Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.
[Music]
you only have one source
you’ve got a lot of resources a lot of
mechanisms that god can use
to bring his provision to you but you
only have one source don’t
ever let a resource become a source
because it can’t be when god is your
only source
he is the one you look to for your
provision
always look to him and then give thanks
because you know somebody who’s
able to meet you at every level
of need and that is your great god
who cares about you remember
when you seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness
because he already knows what you need
he can cover you
at every point of your life
[Music]
we have all been to and participated in
the celebrative moments of a touchdown
scored by our home
team or when you’re watching the super
bowl
and the game is over you see the
spontaneous rise of joy
in the winner’s circle as they hoist
the lombardi trophy or if you’re
watching a baseball game and it’s the
bottom of the ninth inning
and they need one run and the batter
hits it over the fence
for the winning run and the celebration
that breaks out
because of what just happened it’s
spontaneous
you can’t help it because
something happened that turned things
around
at the last moment or if your game is
basketball
we know what it is to see a player
sink the shot as the buzzer goes off
and the emotion that wells up in the
hometown
crowd or on the team
to see what just happened in other words
in moments like that you don’t have to
beg for praise
and moments like that you don’t have to
shove people into a celebration
the nature of the moment demands it
and you can’t help it well the bible has
something like that
we call it in theology a doxology
taken from two greek words one
is doxey which means praise
and then logos which means a word
or an expression so a doxology
is an expression of praise
there are many doxologies in the bible
but there are many spontaneous
eruptions of the recognition and
celebration of god for who he is
and for what he has done it is
blowing a lid off of the top
it is a volcanic eruption
of the soul it’s not emotionalism
emotionalism is when you get excited and
nothing happened
but it is legitimate emotion
where you are responding to something or
someone for who they are
what you just saw them do
it is jesus’s understanding when he
concludes the lord’s prayer
that if you really understood what he
said eruption
in your soul there will be a doxological
response
when you understand what kind of name he
has
and that it ought to be hollowed when
you understand what kind of kingdom
he oversees and it ought to be submitted
to
when you understand the perfection of
his will
to carry out his purposes when you
understand that nothing you have
or will ever have could come to you if
he wasn’t the source
of it getting to you and so you praise
him for your daily bread
if you really understood what it means
to be
a forgiving person and to be a forgiver
and letting somebody else off the hook
like you want god to let you off the
hook
and if you really understood how bad
satan was out to get you
so that god would have to lead you from
being overrun
by him or deliver you out of evil he’s
already trapped you in
it’s jesus’s understanding
that if you understood all that he’s
already said
in the lord’s prayer that there ought to
be a doxological response
there ought to be something welling up
in your soul
of praise jesus closes the lord’s prayer
with the famous doxology one of the
great doxologies of scripture
he says for thine is the kingdom
the power and the glory forever
amen he starts off with the word
for in other words in light of
everything
i just taught you to pray you ought to
be excited now
in light of everything that you’ve
learned about the lord’s prayer
you ought to be motivated now to give
him
what he deserves he says for
thine is the kingdom
it’s about you it’s all about you
it’s about your name your kingdom your
will
your provision your forgiveness your
protection
when you finish the lord’s prayer it’s
all about
you for thine is the kingdom
now i’m a beneficiary but it’s all about
you
so let’s start there don’t start your
prayer making it about you
make it about him because then it can
boomerang back to you
but if you make it about you and you
forget him
then you flip you flip places in the
prayer
and you made the prayer about who you
are and not who he is for thy
he first of all says i’m going to
praise him for his kingdom for thine
is the kingdom now this is the second
time we’ve seen the word kingdom and
in the prayer thy kingdom come
we’ve explained that the kingdom is the
rule of god
is the comprehensive rule of god first
corinthians 10 26
says both heaven and earth belong to god
so everything was created for
the rule of god for thine is the kingdom
for
thine is the kingdom you are
the ruler you are in charge but the
problem is
we have too many of god’s people who
switch kingdoms
they wear a uniform of god’s kingdom
while they serve another kingdom and so
as a result
they are living in a kingdom in conflict
so let me help you if you don’t
recognize god as your
king not only in what you say but how
you function
then you have jeopardized the rest of
the lord’s prayer
for the lord’s prayer only works if it’s
his kingdom that is your concern but if
you’re concerned about your rule
your management your status your
position
not under the king but you just want the
king
to do what you want for you then you’ve
jeopardized
all the rest of the prayer why for thine
is the kingdom
let me tell you why you and i all of us
must be willing to voluntarily submit
ourselves
to the rule of god over every area of
our lives
as we pursue our relationship with him
as father
it is because if he is allowed to rule
then he will control the outcome
remember thy kingdom come why so that
your will is done
so the outcome ties to his rule
if you lose or leave his rule
you’ve jeopardized the outcome since
everything belongs to god’s
kingdom he can use anything that is
created
for his kingly purposes the biggest
thing you can say as part of your
doxology is god when i get out of my bed
this morning you rule me
when i get out of my bed this morning
you’re my authority
i submit to your control i pursue a
relationship with you
but your will will trump my will your
desire
will trump my desire your goal will
trump
my goal my way will go your way
and when you do that then god feels free
to waggle you
but if he knows that you’re not going to
do his thing
that he’s not going to call a waggle
because he knows
he can’t trust you to keep his kingdom
going then he says
he says thy power
he says thine is the kingdom thine
is the power a lot of christians give
god position but no power
oh they’ll worship him they’ll wave
their hand in the air like they just
don’t care
they’ll jump a pew they’ll shout
hallelujah
but there’s no power you don’t see god
doing anything in their lives
you don’t see god changing anything
turning anything
because they hold him in a high position
while removing the clout from him
see the only way you get to see the
power if he knows you’re subjected to
the kingdom
why don’t we see more of his power
because we’re not submitted
to his kingdom his kingdom is tied to
his power
that’s why the bible says in ephesians 3
verse 20
now to him who can do exceedingly
abundantly above all you ask or think
but then he says
according to the power that works in you
so if you’re not submitted to his
kingdom you don’t have access to his
power
and if you don’t have access to his
power you won’t see him working in your
life
even though you hold him in high
position it’s easy to go around say god
is first in my life
that’s nice talk great speech
but there’s no power in that unless it’s
real submission
real relationship he says thine
is the power psalm 89 11
says heaven and earth belongs to god
he’s king
he’s in charge first chronicles 16 9
god shares his power with those who are
completely his let me say that again
god shares his power with those who are
completely his
so what god is saying today is that he
is the power daniel 11 32 says the
people
who know their god shall be strong
and do exploits the people who know god
will see god do stuff
change stuff flip stuff help stuff
reverse stuff heal stuff provide stuff
the people who know their god not just
the people
who go to church
the issue in your life my life and in
our corporate life
is are we pursuing god
for thine it’s about him is the kingdom
thine is the power oh and then it comes
to this one
thine is the glory ah
the word glory means to put something
on display
to highlight it or advertise it
okay glory means to show something off
thine is the glory
i hate to tell you what i’m getting
ready i just hate it because i just know
that so many will not like it
god’s not here for you this
i just thought i’d tell you that
god’s not here for you psalm 115
verse 1 says not to us but to your name
give glory
[Music]
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the kingdom
anytime anywhere
okay let me explain gloria
men have ascribed glory glory we
attribute to people
because of who they are or what they
have achieved
so you go to a courtroom a man or woman
comes out in a robe and you say what
your honor you’re ascribing glory to
them
because of their position as a judge or
a policeman pulls you over
and you say yes officer
why because that blue uniform represents
a position and authority
under the law so you ascribe glory to
them
okay now you take the robe off the man
or woman
you put them in regular street clothes
and
they’re just another man or woman it’s
that attire
that causes you to ascribe glory to them
just based on how they look that’s
called
ascribed glory judges get locked up
police get fired because if they don’t
do what the job says
they jeopardize what they were ascribed
okay
so that’s ascribed glory we attribute it
to a person
based on what they’ve accomplished and
it’s temporary
god has intrinsic glory
okay let me explain what what is to
water
what hot is to fire
what blue is to sky is intrinsic glory
in other words
you can’t separate it god’s glory is so
intrinsic
that if nobody glorifies him he can
glorify himself
and be fine because his glory
is intrinsic to his being
now because he created us the bible says
for his glory the scripture says
we were created for his glory
in isaiah 43 verse 7 you were created
for his glory then you need to know
you are going to glorify him now
one way or another everybody
is going to glorify god now you can
glorify him in one of two ways
you can glorify him voluntarily
or mandatorily because
everybody is going to glorify
at the name of jesus every knee will bow
every tongue will confess that jesus is
lord
to the glory of the father
you and i just have the opportunity to
do it voluntarily
in hell folk are doing it mandatorily
but everybody is going to give glory to
god
now you have to understand something god
says i will share my glory
with no man okay i will share
my glory with no man my glory
cannot be tampered with i’m not going to
share it
not if it’s my glory isaiah 50 48 11.
i will share my glory with no man so
here’s what you got to do here’s what i
have to do
okay you must be
to god what the moon is to the sun
the moon reflects the light
of the sun on the earth so light hits it
but the moon can’t keep it the moon got
to pass it on the planet earth
because it has no life of its own
so if you give me glory
and i own it and don’t reflect it
i’m sharing glory that belongs to
somebody else
your job and my job when we’re hit with
glory
is to reflect it back to the source of
glory
the bible declares to ascribe psalm 29
verse 1 and 2
to the lord the glory to his name in
other words
the bigger you see him the more praise
you’ll give to him
the smaller you make him the less praise
you’re going to give him
you know why more of us don’t praise god
because he’s too small
i’m not going to praise god we give more
praise to lebron
james than we give to god
why because god has gotten so small
that’s why the lord’s prayer is designed
for you to magnify god there are two
ways to make something bigger
you magnify it or you get closer to it
and when you do those two things it gets
bigger and bigger
and bigger and bigger and bigger and the
bigger he gets the more praise you’re
going to give
the folk who really praise god has seen
how big he is
and understand every good and perfect
gift comes from above
and then he says one other thing here
thine is the kingdom
thine is the power thine is the glory
okay watch this
forever forever
no end in sight so let me let me help
you understand
what’s going to happen when you die
since it’s forever kingdom power and
glory
forever when you go to heaven if you’ve
accepted jesus christ when you go to
heaven
there will be no night night is canceled
no night time there will be no sleep
because you will have a glorified body
but when we get to glory god is going to
remove
all the interruptions and he’s going to
show us
infinitude infinitude means
that which is without end because god is
inexhaustible he’s infinite therefore
there is no conclusion to him
that’s why it will take forever to learn
him it will take forever
because he goes on forever i understand
that you can’t grasp what i just said
you need a glorified body to grasp it
but 100 quadzillion years from now
you will be learning new things about
god’s kingdom
god’s power and god’s glory because he
says
it goes on forever
so guess what you’re supposed to be
doing now practicing
practicing praising his kingdom
practicing
praising his power practicing praising
his glory
giving him the worth the doxology
the praise when george bush came here
and uh when we dedicated a building
across the street he was
president of the united states and we sh
we shifted
everything to facilitate his
presence because of his position because
of his
power and because of his status now if i
can do
something for somebody who’s here today
and gone tomorrow
who doesn’t give me food to eat he
doesn’t give me a place to live
he doesn’t give me air for my lungs he
doesn’t answer my
if i can do that for a man what should i
do
for the king of kings the lord of lords
what should i do but give him the glory
do his name
[Applause]
so watch this now i want to close here
[Applause]
you would think that’s the end of the
prayer but it’s not
the prayer ends with the word amen
the word amen means so be it
the word amen means i got it
the word amen means
that’s what i’m talking about the word
amen means
it will be done amen means
my affirmation on what was just said
so don’t say amen unless you go hollow
his name
don’t say amen unless you’re going to
submit to his kingdom
and do his will don’t say amen unless
you’re going to look at him as your
provider
don’t say amen if you’re not willing to
forgive so you can be forgiven
don’t say amen if you’re going to not
let him
control what the devil does in your life
don’t say amen just say i’m finished
because once you say amen you say i
agree
yes i’m with you bank on me i’m all in
god is looking for some amen saints he’s
looking for some saints
who will give god the praise to his name
that when they wake up tomorrow god i’m
going to bless you
because you got me out of bed the bible
says from the rising of the sun
tell the going down of the same let the
name of the lord
be praised when a football player makes
a great play
they walk around and they do that they
do that what they’re telling the crowd
is
join me in praising join me because of
what you saw
i just did what this means is give it up
god is looking for some folk who give it
up who’ll give up some worship
give up some praise and you can’t praise
in silence
you can worship in silence but you can’t
praise in silence
let the redeemed of the lord say so let
the redeemed of the lord declare
he’s worthy to be praised when i’m
healthy
i’m going to praise him when i’m sick
i’m going to praise him
when i’m needy i’m going to praise him
when my belly’s full
i’m gonna praise him i’m gonna praise
him when i get up i’m gonna praise him
when i lay down
my whole day will be praising the god
of the lord’s prayer somebody in here
ought to give it up
and give him the glory do his name
give him the praise that he is worthy
let me just give you a minute
just take a minute and bless his name
just take a minute and say
i’m going to bless your name i’m going
to glorify your name
i’m going to exalt your name take a
minute and let him know
he’s worthy of your praise he’s worthy
of your adoration
he’s worthy to receive glory no matter
what you’re going through he’s still
worried
[Music]
the goal of prayer is the exaltation
of our god it is the recognition
that he is your source for all of life
and it’s one thing to think he is and to
feel he is
and the wanting to be it’s a whole
nother ballgame to express that he is
prayer allows you to express to god
how you feel about him what you think
about him how much you
need him what you want from him
and to give him the praise do him
when communicating with him
in a relationship not merely as a ritual
becomes your dominant point of
communication in life
you will experience him because you will
have satisfied
the relationship he wants to have with
you
and that is to walk with you through
life as your partner
as your god and as your sovereign king
prayer gives you access to that kind
of relationship
[Applause]
[Music]
so
you