Participants: Pr. John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001219
00:04 It has stood the test of time.
00:12 God's book, the Bible. 00:17 Still relevant in today's complex world. 00:22 It Is Written... sharing hope around the globe. 00:37 Thanks for joining me today. 00:38 Back in 1985 the movie "Back to the Future" 00:43 was the biggest movie of that year. 00:45 It starred Michael J Fox as Marty McFly, and Christopher 00:47 Lloyd as Doctor Emmett Brown. 00:48 Steven Spielberg was one of the executive producers. 00:51 Michael J. Fox's character is accidentally 00:54 sent back in time to 1955, and he comes back to 00:56 the future and goes back to the past getting himself 00:58 into and out of all kinds of various tangles. 01:04 The movie was so popular even President Ronald Reagan quoted 01:07 from it in his State of the Union address in 1986. 01:11 Now the movie's plot was built around a fascinating idea - 01:14 Time Travel. 01:17 The idea that a person might be able to go back - and 01:20 forward - in time and affect the world and alter the way 01:23 that lives play out. 01:26 Of course the idea of Time Travel wasn't 01:28 originated by Hollywood. 01:30 Charles Dickens' 1843 novel 'A Christmas Carol' had 01:33 Ebenezer Scrooge traveling to Christmases in the past 01:36 and in the future. 01:37 And shortly before the turn of the 20th Century, HG Wells 01:40 wrote 'The Time Machine'. 01:43 Not too hard to figure out what that might 01:45 have been about. 01:47 Well - just in case Michael J Fox 01:49 had you convinced, a group of physicists in Hong Kong 01:52 recently stated that they have proven time travel 01:55 is an impossibility. 01:57 In case you missed this, discussion aboutime travel 02:00 has been significant in various circles for some 02:03 years, with some academics taking the position that time 02:05 travel is POSSIBLE. 02:08 But now, the word is it ISN"T possible. 02:11 So that's that, I guess. 02:14 I know - you're shocked. 02:15 [Music in the background.] There you were thinking that 02:16 one day you might be able to go back to the signing of the 02:18 Declaration of Independence and be part of history, or 02:22 maybe go back to Pearl Harbor in 1941 and prevent the attack 02:25 of December 7 that year. 02:26 But I have to confess that when I read the announcement 02:30 from the Hong Kong scientists that time travel 02:32 is impossible... 02:34 I wasn't surprised. 02:36 But I wonder if this would surprise you. 02:41 There's something that is impossible for God. 02:45 [Music in the background] There's a prayer 02:48 God cannot answer. 02:49 In fact, it's the prayer God doesn't want you 02:53 to pray. Seriously. 02:55 There's a prayer God doesn't want us praying - a prayer 02:59 He cannot answer. 03:02 As impossible as time travel. 03:05 So what's the prayer God doesn't want us to pray? 03:08 I'll tell you in just a moment. 03:11 [Music in the background] 03:27 It's time for today's question I read in the Bible about God 03:31 kicking Adam and Eve out of paradise just 03:35 for eating some fruit. 03:36 I mean how bad can that be? 03:40 If God was a cool guy, wouldn't he have given them 03:43 a second chance or something? 03:45 Well, the way God actually did handle Adam and Eve shows just 03:50 what a cool guy God really is. 03:52 Adam and Eve were created by God and given every 03:55 opportunity and every blessing. 03:58 God told them they could have it all in the Garden of Eden, 04:01 except that they were not to eat from the fruit or of the 04:04 fruit that grew on the Tree of the Knowledge 04:07 of Good and Evil. 04:07 Adam and Eve were to learn obedience, or, faithfulness. 04:10 Or, put another way, complete reliance on God. 04:14 When they ate that fruit, they were doing more 04:17 than just eating fruit. 04:18 They were disobeying God. They were sinning. 04:20 Now, I don't to knock them or condemn them, but that's 04:24 what they were doing. 04:25 The Bible says, Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin. 04:29 They weren't acting in faith in God. 04:31 They were going their own way. 04:33 You know, the Bible says that Sin separates from God. 04:36 That's us saying, No, Lord, at this moment I just want 04:40 to do my own thing. 04:42 Adam and Eve chose to step out of that special relationship 04:46 they had with God and they said, We want to 04:49 go our own way. 04:51 The results of that are catastrophic. 04:53 Just look at a world that has pretty much abandoned God. 04:57 It hasn't worked well. 04:59 Now, what about this second chance asked about 05:03 in the question? 05:04 That, in fact, is exactly what God gave them. 05:08 When Adam and Eve rebelled, God could have just done away 05:10 with them and He would have been justified in doing so. 05:13 But here's where Adam and Eve's fall allowed us to see 05:17 what God is really like. 05:19 Instead of ditching Adam and Eve, or condemning them, 05:21 God came to the Garden of Eden, looked for them, and told them 05:25 that a Deliverer would come who would bring them victory 05:30 in their battle with evil. 05:31 Genesis 3:15 says, 05:44 This was God saying that Jesus - the seed 05:46 of the woman - would come. 05:48 This was God saying He was giving the gift of repentance 05:51 to the human family. 05:52 Adam and Eve - the rebels - could still have life, 05:56 everlasting life, through the coming Messiah. 06:00 Seems to me that God was pretty cool. 06:03 If you have a question you'd like answered, go to our 06:05 website - www.ItIsWritten.com and click on the questions tab. 06:10 Submit your question, and in a future program 06:12 I'll answer your question. 06:14 If you have a Bible question for pastor John Bradshaw, 06:19 please write to It Is Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, 06:23 California 91359 or visit our website itiswritten.com and 06:28 send us your questions on-line. 06:31 There are some things in this world that 06:34 shouldn't be attempted. 06:35 I mentioned a moment ago that scientists in Hong Kong 06:38 claimed that they have proof that time travel 06:41 is not possible. 06:42 (Who'da thought?) So that being so, any attempts at 06:46 traveling through time are probably not advisable. 06:49 And there are other things you just shouldn't do: texting 06:51 while driving. 06:52 Not a good idea. 06:54 I read about someone who climbed into the lion's 06:57 enclosure at a zoo. 06:59 Made it out alive, but it's really the sort of thing 07:02 you don't want to do. 07:04 When I saw someone had been killed in his act as a human 07:06 cannonball, I have to confess I thought to myself, "Probably 07:10 wiser not to do that sort of thing..." 07:13 Well, there's a prayer a person should never pray. 07:18 It shouldn't even be attempted. 07:20 God can't possibly answer this prayer in the affirmative, 07:23 and this prayer can ultimately be devastating to 07:27 a person's faith. 07:28 When my son was very young, we were praying together one 07:31 night before he went to sleep, and he prayed the prayer 07:34 a person should never pray. 07:36 It's common for children to pray this prayer, although 07:38 many adults pray this prayer as well and maybe because 07:41 children pray it so much that that's why it is so damaging. 07:45 While my son was praying he prayed the usual things - God 07:48 bless Mommy and Daddy and so on... and then he prayed, 07:52 "And Lord, please help me to be good." And there it was. 08:03 "Please help me to be good." 08:06 And when I heard that, I knew I had to do SOMETHING 08:09 before we had a real problem on our hands. 08:12 So I said to him gently a moment later, "Son, let 08:15 me suggest something. 08:17 When you pray, let's not pray that God would help you to be 08:20 good." Now he knew I wasn't going to suggest maybe he 08:23 should pray that God help him to be bad or help him 08:26 not to be good, so I had his attention. 08:29 So why in the world would a father tell his first-born not 08:33 to pray that God would help him to be good? 08:36 There's a very good, very Biblical reason for that. 08:41 I explained it to him. 08:42 And I knew it was hugely important, because people who 08:46 don't understand this point set themselves up 08:49 for lives of spiritual misery. 08:51 That's why I said to my son, "Son, you don't want to pray 08:55 that God would make you good. 08:56 Because the Bible says there is none that does good. 09:00 There is nobody who is good, except for God. 09:02 You're praying for an impossibility. 09:04 God says that there's no one who is good. 09:07 So when you're praying for God to make you good, you're 09:11 praying that God would do something that according to 09:13 the Bible God has said He's not able to do." Understand 09:15 me clearly here. 09:16 If God has said that there is nobody who is 'good', why in 09:19 the world would I - or you - want to ask God 09:22 to make us good? 09:23 We are sinners. 09:24 Even the most righteous person on earth has sinned 09:27 many times at some time during their lives. 09:30 The Bible says there is none that doeth good. 09:33 Not one. 09:34 As sinful people, we cannot be made INHERENTLY good because 09:38 the fact is we are inherently flawed. 09:40 We do want to be RIGHTEOUS, and that's a different matter. 09:46 You know something? 09:47 I don't recall a single place in the Bible where God tells 09:50 us that we should be good. 09:51 I just don't think it's here. 09:53 Now, He does tell us that we should be HOLY. 09:58 That's for sure. 09:58 But not good. 10:00 Stay with me. 10:01 Remember when the Rich Young Ruler came to Jesus 10:03 and called Him 'Good Master'? 10:05 And what did Jesus say to him? 10:06 "There is none good, except for God." So I said to my son, 10:09 "Son, you don't want to pray that God would help 10:12 you to be good. 10:14 What you want to pray is that Jesus would live 10:18 His life in you. 10:20 That Jesus would dwell in your heart. 10:23 And when He does that, you're certainly not going to be bad. 10:27 You're going to have Jesus' righteousness." See friend 10:31 that's the healthy way to approach it. 10:33 I want you to see the difference here between 10:36 two things. 10:37 Human beings have sinned. 10:37 They have lost their 'goodness', let's say. 10:41 We are sinners - sinful. 10:43 But God wants us to be restored, to be 10:47 at one with Him. 10:48 He wants us to reflect His character. 10:51 But how can we do that when we are fundamentally flawed? 10:54 Certainly not by trying our hardest to be good. 10:57 You know what happens to so many people? 11:01 They have this idea that they're supposed to be good. 11:03 And so they try and try. 11:06 The swearer tries and tries to stop swearing, but realizes in 11:09 the vast majority of cases that he or she cannot stop. 11:12 The smoker tries desperately to quit smoking 11:16 but finds she just can't do it. 11:17 The person with lustful thoughts or a wandering eye 11:20 does all he can to keep his mind pure, but he keeps on 11:23 falling back into the same old habit patterns. 11:27 The sinner wants to go straight, wants to be good, 11:30 but doesn't have the ability to do so. 11:34 So, what does he or she so often do? 11:36 That person prays to God that God would help her or him 11:39 to 'be good.' But is that a reasonable prayer? 11:42 No. 11:44 Listen to what Jeremiah wrote, in Jeremiah 13:23 .. 11:50 Jeremiah 13:23 11:57 Let's answer that: Can the Ethiopian 11:59 change his skin? 11:59 Can a black man become a white man? 12:01 I think we know that answer to that question. 12:04 Question for you. 12:05 Did you ever see a leopard trade in his spots and start 12:07 sporting stripes like a zebra? 12:10 That doesn't happen very often, does it? 12:13 So God poses the question to us, and there's only one 12:15 answer: " 12:21 No. 12:23 And then God follows that by saying this, 12:33 Let's get this straight. 12:34 God says it's as possible for someone doing evil to ON HIS 12:40 OR HER OWN start doing good, as it is for a black man to 12:44 change his skin color or a leopard to start 12:47 wearing a new style. 12:49 So if "being good" is an impossibility, why in the 12:52 world would anyone want to ask God to help them to be good? 12:56 You'd be praying an impossible prayer, and asking God to do 12:59 something that He can not do. 13:01 A key point is this: right living, right behavior, 13:06 correct deportment is not something a person 13:10 can produce in themselves. 13:11 People have a problem that is within - sin - 13:14 and they need help from above. 13:16 If there was someone who needed to understand this, it 13:19 was King David. 13:22 [Music playing.] King David messed things up big time. 13:25 He fell into bad sin, stealing a man's wife and 13:29 having the man killed. 13:30 And then, he covered up the whole affair. 13:33 So when he needed to go straight, what did David ask 13:36 God to do? 13:37 Did David ask God to help him to be good? 13:41 No he did not. 13:43 What did David do? 13:45 David prayed a special prayer. 13:48 We'll find out what that is in just a moment. 13:54 In Matthew 4:4 the Word of God says 14:03 Every Word is a one minute Bible-based daily devotional 14:07 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed 14:09 especially for busy people like you. 14:12 Look for Every Word on selected networks or watch 14:15 it on-line everyday on our website itiswritten.com. 14:19 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 14:22 Watch Every Word. 14:23 You'll be glad you did. 14:24 [Music in background] If you're a regular viewer 14:29 of It is Written, there's a chance you 14:32 are curious of who we are and what we do. 14:34 This ministry is dedicated to sharing the gospel 14:37 around the world. 14:38 There are many ways we try to accomplish that. 14:41 To get an inside view through written and visual reports, 14:43 photos and videos, visit our website itiswritten.com and 14:49 while you are there you will also discover the many 14:52 inspirational resources that are available to help you in 14:55 your Christian walk. 14:56 I invite you to visit itiswritten.com. 14:59 You'll be glad you did. 15:02 Today, we're talking about the prayer you should never pray. 15:07 You know, too many people pray and ask God to help 15:10 them to be good. 15:11 But the Bible says we are as capable of doing good 15:14 as a leopard is of changing its spots. 15:17 No doubt, God wants us to be righteous, he wants us to live 15:19 right but if we don't understand how that can happen 15:21 in our life, we'll end up being very unhappy people. 15:26 King David gave us a correct example in this. 15:30 He had a series of terrible failings where he seriously 15:32 made a mess of his life. 15:34 Guilty of dishonestly, adultery and murder, David 15:38 eventually went to God and pleaded with God to help him 15:41 to get back to where he needed to be. 15:44 And what was his prayer? 15:45 Did David pray, "Lord, help me to be good?" No he didn't. 15:49 David instead prayed the beautiful prayer found in 15:52 Psalm 51. 15:54 Here's what he prayed to God. 16:05 David understood what he needed. 16:07 His own goodness had been powerless to keep him out of 16:10 the mud of shame and sin. 16:12 What He needed was God's presence and power. 16:16 He needed God's Spirit - in his life. 16:19 He goes on to pray, 16:27 David was saying, "What I need is not anything 16:30 that comes from me, what I need is something 16:31 that comes from you. 16:33 I need YOU living your life in me." That's the way the Bible 16:38 portrays Christian living. 16:39 Paul wrote to the Colossians and he told them that the 16:42 essence of the gospel was 16:46 Not "you being good, the hope of glory." But, 16:48 "Christ in you - Christ living His life in you." With Jesus 16:52 in you, you can hardly be bad! 16:55 If you've never grabbed this, if you've never understood 16:58 this, this concept will revolutionize your life! 17:02 Writing to the Galatians, Paul wrote this, this is 17:03 Galations 2:20. 17:06 Paul said, 17:24 You can see Paul's repeated emphasis. 17:26 What a person needs is Jesus living His life in him or her! 17:30 And that's VERY different from saying, "Lord, help ME 17:34 to do something. 17:35 Help ME to be something. 17:36 Help me to be good." 17:37 The right approach is to be is 'surrendered', made available 17:41 to God, yielded to Him so that God can do the work He wants 17:46 to do in your life. 17:48 And you know what happens when we pray that God would 17:51 help us to be good? 17:53 Discouragement sets in. 17:55 A disabling, destructive, disheartening discouragement. 17:58 I'll tell you why. 18:00 [Music in the background] Let's say you've got 18:04 someone who is... 18:05 I don't know... 18:06 someone who is having issues with anger, let's say. 18:09 A kid has an ager problem and knows that he shouldn't. 18:12 And he's told that he'll be okay if he prays and asks God 18:15 to help him to be good. 18:16 [Child complaining, ... 18:17 "this doesn't work" ... "this better work." 18:25 Angry ... 18:26 "still doesn't work". 18:36 As a teenager he's still angry ... 18:40 [ Voice of younger man... 18:44 "this better work this time" But he's praying harder 18:46 than ever that Jesus would help him to be good. 18:48 He gets older, still praying, but very frustrated. 18:53 [Sound of a the car of a motor turning ... "come on." 18:59 Sound of motor turning. 19:01 Angry, yelling . 19:03 "COME ON !!! 19:03 ..." banging something .. 19:04 " WHY DOESN'T THIS EVER JUST WORK FOR ME !!! 19:06 NOTHING EVER WORKS FOR ME!! 19:08 ARGH, WHY CAN'T THINGS JUST WORK OUT!!! 19:11 NOTHING EVER WORKS!! 19:13 ARGH!!! 19:16 Now, maybe there are now other sins that he's praying God 19:18 would make him good enough to stop committing. 19:22 You know what eventually happens? 19:24 This person gets to the place where he or she says, 19:27 "It just doesn't work. 19:28 I've tried and tried and I've prayed and prayed, and I'm 19:31 still angry," or whatever the sin might be. 19:34 That person will eventually conclude -and they will 19:36 conclude correctly - that God hasn't make him or her 'good.' 19:41 So, he or she either says to him or herself, "I guess I'll 19:43 always be this way" and he stays in church miserable and 19:48 defeated, or says, "This doesn't work. 19:54 I've prayed so long for God to help me to be good. 19:58 It isn't happening and I've prayed and so therefore God 20:02 is a myth, and this whole Bible thing doesn't work." 20:07 Many people have done that. 20:09 That person then turns his back on God. 20:12 And that's a tragedy. 20:15 What God offers us is this. 20:17 God pledges to come into our lives and bring His goodness. 20:21 He brings His righteousness. 20:24 I want to share a Bible verse with you that I am certain can 20:28 absolutely change your life. 20:31 You read it in Philippians 2:13, Philippians 2:13 says, 20:46 Did you catch that? 20:48 And did you see where the focus is? 20:51 "It is God who works in you..." In terms of living a 20:53 life for God, did you see where God puts the emphasis? 20:56 "It is God who works in you." 20:59 So here's the key for successful living - and a key 21:02 for successful praying. 21:04 What God is telling us is that when it comes to working in 21:07 your life - when it comes to getting out of your life what 21:09 shouldn't be in and getting into your life what shouldn't 21:12 be out - GOD will do that work in you. 21:16 That's what is meant when Paul wrote that we: 21:23 We let Christ live His life in us. 21:25 So why is that so radical? 21:26 Because if you're going to try and do the impossible 21:27 in your own strength, you are doomed to fail. 21:31 If you've got an anger issue or a lust problem or a 21:34 substance problem, you might try and try all you care to, 21:39 and you're not going to be able to change because TRUE 21:41 change takes place in the heart. 21:43 [Sound of motor turning.] Young man's voice ... "Come on" 21:46 [Sound of motor turning] And there's not a person 21:51 alive who can change his or her own heart. 21:55 So instead, here's what you do. 21:58 You pray, "Lord, I want to be different, I want to get some 22:03 things straightened out, I want to change, 22:04 but I cannot change myself. 22:06 So I need you to come into my life and do in me what I cannot 22:11 do in myself." When you pray THAT prayer, God can't 22:16 fail to answer. 22:18 What you'll discover is that when you surrender to Him, God 22:23 comes into your life and remakes you. 22:25 As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, ... 22:34 A few years ago I was with a group 22:36 of ministerial workers in training, and I asked 22:38 them a question. 22:40 I said, "Now we know the Bible says that salvation comes by 22:44 grace through faith." "But," I said, "there's another verse 22:47 that says we should strive to enter in - to heaven - through 22:51 the narrow gate." So I asked these ministerial trainees - 22:56 strive to enter in through the narrow gate?" 23:01 Nobody offered an answer. 23:04 But then a 6-year-old boy said spoke up. 23:09 "Daddy," he said, "I think I know." You know, there's 23:15 an old saying that says, "Bradshaws rush in where 23:18 angels fear to tread." 23:20 So there I was hoping my little boy wasn't going 23:23 to embarrass himself too badly. 23:25 "Daddy, I think I know". 23:27 "Okay, what is it, son?" 23:29 I asked him in front of everybody, thinking to myself 23:32 'Oh, This'll be interesting.' "Well," he said. 23:36 "I've been listening to 'Christiana'." (Now I don't 23:39 know if you know this but Christiana is the second part 23:42 of Pilgrim's Progress story, the great book written 23:44 by John Bunyan. 23:46 Christiana was the wife, rather, of Christian, and this 23:49 second book was the story of HER journey 23:52 to the Celestial City. 23:54 My son had been listening to the story on tape or CD or 23:56 something...) "You've been listening to Christiana, 23:58 son..." "Yes, Dad. 24:01 And on her way to the Celestial City she came 24:03 across all kinds of hazards. 24:05 There was Mr. Worldly Wiseman, and the Slough of Despond... 24:08 all sorts of things. 24:09 (I was wondering where this was going.) It could have been 24:12 a disaster, Dad, but she was told she'd be okay, if she kept 24:18 her eyes on the light. 24:23 And Dad, that's what I think Jesus is telling us 24:25 we should do. 24:26 He's saying, We'll be okay, if we strive to 24:29 keep our eyes on the light..." 24:31 And everyone in the room realized that a 6-year-old 24:35 had expertly answered the question that all 24:38 of these students couldn't answer. 24:41 Strive to keep your eyes on the light. 24:46 Striving to be good is a loser's game. 24:49 Jesus said there is none that does good. 24:52 We're broken. 24:54 Goodness isn't what we are. 24:55 But - Jesus can come into your life if you ask Him. 24:59 He will live His life in you, and with Jesus in your life, 25:05 there's nothing to stop Him making you everything 25:08 you want to be. 25:11 Why pray to be good, when you can pray that God would bring 25:14 His goodness into your life and remake you completely? 25:18 When He does that, everything in your life and everything 25:23 about you will be just what God wants it to be. 25:27 Let me pray with you that we'll both experience God's 25:30 goodness in our lives. 25:32 [Music] Our father in heaven, 25:34 we thank you today for Jesus, the one who is good and we 25:37 pray now that you would send your Spirit into our lives 25:40 in a great way. 25:41 Let Christ live in us and bring His goodness into our 25:45 lives so that spiritually speaking we will not be 25:48 failing, we would not be falling, but that we would be 25:52 kept by your power and your grace and that the goodness of 25:55 Jesus will be seen in us and help us, please, to strive to 26:01 keep our eyes on the light. 26:05 And this we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. 26:23 [Music] Perhaps our program 26:32 today has touched your heart and impressed you with a 26:35 personal need for deeper Bible study. 26:38 If you desire to listen to God and follow where he leads, 26:40 we've got a wonderful resource that can help you do that in a 26:43 systemic way, the Discover Bible Guides. 26:46 These study guides will take you through the essential 26:49 truths taught in Scripture. 26:50 They give you the big picture showing how it 26:52 all fits together. 26:54 The Discover Bible Guides are a wonderful way for you to 26:57 become grounded in the Word of God and to see how Jesus 27:00 Christ relates to all the areas of our lives. 27:03 Please call or write us and the Discover Bible Guides will 27:07 be on their way to you. 27:08 If you live in North America, we'll mail these Bible guides 27:11 free of charge. 27:13 Or for even easier and immediate access from anywhere 27:15 around the world, you can get these wonderful Bible lessons 27:18 on our website itiswritten.com. 27:21 [Music] Request the Discover Bible Guides by calling our 27:25 toll free number 1 800 253 3000. 27:30 Call right now and tell us the name of today's free offer, 27:33 the Discover Bible Guides. 27:35 Lines are open 24 hours. 27:35 If they are busy when you call, keep trying. 27:36 You can also reques today's offer by writing to: 27:38 It Is Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, 27:40 CA 91359. 27:43 Thank you for your letters and for your continued support. 27:49 Thanks for joining me today. 27:50 I look forward to seeing you again next time. 27:52 Until then, remember: It is written, man shall not live by 27:56 bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth 28:00 of God. 28:03 [Music] |
Revised 2015-02-06