Title: What do you have that God can use?
Theme:
Text: 1 Samuel 17:31 - 40
1 Samuel 17:31-40 Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him. (32) Then David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." (33) And Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth." (34) But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep his father's sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, (35) I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. (36) Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God." (37) Moreover David said, "The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you!" (38) So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. (39) David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them." So David took them off. (40) Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.
David was preparing to fight the giant. Saul still had in his mind that this giant would be defeated by natural means. How do you face a warrior? You fight like the warrior fights, with what the warrior has.
Goliath had armor and a sword. So, I guess Saul thought David needed one also. But this was no natural battle. This battle was bigger than the giant. This was God’s battle. David needed more than natural means.
But David also needed to use that which he was familiar with. Not looking at what someone else has.
This seems to be a common principle when it comes to receiving a miracle from the Lord.
Other Stories
Moses and his staff – Exodus 4:1 - 5 - Principle: “God will use your story”
Exodus 4:1 Then Moses answered and said, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, 'The Lord has not appeared to you.' 2 So the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." 3 And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), 5 "that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."
The staff of Moses was his testimony. This is where the shepherds of the Old Testament carved out their life.
Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Previous Verse
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Overcame “the accuser of our brethren”. It is no longer a secret, God saved me.
Widow and the flour – Principle: “You have to trust God first”
1 Kings 17:8-16 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, (9) "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." (10) So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink." (11) And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." (12) So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." (13) And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. (14) For thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.' " (15) So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. (16) The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.
Widow and the oil – 2 Kings 4:1 – 7 Principle: “God will use what you have, you have to gather the materials”
2 Kings 4:1-7 A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves." (2) So Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil." (3) Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors--empty vessels; do not gather just a few. (4) And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones." (5) So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. (6) Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not another vessel." So the oil ceased. (7) Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest."
Jesus feeding the 5,000 and more – Matthew 14:13-21 – Principle: “Share with someone”
Being selfish is not the key to a miracle
Matthew 14:13-21 When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. (14) And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. (15) When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." (16) But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." (17) And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." (18) He said, "Bring them here to Me." (19) Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. (20) So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. (21) Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Peter and John – Principle: “You can always pray” – Acts 3:1 - 10
Act 3:1-10 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. (2) And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; (3) who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. (4) And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." (5) So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. (6) Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." (7) And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. (8) So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them--walking, leaping, and praising God. (9) And all the people saw him walking and praising God. (10) Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Sometimes all you have is prayer, but that is enough.
James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 16 Confess your trespasses [23] to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
MSG 16 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. 17 Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't--not a drop for three and a half years. 18 Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
Conclusion
God wants to give you the victory. Too many times we are waiting on someone else to “do it for us”. We are waiting on a prayer.
