Where's the Bread?

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this beautiful day that you have created for us.
We thank you for the many things that you have established for us to freely come to you, to know you,
to experience the joy of salvation, to experience the power that only you have, Lord.
So we celebrate that this morning.
We celebrate your death, burial, and resurrection on the cross, that we could be made right with God.
Lord, we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit that you have sent to guide us and direct us,
to empower us for the power of ministry.
Lord, we thank you for each and every person represented in this church.
And I pray for each and every family represented here and those who are traveling and those who are sick and at home and recovering, Lord.
I pray that your grace and peace are with them.
I pray that your healing power will manifest in their lives today.
Lord, we thank you for everything that you have given us, provided for us, and done on our behalf.
When we were powerless and when we were still sinners, you died for us.
Lord, so we celebrate that this morning.
We celebrate your victory over death and the grave and sin, that you had the final word.
So we celebrate that this morning and we thank you.
And all God's people said, Amen.
Hallelujah.
It's good to see everybody this morning.
I'm glad you're here with us.
If you're listening online, I'm especially glad that you're here.
And I believe that God will bless you right where you are.
I think we just have one announcement.
We're going to have healing rooms later this week.
If you'd like to come out, that's Thursday night.
It's a great opportunity to get prayer for healing.
It's a little more of an intensive time of prayer and ministry.
And just as a reminder, we have men's Bible study Saturdays at 8 in the morning.
That has turned into quite a great group of guys that enjoy reading through the word and discussing life.
So I encourage you to...
What's that, Richard?
But not this week because it's a holiday.
So there you go.
That's all I have.
So I'm going to pray for the offering.
We're not going to pass a bucket or a plate or put anybody on the spot.
We have a box in the back if you'd like to participate or you can scan the thing and give online.
So I'll pray for that.
So, dear Heavenly Father, we thank you the way that you so richly care and provide for your children.
And how could we not help but give back, Lord?
So we thank you for our wages, bonuses, gifts, and other sorts of increases that you bring into our life.
And we thank you for the opportunity to sow a seed into your kingdom and to see your gospel advance in Apache Junction and around the world.
And as we give, we know that it may leave our hands, but it never leaves our life.
In Jesus' name, amen.
So we are in a series about living in a supernatural world.
We are currently talking about the spiritual gifts that are listed in Rome in 1 Corinthians 12.
Today we're going to talk about what it calls gifts of healing.
I think that's a very interesting spiritual gift to talk about.
I'm really excited to talk about that this morning, that we get to talk about the gifts of healing.
You see, I think that the healing church is not a church that pretends that it has everything figured out
or has some line to God to get him to move in a certain way.
I think that the healing church just knows where to go when they have nothing.
Amen?
And it believes that God already has more than enough.
So I've titled today's message, it's called, Where's the Bread?
Not where's the beef, where's the bread?
Now, I'm going to be teaching out of Luke 11 today.
And in this, Jesus gives us a picture of how to pray.
His disciples come to him, and they say, how do we pray?
I think Jesus was really excited when his disciples were like, hey, Jesus, can you show us how to pray?
And he's like, I'm glad you asked.
And he teaches them the Lord's Prayer.
And after that, he tells a story.
It's a story about a man.
He has a friend.
He shows up at midnight.
And he has nothing for his traveling friend to set before him.
And that would have been a great source of embarrassment and shame in that era,
to have someone travel all that way.
You know, you're traveling on foot, maybe for days.
You don't know when you're going to show up.
I don't know when I'm going to get to downtown Gilbert.
But you think how traveling was back then.
It's like, well, they showed up at midnight.
You should have something to receive your guests.
So that would have been a great source of shame.
So he goes to the one house where he thinks, well, they have something.
They have bread.
And I think that this story is a greater illustration of how we pray and how we ask God for things
and also how healing ministry works.
You see, healing ministry is when someone else's need becomes your prayer.
And you know where to go.
You know what house to go to.
You see, I believe that God is still healing people today.
I think that Jesus' finished work is about the whole person, the body, the mind, the spirit.
And all of that's already paid for.
It's already established in heaven.
It's done.
That's why the Lord's Prayer says, on earth as it is in heaven.
Because in heaven, everything's established.
It's settled.
It's done.
God has won.
He has the final victory.
So we pray on earth as it is in heaven.
Amen?
So healing is really God's kingdom advancing on earth, really in advance of everything
that he has planned.
And it's a glimpse of what is to come.
And when people were healed by Jesus in the Gospels, it proved to them that he was God,
that he had the power to forgive sins.
Because he said, which is greater?
You know, that I can forgive sins or that I can say, stand up and get up, take your mat
and walk.
So he was using that to illustrate that the kingdom of God had arrived.
So we can pray, and we can pray boldly, but ultimately the outcomes belong to who?
They belong to God.
You know, we can't blame the sick.
We can't blame people who suffer for what they're going through.
We can comfort them.
We can aid them.
We can pray for them.
We can stand with them.
And we don't measure someone's faith by whether healing comes, whether it comes now or slowly
or maybe not even in this life.
But we also refuse to let disappointment become our doctrine and the way that we live.
And just to be clear, before I get into this, you know, we also believe in wisdom.
We believe in taking care of yourself.
We believe in doctors.
We believe in medicine.
Even the Apostle Paul, who prayed and healed for a lot of people in the Scriptures,
1 Timothy 5.23, he said, he's advising Timothy.
He says, stop drinking just water, because he had a lot of ailments, but also a little
wine for your digestion and your frequent illness.
Now, you can run too far with this verse.
Don't do that.
Don't hear that this morning.
But what he was saying, the water was really, really not that great in the Roman Empire.
And the water traveled around a lot of other things.
I'm not going to get into that, but you can imagine.
So he says, well, that would be something a little more sanitary and may help you along.
So he was giving him some medical advice, which shows us that we can't just depend on,
you know, one thing, that there is the access to medicine and wise care, but we also have
access to the healing power of the Holy Spirit.
So I wanted to make that clear.
So the first thing that I notice is that the gift of healing is given for the common good.
1 Corinthians 12.7 says,
To each person, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all.
And it doesn't say a select few.
It doesn't say the people that pray up front.
It doesn't say the pastors.
It doesn't say the super religious person with the bumper sticker.
It says everyone.
It's for everyone.
So that means you.
God's plan includes you manifesting in some kind of spiritual giftedness to benefit other people.
You believe that?
God's plan depends on you to somehow manifest spiritually to benefit other people.
I think that's cool.
And among those things is the gift of healing.
Now, Paul says this is a gifts of healing.
It's plural.
Both words are actually plural.
And I think that's for different moments, different needs, different people, different kinds of healings, but one spirit.
So I think the first question I would ask is, well, how do I get started?
I want to do this.
I want to do this stuff.
I want to see the things.
And again, healing ministry begins when someone else's need becomes your prayer.
And this is exactly what Jesus is teaching in Luke 11.
The disciples are asking him, you know, how do we pray?
And he tells this story.
And I'm in Luke 11.
I'm starting at verse 5.
It says,
Then he said to them,
So healing ministry begins with a need.
Amen?
Not with religious credentials or anything like that.
It comes with a need, and it comes with directing that need towards God.

Now, how many of you have had someone come to you with a problem, and you have nothing?
You have nothing to give.
You have nothing to offer.
You have no advice.
You have no medical ability to help them.
You have no wisdom to offer them.
You're just like, ah, I have nothing.
And, you know, that is one of the scariest things to experience.
But what Jesus is teaching us in this story is we may not have anything, but we know where to go.

And, you know, I think a great way to show people the love of Jesus is to listen to them.
And if you listen to people long enough and carefully enough, and you're not thinking about, you know, the next thing you're going to say,
you just hear what's coming out of their mouth, people will tell you what they need.
They'll tell you about the pain they have, the difficulty.
They'll tell you about the fear that they have.
They'll tell you.
They'll tell you what's wrong with them.
And all you have to do, this is real simple.
You can just say, can I say a quick prayer for you about that?
And it says a lot of things all in one brief sentence.
It says that you believe in God.
It says that you believe that God listens.
And it says that you believe that God wants to help.
Can I say a quick prayer for you?
It doesn't have to be weird unless you make it weird, right?
And you have no idea how many people that you can do this.
And you'll find out.
You talk to them for a few minutes.
They may say, well, nobody has ever prayed for me in my entire life.
You know how many people have told me that?
Nobody has ever prayed for me like you did.
Ever.
That is a powerful, powerful thing.
And you'll be, you do that.
You'll be so excited.
They'll be so excited.
You'll be thinking about it all week.
You'll be thinking, wow, that was cool.
And it's kind of addicting.
So you're encouraged.
They're encouraged.
God gets glorified.
And you might even get the chance to lead them to Jesus right there.
And I've had people come to me later and say, well, three months, you prayed for me three
months ago, and God healed me.
I forgot all about it.
God is good.
But that's how you start moving in the gift of healing.
You just start seeing needs, and you start asking God.
Now, God is not reluctant.
He's not holding out.
He has already provided everything that we need.
And Jesus is, you know, he's not trying to teach us that God is cranky or asleep or hard
to persuade.
But he is teaching us by contrast.
And what he's saying is, if even an annoyed neighbor will get up and give you what you
need in the middle of the night, how much more would your heavenly Father give you what
you need?
That's what he's trying to teach.
So God is not annoyed.
God is not cranky.
And this man, he goes because he knows that there is bread in that house.
So one of the questions is, what do you know about God?
You see, your grace and your peace that you walk in every day are directly connected.
You know, this is directly connected to your knowledge of God.
Not just knowledge about God, your knowledge of God.
2 Peter 1.2 says,
May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of
Jesus, our Lord.
You see, the more you know about who God is, his nature, his promises, the more you start
seeing that God is the answer and the provider to everything.
And it gets better.
2 Peter 1.3, it says,
I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life
and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and
excellence.
Everybody say everything.
Everything has bestowed, has granted.
It's all past tense.
His divine power has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness.
In other words, the work is done.
It's already yours.
You know, Jesus didn't go up to heaven and sit down because he was tired.
He went and sat down because he was finished.
So that changes how you pray.
You see, you're not trying to convince God to somehow become generous towards you or take
pity on you or notice you or it's already done.
It's already been given.
And everything that we need is already supplied to us in Christ.
You know, sometimes it's like if you walked in a house at midnight and you're screaming,
you know, why is it dark?
Why is it dark?
Is the power company, are they doing their job?
Is there no electricity?
But the problem is that you haven't turned on the switch.
The power is already there.
It's already been established.
The provision is there.
The wires are in the wall right where you left them.
The supply exists and it's there.
But we need a revelation.
You need faith that is already yours.
So this is how Paul is praying in Ephesians 1 as well.
Paul does not pray like the church has nothing and needs to get something.
He prays like the church does not yet see what it already has.
Ephesians 1.17, Paul says,
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,
will give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him.
You see, Paul is praying for revelation because they need to see what's happening.
They need to see what is already theirs in Christ and what is going on in the Spirit.
You know, as some people, they are struggling and they are suffering and they are stuck.
And all that there is to see is what God has already done.
It is everything.
You see, this is a story about running out.
You know, the bread ran out.
Maybe the money ran out.
Maybe the health ran out.
Maybe the hope has run out.
The peace has run out.
The joy has run out.
The love and the marriage has run out.
It's all run out.
You know, we're living in a world that has run out of peace.
We've run out of truth.
We've run out of hope.
We've run out of tolerance for other people.
We've lost our collective mind.
I mean, we have run out.
And the only hope that we have is to turn back to the source of everything.
And that is Jesus.
Jesus is the only one that can meet our needs.
He is the only one that can heal us and heal our land.
And with this traveler arriving at midnight, there's this embarrassment and shame of having nothing to give.
And you see, that's where we can get stuck.
You see, we can get stuck in our pride and our emotions.
We can get stuck in this shame and this poverty mentality of not having enough.
And instead of asking, we stay silent.
And the Bible says when we do not ask, James says you do not have because you don't ask God.
So we can ask today.
You see, we have to give God more power than our emotions.
We have to give God more power than our emotions.
You see, our emotions can create a negative reality.
They can create kind of this alternative negative reality that we live in.
And it's a false reality.
It can even go, I go so far as to say, it can be a delusional reality.
And when we let our emotions frame our reality and then we believe our emotions
and what our emotions is telling us is real, we start making real choices about unreal things.
Got real quiet.
Jeremiah 17.9 says the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.
Who can understand it?
So fear would say don't ask God.
And, you know, shame says, well, why don't you just go hide from God, avoid God?
You know, pride would say you don't need God.
And disappointment would say, you know, God's not going to answer you anyway.
But God is more powerful than what we feel.
You see, and God always speaks a better word than these emotions that we have in our head.
And it isn't just a better word.
It's true.
It's true.
And the problem is when we get saved, you see, God didn't save our feelings.
We still have to process our feelings and our fallen mind and our fallen nature.
You know, it's being worked on.
It's a process.
But when we get saved, our feelings do not become perfect.
So our emotions still need to be shaped by the truth of God.
Because we have fallen feelings that are trying to tell us what's real.
And the problem is that this messes up our reality.
It messes up our perception of God.
It messes up our perception of other people.
You ever get an idea about someone in your head and it's so different from reality?
So it's so easy for our thinking to get shifted away from reality and away from the God who actually has the power to heal us.
Amen.
Psalm 13.2, David is asking this question.
He says, how long shall I take counsel in my soul?
In other words, he's saying, how long am I going to let my own thoughts deceive me?
How long am I going to let my own thoughts disciple me?
And how long am I going to just let my emotions run wild and just eat my lunch?
You see, and what you think about and how you regulate and manage your emotions, it has the ability to affect you physically.
How many of you know that?
So in fear and shame and anger, they constantly start consuming your mind.
And before you know it, they've distanced you from God.
They can wreak havoc in your physical body.
Your body will start to carry that burden.
We were never designed for that.
So we have to know this.
What is the hope of his calling?
What are the riches of his inheritance?
What is the exceeding greatness of power towards those who believe?
The problem is that God has not done nothing.
He's given us everything.
The problem is that, and what Paul is praying for, is for us to become aware and get a revelation of what God has already done.
We need a revelation of what Jesus has already provided and already established on the cross.
Not towards us someday, towards us now.
Paul says that this power is the same power that God worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places.
So this is not something that we just admire from a distance.
This is a power that is towards us and that it can operate in us and through us.
And this power is already available and it is already at work.
You see, we don't need God to become more powerful or more interested in our problems.
We need our eyes open to the power that God has already established and given us.
Amen.
Ephesians 1.3 says,
Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ.
And here it is again.
Past tense.
Has blessed every spiritual blessing.
Not some.
Not few.
Not some for you and some for you and some for you.
Every spiritual blessing in Christ is yours.
It's yours.
So prayer is what's bringing this provision into our present needs.
So when we pray for healing, you know, we're not trying to drag something out of God.
We're not saying, God, come quick.
Help.
You know, please start caring about me.
We're saying, Father, bring this finished work that you have already done into my present need.
Let what is true in heaven become true here.
Let it become true in this place, in this body, in this house.
Let it become true on earth as it is in heaven, in my house, in my body, as it is in heaven.
This is why prayer matters.
You see, prayer does not create God's goodness.
We don't conjure up a level of spirituality that suddenly persuades God to do something in our lives.
Prayer just receives what's already been done.
It's open hands.
Prayer does not manufacture spiritual power, but it participates in what's already been established.
And prayer does not just make God just suddenly willing.
Prayer agrees with his already established will, the work he has already done,
and it asks boldly for it to come here.
See, we're not praying because heaven is empty or bankrupt or has lack.
We're praying because heaven has bread.
So we can ask God with expectation and surrender.
You see, prayer without expectation becomes religion.
You see, a prayer that's just words, there's a kind of prayer that it just expects nothing.
It has all the words, but there's no hunger.
There's no faith.
And it's seemingly orthodox, but it's functionally hopeless.
And it maybe has a little more of a fear of disappointment than a confidence in the Heavenly Father.
You see, prayer without the expectation, without the faith, is just empty religion.
But I'll say this, that prayer without surrendering to God and his authority and his will is witchcraft.
That's when we use the words and the technique and we try to say the right words and do the right formula
and apply enough pressure and try to manipulate and get what we want.
That's not Christianity.
That's trying to control what God is doing.
You see, we can't command God to do anything.
Like he's some unseen force that, you know, we tap into.
We ask the Father as beloved children.
We don't have to approach him like that.
We can pray boldly, but ultimately he's the one that has control.
And we should never try to put qualifications around what we ask God for.
You see, some people will pray and say, well, if it be your will, if it be your will, if it be your will.
And of course it's God's will to heal you.
Of course it's God's will to deliver you and save you and do so many things.
But when we say that, we put this qualifier, it's not surrender.
Oftentimes it's our fear.
It means that, you know, I don't want to, I want to give God an out.
I don't want to be disappointed.
I don't want to look foolish.
And maybe deep down I don't actually expect him to do anything.
Right?
But a surrendered prayer, it can still be specific.
It can still be bold.
And it can still say, Father, heal this body.
Heal this person.
Restore this mind.
We can pray boldly, but ultimately the outcomes, they belong to God.
And that's why we can't blame people who are sick or suffering.
Or we can't say, well, you didn't pray enough.
You didn't have enough faith.
You didn't do this.
You didn't do that.
You see Jesus praying for all kinds of people.
They hardly knew him.
And you see God's answer in our story in Luke 11.
His answer is abundance.
The man shows up and he asks for three loaves.
But Jesus says the neighbor will give him whatever he needs.
It doesn't say he gave him three loaves of bread and sent him on his way.
It says that he gave him whatever he needs.
He asks for bread.
He gets whatever he needs.
Here's some bread.
Here's some butter.
Here's some cups.
Here's some nuts.
Here's a bag of Funyuns.
Right?
Just take it.
Take it all.
Be blessed.
Have a party.
Right?
Heaven is not bankrupt.
And I'm here to tell you that the answer that you are seeking from God, it's not worlds away.
It's words away.
It's not worlds away.
It's words away.
The wisdom, the power, the authority, the healing, whatever you're seeking God for, it's not far away.
It's words away.
Well, that's crazy.
God created this whole world with words.
This whole universe was created out of nothing by the sheer word of God.
So if the same power that raised Christ from the dead is in you, the power of the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus as a comforter or as an advocate for you,
your words have power.
That cuts both ways.
Your words can bring life.
They can bring healing.
They can bring deliverance.
They can bring encouragement.
Right?
They also have the power to wound and to bring discouragement and defeat and bring death.
The Bible says death and life are in the power of the tongue.
So we can choose to use our words wisely.
And God will answer.
God will answer.
Now, he may take some time to get you ready.
He's definitely taken some time to get me ready.
I've asked him for things I was not ready for.
Sometimes he has to take some time to get some other people ready.
And sometimes he's getting ready to do a lot more than just give him what you asked him for.
Amen?
And when it comes to healing, some people teach that, you know, God stopped all that a long time ago with the apostles, with the birth of the church.
It was just kind of there to prove some things to people, and then that was it.
That there was a day of miracles, and that day has ended.
But I'm here to tell you today there was not just a day of miracles.
There's a God of miracles.
The Spirit did not just retire.
Jesus did not stop being compassionate towards his people.
And the resurrection did not suddenly lose its power.
Paul says the manifestation of Spirit is given for the common good.
We still need that.
So the healing church exists to get God's mercy to people.
That's what the gifts are for, for the common good.
The question is, how do we get everything God has for people to them in a way that they can receive it?
That's healing ministry.
I was reading this while I was sitting there.
It sits in my notes.
This is in Ephesians 3.
Paul is talking about the divine mystery of the gospel.
In Ephesians 3.10, he says,
The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church, that's you,
the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.
God is using the church to do a spiritual work that you can't even see.
That's what this says.
This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
in whom we have boldness and confident access to God by way of Christ's faithfulness.
For this reason, I ask you not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
So this is healing ministry.
This is prayer ministry.
Healing ministry is when someone else's need becomes your prayer.
And you just know what house to go to.
The church isn't the bread.
The church just knows where the bread is.
We're not the source, but we know the source.
We're not the ones that has power, but Jesus is powerful.
Amen?
So what if Jesus was serious about prayer, what he was teaching?
You know, what if Paul was serious about these gifts?
And what if Peter was serious when he said that God has already given us everything pertaining to life and godliness?
And what if we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ?
And I think we should ask big.
I think we should ask with expectation.
We should ask often.
And we should believe that God is going to answer, that he's going to respond.
You see, you can't, you can't out-ask God.
You can't out-expect him.
So I'll leave you with this.
What's the biggest thing that you could ask God for right now?
Who's the friend at midnight in your life?
Who has come to you hungry or sick or empty?
Who in your family needs salvation?
Do you believe God can help?
And if you believe that God is powerful enough, that Jesus is powerful enough to forgive your sins,
he can surely heal your body.
You see, we don't control the outcomes, but we know the character of the Father.
Father, that he's good, that he's not reluctant, that he's not annoyed.
He's always there.
And if you haven't accepted Jesus' forgiveness of your sins,
maybe that's why you're here today.
And you can receive the greater miracle of forgiveness, of new life, and peace.
You can know that you have eternal life.
So today, you can ask for healing.
You can ask for salvation for yourself or for others.
You can ask for bread at midnight.
And know that the Father still gives good gifts to his children.
Amen?
So dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that you give good gifts to your children.
We thank you that you always answer us when we pray.
And we thank you that according to your word,
that everything that we need pertaining to our lives
and pertaining to godliness has already been established for us.
So Lord, I pray for a fresh revelation of what that means
for each and every one of us,
so that we can walk in what your salvation has purchased for us on the cross.
Lord, we thank you for the gifts of healing.
Lord, I pray that those gifts flow out of each and every person here,
each and every household represented in this church.
Lord, that the gift of healing goes forth in this community and around the world
to bring you glory, to advance the gospel, to advance the kingdom of God,
that your will may be established on this earth.
Lord, we thank you that it's not your will that any one person should perish,
but that everyone would have everlasting life in you.
We thank you for that this morning, Lord.
I pray a blessing over each person here, Lord.
I pray over their hands as they work.
I pray that the things that they set their hands to will be successful.
I pray that you bring peace to each and every household.
I pray that you bring hope where there is no hope, Lord.
I pray that you bring jobs, provision, favor in the marketplace.
Lord, I thank you that you are a God that gives exceedingly and abundantly beyond
all that we could ask for or imagine.
And all God's people said, Amen.
God bless you guys.
We'd be glad to pray with you after service.
If not, have a wonderful week this week and have a beautiful Fourth of July.
And we will see you next Sunday.
And we will see you then.
We'll see you next time.