Rick Warren - When God Changes Your Plans

You ever have one of those days when all your

plans just get thrown out the window and everything goes

the wrong way? You know what I'm talking about? Have

you ever had a day when you thought, I should

have just stayed in bed today? Because literally everything went

the wrong way. I remember one of those days several

years ago at Christmas time. It was an unforgettable day.

That's why I said I won't ever forget it. when

literally nothing happened right in my life. I remember I

had to stay up all night the night before because

I had a number of deadlines that I had to meet.

And so I started the day totally out of energy

because I hadn't gone to bed. I had spent up

all night. So I decided I would make myself a

protein drink to get me all started for the Christmas day.

And as I was blending it, the top came off.

Of the blender. And it just blended all over me. Okay.

And I got covered with stuff. So then I get

in a car. And I'm heading up the 405 to

an appointment. And all of a sudden it's Christmas traffic.

And we're literally. We just come to a standstill. And

so we're stopped in traffic. And I look behind me.

And I see a car coming at me at about

45 miles an hour. And I go oh no. And

he rear ends me. My head goes forward, hits the

steering wheel, and I get a concussion. And so I'm

going to have to go get that checked out at

the hospital, something like that. So while I'm sitting there

waiting in the car for the highway patrol to come

and check out the accident, I decide to turn on

talk radio. And on the radio, there is a guy

screaming that he wishes Rick Warren was dead. So as

I'm sitting in the waiting room in this ER for

this concussion, I realize that I have OBRO. I have

been overextended, blended, rear-ended, and offended all on the same day.

And sometimes you just have those kind of days. If

you're going through unexpected tough times and things aren't going

the way you planned you really did pick a good

night to come to church because we are gonna look

at when God changes your plan. Now, first, I wanna

just uncover some basic verses there on your outline that

representative verses of what God says about first, his plans

for your life and your own plans for your life.

Let's look at some of these verses. Job chapter 25

Job 25 · chapter mention

verse two says this, God is sovereign, God is awesome

and everything in the cosmos fits and works in his plan.

God is a planner and God has planned everything in

the universe and he's planned everything in history and he

allows us to make decisions but he fits that into

his plans But he's sovereign, and it all works in

his plan. Next verse, Job 37, verse 12. The clouds

Job 37:12

turn around and around under his direction, and they do

whatever he commands throughout the earth. God is in charge

of the weather. The clouds turn around and around under

his direction, and they do whatever he commands throughout the earth,

which is why God can walk on water. Jesus can

walk on water. He can still the waves and calm

the storm. Because he created weather. Look at the next verse.

Psalm 33, verse 11. God's plans endure forever. His purposes

Psalms 33:11

last how long? Eternally. Circle that, eternally. Now, my plans

sometimes don't last five minutes. But God's plans last eternally. Okay,

his purposes last eternally. So when God makes a plan,

they are, my plans are in jello. God's plans are

in stone. Isaiah 14, 27. When the Lord all powerful

makes a plan, no one can stop it. Okay, nobody

can stop it. Now all of these verses, we're looking,

God is sovereign. Everything in the cosmos fits in his plans.

He controls the weather. He commands whatever happens. His plans

endure forever. When he makes a plan, no one can

stop it. They're all saying the same thing. You don't

need to sweat it because God's in control. Some people

freak out at every election. What if my guy doesn't

get elected? You need to come back to these verses. Okay,

there's something bigger than elections and politics going on in

the world and it is the sovereignty of God. And

I will tell you this, there are battles that are

lost and battles that are won, but God will have

the last word and it is good. It will be good.

So why are you sweating it? Why are you acting

like every little decision made by human beings, every little

vote is the end of the world? It's not. God

is still in charge today as he was 10 years

ago or 1,000 years ago or 1,000 years in the future.

God has his plans, and they are eternal. Look at

the next verse. Proverbs 19, verse 1, 21. People can

Proverbs 19:1

make all kinds of plans, but only the Lord's plans

will happen. Okay? You know, you can roll the dice,

but God's going to figure it all out. In fact,

Proverbs 16, 33 says this. We make our own decisions. Yeah.

You have a freedom, God gave you a free will.

You can make decisions. You're not an automaton, you're not

a robot, you're not a puppet, you do have free will.

We make our own decisions, but the Lord alone determines

what happens. So the whole idea, if it's to be,

it's up to me, really is a farce. Most of

the things in your life you had no control over

that are important. You didn't control when you were born,

you didn't control where you were born, You didn't choose

your race. You didn't choose your parents. You didn't choose

your natural giftedness. You're not choosing when you die. Most

of the major things that make you you, you had

no control over. And to act like I'm the captain

of my fate is nonsense. You could have been born

100 years ago on another continent to a very poor family,

and you wouldn't have any of the kind of life

that you have right now. We make our own decisions,

but the Lord alone determines what happens. Now, what does

this have to do with Christmas? Christmas, the very first Christmas, Mary, Joseph,

the angels, the wise men, the shepherds, everything in the

story of Christmas illustrates what we're gonna look at tonight,

which is God is in control, and he often messes

up our plans. The birth of Jesus changed everybody's plans.

Just think about this. How about Mary and Joseph? Mary

and Joseph had their plans changed in a major way.

They are in the middle of their preparation. They're engaged

to be married. All they wanna do is get married,

settle down, have kids. And in the middle of their engagement,

an angel comes and says, oh, by the way, time out,

I have a new plan. Mary is gonna be pregnant

And you haven't had sex yet. And God's going to

be father of the baby. And it's going to be

a miracle of a virgin birth. And the child will

be God in a human body. Right. Would that change

your engagement plans? If somebody told that to you. Yeah.

Mary and Joseph had their plans changed radically by the

story of Christmas. Herod, the king of Judea, had his

plans messed up. He's appointed by Rome. He's the king

of Judea. He wasn't even Jewish. He wasn't a Jew.

He was appointed by the Romans to be the king

of the Jews. And he was so paranoid of being

overthrown that he had his wife killed, his mother killed,

his brother-in-law killed, and two of his sons murdered. This

guy was a nutcase. He was scared he'd lose control.

And when he hears the king of the Jews has

been born, he goes nuts and he orders all the

children under two, age of two, in Bethlehem killed. Herod

had his plans to be king of the Jews. God

messed up his plans. The religious leaders had their plans

messed up at the very first Christmas. They're expecting the

Messiah to be a political figure. As if some politician

can save the day. No politician's ever going to be

your savior. And they're expecting a messiah to come in

and overthrow Rome. And instead of turning the other cheek

or going the second mile or loving your enemies, they're

expecting a rat to come in and clean house and

kick out the Romans. And God does show up, but

he says, love your enemies. Go the second mile. Turn

the other cheek. He messed up their plans big time.

God messed up the plans of the innkeeper. He didn't

plan on putting customers in a stable, but he runs

out of room, and when Mary and Joseph show up

that night, all he's got to offer is, well, you

guys just sleep with the animals if you want to.

We're all filled up. The inn is full. We've got

no room. His plans got messed up. The shepherds had

their plans messed up at the very first Christmas. They're

just planning a quiet evening, sitting under the stars and

in the moon, by the campfire, sharing stories, maybe singing

some songs. But in the middle of the night, all

of a sudden, God lights up the sky in a

light show. The angels show up in force, say, you

guys go to Bethlehem and see the Son of God

has been born. God messed up their plans big time.

So that's what Christmas is all about, when God messes

up your plans. Has God ever messed up your plans?

If I asked you to make a list of how

many times your plans got messed up in 2021, it

would probably be a long list. When you think about it.

We're coming to the end of 2021. Did this year

happen just the way you planned it? The likelihood, it

probably happened in no way that you planned it. Now

let me be clear right now. Not everything that happens

in your life is God's ideal will. I'm not saying

that at all. We mess up a lot of plans ourselves.

And other people do their share of spoiling our plans.

But sometimes plans are messed up because God messes them up.

They're custom made by God for you. What should you

do when God changes your plans? That's what I wanna

share with you tonight. We're gonna look at three things

you need to remember when things don't go the way

you planned them. Number one, when God messes up my plans,

it means God is trying to get my attention. When

God messes up my plans, it means God is trying

to get my attention. Now God's plan for Mary and

Joseph was so incredible, he needed something supernatural to get

their attention. So God actually sends an angel, one to

Mary and one to Joseph. And the angels explained to

Mary and then to Joseph, this is what's gonna happen.

It was so amazing and supernatural They needed a supernatural confirmation.

Now for you, God doesn't need to send you an

angel if you're listening because he's already given us his

word in this book. Now the truth is most of

us are poor listeners and we're so busy talking that

we don't have time to listen to God. We listen

to the radio, we listen to TV, we listen to

social media, we listen to talk news, but God can't

get through And so God gets a busy signal. Have

you ever put God on call waiting? Yeah, you have.

You just didn't realize it. Now look at these verses.

Psalm 81 verse 13 says this. God says, I wish

Psalms 81:13

my people would listen to me. You see, when it

comes to listening to God, I think all of us

have ADD. We have attention deficit disorder. And so God

often has to change our plans because we're not listening.

If we had been listening, we would have gotten in

with his plan and he wouldn't have had to change

our plan. But when God has to change my plan,

it just means I was not listening. I went ahead

and made my plans without consulting God, without talking to God,

without considering, without listening to God. James chapter four. It

says this, verse 13 to 15. Now listen. There's that word, listen.

Now listen. You who say, today or tomorrow we'll go

to this or that city and spend a year there

and carry on business and we're gonna make money. Now,

what's wrong with that sentence? Make a plan to go

to a city, spend some time there, do a business

and make a profit. What's wrong with that? Nothing. Nothing.

Absolutely nothing. There's only one thing that's wrong with it.

God isn't mentioned in it. They haven't consulted God. Is

God in your business plan? Is God in your business plan?

There's nothing wrong with making a profit. There's nothing wrong

with building a business. But he says this. Those of

you who say today or tomorrow, we will go to

this or that city. We'll spend a year there. We'll

carry on business. We'll make money. Why you don't even

know what will happen tomorrow. We could have a 9-11 tomorrow.

Nobody knew the day before 9-11 happened what was going

to change our world for the rest of our lives.

Nobody knew one day before COVID hit what COVID was

going to do. Why you don't even know what will

happen tomorrow. We don't know what's going to happen in 2022.

Instead he says you ought to say if it is

the Lord's will. We will live and do this or that.

So circle that phrase, if it is the Lord's will.

Should you make plans? Yes, the Bible says we should

make plans counting on God to help us. But we

make plans saying, if it is the Lord's will, I'm

gonna go to this or that city, plant a business

and make some money. If it is the Lord's will,

I'm going to go to that college, I'm gonna do

that vacation. If it is the Lord's will, I'm going

to do this or that or this. You bring God

into your planning. And if you do that, then God

doesn't have to change your plans as often as he does. Now,

why does God want us to listen to him? Spare

us problems. Keep us from walking into dead ends. He

can see ahead. He can see the future. You can't.

God can see around the curve, the mountain curve. You

don't know If somebody's coming the opposite direction so you

can't pass the car going up the mountain because you

can't see around the slow driving trailer in front of you.

But God can see all the way around. He can

see the end of the road. And that's why he says,

if it is God's will, we consult God. When God

is changing our plans, it's because we weren't listening. Proverbs 16, 25.

There is a path before each person. That seems right,

but it ends in death. How many times have you

and I made a decision, headed down a path, and

it was a dead end? And you thought, this has

got to be the right thing to do. This has

got to be the right person to marry. This has

got to be the right investment. This has got to

be the right whatever. And it wasn't. You weren't listening.

You weren't listening to God. So often we make decisions

that we thought was going to be right. But it

turned out to be a disaster. And the reason why

was limited perspective. You can't see the whole picture. God can.

You remember when you were a child, your parents had

a larger perspective than you did. And they would tell

you to do this and don't do that and do

this and don't do that. Don't touch the hot stove.

It didn't make a whole lot of sense. It looked

pretty cool. But you didn't listen. And so you got hurt.

You got burned. The same way The Bible says there

are certain things to avoid. When we don't listen, then

we go down dead ends and God has to change

our plans. When God says, I want you to listen,

it's always for our benefit. When God changes your plans,

it's always for your benefit. God knows the heartache. He

knows the pain. He knows the grief. He knows the

guilt that will result from a wrong decision. So God says,

I'm trying to get your attention. God got the attention

of those at the first Christmas in dramatic ways. But

today he can do it a lot less dramatically because

we have his word. Now, here's the second reason why

God changes your plan. And when God changes your plan,

it means this. God has a better plan. God has

a better plan than yours. God will never change your

plan because yours was better. He will only change your

plan because his is better. Now we don't often see

how it's better. And that's why, you know, it takes faith.

But God says, I have a better plan. And scripture

specifically tells us that there are three parts to God's

better plan. I want you to write this down. Number one,

the Bible tells us that God's plan is always good.

God's plan is good. One of the most famous verses

in the Bible, Jeremiah 29, 11. I know what I'm

planning for you, says the Lord. Remember, God has plans

for you. Big plans, eternal plans, lifelong. There's not an

exaggeration to say God's plan go on and on and

on forever in your life because his plans are forever.

God says, I have good plans for you, not plans

to hurt you. I will give you a hope. And

I will give you a good future. Circle the word

hope and the word good in that verse. God's plan

is a good plan. So if I understand that, then

when God changes my plan, I don't get upset. I

don't get uptight. Because I know, okay, my plan's getting changed.

God's got a good plan. It's a better plan. Number two,

it's a more rewarding plan. God's plan is more rewarding

than Now, I'm not talking about simply rewarding here on earth.

That's part of it. But it's also ultimately rewarding forever

and ever and ever in heaven. When I cooperate, when

you cooperate with God's plan, it's not only the secret

to significance now and satisfaction here. Significance and satisfaction come

from following God's purpose and plan in your life. But

it's also the one that will reward me forever and

ever and ever. Look at this next verse. The Bible

says in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9, no one has

1 Corinthians 2:9

ever seen or heard or even imagined what wonderful things

God has prepared for those who love him. You cannot

even imagine what God would like to do through you.

If God were to show you what he'd like to

do through your life, it'd blow your mind. Me? What?

Are you kidding me? Little old me? You have no

idea what God would like to do through your life

if you would follow his plan. See, God has a

plan for your life, but he lets you choose. A

lot of people miss God's plan for their life because

they choose to go with their plan. You have no idea.

how cool God's plan is for your life. If you

would just start listening and say, God, thy will be done,

not my will be done. What you want in my life,

I don't want what I want because my want to

is broken. We all have broken desires. I wanna desire

what you desire, God. And no one has ever seen

or heard or even imagined the wonderful things that God

has prepared for those who love him I mean, let's

go back to the first story. Mary and Joseph, you

know what they wanted? They just wanted to get married. Normal,

natural desire. We just want to get married. God's plan,

I'd like to bless the entire world through your marriage.

A little bit better plan. It's better and it's often

bigger than God's plan will be bigger and better than

your plan for your life. God's not going to give

you a tinier plan than you have. You're not thinking

big enough because you're not listening to God. They just

wanted to get married. God says, no, I want to

bless the whole world through your marriage. So God's plan

is good. God's plan is better and bigger. But here's

the catch. Here's the third one. This is the The tough,

but I always tell you the truth. God's plan is

sometimes harder. You need to write that down. If you're

looking for the easiest plan in life, don't go with

God's plan. If I'll say it, I'll be as honest

as I can. If you're looking for the easiest plan

in life, don't follow God. It's a mistake. It's dumb.

It's stupid. But if you're looking for the easiest way

out in life, it's not going to be God's plan.

Because God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God's plan, I'll tell you from personal experience, I've been

walking with the Lord for 60, 62 years now. God's

plan for your life can be difficult. It can be

confusing at times. It sometimes doesn't make sense. And sometimes

God's plan involves pain. Because God isn't here to coddle

you and just give you every whim. He's not your genie.

God wants you to grow up. He wants you to

be a woman of God, a man of God. He

wants you to have spiritual strength, spiritual muscle. He don't

want you to be a wimp. He wants you to

not be a baby that whines at everything. So how

do you grow? Through pain sometimes. We did a whole

series on that for four weeks or three. First Peter

says this, look at that verse on your outline. First

Peter chapter four. Dear friends, don't be surprised. In other words,

don't go, what? Dear friends, don't be surprised at the

painful troubles and tests you suffer. As though something unusual

were happening to you. Rather be glad that you're sharing

Christ's sufferings so that you may be full of joy

when his glory is revealed. So I'm being honest with you.

God's plan for your life is better than your plan.

It's bigger. It's a good plan. It's a hopeful plan.

It's a plan that will be rewarded here on earth

and in heaven, but it's not always the easiest thing.

And you gotta say, I'm willing to put up with

the pain in order to get the reward. You see,

think about the plan God had for Mary. She and Joseph,

they just wanted to get married. It wasn't easy for

Mary to face the gossip as an unwed mother. Remember,

she wasn't married, she's pregnant. It wasn't easy for her

to explain that to her mom and her sisters and

anybody else. It wasn't easy. It was a painful plan

that involved Mary riding on a donkey on a long

trip to Bethlehem the day before she delivers. I wouldn't

wish that on any pregnant woman. Ride a donkey for

days in the last final days of your pregnancy. There's

no way to say that's gonna be happy and fun.

And then it wasn't easy for her to deliver her

first baby alone by herself without her mom, without her aunts,

without any midwife, alone, first baby in a stable instead

of at home with people around who could care for

her and had gone through delivery process before. That wasn't

Mary's plan, but it was God's plan. Mary must have

asked a thousand times as she's going through labor in

a stable by herself. Why? Why, God? Why? And you're

gonna go through those experiences in life when you're going

through pain and you're going, why? Why am I going

through this pain right now? Not until later did she

understand the full implications of everything that was happening and

that it was all intended for good. Now that leads

to the third thing you need to remember when your

plans get messed up by God. God's trying to get

your attention. God has a better plan. And here's the

third thing you need to remember. God wants you to

trust him. God wants you to trust him. That's why

he doesn't explain it to you all in advance. He

wants you to trust him. Jesus said this to the

12 disciples who were following him. In John 13, verse 7,

John 13:7

he said to them, you don't understand now what I'm doing.

But you'll understand it later. I could give you a

hundred examples from my life of that. Or what was

going on in my life at that moment. I had

no idea why this was going on. I didn't understand

it at all. I just hadn't the slightest idea why

I was going through what I was going through. Jesus said,

you don't understand it now. But you will later. Why?

Because God wanted... us to trust him. God wants me

to trust. Imagine how God's plan tested Joseph's faith. Would

you believe it if your fiance came to you and

you knew that you had not had intimate relationships with

your fiance and she comes and tells you by the

way honey I'm pregnant and the father is God that

would be a test of faith imagine how that tested

not just Joseph's faith but Mary's faith You see, God's

plan was so different than their own plan. Let's just

get married and settle down in the village and Joseph,

you can be a carpenter. All they could do when

they didn't understand was trust. And that's what you're gonna

have to do in those moments when you don't understand

why the plan isn't going the way you planned it.

And I thought God told me to start this business

and now it's going bankrupt. or whatever. Mary and Joseph,

think about this. They did not even have all of

the promises that we have today. We have the New

Testament to encourage us when we don't know what makes

no sense. They didn't have the promise of Romans 8, 28,

but we do. Look at that verse again. The Bible says,

we know... that all that happens to us is working

for our good if we love God and we're fitting

into his plans. They didn't have that promise. You know it.

You've heard me teach on it hundreds of times. They

didn't have that promise. Why doesn't God explain his plan

to us in advance? I think there's a couple reasons. First,

I think we wouldn't likely understand it. My brain isn't

big enough to understand all the ways of God. If

I could understand why God does everything he does, I'd

be God. And I'm not. And you're not. As I

said many times, it's like an ant trying to understand

the internet. My brain capacity as a human being isn't

big enough to understand all the ways of God. So

I couldn't probably understand all of the factors in history.

But the second reason is God just wants us to

trust him. The Bible tells us over and over the

only way to please God, the only way to please

God is not through ritual, not through rules, not through regulations,

not through religion, but through faith. There on your outline,

Hebrews 11, 6. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Because anyone who comes to him must believe that he

exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. So,

what do you do when your plans fall through? Whether

they're little plans like this weekend or big plans. When

life doesn't make sense, you keep on trusting. You just

keep on trusting. God wants me to trust him. God

wants me to trust his wisdom. God wants me to

trust his timing. God wants me to trust his love.

God wants me to trust his promises. Listen, my friends,

you guys know I love you. I pray for you

all the time. I love you. And I teach you

these things because I love you. When your plans get changed,

it is always, always, A test. Every time your plans

get changed, your faith is being tested. And you have

to come down to the question, who am I going

to trust more, myself or God? Am I going to

trust God's wisdom, his love, his promises, or am I

going to just trust my feelings? How reliable are those?

The truth is none of us know. What's gonna happen

in 2022? We have no idea how that's gonna happen.

But I can be certain of this, and you can

be certain of this. God has a plan and a

purpose for your life. It is a good plan. No

one can ruin your life. Listen to me. No one

can ruin your life Other people can't ruin your life.

Satan can't ruin your life. He doesn't have that much power.

The only person who can mess up your life is

you because of the choices you make. I can tell

you this, no matter what happens next year, God's gonna

change some of your plans. God'll change some of my plans.

And I can tell you that God will be with

you no matter what happens. And I can tell you this,

that cooperating with God's plan is really the only rational

way to live. It's the only way that makes sense.

Rather than to rebel against my creator, that makes no sense.

The God who made me and created me for his

plan and purpose, why would I rebel against his plan

and purpose? How good is that gonna work? Am I

gonna win on that battle? No. Now let me just

give you, as I kind of wrap this up, a

verse I hope you'll put on a card and memorize

for 2022. I really hope you'll memorize this. Psalm 138.8.

Psalm 138.8 says this. The Lord will work out his

plans for my life The Lord will work out his

plans for my life for his faithful love endures forever.

That's one to hold on to. How do I know

when I'm not trusting God's plan? How do you know

when you're not trusting God's plan? Oh, it's real simple.

Two warning lights, frustration and fear. Frustration and fear are

the signs blinking loudly going warning, danger, Will Robinson, that

you are not trusting God's plan, you're trusting your plan.

Fear and frustration. What's all this have to do with Christmas?

Christmas is the revealing of God's plan. All through the

Old Testament, God is hinting that he's got a big plan.

But the people of the Old Testament didn't know the

plan like we do. We're looking back because the plan,

God's big plan, was revealed at Christmas. And what's that plan?

Ephesians chapter 3, verses 9 to 11. And it says this.

Ephesians 3:9–11

God's secret plan has now been revealed to us. And

it is a plan centered on Christ alone. designed long

ago according to his good pleasure. And this is his plan,

that at the right time, he will bring everything together

under the authority of Christ. Everything in heaven and everything

on earth. And that was his plan for all of eternity.

And it is now carried out through Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Stop freaking out about what's going on in the world.

Stop getting so upset and getting ulcers over, stop listening

to the news. Just stop listening to it, because it's

all bad. And let me let you in on a

little secret. It's not even news anymore, it's all opinion.

The last thing you need are more opinions. Christ did

not die for opinions. He died for the truth. And

he died to set us free. So stop getting so

uptight and so upset. God has a plan. And it

started before the foundation of the earth. But it was

revealed at Christmas. That's why he sent Jesus to be

your savior. Not just to save you from sin. but

to save you from all the effects of sin in

your life. And that's why the best news is the

news of Christmas. Luke 2.11, today a savior has been

born for you. It's Christ, Christ the Lord. Have you

accepted that Jesus as your savior? You know, you can

celebrate Christmas year after year and never really accept the gift.

Every one of us here tonight are in one of

three spiritual categories. Every one of us. You're in one

of these three categories. Some of us are seekers. You're

still searching for God. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong

with being a seeker. We all start that way. The

wise men were seekers. Wise men still seek Christ. It's

a sign of wisdom to seek God. It's okay to

be a seeker. Take the time to make the right decision.

But if you'll let God guide you, just as God

guided the wise men to Bethlehem, God guided you here tonight,

the saddleback, saying, all right, this is it. I'm offering

you the solution to the problems and the pain and

the frustration. Some of us are seekers, but at some

point we have to stop being seekers and we move

to the second category, saved. Some of us are saved.

You already have a relationship to Christ and you've accepted

him as your savior. It's not like you know about him,

you know him, you have a relationship with him, you're

confident that your past has been forgiven, You have a

purpose for living. You have a home in heaven. That's

the second here. Some of us are third category, which

I would call stumblers. And you know Jesus, but you've

lost your way. And you've lost your contact. Maybe COVID

caused you to lose your contact with the Lord. Maybe

years ago you felt close to God, but somehow he

just got crowded out of your life. This Christmas season,

come home to Christ. It's not hard. If you feel

far from God, guess who moved? God didn't move. You did.

And you're only a step away. Now, regardless of where

you are in your spiritual journey, I'm going to pray

a prayer right now. And I want to encourage you

to follow me in this Christmas prayer. And as I

pray it, you can just say, me too. Let's bow

our heads. Just pray this prayer. Dear God, in your mind,

just say this in your mind. Dear God, I realize

you've been trying to get my attention. And I've known

something was missing all my life. I just didn't know

it was you. I admit I've been focusing on my plan,

not yours. If you've been a seeker, say, Lord, I've

been a seeker, but Tonight, I'm stepping across the line

from secret to saved. If you've been a stumbler, I'm

coming back to you tonight. I want things to change.

Thank you for reminding me that you sent Jesus to

be my savior. This Christmas, I again accept your gift

of salvation. Amen. Jesus, I want to turn from my

own ways and start following you. I know that my

own ways often end in dead ends. I want to

learn to love you and trust you. And I'm asking

you to replace the confusion in my life with your clarity.

And replace the pain and problems and pressure in my

life with your peace. Replace my guilt with your forgiveness.

And replace my fear of death with your gift of

eternal life. I want to accept the Christmas gift of

Jesus tonight. I humbly ask this in your name. Amen.