Learning To Do God's Will Series

Reverence for Our Heavenly Father

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Requests for Our Needs

11Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ (Matthew 6:9b – 13 NIV)

39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

45for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

(Luke 23-NIV)

Learning God’s Will Starts With His Word

What do you think is the most valuable item in the world? Is it the Hope Diamond? The Mona Lisa? How about King Tut’s Tomb? How about the new Freedom Towers in Manhattan? Offer these options to someone at death’s door and you immediately discover a plummeting value. The world’s treasures go down in the tank of value.

I suggest the most valuable item on the planet costs less than $100, but many of them sit on thrift store shelves and sell for pennies of their value. They are given as gifts, yet never opened. At key crossroads of a person’s life they are introduced as aid, help, and even salvation, but for many they offer little coarse correction. Americans treat them casually while those in places like China risk their very lives to get their hands on one. The Gideons give them away. During the Inauguration, the President lays his hand on it as he takes an oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The children’s version includes pictures. Students of the Word often buy one that comes with extensive study notes. They are read at funerals then placed in the casket with grandma or passed on to loved ones.

It was written in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. It is our foundation for faith and absolute authority. It is historically reliable. Where did it come from? It was written over a period of 1600 years by over 40 authors from three continents, different cultures, and different walks of life.

The answer? The most valuable item in the world is the Bible.

Bill Gates’ billions can’t touch it, Hitler couldn’t destroy it, Nero couldn’t burn it, and the Kamer Rouge couldn’t change it. It is inerrant and infallible in its original writings. Nothing will change you more over the next five years than the trials you go through and the scriptures that you read, meditate on, and memorize.

God’s word is spiritual nourishment that you must take in daily to fulfill God’s plan and purpose for your life. The Bible is called milk, solid food, and sweet desert. This is your daily four-course meal to help you grow and have spiritual strength to defeat the devil and resist temptation.

1 Peter 2:2:

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, (NIV)*

2You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation. (NLT)*

2Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto [completed] salvation, (Amplified)*

The Bible is more than a book of information and interpretation; it is a book that:

generates life

creates faith

produces change

frightens the devil

causes miracles

heals hurts

builds character

transforms circumstances

imparts joy

overcomes adversity

defeats temptation

infuses hope

releases power

cleanses our mind

brings things into being

guarantees our future forever.

We cannot live without it. Never take it for granted. Get more of it in you through every means.

One of the great resources God offers His children along with His word is prayer. God loves it when we have fellowship with Him and lean on Him in our hour of need. If I were truly honest with myself I’d have to confess I do it less than I should. Who doesn’t struggle to make prayer more a priority in their life? To our embarrassment, God even exposes this struggle:

1. We don’t pray as we should. (James 4:2b)

2. Instead of prayer, we are prone to anxiety, stress, and worry. (Philippians 4:6-7)

3. Our prayers are filled with the wrong motives (James 4:3)

4. Our fast-paced life is the enemy of private devotion in prayer. (Matthew 6:6)

When you come to faith in Jesus Christ you learn that a part of the package is learning to do God’s will. The highest calling of mankind is to find out what God is doing and become a part of it. Sounds easy - difficult to pull off. No person in all of scripture walked closer with God and introduced to his people God’s will more than Moses. Moses was the first UPS driver for the Lord; he came down from Mt. Sinai and delivered the Ten Commandments to God’s people. For years to come, Moses would show the people how to have fellowship with God. Doing God’s will was the norm for Moses, and it can be for you also.