So if we pray, "Thy wil be done," how can we deal with the fear of giving up control?

Part of the answer is to pause and let your soul be impressed by the truth that God is sovereign. That is, He is wise, powerful, and loving.  God loves you in dimensions beyond your imagination (Ephesians 3:14-19)! God is so powerful that He is "able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we ask or imagine". And God's "understanding has no limit" (Psalm 147:5).

Surrender to His sovereignty and pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Praying "Thy will be done" is like taking your hands off the steering will of your life and letting God drive. Most of us are control freaks and we like to keep God in a neat little corner called Sunday morning where He cannot do too much damage to our nice, comfortable lives. Prayer is an obvious threat to that control so why would anyone pray something like, "Thy will be done"?

Consider, though, that Jesus struggled with the same issue. He looked at the anguish of the cross and couldn't help but pray, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup (cross) pass from me." The physical torment and the spiritual anguish of encduring the penalty for our sins was enough for Jesus to ask if there was a Plan B. He could have failed right there and seized control of His life. But He "trusted himself to Him who judges justly" and gave up the wheel to his Father. Without the moment of trusting surrender to the Father's will ("yet not my will be your will be done") we would be toast.

The picture below is, according to the BBC, the likely Garden of Gethsemane. What drama unfolded here!

Next time -- how do we deal with the fear that this prayer creates in us?

Tim Keller wrote:"Here's the gospel: you're more sinful than you ever dared believe; you're more loved than you ever dared hope." (Thanks Treich for that one!)

"Jesus isn't just the Savior of my soul. He's also the Savior of my prayers." (Paul Miller, A Praying Life, 135.)

This is how Miller explains what it means to pray in Jesus' name. He imagines a prayer that is like a ragged beggar reeking with alcohol and body odor and stumbling toward the palace of a great king. The begger says to the guards, "I want to see the king." Finally, when one final word is uttered -- Jesus -- everything changes. Suddenly, at the name of Jesus the prayer gains access directly to the great king. So when we ask in Jesus' name, Jesus gives us access. He is the "Savior of my prayers."

The reason Jesus' name gives us access is explained in Hebrews 4:15. Jesus is our "great high priest" (a priest is an intermediary between God and people). As our priest, Jesus "has been tempted in every way--just as we are, yet was without sin." The invitation is then given to boldly come to God in prayer through Jesus our great high priest. Hebrews 4:16: "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

The prophet Daniel studied the Word and prayed the Word. At one point, he realized that "the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years." Daniel's response was not to say, "Oh, well, God has it predestined so I'll do nothing." His response, in Daniel 9:3 is, "So I turned to the LORD God, and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, in sackcloth and ashes." What follows in Daniel 9 is a prayer that is worth pondering. But in this example of Daniel we find the connection between God's Word and prayer. As Christ-followers, let's read the Word and pray the Word.

I'm excited for tomorrow's new message series on prayer -- hope you can join us.

Who will be the next generation of preachers? Today I met with an individual who might be one!

On Sunday, we discovered that the apostle Paul knew his death was near. His passion, therefore, was to equip a new generation of preachers. So he challenged Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-2: "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and of His kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, encourage -- with great patience and careful instruction." 

Who will be the next generation of preachers? Will you join me and pray? Luke 10:2: "Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field."

Here are the results from Sunday's texting survey.

Does this survey accurately represent the whole congregation? Probably not. But it is good to see those who responded and their desire to chase after Jesus. One 12 year old told me on Sunday that he intends to read the Bible through!

What's your goal?

On Sunday, we did a live survey through our three services via cell texting of how much we are reading the Bible. These are the results.

• 71 % said they read the Bible 0 to 1 hours last week.
• 21 % said they read the Bible 1 to 3 hours last week.
• 8 % said they read the Bible more than 3 hours last week.

What do you think about those results? What does that say about what we truly believe about the Bible? And, how can we change the survey so that we are investing more time in God's Word?

What is the "canon"? The "canon" is the list of all the books that belong in the Bible. Check out the sites below for several good discussions on the canon.

What has intrigued me in my recent study about the Word is how the Word speaks of itself. 2 Tim. 3:16: "All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness." Psalm 19:7: "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple." Psalm 119:152: "Long ago, I learned from Your statutes that You established them forever." Psalm 119:160: "All Your words are true." John 5:39: "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; but it is these that speak of Me." Romans 1:2: "the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures." Many verses could be added to this list of the Scripture exalting itself.

One could argue that it is circular reasoning to claim that a book is God's Word because the book itself claims it is God's Word. But what is noteworthy is that the Bible confidently, unabashedly speaks of itself as God-breathed, perfect, trustworthy, established forever, true, speaking of Jesus, holy, etc. Such confident claims from the Bible only reinforce other clear reasons to accept the Bible as God's Word. I hope you'll dive into the discussions in the links below.

http://www.desiringgod.org/Search/?search=apocrypha&x=0&y=0

(When you get to this page click on the first title that says, "Why We Believe the Bible," for the first discussion. A second discussion can be found by clicking on the last title that says, "Tested By Fire." Once that opens, go to Appendix 2.)

Tomorrow, Lord willing, we get to plunge into 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correction, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Memorized those verses as a kid but my study on them for this message has proved very fruitful and exciting. I'm excited to share them with you.

Additionally, my son David returns tomorrow from Budapest where he's been studying math! It will be great to see him again.

Hope to see you all tomorrow.