TCM: Part 2 - Dream Big
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There’s power in prayer
There’s power in prayer
WE as a church community have some big things going on… as a denomination we are being asked to make some pretty big decisions… locally, as a community we are beginning to ask again if we might be better together as one church on one mission in one community… or is it better to continue as a separate body?
SO we are on this 21 day prayer journey… 21 days may be too much for you. Maybe it’s several 3 day prayer journeys… whatever I’ll take it. Just to become a people who pray.
National Community Church … walk… praying bold prayers for his church, for his community… praying is a huge deal
Prayer is communicating with God
Prayer is communicating with God
The most powerful miracle in history is Jesus dying on the cross… and in the midst of it we have Jesus praying for us… are you suffering/struggling? one of the most powerful things you can do is pray.
Before he died, he told them to wait upon the HS… they did… HS gave them languages, power, courage… They gathered, they prayed....3000 came to follow Jesus that morning
Some are excited… but not everyone… some are reluctant… because you are scared to pray… scared that God might answer, then what…
some are worried about your ability to pray like that… its not about how you pray
Some are angry at God… because he didn’t answer the last prayer the way you think he should
some are just tired… God isn’t offended by your tired or your doubt... he loves
God is at work… hang in there
I saw this video the other day… its a few years old, but good all the same...
VIDEO
Can you imagine this guy? Putting his faith out there for all the world to see and judge…
He believed in the power of prayer… trusting that God hears.
Willing to look a little foolish.
Before the first raindrop fell, Honi had to feel a little foolish. Standing inside a circle and demanding rain is a risky proposition. Vowing that you won’t leave the circle until it rains is even riskier. Honi didn’t draw a semi-circle. He drew a complete circle. There was no escape clause, no expiration date. Honi backed himself into a circle, and the only way out was a miracle.
Drawing prayer circles often looks like an exercise in foolishness. But that’s faith. Faith is the willingness to look foolish. Noah looked foolish building a boat in the middle of a desert. The Israelite army looked foolish marching around Jericho blowing trumpets. A shepherd boy named David looked foolish charging a giant with a slingshot. The wise men looked foolish tracking a star to Timbuktu. Peter looked foolish getting out of a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus looked foolish wearing a crown of thorns. But the results speak for themselves. Noah was saved from the flood; the walls came tumbling down; David defeated Goliath; the wise men discovered the Messiah; Peter walked on water; and Jesus was crowned the King of Kings.
Foolishness is a feeling that Moses was very familiar with. He had to feel foolish going before Pharaoh and demanding that Pharaoh let God’s people go. He felt foolish raising his staff over the Red Sea. And he most certainly felt foolish promising meat to eat for the entire nation of Israel in the middle of the wilderness. But it was his willingness to look foolish that resulted in epic miracles: the exodus of Israel out of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the quail miracle.
Drawing prayer circles often feels foolish. And the bigger the circle you draw, the more foolish you’ll feel. But if you aren’t willing to step out of the boat, you’ll never walk on water. If you aren’t willing to circle the city, the wall will never fall. And if you aren’t willing to follow the star, you’ll miss out on the greatest adventure of your life.
In order to experience a miracle, you have to take a risk.
In order to experience a miracle, you have to take a risk.
And one of the most difficult types of risk to take is risking your reputation. Honi already had a reputation as a rainmaker, but he was willing to risk his reputation by praying for rain one more time. Honi took the risk and the rest is history.
The greatest chapters in history always begin with risk, and the same is true with the chapters of your life. If you’re unwilling to risk your reputation, you’ll never build the boat like Noah or get out of the boat like Peter. You cannot build God’s reputation if you aren’t willing to risk yours. There comes a moment when you need to make the call or make the move. Circle makers are risk takers.
Moses had learned this lesson well:
If you don’t take the risk, you forfeit the miracle.
If you don’t take the risk, you forfeit the miracle.
Today we are looking at our bold prayers… what are we willing to pray boldly about?
Some of us don't think prayer is worth the effort…
It starts with vision.
Where is life headed? Where is your community headed? Your family? Your business? What do you see?
Vision is a clear picture of the preferred future.
Vision is a clear picture of the preferred future.
The vision is convicting.. compelling… when you see it, in your heart and mind you say YES!
Jesus tells a parable about this motivation
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Seeing what’s possible for God… what God is doing… he gave all
Seeing God’s preferred future.. he gave up everything… he was compelled, convinced
When we are convinced of what God is doing… we will pray bold prayers… we will be willing to look foolish walking our prayer circles… we will look for opportunities to pray for neighbors in need.
Vision fosters Confidence
Vision fosters Confidence
We need to be clear on where God is taking us.
Last week… Joshua was clear...
This week we are going to look back at another example from the book Circle Maker… Moses - clear on where he was taking the Israelites… to the promised land… but the people struggled to go
Despite the memories of slavery and miracles of deliverance, the Israelites want to go back to Egypt.
Numbers 11
4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat!
5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.
6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”
In the midst of a miraculous delivery… they aren’t satisfied---
God - a bit put out by their complaining - tells Moses I”m giving them enough meat for a month… Moses is like… how in the world?
21 But Moses said, “Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!’
22 Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?”
There’s no way God can keep this promise.
Have you ever been there?
You know God wants you to take the job that pays less, but it doesn’t add up. You know God wants you to go on the mission trip, but it doesn’t add up. You know God wants you get married, go to grad school, or adopt, but it doesn’t add up.
Illustration:
Would we really follow Jesus?… Always dreamt of owning my own business… Columbine… leaving to teach ...“this is crazy” … to reach kids… loving those who are desperate for hope.
If you put what little you have in your hand into the hand of God, it won’t just add up... God will take what seems foolish to you make it flourish.
Application:
What is the “step of faith” that you need to take in pursuing your big dream?
What is the “step of faith” that you need to take in pursuing your big dream?
Write it down today… even if you think it’s crazy.... write it down.
Some times the fact that we can’t see … or we dismiss the vision… results in our refuse to pray at all… No reason to pray about really… God will do what God will do.
Matthew 14 tells a story of disciples unable to see the vision… Feeding of the 5000 ...
All we have is a few fish and rolls… Jesus says bring it to me...
they made up for their lack of vision with obedience… trusting… Some of us may not know where God is leading you, but I want to ask you…
Do you trust God enough to follow anyway?
Do you trust God enough to follow anyway?
Can you be obedient in the moment until he reveals where he’s taking you?
Can we be faithful in the moment as God is revealing where he is leading his church?
Can we be faithful to pray for his will to be done even while we don’t know what that is?
Even in Moses’ frustration with the Israelites… he prayed… he trusted…
For Moses, even while God was put off by the complaining of the Israelites… he answered Moses prayer in an amazing way...
31 Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits deep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction.
32 All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp.
Once the quail stopped falling, the Israelites started gathering. Each Israelite gathered no less than ten homers. 1 Homer = 3 bushels… Ten homers (30 bushels each) multiplied by six hundred thousand men equals 18 million bushels of quail.
God doesn’t just provide in dramatic fashion. God provides in dramatic proportion.
Moses could have never anticipated this answer to prayer. It was unpredictable and unprecedented, but Moses had the guts to circle the promise anyway! And when you circle the promise, you never know how God will provide.
Application:
Is there a specific promise you need to circle?
Maybe you need to circle a promise for your marriage or your children.
Maybe you need to circle a promise for this stage of life.
Maybe you need to circle a promise for a fear you are facing or a dream you are pursuing.
Something that you don’t think is possible… it’s only a dream…
Illustration:
Coaching teens...
Ephesians 1:18–19 (NLT)
18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him.
The Good News: God works 24/7 to make our lives better, even if it doesn't feel that way all the time.
Before God sent the quail, God asks Moses a question. It’s more than a question. It’s the question. Your answer to this question, the question, will determine the size of your prayer circles.
23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”
Another translation...
23 “Is there a limit to my power?” the Lord answered. “You will soon see whether what I have said will happen or not!”
Who answers your prayers?
Who answers your prayers?
How do you view God?
What can God do… what is too difficult to God?
For the creator of the universe? NOTHING.
God is omnipotent, which means by definition, there is nothing God cannot do. Yet many of us pray as if our problems are bigger than God. So let me remind you of this truth that should ground every prayer:
God is bigger than my biggest problem and my biggest dream.
God is bigger than my biggest problem and my biggest dream.
Just as, His grace is infinitely bigger than your biggest sin.
So his power is greater than anything we might face.
Your divorce, your bankruptcy, your diagnosis, your habit, your hurts
God is bigger… but what I say isn’t as important as your view of God.
How big is your God?
Small God = weak prayers
Big God = bold prayers
Moses was perplexed by the promise God had given him. How could God possibly provide meat for a month? It didn’t add up! But before it would happen, God asked Moses to declare what he believed about God… to again say it out loud… do you believe I can do this? Even if you don’t know how… do you believe God can?
That’s the question for you today… no matter what you are facing… do you believe God can?
God is asking us today...
Is there any limit to my power?
Is there any limit to my power?
And if God knows no limits, then neither should our prayers. God exists outside of the four space-time dimensions He created. We should pray that way!
The size of prayers depends on the size of our God.
The size of prayers depends on the size of our God.
With God, there is no big or small, easy or difficult, possible or impossible. That is difficult for us to comprehend because all we’ve ever known are the four dimensions we were born into, but God is not subject to the natural laws He instituted. He has no beginning and no end. To the infinite, all finites are equal. Even our hardest prayers are easy for the Omnipotent One to answer because there is no degree of difficulty.
If you’re like me, you tend to use bigger words for bigger requests. You pull out your best vocabulary words for your biggest prayers as if God’s answer depends upon the correct combination of words. Trust me, it doesn’t matter how long or how loud you pray. It comes down to your answer to the question.
Is there any limit to my power?
Conclusion
Illustration:
Do you have a dream but wonder how you could ever accomplish it?
Instead of trying to figure out how you will reach the fulfillment of the dream… what could you do now? What is one step you could take today towards the dream?
Be out of debt… what could you put off spending today?
Restore my relationship with a spouse… what can I do today to help my spouse know I appreciate something they do?
Retire…
Get my kids back to faith...
See my friend come to faith in Christ...
When God gives a vision, He makes provision. We just need the courage to step out in faith when God is calling us to get out of the boat. Otherwise we’ll forfeit the miracle. We have to believe that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He can send a west wind that brings the quail into the camp. But we need to do our part and our part is taking a step of faith in pursuing the dream God has put in our hearts.
So what step of faith do you need to take? What decision do you need to make? On what promise do you need to put down a stake?
Application:
How can you begin to pray bold prayers?
Lord lead me!
Lord Teach me!
Lord show me....
Maybe you know specifically what it is that God wants to do in your life… circle it. Knowing that God can do far more than you can think or imagine.
You can also pray for your church...
One church on one mission for one community...
Focus on families:
Daycare?
Support groups for parents of kids struggling…
A ministry to and through senior adults?