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It's really hard to pray when we're disappointed, but should that stop us from praying? Check out what Pastor Matt has to say on the topic!
At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
Hey. Thanks so much for listening to Sandals Church. Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God, and others. We hope you enjoy this message.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Hi, guys. Welcome to Sandals Church. I'm so glad you guys are joining us, man. We are in this series called how to pray. We all know that we need to pray for pray more.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Amen? All of us do. Like, I mean, the truth is we need to pray for more for our marriages, for our finances, for our kids, for our life. We need to learn to pray. And here's the thing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I wanna challenge you to pray today. And here's the truth. When you need prayer the most, that's when you pray the least. And so what I'm gonna talk about today is how to pray through disappointment. So when we get disappointed, right, we we lock ourselves up in our closet.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We pull away from our friends, our family. Some of you stop attending church. Isn't it that sad when we need a message from God? That's when we was like, nope. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna go to church this week.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And so how do we pray through disappointment? Okay. And this is so, so key because life is not always gonna be great. It's not always going to be everything you've ever wanted. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's like my mustache. Slightly disappointing. Amen? Like, it's like, I don't I don't know how I feel about that, pastor. You know, everyone asked me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:No one cares at all what I think about it. Everyone says, what does Tammy think? What does Tammy think? We call it the danger zone. That's what it is.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Right? Top gun, baby. I don't know. So what do you do when you get disappointed? Most of you, you know, you go to Netflix.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Some of you go to alcohol. Some of you go to an old habit you thought, man, you had buried a long time ago. What do you do when you're disappointed? What do you do when you're borderline depressed? Man, the lord's prayer is an amazing, amazing place to go when you feel disappointed.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I'm gonna pull something out today that you've maybe never thought of or considered in the lord's prayer that is just a nugget of wisdom for when your marriage isn't where you want it, when your finances aren't where you want it, when when you wanna be you be married, but you're single, when you're married and you're wishing you were single. Right? What do you do when you're disappointed? So Jesus said this. This then this then is how you should pray.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Our father who's in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And give us today our daily bread. And forgive us of our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Man, there's so much there. No matter who you are, no matter where you are, there is a nugget of truth for you today in this prayer. So how to pray through disappointment? I don't know what you're going through, but I know how you should pray. Number 1, write this down.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Tell God how you feel. Man, you can fake it in a lot of relationships. You cannot fake it with God. Tell God how you feel. If there is one place where you should be 100% honest you say, pastor, we should be a 100% honest everywhere.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:No. That's called being fired, divorced, friendless, and alone. I mean, who who who tells you to just say what you feel? No. Don't just bring it down.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:People always like, pastor, you want me to be real? I'm like, no. No. I'm but with God here's the thing. With God, he can take it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He can handle it. Listen to me. If Jesus could hang on that cross, he can hang on to your disappointment. Peter says this, cast all cast all of your anxiety on him. Why?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Because he cares for you. Like, I love you, but I can only care for so long. Amen? Amen? I mean, how many of you guys just love you love when people complain to you?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm like, uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I need you to stop. I mean, even your own children, if they're negative, you're like, I need you to go outside.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I birthed you, but I need you to leave. Like, we we gave life to you, but you need to fly. Go. Go. Go.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Isn't it amazing? I mean, you try to care. You try to listen. Like, Tammy and I, we're gonna have a discussion. I'm gonna listen.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You're my wife. You you birth the children that brought forth and continued my name. I'm going to listen. No. No.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I can't do it. Why why is that? Because when somebody shares their heart with us, sometimes it hurts our heart. When somebody's offended, sometimes when they share, it offends us. I mean, that's the scary thing about sharing our emotions is oftentimes, the very person we need to listen is the person who can't handle it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:God can always handle it. So you go to God. You go to God, man, and you tell God everything you're feeling. You never censor your prayers even if it's explicit Even if it's explicit. And if you don't believe me, read Psalms.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Man, there are some prayers in there that you're like, I don't even know if I can be a Christian after I read that. It's so like, it's it's just like, you're gonna do what to children? I mean, that's just right. But yeah. Woah.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Time out. Time out. David needs some Zoloft. Amen? Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know? Let's get him some therapy. But you know what David's doing? He's he's like, he here here's the best way to get the evil out of your heart. It's just to it's just to admit it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's just to admit it. And you just gotta you just gotta talk with god about it. When's the last time you told god how you felt? Here's the thing is, he already knows. So don't be afraid.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:God, in the middle of your prayer, God's not gonna go, what? Jesus, get over here. You're not gonna believe what Matt did. Holy Spirit, did you know you knew? You knew.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Manny, here's the thing is, the thing that keeps me from being totally honest with Tammy or my kids or even with you is I'm afraid how you're gonna react. Here's the thing. You never have to worry about God's reaction because he already knows. So tell God how you feel. Tell God how you feel.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Let me give you some stuff that that I've been dealing with. I've been dealing with some disappointment lately, some pretty heavy disappointment. And here's what I told god. I said, god, I feel messed with. You ever felt messed with?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I mean, think about it. If you're single and somebody asks you out on a date and it doesn't work out, you just feel messed with, don't you? I mean, you just you just do. Like, you could've left me alone. Amen?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Amen. I mean, some of the ladies in here are like, Lord, let him hear that. Let him hear it. But don't you feel messed with? You ever been recruited and they don't pick you?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was fine where I was. What what You know, why why did you have to flirt? I I was fine. I mean, Lord, I I feel messed with. I mean, that's the thing is, God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What what's going on here? Because here's here's the bottom line. What when you feel messed with, you're questioning God's plan. Lord, I don't know. I I know that you're, like, all knowing, but this feels wrong.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Tammy and I are in counseling. Actually, we graduated from counseling. I know. I was top gun of therapy. It was awesome.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It was awesome. It was awesome. But, guys, I love you. Like, we we we we we come into emotional relationships like missing a leg or something. I don't know what it is.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But but what what the counselor always would do to me is he'd hand me a feelings chart. It was color coded. You know? I feel, and I had, like, a 1000 words to choose from. Because of our guys, we're just like, mad.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's how I feel. But sometimes we gotta check-in with our heart and say, god, here's how I'm feeling. And recently, I man, I had to say I had to say this to the Lord. I said, Lord, I'm mad at you. I didn't wanna say it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He already knew. I didn't wanna say it. Why? Because I wanna live. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I mean, you know, I mean, be real. You know? Just not that real. You get get zapped. What happened to pastor Matt?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He was praying. The Lord was just like, this is over. You know? I mean, if I was God, I'd I'd kill people all the time in prayer. I wouldn't you?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I I just would zap, zap. But, Lord, I I I feel I feel angry. I feel angry. I feel messed with. I I feel mad.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:How about this one? I feel manipulated. You ever been manipulated by a Christian who who used God's will to do voodoo on you? Can I just be honest with you guys? I mean, none of you, but my deepest wounds have come from Jesus' people.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Like, as far as I know, I've never been wounded by a Satanist. You know? Like, I don't know that I've ever been stabbed in the heart by an atheist. But the Lord's people, they're like, because because people use God's language. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Oh, the Lord really put this on my heart. You know? And then and then it's then it's manipulative, and and it hurts, and we gotta process this. Because, like, if your parents hurt you and they don't know Jesus, well, we need to pray for them. But if they're pastors, oh, what do I do with that?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:How about this? You ever just feel completely missed? Like, god, I must be invisible today. You ever you ever felt invisible? Like, I hate that when you're in the bathroom, and and and I don't know who invented the the technology.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What why can't we just pull the towel? I don't know. Did that need improvement? Was there something wrong with that process? We just we see a towel.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We pull the towel. Everybody feels seen, heard. You know? Have you ever done that and you're just you're just, you know And you just keep believing, Oh, I know. No.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is this is the time. This is the time. It's frustrating, isn't it? Yes. Like, if you're a young person, some things just don't need to be invented.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We don't need that. And that's how I feel sometimes. Like, right on praying, and god's like, nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's like, lord, do you hear me? So how am I gonna keep praying when I feel like I'm not heard? You know what most of us do? We stop. And here's the thing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If you're disappointed with God, you need to pray to God even more. This is when you need it. See, if you're married, guess when you need to talk the most. Like, it's it's that's why I don't like weddings. Nobody cares what you say.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Nobody's listening. You're just staring into each other's eyes. You're so sexy. You know, I'm gonna listen, listen, love you, put you first, serve Jesus every day with you. Blah blah blah.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Right? It's not real. It's not real. But when do you need to talk the most as a couple? When you're not okay.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, we avoid the conversations that we need to have the most. And so here's what the Lord's telling you today if you're disappointed with him. He says, I know. I know we need to talk. I know you need to talk.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm waiting for you to talk. You know, like, nope, lord. I got hurt. I'm not gonna go to the church. I'm not talking anymore.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm not praying anymore. And that's when you need it the most. You need it the most. So let me just challenge you. When you feel the most disappointed with god is when you need to go to god the most.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So if you feel messed with, missed, manipulated, I'm sorry. Life is hard. Figuring out god's will is not easy. And sometimes people are just messed up. Christian people are messed up.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So how do you pray through disappointment? 1st, just just be honest. Tell God how you feel next. Ask God for what you might be missing. Do you feel missed today?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Well, here's the truth. God hasn't missed you. He's never left you. He's never been closer to you even if you can't feel him. What what what maybe have you missed?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Like, if you're a parent and you feel bad, like, I think all parents, we just like, if you here's here's how you know if you're a good parent. If you feel bad about being a parent. You don't know how you're a terrible parent? You're like, oh, I'm smoking it. I'm incredible.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:My kids are dynamic. Like, you're the worst parent parent ever. Good parents. Good parents feel bad about being parents. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Because you realize how scary it is to develop the life of the next generation. Mary and Joseph, they got one task. Don't lose Jesus. The Holy Spirit took care of the pregnancy. The wise man took care of the finances.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Don't lose the king of kings and lord of lords. Luke 243. This is in god's word. Jesus wanted us to know this. Mary and Joseph.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not miss him at first. Well, this this journey sure is quiet. I don't know. You know?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Kids, Jesus must be sleeping in the back of the minivan. I don't know. I don't know what's going on. They lost Jesus. Let me just ask you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If Mary and Joseph can miss the physical Jesus, maybe you are you are missing the spiritual Jesus. Nope. It's all God's fault. One of my favorite Christopher Lee movies every year I watch is Home Alone. Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He was cute when he was little, scary looking as an adult. But, you know, maybe he was just too cute as a kid. The Lord's like, we gotta balance that out. But Macaulay Culkin remember when his mama if you haven't seen this movie, his mama is on an airplane going to Europe. I feel like something's missing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And it it's the greatest word ever written in film. Kevin. And that's that that's what some of you guys, man, you you're just you're just on your your flight. You're just cruising through life. You think the problem's gone, and god's like, wonder what you're missing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And my prayer for you today is you have that moment where you're like, Kevin, what is it? Mary and Joseph are like, Jesus. We lost Jesus. And here's the scary thing is his father already knew. And you're like, Let me give you some questions to ask.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, here's the problem with disappointment. We want we wanna know what god's doing. God wants you to learn to ask, what are you doing? So here's some great questions to ask when you're disappointed with god. 1st question, have I sinned?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So let me give you a verse to think about and pray about. Romans 323. This is a bedrock Christian verse. Like, our whole faith is built upon this understanding. The reason we believe in Jesus as savior is because we believe we're sinners, every single one of you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Romans 323. For everyone has sinned. You can pray about if everyone includes you. You can pray about it. You know?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I mean, my wife knows I'm a sinner. She needs to remind herself, she's a sinner. Hey. I'm just quoting the word of God. That's all I'm doing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm just preaching. Just preaching. It's not me convicting you. It's the Lord. We all fall short of God's glorious standard.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Let me just ask you. You sin all day every day because you're a sinner. When's the last time you you you confessed your sin? You said, oh, man. See.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And here's the thing is I think we think of of sin as things we do like, oh, I I had sex and it was wrong or I did this. It was wrong. And and we don't ever think about how sin affects relationships. Do you know what sin at its core does? Is it breaks your relationship with God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's what it does. So some of you have missed Jesus in this because you're sinned. You're like, oh, man. Where have I sinned? And and so here's the thing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Sin is like this big ugly word in the Christian faith where we're all terrified to admit what we're supposed to admit to be a Christian. Right? Like, you when have you ever been to a Christian school where their mascot is the sinners? You know? Like, the incredible sinners, you know, the the the glorious sinners, you know, the serious sinners.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Right? It'll rhyme. That's what that's what we're supposed to do. When's the last time you were able to say, okay, Lord, I know I've sinned. I just don't know where it is.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Have I sinned? And so sin is this big, ugly word, and here's what you think it means is you you think it means evil. Sometimes it does. But its core meaning in the New Testament is to miss the mark. So if I'm in if I'm in archery and I'm trying to hit a bull's eye and I pull that bow back and I let the arrow go and I hit anything but dead center of the bull's eye, that's sin.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So unless you're perfect, wait, where, lord, maybe have I missed? What am I missing? That's what sin is. What am I missing, lord? Learn to ask that.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:God, I know there's sin here. What am I missing? Next, is there something I need to learn? I was preaching at another church, not sandals. K?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So nobody say, I think it was you. But this woman came up to me in tears, falling apart, barely able to barely able to get the words out. This is what she says to me. She said, I got fired from my job. My husband left me, and my kids won't speak to me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What is wrong with people in this world today? I was like, woah. You got fired at work. Your husband left you, and your kids won't speak to you. I'm gonna guess, you know, I'm not a genius or a psychic, but I got a sneaky feeling.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's you. Man, listen to me. I told you we graduate from counseling. Right? I said that.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Yeah. I was reading I was reading our our our therapist book, and and there was this chapter. And here's what he said. He said it it amazes me how people will come to counseling and spend money to lie to my face. Wow.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Why would you waste your money if you don't plan on learning? Ain't that crazy? What do I need to learn? Because when I'm disappointed with god, I promise you the problem is never god. I know.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm so holy. It's hard for you to believe. It's never the Lord. It's me. What what do I need to learn?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:How about this? Is God protecting me from something I can't see? Oh, Lord. I'm I I thought I thought he was the one. God, I don't know why you get my heart all wrapped in this relationship just to smash it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Why why couldn't we have gotten married? What if the Lord is delivering you from something you can't see? Because after all, love is what? Blind. It makes you dumb.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay. Isn't it amazing what we blame God that our heart got us into? Yes. So, Lord, what is it that you can see? See, see, that's an invitation, isn't it?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's an invitation to something deeper. You see, here's why we pray to god. God has a perspective that I don't have. God has an intelligence and a is a wisdom I don't have. So, God, what is it that you see?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You love me. You care for me. You promised in your word. You would never, when I asked for bread, give me a snake. You never do that, Lord.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I wanted this, and I thought I needed this. I thought I had this, and I didn't get this. And for some of us, right, it's a real thing like love. I want love. I want a friend.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I need a job. Like, these aren't like, I wanna win the lottery. Like, I always get mad when people win the lottery, which just makes no sense because I don't play. What is my problem? Somebody won this week?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm like, I coulda won, lord. You know? He's like, what? Do I gotta drop the ticket on you? You know, I literally told the lord this.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Do you know what I coulda done with that money? Coulda paid all sandals bills, Worked for free like Jesus. I don't play. I don't I you know? I just I don't.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Sorry. But how to how to how to pray through disappointment? This is key. Thank God for what he's done in the past. Amen.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Amen. Amen. Do you know what will give you an escape from your present suffering? Remembering yesterday's blessing. I got to go out to dinner with one of my good friends, and and I love this man.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I care for this man. And and his daughter has just battled battled mental illness. It's been it's been a challenge. And we went out to dinner, and we got to go to dinner with him and his daughter, and she was, cheery. She spoke to us.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:She hugged me. These these are things that for years, never happened. And we went home, and I I told my wife. I said, could you believe how dinner was? Like, nobody got hit.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Nobody got hurt. Like, and I texted him, and I said this. I said, I couldn't take my eyes off your daughter all night. I was blown away. And he immediately texts back, and he said, I can't believe it either.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I thank God every day for the miracle that she is. You see, what gets me depressed today is I forgot about yesterday's miracle. Can I just tell you, you're not gonna get a miracle every day? But when you do get one, never forget it. Never forget it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen to what Paul says in the letter to the Ephesians. He says, and I give thanks for everything to God the father in the name of our lord Jesus Christ. This is a guy riding from prison. He's riding for prison. He spent most of his adult life in prison.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And when he got out of prison, he had to pastor churches. And as a pastor, prison doesn't seem so bad all the time. You know? I'm like, you know, we get we get to work out. You know?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I get to eat. I know who my roommate is. You know? You know? That was his life.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He was either a prisoner or a pastor. How did he get through life? He reminded himself of the day he got saved when he was struck blind on the road to Damascus. We listen to me. When you hear Paul's testimony every time you know what he talks about?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I once was lost, but now I'm found like, he says he says over and when you read the book of acts you ever wonder? You're like, Paul, I got it. Like, I got your over and over and over again. Here's the thing. It's not just other people that need to hear your testimony.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's you. It's you. Because when I'm mad at God today, you know what that means? I forgot about his blessing yesterday. I forgot.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know why your marriage is unraveling? You're too in the moment. You're too in the moment. Take a step back. Zoom out and say, what has the Lord done over our life?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What has the Lord done? Tammy and I, we watched, this is the 1 year anniversary of our our our daughter getting married, and we watched the video from the wedding last night, which was really interesting because I don't remember a thing, from the wedding that I paid for. You know? I remember signing the checks. That's it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But here's the thing is, I was so stressed in the moment. I missed the moment. And my wife's like, are you crying? It's like, yeah. Here's the thing, I was there that day, but I missed that day.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It was beautiful day. People were having fun. All I remember is fighting my drunk neighbor. That's all I remember. He didn't make the video.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Ain't that crazy? Last year, you know what video my wife and I watched? Our 25th wedding anniversary video. It was on VHS, some of you don't know what that is. We watch that.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And and here's the thing I was struck by, how incredibly beautiful she was. And she was gonna stand there in front of God and say yes to me. But all I remember from that day was the stress. Parents, amen, the days are long, but the years are short. Maybe the reason you're so disappointed is you're too in the moment.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know? People go to yoga to get in the present. That's what I'm trying to escape, man. Just be in the moment. You know, from the guy that's 40, you know, and has never had a job in his life telling me to chill.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Just chill, man. So think about this. The best way to escape the hurt from today is to think about the blessings of yesterday. Praise god. And so here's the thing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Right? So if you're in you're in the worst fight you ever had in your marriage, you're in the worst financial situation you've ever been in in your life. You're in the worst relational chaos. Right? In that moment, that's what it feels like.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Take a step back and think about when have you also been in that experience and what did God do. Oh, God got me out of that. He's gonna get me out of this. Next, how might God be blessing me in the present? So so what happens if I'm disappointed?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Man, I have to trust that God took something from me that wasn't good for me. And here's the thing is that's easy if I didn't really want it. But what if I want it with every ounce of my being and god still says no? That's hard. That's hard.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And if some of you are sitting in that right now today, I don't wanna minimize that. I just wanna say, I feel your pain. That's hard, and it hurts. Next, accept where God has me today. Okay, Lord.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay, Lord. I'm gonna be single. Okay, Lord. I got divorced. That's not what I wanted.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay. Okay, Lord. This is not what I had for my kid. Okay. Okay, Lord.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is you know, getting fired with $70,000, gallon of gas, that that wasn't my plan. You know? That wasn't my plan, Lord. But okay. You see, here's where we pray the Lord's prayer.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen to this. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That's the hardest part of the prayer to pray. You see, we're we're not praying this when we won the lottery.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Woo hoo. Your kingdom come. Your will be done. Right? No.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:No. No. No. You're not praying that. You're praying that when your marriage is unraveling.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Lord, your will be done. Your kingdom come. Right? You're praying that when your kids are going off the rails. You're pray you're praying that when your life's a mess.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You're you're praying that when your life's a disaster. Right? Your will be done. Your kingdom come. And Jesus models this when he almost is is preparing to die in the cross.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Lord, I don't wanna die on the cross. Lord, I don't wanna go through this hurt. I don't wanna go through this pain. God, this was not my plan, but not my will be done yours. Why?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Because that's how we bring in the kingdom. You see, we bring in the kingdom when we submit to the king. That's the problem. But we don't wanna submit to the king. We wanna be the king.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Amen? My wife loves British royalty. I think it's weird. We're Irish. Like, we've been slaves for a 1000 years to these people.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know? She said, the queen has ruled for 70 years. Like, I don't care. But did you know for 70 years, England has had no king? She had a husband, but he is not the king.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Ain't that interesting? Do you know why that is? Because when there's a king, the queen doesn't rule. You see, some of you, you've been living your life with no king because you wanna sit on the throne. And she holds that throne until there's a king.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, that's what it means to pray that kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The queen is called the sovereign. And what that means is she rules as she pleases. You see, god is supposed to rule as he pleases, and that's when we pray this.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Lord, this is not what I wanted. This was not my plan. This hurt, man. God, this hurt. Lord, I I thought she was my friend.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:She stabbed me in the back. Lord, I just want a friend. I thought these people in my group were really gonna love me, were really gonna minister to me, and it just man, I just lord, I I just I don't trust people anymore. This hurt too bad. You you you couldn't have called me to love people.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:These people? I mean, lord, these are the people who put you on the cross. But the lord says, kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You see, in heaven, everybody does what the Lord says, and it's called, interestingly, heaven. Isn't that isn't that interesting?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:When everybody does what God says, it's heaven. When we do what we want, it's not heaven. It's hell on earth. You see, here's the thing I've learned is I'm not mad or hurt because God's plan hasn't happened. I'm mad because he didn't listen to my plan, and it was an excellent plan, and I worked really hard on it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is what the Bible says. You can make many plans, but it is the Lord's purpose that will prevail. That's what it means to be a Christian, to live every day saying, Lord, what's your plan? That doesn't mean we don't make plans. It's the lord's will.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm not gonna work. You're gonna be hungry. And gonna hang out with some people that are stinky. Just saying. That's in your future.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But what it means is when we do the best we can to lay out a plan and it doesn't work, we go, oh, okay. Okay. You got something else for me. Peter says this, so humble yourselves under the mighty power of God. Listen to this.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And at the right time, he'll lift you up in honor. We used to every single year for 10 years, we would take a road trip to Big Sur from Southern California to Big Sur. And for those of you who watch from from other states, the California coast, you know, I mean, pray for us here in communist China. I mean, in California. But the coast the coast is just it's just beautiful.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It just is. Beautiful scenery, miserable to travel with children. It just it just is because they don't care about trees, ocean. They don't care about anything except ruining the view. That's their goal.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's their plan. And what the kids would always say is, are we there yet? Like, we we could be in the car 10 minutes. Are we there yet? Are we there?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Right? And then they have to pee. I have to pee. We all peed. Everyone peed.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was there. I saw everyone everyone went pee. How how can you go again? When you want to, you're a camel. I don't understand what's happening right now.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Is it time? Is it time? Is it time?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm just driving. I'm singing. I could just go I could just go right off the cliff. Just like, it'd be scary for a moment, but then there'd be peace. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It'd be be peace. Sometimes, though, we're that way with the Lord. Right? Is it time? Is it time?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Is it time? You're gonna honor me now? You're gonna honor me now? You're gonna honor me now? You're gonna honor me now?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You're gonna bless me now? Am I gonna get raised now? I'm gonna raise now? Get married now? Get married now?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know? Are we gonna have a kid? Are we gonna have a kid? Are we gonna have a kid? Are we gonna have a kid?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Are we gonna have a kid? Are they gonna leave? Are they ever gonna go? Are they ever gonna go? Are they ever gonna go?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen to me. Here's the thing is here's why we struggle with God's plan. Here's what every one of you knows about yourself. K? We're gonna take humility and kick it out the door for a second.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Here's what you know about yourself. You know there's more to your life than what you've experienced. That's why there's a thing called depression. If everyone was living at their maximum ability, nobody be depressed. Depression is the recognition that there's a gap between what you're experiencing and what you know could be.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's what depression is. Here's the thing here's the thing. If I want God to honor me where he's called me, right, that's what I think I can do. That's what I think I can be. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If I want God to honor me there, I have to honor him here. That's how I get there. You know what that means? Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth where my feet are right now, on earth as it is in heaven.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Man, know this. The best way to experience all that life has is to pray, Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done today. This is not what I wanted. This is not what I've planned but I'm gonna trust you in this and listen to me and He will lift you up. He will lift you up.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen to me. If you're single and you wanna be married, you know the best way for God to honor you with a marriage is for you to honor him with your body in singleness. You wanna know the best way to derail that future marriage is with your body in singleness. That's the best way. You gotta trust god where you are so he'll take you where you know you should be.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay. Okay. Next, you gotta trust god and his plans for your future. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is what the Bible says. I know the plans I have for you, says the lord. Amen. They are plans for good and not for disaster. Why do we call everything that goes wrong an act of God?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What if God is saying, don't live in Oklahoma? There are tornadoes there. Right. Why is it always an act of God? The Lord's like the wind is scary here.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know? People, we always want Everyone's live by water. I don't know what happened. I don't know why our house flooded. You live by water.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You paid a premium to live by water. Listen. This is what the Lord says. Their plans for good and not for disaster, plans to give you a future and a hope. What's the key to disappointment?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Hope that tomorrow can be different. You see, that's the beauty. Right? We're not stuck in a moment. There's no such thing as the present.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's constantly moving forward. God is doing something. He's working in something. No matter how disappointing, no matter how you're just oh my god. How on earth could I have been so wrong?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I mean, I I I meet people that have gone through divorces. I did everything right. I I I dated a Christian. We had we had we had, perfect sexual boundaries. And and the marriage still failed.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It still blew up. What happened, god? God still has a plan. He's still gonna work through that disappointment, through that discouragement, through that destruction. Some of you don't know this, but Jeremiah 2911 is right in the middle of Israel burning down to the ground, and all the men are dead and women are being sold into slavery.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And the young are carried off to Babylon, and god says, I know the plans I have for you. Today, you're a slave in handcuffs marching to Babylon. But tomorrow, tomorrow, I know the plans I have for you, plans for a future and hope. So what do we do? We just sit back and wait for God's plan.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Tammy's grandpa was an amazing man. He used to always say, Matt, put feet to your prayers. Put feet to your prayers. I wanna challenge you today not just to pray, but I want you to put some feet to your prayers. You wanna know how you pray through disappointment?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You you position yourself for God's blessing. Man, one of my favorite passages of scripture is Isaiah chapter 6. And the Lord says, who will go from me? Who shall we send? There's one guy in the temple.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:One guy. His name is Isaiah. He says, here I am, Lord. Send me. He positioned himself for the Lord's blessing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Nobody else heard that. Nobody else experienced that. Only Isaiah because he positioned himself to hear god's call. And some of you are gonna miss god's call because you're sulking about yesterday's miss. Kicking the can.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Listen to me. How do you position yourself today? Ephesians 5 15 through 17.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's one of my favorite passages. If if I have done your wedding, I preach this at your wedding whether you remember it or not. You didn't hear it. You were like, hey. She's so hot.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He's so handsome. We're gonna love Jesus. No. You just wanna love each other. That's what you were thinking about.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Every wedding I've ever done at Sandals Church, I use this first. Be very careful then how you live. Not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. Why? Because these days are evil, so don't be foolish.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Don't be foolish. Let me just tell you something. As your pastor, when everybody's doing something, I don't do it. Let's go with the crowd. What could go wrong?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know? I'm just telling you. When everybody's saying, go that way, your little Jesus ears need to go. I think all my friends are dumb. And the Lord's like, yes.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Yes. I gotta buy a house. They're not making any more land. Have you been to Hawaii? They're making land.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Well, God is through a volcano. But like like, we just all just oh, okay. The people in charge have gotten smarter. Alright. But understand what the lord's will is.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen to me. Tammy and I, this last month, have had had 3 of the most disappointing things that have happened to us. One of them was something I had to choose, a lifelong dream a lifelong dream, something I've wanted to do my whole life was given to me. Here. Someone handed it to me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Tammy and I made the mistake of praying about it. Right? I mean, because every blessing is from God. Pretty sure that apple looked pretty good. Tammy and I prayed about it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:2 of our disappointments the last month were not of our choosing. Can I just be honest? We weren't chosen. It hurt. It's fun to come in second, isn't it?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay. But this one this one was an opportunity. And my wife, god bless her, I hate it when she uses Jesus on me. This is what she said. She said, I'll she said, I'll follow you, and I'll do whatever you want.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I was like, oh. I said, I'm gonna pray about it. She said, okay. And she just said, just know this, she said, I'll go wherever you go. I was like, oh, Jesus.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And and I'm telling you, this is a lifelong dream, lifelong opportunity. And the other party said yes, and the Lord told me no. And I said no to my dream. And I told Tammy, and she said, I knew. I was like, why didn't you tell me?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:She's like she's like, you're the spiritual leader and the pastor, and and I just I just knew I was gonna I mean, she she likes I knew I knew when she's like, I'm just gonna follow you. I'm like, oh, dear god. It's the plank. Like, husbands, when your wife says, I'll follow you. That's the plank.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You're just like, okay. You know? I'm following Jesus. You know? But it was hard.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Can I just ask you? Are you at a place in your life where you could say no to an opportunity because it's not a part of God's kingdom? And I had to call my friend who gave me this opportunity, great guy, and I just said I don't have peace about it. And as soon as I hung up the phone listening to me, I felt great. I felt great.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Position yourself to god's king of 3 things. It's a long sermon. You guys are listening slow. Here we go. Number 1, position yourself constantly to share god's message.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I try to live my life in such a way that I can share god's message. Next, position yourself to serve god's mission. You need to learn, especially men, to say no to jobs that will take too much of your time, and you no longer are able to serve the lord. Position yourself to serve God's kingdom. Next, position yourself to give to God's kingdom.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I never make a financial decision. If there's a chance that the lord would ask me to give to something, and I can't do it. You see, the size of my house, the quality of my cars, that's my kingdom. That's not what Jesus asked me to pray for. I pray for His kingdom.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I pray for His house. I serve His church. And here's the thing, man. Here's the thing about disappointment. It will rob you of future blessings.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Don't let today's feelings keep you from tomorrow's blessings. Don't do it. The lord loves you. Pray, thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know what earth means? It means you. Be a lord, bless the earth with your will. No. No.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He means you. You. In Hebrew, the same word for earth is same word for Adam. You. Oh, okay.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Lord, your will be done in my heart, just as it is in heaven. Look, I love you. Let me pray over you and I just wanna pray that you would trust God with your future. Because he has amazing things for you. Things that will blow your mind, but things that will never happen if you can't serve him today.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray in the mighty powerful name of Jesus, Lord, that you would bless us. In the midst of our heartache, our hurt, our disappointment, our discouragement, Lord, you would just speak to us and to say, you know the plans you have for us. And those plans begin with these words, your kingdom come, your will be done in my life as it is in heaven. Lord, bless us with the courage to pray your will to unleash your power in our lives.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.