yeah that's right and we'll be glad to send you A Rush of Hope to thank you for your donation right now.

It's an investment that comes at a strategic time as we prepare to reach more people than we ever have before. So contact us today for the DVD of A Rush of Hope and along with it you'll receive an evangelistic tract on life's most important questions and other resources to help you host a watch party in your home. Plus we'll send a digital download code so you can watch the film online from your computer or tablet or smartphone. That way you can take it with you and share it with a friend.

A sort of a cinematic crusade in your pocket or purse. So write us today at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. 1-800-821-3300. And we can take your call anytime 24-7.

Or just go online to Harvest.org. Well next time, more insights on how to enjoy an effective, rewarding prayer life as Pastor Greg continues our collection of most requested presentations from the last year. Join us next time here on A New Beginning with Pastor Greg Laurie. In the day, the day when life begins The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.