It Is Written

The Prayer You Should Never Pray

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. John Bradshaw

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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
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27:08 If you live in North America, we'll mail these Bible guides
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27:13 Or for even easier and immediate access from anywhere
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27:18 on our website itiswritten.com.
27:21 [Music] Request the Discover Bible Guides by calling our
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27:30 Call right now and tell us the name of today's free offer,
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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]


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Revised 2015-02-06