The world’s morality is based upon self‑pleasure, right?  It’s based upon the aspect of the end of secular humanism, which basically deifies self.  It fulfills what the devil said was going to happen there in the Garden of Eden.  We now, unregenerate man, have become “god” in our own eyes.  Truth is “my” perception; truth is “my” reality.  Truth is “my truth,” in the day that we’re living.  But the reality is if we’re going to come and fellowship with God, we will come boldly, but we will come humbly.  We will come and ultimately arrive at that place that Jesus revealed to us in Gethsemane, where praying in the name of Jesus—you know, the Scripture tells us if we ask anything in His name He will do it—praying in the name of Jesus is praying in the model that Jesus gave us in His prayer, which is, “not my will, Thy will be done.”  Oh, it’s preceded by, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”  We see that little model prayer, but we see that being finished in Gethsemane with Him ultimately praying more fervently and saying, “not my will, Your sovereign will be done.”

“I’m not going to tell You what needs to be done.  I’m looking for You to tell me what You want me to do right now.  How should I pray?”  You know, there are times—and we’ve seen it in the past—there are times that we should be praying for people and their deliverance.  There are other times that we should be praying that the wrath of God would come upon them.  There are times that we pray for people to be delivered from the devil, and then there are times that we turn people over to the devil for the destruction of their flesh.  Amen?  How do we know what to pray until we’ve come and listened, and His Word has become that reality to us?

There’s a rest that we have in God even in the midst of our confusion.  Even worse than being confused sometimes is being convinced that we’re right.  Amen?  Sometimes we’re better off just being confused and not knowing what’s going on.  Those of us who have so much self‑confidence that “we know” and “we’re right” even requires a little more work of God to get us back on course.  But these verses say God will get us back on course according to His will; amen?  Why are we spending so much time on this?  So that when you pray you can pray in faith; your prayers are not ineffectual.  Even the ones where we’re praying off base, God will ultimately bring us to an understanding.  But in the lag time of us coming to understanding, He’s still working this out according to His will, because Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us.  You ought to pray, but it doesn’t all come down to you praying.  God’s praying.  Our confidence is in and in His good pleasure.  Our confidence is in His sovereignty.  Our confidence is not in our praying; our confidence is not in our faith.  Our confidence is in the Author and the Finisher of our faith.  So, we’re able to rest in Him and pray accordingly.

Proverbs 19, verse 21 says, “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.”  We were talking about that aspect, “many devices,” or we’re setting forth, projecting, what we think to be the will of God.  “Here’s what I understand.  Here’s my goal.”  We all have that naturally within ourselves.  But the good news is it’s the counsel of the Lord that’s going to stand.