Plans, Purposes, & Pursuits | Week 1

Day 1

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…’” - Matthew 6:9

Have you ever laid in bed at night replaying your life and quietly wondered, “How did I get here?” And beneath that question, something even heavier, “Did I mess up God’s plan for my life?”

That question doesn’t just reveal our confusion, it reveals our theology.

Because before Jesus ever talks about direction, purpose, or decisions, He starts with identity: “Our Father.”

That’s not accidental. That’s foundational.

Most people want clarity about God’s will, but Jesus knows something we often miss: we cannot trust God’s will if we don’t trust God’s heart.

And many people don’t.

Some have been taught, directly or indirectly, that God is harsh. That He’s watching closely, waiting for us to step out of line. That His will is fragile, like a narrow path where one wrong move ruins everything.

Others see God as distant, like He set everything in motion and stepped back, leaving us to figure life out on our own.

Some quietly believe He’s disappointed… maybe even frustrated with how their life has turned out.

So when life feels off track, the assumption is immediate:
“I must have missed it.”
“God must not be pleased.”
“Now I just have to live with it.”

But Jesus interrupts all of that with two simple words: Our Father.

That means God’s will is not something we stumble into or fall out of, it’s something we walk in with a Father who is personally involved in our life.

A good father doesn’t set traps for his children.
A good father doesn’t hide direction just to watch them struggle.
A good father doesn’t abandon them when they make mistakes.

He leads. He teaches. He corrects. He stays.

The sermon puts it plainly: we cannot know God’s will until we know God as a good Father.

And that’s where we can get stuck.

Because life has a way of distorting our view of God.

Maybe we prayed for something and it didn’t happen.
Maybe we made a decision that led to regret.
Maybe we’re in a season that looks nothing like what we expected.

And slowly, subtly, our view of God begins to shift.

Instead of Father, He starts to feel like judge.
Instead of present, He feels distant.
Instead of good, He feels uncertain.

But here’s what we have to anchor ourselves to: God’s character is not defined by our circumstances.

Jesus didn’t say, “Pray based on how your life is going.”
He said, “Pray based on who God is.”

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

“Hallowed” means holy, set apart, worthy of trust and reverence. In other words, Jesus is teaching us to begin with this posture: God, You are good, even when I don’t understand.

That’s not denial. That’s faith.

And that kind of faith changes how we interpret our lives.

Instead of saying, “Everything is falling apart,”
we begin to say, “My Father is still at work.”

Instead of saying, “I must have missed God’s will,”
we begin to say, “God is still leading me, even here.”

Because here’s the truth we need to settle deep in our soul:

God is not trying to make our lives confusing, He’s trying to form our lives through relationship.

And relationship requires trust.

Think about it this way: if we believed with absolute certainty that God is a good Father, completely for us, fully aware of us, actively leading us, how would that change the way we approach your decisions?

We wouldn’t live in constant fear of getting it wrong.
We wouldn’t be paralyzed by every choice.
We wouldn’t assume that one mistake disqualifies us.

We would move forward with confidence, not in ourselves, but in Him.

The sermon uses a powerful illustration: many people think God’s will is like driving to a precise location with exact directions, one wrong turn and it’s over.

But that’s not how a Father leads.

A father walks with his child. Even if they take a wrong turn, he redirects. Even if they stumble, he helps them up. The relationship doesn’t end because of a mistake, it deepens through it.

And this is where hope begins to rise.

Because it means our story is not over.
It means our current situation is not disqualifying.
It means God is not done with us.

In fact, He may be more present than we realize.

So before we try to figure out our next step…
before we analyze our past decisions…
before we stress over our future…

Start here: Do I believe God is a good Father?

Not just intellectually, but personally.

Because everything about finding God’s will flows from that answer.

And if we can begin to trust His heart, we’ll start to recognize His hand.

Not just in the big moments, but in the everyday, ordinary places of our lives.

Right where we are.