Sermon Tone Analysis

CONNECTING WITH GOD

THE PRAYER OF SURRENDER

Sunday February 14, 2011

Scripture Reference: Matthew 6:9-13

"Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.

10 May your Kingdom come soon.

May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today the food we need, 12 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

13 And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one."

Matthew 6:9-13 (NLT2)

Intro.

A. Welcome to this third Sunday in our newest sermon series "Connecting With God".

So far, we have talked about the need that we all have to be connected.

God has built into the very DNA of our lives the need to be in relationships and of course the most important relationship is our relationship with God.

It is that relationship that makes for good, healthy relationships with other people.

I was out riding with a police officer last month and it was my first ride along with this particular officer so we took some time getting acquainted.

This happen to be a female officer and she was not married.

I told I had been married for 45 years.

She asked me how is it that we have stayed together for so long when so many other marriages fall apart in a matter of just a few years?

My answer is simple, GOD! Now don't get me wrong because I would very much love to say that the reason we have been married so long is because I am such a wonderful man.

I am overly thoughtful, considerate, giving, and selfless; unfortunately, I can't say that.

Whatever of these qualities I am able to exhibit are because of the grace of God that lives within me.

Last week we learned about making this first and most important connection with God.

Last week we explored the myths that seem to surround God because of our image of the word Father, that God is caring, consistent, competent, and close.

B. What you will discover as we move along in this prayer if you haven't seen some of this already is the fact that the Lord's Prayer can be very challenging.

1.

As I just mentioned it challenges us to overcome the myths and misconceptions we often carry around about what God is like.

2. In a few weeks we will see that the Lord's Prayer calls us to a life of dependence.

That we need to trust God for our daily bread and not ourselves.

3. It challenges us to say, "It is my fault" "I am wrong".

That is what it means to prayer "Forgive us our sins."

4. Today we are going to be challenged to surrender, to give up control of our lives.

Talk about a challenge!

C. I know you know this but let me remind you that there are some things in life that we are simply not able to control.

Let me name just three of them.

1.

There are uncontrollable circumstances.

Are any of you here able to control the weather?

Can you control whether or not you get laid off?

You know sometimes even when you work really hard to prove yourself invaluable you still lose your job.

I wish I was able to control how many people show up for church each week, but I can't.

There are some circumstances that are totally out of my control.

2. There are uncontrollable people.

Most of us call them husbands or wives or children.

Of course you might call them pastors, LOL.

Do you have some uncooperative people in your life, maybe a co-worker, a neighbor, a friend?

No matter what you do they just never want to cooperate; they never want to do what everyone else is OK with.

3. Another thing in our lives that we cannot control is what I will call unexplainable pain.

What I mean is that things happen in our lives that cause us hurt and pain and we see no valid reason why they happened.

We could also include the loss of work here, why me?

Why not the other guy, after all I have been here longer than them?

What about a broken marriage?

Why did this happen to me?

I never saw this coming.

4. What is the solution to these uncontrollable things that happen in every one of our lives?

SURRENDER!

Trans.

Now let's talk a little bit about this thing called "The Kingdom of God".

D. What Is The Kingdom Of God?

1.

It is not political.

The kingdom of God is not about government and powers of this world.

In fact to quote the sticker I see on the back of cars now and then the Kingdom of God is "Not Of This World".

God's kingdom is too big for this world to contain.

God's kingdom is an eternal kingdom.

2. It is not a concept or a creed.

The bible says, "For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God's power." 1 Corinthians 4:20 (NLT2)

The kingdom of God is not something for scholars and theologians to sit around and debate.

It is something that transforms us.

The kingdom of God is God at work in the world.

Notice what that verse we just read said, "It is living by God's power."

3. It is not material.

Paul said in Romans 17:14 "For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

Romans 14:17 (NLT2) If you read these words in their context you will discover that Paul is tell us that the Kingdom of God is not about a bunch of rules and regulations.

It is about living in a vital relationship with God the Holy Spirit.

Trans.

Now let me answer one more important question about the kingdom of God.

E.

Where Is The Kingdom Of God?

1. Simply put the kingdom of God is wherever Jesus is and if you believe what I taught a few weeks ago in the first message then you will also know that this means the Kingdom of God is wherever YOU are.

2. Notice the second part of this phrase of the Lord's Prayer because it explains the first part.

"May your Kingdom come soon.

May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."

Where is the Kingdom of God?

It is wherever the will of God is being done.

When we are living this righteous life when we are obeying God that is where His kingdom is reigning.

a) You see we tend to think of this as something sort of mystical and something reserved for church or at least some place religious, but this is a very false concept of God's kingdom.

The kingdom of God is reigning where you work if you are living in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The kingdom of God is reigning at the supermarket if you are living in the power of the Holy Spirit.

3. Now have you ever considered this, "Why do we prayer this part of the Lord's Prayer?" Have you ever thought about this?

Simply put we pray this prayer because this is not happening by in large.

Why is that we so often hear this expression when something bad happens, "Well it must just be God's will?"

I know I have said this but where is the scriptural basis for this idea?

Is God's will for evil to prevail?

Is it God's will for your loved ones to die of cancer?

Is it God's will for maybe 400,000+ people to die from COVID?

What did Paul just say, "but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

The fact of the matter is that in most of the world today the kingdom that reigns is MY KINGDOM.

The will that reigns supreme in this world today is MY WILL, and this is NOT the kingdom of God and so Jesus tells us that we need to pray for His Kingdom to come and His will to reign over this world, but if that is going to happen it has to begin in ME FIRST!

Trans.

What I want to so with the rest of this message is to share with you what it means to pray this prayer of surrender.

I. IT MEANS SURRENDERING CONTROL OF MY LIFE.

The BIG question that has to be answered in each of our lives is this: