Far More Abundantly

Pastor Leon Aguilera

 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,  – Ephesians 3:20

How big can you dream? Most of us have big, bold imaginations. We can hope big, wish big, and dream big.

But do we pray that way? Maybe we believe that God can answer us, but secretly we fear He won’t. So we give Him an easy out with our limp, little prayers, never daring to ask for something big and bold because we’re afraid He won’t deliver.

Let’s challenge the content and assumptions of our prayers. After all, He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” We can ask for and think of a lot—and He can do more! What if we take Him at His Word? What if we align our prayers with this biblical description and start praying big?

This principle has revolutionized my prayer life, and maybe it could do the same for you. Visualize your prayers as already answered. As you’re verbalizing your requests to the Father, picture them done.

Let’s say you’re praying for a prodigal child. In your mind, picture the event you are asking for: “Lord, I can see him returning to You. I see him standing beside me in church, singing Your praises, delighted to be in Your presence. I can picture him sitting in his room reading Your Word and letting what You are teaching him filter into his conversations so I know You’re renewing his mind.” Visualize that prayer fulfilled, and then say, “I believe that’s going to happen, Lord.”

Over the past few years, I have lifted many crises to God in prayer: serious health challenges, ministry catastrophes, and wandering children. I express it as vividly and clearly to God as I’m able, believing it’s part of the future He has in store for me. No, I’m not trying to dictate to God how He should answer, but I’ve found that lurking behind some of our hesitation to ask is the fear that God won’t answer. The willingness to vividly imagine what God’s answer could look like is a much more definite statement of faith than half-letting-Him-off-the-hook with a timid prayer. Are we really afraid God can’t deliver what we can imagine? The Apostle Paul wasn’t. He knew that whatever he asked for, God could do “do exceeding abundantly.” Are those just words, or do they express an absolute faith we can put into practice when we pray?

Picturing the prayer as answered is a beneficial aspect of the discipline of prayer. When we visualize our prayers answered, we may discover that God delights in proving us not bold or vivid enough! He does far more than we ask or think. And the biggest surprises aren’t just the ways He answers our prayers, which may shock us, but the ways He changes us and grows our faith in the process.

What God Has Given

Pastor Leon Aguilera

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  – Isaiah 9:6

                We all have favorite memories of Christmas. Maybe it’s a family tradition, a scene from childhood, or a special song or the first snow that you connect with at Christmas. It might be a certain aroma like evergreens, Christmas dinner, or a recollection of all these things. The scenes and tastes of the season are wonderful things—but none of them are Christmas.

Those warm memories are ours to enjoy, as long as we don’t make them the main thing. It’s not Me-mas; it’s Christmas. Without Jesus there would be no celebration. Without Christ, there is no Christmas. There’s only something a lot less. 

Christmas is about giving—it’s about what God has given to us. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6). In that phrase we find summarized all the wonder of the Incarnation—God becoming flesh and dwelling among us (John 1). The human side of Jesus was the child born, and all the lessons wrapped up in the timing, location, and status of His birth stand alongside the awesome truth that the baby in the manger was God’s Son given to us and for us.

Then, like now, the world was largely oblivious to what God was doing. The Roman census was a grand opportunity for travel, profit, and networking. But in the middle of all that frantic human activity God came to earth. Only those who were attentive knew; only those willing to be directed saw the newborn. God came to His own, John tells us, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (John 1:11). God didn’t make a grand entrance—He came under cover as one of us.

Jesus’ arrival in Bethlehem fulfilled not only Isaiah’s prophecy but also God’s purposes all the way back to the Fall of humanity. God first promised Christmas in the Garden of Eden. While Adam and Eve listened in, He informed Satan, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15). Jesus was the gift God gave for the longing within us from the beginning. As the carol writer put it, “The hopes and fears of all our years" were met in Bethlehem that night.

When you remember God came to earth on a mission, Christmas becomes truly life-changing. He revealed Himself as accessible. Jesus is Emmanuel—God with us. He put the glory of God on display at the human level. As John wrote of the Jesus he knew: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).

When you realize Jesus came with you in mind, willing to do whatever it took to make you fit for eternity with Him, that gift in the manger takes on personal significance.  Have you received that gift—God’s Son—as your Savior?

If you miss God’s glory at the heart of the story, you miss Christmas. Don’t get distracted from the best part. This year, sit among the events and moments that surround the Savior's birth and remember God’s glory is the center of it all—seen in His Son Jesus Christ. 

Breaking Through to God in Prayer

Pastor Leon Aguilera

Do you ever feel like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling?  Ever wonder if your prayers are getting through to God?  Believe me, you’re not alone.  We’ve all been there—but it doesn’t have to be that way. We can stir God to action with our prayers.

However, it’s not a given. Too often our prayers don’t touch God’s heart.  The result?  He doesn’t act on our behalf.  What we often fail to realize is that we are the ones preventing God from being moved to answer our prayers.  We put up barriers in our relationship with Him, and unfortunately it’s quite common.

Now don’t misunderstand me. I’m definitely not suggesting that we can somehow put God in a box.  We can’t.  That is man-centered, humanistic theology, and it is not what the Bible teaches. What I am suggesting, though, is that if there’s a problem in prayer—if your requests are not being answered regularly, specifically, sometimes very dramatically and supernaturally—the problem is not God; the problem is you.  We need to dispense with the notion that we’re the ones willing to make this prayer thing work, while God’s reluctant.  The reverse is true: God is ready and willing to make this prayer thing work.  We’re the problem.

Unanswered prayer is not some mysterious, inexplicable problem.  James 5:15-16 is key to understanding this essential truth.  It says, “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Notice three central elements in these verses.  First, you must pray in faith believing that God will answer.  Second, your prayers must be effective (or fervent).  Your prayers cannot be effective if you have barriers between you and God. Third, you must be a righteous person.  If you are not living according to the Lord’s commands, your prayers will be hindered.  Fully understanding these truths is essential to experiencing the victorious and dynamic prayer life that God wants you to have.

God has made some incredible promises about prayer in His Word.  Growing up, We were taught to distrust them.  These promises weren’t for us; they were only for the apostles, or for other people in other places at other times—or so we were told.  I now know that to be false teaching.  God’s promises about prayer are for you and for me today.  Here’s just a sampling:

·         Matthew 21:22 – “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

·         Luke 11:9 – “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

·         John 14:13 – “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

·         Jeremiah 33:3 – “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

The Father longs to answer your prayers in amazing ways.  Are you standing in His way?  Are you hindering Him from answering you?  Get on God’s program, and get ready to experience a supernatural breakthrough in your prayer life. 

No matter what’s happening, no matter how dark the moment, God is in control. He can be explicitly trusted. He’s working out a purpose beyond what you can imagine. Some of it you’ll see in this life; some of it you’ll see in the life to come. Give thanks to God—always and for everything! Go for it. Thank Him for the hardest part of your life. Just say, “Thank You, God, even for this,” and trust in His steadfast love which endures forever.