Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Rev.3:4-6)

In some ways, Sardis came off as the least pleasing church in the list of churches in Asia. Jesus charged them with living on a reputation that pertained only to the past. He pronounced them spiritually dead and charged them with not completing the work he had given them. He called them to repentance and obedience and warned them that if they did not “wake up” he would come when they least expected it to discipline them.

And yet, he was very aware of the few in their midst who had been faithful and had continued to serve while the rest had abandoned their calling. He described them as those who had not “soiled” their clothes. The Greek word translated as soiled means “to defile by sexual immorality and/or involvement in pagan idolatry.” Those who had coasted to a halt in their passion for Jesus and their service to God had drifted back into a mixture of Christianity and pagan immorality. They kept an appearance of faithfulness and maintained ties with the church but partied with the pagans on weekends.

God knows our hearts, our lives, our works, our secrets, and our sins. We cannot hide our unfaithfulness from him in the midst of the congregation on Sunday nor will our faithfulness go unnoticed even in the midst of the unfaithful. The writer of Hebrews told the faithful Jews, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” Notice that God notices.

As difficult as it is to stay on track with the Father in the face of persecution, it is often more difficult to stay on track in a fellowship of lukewarm and dispassionate believers. In that environment, over time it is easy to begin to believe that “lukewarmness” is the standard and is somehow acceptable to the Lord. In his letter to Sardis, Jesus is clear that a casual attitude toward the cross and a double-minded man who tries to dance with the Lord on Sundays while dancing with the world the rest of the week is unacceptable. It’s like a man who sleeps with prostitutes six days and week but comes home declaring faithfulness to his wife on Sundays.

But Jesus declares that the faithful walk with him and they dress in white – the color of righteousness and priesthood. He promises all of us that when we live a life of overcoming the enemy and faithfully remain in the ranks of heaven, we also will be dressed in white. Not only that but those who continue in faithfulness will have their names eternally written in the book of life. Jesus declares that he will personally acknowledge the names of those who do not compromise, who do not become casual or careless, and who do not lose their passion for the kingdom before the Father and his angels.

Too many believers had a heavenly fire in their hearts for a season and served God with energy and passion for a time. But after a few years the kingdom of heaven lost its fascination for them. The riches and pleasures of the world began to glow brighter than the treasures of heaven. Little by little they began to mix the “not so bad” things of the world with the good things of heaven and eventually they simply slipped back in the world while maintaining their “membership” at the local church. Many believers know that their faith is not what is used to be but are banking on God remembering what they used to do when they stand before him. This letter indicates that these “believers” are in a very dangerous place.

We can easily look down on those who have slipped away but we can all be tempted to do the same thing when, after years of going to church, our faith can seem ordinary, humdrum, less rewarding than what the world is offering, and has even become unpopular and criticized in the culture. We must all guard against this “natural erosion” of faith and passion. How can we guard our hearts and keep the fire alive? Be sure you stay around people who still have a fire in their bones for the kingdom. The heat from their fires will keep your embers burning. If your group of believers has settled down and made peace with the world, find a new group. Intentionally risk. Develop a habit of doing “crazy things” for Jesus. Go on mission trips to 3^rd world countries. Pray for the sick at the local HEB. Share your faith with a stranger. Pursue the gift of tongues or prophecy. Consistently do things that are a “little scary.”

Risking things for the kingdom and being around others who risk makes your life in Christ an adventure. It does not get boring or irrelevant. It keeps stoking the fires and the excitement of seeing God do miracles through you makes the promises of the world seem lackluster. I believe that Jesus will not only acknowledge your name before the Father and his angels on the Day of Judgment, but even now as we passionately serve him. Those who serve faithfully now are already known in heaven and your name is already spoken there. Remember when God asked Satan if he had considered Job? Remember the angel who told Daniel that he was already highly esteemed in heaven. If you are living four Jesus, your name is already spoken in the courts of the King. Live in a way to insure that your name never fades in the halls of heaven but is mentioned there often until you arrive in person.  Be blessed.

About a year ago, I attended a community wide gathering of churches that were meeting to pray for a transforming move of God in West Texas. I appreciate the men who have the vision for such an undertaking and it is always exciting to see the body of Christ come together under the same roof. The worship was stirring and the speakers were dynamic. The heart of the gathering was on target.

Toward the end a special announcement was made about a young woman from one of the leading churches in our area who was in a hospital in another city with a failing heart. She was on a list for a heart transplant but her own heart seemed to be just hours away from collapse. So as the meeting was winding down those who knew her best offered a special prayer. All who prayed cried out to God to provide a heart transplant for this young woman before she died.

It struck me as the prayers were being lifted up that no one was praying for God to heal the heart she had. In essence the prayer required one person, who also had dreams and loved ones, to die so that this young woman who was loved in our city could live. Why not pray for God to make her heart new rather than for a car wreck and a suitable donor? I’m not against heart transplants and I’m not against praying for a heart but it seemed that it never crossed anyone’s mind that God could restore the heart he had given her. With 2000 believers in the room from churches all over the area an amazing opportunity to build faith and launch a significant move of God was handed to us. However, we prayed for her to receive a transplant which any number of people in America received that week without prayer.

I get to hear many prayers offered up by man y sincere believers. The majority of the time it seems that we ask God for the ordinary and receive the ordinary. We ask God to help the doctors do their best work and yet I suspect they will probably do so without the intervention of heaven. We pray for a job and after twelve interviews we get a job. So did a number of other people who never prayed. I’m not against those prayers but what I notice is that we often pray for God to do bring about best outcomes in the natural realm that already have a high probability of occurring if God never acts on our request. Because of that, when its over, by faith we may believe that God answered our prayers but unbelievers wouldn’t be convinced at all. In those moment’s God may get our thanks but he doesn’t get much glory and our faith stays where it was – asking God for the ordinary instead of the impossible.

The model Jesus gave us was to ask God for the impossible – to ask for things that will absolutely not happened unless he shows up. Healing the sick, casting out demons, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, turning water into wine, feeding 5000 with a box lunch – those are the things Jesus trusted God for and when it was over God was glorified, unbelievers came to faith, the faith of believers multiplied, and the works of the devil were destroyed.

We know that asking for the impossible is the biblical model so why don’t we ask? Some of us have been taught that God doesn’t “do that stuff” anymore but I think most of us don’t ask because we are afraid of disappointment. If we ask and we don’t see God move then what does that say about God, our faith, or our prayers? The truth is that we may not always see God do the impossible when we pray. It’s possible that not everyone will be healed. It’s possible that the miracle check won’t come in the mail. It’s possible that the marriage won’t be saved. Faith has to live with the mystery of why God does not always act when and how we asked. Faith bears the disappointment, takes no offense at God, and then asks for the next impossible thing. We may not see God do the impossible every time we ask but when he does move in that moment, God will be glorified, our faith will multiply, unbelievers will come to faith and the works of the devil will be destroyed.

Faith also says that God did move in response to our prayer. As we sow into prayer there must be a harvest because God has ordained it. We may not perceive what the harvest is our how God moved but we can be assured that something changed in light of our prayer for the impossible.

Sometimes I think God must be offended that we ask so little of him. Our prayers for the ordinary must sometimes seem like us asking a virtuoso pianist to peck out Mary Had a Little Lamb when he is able and willing and wanting to do so much more. I hope as we pray we will begin to ask God to do what is impossible if he doesn’t show up; to ask for more than we can think or imagine; and to draw on the immense power of heaven that is poised to act on behalf of the church. After all, is anything too hard for God? Those who pray for the supernatural moves of God to do the impossible may not see it done every time, but those who don’t pray for the impossible will never see it done.

I’ve often talked about the need to take risks in the kingdom of God in order to grow your faith and to see miracles.  I have said that in the context of praying for healing, sharing prophetic words, sharing your faith, or commanding demons.  The premise is that when we step out and risk doing something that cannot be done without God, then God shows up.  I still believe that is true but in a small group conversation last night I was reminded that nearly all obedience to Jesus is risky.

We were discussing the astounding nature of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 5-7. In that sermon Jesus gave a commentary on what the Jews had been taught by their teachers for 1500 years.  In a number of places in Matthew 5 he says, “You have heard that it was said….but I say unto you.”  In those sections he comments on the teachings the crowd had received about murder, adultery, divorce, taking oaths, revenge, and dealing with enemies.  His teaching was drastically different from what they had learned in the synagogues.

Under the Law the Jews had been taught right behaviors but Jesus took it all the way to the heart.  In so many words, Jesus said, “You have been taught not to murder but I’m telling you not to even be angry or use demeaning words towards a brother and if you have a damaged relationship go and heal that relationship before you even try to worship.  You have heard.  You have heard that you should not commit adultery but I’m telling you that having sexual fantasies about the woman at the office is the same thing so keep those kinds of thoughts out of your head and your heart.”

Jesus focused on our internal world more than the external and made out thoughts and the feelings produced by our thoughts that issue as much as our actions. The Jews had been taught that they could hate someone and wish them dead as long as they didn’t act on the impulse.  Jesus called them to a much higher standard and taught them to get the anger, the hatred, the revenge, the manipulation, and the pride out of their hearts before presuming to come before God in worship.

Jesus taught them and us to guard our hearts against lust; to stay in tough marriages except where there has been unrepented adultery; to avoid all spin, manipulation and half-truths in our conversations and business dealings; to turn the other cheek; to give someone more than they are suing us for, to serve more than our enemies are compelling us to serve, and to love our enemies and even pray on their behalf.

In practical terms each of these commands put us at a distinct disadvantage with unbelievers who won’t be playing by the same rules.  These unbelievers (or unspiritual believers in some cases) will likely take advantage of our godly behaviors…at least at first.   They will see our “turning the other cheek” as weakness, our refusal to speak badly of them while they slander us as naïve, and our willingness to give them more than they demand in court as capitulation.  In many cases we will feel as if we are enabling their bad behaviors through our gracious behaviors and our unwillingness to go for the jugular.

As you look at the teachings of Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount, it becomes clear that obedience to these teachings always put us at risk.  The reason we violate these teachings so often is because we sense that they will make us vulnerable to a demanding spouse or an unscrupulous business associate.  Obedience makes us vulnerable to the manipulations and aggressive behaviors of worldly people.  Just living our every day lives with the heart of Christ turns out to be it’s own risky business from the perspective of the flesh. And, just like in healing and deliverance, if God doesn’t show up in the moment, we may well be presiding over a great disaster.

The truth is that we must have genuine faith to live obedient lives.  We must trust that God will defend us, vindicate us, provide for us, give us favor, and stand next to us in a court of law if we live out the directives of Jesus.  To live out the Sermon on the Mount is to lay aside all of our worldly weapons of defense, all of our instincts, all of our aggression, and all of our own dirty tricks and play by one set of rules while the opposition plays by another.

My conclusion is that it is just as risky to turn the other cheek as it is to pray for someone in a wheel chair at Cracker Barrel. It’s just as risky to stay in a hurtful marriage hoping for God’s transforming power to change things as it is to face demons or to share your faith with the Hell’s Angels having a meal at the next table.  It’s just as risky to take the moral high road while your “ex” is dragging you into court with the dirtiest lawyer in town as it is to pronounce a prophetic word to your entire congregation.

The truth is that truly living for Jesus in any form or fashion is typically risky and will be disastrous if Jesus doesn’t show up.  But here is the good news:  Jesus always shows up because he is always with us. Even the Father has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  In fact, since he lives in us he is always present.  But will he manifest his presence when you need him most?  You will know the answer by living a life of risk which is simply a life of true obedience where doing it God’s way puts us in the Master’s hands hour after hour.

I’m reminded of the story of the man who used to walk a high wire stretched between to tall buildings in New York City.   One day he crossed the high wire pushing a wheelbarrow.  He asked the crowd if they believed he could do it again.  Of course they all affirmed their belief.  He then asked if they thought he could do it with someone in the wheelbarrow.  They also shouted yes.  Then he asked for a volunteer.  No one raised his hand.  That is the difference between faith and belief.  It takes faith to get in the wheelbarrow because you must totally trust the one who is pushing it.  It takes faith to fully live out the gospel but if we want to meet Jesus that is the only way. “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him” (Jn.1421).

Hey … life is full of risks!  Be blessed today and be sure to risk a little.

I enjoy playing golf.  I have given up being great at the game and have learned to live with rounds in which I make some good to great shots punctuated by several disaster holes.  Guys who play like me measure whether it was a good or bad round by the number of balls lost over eighteen holes rather than stroke count.  But you get a few hours away from your normal routine, time with friends, a bit of exercise, and trees and water which are rare in West Texas.  I don’t get to play as much as I would like but have played enough to understand some of the nuances of the game and enough to hit some fun shots, some good shots and enough puts to keep me coming back.

I have also talked to a number of guys who played once or twice and didn’t play well so they decided that golf was a stupid game played by non-athletes and chose never to venture on a course again.  They simply sneer and look with disdain as they drive by the golf courses in their neck of the woods.  I have talked to a number of individuals who have approached Christianity in the same way.  They tried some church, some God, and some prayer for a short while and didn’t really enjoy it or get the point of it.  They entered with great expectations of something that they didn’t experience, tried to live by the rules, and prayed a little before tendering their resignation.  I talk to others who are still in the game but attend out of obligation or to please a spouse but simply endure church services and clear out as quickly as possible after the closing prayer.  They tried reading the Bible for a while but couldn’t understand it or got nothing out of it so they laid that aside.  Now they attend but have no passion or excitement about their faith.

Here’s the thing.  Many things are boring if you never get past the initial learning curve or risk playing badly until you can play well.  Here in the desert I have actually known a number of men and women who are scuba divers.  They qualify by taking classroom instruction and then by demonstrating their ability to use the equipment by sitting on the bottom of a swimming pool and breathing for a given number of minutes.  At that level of involvement, it is simply boring and expensive.  My guess is that if you never tried scuba diving in a more adventuresome environment you would soon give it up. It’s the folks that get into deeper waters in unknown locations with the possibility of encountering a shark that see colors and life forms others have never imagined.  These are the folks that get hooked and feel like there is nothing like it in the world. The swimming pool sitters have learned a few basics but have never really experienced true scuba diving.  Both in golf and scuba, it is also wise to get someone with a great deal of experience to coach you past the initial learning curve and then to take you to a level of diving or playing that is so rich that you develop a passion for it.

Living for Jesus is every bit that way.  Many people never get past the initial learning curve of attending church, reading a daily devotional, or being asked to give financially to support the ministries in their local church.  I’m amazed at how many believers never get past that point in their faith.  They are the equivalent of swimming pool sitters who thought there was going to be more but are about to decide that this Christianity business is boring and expensive.  This is especially true for those who have never experienced a supernatural move of God in their life.

But what if they decided that there must be something compelling about a faith that has thrived for 2000 years and is the largest faith group on the planet; that there must be something compelling about a faith that thousands have died for and been imprisoned for over the centuries; that there must be something compelling about this life when you hear pro athletes say that their faith is more important to them than their high profile careers with thousands of fans shouting for them every week.

If you are that person who has found no passion for your faith or who is wondering why people even “play this stupid game,” I would encourage you to try some deeper experiences in Christianity for a while.  Find someone experienced in the faith who has had a number of supernatural encounters with God and the enemy.  Ask them to take you past the initial learning curve of the faith and to take you into deeper waters.  Ask them to show you how to use divine weapons to wage a war against unseen but very real enemies and then go out and face those enemies.   Ask them to take you for a faith walk where there is real risk and this life won’t seem trivial or boring anymore. Go on a mission where comfort isn’t the goal but real stretching for your faith.  Go out on the streets and pray for people you never met.  Share your faith with lost people or spend a weekend doing prison ministry.  Put yourself in a place where you need a supernatural God to show up and do supernatural things.

When you have chosen to “up” your game and venture into “shark-laden waters” your spiritual adrenalin will increase your heart beat for the things of God and you will find a passion for your life again.  If you are bored with your faith, perhaps it is because you haven’t learned spiritual skills well enough to enjoy God and the challenges he puts before you.  Perhaps it’s because you have strapped on the tanks and the facemask but haven’t ventured out of the swimming pool yet to experience the thrill of the oceans.  I hope you will and I hope you will begin today.  Jesus is always inviting us to step out of the boat because that is where the joy is.  Be blessed today and decide to go for more.  You really will be glad you did.

I want to recommend a book to you that has just been released – God’s Double Agent by Bob Fu. The book is his autobiography.  Bob lives in Midland, Texas and directs a non-profit called China Aid Association. China Aid is dedicated to exposing human rights violations in China and works hard to advance the cause of religious freedom there.

I have served on China Aid’s board of directors with Bob for a number of years.  I have traveled to China on two occasions to meet and pray with house church pastors and human rights attorneys that Bob encourages and defends on the World stage.  I want you to know that Bob and those Chinese Christians like him are the real deal.

Without giving the book away, I will just tell you that Bob grew up impoverished in China.  He did not know God and was a student activist in the years of the Tiananmen Square protest.  He became a follower of Jesus after being disillusioned by the failure of student movements in China and the government crackdown on freedom. Eventually he was imprisoned for his faith and escaped to the United States with his wife Heidi after being released.  Since then he has dedicated himself to promoting human rights and freedom of religion in China. The book is his story.

Bob’s story is the story of many believers in China who have risked everything for the kingdom of God and who have paid the price through imprisonment, confiscation of homes and finances, brutal interrogations, house arrests, kidnapping and threats by government representatives, and so forth.

But as you hear their stories, you also hear of the miracles that God has granted them.  Some have experienced supernatural escapes from prison that echo Peter’s escape in the book of Acts when an angel led him out of a Roman prison in the middle of the night. Many have experienced supernatural healings from wounds inflicted by torture and supernatural protection and provision while on the run. If we could detail the stories of the miraculous they would make their own large volume.  Many of those stories cannot be told now because it would put these men and women of faith in the sights of the communist regime again.

Many American Christians remain skeptical about God’s amazing miracles around the world and ask, “If God still moves in miracles like we see in the N.T., why have I never seen one?”  I’ll offer two possibilities.

First of all, perhaps these believers have never really asked for a miracle.  James says, “You have not because you ask not.”  I’ve heard too many prayers asking God to help the doctors do their best to save a loved one.  Why don’t we ask God to save their loved one without the doctors?  So many times we pray for the ordinary and receive it. Doctors are going to do their best with or without the help of Jesus. So many of us have been trained to not believe in the miraculous that we can’t bring ourselves to ask for it even when we are desperate.

A second reason a believer may have never seen a miracle of the “Acts quality” is that they have never put themselves in a place where the power of God was unquestionably needed.  God shows up when his people step out in faith and risk death, imprisonment, failure, or mockery if God doesn’t manifest his power.

In China, simply to be a member of a “non-sanctioned” church places a believer in constant jeopardy.  Most of our brothers and sisters there are helpless before the State.  God has to show up in miraculous form on many occasions for the church to continue to exist and grow.

But even in America, where torture and imprisonment for believing in Jesus is not yet a reality, believers can still step out in faith and put themselves in situations where if God doesn’t come through there will be at least disappointment or embarrassment.

Believe me, it is risky to step into a hospital room full of unbelievers or Christians who don’t believe in miracles and pray for direct, supernatural healing while binding spirits of infirmity at the same time. It is risky to speak to a stranger at Starbucks and tell them you believe God has a word for them and you have a prayer for them.  It is risky to talk to your hell-raising brother-in-law about Jesus.  It is certainly risky to place your faith on the platform when you are running for political office or to speak out against sin in a culture that covers everything with the whitewash of “tolerance.” I know families who have put every penny into a risky business venture because they believed the Lord was directing them to do so.

The list can go one.  But in those moments you need a miracle and when you choose to step into those moments often enough you begin to see God move in power.  Bob Fu and many Chinese believers step into those moments frequently with a kind of reckless abandon. They see miracles.  I personally know many American Christians who will not settle for the ordinary but lay it all on the line by asking for the extraordinary in the presence of unbelievers. They see miracles all the time as well.

If you want to see God move in your life like he moved in the Bible then put yourself in situations where the natural will not get it done. You will desperately need Jesus and he will be faithful to show up.  After all, nobody loves a good miracle more than Jesus.

I am convinced that most Christians continue to walk in brokenness for decades even though they have been born again.  The promise of being raised to walk in newness of life or in being a new creation is a potential transformation for the believer.  Many of the promises of God’s kingdom are there for the taking but they must be taken.  In Christ we are given a position of righteousness and holiness but we know our condition does not always match our position.  Transformation is the process that begins to make our condition line up with our position. Although transformation comes by the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit we are required to partner with him in that change.

Many believers recognize their brokenness and their sin but simply feel shame and condemnation while crying out to God to change them.  Many of us are waiting for the “transformation fairy” to whack us with his magic wand while we are sleeping so that we wake up a changed person with no effort on our part.  The radical life change God promises is our promised land flowing with milk and honey.  When God brought Israel from Egyptian bondage to that promised land, he told them the land was there for the taking.  He even promised to go before them to drive out their enemies but they could not sit on the wilderness side of the Jordan while he did all the heavy lifting. They would, in fact, have to enter into many battles with the enemy in partnership with their God to experience the fullness of the promise. In doing so, God intended for them to grow in faith and in their relationship with him. God is relational so his transforming work in our lives will be in partnership with him.

Our part is actually simple.  We only have to open ourselves up to Jesus totally and invite him to come in and do whatever is needed to heal us and set us free.  It’s simple but not so easy because few of us totally trust Jesus with every part of our life…the good stuff, the bad stuff, the hidden stuff, and the stuff we locked away so long ago that we can’t remember where we put it.  For most of us, it is the hidden stuff and the locked away stuff that we hold close and refuse to entrust to Jesus.  We think if he ever discovered those things he would reject us or shame us or not protect us from the engulfing pain of those memories and so we don’t acknowledge then or surrender them to his ways.

Opening yourself up to Jesus is very much like going to a doctor.  First, you must acknowledge that something is wrong that exceeds your own ability to diagnose or heal.  You may deny the problem, mask it, or medicate it.  But if you do, you only burn great amounts of energy attempting to manage or hide symptoms rather than affecting a cure.

Your part is to seek out the physician and tell Him everything.  Having told him everything, you then must allow Him to administer his own tests.  You may have to submit to poking and prodding, deep tissue scans, stress tests, or blood work. But to withhold information or to refuse to submit to His scans will put you at risk. Even after you have submitted to His diagnosis, you must faithfully follow His treatment plan…not just the parts you like, not just when you feel like it, but faithfully and consistently for deep healing to occur.

As we partner with the Great Physician, we must go to him and tell him everything.  We must invite him to evaluate our condition, scan us with his word and his Spirit, and prescribe treatment.  After his thorough diagnosis of our souls, we will still need to take his prescriptions and stick with the regimen until healing and change has occurred.  After that, we will need to return to him regularly for checkups to prevent our old condition from re-establishing itself. Then, we will need to walk out a healthy spiritual regimen to keep the flesh, the world, and the enemy from poisoning our souls once again.

But all of that begins with a courageous decision to abandon our protective walls and trust Jesus with everything in our past, present, and future. That is our part and it requires faith. Your flesh will push back against the decision and demons will scream at the thought.  But Jesus is faithful, gentle, trustworthy, and skilled.  The truth is that he already knows what you are hiding from him and he has not rejected you.  He continues to knock on the door hoping for an invitation to come in and bring his healing touch with him. I hope you will trust him today and give it all to the Healer, the one who died for you.

I believe it was John Wimber who used to say that “faith” is spelled “r-i-s-k.” Life without risk requires no faith.  A life that truly attempts to emulate the life of Christ is full of risk.   I know couples and individuals who live in the most dangerous regions of the world to share the gospel with radical Muslims.  I know couples and individuals who lead underground house churches in China and North Korea who face the real possibility of beatings and imprisonment every day.

These are followers of Jesus who depend entirely on the power and protection of heaven for their ministries and these are also the followers who see God do amazing things on a regular basis – healings, dramatic and improbable conversions, miraculous provision, words of knowledge, miraculous protection, and so on.  If you attend a church that is involved in world missions at any level you have heard similar stories.

As you heard those stories you probably applauded these great men and women of faith but thought that such a life of risk and miracles was beyond you.  You may have thought that you would love to see the power of God manifested in such ways but assume such miracles are reserved for missionaries in third world countries. Or, perhaps, a bit of cynicism deep in your heart questioned whether these “Acts-like” moves of God actually happen anywhere anymore.  After all, you have never seen such things with your own eyes.

Here is the thing. The economy of heaven is abundant but not wasteful.  The power of God is not poured out where it is not needed and it is not needed where there is no risk. I will also tell you that “risk” comes in many forms for believers and not just in third world nations.  Believing God and acting on that belief is risky even in America.  We typically don’t risk death or imprisonment (although that seems to be on our horizon) but we do risk rejection, embarrassment, and disappointment when we pray for miracles.

Christianity that believes our faith is simply about living moral lives, fatalistically accepting the ebb and flow of life on a fallen world, and first experiencing the power of God at the resurrection takes no faith beyond believing that Jesus died for our sins. A greater and more biblical level of faith is required when you begin to ask for miracles and even more when you begin to participate in those miracles.

Even in America, acting in faith involves risk. Sharing your faith with a close friend or family member risks rejection and damaging the relationship.  Sharing your faith with a stranger also risks rejection and ridicule or suddenly feeling the responsibility of helping a new Christian grow and deal with all the baggage.

Praying for actual miracles in the realm of healing, broken marriages, children lost to addictions, and provision risks disappointment. What if the person you prayed for isn’t healed? What if the marriage isn’t saved? What if your child continues living on the street fighting addiction?  How do you handle that?  What do you think about God and his promises regarding prayer?  What do you think about your own faith and your own relationship with God?

When you step out in faith there is risk and some of the risk is found in your own disappointment if you don’t see your prayers answered as you anticipated.  Then like Jacob, you have to wrestle with God, your faith, and your theology.  Do you keep on praying for supernatural healing even after your loved one dies? Do you keep praying for troubled marriages even though one still ended in divorce? Do you keep trying to believe God for your child?  Faith says, “yes,” even in the face of past disappointment.

If you are a believer who only expects the ordinary and only prays for the ordinary you will rarely face disappointment or a crisis of faith. You will rarely wrestle with your understanding of God. But stepping out and asking for the extraordinary like praying for supernatural healing in a hospital room where everyone else is praying for an easy passing is risky.  But that is what faith does and that is when God shows up in supernatural ways – even in America.

I believe the reason we don’t see the miraculous move of God in America as we do in third world nations is that we often have been trained not to ask for miracles so we “have not because we ask not.” Sometimes it is because we trust in science and medicine rather than the God who created the very things science has not yet understood.  We often pray as if God’s ability can only match what science and medicine can do in the natural and so we only ask God to do what science and medicine can do without him.  Sometimes we fail to ask because we don’t want to seem extreme or weird to our religious friends.

God does not pour out power when his people make no demand on that power.  The demand comes when they ask for the impossible in the name of Jesus.  If you want to see God move in amazing ways, you must place yourself in risky positions where nothing happens unless God shows up.  At some point, the joy of being willing to risk will overwhelm the fear that was once attached to that risk.  As go further into deep water with Jesus, we will see greater and greater things.  So…swallow hard and ask big. It is absolutely God’s will for your life.