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By Abraham Eli
This study was first taught on February 16, 2020
Topic: The New Way (4): Man's Plans, God's Design
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Background
Last week, still looking at "<strong>The New Way</strong>", we noted that Peter and John going to the temple to pray at the hour of prayer needed that we look at whether there is anything like a time of prayer and a particular place to pray. Using the Lord Jesus as our model, we say that He taught and modelled private, secret praying. And when it came to where He prayed, we saw that it was not recorded that He went into the temple to pray; rather, He went to locations where He would not be disturbed, and there He prayed!
And as for prayer time, the Lord and His apostles taught that we should pray always—"<em>pray without ceasing</em>". Thus, we concluded that we are to pray all the time; in private more than in public, and in the Spirit, which is how we pray the Will of God!
Scripture Text(s)
Acts 3:1ff
Although Peter and John had gone to the temple to pray, they ended up not praying, but got a man born lame to walk in the name of Jesus, and preached Christ leading to the salvation of at least 5,000 men. May the Holy Spirit speak to us more about The New Way.
There is a saying, "Man proposes; God disposes"—this basically is about how we plan to do certain things only to end up involved in something completely different. And this is when we see that although we may have had our plans, God had His own design all along. In the New Way, we must live with the knowledge of God's design/Will rather than coming up with our plans; asking Him to bless it.
Proverbs 16:1, 9 (Jeremiah 10:23); 19:21 (Isaiah 46:10); 20:24; 21:1; Psalm 37:23; 32:8-9; Genesis 37:13-17ff; 50:19-20; 1 Samuel 17:1ff; Acts 9:1ff; James 4:13-17; Acts 16:6-10; Proverbs 29:18; 16:3; Hebrews 10:7; John 4:34.
Conclusion
It is imperative that as believers in Christ, we appreciate that we are no longer in charge of our lives—Christ is! Therefore, we cannot live for ourselves anymore; we must live for Christ (<strong>2 Corinthians 5:15</strong>).
Many of us can attest that long before our salvation, God was at work in our lives directing the course of our lives, until He brought us to Himself. It will, therefore, be strange to expect that God will now leave us to our devices! (<strong>Matthew 6:9-10, 33</strong>)
The New Way is one of submission to the Will of God—"not my will but Yours" (<strong>Matthew 26:39, 42; Galatians 5:16-25</strong>)
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