This post is based on a message from Pastor Todd Cosenza, given at Hope Church on June 25, 2023. Click the link at the bottom of the page to watch the entire message.
God is a God of order.
The order of creation in Genesis 2 demonstrates that God is a God of order. Every day of creation needed the thing that was created the day before. Mankind (created on day 6) needed the plant and animal life (created on days 3 and 6). The plants and animals needed the separation of dry ground and water (day 2), as well as a balance of light and darkness (day 1). In 1 Corinthians we see that God is a builder — first He lays the foundation, and then He builds the structure. God designed and understands the process of gardening as well — first comes the seed, then the stalk, then the flower, and finally the fruit.
There is an order to what God is doing in your life.
God isn’t just indiscriminately blessing you. He usually starts from the ground up. We need to be submitted to the order of God. Sometimes God says yes to our prayers but no to our order. The more in sync with God we are, the more the order lines up. God said His ways are not our ways. His order is not our order.
“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the congregation of the Lord’s people.” 1 Corinthians 14:33
Paul is teaching the church how there can be order along with freedom. Chaos is not the same as freedom. In the Holy Spirit, order and freedom coexist and not only that, God’s order releases freedom among us.
God’s order creates peace.
Peace is a good feeling, and we all love that peaceful feeling. But the biblical word for peace doesn’t mean a peaceful, easy feeling. Peace (the word used in Scripture) means taking individual pieces and bringing them together in such a way that all the parts are working together like a finely tuned watch. Every church needs that kind of peace.
Even in our individual lives, there is an order to what God is doing. Often the order we want things in isn’t the same order God has in mind. We have to submit to His order. God is after our wholeness and He knows what He’s doing.
You might have all the right parts, but if you don’t put them in the right order you just create a mess. For example, assembling a car requires putting all the elements together in the right order. You can’t just attach a tire to the windshield and then add a mirror and think you’re going to create anything resembling a functional car.
God’s first priority is not to please us but to make us whole in Him.
God’s order always ends in wholeness for us. God’s order should also be reflected in our prayer life. We ought to be seeing answers to prayer all the time. If we want to be more effective in our prayers, we must ask the Holy Spirit what His order is. Ask Him, “Holy Spirit, please give me Your order for this prayer time” before you even start praying. We all have needs but God may want us to pray for someone else before we start listing out our requests and needs. Pray what God wants first and foremost. This practice is what hones you into a prayer warrior.
When we align ourselves with the Holy Spirit in prayer, nothing can prevail against us.
The gates of hell cannot prevail against the strategy of God in prayer. Prayer is warfare, and warfare requires strategy. Strategy in war means knowing the order in which to proceed in battle. An effective military general has a strategy in mind for every battle, and would never just command his troops to enter the fray without a strategy. In your prayer time, allow the Holy Spirit to speak and move. The Holy Spirit wants to show you how the puzzle pieces you have fit together.
Envy and selfish ambition will open the door of your life to disorder and every evil.
It might not seem like a big deal, but the thing that opens the door to disorder and every evil practice is envy and selfish ambition.
“For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” James 3:16
Envy and selfish ambition lead to disorder. Disorder opens the door to every evil practice. Envy and selfish ambition elevates what should not be elevated—what is earthly, unspiritual and demonic. (See James 3:13-16.) As God’s people, we are to elevate what is heavenly (over what is earthly), what is spiritual (over the unspiritual), and what is holy (over what is demonic).
This warning is written to believers, because this seemingly innocuous thing — envy — is actually quite dangerous. Selfish ambition is toxic to God’s order. Envy and selfish ambition opens the door to every evil practice. Whether you like it or not, this is the truth. Envy and selfish ambition are like a little key that opens up a huge door. The good news is that repentance is another powerful key that can shut that door. A little bit of repentance does tremendous damage to the kingdom of darkness. Envy and selfish ambition are weapons that the enemy wants to use to destroy us from the inside. Don’t take that little “key” from the enemy. It will open the door to inner darkness.
Our enemy seeks to destroy God’s order in society.
In our nation, the order of God is under great attack. The church must take a stand like never before or disaster will come to our nation. God calls on us to take a stand, not sit back and wait for him to step in. God issues a stern warning to those who change and pervert His order.
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Isaiah 5:20
God’s order for life starts looks like this:
- Gender — God determines each person’s gender at conception. He knit you together in your mother’s womb and He alone determined your gender.
- Sexuality — God designed that females are attracted to males and vice versa.
- Marriage — God’s order involves a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman. This is His design for marriage.
- Children — Children are a gift from God, and in His order, children are to be raised to know and love the Lord, so a lasting legacy is built.
By going after in gender in particular, the enemy is seeking to subvert all of God’s order for life, which destroys an individual’s life as well as that of society. We don’t deny that people may have a struggle with gender or sexuality. We are to walk in compassion, bringing the love of God through the truth of God. We must hold to God’s order of life! If we want to keep the gates of this nation closed to every evil thing, we must hold to the order of God. A little key opens a big door. God’s people must stand at the forefront and hold the line. We must take a stand. Sometimes that looks like verbally acknowledging God’s order in prayer.
Getting back to God’s order for our society starts with us as individuals submitting to God in prayer.
Submit to His order in every area of your life. Your finances. Your time. Your priorities.
As a church, we will allow God to determine the order of our worship services and other gatherings. We will let Him lead us in how we spend finances. We will declare without apology that our nation will respect the order of God when it comes to life.
God’s kingdom is in the center and we will revolve around His order. We must not expect God to adjust His order to us.
