Okay, go with me back to Matthew
6. I experience a fair amount, I
think that's a good word for it, a fair amount of anxiety whenever it gets closer to the
time for me to preach and I don't have a message. Quite often I experience, I would
say, a fair amount of anxiety. I do try to budget my time. I
really do. I try to budget my time throughout
the week. I want to get it done early.
I want my week to be heavy on the front end, not so it can
be light on the back end, just so it can be done on the back
end. But I can try everything in my
power to stay on track, and that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
Sometimes a message might take eight hours. Sometimes it might
take two and a half days. And I don't know how long it's
going to take when I start one. I have no idea. And I'm reminded
all of the time that my ability to stand up and preach is totally
dependent on God's mercy and God's grace. I'm always reminded of that.
Always. As soon as I feel like I'm doing
pretty good, I won't get a message for two and a half days. And we go through certain books
and generally we know what text we'll be in. We kind of know
what's coming up next week after week. But sometimes I can go
to that text and it's like the Lord has closed the book. And
when I say the book, I mean the book. The book. Some of you have said to me after
a message before, I would have never seen that in that text.
I wouldn't have either. I would not have either. Not
if God didn't open my eyes to it. lead me to read something
he had another man writer or who knows what I wouldn't have
either I Am completely dependent on
our Lord in his spirit. I was thinking about my calling
Recently I tell people that I've been called to be a preacher
and I have I have But I spend about four hours a week preaching
And I spend 12 to 15 times that amount of time studying, digging
and searching. I thought when people ask me,
what do I do? What do you do? I ought to tell
them, I'm a studier. But really and truly, in the
time that you study, not much of it is spent writing. A little bit of it is spent reading. Most of it is spent begging. Most of it is spent begging. I'm a beggar. It's what I do. And I'm not being cute. I'm being
honest. That's what I do. I'm a beggar. I beg and I beg and I beg. We all know that illustration
that preaching the gospel is one beggar telling another beggar
where he found bread. Oh, how true that is. Man, that
is so, so true. So needless to say, the closer
the time comes for me to have to preach, the more anxious I
become when I don't have a message. Everything becomes frantic to
me. It becomes very frantic to me. I start turning all over the
Bible. I have these places that we go,
and once I realize I don't feel the message here, I start turning
to all the famous passages of scriptures. Okay, Psalm 23, Romans
8, Ephesians 1, Hebrews 11. I start opening my Bible at random
places and just seeing what's on that page. You just read,
you just turn, you just read, you look, you beg and you beg
and you beg and you beg. I feel like those men who are
in deep waters in Psalm 107. You know that chapter, Psalm
107? They reel to and fro. That's what I do. I reel to and
fro. I stagger like a drunken man. I'm at my wit's end. But just like them, it says,
then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble And He bringeth
them out of their distresses. The Lord puts me in a place where
I have no choice but to stop and beg and wait. That's it. Wait. Bow to His time. Bow to His Word. Bow to His will. Now the reason I just told you
all that is because as I was going through that very thing
yesterday, I was thinking about all of you. I was going through this yesterday
and I started thinking about each one of you. Every single one of you has something
in this life that you go through that causes
you to be put in that same position. You have different circumstances,
but you are in the same position. We're all in the same position. When the Lord reminded me of
the remedy, it is so sweet. When he reminded me of the remedy
yesterday, it's like you finally say, that's the message. I see
the message. I finally realized my message
was to tell you the remedy. That's my message. It was to
tell you the remedy. Now, Matthew chapter 6, verse
6. This verse of scripture popped
into my heart and here's what it says. Matthew 6, 6. But thou, when
thou prayest, enter into thy closet. And when thou hast shut
thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." When I read that,
the first thing that that verse of Scripture said to my heart
was this, you have a Father. You have a father. You know how relieving that is? You have a father. A father is someone who handles
things. A father is someone you go to.
A father is someone you take great comfort in. You have a
father. You have a Father. What a relief it is to know we
are not alone. We are not alone. When I'm in those moments, when
I'm in that just reeling to and fro moment, I
feel so alone. I just feel so alone. But that
verse of scripture said right to my heart, you are not alone.
You have a father. Oh, I wish my father could just
take care of this. He can. You have a father. You have a
father who loves you as a father. Isn't that wonderful? As a father. You have a father
who will listen to you as a father. He will answer you. He will care
for you. He will provide for you as a
father. As a father. Turn with me over
to Psalm 103. Psalm 103, look at verse 13. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth
our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. He knows that. He knows that. He knows that. Man, that's so
relieving to me. He knows that we can't do this. We cannot do this. He knows that
we're not going to make it on our own. Let me tell you something.
I'm not going to make it on my own as a pastor in Kingsport. I'm not going to make it on my
own. I have no more tricks up my sleeve. I'm not going to make it on my
own. If he leaves me to myself, I'm not going to make it. I won't
have messages. He knows that. He already knows
that. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. Those that
bow to Him. Those that have a heart to reverence
Him. Those who know, I was bought
by Him. Okay, here I stand, here I am.
I'm just a man who was chosen by God. That's all I am. He just chose me. And He bought
me with a price, and I'm not my own. And I can only stand and say
what He gives me to say. I was redeemed by the precious
blood of His Lamb. I belong to Him. He's my Father. I'm His child. And I cannot actually
think of anything more relieving in all my life. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For he knoweth
our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. Here's the first
thing I have to say to every chosen, paid for, called child
of God. We have a father. We have a father. We've been adopted into a family. And I'm ready to be there. I
can't wait to be there. I can't wait to see my husband,
my brother, my friend, my father. And I'm talking about all the
same person. I'm talking about different people.
One person. I'm talking about something I
can't even enter into. But I'm ready. I'm ready. We have a Father. Now, turn with
me to Matthew chapter 7. Here's the second thing. Matthew chapter 7 verse 7 says,
Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. Or what man is there of you whom,
if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Which father
would give his son a stone if he asked him for some bread?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children,
how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good
things to them that ask Him? Our heavenly Father is always
willing and ready to give every good thing that a child of His
needs who is asking. always willing, always ready
to give every good thing that that child needs who is asking. Now, what good thing do we need
the most as we travel the remainder of our journey here? Look at
Luke 11. This is the same account of what
we just read. Verse 9, Luke 11 verse 9 says,
I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall
find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh
receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh
it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any
of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he
ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he
shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye, then being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them
that ask him? the Holy Spirit. We, the children
of God the Father, desperately, desperately need the Holy Spirit
of God the Son. That's what we need. I need the
Spirit of my Lord Jesus Christ reigning right inside here. That's what I need. I need Christ
to live in me or I will die inside. If Christ does not live in me,
I will die inside. I'll die. I must have him outwardly
and inwardly. Our Heavenly Father said, you
ask, you will receive. You will receive. Now let me
show you something in James chapter 4. James chapter 4 verse 2 says, Ye lust, you desire, and have
not. You kill and desire to have and
cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet ye have
not. because you ask not." That's
why I said, you have not because you ask not. And if somebody
will hear that and say, yes, I am. I'm asking. I'm asking. Sometimes I can say that all
week long. I'm asking. Verse 3 says, you ask and receive
not because you ask That word means wrongly. Wrongly. With a wrong heart and
a wrong mind and a wrong motive. Asking out of frustration. Asking
out of complaint. Guilty. He said you ask and receive not
because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lust. What that means is usually when
we call on our Lord it's all about us. It's all about us. Sometimes this sin has a way
of even ruining my prayer to God. That old preacher said I
cannot pray but I sin. But I want to show you something
that is just great. It's just great. Look at Romans
8. Turn with me over to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 26 says, Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities. Everything about us is an infirmity.
It's just a sinful infirmity. But the Spirit helps our infirmities
for we know not what we should pray for as we are. We don't
know what we should pray for. We don't know how we should pray
for it. But the Spirit itself maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." The
Spirit prays on our behalf. While we're trying to pray to
our Father, His Spirit is praying for us. He knows our frame. Man,
He knows our frame. So back in Matthew chapter 6, Matthew chapter 6. This is what
our Lord said at the end of the chapter. He said in verse 33
Matthew 6 verse 33. He said seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness. And all these things shall be
added unto you. The righteousness of God is Christ
Himself. Christ Himself. You seek His
glory and His honor and His will and His way and His blood and
everything will be fine. Everything will be fine. You
seek Him, you seek the kingdom of God. He is the kingdom of
God. And you seek His righteousness
and everything will be fine. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added
unto you. Take therefore no thought for
the morrow. Yesterday, I needed this verse
of scripture. Take therefore no thought for
the morrow. You seek Christ. You seek the
kingdom of God, and you seek the righteousness of Christ,
and you leave tomorrow in the hands of God. Take therefore no thought for
the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of
itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. I title this prayer to your Father. Prayer to your Father. And in
this chapter our Lord spoke to us the example of true heartfelt
prayer to our Father. True prayer that is seasoned
with the groanings of God's Holy Spirit. And I pray the Lord would
teach all of us something about this. In verse 5, we're just
going to look through these verses and we'll be done. It says, When thou prayest, thou
shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray, standing
in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that
they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. When we are truly crying to God,
truly, truly crying to our God from the depths of our soul,
we are not trying to be seen of anybody, are we? I mean nobody. All I want to be is heard by
my Father. That's it. Verse 6 says, But
thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet. And when thou
hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret. and
thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Get
in your closet, he said. You get alone. You get a place
where no one else is. Go to a place where you are completely
alone with your father. Get in the closet of his heart
and shut the door. Shut the door and you pray to
your father and he hears in secret and he'll answer you. Openly. Verse 7 says, But when you pray,
use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that
they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore
like unto them, for your father knoweth what things you have
need of before you ask him. Isn't that wonderful? He knows
the things you need before you ask it. I love that because I
forget so much. I don't know what things I ought
to ask. He does. He knows what I need before I
ask it. Talk to him as your father. I mean as your father. I can call my dad up and I can
talk to him more candidly than any soul on earth. Talk to him
as your father. Talk to him in all of your vulnerableness,
all of your frailty, common language, whatever. Talk to him as your father. Verse
nine says, After this manner, therefore, pray ye our father,
which are in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Acknowledge and
take comfort in the fact that your father is the one that rules
heaven. He rules heaven. We pray for
things with an extreme lack of faith. We don't believe he will
hear us. We don't believe he will answer
us. We say he's able, and we want to believe that we believe
he's able, but we're just so full of doubt, aren't we? Our Father rules heaven. Holy
and reverend is His name. The one that loves us and pities
us can accomplish anything. He is able. He is able. The fact that He is holy means
He must do right. He must. Verse 10 says, Thy kingdom
come. Our Lord said, You say to your
heavenly Father, Thy kingdom come. Lord, your kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom. It's a kingdom of peace. It's
a kingdom of rest. It's a kingdom where every subject
of yours can dwell safely under his own vine and fig tree. It is a blessed place. Lord,
I just want to be your subject and I just want you to be my
king. That's all I want. Verse 10 says, Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. May our Lord
give us a heart that truly says, Thy will be done. Really, Thy
will be done. Not just lips that say, Thy will
be done, while my heart is screaming, My will be done. I mean really,
Thy will be done. Thy will be done. His way is
the only good way. It's the only good way. Lord,
if you let me have my way, it's going to be the wrong way. I
know it will. Verse 11, he said, Give us this
day our daily bread. Lord, feed me with your word. Feed me with your word. If we
could be fed each day, by the Spirit of His Word, we would
be satisfied. We would be satisfied. We would
be content and satisfied. If we were fed every day by His
Spirit through His Word, we would be satisfied. Verse 12, and forgive
us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lord, would you forgive
me Forgive me and cause me to forgive others because you've
forgiven me. Verse 13 says, And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Deliver us from
the adversary and deliver us from ourselves. The evil of my
own wicked heart, deliver me from it, Lord. Verse 13 goes
on to say, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. When the world that you are in, when the moment that you are
in and the heart, the frame of mind that you are in becomes
frantic, when you are anxiously turning
all over the place. Just like those men in the deep
waters in Psalm 107. When you are reeling to and fro
and staggering like a drunken man and when you're at your wits
end, verse 6 says, enter into thy closet. And when thou hast
shut thy door, this is different from lip service that we just
spew out. Oh, help me, please help me.
This is something different. Enter into that closet, shut
that door, and pray to your Father which is in secret, and thy Father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. He said, you ask,
you will receive. Sometimes I need to know he died
for me. You know that? Sometimes I need
to know you died for me. Sometimes I need to know he loves
me. Sometimes I just need to be nearer to him. He said, you
ask, you will receive. Anytime we're in need, all we
have to do is pray to our Father. That's it. Pray to our Father
and our Father which seeth in secret will take care of it. I promise he'll take care of
it. All right, let's stand together.