Sinclair B. Ferguson

And if we make that prayer without any strings attached,

And if we don't try and second guess how the Lord is going to do it, he surely will do it.

John Newton himself wrote an entire hymn on the way God does this.

It's called Prayer Answered by Crosses.

And if you don't know it, I suggest you do a Google search for it this weekend.

I think you'll find it a great help.

because you can never second guess the ways in which the Heavenly Father means to transform you into the likeness of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

But He surely wants to do it.

I imagine most of us know the name of the great English hymn writer John Newton.

I imagine most of us know the name of the great English hymn writer John Newton.

Or at least we know that he wrote the hymn Amazing Grace.

Or at least we know that he wrote the hymn Amazing Grace.

Or perhaps we know that he once captained a slave transporter.

Or perhaps we know that he once captained a slave transporter.

Or that he became the spiritual guide to the great William Wilberforce.

Or that he became the spiritual guide to the great William Wilberforce.

You may even know that partly in order to help his friend William Cooper, who suffered from a very deep depression, he got them to write an entire hymn book together.

You may even know that partly in order to help his friend William Cooper, who suffered from a very deep depression, he got them to write an entire hymn book together.

He was a minister and preacher in the Church of England, and he had another talent that I think is less well known, although most of his friends thought it was his greatest talent.

He was a minister and preacher in the Church of England, and he had another talent that I think is less well known, although most of his friends thought it was his greatest talent.