"Thy Will Be Done", Part 1

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this wonderful day. A day, Lord, that you have designed for us to come together as a church to worship your name. A day that you have designed us to be here. Nobody's here by mistake. Nobody's here by accident. Everybody's here by divine provision. And today, Father, as we examine your word, may those of us who are here to listen understand the greatness of your character and to understand the greatness of your plan and how it is, Lord, you have designed us to fit exactly into that plan where you want us to be.

That we might leave this place giving glory and honor and praise to the name of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord. We pray in your name. Amen. We are looking at the Lord's Prayer or the Disciple's Prayer, however you want to term it, in Luke 11. The parallel passage is Matthew chapter 6. Not parallel in terms of the same time, but the same prayer. We know that Matthew 6, when the Lord gave the Disciple's Prayer, it was in Galilee. In Luke 11, it's in Judea sometime later. And because it's the same prayer, and while Luke's account does not give us everything that Matthew's account does give us, we look at the prayer in its entirety so that we can come to grips with what the Lord said about how it is we are to pray.

And so our design is to study what God said about how it is we are to commune with Him. That's so important for us to come to grips with. And so we began by looking at each and every phrase. And we began by looking at the call to adoration, our Father who art in heaven. It's a call to adore our God. It's a call to praise Him for who He is. It's a call to worship Him and to adore the God of the universe. And so the Lord says that when you pray, you pray this way, our Father who art in heaven. It's a call to adoration.

And then He says, when you pray, pray this way, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. That's a charge to consecration. It's a charge to have our lives set apart for the glory and honor of the purity of His name. And so when we pray, we pray adoring our God. We pray consecrating our lives to God for all that He is and all that He's done. And the Lord said, when you pray, pray this way, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. That's a cry of invitation. A cry of invitation.

Once you adore God for all that He is and you consecrate your life to Him, there's a cry of invitation because you want His kingdom to come to earth. You want His rule to be here as it is in heaven. And that cry of invitation is not only for the kingdom of God to come to earth, but for those around you to experience the rule of that kingdom. So Christ says, when you pray, begin this way, begin with a cry of adoration.

When you pray, pray this way, pray with a charge to consecration. When you pray, pray this way, a cry of invitation. And then you can pray this way, a challenge to submission. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You know, our Lord, He doesn't make any mistakes. He doesn't mix His phrases up. He makes sure it's all set in proper order. First, there's an adoration.

Once you know who God is, there is the consecration. Once there is a consecration, then and then only is that invitation, that cry of invitation for the kingdom to come. Now comes the challenge. Now comes the challenge of submission. Once I adore God, and once I consecrate my life to God, and once I invite God to rule everything in my life, to be the supreme king in my life, over all that's there, now comes the challenge. And the challenge is to submit to all that He says. The challenge of submission.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That's our challenge, yours and mine alone. And so we come to realize what the Lord has said. It truly is a challenge, is it not? Because there is another will, my will. And that battle is ongoing until you die. Paul would say it this way. He said in Romans chapter 12, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. In other words, by all that's said in the first 11 chapters of this epistle about the wonderful mercy of God, I beg you, I implore you to present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your only logical form of worship.

Everything else you do is illogical unless you're willing to present your life a living sacrifice to me. That is the only logical thing you can do once you understand the mercies of God. In other words, if you're not presenting your life a living sacrifice to God, then you have not come to grips with the mercies of God. And then he says, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

This is the will of God. Well, the problem with that is, is that there is another will, and that's my will. You see, the unique thing about a living sacrifice is that it can jump off the altar whenever it desires. Dead sacrifices can't move. Living sacrifices can. And we come to a point in our Christian life where we pray our Father who art in heaven because we truly adore our God. And we come to a place in our Christian life where we truly come to a place where we want to consecrate our lives to the purity and holiness of his name.

And we cry for his kingdom to come. But when it comes to thy will be done in my life as it is in heaven, well, there's a great challenge there for us, a great challenge because of our own wills. We are ready to receive what God has, and God gives it to us, and we're saying, I'm not sure. I'm not sure that's the direction I want to go. That's why it's a challenge of submission, submitting to the will of God. Folks, that's huge. It's absolutely huge because we are to pray for God's will to be done.

So we do. So we pray. We pray for health. And we get sick. And we ask, is this the will of God? And the answer is yes and no. And we lose our job, and we pray for a job. That's a good thing to pray for, right? A job. And we remain jobless. And so we ask this question, is this the will of God? And the answer is yes and no, it's not. And then we pray for our marriage. We want a good marriage. I mean, after all, I mean, God designed marriage, right? Let's pray for a good, strong marriage. And my marriage is horrible.

Is that the will of God? Answer yes. Also, answer no, it's not. I come one day, and I wake up, and there's a lump on my breast. And I pray that the lump will be benign. And I get the whole church to pray that the lump will be benign. I go to the doctor. They biopsy the lump, and it's malignant. Is that the will of God for my life? Answer yes. Answer no. Say, why? I'm confused. That's good because we are confused about the will of God. You talk to the young couple who so desperately wants to have a child, and they have prayed for years for a child.

I mean, after all, God said, be fruitful and multiply, right? Never rescinded the command. So I fulfill and want to do that command. And I am praying for a child, and for five years, and for 10 years, and for 15 years, there is no child. Is that the will of God? Answer yes. Answer no. And then you have the other family who prays for the child, and is so excited about the child that God has given to them. She's pregnant, and they're so excited about the birth. And the baby's born, but it is physically and mentally disabled.

Is that the will of God? Answer yes. Answer no. How can it be yes and no at the same time? I'm glad you asked, because that's what this request is all about. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What does it mean to pray for God's will to be done? Well, for us to do that, it's going to take us two Sundays. This one, and not next week, because we have our Answers in Genesis seminar. So it will be the following Sunday. You can't miss either one. If you do, you will be really confused. If you're here for this Sunday, and two weeks from today, the Lord will help you understand exactly what He means when He says, when you pray this way, you pray, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

This morning, my desire is not to confuse you, although you will be confused when you leave today. That's part of the method of the madness to get you to come back in two weeks to unrattle your confusion, and to get you to come to a place where you understand it. I don't want to confuse you, but the will of God is something that confuses us. All of you have been in a situation where you've prayed for the will of God in your life, and it is nothing like you prayed for. Would you not agree with that?

And you come to a place where you do not understand the will of God. This request, this petition, this challenge to submission is exactly for you. It's for all of us, but particularly it's for those of you who are confused about the will of God. It becomes absolutely crucial to our understanding of Scripture. It becomes crucial to how it is God has laid out this pattern for prayer, this skeleton that allows us to follow His pattern on how to pray His way. And although you might be confused about the will of God, and although after today's sermon, you might even be more confused, the Bible is not designed to confuse you.

The Bible is designed to give you all the answers you need that pertain to life and godliness, and we will do that. It will happen for you. You will see as we unfold for you this wonderful petition, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I'm going to cover three points with you. Number one, I'm going to entangle for you the paradox, the paradox of prayer.

While in reality it's not a paradox, but to us it is. In God's mind, it's not. In our mind, it's a paradox. So we're going to begin to untangle that paradox in your mind about prayer and the will of God. And then, number two, we're going to help you understand God's plan.

That's right. We're going to come to grips with the plan of God and help you understand the plan. Once we help you understand the plan, we will unfold for you your purpose in this petition and why God says when you pray, pray this way, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Just to let you know, wherever you are in life today, whatever your situation in life today, whatever the state of your marriage, whatever the obedience or disobedience of your children, whatever your financial situation, whatever your physical health may be, it is the will of God for you today. Let me say it to you this way.

Whatever your situation is today, concerning your marital status, your job status, your financial status, it is not God's will for you today. Now are you confused? Good. Because we need to untangle for you a paradox in Scripture by looking at two things. Number one, we are going to describe for you a dilemma between man's responsibility and God's sovereignty.

Once we describe for you a dilemma, we are going to delineate some dangers as a result of that dilemma. With me so far? Good. Let's describe the dilemma between man's responsibility and God's sovereignty. Man's responsibility is that God's commanded us to pray. God's sovereignty says that God controls the plan. Man's responsibility is that God has commanded us to pray. God's sovereignty says that God controls the plan of everything. To us, that's a paradox. That's a dilemma. If God commands us to pray, He's got a plan.

The plan can never be thwarted. Why pray? That makes sense. Now we know prayer works. The Bible is very good about giving us instruction about how we know prayer works. We know way back in Joshua chapter 7 that the Israelites overcame the city of Jericho. A tremendous story in Scripture in Joshua chapter 6. And after their great defeat of Jericho, they lost to a little puny village. They were perplexed. How can it be? So Joshua began to pray. And through his prayer, God revealed to him the sin of Achan.

How one man's sin destroys an entire nation. Just one man's sin can destroy an entire nation. It's about the effects of one person's evil life. And so God revealed to Joshua what had happened. And of course, they dealt with Achan and his family. And then it went on to great victories after that. But God answered Joshua's prayer. You can go back in the Old Testament in 1 Samuel chapter 1 and read about Hannah, a godly woman who was barren, but so desperately wanted a child. And you know what? God gave her a beautiful, beautiful baby boy.

And God would do a great and marvelous work in her son Samuel. But she prayed. God heard. And God answered. You can go back to 2 Chronicles chapter 20, read about King Jehoshaphat who prayed and God turned away his enemies. Isaiah 37, where both Isaiah and Hezekiah prayed. And in 12 hours, 185,000 Assyrians were slain. You can go to the New Testament and read about Zacharias and Elizabeth who prayed for years for a child. And the answer was always no, until one day they received not just a baby, but the greatest man who ever lived, John the Baptist.

And God answered their prayer. You can go to Acts chapter 1 and read about how that small remnant of 120 nondescript disciples had gathered together to pray about how it is they would replace Judas. God answered prayer and gave them Matthias. Go to Acts 4 and you can see how the early church came together and began to pray because of the persecution. And they asked for boldness and they asked for courage and God gave them supreme boldness and supreme courage. God answered their prayer. Go to Acts chapter 12 and read about Peter's imprisonment and how God miraculously removed him from prison.

Those are all just simple illustrations about when you pray, God listens and God answers. And you get excited about how God works in great, in wonderful ways in response to your prayers. That's why Jesus said in Luke 18, men are not always to pray and not to faint. Because if you don't pray, you will faint. You will. If you're fainting, it's because you're not praying. If you're praying, you will not faint. Paul would say in 1 Thessalonians 5 17, pray without ceasing. It should be the normal habit pattern of your life throughout every moment of the day.

You need to be in constant communication with your Father above. And James would say it this way in James chapter 5. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? And the Greek word means to be weak or to be feeble. Let him call upon the elders of the church and let him pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is weak or feeble and the Lord will excite that individual.

And if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be made well. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature just like ours. And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again and the sky poured rain and the earth produced fruit. James 5 is a portion of scripture about one thing. Prayer.

And how the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth so very, very much. God commands us to pray. And so we we ask ourselves, well, well, I've been praying for three years for something to happen. It's never happened. Elijah prayed and it didn't rain for three years. He prayed again and then it rained again upon the earth. I pray nothing happens. Sound familiar? Sure it does. But God has commanded us to pray. That's my responsibility. That's man's responsibility. God says pray.

And as I look at the track record in scripture, when people pray, there's answers to prayer. Great things happen when people pray in God's word. That's man's responsibility. The flip side of that is God's sovereignty, right? God's sovereignty. He rules over all. He's in complete control of everything. In fact, the Bible says these words in Psalm 139 verse number 16, Thine eyes have seen mine unformed substance, and in thy book they were all written.

The days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. In other words, the psalmist says, I know that the length of my time on earth has been ordained. And I know that the events of every day that I live have been ordained for me. Everything has been mapped out. God is in complete charge of everything. Nothing escapes his notice because he has planned everything from the beginning to the end.

Well, if that's the case, why on earth do I even begin to pray? If God knows what's going to happen because God has already planned everything to happen, why would I even bother to pray? And that's the paradox. That's my dilemma. I have to ask myself those questions. The Bible says these words in Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verse number 14, In the day of prosperity be happy.

Well, that's pretty simple, isn't it? You win the lotto, you're happy, right? Day of prosperity be happy. But in the day of adversity, consider God has made the one as well as the other. What? God made them both? That's right. In the day of prosperity, be happy. In the day of adversity, need to consider something. God made that day too. And then Solomon says this, so that man may not discover anything that will come after him. In other words, so that you'll always live in a confused state. So you never think that you have all the answers.

God created the day of adversity and the day of prosperity. Listen to this. Book of Isaiah 14, verse number 24, The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely just as I have intended, so it has happened. And just as I have planned, so it will stand. For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for his stretched out hand, who can turn it back? God says everything happens exactly as I planned it.

I stretched out my hand, it happens exactly as I designed it. Nobody can turn it back. So I asked myself this question. If God commands me to pray and I pray, does my prayer somehow change God's mind? Does my prayer somehow work in a way to convince God to alter his plan? Answer, never. So if my prayers don't alter God's plan, if my prayers don't change God's mind, if God has determined everything to happen from eternity past, exactly as he designed it to happen, why on earth has he commanded me to even commune with him?

Why pray about anything? If my marriage in its horrible state is where it is because that's God's design for my life, then why am I praying about my marriage? If my jobless situation is God's design for my life because all my days were ordained for me before there was even yet one of them, why on earth do I ever pray about getting a new job? See the paradox? See the dilemma we find ourselves in? If God is sovereign, he controls everything, why do I pray? If prayer doesn't change his mind, if prayer doesn't convince God of anything, why am I doing this?

That's the paradox, that's the dilemma that I find myself in. Back in Daniel chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar was one who felt like he had built his kingdom and he deserved all the glory. Look at this great Babylon that I have built.

Sometimes we as Christians get there, we look at our job and say, hey look at this, look at this beautiful job that I have put together, this great company that I have designed and I have orchestrated and I have put together, look what I have done.

And the Lord God says to Nebuchadnezzar these words, he says, while the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven saying, King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared sovereignty has been removed from you.

Now can you can imagine King Nebuchadnezzar, because he's the sovereign ruler of Babylon, how can my sovereignty be removed? I am the sovereign ruler, but God says it's been removed.

And you will be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever he wishes. For seven years you will eat with the beasts of the field. Until you come to grips with one thing, I'm in charge and you are not. Boy, a lot of Christians I know have not come to that point yet. They refuse to come to that point.

And God says, I'm in charge. And when Nebuchadnezzar came to his senses after seven years, he said this, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation and all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can ward off his hand or say to him, what hast thou done? Nebuchadnezzar says, I've come to a point that he is the king of heaven, his dominion rules over all and there is nobody who has the right to ever say to him, what have you done to me?

No one. But somehow we think we have that right, which leads us to this aspect under the paradox and that is delineating some dangers, some dangers in our prayer life. Because some of the people that you know and I know, and maybe it's you, maybe it's someone who's sitting here today, who prays for God's will to be done out of bitter resentment. They pray it with clenched teeth, God will be done. Or with a clenched fist, with smoldering anger, your will be done. Ever met that kind of person? They do it out of bitter resentment to the sovereign control and the sovereign rule of God in their lives.

They grit their teeth, they realize that God is in control and they see him as a cruel God who does his own thing, no matter how they happen to feel. Bitter resentment. They do that because they lack the knowledge of the true God. They might have grown up in the church, they think they know God, but they don't know him very well at all. Oh, they think they do though, but because of the bitterness that's deep, it's smoldering, that's turned to anger, your will be done. They do it, they do it, they do it over a loss of a loved one.

They've lost a loved one and they come to a point and say, oh, your will be done. As if they capitulate to this cruel God who rules their lives. They do it when they develop a physical handicap and they can't do what they used to do. And with clenched fists, they look to heaven and grit their teeth and say, thy will be done. Because that's how they feel on the inside. They do it when everything around them has been good for so long and now all of a sudden it's no longer good. It's bad. And with bitter resentment and smoldering anger, with clenched fists and tightened teeth, they scream out to God, thy will be done.

They have no concept of the love and mercy of their God. And the funny thing is they think they do, but they do not because their actions speak louder than their words. There was a man in the Old Testament who had the opportunity to, out of bitter resentment, capitulate to the will of God. The story is found in 2 Samuel chapter 12, King David. We'll go back to this here at the end of our time this morning, just so you understand it a little bit more. But in 2 Samuel chapter 12, remember David had had an affair with Bathsheba.

That whole story is a story about the sovereign rulership of God, which we will see in a moment. But David had had an affair with Bathsheba. You know the story. I don't have to reiterate the story to you. He committed adultery with Bathsheba. He tried to cover it up. He had her husband murdered. Well, Nathan, the prophet, found out about it. Nathan defunded David. And David's son became very ill. The son he had through Bathsheba in their adulterous affair. And it says this in verse number 15, then the Lord struck the child that Uriah's widow bore to David, that's Bathsheba, so that he was very sick.

David therefore inquired of God for the child as he prayed on behalf of the child who was sick. And David fasted and went all, or went and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise him up from the ground. But he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to our voice.

How then can we tell him that the child is dead since he might do himself harm? So in other words, David's been praying. David knows his son is sick. David knows he's committed sin with Bathsheba. Nathan's told him that the sword will not depart from his house. So he goes to God and he begins to pray, God, spare my son. God, please make my son better. God, you can heal my son. God, please. For seven days, he does not eat. For seven days, he does not sleep. For seven days, he prays and prays and prays, God, you can make my son better.

And he came to God. Where else was he going to go, right? The child dies. He dies. Servants say, well, what are we going to do? You going to tell him? I'm not going to tell him. You tell him. So, verse 19, but when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead. So David said to his servants, is the child dead? And they said, he is dead. So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself and changed his clothes. Listen to this. They came to the house of the Lord and what to say?

With clenched fist, he raised his hand to the sky out of bitter resentment and said, why did you do this? Your will be done. Is that what he said? Son was dead. Came to the house of God. They worshipped. He worshipped and he came to his own house and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate. And then his servants said to him, what is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept. But when the child died, you rose and ate food. And he said, while the child was still alive, I fasted and wept.

For I said, who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me that the child may live. But now he has died. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I should go to him, but he will not return to me. What a powerful testimony to one man's submission to the sovereignty of almighty God. Oh, he wanted his son to live, but he did not. He died. Nothing else to do, but to move on. And he worshipped the Lord. He gave glory to the Lord. If he had an opportunity to be bitter and resentful, he could have done that.

But David was not that way. How many people do you know who's had a child that's died and had a bitter resentment to God? They capitulate to the will of God with smoldering anger, never coming to a place to worship the true and living God again. Many, unfortunately. But maybe another danger is you don't pray on a bit of resentment, but it simply is just passive resignation. Now, these aren't original with me. William Barclay, in his commentary, speaks about these things, and you can read about him a little bit more, but he speaks about passive resignation.

And that is this. Well, it's, it's the will of God. It must be. And it follows after the song sung by Doris Day back in the 60s. Remember that song? Que sera, sera. Kind of dating myself here, but whatever will be will be. The future's not ours to see. Que sera, sera. And a lot of people pray out of passive resignation. Well, it's the will of God. I lost my job. Must be the will of God. My children have rebelled. It must be. Que sera, sera. It's the will of God for me. Those who pray out of a bit of resentment pray for a lot from a lack of knowledge.

Those who pray out of passive resignation pray out of a lack of faith in what God has truly said about prayer. They give up. They admit defeat. It's over. God is sovereign. He rules over all. He's in charge. Do whatever you want, Lord. Can't do anything. My prayers don't work anyway. A lot of people like that. You know, this really is a lot of us. Remember the story way back in the book of Acts in the 16th chapter, and the church had got together to pray for Peter. Why? Because James, the brother of John, had lost his head.

The church had begun to be persecuted severely. Well, Herod captured Peter. Well, James is dead. Guess who's next? Peter. But the church gathered together to pray. For what? Peter's release. So they prayed and prayed and prayed, and a miracle happened in Acts 12. Yeah, Acts 12. Peter was released from prison. He was released from prison, and the angel showed him the way out the jail gate, and he went to the place where the disciples had gathered in prayer, and he got there, and the door was locked.

So he knocked on the door. Couldn't get in. There was a prayer meeting. So, one of the people there was named Rhoda. She came, and she opened the gate, and she saw that it was Peter, and when she saw that it was Peter, she shut the gate and left Peter on the outside, and went back and said, guess what? Peter's at the door, and the people said, no, he's not, and Rhoda said, no, no, she is. You know what they said to Rhoda? She must be mad. She must be out of her senses. Peter's not at the door. We're too busy praying for Peter's release for him to be at the door.

He can't be there, and Peter's outside. He's still knocking. Let me in. It's Peter, and finally they let him in, and Acts chapter 12 says something so unique.

In fact, I got to read it to you, or you wouldn't believe it. It says very simply these words. It says, but Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door, they saw him, and they were, ready for this, amazed. Just a little hint about your prayer life. Whenever you are amazed when God answers your prayer, you did not pray believing God would answer your prayer, and they didn't believe it. They thought Rhoda was mad. Peter can't be there. He's in prison. He's about to die, but no, Peter was there because God responds to prayer.

That's how God works, and they were amazed that God had answered their prayer. You ever been amazed that God answered your prayer? Ever been amazed that God did something unique and supernatural and wonderful in your life, and you stand in awe and amazed that God would do that? That's because when you prayed, you really didn't believe very much anyway that God would do anything. It was almost one of those passive resignation kind of prayers. Whatever will be, whatever's going to happen to Peter is going to happen to Peter.

God is sovereign. If he's going to die, he's going to die. May the will of the Lord be accomplished. Next thing you know, Peter's at the door. They didn't believe that God, the healer of man, the deliverer of man, would release this great apostle from his imprisonment, but he did. See the paradox? It looms severe over our lives, and so we can begin to describe the dilemma, which says man has a responsibility to pray. God commands us to pray, and yet God is sovereign. The sovereignty of God controls everything.

He's in complete charge of everything. So my mind becomes confused over the fact that God has commanded me to pray, and yet he controls everything, and he never changes his mind, and he never alters his plan. He never goes to plan B. He's always got one plan. It's plan A, and it always runs right on course exactly as he designed it, and so I come to a point and say, what am I doing even praying then? What good is it going to do? But you've got to remember something. You can't let your theology ruin your prayer life, but some people do.

God commands us to pray, so we pray. God is sovereign overall, so we capitulate to a sovereignty. That's why when Jesus said, when you pray, pray this way, pray thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It is the challenge to submission to the authority of God. Which leads us to point number two, and I'm just going to introduce it for you this morning.

Unfolding God's plan. I'm sorry, understanding God's plan. Can I begin to understand God's plan? Well, the answer to that is yes, you can, because you have the Word of God, and even though God's ways are higher than your ways, and his thoughts higher than your thoughts, you can begin to understand God's plan. You have to in order to pray thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, so let me introduce it to you this way.

Okay, this is so amazing. We read this on Wednesday night in a different context. It was about the Davidic covenant. Remember the covenant God made with David, 2 Samuel 7? It's a passage that's reiterated or referred to 40, over 40 different times in the Old Testament, the Davidic covenant. Promise given to God, or to David by God, that he would have a son that would sit on his throne, David's throne, forever, okay? And as you read about this, it says, verse 12, when your days are complete, 2 Samuel 7, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.

There's coming a descendant that will be raised up after you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build the house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. And as you read through the passage, it goes from David's physical son, okay, immediate son, Solomon, whose kingdom would not be forever, by the way, but the descendant of David, the Messiah, his kingdom would be forever. Now this is 2 Samuel chapter 7. By this time, David had five, six, maybe even seven different wives.

And the number of children, but none of them would be the descendant that would sit on the throne of David. There would be another son who would come. Which son is that? The son that would come eventually, because David would have an adulterous affair with a woman called the daughter of the covenant, Bathsheba. And from Bathsheba would come Solomon, the son that would reign on the throne of David and build the house of God. Do you get it? 2 Samuel 7, David receives a covenant from God that he will have a descendant that will sit on the throne of David.

Ultimately, that son, the Messiah would be there forever. But the son that would build the house is not presently in his house, nor presently the son of one of his previous wives or his ongoing wives. There's going to be another wife who's going to have a son who will sit on the throne of his father, David. And David had not even yet met Bathsheba. That's not until 2 Samuel chapter 11. And one day he sees her. He's enamored with her beauty. Calls her into his chamber and commits immorality. Does all he can to cover up his immoral actions through lying, through murder.

But the Old Testament verse, be sure your sins will find you out. His sins found him out. The son of Bathsheba and David from the adulterous affair died. Died. And David would take Bathsheba in. And the Bible says in 2 Samuel chapter 12, verse number 24, the chapter we read earlier, after the baby died, then David comforted his wife Bathsheba and went into her and lay with her and she gave birth to a son and he named him Solomon.

That is the son that God talked about in 2 Samuel 7. A son that had not yet been born. A son that was from Bathsheba whom he had not yet met, but would through an adulterous affair. And that son Solomon would be in the line of the Messiah. He would be the one who would build the temple just as God said. Because God is sovereign over all. He rules over everything. Solomon's name means beloved of the Lord. And Solomon, listen carefully to this. Solomon is the picture of the loving, pardoning God that David served.

And that is the exact God who would reign on the throne of David forever. The loving, pardoning God, the only one who can forgive is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's why the Bible says, we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

What that verse doesn't say is that we know that all things outside of our sin work together for good. It's not what it says. All things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose. The ones loved are the ones called according to his purpose, right? You can have ironclad assurance from God that says, God will work it all out for your good, ultimately, and finally, for his glory.

Because that's what God does, see? That's what God did with David and Bathsheba. The sin that he committed was hideous, horrendous. And the sovereignty of God would override all, excuse me, of their sin. And to bring about his sovereign purposes through the son of Bathsheba, the woman he would then marry, and she would have a son, beloved of the Lord, named Solomon, who pictured to them the pardoning love of a God who sits above to rule and reign forever. That's God's plan. It's incredible. It goes way beyond anything we can ever imagine, but that's how God works, you see?

And we, as the people of God, need to begin to understand when we pray, we rise to the challenge of submission, the sovereign hand of an almighty God that says, Lord, I want your will done on earth. I want your will done in my life, just as it is in heaven, perfectly, obediently, quickly, no questions asked. That's what I want in my life. Is that what you desire? Is that what you want? If you want to learn to pray the Lord's way, you must rise to the challenge of submission in order to receive the answers from God that he wants you to receive, and to receive them with joy and with gladness because you truly have submitted to the sovereign will of almighty God.

Let's pray together. Father God, we thank you for today. So much yet to be said about this petition. So much to be covered. And yet, Lord, it's insurmountable the way you work. It goes way beyond anything we can ever imagine. Yet, Lord, you rule. You're the king. You're God. Our prayer, Lord, is that today, whoever is in this room, who is yet to submit to your will, that today would be that day, not out of bitter resentment, not out of passive resignation, and not even out of a theological reservation, but simply because they know it's your plan for their lives.

And they say, thank you, Lord Jesus. And rise from their bed of tears, as David did, and worship their God. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.