The Sovereingty Of God

The Sovereignty of God

Sept. 1, 2010

Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker

Introduction

A Young girl in Springfield

1 Entire city, region is in prayer

a Billboards, yard signs, prayer meetings

b With all the attention...what if she doesn’t get any better?

2 We’ve travailed in prayer for people.

a Seen folks get upset, yell Scripture, proclaim His promises

aa But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well -being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5 (NASB)

bb If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. John 14:14 (NASB)

b Sometimes at church, at home, in a hospital, at the site of an accident.

3 There is nothing wrong with intercession, weeping, moaning, impassioned prayer, anointing oil, Lord’s Supper, praying Scripture, proclaiming His promises, asking for God to heal, deliver, set free, fasting to get God to move.

B O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Psalms 95:1 (NASB) He is the Rock of our salvation & sometimes He, the Rock, will not (cannot) be moved.

1 24-hour prayer vigils, prayer chains, prayer emails, text messages, prayer lists, prayer requests, fasting, & still He is God, & sometimes God cannot be moved.

2 Stand with a mom & dad who bury a child who died from an overdose

a Counsel a woman whose husband’s infidelity destroyed her life (money, dignity, pride, security, self esteem).

b Pray with a man who’s begging God, “Don’t take my leg.”

aa Don’t take my sight, hearing, mind, job, kidneys, husband, wife, mom, dad, kids...

bb When their prayer goes unanswered, you wonder “why?”

3 Where is the healing? Victory? Deliverance? Breakthrough?

a God is God, & sometimes God cannot be moved.

b We’ve mistaken our frustration & grief for resolve to approach the Throne & enter His courts, & have made demands out of grief, not out of faith.

I God asks us a few questions of His own.

A Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said...Job 38:1 (NASB)

Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct Me!Job 38:3 (NASB)

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, 5 Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it?6 "On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,7 When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Job 38:4-7 (NASB)

Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place...Job 38:12 (NASB)

Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?18 Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. Job 38:17-18 (NASB)

1 Where were you when I: hung the stars, created the heavens & earth, placed mountains & planted the valleys?

a Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being . Gen 2:7 (NASB)

aa Where were you when I scooped out a handful of sandy clay from earth’s shores and breathed My Spirit into him?

bb We find a whole new reason to repent.

b Just as it is written, "Jacob I loved , but Esau I hated." Romans 9:13 (NASB)

On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Romans 9:20 (NASB)

aa You are God, & sometimes You will not be moved.

bb You are sovereign!

2 To co-labor with God, you enter into His labor; He does not enter yours.

a When you pray, pray according to His will/intentions.

aa ...because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so...Romans 8:7 (NASB)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Prov 3:5 (NASB)

bb We can’t even begin to understand why God does what He does, but He is God, & sometimes God will not be moved.

b Secret to getting your prayers answered: pray the prayers He wants prayed.

aa If you want a miracle, do what He is doing. Don’t know what He’s doing?

bb Get in your prayer closet, close the door.

cc If you don’t have direction, don’t go.

dd If you don’t have anything to say, stay silent until He gives you words to speak.