Afraid to ask God for big things?
30 days of prayer • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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I think a lot of us are terrified to ask God to do big things in us and through us and for us because it might prove that God does not exist.
So we pray small prayer that we can fulfill our selves.
We pray prayers that won’t get God in trouble or put God in a dilemma.
We don’t want to push God in a corner. Asking God to be God and we find out that He is less than we thought.
But God does not need you to protect Him or His reputation.
God is bigger than your prayers and bigger than your dreams.
He is bigger than your challenges and bigger than your fears.
He is bigger than your doubts and bigger than your fears.
He is waiting for you and me to call on Him as the God that He is and ask for big dreams and big prayers and callings and for big visions.
God is looking for the person with the big ask.
Let’s look at some ppl that did not shy away from the big ask.
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22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
What if He turns me away? You persist and your proceed.
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22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
Jesus was trying to remain hidden
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.
But somehow this Canaanite woman heard where He was and came to Him with her need.
22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
What was the need? Demon-possession and suffering.
22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
When she approached Him as “Son of David,” she was definitely putting herself on Jewish ground; and this she could not do, because she was a Gentile. Of course, this title did reveal her faith in Him as the Messiah of God, for “Son of David” was a name for the Messiah. Since she came to Him on Jewish terms,
He was silent. Of course, He knew her heart, and even His silence encouraged her to continue asking.
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
Is He ignoring me?
Impatient with her persistent following and crying out, the disciples said, “Send her away!” We are not sure whether they meant, “Give her what she wants and get rid of her” or just “Get rid of her!” In either case, they were not showing much compassion for either her or her demonized daughter.
She keeps crying out after us. Was she outside of the house?
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
Vs 24 - first to the Jew, then to the Gentile though at that time, the emphasis was on ministering to Israel.
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
We cannot but admire the patience and persistence of this Gentile mother. “Lord, help me!” was her next plea; and this time she avoided any messianic titles. She came as a sinner needing help, and she offered no argument. She knelt before Him.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
In His reply, Jesus did not call her a “dog” the way the Pharisees would have addressed a Gentile. The Greek word means “a little pet dog” and not the filthy curs that ran the streets and ate the garbage. “The children” referred, of course, to the people of Israel.
Jesus was not playing games with the woman, nor was He trying to make the situation more difficult. He was drawing out of her a growing response of faith.
Keep in mind that our Lord responded to this woman as He did, not to destroy her faith, but to develop it. Her own replies showed that she was growing in faith and unwilling to let Him go without getting an answer.
Scottish minister Samuel Rutherford, who knew what it was to suffer for Christ, wrote,
'It is faith's work to claim and challenge loving-kindness out of all the roughest strokes of God. '
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
She immediately seized on His illustration about the children’s bread, which was exactly what He wanted her to do. We may paraphrase her reply: “It is true that we Gentiles do not sit at the table as children and eat the bread. But even the pet dogs under the table can eat some of the crumbs!” What a tremendous testimony of faith!
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
It was this faith that Jesus acknowledged, and immediately He healed her daughter.
This woman’s faith was great because she persisted in asking and trusting when everything seemed against her.
Her faith was so great that it overcame all the cultural barriers, and Jesus answered the prayer of this distraught mother.
Certainly her race was against her: She was a Gentile. Her sex was against her, for most Jewish rabbis paid little attention to women. It seemed that the disciples were against her, and Christ’s words might have led her to believe that even He was against her. All of these obstacles only made her persist in asking.
35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. 42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
What do you want me to do for you?
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35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
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38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
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40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied.
What do you want me to do for you?
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42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
We act like God is as small as us when we ask.
He is God. Ask the creator of the universe.
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37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
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20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
Don’t doubt what God can do!
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21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
If you can? - Everything is possible for one who believes.
We are not living the life we want, we are living the life we got.
And the reason we never live the life that we want is because we don’t know what we want.
And God keeps waiting “Ask Me”
What are your dreams, what is your vision?
Ask me for something bigger than you. So I can show up and be God in your life.
God is bigger than your prayers and bigger than your dreams.
He is bigger than your challenges and bigger than your fears.
He is bigger than your doubts and bigger than your fears.
He is waiting for you and me to call on Him as the God that He is and ask for big dreams and big prayers and callings and for big visions.
God is looking for the person with the big ask.
What do you want me to do for you?