Praying Circles Around Your Walls – 12
Subject: Favor
by Rick Welborne
Joshua 6:5 (NKJV)
5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him."
5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him."
Deuteronomy 33:13-16 (NIV)
13 About Joseph he said: "May the LORD bless his land with the precious dew from heaven above and with the deep waters that lie below;
14 with the best the sun brings forth and the finest the moon can yield;
15 with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
13 About Joseph he said: "May the LORD bless his land with the precious dew from heaven above and with the deep waters that lie below;
14 with the best the sun brings forth and the finest the moon can yield;
15 with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
--Probably one of the things that this preacher prays for more than anything else is for God to pour out His favor on my family, my church, my ministry, my community, and on my own life.
--It is interesting that the one who is pronouncing this blessing from the God Who dwelt in the burning bush knew what he was talking about…
Exodus 3:1-6 (NKJV)
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.
3 Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn."
4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."
5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."
6 Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.
3 Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn."
4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."
5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."
6 Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.
--I love the fact that Moses was not just speaking about something he had heard about or had read but he had experienced this wonderful favor of God.
--Did you notice that Joseph was hyperlinking himself to Moses…Moses had received favor from the God Who dwelt in the burning bush and now Joseph is saying, I want some of that same favor…How about you?
1. To receive the favor of God you must get out of the way.
--If I can share anything with you about receiving God’s favor and blessings is that you need to get out of His way and let Him have pre-eminence.
Batterson: The hard thing about praying hard is letting God do the heavy lifting. You have to trust the favor of God to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. You have to trust God to change hearts, even Pharaoh’s.
--When I was going through the struggle of giving an answer to the Board of Deacons here at Life Church about allowing my name to be considered for lead pastor…it was in a troubling time in my life.
--I told them I needed to go away and have time to pray. We went to my family in Louisiana but never found the time to get alone…we went to Alabama to Tricia’s family…I told Tricia I am going to pray.
--It was cold and the only thing warm I had was my LSU sweats…I went to a park and started walking thru the woods praying in the Spirit…I looked like Big Bird with my LSU yellow…not good looks from Alabama fans.
--I had prayed for a couple of hours and I admit I was getting cold. Then I said, “Lord, the people in Florida are expecting an answer from me when I get back about pastoring the church, I need to hear from You!”
I walked between to extremely large oak trees and the Lord spoke to me as clear as I have ever heard Him:
“I have ordained you to pastor that church but this is what I expect you to do…allow Holy Spirit to do whatever He wants to do whenever He wants to.”
--Of course, with fear and trembling I said “Yes, Lord!” What that said to me was that Jesus wanted to build His church in Fruitland Park and He wanted to make sure I didn’t get in the way.
--There have been many over the last 27 years who have not appreciated my style of ministry but I had a direct mandate from God to stay out of His way and let Him show Himself to be God!
--Staying out of God’s way we have acquired 18 acres with 2 usable houses and the House of Hope. God has built a new sanctuary with additional classrooms debt free, He has grown us tremendously (souls being saved).
--He has taken a struggling mission’s program and turned it into a Mission’s Ministry that is in the top 1% out of over 13,000 churches. He has sent staff to me to hold up my arms and He has sent me the best.
--Pastor Rick, what are we doing about the campus in the Villages? I just laugh…we are staying out of God’s way. Maybe He is speaking to you today…get out of my way and let Me show you My favor.
2. To receive God’s favor we must hide behind the door.
--I truly believe God is wanting to show up and show off in many churches but too many pastors and too many parishioners want to do His job for Him.
--They want to do the healing and since His Word is not enough…they want to give words more from their flesh and not from God’s Word or heart.
--I truly believe that before revival comes and before Jesus begins to manifest Himself in a dynamic way we must be willing to hide behind the doors…please explain, Pastor Rick.
Psalm 24:7-10 (NKJV)
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.
--I was talking to one of my armor bearers the other day about how important it is for us to get out of God’s way and how we should want Him to be in the forefront of what is happening. God gave me this revelation.
--When the King of glory is trying to come into our lives, our churches, or our homes…our job is to open the door and let Him in…It is truly about Him instead of us.
--When He begins to show up and to pour out His favor, just hide behind the door and let Him receive all the glory, honor, and majesty that is due His Name. Jesus said it this way:
Matthew 6:31-34 (NLT)
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’
32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’
32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
--Many people have gotten impatient with me because I have spent a great part of my ministry hiding behind doors. The times I came out from hiding were the times my ministry was in jeopardy. Too much Rick.
--Jesus said that among men there were none greater than John the Baptist…what did he say?
John 3:27-31 (NKJV)
27 John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.
28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'
29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
27 John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.
28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'
29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
--The sooner we realize we only receive favor as God gives it, the sooner we realize we are not Christ, the sooner we realize His voice is most important, the sooner we realize He must increase…the sooner favor comes.
3. To receive the favor of God we must realize He will give just enough just in time.
--Mark Batterson says that God loves to the game of chicken with us.
Batterson – He has this habit of waiting until the very last moment to answer our prayer to see if we will chicken out or pray through. If we chicken out, we miss out on the miracle; if we pray through, God will come through, but it may well be at the very last moment possible.
JEJIT – This acronym explains how God comes thru with His blessings and favor…Just Enough Just In Time! He did it with the widow who was down to her last jar of olive oil, Moses at the Red Sea, Disciples on the sea.
--I guess we have a choice when we are facing trials and difficulties…we can either get out of His way and let Him be God…we can hide behind the door and let Him receive the glory, or we can bail out.
--How many times have we seen people quit right before the miracle or the favor was given…God wanted to be Just Enough Just In Time but we chose our own path. Listen to the psalmist:
Psalm 30:1-12 (NKJV)
1 I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me.
3 O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
4 Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
6 Now in my prosperity I said, "I shall never be moved."
7 LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled.
8 I cried out to You, O LORD; And to the LORD I made supplication:
9 "What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?
10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper!"
11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
1 I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me.
3 O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
4 Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
6 Now in my prosperity I said, "I shall never be moved."
7 LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled.
8 I cried out to You, O LORD; And to the LORD I made supplication:
9 "What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?
10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper!"
11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
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