This is Robert Jeffress. In response to the horrific attack on Israel, I've written a brand new book called Are We Living in the End Times?
Go to ptv.org to order your copy. Prayer is not about bending God's will to conform to my will. Prayer is bending my will to conform to God's will. Prayer is not about getting my will done in heaven. Prayer is about getting God's will done here on earth. Jesus said that our priority ought to be for God's righteousness and for his kingdom. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. As children of God, it's important to engage in frequent conversations with our Heavenly Father. But what exactly is the purpose of prayer? What do we say?
And what should be our highest priority? Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress teaches how to use the Lord's Prayer as a foundation for all our prayers and petitions. Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.
Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Let me begin today with a question.
When was the last time you walked beneath the nighttime canopy of stars when you could clearly see God's creation? Well, this coming June 15th through 22nd, Amy and I are hosting a Pathway to Victory cruise vacation, where we'll witness firsthand not only the breathtaking night skies, but the absolute beauty of God's majestic creation in Alaska. We'd love for you to join us for this unforgettable vacation of a lifetime.
In addition, we'll bring with us musical artist Rebecca St. James and Michael O'Brien, and we'll laugh with comedian Dennis Swanberg. Plus, along the way, I'll be opening God's Word together for us. Please go to ptv.org and check out the wonderful itinerary.
And most importantly, reserve your spot while there's room by going to ptv.org. This week, I'm guiding you in a practical series that's based on the Lord's Prayer in Matthew Chapter 6. Jesus understood that his children don't need theoretical information about prayer. In fact, most of us crave a strong connection with God, and we need clarity on how to speak to him. Well, as a creative way to put what we've learned into action, I'm pleased to offer a wonderful new children's book on prayer.
This is for your children and your grandchildren. Even young kids are longing to connect with God and to ask him for big things. So my daughter, Julia, wrote a colorful book for kids called You Can Pray Big Things.
And at the close of today's message, be prepared to jot down the contact information because I'll explain how you can request your copy. But right now, let's give our attention to Matthew Chapter 6, where we pick up a study I started on Monday's program. It's titled Putting First Things First. Jesus said that the overriding desire of our hearts ought to be a pursuit of God, to discover his will for our life, and to submit ourselves to his rule in our life. And we see that priority of our prayer life expressed in the passage we're going to look at today.
If you have your Bibles, turn to Matthew Chapter 6. Last time, we saw that Jesus said, when you begin to pray, remember your relationship with God. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
He's hallowed, that is, he is holy, and because God is holy. That only follows, then, that his priorities ought to be our primary concern. And you see that in this next phrase of the Lord's Prayer, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Today, we're going to talk about what should be our priorities in our prayer life. When we pray, the first thing we ought to ask God for, not the only thing, but the first thing, should be for God's kingdom to come. What we're saying is, Lord, I am praying for the return of Jesus Christ one day, to set up his kingdom here on earth.
But I'm also praying for the reign of Christ in my life right now. Of course, that only leads to the next phrase, thy will be done. What do we mean, thy will be done? In the Bible, the term or phrase, God's will, is used in three distinct ways.
Write this down. Sometimes when we talk about God's will, we're talking about God's providential will. God's providential will is best defined as that secret plan of God's that determines everything that happens in this universe. God's hidden plan is incomprehensible to us. But think about it, God's plan that governs everything that happens in the world and happens in your life, that plan, that will, has to be big enough to have included the rebellion of Lucifer in heaven. It included the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden. It included the disobedience of Israel.
It includes tsunamis and earthquakes and other natural disasters. And if you have trouble accepting the fact that God's plan would include all of those things, as the Scripture says, remember that his plan also included the torture and the murder of his own son. I was reading this week about the Russian novelist Dostoevsky, in one of his novels, he has one of his characters ask his Christian brother this question.
I'll paraphrase the question. The question is, suppose you were the architect of the universe, you were constructing a plan that would encompass all of humanity, and the plan that you were constructing would result in the happiness of every woman and child for all eternity. The only catch is, your plan necessitates the torture and murder of a little girl.
Would you give the okay for such a plan? If you knew that in the end every man and woman and child throughout history would be happy, the Christian brother in the story says, no, I couldn't do that. The fact is most of us couldn't do that, could we? And yet that's what God did for us. God has this plan where all of his redeemed will live with him for all eternity, but that plan was built upon the torture and death of the truly only innocent person who ever lived, Jesus Christ. And yet God gave his okay.
That's beyond our comprehension. That is God's providential plan. Now, on the other end of the spectrum is the second part of God's will. We call it God's preceptive will. And God's preceptive will includes those parts of God's will that are very obvious to us, okay? They're contained in scripture. The precepts, the commands of the Lord.
Let me give you two examples. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul says, for this is the will of God, here it is right here, that you abstain from sexual immorality. And Paul says, you want to go God's will? Here's God's will that you abstain from sexual immorality.
Or 2 Corinthians 6, 14, those of you who are single adults, you're on the hunt for a mate right now, okay? What does God say to you? He says, do not be bound together with an unbeliever.
For what partnership have light and darkness, unrighteousness with righteousness? God's preceptive will are those parts of his will that are clearly revealed in scripture. And then third, there's God's personal will.
Many times when we talk about God's will, we're talking about his personal blueprint for our life. Where does God want me to attend school? What vocation does God want me to enter into? Whom should I marry?
Where should I live? And a thousand other questions. That's God's personal will. Now, when we are praying, thy will be done, what are we really saying to God? Let me mention to you three applications of that prayer, thy will be done. What we're saying is, first of all, God, I will accept your providential will.
That is, that hidden plan you have, even though it doesn't always make sense to me, I will accept your providential will. An acquaintance of mine a few years ago decided he didn't have time to go with his family on spring break, and so he sent his wife and three children in their van on without him. During that trip, the van flipped over three times. The wife and mother was killed. One of the children was killed.
The other two were badly injured. And this Christian father now has the task of not only providing for his two injured children, but taking care of them as well without a mother. The natural question is, why would God allow such a thing? How could God's providential will include such a tragedy?
I imagine every one of you here this morning could come up with a similar story and ask the why question. Joni Eareckson Tada, who has spent the last 40 years of her life in a wheelchair, said one time, God permits what he hates in order to accomplish what he loves. God permits what he hates in order to accomplish what he loves. What is it that God loves?
What is it that he wants to accomplish in your life? Romans 8, 28, and 29 answer that question. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him, to those who are called according to his purpose. God says everything that happens in your life, not only the good things, but the terrible things, those are all working together for good to accomplish God's purpose in your life. What is God's purpose in your life?
Here's a hint, it's not a big bank account. It's not a satisfying marriage. It's not a fulfilling job. It's not an easy existence. That's not God's plan for your life. Verse 29 of Romans 8 tells us God's plan for our life.
For whom God foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. Do you know what God's plan for your life is? His plan is to make you, to mold you into the image of Jesus Christ. And God uses not easy things. It's those hard things that God uses to make us like his son.
God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves. And when you say God, I accept your providential will, you're not saying God, I understand it or I agree with it, but I am trusting you even though I don't understand what's happening. There are some of you who are in that situation right now. You're going through a difficult time.
You're wondering why. Let me give you some words of assurance this morning. Jeremiah 51, 29 says, every purpose of the Lord will be accomplished in your life.
Isn't that great to know? Everything God has for you will be accomplished. Or Proverbs 12, verse 21, nothing without purpose happens to the righteous. If you're a child of God, there is no accident.
There is no adversity that comes to your life that has not come, first of all, through the loving hands of the will of God for you. Nothing without purpose happens to the godly. When we say thy will be done, we're saying God, I accept your providential will.
But we're saying more than that. We're also saying God, I will obey your perceptive will. I will obey your perceptive will. For most of us, the problem with God's will is not that part of God's will we don't comprehend. It's that part of God's will that's very clear to us because it's revealed in scripture. What does God have to say to us about his will? What is it that God desires for us? Let's do a little quick journey through scripture and see what God might be saying to you this morning.
How many of you are husbands? Does God say anything in scripture about what his will for you is? Ephesians 5, husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. Wives, God doesn't let you off the hook either.
He says wives, submit to your husbands in everything just as the church submits to Christ. Children, the Bible says to you, children, obey your parents for this is right in the eyes of the Lord. Parents, God says to you, don't provoke your children to anger. My kids are saying, amen, preach it, dad.
Don't provoke your children to anger but instead bring them up in the discipline and the admonition of the Lord. God has some very clear words about his will for you. What about your relationships? How many of you have ever been hurt by somebody? Anybody been wronged by somebody? Does God have anything to say about his will in that situation? Matthew chapter six, if you forgive men of their transgressions against you, my Heavenly Father will also forgive you one day.
But if you refuse to forgive those who have wronged you, my Heavenly Father will also refuse to forgive you of your transgressions. What about your moral life? Does God care about your moral life? Does he care about what you do in your relationships outside of marriage? Does he care about what you watch on the internet? First Corinthians six verse 18, but flee immorality.
That is run as far and as fast from it as you possibly can. For every other sin a person commits outside of his body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. How about our money? Does God have any desire about what we do with our money? Does he have a will regarding our money? No preacher worth his salt.
Wouldn't mention Malachi 3.10 here with the opportunity. Remember what it says? But bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, saith the Lord, that there might be food in my house. My point is God has a very specific will that governs every part of our life. When we pray thy will be done, listen to this. We're not saying to God, God, I want to obey your will. God, I know I should obey your will. We're not even praying, Lord, help me to obey your will. When we pray thy will be done, we're saying, God, I am going to start obeying your will right now.
That's what that prayer is. I accept your providential will, that part I don't understand, but I will obey your perceptive will. And then third, I will follow your personal will. You know, too many times we pray, Lord, show me your personal plan. Show me where to go to school. Show me whom I should marry.
Show me what vocation I should choose. And the reason we want to know what God's will is is not so we can do it necessarily, it's so we can decide whether we're gonna do it or not. God, show me what you have up your sleeve planned for me and then I'll decide whether I'm going to obey it.
No, God doesn't give direction to people with that kind of attitude. When we say thy will be done, we're saying, God, when you give me revelation, I'm gonna follow your plan for my life. Thy will be done on earth as it's right now being done in heaven. That's what Jesus said. Think about heaven right now. Who is it that's in heaven right now to obey the will of God? Jesus said God's will is being obeyed in heaven. Who is up there to obey God's will right now?
Who is it? God, the angels, aren't they? The angels are up there right now. Now, when God tells an angel to do something, how does an angel respond? If God says to an angel, now, I want you to do this. Does the angel say, well, God, I'll pray about that and I'll get back with you? Is that how the angels obey God's will? Or if God says to the angel, you know the Bible says they're ministering spirits sent to render service for us. Let's say that God sends an angel down to help you this week in a particular task. Does the angel say, well, Lord, I'd really like to do that but that's not my spiritual gift.
Go ask another angel to do that. It's not how the angels respond. No, when God tells the angels to do something, they obey immediately, completely, and continually. That's how they obey God's word.
Completely, immediately, continually. And when we pray thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is being done in heaven, we're saying, God, I am going to obey your will immediately. I'm going to obey it completely and I'm going to obey it continually. You know, Romans 12 verses one and two are great verses for us to remember. Paul said, therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. When you say, God, I'm going to obey your personal will, there's no promise that every moment of your life is going to be filled with ecstasy. Obeying God's will is no promise that you're going to be exempt from suffering in life. But what Paul is saying is, when you follow God's will for your life, in the end, you will see it to be good, acceptable, and perfect. Would you say those words with me? Good, acceptable, and perfect. What is God's will for your life like?
It is good, acceptable, and perfect. Many of you are familiar with the Christian author, Philip Keller, wrote a great book on the 23rd Psalm. Philip Keller grew up in Pakistan, and he said when he was a young man, he was fascinated by a potter that formed those clay vessels used to transport the water and wine. And one day he visited a potter's house and asked him to show him every step in the creation of a pottery masterpiece. Keller writes, first the potter led me into a small, dark, closed shed at the back of his shop where he acquired his clay. As he opened the door, I was engulfed with a repulsive, overpowering stench of decaying matter emerging from the gaping, dark pit in the floor of the shed. Kneeling down beside the black, nauseating hole, the potter reached down, and after searching carefully for a while, he brought up a lump of dark, smelly mud.
With a tremendous impact, I thought of the first verses of Psalm 40. He brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. As carefully as the potter selected his clay, so God used special care in choosing me. As the potter started to work with the clay on his wheel, I noticed that beside the potter's stool stood two basins of water, and that all the while the wheel was turning, he would dip his hands in the water and then mold the clay. The water was extremely important because without it, the potter's hands would stick to the clay and ruin the work. It was fascinating to see how swiftly but surely the clay responded to the pressure applied to it through those moistened hands. Silently and smoothly, the form of a graceful goblet began to take shape between his hands, and the water was the medium through which the potter, his will and his wishes were transmitted to the clay.
Immediately I thought of the water of the word of God, which is God's agency for doing his will in the earth. Gently the potter removed any stones that managed to come to the surface of the goblet. But after many large stones appeared and the goblet was marred, the potter crushed it in his hands. I said to him, what will happen to that goblet now? The potter replied, oh I'll just make it into a common finger bowl. And then I thought of Jeremiah 18 verse four, and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter.
Seldom did any lesson come home to me with such tremendous clarity and force. Why was this rare and beautiful masterpiece ruined in the master's hand? Because the potter had run into resistance. The question we need to ask ourselves is this. Are we going to let God make us into a beautiful goblet, fit to hold the fine wine of God's very life from which others can drink and be refreshed?
Or are we because of our resistance going to be made into a crude common finger bowl in which passerbys will simply dabble their fingers briefly and then pass on and forget? Are you willing to let God accomplish his will in your life? Ladies and gentlemen, if you don't remember anything else about this message, remember this. Prayer is not about bending God's will to conform to my will. Prayer is bending my will to conform to God's will. Prayer is not about getting my will done in heaven. Prayer is about getting God's will done here on earth and in my heart. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is being done in heaven.
Maybe you feel like you're a lump of clay on the potter's wheel today. Together, let's quit pushing God's hands away and allow him to fashion us into his image. Now, just before I turn things over to David, let me share a quick story with you. Not long ago, I received a note from Paula, who listens to Pathway to Victory in California. Her comments demonstrate the power of prayer. Paula said, Pastor Jeffress, I recently purchased two copies of your book about prayer to use with a young lady named Angelica.
She's a senior in high school and has been greatly impacted by the tragic auto accident of one of her classmates. Angelica asked me to help her, and that night I spent time asking God to help me guide this young lady. The next day, I was in the car listening to Pathway to Victory, and it felt as though God was answering my prayers through the radio. You spoke directly to the questions that I'd been asking of God to help Angelica. I immediately pulled over and requested the book.
Wow, isn't that a fabulous story? It's so encouraging to know that God used this program to teach someone about prayer, and she, in turn, was able to help a young high school girl as well. This is the perfect time for you to reach out, like Paula did, and request the two books on prayer that we're offering for you today. The first is a brand new children's book written by my daughter, Julia Jeffress-Sadler, that's called You Can Pray Big Things, and the second book is for adults, and it's also written by Julia. Her book is called Pray Big Things. Both books are yours with my thanks when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Now, here's David with all the details.
Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. Today, when you invest in the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, we'll say thanks by sending a copy of You Can Pray Big Things. That's the brand new children's book by Julia Jeffress-Sadler. Plus, we'll also include Julia's book for adults, Pray Big Things. Ask for both resources when you call us toll free at 866-999-2965 or visit online at ptv.org. Now, when your gift is $75 or more, you'll also receive the Prayers That Really Work teaching series on CD and DVD.
They're perfect for your small group Bible study or Sunday school class. One more time, call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. You could write to us if you'd like. Here's that address, P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. Again, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.
I'm David J. Mullins. You know, in America, most of us have been blessed with an overabundance of food. So, do we really need to ask God to give us this day our daily bread? Join us for the message, Food for Thought. That's Wednesday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.
