June 27th, 2004, Sunday Morning

"Trusting the Father's Plan"
Trusting in God's plan for your life--not your own


OPENING: Matthew 26:36-45


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INTRODUCTION: Review on what prayer is:

• Luke 18:10-14: Prayer is never for show (so others can see you acting publicly religious); it is a private relationship/conversation with the Father
  
  
  • God is not impressed or moved by mixing prayer with incense, music, various Yoga positions, etc.
  
  
• Matthew 6:7: Prayer is meaningful conversation--not using the same words every time, like some religions, thinking more repetition means a quicker answer
  
  
• John 20:31: Prayer is recognition that we may not reach the Father but through Jesus Christ, His Son
  
  
• Prayer is always seeking the mercy of God; All prayers are answered because we ask His mercy--not because we've "earned it"
  
  
• Prayer is the only solution for those moments in your life where you face tough, frightening, uncertain situations, where all your friends have abandoned you--like Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, where all His 12 disciples scattered and the whole world turned against Jesus, when He was arrested there (Matthew 26:56-57)

THERE ARE TIMES IN YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU WILL HAVE TO FACE EVIL

• Jesus has come to the point of facing the cross--His purpose in life
  
  
  • Satan is at work, having entered Judas to betray Jesus Christ
    
    
  • Luke 22:53: The religious leaders are planning their execution of Him--hated reigns supreme this night
  
  
• Paul told the church at Ephesus that we will face evil days
  
  
  • Luke 22:44: Jesus has experienced more grief and pain than anyone in this world ever has--therefore Jesus understands whatever pain you ever suffered or are suffering
    
    
  • The facing of torture, pain, suffering and death, taking of our sins upon himself, and the loneliness of the night was overwhelming to Jesus
    
    
    • Matthew 26:36-44: He was so distressed--to the point of death--He went to pray about this matter three separate times
      
      
    • Matthew 26:39: And just as we, as human beings, don't always agree with what God wants for us, Jesus, too, asked that what the Father had planned for Him would not happen
      
      
    • Matthew 26:42: However, Jesus came back in His second prayer to acknowledge the Father's will be done--not Jesus' own
  
  
• Jesus does the only thing we can do at vulnerable moments like this--pray to the Father (Matthew 26:38)
  
  
  • It keeps us from entering into temptation (i.e., believing acquiring money is the instant problem-solver or alcohol for a temporary solution)
    
    
  • It gives us divine wisdom and situational awareness to know how to deal with the remaining critical encounters to the situation
  
  
• Jesus enters a very serious time of private prayer, not with the intent of looking publicly spiritual
  
  
  • Matthew 26:39: Jesus "fell on His face," prostrate, in prayer--a sign of ultimate surrender
    
    
  • There is no quick prayer; This was a prayer of sweating blood that lasted about an hour--the first of three
    
    
  • Jesus' first prayer was not for the Father's help to lead Him through us but for it to not happen at all; no one wants to walk through pain and suffering
  
  
• TESTIMONY: David's entreating prayer for his son (2 Samuel 11:14-12:20)
  
  
  • David fell in love with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite--one of David's soldiers
  • David had Uriah sent into the "hottest" battle, where Uriah eventually died
  • David took his widow, Bathsheba, to be married to him; She bore David a son
  • God struck David's son with a deathly sickness
  • David was so in agony over his son, he fasted and "lay all night upon the earth", praying the child would be spared
  • And when David's son died, David accepted God's judgment by going to worship God and continue living his life
  
  
• APPLICATION:
  
  
  • John 16:33: Jesus said there will come times of tragedy in our lives
  • We cannot escape these days--we must overcome them through prayer, with sole dependence on the Father--not friends
  • Jesus was man--he knows man's needs and has felt his sorrows; He didn't want to be crucified but later acknowledged God's will be upon Him

ALL PRAYERS MUST INCLUDE ONE CRITICAL REQUEST

• Jesus stated this critical item in His Sermon on the Mount
  
  
  • Matthew 6:10: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."
    
    
  • John 6:38: And when the people wanted to crown him king (which Jesus would've liked), He stated His purpose in life was not the pursuit of his own goals but those set by God, the Father, for Him to carry out
  
  
• Notice the change when he prays the second time
  
  
  • Jesus faces the reality of His life by no longer praying for an escape to his situation but for the Father's will to be carried out in Jesus--no matter what that will is
    
    
  • Jesus faces this reality through sobriety and prayer--not alcohol or drugs to "make reality go away"
    
    
  • Jesus acknowledges God's way is the best and only way and will now willingly (vs. doing it out of coercion or fear of punishment) follow through with the plan God has for Jesus
  
  
• APPLICATION:
  
  
  • Jesus prayed for His own will--that He would not have to be crucified by man--and God did not honor that request
    
    
  • God did not honor the request because God has a lifelong plan for each man on this earth that is just, good and right
    
    
  • Fathers love their sons and that requires sometimes they say no to their children because the father knows what's better for the child than the child does
    
    
    • And just as you become a child in God's family when you are saved, you will ask (through prayer) for things from the Father and the Father will grant only those requests that are good for your life (i.e., what you want vs. what you truly need to survive this world)
  
  
• TESTIMONY: Joseph, son of Jacob, was sold by his brothers who hated him to foreigners who made him a slave in Egypt (Genesis 37:24-28)
  
  
  • Honestly--who would've thought something good could come of this?
    
    
  • Genesis 41:37-40: And Pharaoh of Egypt made Joseph #2 in Egypt because God gave Joseph the ability to interpret a dream that troubled Pharoah, that none of Pharoah's mediums could answer
    
    
  • Genesis 50:20: Apart from his family for over 30 years, Joseph finally encountered his brothers and told them that they meant evil for him by selling him to Egypt; God's plan, conceived before the foundation of the world, was to turn this event into good

CLOSER

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While you pray for the Father's will in your life, you have the right to pray to God the desires of your heart

John 17:24: Always remember that God knows us better than we know ourselves (He knew us from before the world was formed) and if what we pray for is not in alignment with the life's plan He already has mapped for us, He may not honor your request

• If things still don't go your way after your prayer, it doesn't mean God loves you any less or hasn't already answered your prayer
  
  
• Don't be like the growing majority of the world who quit after failing only once; witnessing God's greatest accomplishments in your life often takes the greatest amount of faith, endurance and strength to trust in His perfectly timed outcome for you
  
  
• Romans 8:28: God's guarantee is that all things in life--good and bad--will work out for an ultimate good
  
  
  • Have patience! It took Joseph almost 30 years to realize his good out of being sold as a slave to Egypt--and he did his time without disobeying or distrusting God
    
    
  • John 10:10: God wants you to experience life even more fully than you could want for yourself

John 17:24 and 2 Samuel 14:14: God has loved you since before the world was formed and loves every person equally--from the worst sinner to the most obedient person

2 Timothy 4:16-18: Riches and material goods can instantly wash away; friends can desert you for your Christian beliefs; the Lord will strengthen, deliver and be with you--always, unto the end of the world