The Purpose of Prayer | Tony Evans Sermon

[Music] you only have one source you've got a lot of resources a lot of mechanisms that god can use to bring his provision to you but you only have one source don't ever let a resource become a source because it can't be when god is your only source he is the one you look to for your provision always look to him and then give thanks because you know somebody who's able to meet you at every level of need and that is your great god who cares about you remember when you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness because he already knows what you need he can cover you at every point of your life [Music] we have all been to and participated in the celebrative moments of a touchdown scored by our home team or when you're watching the super bowl and the game is over you see the spontaneous rise of joy in the winner's circle as they hoist the lombardi trophy or if you're watching a baseball game and it's the bottom of the ninth inning and they need one run and the batter hits it over the fence for the winning run and the celebration that breaks out because of what just happened it's spontaneous you can't help it because something happened that turned things around at the last moment or if your game is basketball we know what it is to see a player sink the shot as the buzzer goes off and the emotion that wells up in the hometown crowd or on the team to see what just happened in other words in moments like that you don't have to beg for praise and moments like that you don't have to shove people into a celebration the nature of the moment demands it and you can't help it well the bible has something like that we call it in theology a doxology taken from two greek words one is doxey which means praise and then logos which means a word or an expression so a doxology is an expression of praise there are many doxologies in the bible but there are many spontaneous eruptions of the recognition and celebration of god for who he is and for what he has done it is blowing a lid off of the top it is a volcanic eruption of the soul it's not emotionalism emotionalism is when you get excited and nothing happened but it is legitimate emotion where you are responding to something or someone for who they are what you just saw them do it is jesus's understanding when he concludes the lord's prayer that if you really understood what he said eruption in your soul there will be a doxological response when you understand what kind of name he has and that it ought to be hollowed when you understand what kind of kingdom he oversees and it ought to be submitted to when you understand the perfection of his will to carry out his purposes when you understand that nothing you have or will ever have could come to you if he wasn't the source of it getting to you and so you praise him for your daily bread if you really understood what it means to be a forgiving person and to be a forgiver and letting somebody else off the hook like you want god to let you off the hook and if you really understood how bad satan was out to get you so that god would have to lead you from being overrun by him or deliver you out of evil he's already trapped you in it's jesus's understanding that if you understood all that he's already said in the lord's prayer that there ought to be a doxological response there ought to be something welling up in your soul of praise jesus closes the lord's prayer with the famous doxology one of the great doxologies of scripture he says for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever amen he starts off with the word for in other words in light of everything i just taught you to pray you ought to be excited now in light of everything that you've learned about the lord's prayer you ought to be motivated now to give him what he deserves he says for thine is the kingdom it's about you it's all about you it's about your name your kingdom your will your provision your forgiveness your protection when you finish the lord's prayer it's all about you for thine is the kingdom now i'm a beneficiary but it's all about you so let's start there don't start your prayer making it about you make it about him because then it can boomerang back to you but if you make it about you and you forget him then you flip you flip places in the prayer and you made the prayer about who you are and not who he is for thy he first of all says i'm going to praise him for his kingdom for thine is the kingdom now this is the second time we've seen the word kingdom and in the prayer thy kingdom come we've explained that the kingdom is the rule of god is the comprehensive rule of god first corinthians 10 26 says both heaven and earth belong to god so everything was created for the rule of god for thine is the kingdom for thine is the kingdom you are the ruler you are in charge but the problem is we have too many of god's people who switch kingdoms they wear a uniform of god's kingdom while they serve another kingdom and so as a result they are living in a kingdom in conflict so let me help you if you don't recognize god as your king not only in what you say but how you function then you have jeopardized the rest of the lord's prayer for the lord's prayer only works if it's his kingdom that is your concern but if you're concerned about your rule your management your status your position not under the king but you just want the king to do what you want for you then you've jeopardized all the rest of the prayer why for thine is the kingdom let me tell you why you and i all of us must be willing to voluntarily submit ourselves to the rule of god over every area of our lives as we pursue our relationship with him as father it is because if he is allowed to rule then he will control the outcome remember thy kingdom come why so that your will is done so the outcome ties to his rule if you lose or leave his rule you've jeopardized the outcome since everything belongs to god's kingdom he can use anything that is created for his kingly purposes the biggest thing you can say as part of your doxology is god when i get out of my bed this morning you rule me when i get out of my bed this morning you're my authority i submit to your control i pursue a relationship with you but your will will trump my will your desire will trump my desire your goal will trump my goal my way will go your way and when you do that then god feels free to waggle you but if he knows that you're not going to do his thing that he's not going to call a waggle because he knows he can't trust you to keep his kingdom going then he says he says thy power he says thine is the kingdom thine is the power a lot of christians give god position but no power oh they'll worship him they'll wave their hand in the air like they just don't care they'll jump a pew they'll shout hallelujah but there's no power you don't see god doing anything in their lives you don't see god changing anything turning anything because they hold him in a high position while removing the clout from him see the only way you get to see the power if he knows you're subjected to the kingdom why don't we see more of his power because we're not submitted to his kingdom his kingdom is tied to his power that's why the bible says in ephesians 3 verse 20 now to him who can do exceedingly abundantly above all you ask or think but then he says according to the power that works in you so if you're not submitted to his kingdom you don't have access to his power and if you don't have access to his power you won't see him working in your life even though you hold him in high position it's easy to go around say god is first in my life that's nice talk great speech but there's no power in that unless it's real submission real relationship he says thine is the power psalm 89 11 says heaven and earth belongs to god he's king he's in charge first chronicles 16 9 god shares his power with those who are completely his let me say that again god shares his power with those who are completely his so what god is saying today is that he is the power daniel 11 32 says the people who know their god shall be strong and do exploits the people who know god will see god do stuff change stuff flip stuff help stuff reverse stuff heal stuff provide stuff the people who know their god not just the people who go to church the issue in your life my life and in our corporate life is are we pursuing god for thine it's about him is the kingdom thine is the power oh and then it comes to this one thine is the glory ah the word glory means to put something on display to highlight it or advertise it okay glory means to show something off thine is the glory i hate to tell you what i'm getting ready i just hate it because i just know that so many will not like it god's not here for you this i just thought i'd tell you that god's not here for you psalm 115 verse 1 says not to us but to your name give glory [Music] this is the tony evans training center an online platform of courses featuring compelling video and audio teaching by dr tony evans each course follows a scripture based curriculum that you'll find to be timely and challenging course topics range from exegetical deep dives and book studies to building a family with a kingdom mindset choose the content that's right for you on your terms and engage in valuable discussions with other students via the community dashboard this course is for your implementation through your church for the well-being of your community life is busy but bible study is still possible the tony evans training center explore the kingdom anytime anywhere okay let me explain gloria men have ascribed glory glory we attribute to people because of who they are or what they have achieved so you go to a courtroom a man or woman comes out in a robe and you say what your honor you're ascribing glory to them because of their position as a judge or a policeman pulls you over and you say yes officer why because that blue uniform represents a position and authority under the law so you ascribe glory to them okay now you take the robe off the man or woman you put them in regular street clothes and they're just another man or woman it's that attire that causes you to ascribe glory to them just based on how they look that's called ascribed glory judges get locked up police get fired because if they don't do what the job says they jeopardize what they were ascribed okay so that's ascribed glory we attribute it to a person based on what they've accomplished and it's temporary god has intrinsic glory okay let me explain what what is to water what hot is to fire what blue is to sky is intrinsic glory in other words you can't separate it god's glory is so intrinsic that if nobody glorifies him he can glorify himself and be fine because his glory is intrinsic to his being now because he created us the bible says for his glory the scripture says we were created for his glory in isaiah 43 verse 7 you were created for his glory then you need to know you are going to glorify him now one way or another everybody is going to glorify god now you can glorify him in one of two ways you can glorify him voluntarily or mandatorily because everybody is going to glorify at the name of jesus every knee will bow every tongue will confess that jesus is lord to the glory of the father you and i just have the opportunity to do it voluntarily in hell folk are doing it mandatorily but everybody is going to give glory to god now you have to understand something god says i will share my glory with no man okay i will share my glory with no man my glory cannot be tampered with i'm not going to share it not if it's my glory isaiah 50 48 11. i will share my glory with no man so here's what you got to do here's what i have to do okay you must be to god what the moon is to the sun the moon reflects the light of the sun on the earth so light hits it but the moon can't keep it the moon got to pass it on the planet earth because it has no life of its own so if you give me glory and i own it and don't reflect it i'm sharing glory that belongs to somebody else your job and my job when we're hit with glory is to reflect it back to the source of glory the bible declares to ascribe psalm 29 verse 1 and 2 to the lord the glory to his name in other words the bigger you see him the more praise you'll give to him the smaller you make him the less praise you're going to give him you know why more of us don't praise god because he's too small i'm not going to praise god we give more praise to lebron james than we give to god why because god has gotten so small that's why the lord's prayer is designed for you to magnify god there are two ways to make something bigger you magnify it or you get closer to it and when you do those two things it gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and the bigger he gets the more praise you're going to give the folk who really praise god has seen how big he is and understand every good and perfect gift comes from above and then he says one other thing here thine is the kingdom thine is the power thine is the glory okay watch this forever forever no end in sight so let me let me help you understand what's going to happen when you die since it's forever kingdom power and glory forever when you go to heaven if you've accepted jesus christ when you go to heaven there will be no night night is canceled no night time there will be no sleep because you will have a glorified body but when we get to glory god is going to remove all the interruptions and he's going to show us infinitude infinitude means that which is without end because god is inexhaustible he's infinite therefore there is no conclusion to him that's why it will take forever to learn him it will take forever because he goes on forever i understand that you can't grasp what i just said you need a glorified body to grasp it but 100 quadzillion years from now you will be learning new things about god's kingdom god's power and god's glory because he says it goes on forever so guess what you're supposed to be doing now practicing practicing praising his kingdom practicing praising his power practicing praising his glory giving him the worth the doxology the praise when george bush came here and uh when we dedicated a building across the street he was president of the united states and we sh we shifted everything to facilitate his presence because of his position because of his power and because of his status now if i can do something for somebody who's here today and gone tomorrow who doesn't give me food to eat he doesn't give me a place to live he doesn't give me air for my lungs he doesn't answer my if i can do that for a man what should i do for the king of kings the lord of lords what should i do but give him the glory do his name [Applause] so watch this now i want to close here [Applause] you would think that's the end of the prayer but it's not the prayer ends with the word amen the word amen means so be it the word amen means i got it the word amen means that's what i'm talking about the word amen means it will be done amen means my affirmation on what was just said so don't say amen unless you go hollow his name don't say amen unless you're going to submit to his kingdom and do his will don't say amen unless you're going to look at him as your provider don't say amen if you're not willing to forgive so you can be forgiven don't say amen if you're going to not let him control what the devil does in your life don't say amen just say i'm finished because once you say amen you say i agree yes i'm with you bank on me i'm all in god is looking for some amen saints he's looking for some saints who will give god the praise to his name that when they wake up tomorrow god i'm going to bless you because you got me out of bed the bible says from the rising of the sun tell the going down of the same let the name of the lord be praised when a football player makes a great play they walk around and they do that they do that what they're telling the crowd is join me in praising join me because of what you saw i just did what this means is give it up god is looking for some folk who give it up who'll give up some worship give up some praise and you can't praise in silence you can worship in silence but you can't praise in silence let the redeemed of the lord say so let the redeemed of the lord declare he's worthy to be praised when i'm healthy i'm going to praise him when i'm sick i'm going to praise him when i'm needy i'm going to praise him when my belly's full i'm gonna praise him i'm gonna praise him when i get up i'm gonna praise him when i lay down my whole day will be praising the god of the lord's prayer somebody in here ought to give it up and give him the glory do his name give him the praise that he is worthy let me just give you a minute just take a minute and bless his name just take a minute and say i'm going to bless your name i'm going to glorify your name i'm going to exalt your name take a minute and let him know he's worthy of your praise he's worthy of your adoration he's worthy to receive glory no matter what you're going through he's still worried [Music] the goal of prayer is the exaltation of our god it is the recognition that he is your source for all of life and it's one thing to think he is and to feel he is and the wanting to be it's a whole nother ballgame to express that he is prayer allows you to express to god how you feel about him what you think about him how much you need him what you want from him and to give him the praise do him when communicating with him in a relationship not merely as a ritual becomes your dominant point of communication in life you will experience him because you will have satisfied the relationship he wants to have with you and that is to walk with you through life as your partner as your god and as your sovereign king prayer gives you access to that kind of relationship [Applause] [Music] so you

Channel: Tony Evans

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Length: 27min 41sec (1661 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 29 2020