August 22, 2025 -- Matthew 6:9-13 -- Decide to submit your will to the care of God as He guides you

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 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.
Matthew 6:9-13 ESV
 
A dear friend of mine has joined me in working through the Overcomers material. Overcomers is a Christian-12-Step recovery program. It is used in Christian drug and alcohol recovery centres and is an effective tool to help men and women find freedom from life controlling issues. Often drugs and alcohol mask other issues, like gambling, anger, violence, hatred, sexual sin, over-eating, laziness. I challenged my friend to join me in the 90-days of Overcomers and dig deeper in our Christian faith. (It is my privilege to teach this material in two prisons and to rejoice as men gain freedom in Jesus and victory over besetting sins). Today, as part of the explanation of Step 2 (which is “I decide to submit my life to the care of God as he guides me”) the commitment is to intentionally and through-out the day, put Jesus in charge of your life.
 
In the explanation of this step, the Overcomers Workbook instructs students:
God did the work of making our freedom possible through Jesus. The Holy Spirit works within us, to strengthen us to establish God’s kingdom on earth. Our job is to listen and submit to God’s commands…Olympians have coaches that help them stay fit, disciplined, and ready to compete. Talent and excitement are rarely enough to produce a winner. The job of the coach is to teach the talented athlete the skills and mentality that they need to win. In the same way, when you choose to make Jesus the Lord of your life, you will be able to fight the battle for recovery AND win the battle because you are listening and learning from the best trainer!”
OVERCOMERS (WORKBOOK), Canadian Bible Society, 2022, page 46
 
Christians must continually submit themselves to Jesus and recommit themselves to Him. Our enemy, the Devil, is organized in his attempts to throw you off course and cause you to sin. The world is hostile to Jesus and exerts both subtle and overt pressures to keep you from walking in close fellowship with God. Your own fleshly desires and past sins can easily reassert themselves and lead you to sin.
 
Jesus was asked by His disciples to teach them to pray. Notice that the pattern of Jesus’ prayer. The priority in the life of the Christian is to worship God, first and worship Him only. Sins and diversions in your life result in offering inappropriate worship. For example, you are enraged, that is becoming disproportionately angry, because you are protecting your egos and worship your opinion. Or you are lazy spending time on video games or binge-watching TV when you are called to submit yourselves to Jesus and be active in serving Him.
In the very first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught His followers that the priority of one’s life is to praise and glorify the Father. He is worthy of receiving the sacrifice of your time, your talents, and your treasures. Closely following is the petition that the Father’s will be carried out on earth as it is in heaven. “Thy kingdom come”; that is, rule us so by Thy Word and Spirit, that we may submit ourselves more and more to Thee; preserve and increase Thy church; destroy the works of the devil, and all violence which would exalt itself against Thee” (The Heidelberg Catechism, LORD’S DAY 47, A. 123).
 
Father in heaven, You are worthy of all my time and attention and focus and love. As Jesus taught His followers to pray, so I pray, let Your will be done on earth, in Christ’s body—that is the Church—and Your will be done in my life with the same zeal and joy and glory as it is carried out in heaven by Your holy angels and the saints who are before the throne of Jesus. Spirit, lead me, because the moment I rise from this prayer I know I’ll be assaulted by temptations to swerve from such holy obedience. Such temptations will press against my commitment from within myself and strong temptations will assault me from the world and the Tempter. Thank You, Lord of Glory, for bringing me safe this far, and work out Your salvation in me, so that I will be arrive to those eternal shores where sin, death and the grave are defeated forever and I will, with full-joy, wonder, reverence and freedom worship You in spirit and in truth. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/FSHe-kibZDg?si=ABjoVbQ60935T--S Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord
 

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