Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Pray God’s Agenda First

“Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” – Matthew 16:23

Ask yourself this question: Does prayer set the agenda for your life? And if so, who’s agenda is it?

The Bible tells us that while rebuking Peter, Jesus said, “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” (Matthew 16:23). In other words, Jesus was telling Peter that he was not pursuing God’s agenda in that particular situation. Peter was not thinking God’s thoughts but man’s. He did not seem to accept or understand the need for Jesus to die on the cross. I’m sure Peter thought that he was doing the right thing, but he wasn’t. 

God will invite you to change your plans for His. His plans require faith and obedience and initially God’s plan is exhilarating. But typically, the journey begins to look and feel different than we imagined. The road is filled with more potholes than we expected and God did seem to be leading us in a direction we didn’t expect. You don’t doubt God’s presence, but you question His plans. Your enthusiasm wanes and your confidence falters. That is when we start to evaluate our agenda over God’s. 

But if we think about that for a second, you will realize some undeniable truths. A God of infinite majesty can’t be measured. A God who unleashes miracles can’t be contained. A God whose love is eternal can’t be explained. God sees more than we can see, knows more than we know, and works beyond our comprehension. So if we agree to follow Him only when we understand what He’s doing, we’ll always stop short of experiencing His indescribable wonders. So we can go it alone or let God engineer and direct the agenda of our lives. We may not know how He does it, but we know this: It will be wondrous just like He is.

Living for the Lord Jesus Christ, and serving Him, is not an item that we try to fit into our priorities. It is the one supremely important agenda item of our lives and should shape and mold and drive and influence and determine what we do in every other sphere of our lives.

God has a good plan for your life. He wants to help you follow that plan. But first, you must choose to follow His agenda, not your own. You must choose to trust in His strength, not your own ability.  Praying through every decision, listening to His voice, and leaning upon His wisdom will enable you to determine and then follow God’s agenda. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. Evaluate yourself. What part of your agenda is driven by God and what percentage is driven by you?
  2. What is the difference between seeking the “plans” God may have for us and simply seeking Him?
  3. What could be practically done to ensure that you seek God’s agenda in the next three weeks?

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