The Lord Will Provide All Your Need: Zac Poonen (Transcript)

Here is the full transcript of Zac Poonen’s sermon titled “The Lord Will Provide All Your Need.”

Bible teacher Zac Poonen’s sermon “The Lord Will Provide All Your Need” draws deeply from Biblical teachings, emphasizing God’s unwavering promise to meet the needs of His followers. Poonen highlights the distinction between wants and needs, urging believers to trust in God’s provision rather than in worldly wealth or securities. He uses scripture to reinforce the idea that God’s provision is not just material but encompasses spiritual, emotional, and physical needs.

Through personal anecdotes and Biblical examples, Poonen illustrates how living a life of faith and obedience aligns us with God’s provisions. He stresses the importance of seeking God’s kingdom first, assuring that all other things shall be added unto us, as promised in Matthew 6:33. The sermon is a powerful reminder of God’s faithfulness in providing for His children and calls for a deeper reliance on Him rather than on our own understanding or efforts.

Poonen’s message is both comforting and challenging, encouraging believers to live a life of contentment, faith, and trust in God’s perfect plan and timing.

Listen to the audio version here:

TRANSCRIPT:

You remember, I think it was last Sunday I said, you must dress properly when you come to church. In many rich churches, they say that. Don’t come in your pajamas or sleeping clothes. Dress properly.

What I said last time, and for those of you who were not here last time, let me tell you the dress that the Bible says you must wear when you come into God’s presence. 1 Peter 5. Never forget this verse. 1 Peter 5 verse 5. This is the best dress you can ever wear. First, it says to younger men, be subject to your elders, and all of you, all of you sitting here, put on this dress.

Clothe yourself with humility towards God and towards one another.

So, what is the dress we must wear when we come to church? Tell me, all together, humility. Once again, never forget it. Not only towards God, it says here towards one another.

The Essence of Humility

Be humble towards your wife, towards your husband. Be humble towards other brothers and sisters here who may not be like you, maybe they are poorer than you, or different things. Clothe yourself. Otherwise, you are naked.

Today, if you have come here with a proud spirit, I want to tell you in Jesus’ name, you have come naked, and you should be as ashamed as a man who came to this church naked. Only a madman will not be ashamed if he comes to a church naked. Any sensible man will say, hey, what am I dressed in? So please remember this, clothe yourself with humility at all times. I am not telling you what I have not practiced.

I do not preach what I do not practice. Before CFC started in 1975, and that is the year God filled me with the Holy Spirit. Before that, I must say, I also had some big ideas about myself as a young 30-year-old man. One proof of it was that I did not have complete victory over sin. When you are clothed with humility, one proof is you will have victory over sin in your life because God gives grace to the humble, same verse. And when grace is over us, sin cannot rule over us. So, that is a good test to see how humble you are.

I will show you one more verse in the book of Zephaniah. You know where Zephaniah is? It is about three or four books from the back of the Old Testament.

The Call to Seek More Humility

Go to the end of the Old Testament and work your way backwards to Malachi, Zechariah, Haggai, and then Zephaniah. Zephaniah chapter 2 and verse 3. It is spoken to those who have already dressed themselves with proper dress. That means you are clothed with humility. Good.

Then this is addressed to those who are already dressed. All you humble of the earth, seek righteousness and seek more humility. So, what is the exhortation to humble people? Seek for more humility. Like in the world, when people become richer, they put on more grander dresses. The more you walk with the Lord, seek for more humility. That is the dress.

So, I don’t plan to speak for long today because the youth have a program later on and someone else is speaking after me as well. So, I wanted to say something more about, you remember what I said on Sunday, we said our motto for this year is what? On that verse up there, ‘Be merciful to others just as, that is the important part, God has been merciful to you.’ That is our motto for the whole year. And that ‘just as’ is the thing you have to meditate on. You may think you are merciful but press on to perfection. Perfection is ‘just as God has been merciful to you.’ I meditate on that.

Reflections on Mercy and Grace

I have been a believer for 64 years, 65 nearly this year, but I still meditate on, I will tell you what, what a great sinner I was and how Jesus had mercy on me. And I want to remember that towards others when I see other people, their failures, mistakes, I remember that verse. ‘Lord, You have been so merciful to me in days when I slipped up or fell away.’ I know it is 50 years ago but still, I never forget it, those days. God has been very good to me ever since CFC started. My life changed completely. It has been an upward progression all these 48 years, and I praise God for that. But it was not like that before.

I found that before that, I had God’s Word and the blood of Christ. God’s Word I read every day for 16 years. But I needed the blood of Christ because I fell, get up, fell, get up. That was what my early Christian life was like. Then God filled me with the Holy Spirit, number three, Word of God, the blood of Christ, fullness of the Holy Spirit. And He showed me what the actual way of the cross was, number four, the way of the cross, of death to self. But still, my hand was not complete. One more finger was needed.

I had the blood, I had the Word of God, I had the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and I knew I must die to myself daily. I needed one more thing, the body of Christ. That was the church. And that God gave me and CFC started in 1975. That completed my hand. And you know it’s much easier to hold something with all five fingers than to hold something with two fingers. Yeah, I can hold things with two fingers, but people can pull it out of my hand. When it’s held with all five fingers, people can’t pull it out.

The Fivefold Path to Spiritual Maturity

Have you got all five? Do you believe in the Word of God? Do you read it regularly, every day, even if it’s a few minutes? Are you sure the blood of Christ has not only cleansed you but blotted out your past so He says, ‘I will not remember your sins anymore.’ I don’t believe God remembers my past sins. I have zero condemnation about all the past failures in my life in those early days after I was born again, because God says I don’t remember.

But 2 Peter 1 says, it’s better you remember what God saved you from. Paul remembered till the end of his life, ‘I’m the chief of sinners, God saved me.’ God doesn’t remember. That means I don’t have any condemnation. But why do I sometimes think back to how I failed the Lord? Because that helps me to be merciful to others.

I say, ‘Lord, once I was also failing like that. See where You brought me. I believe You can bring them.’ Don’t give up hope for your children. Some of you, maybe your children are a bit astray. Where were you when you were that age? Probably worse than your son or daughter. But you’re sitting in the church today. In one of the best churches in Bangalore, you’re sitting here. And where were you when you were a teenager? Have hope for your children. Don’t give up hope for any of them.

Look at your own life and have hope for them. God loves you, God loves them. The blood of Christ will cleanse them. Word of God, blood of Christ. Seek every day to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Not just once, every day. Ephesians 5.18, the real translation is ‘be being filled with the Spirit.’ You know, like we drink water, doctors say it’s a good thing to hydrate yourself with water so that you don’t feel thirsty. The body cries out for water every day. And if you’re sensitive, your spirit is crying out, ‘I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I want to drink more of the Holy Spirit.’ So be filled.

The translation of that verse is ‘be being filled.’ That’s the real meaning. Continuously. The fullness of the Holy Spirit is like breathing. Some people have breathing difficulty and they need to do some exercises. But the rest of us, we breathe even when we are asleep. Otherwise, we’ll die. Is it three minutes that you stop breathing when you die? Something like that. So ‘be being filled with the Spirit.’ Equate spirit, fullness of the Holy Spirit with breathing. ‘Lord, I want to be filled with the Spirit every moment, like I breathe every moment.’

And then fourth, take up the cross every day. That is a message almost not preached in any church today. Die to yourself every day. Okay, when somebody hurts your feelings by something they said or did, what do you do? You say to yourself, ‘A dead man feels nothing.’ I want to die to myself, to that feeling I got just now, because that chap hurt me. And I want to love in return, because that’s what Jesus did. That’s taking up the cross. ‘Lord, I want to be like a dead person here.’ The Holy Spirit helped me to die. I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to die to myself every day. Jesus said, ‘Take up your cross every day.’

We need to read the Bible daily, but Jesus could not say that because there were no printed Bibles those days. How could He tell people to read the Bible when they didn’t have one? Printed Bibles have been available only for the last five, six hundred years. But one thing Jesus said, do daily, is die to yourself daily, especially in your home. You’ve heard me speak, and the fifth one, of course, the body of Christ. Never forget that.

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The Church as a Three-Story Building

So, those of you who have heard me speak, have often heard me speak of the church as a three-story building. The foundation, very important. God loves you as a loving Father. Never move away from that foundation. All anxiety, fear comes when you move away from that foundation. Never.

See, don’t lay your foundation in one place and go and build your house somewhere else. Build your house where you lay the foundation. Every sensible man does that. ‘God is my Father. He will never leave me, nor forsake me.’ And if I, to the best of my ability, seek to please Him and His kingdom first, everything I need in life will be added to me. Everything. So, don’t be anxious.

That’s the foundation, and then on top of that, ground floor, or the first story. Keep a good conscience. Always, always, always keep a good conscience. A prick in your conscience is like a thorn in your foot. How long do you wait before you take a thorn out of your foot? Not even 15 seconds. Keep your conscience like that.

Remember, a prick in your conscience is like a thorn in your foot. Take my advice. Otherwise, your foot will get infected. Your conscience will get infected. After some time, it will die. Some people’s conscience is dead. They do so many wrong things and they don’t get convicted. That’s the ground floor, first story.

The Foundation of Respect in Family

On top of that is what we call the first floor, or second story. That’s your family life. Not church. Family life. How you live at home. Children, how you obey your parents. How you respect your parents. How you apologize whenever you hurt your parents or disobeyed.

Husband and wife, learn to apologize to one another and forgive one another. Don’t remember it again. Like God says, “I won’t remember your past.” Even if you don’t tell your wife or husband that, your attitude should be, “I don’t remember all the foolish things my partner did last year or last week.” Just like I don’t want him to remember all the foolish things I did last year or last week or yesterday.

What a wonderful family life that will be. Solid, second story. Children, respectful. The atmosphere of heaven can come into your heart. Don’t blame your children for not being respectful and obedient to you if you yourself as husband and wife are not living properly. That’s where you must begin. It doesn’t begin with the children. It begins with the husband and wife.

The Importance of Forgiveness

Your children are watching you. Make sure you walk in humility towards each other, asking forgiveness from each other and forgiving each other. That’s not perfection. It means I pull out the thorn as soon as it hurts my foot. In family life, a thorn hurts you. That means, or you hurt somebody else with a thorn. Ask forgiveness. Pull it out.

How do you pull it out? By asking forgiveness. Or within the church, if you hurt a brother or sister by something you said or did, humble yourself and go and ask forgiveness. Call the person on the phone and say, “I’m sorry.” And when you say you’re sorry to your husband or wife, don’t say it like this: “I’m sorry, but remember what you did.” Please. That’s not asking forgiveness.

That’s trying to make that person more guilty. “I wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t done this.” That’s not the way. “I’m sorry. It was my fault. Please forgive me. Tell me how I can set it right.” Full stop. Can you say that? You’ll find it difficult. The words sort of get stuck in the throat. “I’m sorry. It was my fault. Please forgive me. How can I set it right?” You don’t have to repeat those words.

The Power of a Humble Spirit

That spirit must be there. Imagine if all our families began to live like that and the children watched their parents. We’ll have heavenly homes in this church. And this church will be a heavenly church. Heaven on earth. That is why Jesus came. He came to make our lives heaven on earth, whereas formerly our lives were hell on earth. Many homes are like hell.

CFC is seeking to transform them into a heaven. There are some families sitting here who will testify, “Our home was like hell. Always fighting, arguing, quarreling. But it’s changed. We’re not exactly fully like heaven, but we’re pretty close.” Thank God. Then the top floor, which is the church. That’s also important.

Beyond the Family to the Church

Don’t stop with family. Church means a fellowship with others. We don’t come to church just to attend the meetings. You’re very selfish, if you come to attend the meetings; go away. It’s not a restaurant. In a restaurant, after you eat and pay the bill, what do you do? You sweep the floor or wash the kitchen or anything? No. You go away. Goodbye. “I came here to eat. I put my money in the offering box. That’s my payment. And I go.” Restaurant.

But in a home, there is no payment. Like this church, there’s no payment. Everything is free. That’s home. Other churches are like restaurants. I like restaurants. You have to pay. This is home. This is not a restaurant. But so, you can’t walk away after you eat. Eat means after you’ve heard the message and all. A lot of work to be done.

Some people sweep the floor. Some people clean the toilet. Some people do all types of things. There’s work to be done. And maybe you’re too old to do that. That means if you’re over 80, all who are over 80 are old. The rest are young. In a few years, I’ll make it 90. But right now, it’s 80. Help where you can. And if you can’t do anything else, at least you can encourage people. Don’t go with a long, gloomy face.

Encouragement and Joy in Service

There’s enough problems in the world. When people come here, they want to see happy, smiling faces. And you say, “I have a lot of problems.” Okay, fine. But Jesus is still on the throne. Smile because of that. Oh, and let your life be a testimony. Very, very important.

And I want to give you a promise before we go on. And that’s Hebrews chapter 13. Last chapter of Hebrews. Remember, last chapter of Hebrews. What does it say? Verse 5. Chapter 13, verse 5. “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money.” What a word. Make sure that your attitude is free from the love of money. Earn money? Yes.

The Example of Jesus

Jesus earned money as a carpenter. Because He had a widowed mother. Joseph had died. Four younger brothers and two younger sisters. You read that in Mark chapter 6. So there were eight people in His home, including Himself. Any of you got eight people in your home? Father and mother and six children? Very few. Hardly anybody. Jesus had eight. Mother, Himself, four brothers, two sisters, seven children and a mother.

And He was the eldest. And He worked as a carpenter because Joseph had died. He had to take responsibility. He was probably 18 years old when Joseph had died. And for 12 years He works as a carpenter. Is it good to make profit when you do business? When you do business, for example, you’re running a shop. Should you give it all at cost price or with a little profit? Don’t be super spiritual. Be sensible.

The Necessity of Profit

I ask you a question. When Jesus made a table as a carpenter and sold it to somebody who ordered a table, do you think He made a profit on that table or not? Yes or no? No or yes? Of course, if He didn’t make a profit, how will He support eight people in the home? If He sells it at cost price, they’d be starving. Which teaches us that if you do business to make a profit, it’s not wrong. In fact, it’s what Jesus did. If He made a stool and gave it to somebody, He’d get the profit. And if it was a very poor person who couldn’t afford it, He may give it free occasionally.

But He couldn’t give it free to everybody. But He made a profit. He had to buy clothes for His brothers, sisters, take care of His mother, provide food. There’s nothing wrong in making profit in your business. Don’t cheat anybody. Jesus never cheated anyone. How much profit you have to make, that’s up to you. It depends on the cost of living and so many things. Nazareth was a cheap place, not like Bangalore. It’s so expensive. You have to make more profit here than in Nazareth. Cost of living is higher. There’s nothing wrong in that. Absolutely nothing wrong. You’re not cheating anyone. So, Jesus earned His living.

Understanding the Value of Money

So, love of money does not mean you shouldn’t make a profit. Love of money means your mind is always on how to make more, how to make more, how to make more. If you’re getting very little, then you really need to think about how to make more money. Maybe find another job. There’s nothing wrong in saying, “Can I earn a little more?” Because the cost of living is going up. There’s nothing wrong in saying, “Is there some way I can earn a little more?” Absolutely nothing wrong in it.

The Difference Between Need and Greed

That’s not love of money. You’re trying to survive. We’re not all millionaires sitting over here that can afford to do nothing. We have to work to earn our living. So, when it says love of money, I don’t think most of us would be having that, but a lot of people do. Be careful. But this is the part we can all listen to. Be content with what you have.

That’s a very important word. Because the danger is, you can look at some other family here and say, “Boy, they’ve got that.” And it’s usually the wife who will tell the husband, “I want that.” You go visit a home and you say, “Hey, they’ve got something I don’t have.” That covetousness comes. In Colossians chapter 3, it says covetousness is idolatry.

Idolatry in Modern Terms

We don’t have an idol here like in temples and all those people bow down and worship. But you go to somebody’s home and you see something which you don’t have in your home; that can become an idol, and you bow down to it by telling your husband, “Get me that.”

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Now, if it’s something necessary for your home or something to make life easier for your home, there’s nothing wrong in that. But to covet, I see something else, I covet that. That is really the meaning of the lust of the eyes.

Sexual sin is the lust of the flesh. Lust of the eyes, I think in the Living Bible says, the desire to buy everything that you see. That is the lust of the eyes. You see something, “I want to buy that.” You see something else, “I want to buy that.” You see something else in somebody’s home, “I want to buy that.” That is the lust of the eyes.

And I think women have it more than men. You always thought men had more lust of the eyes, right? You understood something today? It’s not just sexual lust after a pretty woman, it is the lust to buy anything that you see somewhere that somebody else has, and you want it in your home. Get rid of that lust and say, “Be content with what you have.” If you can afford to buy it and you find it useful, buy it.

The Wisdom of Proverbs

And one more thing about money. You know in Proverbs chapter 6, I don’t have time to show you that. It says, “Go to the ant, you lazy man.” Read it sometimes in Proverbs 6. “Go to the ant, you lazy man, and learn from the ant.” Maybe I should show you that verse. Very important verse. Proverbs chapter 6. All of you know where Proverbs is? Immediately after Psalms. Easy to remember, Proverbs 6.

Learning from the Ant

“Go to the ant, you lazy man. Observe its ways.” Observe means not just look. Observe means look carefully. Not look at its ways, but look carefully at an ant. Look carefully at an ant. And learn wisdom from an ant. How many of you have ever thought of learning wisdom from an ant?

I’ll tell you. I have learned wisdom from the ant. And I believe there are many believers sitting here who need that word. Learn wisdom from that small ant. Have you seen these little ants that crawl around your house? See what it does. It doesn’t have an elder brother. It doesn’t have a king or president or ruler or no chief, no officer, no ruler.

Nobody to tell him what to do. But it prepares its food in the summer. What is that? You know what these ants do? They go and collect one grain of rice. I’ve seen sometimes an ant crawling with one grain of rice. They found somewhere going, going, going slowly to the hideout. Maybe it’s to feed their little ones.

Ants and Future Planning

I don’t know. But one grain. It’s like a major meal for an ant. And it does that trip so many times. And the ant realizes now is the time. Plenty of food is available. Summertime. Collect it. Collect it and store it up. Why? Because that ant’s brain, you know, can you think of the size of an ant’s brain?

The ant itself is so small. What is the size of its brain? And in that brain, it is thinking winter is coming, and you won’t get so much food. So, you better store up something. And so it collects, collects, collects. What for? Because in three, four months, it will be winter. And then there won’t be. So it prepares food in the summer and during the harvest time, because in those days, people, almost everybody, was a farmer.

There were no office jobs in those days. All farmers, farmers, everybody had harvest. They had their own fields. Harvest time, plenty of food. So the ant says this is the time there’s plenty of food. Let’s store up for our own home also. In some little corner, some little, small little corner, they store up the food for winter.

Okay, what should you learn from that? Save money for the future when you may be in need, and you don’t have money. You won’t then have to go and borrow from somebody. That is what it says. “You lazy man, learn from the ant.” So, don’t spend everything that you earn. Save some of it. Save some of it. Keep it for the future.

Emulating Jesus’ Financial Wisdom

The ant, that tiny brain, it knows I must save for the future. I must keep something for my children. It’s a very, very good habit. I used to think, did Jesus have a savings account? Yes or no? Yes or no? I’ll tell you who His banker was, Judas Iscariot. Not a very faithful banker, but he was keeping Jesus’ savings account.

Jesus never asked for money, but we read in Luke chapter 8, people gave Him money, and He took it. He never asked, but He was not working, so people gave Him money, He took it. And what did He do? Did He say, “Oh, today’s money must be spent today?” No. He says, “Judas, keep it. We may need it next week.” When we go to Jerusalem, we have to rent a small inn or something.

We have to stay in. We can’t all sleep in the streets. Save it for the future. That’s what Jesus did. And the result was, Jesus never, never had to borrow or beg throughout His life. I can say that. I’m 84 and a half years old today. I have never had to borrow or beg for one rupee in my entire life. Never been in debt.

The Importance of Simplicity and Savings

And I was not earning a lot of money. I was living like Jesus and Paul, trusting God for my needs, never telling anybody my needs. But thankfully, I had a wife who was more simple than me and more frugal and careful with money than I was. And so we could live very simply. We could feed our four sons and educate them and everything. Of course, they got scholarships, so education was taken care of by God. But the point is that we sought to live like Jesus even in the area of money.

Save, so that you may need it next week or next month. And you say, was that a lot in that savings bank? What do you think? You’ve got to read. There’s a saying in English called, read between the lines. Read between the lines means don’t just read what’s written there, but think what’s written there. Read between the lines means don’t just read what’s written there, but think in between what happened.

Jesus’ Attitude Towards Money

For example, how do you find out whether there was a lot of money in Judas’ savings bank or not? I’ll tell you. Because I read that Judas was stealing money. If there was only 10 rupees in it and Judas stole it, everybody would have known, “Hey, the bag is not jingling.” What happened to all that money? But the bag was jingling all the time, and Judas was still stealing. What does that prove? There was a lot of money in that savings bank.

What did Jesus do with that money? I’ll tell you. John chapter 13 is the one sentence that tells me what Jesus did with money. It’s a tremendous help to me throughout my life. Jesus’ attitude to money. John chapter 13: when He told Judas Iscariot go and do whatever you want, people did not think he was going to betray Him. None of the disciples knew that Jesus told Judas go and betray Me. He said in verse 27 Satan entered into Judas. John 13:27 and then Jesus said, “What you do, do quickly.”

That means go and betray Me quickly. That’s what He meant. But none of those sitting at the table knew why has Jesus sent Judas away, and they thought because Judas kept the money box. So it was a box, not just a bag. Jesus was saying to him buy what you need, number one. Give to the poor. Full stop. What are the two things Jesus said to Judas?

Guiding Principles for Financial Decisions

What they thought. Why did they think like that? Because that’s what they heard Him say many, many times in those three and a half years. “Judas, you got some money there, buy what you need, give to the poor.” Next week, “Judas, buy what you need, give to the poor.” They heard it so many times that on that last supper, they thought He was telling him to buy what you need, give to the poor. That gave me a guideline in my life. How should I spend my money?

Buy what you need, give to the poor. Simple. Now, how much do I need? That is different for different people. I know in America, where buses are not available in most places, people have to go to work, and children are working. Sometimes people need three cars or four cars in one house because three of the children are working, and there are no buses or trains to take them to work.

How do they go? The father has to work, sometimes the mother has to work, or the mother has to go to the store. Three or four cars in one house. Need it? Yes. Here in India, it’s rare to have even two cars in a house. One. In the most houses: a scooter. I rode a scooter most of the time. I occasionally used my mother’s car, but I couldn’t afford to put petrol in it. But it was a scooter. For 42 years, I rode a scooter. It was very, very good for me. And many of you drive scooters.

Addressing Judgment and Covetousness

But I remember the early days when we started CFC, people came by bicycle or bus. So, buy what you need and give to the poor. And don’t decide what somebody else needs. If you see somebody else having two cars in his house, maybe he needs it. Don’t judge him. That is being a busybody in other people’s matters. It’s a big sin that many believers, particularly women, commit. “Why does he have that?”

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They tell their husband, “Did you see how that sister was dressed today?” Why does it bother you how she’s dressed? “Did you see what she was wearing for the wedding? Uh-huh. Did you see the number of bangles on her arm?” What all things we watch instead of doing what the Bible says, “Stir one another to love one another.” Give up these habits, brothers and sisters. Prepare for the coming of the Lord.

Encourage one another to be more wholehearted disciples. Don’t look with the eyes of judgment. What is that verse, our motto? “Look with the eyes of mercy.” Maybe they need that. “Be merciful to others as God has been merciful to you.” Buy what you need and give to the poor. Turn back to Hebrews 13. “Be free from the love of money. Be content with what you have.”

Why? Because God, your Father, says, “I will never desert you. I will never forsake you. I will never leave you alone.” What a promise. Hebrews 13:5, “I will never abandon you. I will never leave you.” Do you believe that? What a wonderful promise.

And because he says that, the next verse, listen to what it says. It is not that we can say this. What does it say? “We can confidently say this. The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid of the future, of sickness, of poverty. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Man may trouble you in many ways. They even persecuted the early Christians. But they said, “The Lord is my helper. What can man do to me?” Only, I will tell you what man can do to you and me. Only what your Heavenly Father permits. Isn’t that good? The Heavenly Father is the doorkeeper with His angels.

Reliance on God’s Provision

When somebody comes to do anything to you, God determines whether he is allowed inside to do anything to you. Did some of you lose your job? Your boss had to get your Heavenly Father’s permission. “I’m going to fire him.” And your Heavenly Father says, “Okay, I’ll get him another job.” Would your earthly father do that? Definitely. How much more our Heavenly Father?

“I will never desert you. I will never forsake you.” You say, “Brother Zac, you’re teaching us like little children.” Yes. We need to become like little children to learn these simple truths which can change our life. “I will never desert you. I will never forsake you.” Let it be drilled into your head.

Remembering and Imitating Faithful Leaders

“The Lord is my helper. So I will not be afraid. What will man do to me? What will man do to me?” And then it says, “Remember your leaders. Remember those who preached to you. How did they live? How did they, the translation is there in the margin of my Bible, ‘see how they ended their life.'”

See how they grew older and how they lived when they were older. How your leaders lived when they grew older. Did they change their convictions? I was 35 years old when CFC started. As I said, I’m going to be 85 this year. Many of you have known me for a long, long time. Have I changed my convictions?

Those of you who know me for a long time. Have I changed what I preach? Have you seen me living by different standards than I had those days? Have I taught different things about how we should bring up our families? Have I depended on any man more today than I did 50 years ago?

Remember your leaders. And not only me, there are other leaders. A godly leader, you have to be tremendously thankful if you have had such a spiritual father. I’m not saying just to this church. All those who will listen to this message on YouTube for the next many years. If you have a godly leader, you’re very, very blessed.

“Remember them who spoke the pure word of God to you. And consider the result of their way of life.” I mean, see how they ended their life. Don’t just see how they began, but see how after 50 years, how they are. Never changing their convictions. Imitate their faith. Not imitate their way of life.

Don’t say, if he’s got a car, I must have a car. No, no, no. Imitate their faith. How they trusted God. That’s why they endured like that till the end. Dear brothers and sisters, this is God’s word.

I will say one more thing in closing. This morning when I got up, woke up in bed, in bed itself, you know what I prayed? I prayed the Lord’s Prayer, which is Matthew 6, verse 9. Sometimes I pray it. In spirit, I pray the content of that every day. But the actual words, sometimes.

A Father in Heaven Who Cares

Slowly, I did it very slowly today. ‘Heavenly Father,’ stop for a moment. I have a dad in heaven who loves me, who runs this universe, who knows the future. My earthly dad never knew the future. My heavenly Dad does. And He provides for it.

The Ultimate Prayer

Father, my number one request is not ‘give me more money.’ Not even ‘give me a word to preach today.’ That God knows. ‘Let Your name be glorified and honored.’ That was my prayer this morning.

Most of what I’ve shared in this message, God gave me right now as I was sitting here. I’ll tell you the truth. Because my prayer was, “Lord, let Your name be glorified. You decide what I should speak. Let Your name be glorified, hallowed, respected, held as holy.” So many people disgrace the name of Jesus. So many believers have dishonored the name of Jesus, but Lord, I pray Your name will be held holy. Let me hold Your name holy by the way I live. Number one request.

The Threefold Request

Number two request. I want Your kingdom to come. This world is being run by the devil now. I want this world to be run by God. I want my home to be run by God. I want my life to be run. Let Your rulership come in my life first. Let Your rulership come in my home where I’m the head of the home. And let Your rulership come in the church if I have a responsibility there. Let Your rulership come all over the world. I want to see God’s rule everywhere. That’s my second request.

Third request. Father, I’ve got so many desires, but I don’t want to do that. I want Your will to be done. I want to follow my Savior who said, “Not My will but Thine be done.” The last sentence in Gethsemane was, “Father, not My will but Thine be done.” He lived His whole life like that. I want to live my whole life like that. Not my will but Yours, as it is done in heaven. In heaven, the angels are only doing God’s will. Lord, bring me to that place. Make me a heavenly person on earth. How? Only do God’s will.

Then I come to my personal needs. Very practical. “Give us this day our daily food.” Whatever You give, I’ll be thankful, Lord. Some people can afford rich food. Maybe I can’t afford such rich food. I’m thankful that I can survive. Give me food to survive.

If you have more, I’m not saying you should not have more. If you can spend more, by all means have more. If you can afford ice cream and you’re not afraid of getting diabetes, by all means have ice cream. But be more careful as you get older. Watch your sugar levels. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Forgiveness as We Forgive

And this is very important. Verse 12. “Forgive us all our sins exactly like we have forgiven that guy and that guy and the other guy and the other guy who hurt me.” Okay, let’s stop there. How did you forgive that chap? He said, ‘I forgive you, but I’ll never forget what you did.’ Aha. Now you’re praying, “Father, forgive me like I’ve forgiven that person.”

“I forgive you, but I’ll never forget what you did.” You want God to speak to you like that? I’d be terrified if I have to live my life like that. If God said to me even once, “I’ll never forget what you did, but I’ll forgive you.” Do you speak like that to others? Or do you give that impression to others? “I’ll forgive you. I can’t forget what you did.”

The Call to True Forgiveness

That’s evil. It’s satanic. “Forgive us exactly as we have forgiven others who have hurt us, who have done wrong to us.” And Lord, I don’t want to think I can overcome everything. Please don’t let me face temptation that is too strong for me. That’s the meaning. God will not allow us to be tempted, but it’s good to pray that. “Father, there’s some temptations too strong for me.”

Don’t let me face it. Don’t put me into some situation where temptation is too strong. Please stand by me. When I face temptation, deliver me from that evil. I can’t deliver myself. I want You to deliver me.

And then finally, “Yours is the kingdom, power, and the glory.” When I do all this, in the end of verse 13, in some translations, it’s not there. The NASB has it. At the end of it all, I’m not going to take the credit but glory, kingdom, the power is all Yours. What a wonderful prayer. I rejoiced praying it slowly this morning. I don’t do it every day, but once in a while, I encourage you.

We have a wonderful Father in heaven and we have a wonderful Advocate and Savior at His right hand who is on our side. Jesus is on your side everyday even when you slip up and fall. He’s your Advocate. The devil is your enemy. But we have an Advocate in heaven who will stand up for you. Who says, “I shed My blood for this person. Forgive him, Father,” and I’m forgiven. Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, I pray that whatever was from You in my message, I pray nobody here will forget it. They’ll remember it all their lives and it will bless them and make them a blessing to others. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.