Praying Circles Around Your Walls – 13
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."
Exodus 16:15-19 (NLT)
15 The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was. And Moses told them, “It is the food the LORD has given you to eat.
16 These are the LORD’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.”
17 So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little.
18 But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.
19 Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.”
15 The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was. And Moses told them, “It is the food the LORD has given you to eat.
16 These are the LORD’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.”
17 So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little.
18 But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.
19 Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.”
--As we continue to circle the walls that need to fall in our lives we see how incredibly important for us to trust God with all our hearts and to not lean to our own understanding.
--Last week we looked at the acronym…JEJIT…and we spoke about how God is often Just Enough Just In Time! God has a great tendency of showing up at the last second to reveal Himself. A father with his child.
--I will not re-preach my sermon from last week but let me just say…it is vitally important for us to stay out of God’s way when He is trying to accomplish something.
--The whole point of hiding behind the door is to let the King of Glory come in and to make sure He gets all the glory. Remember John 14 tells us that Jesus is the door of the sheep…Hide behind the Shepherd.
John 10:7-10 (NKJV)
7 Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
7 Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
--Today I want to talk to you about the message of the manna, holy complications, and making the comfortable uncomfortable.
1. The message of the manna.
--When God provided the miraculous manna for the Israelites as they wandered around in the wilderness, our text says that He provided “enough for that day”. Just enough!
--The language that is used is extremely precise about God’s provision:
Exodus 16:17-18 (NLT)
17 So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little.
18 But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.
17 So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little.
18 But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.
--God provided just enough and then, He gave them this strange command…Do not keep any of it until morning. So why does God provide just enough?
--Why would God forbid them to have leftovers? What’s wrong with taking a little initiative and gathering enough manna for two days or even two weeks?
Batterson – Here’s my take on the manna miracle: The manna was a daily reminder of their daily dependence on God. God wanted to cultivate their daily dependence by providing for their needs on a daily basis. Nothing has changed. Isn’t that the point of the Lord’s prayer?
Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV)
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
--In our selfishness we want God to supply one week or one month or one year but God’s goal is to teach us to drop to our knees every day in complete dependence on Him.
--God knows that if He provided too much for us that we would lose our desire to seek after and to hunger after Him. We would stop trusted the provider and we would start trusting the provision.
--One of our central misunderstandings of spiritual maturity is thinking that it should result in self-sufficiency. It’s the exact opposite. The goal isn’t independence; the goal is codependence on God.
--Could it be that our desire for self-sufficiency is a subtle expression of our sinful nature? It’s a desire to get to a place where we don’t need God, don’t need faith, and don’t need to pray.
--We want God to provide more so we need Him less. Let’s be content with just enough.
Philippians 4:11-13 (NLT)
11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.
12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.
13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.
12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.
13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
2. Dealing with holy complications.
--Let’s face it, many people are either misled or misinformed when they come to the Lord believing that their lives will be trouble-free or at least, free from what the world goes through.
--There are sectors of Christendom who teach us that when we come to Christ and we confess the right things, life will not only be better…it will be filled with prosperity and lots of blessings.
--Mark Batterson feels many people get frustrated with their Christian life because they feel that it should get easier to do the will of God.
Batterson – I don’t know if this will be encouraging or discouraging, but the will of God doesn’t get easier. The will of God gets harder. Here’s why: the harder it gets, the harder you have to pray.
--When I read that quote immediately Holy Spirit reminded of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane praying:
Matthew 26:37-39 (NKJV)
37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
38 Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."
39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."
37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
38 Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."
39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."
--God will keep allowing you to be in situations that stretch your faith, and as your faith stretches, so do your dreams. As you pass one test in this life, others are waiting around the corner…usually harder ones.
--Life doesn’t get less complicated as you serve God…it actually gets more complicated because God does not want you to stay where you are…He wants you to grow…He wants you to be a disciple.
--We have to come to grips with this two sided truth…the blessings of God won’t just bless you…they will complicate your life. Sin complicates our lives in negative ways.
--The blessings of God complicate our lives in a positive way. When I married Tricia, it complicated my life. When she married me, her life was double complicated. Thank God for complications.
--We have had three more complications since we got married…Jeremy, Joshua, and Stephanie…oh my! Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! The truth is, I can’t imagine my life without these holy complications!
--The truth is, with every promotion, there are complications. As you earn more money your taxes get more complicated. Blessings complicate your life in ways God wants it complicated.
--When God spoke to me last August about having a campus in the Villages, it complicated my life…when, where, how, how much? It not only complicated my life…my staff’s lives are now complicated.
--One of the joys of having holy complications from God is that you get to share them with others. Everyone on my team are scrambling to get ready for a new campus…we are all in complication mode.
--A new campus and a tremendous missions program complicates everyone’s lives…dreams take money and people…I joyfully invite you into the complications God shares with me and you joyfully follow!
--Even in a day when many churches are choosing to relegate Holy Spirit to a backroom somewhere, we complicate our lives by inviting Him to have pre-imminence at the beginning of every service.
--Holy complication caused Moses to deliver the children of Israel from bondage, caused Joseph to save his family and the then known world from starvation. Caused Jesus to become the Savior of the world.
3. Making the comfortable uncomfortable.
--Truly every true man of God has two goals with his portfolio: to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. Obviously, the second part is more difficult.
--Let’s be honest; many of us if not most of us, our prayers are selfish in nature. We pray as if God’s chief objective is our personal comfort. It’s not. God’s chief objective is His glory. His gain may be our pain. Job!
--Stay with me…as we pray for God’s blessings to come…His holy complications overwhelm us and we do not feel comfortable. So many people want churches where they feel comfortable.
--I hope by Holy Spirit I can preach about missions and about reaching the lost to the point that you feel so uncomfortable that you choose to do something about it. No pain no gain.
--I have gotten so bold over the years that I tell people in our covenant member’s classes that if they do not want to be faithful in the tithe and missions, they probably will not want to join our church.
--We have to get past this seeker sensitive stuff and to be willing to challenge people with the Word of God and to direct them to the Great Commission. There is a reason we have had 74 new people sign up – Faith Promises.
--I am going to say it…if you have been coming here for years and you have still not caught the vision for missions and outreach…how hard is your heart to resist the Word and Holy Spirit?
--I love the heart of Sister Browne…our church matriarch…she called me the other night and had to talk to me. God had been speaking to her again…what a surprise. She wanted to talk about LEGACY.
--Leading Every Generation Adults Children Youth. She reminded me how we challenged the church several years to give to Legacy. She wants to make your lives uncomfortable!
--She said, “Pastor, with our dreams for a new campus, with wanting to reach our community, it will take sacrifice and money…just ask the people to give to Legacy so you have the resources to grow!”
--Would it be more comfortable just to relax and be happy where we are? I could say I am just getting closer to retirement age (whatever that is) and just start coasting.
--There comes a time when you not only pray about something…there comes that time when you have to put your money where your mouth (your prayer) is. You have to do something!
--Sadly, many of us are willing to pray right up to the moment of discomfort, but no further. We are willing to pray up to the moment of inconvenience but no further.
--Praying hard and believing God is uncomfortable and inconvenient but that is when you know you are getting close to your miracle.
Batterson: There comes a moment, after you have prayed through, when you have to start doing something about it. You have to take a step of faith, and that first step is always the hardest.
--Sometimes we have to be willing to do the uncomfortable and get our feet wet! This is how we will experience the miraculous!
Matthew 14:28-29 (NKJV)
28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."
29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."
29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
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