In Case of Emergency | Moving with the Holy Spirit

Today's episode of A New Beginning is brought to you by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Learn more at harvest.org. And while you're there, browse our library of free ebooks designed to help you grow in your faith. We cannot overcome the devil in our own strength. You and I need to pray. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Pastor Greg Laurie reminds us we're no match for the devil's supernatural strength, but he's no match against God Almighty.

That should inform our prayers. So when I say deliver me from temptation, I'm saying, Lord, help me to be smart and avoid those things that will bring me down. But ultimately, Lord, give me the strength I need to resist. Ever try to run up a downward escalator?

Sounds silly, but kids try it all the time just to see if they can. When we try to fight against the lures of temptation on our own strength, we're running up a downward escalator. The momentum against us is just too much. Well, today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us change escalators and embrace the power and provision of God through prayer.

When we're moving in the same direction as the Spirit of God, the journey is a whole lot easier. Now, mention if you could go to an elite university and have a class taught by the finest person in that field from all of history. For instance, you could study music under Beethoven. Have a drama class taught by Shakespeare. Be taught political science by Thomas Jefferson. How about a philosophy class taught by C.S.

Lewis. Well, we would like that because they're experts in the field. How about this? A class on prayer taught by Jesus Christ. That sounds good to me.

I'd be in that class. Who knows more about prayer than Jesus? And so that's what we're going to look at here. The disciples came to Him. They said, Lord, we have a question. Would You teach us how to pray? Jesus gave them this prayer. I'm going to be reading from Matthew 6, verses 9 to 14.

And I'll 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. But what does Jesus teach us in this template for prayer? When you pray, you say, Lord, 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's my list. Now there's 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 fell off a ladder and you're on your way down, help will do. Okay. You can't even finish the Lord's Prayer. God help. 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'll 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. 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. What does this mean? Well, it's obvious that 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. 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 are 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 God help.

That's ok. Sometimes He will allow these things to remind us that He is 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 has already given.

When is the last time you just prayed a prayer? 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.

But here is 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 is 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. 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.

Ok hold on now. Do you deserve forgiveness? Well no. Ok. 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 have 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 is 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 is 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. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

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Stream it all on any device for free using the new Harvest Plus app. Well today Pastor Greg is offering practical help toward a more productive prayer life based on the Lord's Prayer. And our thanks to our Harvest partners and others who support this ministry for helping to make today's insight possible. We cannot overcome the devil in our own strength. We cannot overcome the devil in our own strength. Verse 4. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. A better translation of this would be deliver us from the evil one.

And that would be Lucifer or the devil. We cannot completely remove ourselves from temptation. Otherwise we would have to leave the entire planet. And even if you did that, you will get tempted in space to. Walking around on the moon you will still have bad thoughts.

Come on. It is going to follow you wherever you go. So the point of it is that I need God's help. Really what I am praying is Lord don't allow me to walk into a situation that would overwhelm me and cause me to sin. But deliver me from temptation and any trap the devil has set for me. It is really an acknowledgement of human weakness. One passage I memorized is a very young man I still remember today.

It is 1 Corinthians 10 13 and it says. Wait I forgot it. No I didn't. You were hoping I did though didn't you? No I have forgotten it.

No I haven't. 1 Corinthians 10 13. There is no temptation taking you.

But such as is common to man. But God who is faithful will not allow you to be tempted above which you are able. But will with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.

Allow me to loosely paraphrase it. There is always a way out of every temptation. How many of you have ever been tempted to sin? Raise your hand.

How many of you have ever given in to that temptation? Raise your hand. Ok wow you are a wicked bunch of people.

What is going on? I am kidding. So we have given in. But there was always a way out.

Wasn't there? And if you are honest the way out was sometimes as simple as the door. I need to walk out of this door and it will be better. It would be like if you drive by Krispy Kreme donuts. Now I have eaten six in one sitting. Really? You are like oh. Am I the only one? How many of you have eaten six Krispy Kreme donuts? Raise your hand. Ok ok. You are as bad as me. How many of you have eaten more than six? Raise your hand.

Now I am doing it to you. They are good though. Aren't they good?

They are good going down. I mean they literally melt in your mouth. Add some cold milk.

Yes. But they are not so good after they have been sitting in your stomach. I went there a while ago with some friends. And actually a couple of years ago we were on motorcycles and I ate six and milked. And literally I am on my motorcycle at night. It is freezing and I feel like I am falling asleep. I am in a food coma.

Because there is this sugar spike and then the sugar crash. Right? Ok. This is like sin. Apologies to Krispy Kreme.

I don't want letters from attorneys. Your donuts are awesome. Ok. But that is the problem.

They are nice going down. But afterwards it is like what was I thinking. Then you get in your scale and it breaks.

Ok. That is not a good sign. There was a way out. I didn't have to say pull the car over. Get out of the car.

Walk in. But they always give you the first one free. They know you will get hooked.

They are smart over there Krispy Kreme. There is always a way out of every temptation you face. Don't tell me you can't get out of the trap you are in.

Don't tell me you can't get out of that immoral relationship. Don't tell me you can't stop looking at porn. Don't tell me you can't control your temper. Don't tell me you can't stop drinking or stop using drugs or whatever it is you are doing. Don't tell me that because you can. And there is a way out if you want to take the way out.

But then we will say I can't. I am just the devil got hold of me. The devil made me do it. The devil is powerful but he needs your cooperation. So when I say deliver me from temptation I am saying Lord help me to be smart and avoid those things that will bring me down. But ultimately Lord give me the strength I need to resist. Jesus gave us this template for prayer to encourage us to pray.

And the reason I chose this message today in particular is I just want to remind you. You need to pray about everything. Just pray about everything. Get into a habit of prayer. You know we make prayer very formal. Well it is time to ask the blessing. Sometimes it is even like the food is there and no one is eating. No one asks the blessing.

Oh everybody stop. Your mouth is full. And then you pray there. It is like you messed up.

You didn't pray the little token prayer. I am not saying it is a bad thing to give thanks. But we get hung up.

It becomes a rule. Or we pray with our kids before they go to bed. These are all good things.

But we need to expand way beyond that. And we need to get into a lifestyle of prayer. So when that burden hits me right then I pray. When I am driving down the road and something comes to me. Troubles me. Concerns me. I just turn it into a prayer. Right. Just keep your eyes open.

You are driving. But Philippians 4 says don't worry about anything. Pray about everything. And the peace of God that passes all human understanding will guard. Protect your mind in Christ Jesus. Pray. Cry out to God in your sorrow and pain. Call on the Lord for His provision. His protection.

And His guidance. And give thanks to the Lord for your joys in His provision. Let me loop back to something I said earlier. I want to keep talking about Krispy Kreme donuts. No I don't.

I am done with those. I want to loop back to that statement of Jesus. Forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are indebted to us.

That is an interesting word. Debts. You think it would just say forgive us our sins and it is translated that way in some translations. But debts is a really apropos word that is chosen here because the word that Jesus uses here for forgive means to cancel a debt specifically. Sin is a debt. And it is a debt I can't pay.

It would be like if you found out you owed the IRS five million dollars and you had ten bucks in your account. There is no way you can pay that debt. You owe all these things because of your sin. Because of our sin. So I am saying Lord pay my debt.

Pay my debt right now. And that is exactly what He did on the cross. The Bible says He canceled the debt that you owed at the cross. And as I have often said He came to pay a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay. But He settled it at the cross.

Everything is paid for. Another way this is sometimes translated is trespasses. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

That is a good translation as well. You know the word trespass. Sometimes you see it maybe in a park. They just planted some grass and they have a little cord there and a sign hanging off of it. No trespassing.

They don't want you to be stomping on their new grass. And so when I trespass I am breaking a commandment. I am crossing a line.

Listen. Every one of us has crossed that line. Every one of us has sinned. Every one of us needs Jesus.

And I want to close by asking you this. Have you asked Him to forgive you of your sin? Only the Christian. Only the child of God can say my Father who art in heaven. Now if you are a nonbeliever you can say God up there somewhere. But for me for us He is our Father. And that is because of what Jesus did. After Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead He appeared to Mary Magdalene there at the tomb and He said, I am going to go to my Father and to your Father. To my God and your God. Oh wait. Now it is not just that Jesus calls them Father.

You can call them Father too because of relationship. Only through Christ. Have you asked Jesus to forgive you of your sin? Are you still bound by the power of sin? Are you trapped by some vice? Some addiction?

Whatever it is. The root of it is sin. It may express itself in other ways but the root is sin. Only Christ can break the power of sin in your life and He can do it for you right here right now. But you have to reach out to Him and say God help me. Lord I know I have sinned. I am sorry.

I turned from it. Jesus rescue me. Come into my life and forgive me of all of my sin.

And that can happen for you as well. Because Jesus who died on the cross rose again from the dead three days later. And He is right here right now. Standing at the door of your life and He is knocking.

And He is saying if you will hear His voice and open the door He will come in. Would you like Jesus to come into your life? Would you like to know God as your Father? Would you like your sin forgiven today?

It can happen. Let's all pray together. Father I ask you to speak to the hearts here and those that are listening wherever they are. Help them to see their need for you. Help them to come to you.

Help them to believe in you. Right now we ask. Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer. And if you'd like to make a change today in your relationship with the Lord, Pastor Greg will help you do that in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. Well it's such a privilege to have author J. Warner Wallace with us today. Jim Wallace, former cold case detective. And we're making available his brand new book called The Truth in True Crime.

Pastor Greg? You know it seems like people are so interested in crime. You know there's podcasts dedicated to it.

Television shows, obviously films and people just love to. Why do you think that is? Why are we drawn to that? Well I think we all recognize, and this is one of the chapters of the book, you know are we innately good and corrupted by the systems in which we live? Or are we uniquely fallen and prone to corrupting the systems in which we live? And I think because we recognize that yeah, sadly I think a lot of times when you watch true crime stories you see people you know or you see some side of yourself that's intriguing. Look Dateline, I've been on Dateline probably I think more than any other detective in the country.

In my cases like all the other ones you're probably going to watch on Dateline usually involve a spouse killing his spouse or her spouse. And when we watch those shows we kind of ask ourselves could that be me? Because we innately know that there's something about our nature that needs fixing. That's why I think the gospel, I always say this and I say this in one chapter of the book, the gospel cures every kind of stupid you can think of.

Including marriage stupid and murder stupid and political stupid and cultural stupid, whatever the stupid is. And I think because we know that we have this innate sense that yeah we need fixing. We're intrigued with shows that demonstrate how much we need fixing. Wow that's a great statement.

Well you've written about these ideas and much more in your brand new book The Truth in True Crime. And we're offering this new book by J. Warner Wallace to you for your gift of any size. So whatever you can send to support our ministry and help us to continue to teach the word of God and to preach the gospel which is so desperately needed. It seems to me Jim people are drifting even in the church so far from a biblical world view. You know and it seems to me it's so important for us to dig into scripture and think and act biblically.

Yeah no doubt. As a matter of fact Susie, my wife's not here with me today but she was here last time we did this. And she wanted me to tell you that we have been so unbelievably impacted by your gospel continuing commitment to a gospel centered ministry. That when we have a book like this, the first person I want to have it in and hopefully leverage it to spread the gospel is you.

Because I feel like you get it. But I think we are moving away from the power of the gospel, the people who are willing to listen to it. Look I know that my books are not going to change hearts. The gospel is the power of God, not my books or any argument for Christianity. But there are times people like me won't even listen to the gospel. Like they built this wall around themselves, they won't hear it. And so I think from my perspective I'm just trying to help lower that barrier. Because it's not anything I say that's going to change your life. It is the gospel, you simply have to have the barriers down so you'll listen to it.

Right. So this is a great tool to help get those barriers down. A great resource you can share with people who maybe seem like they're completely closed to the gospel like Jim once was. And the book is called The Truth in True Crime, available to you for your gift of any size this month.

Yeah that's right, it's such a fascinating book. It offers a unique application of biblical insights to the facts of true crime investigations. Let us send this your way. We'll send it to thank you for your investment in keeping these daily studies coming your way. And time is running out for us to make this resource available, so get in touch with us right away. Just ask for The Truth in True Crime when you call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514.

Or just go online to Harvest.org. And then Pastor Greg, just before we go, would you mind praying with the person listening who wants to make a change today in their relationship with the Lord? I'd be happy to Dave. You know, as you've been listening to this today, maybe you've heard another voice. By that I mean, yeah you heard me say a few things, but you heard God's voice speak to you. Deep in the recesses of your heart, and it suddenly dawned on you, this is what I need. Or to state it more accurately, this is who I need. I need Jesus, and I want Jesus.

But maybe you don't know how to make that connection. Let me help you. Pray this after me right now if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. And I am sorry for my sin. And I need your forgiveness right now. Would you come into my heart and my life as Savior, as God, as friend?

I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for calling me, and accepting me, and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. I know that was a relatively short prayer. Maybe you felt something as you prayed it.

Maybe you felt nothing. That doesn't really matter. Because God's word says, these things we write to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. It doesn't say, so you may think you have it, or you may hope you have it if God's in a good mood.

No, that you can know it. And I want you to know, if you pray that prayer in a minute, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come into your life. So congratulations. You're now a Christian. Now continue to follow the Lord. And to help you, we'd like to send you something that will help you build a strong foundation for your faith. It's Pastor Greg's popular New Believers Bible.

It'll answer many of the questions you might have, and get you started off right in your new relationship with the Lord. So get in touch and ask for it. We'll send it free of charge. Call us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or go online to Harvest.org and click Know God. Well next time, Pastor Greg launches an eye-opening study in the book of Acts.

We'll learn we can't influence our community if we're isolated from our community. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to A New Beginning. This is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners. So for more content that can help you know God and equip you to make Him known to others, or to learn more about how you can become a Harvest Partner, just go to Harvest.org.