Giving God Extra!

Give God more! has this ever been a goal of yours or should we only give God what He ask for? In this prayer, we get to see how God responds to you wanting to give God extra. 

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Transcript

Press means to apply force. When God said press, prayer reaches every single situation. He gave us permission to apply force to every situation that we will go through.

And in this podcast, we are going to learn to apply force to what's applying pressure to us. Greetings, everybody. Welcome to the Press Podcast.

So glad you're back with us today. So glad to be in the land of the living. That alone is an answer to prayer, that God is still here, we're still breathing, and that means there's still hope.

As long as he reigns and he's in control, there is nothing that is impossible with God. It's literally one of my favorite scriptures, for with men it is impossible, but not with God. For with God, all things are possible.

That scripture alone helped me to ask big. I ask big. It changed the asked God to do things.

It changed my expectations of him. It changed how I approached him, because he doesn't see impossible things. With him, all things are just possible.

So whatever you're facing today, even if it looks like it's an impossible thing, remember that's not a category that God has for his to-do list. He alone knows that with him, all things are possible. So I encourage you today, stay with him, and stay with this Press Journey as we're going to the book of 2 Samuel.

We're going to find our prayer today in chapter 7. David has now become king of Judah and Israel and unified them. The Ark of the Covenant has now been returned, and it is in place. And the Bible says of David that he had rest round about him from all of his enemies.

The Lord is truly blessing him. But even with the rest he had, David was not content, because he looked and realized that he has a house and that the Lord has no house. He said in chapter 7 verse 2, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwelleth within curtains.

And Nathan the prophet said to the king, go do all that is in thine heart, for the Lord is with thee. So basically, Nathan tells him, go ahead, deal with the Lord's putting in you. But that wasn't quite the word of the Lord just yet.

It's an interesting thing how we can talk from our hearts and wish well upon somebody and want them to do something, because we believe it's a good thing. And even we as godly people can do this, where we're like, oh sure, I know the Lord will bless you doing that, or I know the Lord will bless you doing this. It's kind of what Nathan's reply was.

Do what's in your heart. God is with you. But it came to pass in verse 4, that that night the word of the Lord came unto Nathan saying, go and tell my servant David, thus saith the Lord, shalt thou build me a house for me to dwell in.

Whereas I've not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but I've walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I've walked with all the children of Israel, spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, why build ye not me a house of cedar? Basically, the Lord is coming to Nathan and he's saying, this is what I want you to tell David. In all these years, have I ever asked for a house? Did I ever ask anybody to build it for me? Have I not still walked with you? The Lord lets it be known, I'm not asking you to build me a house.

He says, now therefore, so shalt thou say unto my servant David, thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheep coat, from following the sheep to be ruler of my people over Israel. And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more.

Neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as before time. And as since the time that I commanded Judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies, also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seat after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men.

But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established forever.

According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. So what happens is, Nathan is having this vision, and basically what the Lord says to him is, go tell David, I'm going to bless his house. He wants to build me a house, but I'm going to build his house for generations.

I'm going to bless his seed, but I'm not going to allow him to build me a house. I will, however, allow his son to do it. I find this so interesting because of the love that David had towards God, that he wanted to give him something more than what God was even asking for.

A lot of people, especially nowadays, they look for the bare minimum. Well, it's not wrong, is it? I'm not going to go to hell over it, am I? Who wants to really have somebody who loves you with the bare minimum? If my husband had approached me when we were looking today and said, look, I just want to know what it takes to keep you. I'm not going to do anything more than that.

Will you settle for... That wouldn't have been a very appealing offer to me. I didn't want to be loved with the bare minimum, and yet oftentimes with God we're dealing with, well, I tried. I prayed for two seconds.

I only made a few little mistakes, or I don't think God really cares about that. I don't think he's going to judge me for that. And we find ourselves lowering the standard of what it means to love God back.

One, he said, if you love me, keep my commandments. But just in general, love requires communication. It requires interaction.

It requires respect. And all of those things pertain to God as well. And David loved the Lord, and he loved him so much he wanted to give him something.

For us, we may not have a house to give him, but we get to give him us. Our bodies become the house of the Lord. That's why we don't treat our bodies every kind of way.

We don't put everything on ourselves. We don't just do what we want to do with our body. Why? Because it's the temple of God.

People were recently upset about a pastor having played worldly or secular music in his service, and they were upset by the song choice, and the fact that he let this music in, claimed to be a church, claimed to have all these people be converted that day, but you led them down the wrong way, and you're doing exactly what they do in the club. And people were really upset about that because they're like, oh, it's a church. How can you possibly play this music and do these things in a church? And when I looked at it and thought about it, I had a lot of thoughts.

But the loudest thought was this. Many of us play whatever music and put whatever in our current temples. What makes you think we should respect more a building made with man's hands than we do the temple that the Lord now chooses to dwell in, which is us? First Corinthians 3.16 says, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Don't you understand? You're where he lives.

What you hear, what you see, what you do, is like taking it to him. You might as well do it on the altar. You might as well take it to church because we can't respect the building more than the temple he died to save.

With that said, our goal is not to love God with a bare minimum kind of love. And that's what David reflects here. And because he loved God so much, he wanted to give him something.

The Lord honored the desire of David's heart, though he did not say yes, as Nathan originally said, he did not say yes to David building the temple. Instead, he says, I'm going to have your son do it and I'm going to establish your name, your kingdom forever. I'm going to be with your seed.

Now, that is a bigger blessing as a parent than anything I can imagine to know that my kids will be blessed. My seed will be blessed. God didn't just speak to us now.

He spoke to his forever. And that is exciting. And that is what drives David to pray here.

In verse 18 of chapter seven, the Bible says, Then went King David in and sat before the Lord and he said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that thou hast brought me hither to? I don't know if you've ever been praying and God literally just blew your mind. You went to talk to him or you had asked him for something and he did it. And you just sit there with your mouth open like, wow, what would make an awesome God respond to me the way he did? This is what David's talking about.

This is what David's praying. Who am I? How could I earn this? How could I deserve this? He knows he couldn't. He says, And this was yet a small thing in thy sights.

O Lord God, but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord God? And what can David say more unto thee? For thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant. God, I don't even have the words.

What what else can I say? For thy word's sake and according to thine own heart hast thou done all these great things to make thy servant know them. Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God, for there is none like thee. Neither is there any God beside thee.

According to all that we have heard with our ears and what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself and to make him a name and to do for you great things and terrible for thy land before thy people, which thou redeemest to thee from Egypt, from the nations and from their gods. For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people, Israel, to be a people unto thee forever. And thou, Lord, art become their God.

And now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house, establish it forever and do as thou hast said. And let thy name be magnified forever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel. And let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.

For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel has revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house. Therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee. And now, O Lord God, thou art that God and thy words be true.

And thou has promised this goodness unto thy servant. Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant that it may continue forever before thee. For thou, O Lord God, has spoken it.

And with thy blessing, let the house of thy servant be blessed forever. A quick question might be, why is he praying for what God already said? Remember, prayer is not just about asking God questions. It's not about just putting in your requests or your orders.

Prayer is about alignment and communication with God. And the word amen, even though it's not in here, the word amen means typically it is and shall be so, or so be it. It brings the audience into agreement with whatever the speaker has said.

Amen. He is praying an amen kind of prayer. He's praying a prayer that comes into agreement with what God has said.

It's not because he has questions about it. It's because he's agreeing with it. He's thanking God for it.

He's worshiping God for it. And he's believing it. This prayer is coming back to the blesser and saying, amen.

It is and shall be so. So let it be. Have your way.

And thank you. It's a prayer of faith because he knows he's not going to see this promise. And yet he believes it wholeheartedly that the Lord is going to do it.

He thanks God for letting him know what God is going to do with his family, know what he's going to do with his people. God didn't have to do that. But this is a prayer of faith and a praise of faith and an amen.

When you don't look to give God the bare minimum, he doesn't look to give it to you either. You really can't outdo him. So I don't know what God is asking for from you today or what's been put in your heart that he's maybe not even asked you, but you're like, God, you deserve.

Talk to him about it and seek God. Give him what he deserves and follow his way of giving it to him and watch God meet you in a way that you want to say amen. Today, I pray that as you are giving God your best, you'll understand you'll get his too.

And that prayer really reaches every single situation. Join the movement, join the community, like, share, and subscribe to this podcast. Visit us at PressToPray.com or find us on Instagram or Facebook.

Did you know that when you are quiet, your voice is missing to God's ears? I know some of us have prayed and we're wondering how long should I pray about this? Why should I pray if God already knows? How will I know God is answering? And what do I do when I feel like God's not listening? But God is listening for your voice. It's too quiet in this world for the troubles we have. You have to raise your voice and God wants to hear from you.

It's Too Quiet, a book about prayer, is designed to answer your prayer questions and build your faith. Visit PressToPray.com.