This sermon emphasizes the importance of seeking God's will in every aspect of life, surrendering personal desires for His divine plan. It highlights the need to prioritize heavenly blessings over earthly desires, trusting God to provide what is truly needed. The speaker encourages seeking spiritual growth, purity, and wisdom in handling earthly matters, such as money and relationships, through prayer and reliance on the Holy Spirit for guidance.

Yesterday, we were thinking how God has chosen us before he created the universe. I believe that more certainly than the sun will rise tomorrow morning. That is why I have great security in my life. Because God chose me before the worlds were created. And he chose you. So, even though we are living now, God knew us before the worlds were created. And why did he choose us? You read here in Ephesians 1, it says here in Ephesians 1 verse 4, that he chose us before the worlds were created. And in verse 3, it says he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Now, every spiritual blessing means every blessing of the Holy Spirit. Now, in the old testament, he only blessed them with earthly blessings. But in the new testament, he has blessed us with spiritual blessings. And gives us the earthly things that we need. See, God knows that we need some earthly things to live on this earth. We need money to buy food, to pay rent for our house, to buy clothes, to educate our children. So, God knows that. Jesus said, your heavenly father knows what you need before you ask him. So, the difference between the old testament and the new testament is that, in the old testament, they were only occupied with earthly things and that was everything for them. But in the new testament, the heavenly things are everything. And the earthly things, what we need, is given to us. Not what we want. God doesn't give us what we want, just like we don't give our children everything they want. Only a foolish father will give his children whatever they ask for. If you give your children everything they ask for, you will spoil them. And if God gives us everything we ask for, we also get spoiled. Our little children do not know what is good for them. So, they may ask for 101 things. We may give them only 2 or 3 things. Because the other things we know are not good for them. And so, when we pray to God, we must remember that we are like those little children. When we pray to God, we must remember that we are like those little children. Romans 8, it says, we don't know how to pray, we don't know what to pray. Christians pray for all types of stupid things. I will give you one example. Few years ago, we had some public meetings in Trichy. And a whole lot of Pentecostal pastors got together to have a prayer meeting against our meetings. Do you think they knew how to pray? No, God saw that their prayer was foolish. And so, he didn't care for their prayer, he blessed the meetings. So, that's just one example. That we pray for a lot of foolish things. And God won't listen to it. He will answer it. But the answer is no. I always say, God will answer every prayer. If your conscience is clear, if you have said everything right to other people, God will answer every prayer of mine. I have found that God has always answered my prayer. But his answer is unlike these traffic lights. But his answer is unlike these traffic lights. How many lights are there? Three. Red, orange, green. So, God's answers to prayer are like that. Always one light will be burning. So, you ask for something. It may be green. Okay, you can have it. Sometimes it may be orange. Wait. And God tells you to wait. If you don't wait, you will have an accident. God tells you to wait. If you don't wait, you will have an accident. Sometimes God says, red, no. So, you must never say, God did not answer my prayer. He answered. Maybe it was a red light. Maybe orange light. Or a green light. So, don't say, God doesn't answer prayer. If my three-year-old son says, Dad, give me five hundred rupees. I say, no. Have I answered him? Of course, I answered him. The answer was no. When he is fifteen years old, he says, give me five hundred rupees. I say, wait. You wait three or four years, I will give you for your college studies or something. I don't say no, I will give it to you, but not now. God knows what is good for us, just like we know what is good for our children. So, when we seek the things of heaven first, God will give us everything that we need of earth at the right time. If he gives us too much money, we may be spoiled. Because we don't know how to handle it. Sometimes God has to give us little bit. God has to give us very little so that we learn how to struggle and be faithful with little. God knows exactly what is good for us. His promise in Philippians 4.19 If you don't know this promise, you must know it now. You must remember it by heart. God will supply all your needs according to his riches in the Lord Jesus Christ. God will supply all your needs according to his riches in the Lord Jesus Christ. In English it says need, not want. That means what is lacking. That's what it says there in Tamil. Something is missing in your life, God will give it. Not everything you want. What you need, God sees you need something, he will give that. But when it comes to heavenly things, spiritual things, there is no limit. See Ephesians 1.3, we saw that. Every spiritual blessing is mine in Christ Jesus. I told you there is a difference between Christ in me and me in Christ. Both are true. But Christ came into me maybe some years ago. But God put me in Christ before the foundation of the world. But God put me in Christ before the foundation of the world. He has given me all spiritual blessings in Christ. There is no need to ask God for it. According to Ephesians 1.3, you have already blessed me. You have already put me in my bank account. You have given me all these blank cheques signed by Jesus Christ. I just have to give it and take what I want. Every spiritual need I have in my life, according to this verse, God has already given it to me in Christ. I have to take it and say, Lord I want this in my life. For example, supposing I want to be pure in my eyes. That is not a material blessing, that is a spiritual blessing. So I ask God, Lord I want purity in my eyes all the time. I want to look at people the way Jesus looked at them. Supposing all of you men pray like this. From now on, I want to look at every woman the way Jesus would look at them. Exactly like that. How do you think Jesus looked at women? I don't think he looked at them as beautiful, not beautiful, black, white, yellow. He looked at every one of them as a sinner for whom I am going to die. The good women and the bad women. Whatever the color of their skin, whatever their features. A sinner for whom I am going to die to save them. So, very often I say, that is a sinner for whom Jesus died. That is a person whom Jesus wants to save from their sin. There was a missionary who came to India about 200 years ago. He worked among the Muslims. He was a young man. His name was Henry Martin. He said something. He said, as a young man, I am tempted with women. He said, this is what I do. Every time I see a woman I am tempted with, I pray for her. I pray that God will save her soul and forgive her sin. And bring her to Christ. And make her Christ like. And he says, after I pray like that, it is impossible to lust for her. That was real wisdom. If you don't believe me, you try it. Every time you are tempted with some woman, just pray that she will be born again. And give her life to Christ and become Christ like. And that she will be a pure Christ like woman. I guarantee, it will be impossible for you to lust after her after you pray like that. It will be impossible for you to lust after her after you pray like that. God gives us power. And you keep on like that, then God will see that you really want your mind to be pure. The same thing with money. See, don't think only rich people love money. Don't think only pastors love money. Everybody in the world loves money. Have you ever seen a beggar who doesn't love money? We have got many beggars in India. I have never seen any beggar who doesn't love money. And I have never seen any rich man in India who doesn't love money. All of us love money because we are children of Adam. And the proof of it is this, that when we get money, we become happy. And when we lose some money, we become sad. That proves that we love money. Now the Bible says, love of money can lead us to all types of evil. So we must also pray in relation to money like this. Lord Jesus, I want to look at money the way you looked at it. You know, that's the meaning of being in Christ. Give me an example. If this is me, and this is Christ. To be in Christ means I am in Christ. Now, I have to look at everything just like Jesus looks at it. Before I was in Christ, I was looking at it with my own eyes. Now I am in Christ. Now I am going to look at everything the way Jesus looks at it. I want to look at women the way Jesus looks at women. I want to look at money the way Jesus looks at money. Jesus used money. So we can use it. He saved money. Judas Iscariot was keeping the bank. That was like a saving. He didn't get some money and spend it the same day. Then there was no need for a bank. Judas kept the bank because Jesus was saving the money for maybe tomorrow or next week. So that teaches us there is nothing wrong in saving money. It's better to put it in a bank than to give it to somebody like Judas Iscariot. So that is why we put it in a bank. There is nothing wrong in saving. There is nothing wrong in saving money to build a house. Or you may want to buy a scooter or a car or something. Or something for your house. There is nothing wrong in it. It's better to save money and buy something than to keep on borrowing and get into debt. It's better to save money and buy something than to keep on borrowing and get into debt. I don't believe that Jesus ever borrowed money and got into debt. I want to look at money the way Jesus looked at money. Many believers borrow money and get into many problems. Many many problems. Don't borrow money unless it's an emergency. You know if there is a sudden emergency that you didn't anticipate, you may have to borrow. Try your best not to borrow. I'm nearly 70 years old. I've never borrowed one rupee in my life till today. And that's not because I'm a very rich man. Today God has blessed me, but when we were married, my wife and I were very poor. I didn't even have money to buy a shirt. But I never borrowed. I said I will wear my old shirts, but I will not borrow money. For 2-3 years we struggled like that. That was good for us. I said Lord I want to be like Jesus. What did Jesus do in that situation? Now when I look back, I see that God was testing me to see what I would do. So God may take you through some difficult financial circumstances to see what you will do. It says about in John chapter 6. When Jesus saw a great multitude of people following him, they were not having any food. John 6 verse 5. He called Philip. He said Philip come here. Where shall we buy bread to feed all these people? Why do you think Jesus was asking that question? Do you think he was trying to get Philip's advice? See the next verse. Jesus already knew what he was going to do, but he was saying this to test Philip. Jesus already knew what he was going to do, but he was saying this to test Philip. We read in the next verse. Sometimes Jesus asks a question to test a person. When you are in this particular situation, what are you going to do? Let me test you. God brings you through some difficult situations. Here is Zach Ponnen. His shirts are all very old. Let me see what he will do now. Please remember this is 40 years ago. I have got plenty of shirts now. Don't give me any shirts. I have got plenty. I am talking about what happened 40 years ago. God says he doesn't have a shirt. What will he do now? Will he borrow? Or will he just stitch all the holes and live with the old shirt? It's a test. Like that God will test you in some situation. Will you be satisfied with what you have? You know there is a lovely verse in Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13 it says. Verse 5. Be content with what you have. That is a very good verse. This is a verse that tells us how to be free from the love of money. Many people ask me this question. I say there is only one verse I can show you in the Bible that tells you how you can be free. And that is written in scripture. Be free from the love of money by how? By being content with what you have. So that is the way. Don't always desire for something you don't have. Somebody else has got it. You want it. No, then you love money. Even if you have money to buy it. Don't buy something just because you see somebody else has it. If you don't have enough money to buy it, don't buy it. That is a principle my wife and I followed for 41 years of our married life. When God wants me to have something else, He will give me the money for it. If He doesn't give me the money for it, then I know the will of God. He doesn't want me to have that. When He wants me to have it, He will give me the money. If He wants me to have it, He will give me the money. Because I followed this principle, my life has been very peaceful. I never have to think, how will I return this money I borrowed. I never have to do it. I am not covetous of what somebody else has. I want to encourage you to be like that. Let us covet the spiritual blessings God has given us in heavenly places. So in those days when my wife and I had very little, this is 1969, and we used to live very simply in a small room. Do you know what we used to pray? We used to pray for baptism in the Holy Spirit. That is what we prayed. Not for earthly things. I never prayed for a new shirt. My wife never prayed for a saree. We prayed for baptism in the Holy Spirit. We prayed that we might have power to serve God. God saw our heart. And I tell you, He gave us more than we could think. When He saw that we were more interested in the spiritual things, He not only gave us the spiritual things, He gave us some extra earthly things also. So remember that many times, just like Jesus was testing Philip, He will test you. And do you know what He is testing? What is my child seeking for first of all? Is he seeking for physical healing or freedom from sins? Is he seeking for spiritual wealth or earthly wealth? Is he looking for a job on the earth or looking for a ministry in my body? God is always testing you. And I tell you one thing, if you seek the heavenly first, if you seek the heavenly first, everything that you need on earth will be given to you. I have experienced that for 40 years. So I can tell you from my experience. I cannot think that in the last 40 years, I sought after earthly things. Not for myself or my wife. Yeah, sometimes I would seek that for my children. I would pray that they would pass in some examinations. I would pray that they would get admission in some colleges. Because they were not spiritual. They were small children and they needed some encouragement. So I would pray for earthly things for them. Because they cannot handle failure. I can handle failure, but little children cannot handle it. So I used to pray for earthly things for my children. But I never prayed it for myself. My wife and I never prayed for ourselves. We only prayed for earthly things for ourselves. And God blessed us abundantly. What I want to say to you is, it's alright if you pray for earthly things for your children. It is good. Because we have a responsibility to feed them, clothe them, educate them, etc. And we pray that one day they will become spiritual also. But for ourselves, Jesus says, don't lay up treasures for yourself. We must not seek anything for ourselves. But heavenly blessings, say to the Lord, never said it before, say it today. Lord, I tell you, I will never ask you for earthly things. I will ask you for heavenly blessings. All the other things will be added to it. You don't even have to ask for healing. Ask God for health. You know health is better than healing? Which is better? Never to get sick or to get sick and get healed? It's better not to get sick. So that's a good prayer to pray. Why should we pray for health? That's a good thing to ask ourselves. I'll tell you honestly. I prayed for health for myself many times. I pray for myself. I say, Lord, I'd like to live up to the age of 90 at least. What for? Not to see the world. I'm not interested in seeing the world. But Lord, if I can serve you, if I can serve God's people, give me health. I pray for myself. There's nothing wrong in that. Because I learned from the Lord's prayer. The Lord taught us to pray like this. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy will be done. And now he says, give us this day our daily bread. That is a prayer for earthly blessing. Is that a correct prayer? Of course. Jesus taught us to pray. It's right to ask for earthly blessing. But that must not be number one. It is not our Father who art in heaven, give us this day our daily bread. No, that is number four. That's all. If you put it number four, it is okay. But if you put it first, it's wrong. Hallowed be thy name. And then we need to ask ourselves another thing God showed me from here. Why do you want your daily bread? And by daily bread, I mean all earthly necessities. Food, clothing, housing, children's education, because they have to earn their daily bread one day. I don't want my children to grow up to be beggars. They must also get their daily bread, so I must teach them to earn and get a job. According to their intelligence and according to my financial ability, I must educate them. That is different for different people. Simon Peter, my train is a child to be a fisherman. Another lecturer, my train is a child to be an engineer. It's different for different people. So that is up to each person. So even education is included there so that our children can earn their daily bread. In it all, we have to ask ourselves why? Why do I want these earthly things like bread and clothing and all that? Or health. Health is also included in this verse. Give us this daily bread means give me health. That you must link up with the previous request. What is the previous request? Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. On earth means in my life. So now listen to this prayer. Our Father who art in heaven Number one, I want your name to be glorified on this earth. That is my number one request. Even if you don't grant anything else. Let the name of Jesus be glorified in Tamil Nadu, in India. Secondly, Lord I want your kingdom to come to this earth soon. Let your kingdom come and be established on this earth. There is so much wickedness on this earth. So many poor children, poor women are being exploited by evil men. So many of our poor brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka are suffering because of war. Please let your kingdom come. Many things when I read in the newspapers I always say Lord let your kingdom come soon. Automatically I pray Lord let your kingdom come. I see so many poor beggars and lepers on the street. I say Lord let your kingdom come. Then, Lord I want your will to be done in my life exactly like it is done in heaven. We are talking about a heavenly life on this earth. This is a heavenly life. God's will to be done in my life exactly like it is done in heaven. In order to do your will on earth give me health. I want your will to be done in my life exactly like it is done in heaven. Now God wants me to come here and preach in Thanjavur. He can't allow me to be paralyzed lying there in Bangalore. How can I do that when I come here? He can't allow me to be sick with fever or diarrhea or something somewhere. No, I have to pray for health. I'm not praying for health to make more money. I'm praying to do your will on earth as it is done in heaven. Give me health. I remember once somebody took me to a house to pray for one non-Christian. Who was sick. I'm happy to go because Jesus prayed for so many non-Christians. So I went there and I said no, we want to pray that this person will be healed. But you know when we pray to God it's good to give him a reason. No, we want him to be healed for a reason. So I said how shall we pray for you? Shall we tell God why you should be healthy? Shall I say Lord, he's not strong enough to go and stand in the cinema queue to buy the tickets. So please give him health so that he can stand there next week and buy the tickets and all for the cinema. Or shall I say Lord, he's so weak now he can't even shout at his wife. Just give him some health so he can get up and shout at his wife from tomorrow. Why does he want this health? Lord, he used to fight with his neighbor now few days he can't fight with his neighbor. Please give him health so he can get up and start fighting with his neighbor. I said it like that so that he realizes why God gives us health. So that he realizes God does not give him health to commit sin. And I want to say that to you. When you pray to God for healing and the Lord says why do you want me to give you health? To go and commit sin? No, that's not why we should ask God. Then go to the doctor. But when you pray to God to heal you Lord, I want to do your will in my life like it is done in heaven. And so give me this day my daily bread give me health give me strength so that I can do your will on earth. See, we have some very highly educated believers in our Bangalore church but I asked them a question once I said you people have got such a clever brain to get such a good job in some college or university or something God gave it to you. Have you ever thought of using that mind to study the scriptures so that you can serve God's people? I said some of you have got such a good mind to do business and make money Have you ever thought of using that mind to study God's word to study the needs of God's people so that you can serve them? I remember the years when I was working in the Navy I remember the years when I was working in the Navy God had given me a good mind to think clearly that is not something I produced God gave it to me when I was born I cannot take any credit for it God gave it to me but then I said why did God give this to me just to make a lot of money in the world with my cleverness I can use it to make money to support my family but I must also use this mind to study the scriptures so that I can live the way God wants me to live and help other people Have you ever thought about that? Some of you sitting here have got very clever minds God has blessed you I remember the early days when I used to come to Tamil Nadu I used to go to Tuticorin first Nobody had a car Nobody even had a scooter The rich people had a cycle The rest of the people went by bus Nowadays everyone has a car and a lot of other things There is nothing wrong in that What I am saying is those who have a good mind and those who make money with that Praise be to God Do you know what I am saying now? Use the same mind and wisdom to study the scriptures so that you can bless the people so that you can work You can build a house You can use a car Everything is ok But please use your mind also to study the word of God and bless other people You should not always depend on somebody else coming and sharing You don't have to depend on me coming every time I am absolutely convinced that many of you have got as good a mind as mine or a better mind than mine My question is what are you doing with that mind? My question is what are you doing with that kind of mind? I used to work in the Navy In my spare time I used to spend hours and hours studying the Bible I didn't study the Bible there to come here and preach in Thanjavur I never did that for you I studied the Bible because I wanted to know what God's will was for my life And I studied it for 7 years See, I learned something from the example of Jesus Jesus has been the great example for me throughout my life We know that generally speaking children can begin to read and understand from about the age of 5 They can read and hear and understand So, Jesus came to earth as a baby just like us without knowing anything So, I am assuming that by the time He came to the age of 5 He could hear and understand things that were spoken about the Bible So, from the age of 5 to the age of 12 or 7 years and we read in Luke 2 that by the time He was 12 He knew the Bible so thoroughly He could discuss it with all the great scholars So, I learned something It is possible to know the Bible in 7 years You are very careful to use your mind to study God's will Jesus wasn't doing only that He had to go to school like other children I am sure He also played games with the other children I don't believe He was fasting and praying when the other children were playing He played with them That is perfectly normal for children But, along with His going to school and along with His playing with the other children He paid such attention that in 7 years He came to know the scriptures So, I said, Lord I believe I can learn the scriptures in 7 years I did learn the scriptures in 7 years I want to tell you those of you who are working or even mothers or anything All of us have sometimes a little spare time Meditate on the scriptures Think about it Don't just be satisfied you read the Bible 15 minutes in the morning You don't even need a Bible Jesus didn't have a Bible But He meditated on the scriptures that He heard And you can meditate on the scriptures that you hear Now we have so many things, we have CDs and books and so many things which Jesus never had in His time What I am saying is if you concentrate you can understand the scriptures in a few years And then you will know God's will How you should live that in your life God's will teaches us what heaven is like You can't live a heavenly life on earth without knowing what God's will is Heaven is heaven because every single thing there they do God's will So if you want your life to be heavenly the simple secret is you do God's will in every area Or if you want God's will to be done in your home In everything you say I want to do God's will then your home will be a heavenly home And God gives us the Holy Spirit to show us whether something is His will or not In many things we can know God's will even without the Holy Spirit Even if you don't have the Holy Spirit You read the Bible It says here when you come to pray and your brother has got something against you and you stop praying Go to your brother Please ask forgiveness for hurting him Maybe your wife Or your servant Say I'm sorry for speaking like that And then come back and then pray You don't need to ask God You don't need the Holy Spirit It's all written here You don't need to ask God how to do this You don't need to ask the Holy Spirit It's all written in the Bible If you are fed up with your wife Shall I divorce her? You don't have to ask God It's written here that if you divorce your wife you are committing a sin Shall you tell a lie? It's written here Your yes must be yes Your no must be no Your yes must be yes Your no must be no It's written in the Bible I remember once I had to do a business with someone I gave him my word But I didn't sign the contract I just said the word The day I signed But by the time the time came for signing the value of this had gone up So I could have told him See we didn't sign this Now the value is so much so I can't go by what I told you three days ago So we have to go by this thing now I didn't say that I said my word is as good as a signed statement It's ok If I lose 10,000 rupees I lose 10,000 rupees But my yes is as good as a signed document in a court My yes is as good as a signed document in a court Because I am a Christian I will tell you this No matter how much I lose there God will bless me more He is testing me Are you behaving like a Christian or are you behaving like those people in the world Your yes is yes Your no is no See these things we don't need the Holy Spirit It's all written here But there are many other things which are not written here For example you may think shall I marry this person or that person Both are believers Shall I take this job or that job Both look like good jobs Both places there is a church I can have fellowship There are many decisions like this Now I have money shall I buy this house or that house There are so many decisions in life where we don't know It's not written We have to take many decisions For that we need the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit will show us what is the will of God in heaven We can do that will on this earth Just like worldly people go to some clever man for advice Shall I do this or that How blessed we are We can go to God himself What do you think Do you think I should do this or that It's so good that we can go to almighty God and ask his opinion Does God speak to us Of course There is a difference In the old testament God was outside man I told you the Holy Spirit could not come inside He was outside So he spoke from the outside Abraham Get up and do this Go and take your son tomorrow morning Or David Do this Like that God would speak from the outside because he was outside In the day of Pentecost The Holy Spirit came inside So now how does he speak From inside From inside he will tell us How to find out whether this is the voice of the Holy Spirit or my own voice How to find out whether this is the voice of the Holy Spirit or my own voice I will tell you First of all You must say Lord I am willing to do anything This thing or that thing Whatever you say I am happy I have no personal choice I want your will And then God will guide me Now if I don't give up my will Then I will read verses in scripture and I will apply it to do my own will For example Supposing a young boy is in love with one girl called Chris And he is very much in love with her And to show that he is spiritual he says Lord please show me your will And he turns to 2 Corinthians 12 And he reads there verse 9 My grace is enough for you I found God's will God has said this is his grace and that is for me You see how easy it is to deceive yourself He knows there is a verse like that so he will turn there and look for it It is very easy to deceive yourself like that I have seen people like that They go to some other verse and they say that is for me The way to know it is first of all give up your own will And then Romans 8 verse 6 It says the mind of the Holy Spirit is peace If it is God's will you will have peace in your mind in your heart When you pray about it you will have peace If it is not God's will you will have a disturbance So I always tell people when you are considering somebody for marriage find out talk to the person find out all the information whether born again etc What is the person's age what is the person's interest and then pray for a few weeks and see if you are getting peace in your heart or disturbance in your heart But first of all give up your will Say Lord I only want your will If it is not your will I don't want it You will definitely find the Holy Spirit guides you Looking for a job or a house Say Lord I only want your will I want your will I want a heavenly life on earth Your will in heaven must be done in my life Look for that peace After giving up your will look for the peace God will lead you He will guide you No, if you live like this in everything your life can be a heavenly life on this earth God can make you live the way he wants you to live Isn't that the best way to live? Let's pray While our heads are bowed in prayer While our heads are bowed in prayer Would you say like this? Lord, in every part of my life I only want your will Lord, your will is the best for me There is nothing better than your will I want your will in every area of my life All the confusion in my life has come because I have done my own will in so many situations But from now on Please show me your will Give me health only to do your will I don't want health to enjoy myself I want health to do your will I will enjoy myself after I go to heaven Now I want to do your will Your life will change completely If you have never said it before say it today Lord, in my home I want to do your will Even the way I spend my money Help me to look at women and money the way Jesus looked at them I want total purity in my life Help me Lord Baptize me in the Holy Spirit and fire God will hear and answer your prayer Trust Him Thank you Father Thank you that you hear the cry of the needy You will pour water upon the dry ground Thank you In Jesus name Amen