Sermon Cloud

WPM 1/2/08 CLC

The plans of God.

There is a plan for us.

Jer 29:11-13 11  ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12  ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13  ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

The plan of God will only be gotten by prayer.

Jer 33:3 ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

Mt 7:7 ¶ "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8  "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Jas 1:5-8 5  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6  But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7  For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8  being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

You’ve got to be in faith when you hear, believe that what He has spoken, He will bring to pass.

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;  11  Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.

What He tells us to do, will work, He’ll bring it to pass.

Ps 37:4-5 4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.  5  Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

Pr 19:21  Many plans are in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the LORD will stand.

Sometimes, we need to seek advice from others on how to put the plan into practice.

Pr 15:22 ¶ Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed.

Pr 20:18 ¶ Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance.

Ex.  Jesus praying all night, then selecting apostles

Lu 6:12-13.  12 ¶ It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.  13  And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:

Acts 13 Barnabas and Saul set apart

Jesus told them to notice the ripe fields, then He told them to pray.

Matt 9-10

David always sought the Lord when facing an enemy, God would give him the plan.

1Sa 23:4  Then David inquired of the LORD once more. And the LORD answered him and said, "Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand."

1Sa 30:8  David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?" And He said to him, "Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all."

2Sa 2:1  Then it came about afterwards that David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?" And the LORD said to him, "Go up." So David said, "Where shall I go up?" And He said, "To Hebron."

2Sa 5:19  Then David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You give them into my hand?" And the LORD said to David, "Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand."

2Sa 5:23  When David inquired of the LORD, He said, "You shall not go directly up; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.

1Ch 14:10  David inquired of God, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will You give them into my hand?" Then the LORD said to him, "Go up, for I will give them into your hand."

1Ch 14:14  David inquired again of God, and God said to him, "You shall not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.

Joseph didn’t pray to seek the plan, he tried to make it happen on his own.

Joseph didn’t use discretion on who he told about what the Lord had shown him.  If people don’t ask, you don’t have to tell them.

Moses did the same thing when he killed the Egyptian.

Later, (Exodus 24-25) he went up on the mountain and spent 40 days with God getting the plan.  He didn’t go running off when God gave him the first instructions, he waited until God was done.

In His Presence is the plan that you need.

We must commit to the plan, only then will He bring it to pass.

Prov 16:1-4, 9  1 ¶  The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

    2 ¶  All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives.

    3 ¶  Commit your works to the LORD And your plans will be established.

    4 ¶  The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.

     9 ¶  The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

Prov 16:3 Amplified.  Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

Pr 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.