Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
Several years ago, I took the college group I was teaching to see the movie Breakthrough. The movie started out with two women talking about the Beth Moore bible study they were attending. The bible study was talking about Audacious Faith, and Joyce asked her friend what it meant to have audacious faith. The following weekend, the Joyce’s son, John, spent the night at a friend’s house and the next morning he and two of his friends were playing on the frozen lake. The ice cracked and her son fell into the icy waters and it took rescuers over 15 minutes to get him out of the freezing waters and they rushed him to the hospital for medical care. John’s heart did not beat for 55 minutes, nor did he respond to any life saving measures the first responders and hospital did for him. When his mother arrived at the hospital, the doctors told her they had done everything they could do for John, and she needed to go in and say her goodbyes. Joyce marched into the room, sat down and yelled out, “Come Holy Spirit please come and give me back my son,” and after speaking John’s name, his heartbeat began to beat again. The staff that was there remember the prayer and call for the Holy, giving them all goose bumps. The doctors warned Joyce and her husband that there was no way John would live through the night. Joyce stayed with him and would not allow anyone to give a negative report or talk about the “textbook scenarios” of him being brain dead. His story made it to the news and soon people were praying around the country for a complete recovery. One evening a group of people gathered outside his hospital room and sang worship songs and prayed for John. It took 48 hours for John to open his eyes and the doctors warned them he would have severe brain damage because he went without oxygen for 55 minutes. When interviewed later, the ER doctor, Dr. Sutterer said “Right about an hour with absolutely no life in his body whatsoever and he has a complete healing, with no seizures or neurological defects. He is truly the boy he was before he fell into the lake.” John is alive and spreading the gospel, because someone chose to have audacious faith. God is able to do exceedingly abundantly all we can think or imagine!
Audacious is the willingness to take surprisingly bold risks. The synonyms for audacious is bold, daring, fearless, brave, unafraid, unflinching, courageous, and wild. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as “The substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” Many Christians must see something for them to believe that God can do it. Faith believes something that we cannot see! Have you ever watched a magic show? The magicians are not really doing magic, they are illusionist, they can only make things seem to appear or disappear. They often distract you and get your attention off what they are doing. That is why we must not let the things we see determine our beliefs. Paul told the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith and not sight.” Audacious faith is not determined by or rely on the things that are seen. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17. It believes that God can and will do the impossible! Audacious Faith believes that God is with us, for us and that He can do anything. I love the story of a family driving home from church and they asked their son what his Sunday School lesson was on. The little boy thought a minute or two and said, “This morning we learned about Moses and the children of Israel getting trapped by the Red Sea and Pharoah was driving his army after them. God sent the Army helicopters, bomber planes, and hundreds of tanks to fight against Pharoh, and after fighting for a few days, Pharoah was killed.” His parents were shocked to hear his story, and one of them finally asked him, “Son, is that really what the teacher taught you today?” Their son replied, “No, but if you do not believe me about this story, you would really have trouble believing God parted the waters and they walked across on dry land.” Audacious Faith believes God can and will do the unexpected to care for us, fight for us and deliver us. Too often we encouraged to only believe God for the bare minimum essentials. Hebrews is the Chapter of Faith, that showcases the patriarchs who walked with Audacious faith, Enoch walked with God and was not because God took him, Noah had the faith to build an ark that saved him and his family and 2 of all the animals on the earth, Abraham and Sarah birthed a child in their old age (25 years after God promised them a child), Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac because he knew God could raise him up, Joseph asked his family to take his bones out of Egypt when they were delivered, Moses confronted Pharoah and lead a complaining million plus congregation through the dessert for 40 years, Gideon, Barak, Sampson, David and Samuel all subdued kingdoms. Danile slept with the lions and the three Hebrew children came out of the fire. This is what Audacious Faith looks like. Hebrews 11:1 in the amplified bible says, “Now faith is the assurance, (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed) and the evidence of things not seen (the conviction of their reality-faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.)” The God we serve can do all of this and so much more. Ephesians 3 tells us He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can think or imagine. The Amplified says “Now to Him who is able to (carry out His purpose and)do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask of think (infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams) according to the power that works in us.” What are you asking God for? Moses wanted to see God. Moses asked God, “Please show me your glory.” God answered him and said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you.” Isn’t interesting when Moses asked to see God, it was Hid goodness God revealed to him. Psalms “For the Lord god is a sun and shield, the Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold form those who walk uprightly.” Proverbs 10:22 “The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.” When God asked Solomon what he wanted Him to do for him, Solomon asked for wisdom. God did not just give Solomon wisdom, He blessed him with great riches and wealth and honor. The gifts of God are not all financial, Hid goodness leads us to repentance. Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise that richness His goodness, forbearance and longsuffering not knowing it is the goodness of God that leads you to repentance.” It is easy to have audacious faith when you know who God really is and what He can do. Our God is awesome in power, and nothing is too hard for him. His heart is generous and kind towards His children. Matthew 7:11 “If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him.” David wrote Psalm 145:5-9 “I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of your awesome acts, and I will declare your greatness. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all and His tender mercies are over all His works.” What ever you are needing today? I pray you have the faith to believe God to do exceedingly and abundantly above what you could ever think or imagine. Perhaps everything is doing well in your world and you should pray the prayer of Jabez found in 2 Chronicles 4:10 “Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me and that You would keep me from evil , that I may not cause pain.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 “Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” In closing, I pray Ephesians 1:17-21 “ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your [f]understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”