Praying to Obey God

Listen Online:

Transcript:

Philippians chapter 4 tonight. Philippians chapter 4. I believe that obedience is one of the most important hallmarks of a Christian and a Christian life.

Obedience to God. There’s a friend of my family who’s been in ministry for many years, was my pastor when I was a young child, and went into various kinds of ministry after that, evangelism and youth conferences and things like that. And there would be days you would ask him, So how was the conference you preached at?

And he’d say, well, I was obedient. And I thought, does that mean it went well or not? Because all he would say, unless you pressed him a little more, was I was obedient.

But, you know, I’m to that point, you know, after having been in ministry for a little while, because somebody will ask, somebody in the family, how was church this morning? How did you preach? Well, I was obedient.

I felt that way this morning. I felt like with the message, I was just all over the place with my points. but I told Mom tonight, I said, you know, so many people came and made comments.

I’m about to the conclusion that when I feel like I’ve done a lousy job, that’s when God uses it the most. So I don’t know how that works. But there are days in all of our lives, it’s not just people in ministry, there are days in all of our lives when the best we can say is, I was obedient. But, you know, that doesn’t have to be a consolation prize for us.

Well, you know, I may not have been successful, but at least I was obedient. Folks, for the Christian, obedience is success. I believe God spells success O-B-E-Y.

You know, there were a lot of things he told us to do. And whether, you know, for example, making disciples, telling people about Christ. You know what? We can’t twist anybody’s arms and make them become a Christian or make them become a disciple.

But if we’re out there working on it and being faithful to try to do what he’s called us to do, that’s obedience, and I believe that’s success in God’s book. Tonight we’re going to talk about obedience in another area that you may never have thought of as being obedience, because I didn’t until I started this study, but prayer. I told you this morning that we pray to be obedient to God.

Not just when we pray and say, God, help me be obedient. I’m sure we’ve all prayed that at some point or another. When we knew something was coming up and it was going to be hard to do the right thing, God, help me be obedient.

But I’m talking about the very act of prayer is obedience to God, because I believe God has commanded us to pray. Now, I could not find anywhere in the scriptures when I started looking. Could not find anywhere in the scriptures where God says, thou shalt pray, those exact words.

It’s not in the Ten Commandments either as being a commandment, thou shalt pray. But you know, there are a lot of things that God expects us to do without including them in the Ten Commandments or saying thou shalt. I’m sure all of you, just like I did, had rules and expectations when you were growing up, things that you were supposed to obey, that your parents may never have set you down and said, this is what you’re supposed to do.

I mean, there were a lot of things when I was growing up that we were told to do and not to do. You know, for example, I was told, clean your room. I was told, wash the dishes.

I was told, don’t ride your bike with your eyes closed ever again. I was told, you know, there were certain rules that mom and dad set out and said, these are the rules and these are the things you’re going to follow. There were also things that I knew were expected without them ever having to sit down and you know explicitly say thou shalt you know you’re going to do this I don’t remember ever being told you’re going to church today did you ever tell us that or tell me that you may have told chelsea she says no I don’t remember ever being told you’re going to church today it was sunday it was wednesday sometimes it was saturday or tuesday we went to church that’s just what you know that’s just what we did and that that habit it should it should eventually become more than a habit, but that habit was ingrained early, and it’s seen me to this point.

So there were certain things that were not, you know, they never sat down and said, here’s the rule, we’re going to write it down, and we’re going to ingrain it in your mind, but it was just the expectation, and we obeyed. I was thinking of the story a little bit ago. There was never a time, there was never a time when mom told us when we get back from the grocery store, y’all are going to unload the groceries.

I had to buy them, so you’re going to unload them, and Jared, you’re going frozen stuff away out in the sorted out in the deep freeze, and Chelsea, you’re going to put the stuff in the pantry. I don’t remember there ever being a time when mom sat down and explained how that was supposed to work. We just knew that was expected, and we knew so much that it was an expectation, or at least I did, that the day mom told Chelsea to go put stuff in the pantry and Chelsea mumbled, do it yourself, I knew right then that was a bad move.

And I would be telling you this even if my sister was here today. She hates this story. And then mom, of course, wanted to know what did she say.

And another expectation was you don’t lie to mama. So I sang like a canary. She told you to do it yourself.

I wasn’t going down for her transgression. But there are just certain things that she never sat down and said, okay, you’re putting them in the pantry. You’re taking care of the frozen foods.

You tell me when your sister smarts off. There were certain things that were never, you know, They were never put in writing, but they just grew out of our parents’ expectations for us, and we knew the right thing to do because they explained and exemplified so many times the right thing to do. Folks, prayer is one of those things.

If it’s in there and I’m wrong, I’ll apologize. I’ve not found it where God says, thou shalt pray. But he sure talks about it enough that I think it’s understood for us that it’s something God expects us to do.

God would not have put so many instructions about prayer in the Bible if he didn’t intend us to do it. God would not have mentioned in so many circumstances, hey, when you get into this circumstance, pray about it in the Bible. When you find yourself in this spot in life, pray.

When you need this, pray. God wouldn’t have talked about it in so many circumstances if it was just a good idea. I believe for the Christian to be obedient, I believe we need to pray.

He talks about it because it’s an expectation. And I would submit to you that far from our hit and miss prayer lives that so many times we have today, the very idea of just not praying at all would be so foreign to the people in the days the Bible was written. I think the reason it’s never in there, that I’ve seen anyway, where God says, thou shalt pray, I think is because the idea of not praying would just be foreign to them.

And I think if some of the prophets and if some of the apostles were to come and walk amongst us today, and witness our daily walk, and witness our daily service, I think they would be shocked by how much we try to do, and how much we try to get by, without talking to God about it first. Without seeking God’s approval, without seeking God’s will, without talking to God. And so we come to this point in Philippians chapter 4, one of many places where I believe He kind of, in a roundabout way, commands us. And the reason I say a roundabout way, God, as I’ve said already, I don’t see any place where God lists His commandments and says, Thou shalt pray.

But in so many places, He says, this is what you ought to do. In verse 4 of Philippians chapter 4, He says, Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice.

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. And folks, that word moderation doesn’t mean what we take it to mean today.

It doesn’t mean being a moderate and sitting on the fence. It doesn’t mean be in the middle of the road, never take a stand for anything. That word moderation, I looked it up, and many, well, almost all other translations, including the New King James, use the word gentleness.

I believe the Greek word there means gentleness, and it’s probably something that they would have understood 400 years ago, the word moderation, to mean gentleness. But let your gentleness be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

And he tells them, rejoice in the Lord always. Now, it’s kind of like giving thanks. I’ve told you before, the Bible says to give thanks in everything, not for everything.

And I believe we can rejoice in every circumstance, even if we don’t rejoice about every circumstance. But at all times, we have something to rejoice in the Lord about. And he says, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice, and let your gentleness be known to all men.

In other words, you need to be walking around being thankful and being joyful about what God has done for you, and as a result, acting in a certain way toward other people. and he says, the Lord is at hand. And if we had to summarize this in a very short way, we could say, be busy about the Lord’s work because he’s on his way.

His return is imminent. Now, I believe it was imminent 2,000 years ago. I believe it’s imminent now.

He could come tomorrow. He could come 300 years from now. I don’t know.

I won’t tell you that I know the date or the hour. No man knows the date or the hour. But I can tell you, he said his return is imminent, and that means it could happen at any time.

And to God, all of human history, I believe, is the blink of an eye, because God exists outside of time. And so for God to say it’s going to happen soon, and now it’s been 2,000 years for us, well, that’s still soon to God. I think I told you before, I had a professor tell me, you people, atheist professor, said, you people have been saying for 2,000 years that he’s coming back soon.

He’s coming back soon, and you’re still saying he’s coming back soon. How can you keep saying he’s coming back soon? I said, well, if they were saying it 2,000 years ago, it’s even truer now, isn’t it?

But that didn’t change his mind. But folks, the Lord’s return is imminent. We don’t know when he’s coming back.

It could be today. It could be 300, 400, 2,000 years from now. I don’t know.

And we see those bumper stickers from time to time that say the Lord is coming. Look busy. Folks, we don’t need to look busy.

We need to be busy about his work. And I believe that’s what these first two verses are saying. The Lord is coming.

Be busy. We want to be found faithful when he returns, if he returns while we’re still living. In verse 6, he says, be careful for nothing.

This is not encouraging recklessness, like the time I rode my bike with my eyes closed, if y’all picked up on the fact that I did that by my mother needing to tell me not to ever do it again. It’s not encouraging recklessness. It’s not saying, God could come back any time, so just live however you want to do.

Be reckless. Have fun. When he says, be careful for nothing, he’s talking about being anxious.

Be anxious for nothing. There are few commands or few exhortations in the Bible that are more difficult for me to live up to than this one. Be careful.

Be anxious for nothing. Wait, you’re telling me not to worry about anything? Great, now I’m going to worry about how much I’m supposed to not be worrying.

Am I worrying too much? Anybody else in here like that? Is that just me?

If I don’t have something to worry about, that worries me. I worry when the phone rings too much because all the busyness to deal with, and then when the phone stops ringing, I think, what’s wrong? They’re all mad at me.

Be anxious for nothing. Folks, come on. God has got this.

The world we live in is a hostile place. It’s a scary place, but God has still got this. Be anxious for nothing.

But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And so when I said there’s not a command in the Bible, what I meant is it’s not listed in the Ten Commandments, it’s not listed as a thou shalt, but he does tell us to do it. And the reason I make that distinction is because we seem to put more importance on the things that God listed in the Ten Commandments or the things that God says thou shalt.

But folks, even without those words and even without it being in Exodus chapter 20, God can still be telling us to do something. And for all the attention that’s placed on the Ten Commandments, hey, I have no problem with the Ten Commandments being put up in courtrooms and courthouses. I don’t care.

I have no problem with that being put up anywhere. But I think we as Christians make too big a deal about putting the Ten Commandments everywhere where everybody can see it when everything God has told us to do is important. And I see and even used to have a bumper sticker on my car that said, keep the Ten Commandments.

You know what? It’s not just the Ten Commandments. We need to keep God’s word.

And he tells us here, stop worrying. Stop being anxious about everything. but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.

So we’ve talked up to this point about so many reasons why we could pray. We could pray to relieve our burdens. We could pray to find strength.

We could pray to find guidance. We could pray to get our requests, our needs met. We could pray for all these various reasons.

If none of those strike a chord with you, if you’re in a place in your life, if you happen to be at one of those lucky people, one of those lucky, lucky, misguided people, who things are going so well for you that you feel like you’re just self-sufficient and you don’t need anybody. I really don’t need to pray about where my next meal’s coming from. It’s taken care of.

Everything’s going well in my family. I don’t need to pray about that. What’s there to pray about?

Here’s a reason for you, because God told us to. He told us to pray. And if obedience matters to the Christian at all, we have a responsibility to spend time in prayer before God.

And he tells us by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. So we go to God and there’s not only requests being made, but there’s thanksgiving for what God has already answered. He says, make your requests known unto God.

And he says in verse 7, as a result of doing this, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding. How much peace is that? So much peace you can’t even begin to understand it.

That’s a lot of peace. The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. And when it says to keep, so many times that word keep is used in the Bible, and it means to hold.

And I believe to hold safely. When I see the word keep in the Bible, when it talks about keeping your heart, when it talks about keeping your mind, I think of a castle. Anybody remember?

I mean, I shouldn’t say remember. I’m not assuming you all were there. I say remember because they taught us on castles in elementary school.

But does anybody remember what part of the castle the keep is? Anybody? Okay, the dungeon.

It’s the building where they would keep the dungeon. You see all the walls around the castles, and I wish I’d thought to put a picture up here, but I didn’t think about the keep until just now. You’ve got the walls around the castles, and you may have one or two or three or four sets of walls around the castle, and you’ve got the towers, and you’ve got different buildings, the stables and the blacksmith shop and all these things.

And in the middle of the castle, there’s always that big, weird, square-looking building with the big gate. It looks like a dungeon, and that’s probably where they would keep the prisoners if they had them. That big building where the owner of the castle lived, where the king lived, where the dungeon was kept, where the valuables were kept is called a keep.

And when the Bible talks about God keeping our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, I think about God keeping our hearts and minds safe and secure like it would be in the heart of that castle, surrounded by all the walls. Folks, when we stop worrying, when we obey God, when we do what He’s told us to do and just give it to Him and pray to Him about it and talk to Him about what’s going on in our lives, He sends peace that is even beyond our understanding. He sends peace that’s even beyond our understanding.

And He holds our hearts and our minds secure. Now, I have tried to refrain from talking too much about recent events in my messages, and we’ll try to do so. But I have to point out so many people inside this church and outside this church have made statements to me in the last few weeks, last several weeks, with everything that’s gone on in my family, that they can’t understand how I have held together so well.

And my answer to them is very simple, that it’s not me, that there’s been a lot of time spent in prayer, a lot of time spent in prayer, and that God has given a peace that passes understanding. I don’t understand. I don’t understand how I can have the peace that I have after everything that’s happened, but isn’t that what peace that passes understanding is?

Because every time I find myself getting just a little anxious about yesterday or tomorrow or even today, I start praying. Now, I don’t tell you that to make myself sound perfect, because sometimes I do sit there and worry a little bit because I think secretly I like it. But then I start praying, and eventually God just settles something in my heart and mind.

Folks, he gives a peace that passes understanding. You know why we don’t have that? I think it’s because we’re not obedient to pray to him instead of being anxious about these things.

Life is full of things that we can worry about. Life is full of things that we can make up to worry about. And yet God says, don’t be anxious about these things.

Instead, turn them over to me. And as Christians, we are supposed to put every aspect of our lives under the lordship of Jesus Christ. And yet there’s always something we want to hold back and be lord of. And a lot of times, for a lot of us, it’s our worries.

Folks, we need to be obedient and turn our worries over to him as well. He’s either the Lord of all or he’s not Lord at all, as I’ve heard people say. They use it in a different theological context than what I’m using it, but I think it applies here.

Folks, we need to stop worrying. We need to stop trying to take care of everything on ourselves and just be obedient. And we can try to do all sorts of things and try to be successful and try to do great things for God.

Folks, the best thing that we can say at the end of our day is, I was obedient. And a lot of times all obedience means is taking it and giving it to God and saying, this is yours. You’re in control of my life, not me.

But he promises them. I believe this is a promise from God’s word, that the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Now, I have three very quick things to share with you tonight about obedience and prayer now that we’ve gone through the passage.

And I want to say there are times that, well, I don’t think God ever owes us an explanation for why he tells us to do what he tells us to do. And there were times growing up that mom and dad would tell us, you can do this or you cannot do this or you will do this, and they would not give us an explanation. And you know what?

They didn’t have to. The other day, I took Benjamin and Madeline to the park, and we were eating lunch, and there were bees. I kept telling Benjamin, don’t move.

Why? Don’t move. That’s why.

swarming all around him in his sprite. And I had a reason, but I didn’t really have to explain to him at that moment why not to move. He just needed to know not to move.

But you know, there are other times that God is gracious and explains to us why he tells us to do the things he tells us to do. Just like sometimes my parents would say, okay, the reason you can’t do this is because X, Y, and Z, even though they were under no obligation to. I believe this passage not only indicates that it’s a matter of obedience to pray, But I think it also explains to us a little bit why God expects us to pray.

Why it’s so important that we’re obedient and spend time in prayer. First of all is that our obedience in prayer demonstrates our faith in God. God wants us to pray because our prayer demonstrates that we have faith in Him.

If I see myself as a self-made man, if I feel self-sufficient, like I don’t need God, obviously I’m not going to spend much time praying to God. But it’s the man who believes. It’s the man who believes, or woman, who believes that God can do incredible things, and sometimes does do incredible things when it’s in accordance with His will, and believes the promises of God that we are to call on Him and pray things according to His will.

It’s the person who believes in God and His promise when He says, Be careful for nothing. The reason is because God is a sovereign. Folks, it’s the person who believes in God that spends the time in prayer.

And I don’t mean just believe that God exists, because as far back as I can remember, I’ve believed that God existed. I was raised believing God exists. It was never really a question, and yet there have been times that I’ve not prayed as I ought to.

When I say it’s the person who believes in God, I mean it’s the person who takes God at His word, who spends the time that he ought to in prayer. And I believe when we pray, when we come to the point of saying, God, it doesn’t matter what I want here, it matters what you want and what you’re going to do here and that your will be done. When we give it up to God and say, your will be done in my life, in this situation, it demonstrates faith in God.

And without faith, as Hebrews says, it is impossible to please God. So I believe one reason God expects us to pray, one reason God tells us to pray is because in prayer we demonstrate our faith in Him and His promises. Second of all tonight, our obedience in prayer demonstrates our reliance on God.

I mentioned a moment ago being self-reliant. Well, if you feel like you’re self-reliant, in your mind at least, what do you need God for? But he says, But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God.

Because the one who prays, the one who prays like it matters is somebody who realizes, I’m not in control of any of this. Who realizes, I really don’t have that much control over my own life. I’m certainly not the sovereign of my own life.

And you know, I can work as hard as I want, and I can build as much as I want, and it all can come crashing down in a moment. And so I’d better have my life built on a stronger foundation than what I can provide. And when we pray, and we go to God, and we humble ourselves, and we ask Him to provide for us, when we ask Him to take care of us, it demonstrates the fact that we rely on God, that we realize we’re dependent on God.

The man who thinks he’s independent won’t spend time in prayer, but the man who realizes how utterly dependent he is on God spend the time that’s necessary in prayer. I think God tells us to pray because it demonstrates to us that we’re reliant on him. And third of all tonight, our obedience in prayer demonstrates our rest in God.

It demonstrates our rest in God. I get this from where he says, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Now, there are many people in here who may just be laid back and let life happen as it happens.

Sometimes I admire you for that. Other times I’m irritated by that. I try to plan 15 steps ahead like I’m playing chess.

You would think I’d be good at chess, but I’m not. I try to plan 15 steps ahead and how this is going to work out. And the first time an obstacle gets thrown at me, I’m trying to figure out, okay, what’s the next course of action?

What’s plan B here? What are we going to do? And folks, the ability to step back and say, God, you handle it does take a lot of faith like we’ve talked about before.

One of the hardest things for somebody to do who is a worrier, who is somebody is careful for everything is to just step back and rest in God. Now that doesn’t mean you don’t ever do anything. But folks, there’s a need, I think sometimes, to quit trying to fix everything ourselves.

To quit trying to be the sovereign of our own lives and stand back and not only say, God, I’m going to let you take care of this. Because a lot of times we can say, God, I’m going to let you take care of this. But here, I’ll just tinker with this piece.

But to step back and say, I’m giving you total control. And I heard somebody illustrate this well one time when they got annoyed by those signs that say, God is my co-pilot. I think it was the same man who said, well, I was obedient.

He said, if God is your co-pilot, you’re in the wrong seat. And I believe it’s the same man who said, I don’t want God to be my co-pilot, I want God to be my pilot. And as a matter of fact, I’m going to hand him the keys and I’m going to go lock myself in the trunk and just let him drive.

Folks, I think that’s pretty good advice. Now, is it easy to do? No.

But the Bible does tell us to be still and know that he’s God. Sometimes we need to let go of the busyness and trying to fix everything and trying to solve everything and trying to do everything. And we need to step back and rest in God.

Enjoy the peace that he gives us. Let him keep our hearts and minds. Let him keep our sanity together.

Folks, all this boils down to God tells us to pray because it glorifies him and it’s good for us. It’s good for us sometimes to realize we’re not in control and step back and let Him do it. So if you’ve not come for any other reason, if you’ve not arrived at any other reason why you think it’s important for you to pray, I give this one to you tonight.

We pray because prayer is obedient, because prayer is doing what God tells us to do. Folks, we may never get there, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop trying, that we shouldn’t stop trying to walk in a way that’s pleasing to God. And part of spiritual growth, I’m convinced, the maturity to realize I’m never going to get there on this side of eternity, but I’m going to keep doing it just because it’s the right thing to do and because it brings honor and glory to my Lord and pleases Him.

Folks, a desire to please God, and God can enable us to live in a way that’s pleasing to Him, that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. And we realize that when we do the right thing, when we do walk at times in a way that’s pleasing to Him, it’s because He has enabled us and given us the grace to do what it is he expects us to do. Third of all, this morning, God can equip us to be more fruitful in our service to him.

Think about this short portion of verse 10 where he says, being fruitful in every good work. In everything that they were expected to do as Christians, he was praying that they would be fruitful. I am not fruitful in every area I’m supposed to work on as a Christian.

You’re probably not either. That’s not to say there are not areas where we’re fruitful. There are areas in our lives where we’re busy at work for God and reaping good results.

And by that, I don’t mean always that things that the world takes notice of. There’s this idea that when we talk about bearing fruit, it means we have to be, you know, that it means we’re the kind of Christian who’s out there leading thousands of people a day to Christ. That’s not all that’s talking about and bearing fruit. But in all the things God has commanded us, Paul was praying that the church at Colossae would bear fruit.

He says being fruitful in every good work. And there are places in our lives where we bear fruit. The commandment where you may be bearing fruit is being a good parent.

God has called us to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and you may be doing a super job at that. Maybe the fruit you’re bearing in every good work right now is forgiveness. Maybe the work where you’re bearing fruit is talking to people about Jesus Christ. It can be a ministry.

It can be something that a regular work that God has called us to do. It can even be something within us. But the Bible says being fruitful in every good work.

But just because we’re bearing fruit in one area doesn’t absolve us of the responsibility to follow God’s commands in the other areas. I can’t say, well, I’ve been very good at being patient and forgiving this week, so I can forget all that stuff about thankfulness. Folks, it doesn’t work that way.

One doesn’t balance out the other. We are given commands to obey. We’re given good works that God expects us to do, not as a way to earn His approval or earn salvation, because we couldn’t do that if we tried, but He commands believers, people who are already His, of good works and says, do this because it’s right and it pleases me.

And folks, it’s our responsibility to do every one of those. And Paul says, I pray for you that you would be fruitful in every good work, in every area of your life that God has called you to work on. And folks, we should be praying for each other and for ourselves that God would equip us to be more fruitful in our service for Him.

Look through the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians. It’s either Galatians chapter 5 or chapter 6. Look through them when you get home this afternoon.

I actually would suggest to you it’s a good thing to look through those a few times a year and take stock of yourself. And if we’re not growing in these, if I’m not doing better at love, joy, peace, patience, if I’m not doing better at those things now than I was a year ago, I need to figure out what’s going on here because I’m not growing in fruit, I’m not bearing fruit. But he prays that they would be fruitful in every good work, that every place they tried to obey God and follow his commands and serve him, that they would be fruitful and that there would be a good result.

Folks, we can grow to be fruitful in our service for him. we can grow the kind of fruit in our lives that demonstrates the kind of tree that we are, that we’re one of His. Does that make sense?

We can grow that kind of fruit