Where There's A Will, There's A Way Series

- Confidence in the One Who hears… The power is in the one who hears. Not only the power for our lives… but also the plan.

- Your father knows that He has an incredible plan for you. That your life is not what you think it is. We are eternal creatures.

- Imagine a line…

- God is acting out a great conspiracy – changing life on earth as we know it… preparing hearts and souls for eternity. God has a terrific plan and wants to use us as agents in accomplishing this plan.

- God already knows what he wants done. We just have to ask. We must ask Him to reign in our lives. Lead our decisions, our daily actions, our devotions, our deepest thoughts…

- To pray for God’s reign is to pray for God’s RULE

& Matthew 6: 9-10

“This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

“God’s Kingdom” – the range of God’s effective will, where what He wants done is done. (Divine conspiracy)

In Heaven, God’s will is without hesitation, without doubt, without struggle, without difficulty. The same is to be true of our lives on earth. So we join Jesus in his prayer – Your will be done… In my life Lord…

We pray for God to reign, to rule, to produce his will in our lives.

Pursuing God’s will in my prayer life will:

§ Change my heart (Psalm 40:8)

§ Satisfy My Soul (John 4:34)

§ Open God’s plan and power in my life (John 6: 39-40)

à Ask God to Rule your World

- “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”

- Take control of everything under my rule

We believe that God has something specific and powerful he wants to accomplish in our lives. Sometimes, we ask God to hand us a roadmap – telling us all the details

When I went to have my driver’s test again last week the gentleman administering the test had figured out that I was a pastor and we enjoyed a very upbeat conversation. Then suddenly, he asked: “If I were to have gotten into your car with you this morning and then said the following: Start the car, turn right and head out of the parking lot, make a left on main; turn right at the third light, make a right at the second street, park parallel with the curb. Then, merge with traffic, head up the hill, execute a legal u-turn, turn right at the park, turn left on the third street, park uphill; resume course, merge with traffic on the interstate; take the second exit, turn right by the red brick house…” How would you have done on the driving test if I gave you all the instructions up front instead of giving them to you one at a time as you were ready for them? Isn’t it strange that we get upset with God for not telling us everything up front?

Assumption: Human mind can reason out the plans and will of God.

Truth: Only a mind infiltrated and inundated by the Spirit of God can decipher the will of God.

& Romans 12:2

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

What does it mean to have a mind ‘renewed’ by God?

w Rejection of my worldly priorities

w Revision of my conventional wisdom

w Remaking of my personal passions

w Reinvention of my unseen heart

à Ask God to Rule your Mind

- “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”

- Remake who I am in your image

- Therefore, we regard no one from a worldly point of view – New Creation – Old has gone, new has come

- (ill) The Old Warehouse – A gentleman was buying an old, abandoned warehouse one afternoon. He had offered a pretty penny for the facility. The seller, feeling a twinge of guilt for the high price shared, “You know, there’s just not much you’re going to be able to do with that old warehouse. The equipment is outdated and the building’s not up to code…” The buyer smiled. “Oh, I don’t want to do much with it – I’m going to tear it down – and building something brand new.”

God has to tear down what we’ve built in our minds. God has to create a whole new mind inside of us.

Assumption: Everything that God wants to happen, happens.

Truth: Not everything that God want to happen, happens.