“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
– Matthew 7:24–27
Could it be any clearer the choices we have?
Matthew 7:24–27 Pictures two Ways in Which We can Live our Lifes
We can live our lives founded on a rock in such a way that when the rain falls and floods come and winds blow and beat upon us, that we will not fall, or do we want to live our lives, build our lives on sand in such a way that the rain falls and the floods come and the winds blow and beat against us and we fall? And great is our fall.
Obviously, we all would want to build our house on a rock, build our life on a rock. How do you do that? Jesus says, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them.” It is that simple. Hear God’s word and obey God’s word. This is the way to live. This is the way to experience life that doesn’t fall, life that stands. Especially when the hardships of life come crashing towards you, hear the word of God and obey the word of God. Make it your practice every single day, to hear the word of God, to read it, to study it, to meditate on it. Let it soak into your life. Don’t forget what you’ve read and then obey it. Do it. Don’t just hear the word. Put it into practice. James 1, this is how to build your life on a solid foundation.
Matthew 7:24–27 Reminds Us God’s Word is the Only Sure Foundation
So, we pray, God, help us to hear your word and obey your word. God, we pray that that would be the practice of our lives on a daily basis, that we would be hearers and doers of your word continually, night and day, meditating on your word and living according to it. Then, God, when the rain falls and the floods come and the winds blow and beat upon our lives, God, we pray that your word hidden in our hearts and in our minds and that we’re standing on in that moment would uphold us.
God, I pray especially today for people who are walking through rain and floods and blowing and beating winds in their lives, God, I pray that your word would sustain them. I pray that your word would strengthen them, your promises to them would behold them, that they would know your truth amidst the lies of the adversary would try to deceive them with and discourage them with.
God, I pray that you would help them to stand and help us all to be ready for those kinds of rains and floods and winds by hearing and obeying your word on a continual basis. God, we praise you for making it possible to stand. No matter what comes at us, God, I think about today, tomorrow, this week, this month, this next year. None of us knows what lies ahead, but we know that if we hear and obey your word, we will be able to stand amidst whatever lies ahead. So, God, may it be so in each of our lives.
Praying for the Ad Dharmi People
We pray today for the Ad Dharmi people of India, 1.2 million of them, hardly any known followers of Jesus, and many of them illiterate, not able to read your word.
So God, we pray that your word would spread to the Ad Dharmi people through any and every means possible so that they might hear your word and believe it and obey it and experience life in it. God, we pray for disciples to be made in churches, to be planted and multiplied among the Adermi people, that they might stand on the rock of your word now and for all of eternity. We pray all of this in Jesus’ name, according to His words in Matthew 7:24–27, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
