It Is Written

The Prayer You Should Never Pray

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Bradshaw

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Series Code: IIW

Program Code: IIW001314


00:07 It has stood the test of time.
00:11 God's book, the Bible.
00:15 Still relevant in today's complex world.
00:21 It Is Written... sharing hope around the globe.
00:36 Thanks for joining me today.
00:37 Back in 1985 the movie "Back to the Future"
00:42 was the biggest movie of that year.
00:44 It starred Michael J Fox as Marty McFly, and Christopher
00:46 Lloyd as Doctor Emmett Brown.
00:48 Steven Spielberg was one of the executive producers.
00:51 Michael J. Fox's character is accidentally
00:53 sent back in time to 1955, and he comes back to
00:57 the future and goes back to the past getting himself
01:00 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.
01:16 The idea that a person might be able to go back -
01:19 and forward - in time and affect the world and alter the way
01:23 that lives play out.
01:25 Of course the idea of Time Travel wasn't
01:27 originated by Hollywood.
01:29 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'.
01:42 Not too hard to figure out what that might
01:44 have been about.
01:45 Well - just in case Michael J Fox
01:47 had you convinced, a group of physicists in Hong Kong
01:51 recently stated that they have proven time travel
01:55 is an impossibility.
01:56 In case you missed this, discussion about time travel
02:00 has been significant in various circles for some
02:02 years, with some academics taking the position that time
02:05 travel is POSSIBLE.
02:07 But now, the word is it ISN"T possible.
02:11 So that's that, I guess.
02:13 I know - you're shocked.
02:14 [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
02:29 from the Hong Kong scientists that time travel
02:32 is impossible...
02:34 I wasn't surprised.
02:35 But I wonder if this would surprise you.
02:40 There's something that is impossible for God.
02:44 [Music in the background] There's a prayer
02:47 God cannot answer.
02:48 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.
03:01 As impossible as time travel.
03:05 So what's the prayer God doesn't want us to pray?
03:07 I'll tell you in just a moment.
03:12 [Music in the background] In Matthew 4:4, the Word
03:14 of God says,
03:22 Every Word is a one-minute Bible-based daily devotional
03:25 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed
03:27 especially for busy people like you.
03:30 Look for Every Word on selected networks or watch it on-line
03:34 everyday on our website, itiswritten.com.
03:37 Receive a daily spiritual boost.
03:40 Watch Every Word.
03:41 You'll be glad you did.
03:43 Here's a sample.
03:53 Just a horrible story.
03:56 A 14 year old boy in Syria was overheard by rebels saying
03:58 something they believed was disrespectful to Mohammed,
04:01 so they grabbed him, beat him, executed him, and dumped his
04:06 body back with his family.
04:07 It says something indescribably awful about
04:10 people who would do something so barbaric.
04:12 But it also speaks about the character of God.
04:15 You can disagree with the God of heaven, and He'll let you
04:18 go right on.
04:19 You can be disrespectful and He will let you live.
04:21 That's not to say you should insult God, but God gave you
04:25 freedom of choice - which means you can reject Him
04:29 should you wish to do so.
04:31 The Bible says in Joshua 24:15,
04:36 Force is not God's way.
04:38 He is gracious enough to allow us to agree to disagree.
04:42 Let's live today by Every Word.
04:46 There are some things in this world that
04:48 shouldn't be attempted.
04:49 I mentioned a moment ago that scientists in Hong Kong
04:52 claimed that they have proof that time travel
04:55 is not possible.
04:56 (Who'da thought?) So that being so, any attempts at
05:00 traveling through time are probably not advisable.
05:02 And there are other things you just shouldn't do: texting
05:05 while driving.
05:06 Not a good idea.
05:08 I read about someone who climbed into the lion's
05:11 enclosure at a zoo.
05:12 Made it out alive, but it's really the sort of thing
05:16 you don't want to do.
05:17 When I saw someone had been killed in his act as a human
05:20 cannonball, I have to confess I thought to myself, "Probably
05:25 wiser not to do that sort of thing..."
05:28 Well, there's a prayer a person should never pray.
05:32 It shouldn't even be attempted.
05:34 God can't possibly answer this prayer in the affirmative,
05:38 and this prayer can ultimately be devastating to
05:41 a person's faith.
05:43 When my son was very young, we were praying together one
05:46 night before he went to sleep, and he prayed the prayer
05:48 a person should never pray.
05:49 It's common for children to pray this prayer, although
05:52 many adults pray this prayer as well and maybe because
05:56 children pray it so much that that's why it is so damaging.
06:00 While my son was praying he prayed the usual things - God
06:02 bless Mommy and Daddy and so on... and then he prayed,
06:07 "And Lord, please help me to be good." And there it was.
06:17 "Please help me to be good."
06:20 And when I heard that, I knew I had to do SOMETHING
06:24 before we had a real problem on our hands.
06:27 So I said to him gently a moment later, "Son, let
06:30 me suggest something.
06:31 When you pray, let's not pray that God would help you to be
06:34 good." Now he knew I wasn't going to suggest maybe he
06:38 should pray that God help him to be bad or help him
06:40 not to be good, so I had his attention.
06:43 So why in the world would a father tell his first-born not
06:47 to pray that God would help him to be good?
06:50 There's a very good, very Biblical reason for that.
06:55 I explained it to him.
06:57 And I knew it was hugely important, because people who
07:00 don't understand this point set themselves up
07:02 for lives of spiritual misery.
07:06 That's why I said to my son, "Son, you don't want to pray
07:08 that God would make you good.
07:10 Because the Bible says there is none that does good.
07:12 There is nobody who is good, except for God.
07:15 You're praying for an impossibility.
07:17 God says that there's no one who is good.
07:19 So when you're praying for God to make you good, you're
07:21 praying that God would do something that according to
07:24 the Bible God has said He's not able to do." Understand
07:28 me clearly here.
07:29 If God has said that there is nobody who is 'good', why in
07:32 the world would I - or you - want to ask God
07:35 to make us good?
07:36 We are sinners.
07:39 Even the most righteous person on earth has sinned
07:41 many times at some time during their lives.
07:44 The Bible says there is none that doeth good.
07:46 Not one.
07:47 As sinful people, we cannot be made INHERENTLY good because
07:52 the fact is we are inherently flawed.
07:55 We do want to be RIGHTEOUS, and that's a different matter.
08:01 You know something?
08:06 I don't recall a single place in the Bible where God tells
08:08 us that we should be good.
08:09 I just don't think it's here.
08:10 Now, He does tell us that we should be HOLY.
08:12 That's for sure.
08:13 But not good.
08:15 Stay with me.
08:16 Remember when the Rich Young Ruler came to Jesus
08:18 and called Him 'Good Master'?
08:19 And what did Jesus say to him?
08:21 "There is none good, except for God." So I said to my son,
08:24 "Son, you don't want to pray that God would help
08:27 you to be good.
08:28 What you want to pray is that Jesus would live
08:32 His life in you.
08:34 That Jesus would dwell in your heart.
08:37 And when He does that, you're certainly not going to be bad.
08:42 You're going to have Jesus' righteousness." See friend
08:45 that's the healthy way to approach it.
08:48 I want you to see the difference here between
08:50 two things.
08:51 Human beings have sinned.
08:52 They have lost their 'goodness', let's say.
08:56 We are sinners - sinful.
08:58 But God wants us to be restored, to be
09:02 at one with Him.
09:03 He wants us to reflect His character.
09:05 But how can we do that when we are fundamentally flawed?
09:08 Certainly not by trying our hardest to be good.
09:13 You know what happens to so many people?
09:15 They have this idea that they're supposed to be good.
09:17 And so they try and try.
09:20 The swearer tries and tries to stop swearing, but realizes in
09:24 the vast majority of cases that he or she cannot stop.
09:28 The smoker tries desperately to quit smoking
09:31 but finds she just can't do it.
09:32 The person with lustful thoughts or a wandering eye
09:35 does all he can to keep his mind pure, but he keeps on
09:38 falling back into the same old habit patterns.
09:42 The sinner wants to go straight, wants to be good,
09:44 but doesn't have the ability to do so.
09:48 So, what does he or she so often do?
09:51 That person prays to God that God would help her or him
09:54 to 'be good.' But is that a reasonable prayer?
09:57 No.
09:58 Listen to what Jeremiah wrote, in Jeremiah 13:23 ..
10:03 Jeremiah 13:23 Let's answer that:
10:06 Can the Ethiopian change his skin?
10:09 Can a black man become a white man?
10:11 I think we know that answer to that question.
10:14 Question for you.
10:16 Did you ever see a leopard trade in his spots and start
10:21 sporting stripes like a zebra?
10:25 That doesn't happen very often, does it?
10:27 So God poses the question to us, and there's only one
10:30 answer: "
10:36 No.
10:37 And then God follows that by saying this,
10:48 Let's get this straight.
10:49 God says it's as possible for someone doing evil to ON HIS
10:54 OR HER OWN start doing good, as it is for a black man to
10:58 change his skin color or a leopard to start
11:01 wearing a new style.
11:03 So if "being good" is an impossibility, why in the
11:07 world would anyone want to ask God to help them to be good?
11:10 You'd be praying an impossible prayer, and asking God to do
11:13 something that He can not do.
11:15 A key point is this: right living, right behavior,
11:20 correct deportment is not something a person
11:24 can produce in themselves.
11:26 People have a problem that is within - sin -
11:28 and they need help from above.
11:30 If there was someone who needed to understand this,
11:35 it was King David.
11:36 [Music playing.] King David messed things up big time.
11:40 He fell into bad sin, stealing a man's wife and
11:43 having the man killed.
11:44 And then, he covered up the whole affair.
11:48 So when he needed to go straight, what did David ask
11:51 God to do?
11:52 Did David ask God to help him to be good?
11:56 No he did not.
11:58 What did David do?
11:59 David prayed a special prayer.
12:02 We'll find out what that is in just a moment.
12:05 [Music in background]
12:23 Time for today's Bible question.
12:25 Could you explain 1 John 5:16 and the sin that leads to death?
12:30 Sure.
12:31 Let's read the passage together.
12:33 "If any man sees his brother sin a sin which is not unto
12:36 death, he shall ask and he shall give him life for them
12:40 that sin not unto death.
12:43 There is a sin unto death.
12:45 I do not say that he shall pray for it."
12:48 So there are sins that lead to death and sins that don't.
12:52 Keep in mind here's what Paul wrote.
12:54 He wrote in Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death."
12:59 Sin leads to death and that's not just death by heart attack.
13:03 Paul is talking about the second death, the one you read about
13:06 in Revelation 20.
13:07 Final and forever separation from God.
13:11 But John wrote this, "If we confess our sins,
13:13 he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins."
13:17 So who is right?
13:18 The fact is they are both right.
13:20 Sin leads to death.
13:22 But if we genuinely ask for forgiveness,
13:24 God forgives us.
13:25 He cleanses us.
13:27 He justifies us or he treats us as if we had never sinned.
13:32 So if someone sins, but they are repentant, God can restore
13:35 that person.
13:36 On the other hand, there is someone in open
13:38 rebellion against God, sinning, while knowing
13:40 it is wrong, and gladly living a life of separation
13:43 from God, well, that is likely a different
13:46 story.
13:47 Now, John is not staying that certain sins don't matter
13:50 because he says in verse 17: "All unrighteousness is sin"
13:53 He stresses the deadly nature of sin.
13:56 It is dangerous to live a life of separation from God.
13:58 And he isn't saying we shouldn't pray for people who
14:02 are living a sinful life, just that if we do,
14:05 he can hardly guarantee that God will answer prayers
14:08 for people who have deliberately turned from him.
14:11 There is no way of being certain they are ever going
14:14 to turn back.
14:15 So the best idea is this: Cling to God and don't let go.
14:19 There are many more answers to Bible questions
14:22 on our website.
14:23 I invite you to go to studies.itiswritten.com.
14:26 And if you have a question you would like me to answer
14:28 on this program, go to itiswritten.com and ask your
14:31 question there and I will do my best to answer your question
14:35 in a future program.
14:36 [Music in background]
14:43 It Is Written is dedicated to sharing the gospel
14:45 around the world.
14:47 To discover more about It is Written, I invite you to visit
14:49 our website, itiswritten.com and browse the dozens of pages
14:54 that describe what we do and how we do it.
14:56 Let's get to know each other better.
14:58 Visit our website itiswritten.com today.
15:02 Today, we're talking about the prayer you should never pray.
15:06 You know, too many people pray and ask God to help
15:09 them to be good.
15:10 But the Bible says we are as capable of doing good
15:13 as a leopard is of changing its spots.
15:15 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
15:22 in our life, we'll end up being very unhappy people.
15:26 King David gave us a correct example in this.
15:29 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.
15:43 And what was his prayer?
15:44 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
16:09 the mud of shame and sin.
16:11 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, David was saying,
16:28 "What I need is not anything that comes from me,
16:31 what I need is something that comes from you.
16:33 I need YOU living your life in me." That's the way the Bible
16:37 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
16:57 this, this concept will revolutionize your life!
17:01 Writing to the Galatians, Paul wrote this, this is
17:03 Galations 2:20.
17:05 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.
17:54 A disabling, destructive, disheartening discouragement.
17:59 I'll tell you why.
18:01 [Music in the background] Let's say you've got
18:03 someone who is...
18:04 I don't know...
18:05 someone who is having issues with anger, let's say.
18:07 A kid has an ager problem and knows that he shouldn't.
18:09 And he's told that he'll be okay if he prays and asks God
18:13 to help him to be good.
18:15 [Child complaining, ...
18:17 "this doesn't work" ... "this better work."
18:24 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
18:47 than ever that Jesus would help him to be good.
18:48 He gets older, still praying, but very frustrated.
18:54 [Sound of a the car of a motor turning ... "come on."
19:02 Sound of motor turning.
19:03 Angry, yelling .
19:04 "COME ON !!!
19:05 ..." banging something ..
19:05 " WHY DOESN'T THIS EVER JUST WORK FOR ME !!!
19:06 NOTHING EVER WORKS FOR ME!!
19:09 ARGH, WHY CAN'T THINGS JUST WORK OUT!!!
19:11 NOTHING EVER WORKS!!
19:14 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,
19:26 "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.
19:33 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
19:44 always be this way" and he stays in church miserable and
19:49 defeated, or says, "This doesn't work.
19:54 I've prayed so long for God to help me to be good.
19:57 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.
20:11 And that's a tragedy.
20:15 What God offers us is this.
20:16 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,
20:47 Did you catch that?
20:48 And did you see where the focus is?
20:50 "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?
20:57 "It is God who works in you."
20:59 So here's the key for successful living - and a key
21:01 for successful praying.
21:04 What God is telling us is that when it comes to working in
21:06 your life - when it comes to getting out of your life what
21:10 shouldn't be in and getting into your life what shouldn't
21:13 be out - GOD will do that work in you.
21:16 That's what is meant when Paul wrote that we:
21:20 We let Christ live His life in us.
21:23 So why is that so radical?
21:25 Because if you're going to try and do the impossible
21:28 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,
21:38 and you're not going to be able to change because TRUE
21:41 change takes place in the heart.
21:44 [Sound of motor turning.] Young man's voice ... "Come on"
21:47 [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.
21:57 You pray, "Lord, I want to be different, I want to get some
22:01 things straightened out, I want to change,
22:03 but I cannot change myself.
22:07 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,
22:22 God 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
22:35 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
22:43 grace through faith." "But," I said, "there's another verse
22:48 that says we should strive to enter in - to heaven - through
22:54 the narrow gate." So I asked these ministerial trainees -
22:59 strive to enter in through the narrow gate?"
23:02 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
23:14 an old saying that says, "Bradshaws rush in where
23:18 angels fear to tread."
23:21 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
23:38 know if you know this but Christiana is the second part
23:41 of Pilgrim's Progress story, the great book written
23:43 by John Bunyan.
23:44 Christiana was the wife, rather, of Christian, and this
23:49 second book was the story of HER journey
23:51 to the Celestial City.
23:52 My son had been listening to the story on tape or CD or
23:55 something...) "You've been listening to Christiana,
23:58 son..." "Yes, Dad.
23:59 And on her way to the Celestial City she came across all kinds
24:02 of hazards.
24:04 There was Mr. Worldly Wiseman, and the Slough of Despond...
24:07 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.
24:22 And Dad, that's what I think Jesus is telling us
24:24 we should do.
24:25 He's saying, We'll be okay, if we strive to
24:29 keep our eyes on the light..."
24:32 And everyone in the room realized that a 6-year-old
24:36 had expertly answered the question that all
24:39 of these students couldn't answer.
24:42 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.
24:51 We're broken.
24:52 Goodness isn't what we are.
24:54 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.
25:10 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.
25:26 Let me pray with you that we'll both experience God's
25:29 goodness in our lives.
25:31 [Music] Our father in heaven,
25:33 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
25:45 our 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,
26:00 to strive to keep our eyes on the light.
26:06 And this we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
26:12 [Music]
26:31 Perhaps our program today has touched your heart
26:33 and impressed you with a personal need for
26:35 deeper Bible study.
26:36 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
26:42 systemic way, the Discover Bible Guides.
26:46 These study guides will take you through the essential
26:48 truths taught in Scripture.
26:49 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
26:56 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
27:06 be on their way to you.
27:07 If you live in North America, we'll mail these Bible guides
27:11 free of charge.
27:12 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.
27:22 [Music] Request the Discover Bible Guides by calling our
27:25 toll free number 1 800 253 3000.
27:29 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.
27:48 Thanks for joining me today.
27:49 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
27:59 of God.
28:01 [Music]


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Revised 2015-02-05