What if I told you that last week, when I
went home from preaching, I had leftovers? And what if I told you that it was
fresh from the oven to the point where God was speaking to me so strongly after last
Sunday when I preached about When They Found Out, I had to call select members of our staff… I
had to call all the staff who aren't saved yet, all of the ones who are under-sanctified
and need an extra dose of Jesus Christ, plus Holly. I said, "Let's get
in here and get into this word." So, I'm going to share with you again
from a Scripture I made reference to. I was writing a remix of "Graves Into Gardens"
early this morning. I woke up at 4:30, and the Lord said, "I searched the
world, and it nearly killed me!" How many of y'all, you searched the world
and it almost took you out, but God had a plan to keep you in? That's the 2020 "Graves Into
Gardens." "It nearly killed me!" But it didn't. I want to preach today from John, chapter 6. If
you can stand where you are, that would be great, right there in your living room or kitchen.
I know many of our teams are starting to meet together in watch parties. I'm going to
rename watch parties. I don't know what yet. I looked at it a little bit this morning.
Like I said, I've been up a long time. So I looked at that as well, waiting
for this to happen, waiting to preach. I don't want to call it watch anymore, because
I really don't want you to think of it as a spectator sport. When God wants to build the
church, before he gathers us, he will scatter us. I think part of what God is doing right now is
teaching us to take church to wherever we are. We're going to see a great expansion
in this season. I believe that. But for now, we call them watch parties.
I didn't tell the staff that yet. You know how I talked about When They Found
Out? Well, they found out just now like you did. So, we're going to rename it, but I don't
know what yet. Everybody worshiping today, whether you're just by yourself
or you're not by yourself… Even if you're by yourself, you're not by
yourself, and I want you to know that. It's a privilege to stand here today behind this sturdy
podium and preach God's unfailing Word to you. John, chapter 6, verse 5. This is the Word of the
Lord. "When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, 'Where
shall we buy bread for these people to eat?' He asked this only to test him, for he
already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, 'It would take more than half
a year's wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!' Another of his disciples, Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 'Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small
fish, but how far will they go among so many?' Jesus said, 'Have the people sit
down.'" Sit down and you'll find out. "There was plenty of grass in
that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there).
Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated [a
little bitty bite, but they didn't get enough]." I shouldn't put these Scriptures on the screen
so y'all wouldn't know I messed it up on purpose. "…as much as they wanted. He did the same with
the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, 'Gather the pieces
that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.'" He's speaking that same thing over your life. Do you
know that? God is not going to let it be wasted. God is not going to waste a season. God doesn't
waste a second. No, no, no. It won't be wasted. "So they gathered them and filled
twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left
over by those who had eaten." To get to my title, go back to verse
6. "He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going
to do." The title of this message is Did I Ask? Hey, would you do me a favor? Put something in
the chat for me or write it down with an ink pen. When you put this down, I'll explain
it after. It starts with a question. What starts with a question? Everything.
Whatever it is, it starts with a question. When people will ask me, "Where
do you get your messages from…?" And I say, "People ask me." It's
not like people ask me that much. I think maybe 10 people have asked me that in
the last couple of years. I see people get on social media all the time, and they're like, "I
wanted to hop on here. A lot of y'all have been asking…" I'm like, "A lot of y'all? You mean,
like, your sister? Who is 'a lot of y'all'?" Do you ever wonder this stuff? "Nobody is asking." That's what I want to say,
but anyway. "Nobody asked, but I'm going to tell you anyway." Since you didn't ask, where I get my
sermons from usually is it starts with a question. I'm kind of multitasking here, because I have all
of these campus pastors who came over to help me preach today. I think of you as the sous chefs.
You know, you have the chef and the sous chef. I thought it would be good to tell you
"Always start your message with a question, not an answer." If we come to the text, if we come
to the Bible, if we come to God with an answer, we're coming from our minds, but a good
message doesn't come from your mind; it comes from the Spirit of God,
and the Spirit of God is in you. The message I preached last week, the weeks before
that, any good message I've ever preached… And I'm not saying they're all good, but if it's good,
it's because I didn't start with an answer; I started with a question. So, I got to John 6,
and I was telling Holly by asking the question, "Where did the baskets come from?" This is
what I do while you're out doing a real job. I think about stuff the normal person is way too
busy to think about, but I have to think about it. It said they didn't have enough
for everybody to have a bite, but then they had 12 baskets. I was like, "Well,
maybe these were very, very small baskets." No. The same word for basket that is used to talk
about when they lowered Paul down from a basket. If Paul was skinny, it was
a 150-pound basket capacity. So, I'm thinking, "How did they at one moment
not have a bite, and then at the end they had 12 baskets?" I never found out, but I moved
on to another question. Not every question gets answered. I'll let you know when I find out.
I read some theories, but I never really found an answer to that. What I do
think is a better question… This is the art of good living.
Right? Asking a better question. "Jesus is the answer for the world today…"
Have you ever heard that? That might be just a Baptist chorus or something like
that. "Above him there's no other, Jesus is the way." But it said Jesus
is the answer. Jesus asks 307 questions in the four gospels. While we're rewriting
songs, let's do it. "Jesus is the question…" We want answers, but we have a God
who would rather ask questions. Since God asks questions and Jesus asks questions,
I thought it would be good for me to be like him and ask a question. So, the second question I
asked was… The Scripture says they all had enough. They all ate as much as they wanted. They went
home with leftovers, 12 basketfuls. I couldn't figure out where the baskets came from, but I
did want to know, "When did it become enough?" In a visual sense, I wanted to
know, "When did it become enough?" I thought, "Well, they put it in Jesus' hands.
They beat up the boy and took his lunch." You always thought the boy volunteered his
lunch. There is no textual evidence that he was a willing participant in this miracle.
I think the disciples got desperate. You know how you do when you really need something from
God, and you get desperate? You're like, "I'm normally not a 'lift your hands' kind of person,
but I think I'll lift them right about now. I need you, Lord! I've got questions. I'm running
out of money, and I'm full up on questions. I'm running out of wisdom, and
I've got a lot of questions." So, I don't know whether the boy offered
it or not. I don't know if the disciples asked. I don't know if they asked him or
if they just took it, but what I do know is that there was eventually found in
the crowd five loaves and two fish. How many loaves? Five loaves. What kind
of loaves? Barley loaves. What's the cheapest kind of bread? Barley. So, the cheapest
stuff produced one of the greatest miracles. Give him praise that God is a master
chef! Gordon Ramsay has nothing on my God. I wish I knew a more current
chef, but that's all I have. So, what I wanted to know was "When did it become
enough?" When did it go from a bite, like Philip said…? "It wouldn't even be a bite." How many of
you feel like that right now? "It wouldn't even be a bite. I don't have enough time or close
to enough time or even if I had more time, I don't have enough energy. And even if I had
more energy, I wouldn't know what to do with it, because I don't have enough wisdom to
apply the energy to the right places." That begs the question…When did it go from bite to buffet? What happened in between? This
is what I do. I ask a question, and that's the wrestling process. Have you ever heard of
when Jacob wrestled with God in the Bible? Do you know what God gave him? A question. "What
is your name?" It starts with a question. You know the nation of Israel? That was Jacob's
new name. The 12 tribes came out of Jacob when he found out his name. He thought his
name was Jacob, but God asked him a question. "Who are you really? I know what
people call you, but who are you really?" It starts with a question. Everything
you have ever done in your life has started with a belief you had about who you were.
"Who am I?" It starts with a question. So, I wondered, "When did
it become enough?" because I'm wondering in my own life,
"When will I become enough?" There's going to be a magic Monday morning when
I look at my bank account and I'm like, "Oh, that's plenty." I know it's coming. I had like
10 milestones that were supposed to be that, and they're gone, so I know it's going to
be the next one. It's going to be enough. I know I'm eventually going to get
enough compliments on my preaching where I'm going to know I've got this, where
I'm not going to wake up at 4:30 going, "Should I call it off? Is it too late? Will they
be too disappointed?" When did it become enough? Because I'm wondering that. I wondered
that at 14. I wondered that at 15. I wonder that at 40. When did it become
enough? I was just asking the question. What got us last week… We found out
it didn't become enough all at once. Verse 13 says, "So they gathered them
and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves…" All 5,000 men
were fed, but the loaves never got more than five. Look at it. They gathered the 12 baskets… I don't know where the baskets came from, but I
know where the miracle came from. It came from the five. It comes from the five.
It never became more on the surface. It was never enough to the naked eye. There was
never a moment where it became what it could be, but we learned last week, it became enough every
time they went back to the one who was enough. Every time I go back to him,
every time I lift my eyes, every time I praise him, every time I step… His
Word is a lamp unto my feet. Every time I go back. So, it was never enough on the surface, but
it kept coming. I wonder, is there anybody with that testimony? "It was never enough, but it
kept coming. I wasn't smart enough, but it kept coming. I wasn't good enough, but mercy kept
coming. It wasn't enough, but it kept coming." Keep it coming, Jesus! How many have that
testimony? It was never enough all at once, but it kept coming. When I tried to bite
off more than I could chew, I choked, but when I said, "Give me this day my daily
bread," it wasn't enough for tomorrow, but it kept coming! Bread kept coming! Hope kept coming! Joy
kept coming! Peace kept coming, and piece by piece he kept it coming. I'm not praising
him because I've got it all; I'm praising him because he kept it coming. He kept it coming. When did it become enough?
In the process they saw the provision. So, it starts with a question. That's how my
message started. When I get in the question, that makes me wrestle, and when I
wrestle with it, I get stronger. That's why he asked 307 questions,
and he only directly answered eight. "Jesus is the question…" I know you thought
God's logo was an exclamation point. "God said it! I believe it!" But what about Eve? "Did God really say…?" Sin entered
the world through a question. It starts with a question. "Did God
really say…?" It starts with a question. My marriage to the beautiful, illustrious Holly
Furtick, the first lady of what I believe to be the greatest ministry in the world today
with the greatest people God ever made… This message started with a question.
My marriage started with a question, and it wasn't, "Will you marry me?" Check
out this Christian pickup line. We were at a Christian college. I said, "Do you
want to join my summer ministry team?" It was a leading question. I was headed
somewhere with my question, because if I could get her on the Joyful Sound bus, unloading
JBL EON speakers in Loris, South Carolina, I could get her to Charlotte, and she
would be my wife, and we would be marital. We would do marital things and have marital union
and have a mission for Jesus Christ. It started with a question, the question before the question.
I'm giving the singles' seminar right now. Some of you boys need to ask. I mean, directly
ask. Put it like this. Eric is in sales, and he taught me this. He said, "Don't ask 'Do you
want to go out with me?' Say, 'Coffee or dinner?'" Don't ask a yes or no. Ask a this or that.
"Coffee or dinner? What do you prefer? Breakfast or dinner? Italian or…" Give them
an option, but don't let one of them be "No." "Do you want to be on my ministry team?" Try that.
It worked for me. It started with a question. When I asked y'all to come with me to start the
church, that started with a question too. Chunks and Amy Corbett, the artists formerly known
as James Brett Corbett and Amy Lynn Moody… I just asked him at Golden Corral. In fact, the
only reason we were at Golden Corral was because of a question. I asked him, "Do you
know a doctor?" I had just moved to Shelby, North Carolina. We'll talk about this
another time. You can ask me about that later. Shelby, North Carolina, was a place where
I met the whole core team for our church. I didn't know why I was there while I was
there. There were times we really wondered. It wasn't a bad place. I loved
Shelby. It was great for me. I didn't know why I was there. You don't know
why sometimes. You're there right now. I know you are. "I can't even figure out what this
is about." But I met Chunks. That's something. Now he's running the ministry on a day-to-day
basis so I can preach God's Word, and it started because I said, "Do you know a doctor?" and
he gave me Chris Denning's phone number. I don't even remember what I was sick with,
but I just asked him for a doctor. He was a physical therapist, and I thought,
"Well, he probably knows a doctor." Then he ended up at my house eating fried rice,
and here we are 20 campuses later. But then came the question, "Do you want to step out on faith
and start the church?" And here's what's crazy. He and Amy didn't find out where we were going
to start the church until after they said yes. The details came after the "Yes" was given.
The details came after the decision. "Go to the land I will show you." Do you want another
one? Ezekiel. We were singing about it earlier. "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." That's
the command. Right? Check out Ezekiel 37:3 before you go to bed tonight. It starts with a
question. This is God. "Can they live again?" "Can they?" That's God asking that. Ezekiel
said, "I don't know, Lord." But the question opened the door to resurrection. I don't have the answer right now, and I don't
know what he's going to do. That's why I like that song. It says, "Is there anything he can't do?"
Just ask the man who was thrown. Just ask the… I don't know, but he does, and I want to
find out by faith. It starts with a question. This might shock you, but not only this ministry
but Jesus' ministry started with a question. The first chapter of the book of John… There are all
kinds of symbolic things in John…seven signs Jesus performed, showing himself to be the Son of God,
that you may believe and have life in his name. The seven "I am" statements where he revealed
the essence of his nature in stages, lest we be overwhelmed all at once. He shows us in stages.
This is how it starts: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God." In the first red letters in the gospel of John, where Jesus actually speaks, recorded
by the gospel writer, he asks a question. And now I have a question about that. What is
the Word doing asking a question? Think about it. You use words. Jesus is the Word.
I'm not being deep just to be cute. It's a great question. "In the beginning was
the Word," and the first words he speaks, he asks Andrew and another
disciple, "What do you want?" The first thing the Word says in
human flesh that's recorded by John isn't "Let there be." That's in Genesis. In
John, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and the answer ("Jesus is the answer") asked a
question. The whole gospel of John starts… And then it moves to Revelation. "I am the Bread of
Life. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the door. I am the resurrection. I am the way." But before any
of those statements, it starts with a question. I wonder what you've been asking God
lately. Breakthrough starts with a question. The next level of your relationship with God
doesn't start with you knowing the answer, so stop waiting for answers. It starts with a question.
My kids ask questions. Some of them are dumb. The one you asked the other day when Mom was
teaching you to boil eggs… I'm sorry to put you on blast like this, but when you said, "Do I crack
it before I boil it?" that's a dumb question. He's 15 years old. That's a dumb question, and
I take responsibility for him not knowing that. That's my bad. But then they'll ask deep
questions. My son Elijah, who's here right now, asks questions the staff doesn't even ask.
He used to ask me questions when he was 9 or 10 years old that I'd go, "I've never even
had a grown paid staff member ask me that." It's amazing, because he's not afraid to ask it.
He just asks it. He just asks me to do stuff. He walked in one night, and he didn't ask me,
"Could we go to the movies?" Well, he asked me, but he asked me in the form of action. He
brought me my shoes. He wanted to go see a movie. It was 9:00 at night. This was years
ago. He brought me my shoes and my car keys. He asked me, but he didn't open his mouth. He
just brought me something. And we saw the movie. Kids aren't scared to ask.
They'll ask you anything. Abbey saw a thing on the counter that said
"The most powerful people in Charlotte" or something like that. It was some list.
It had on the list "Pastor Steven Furtick, Elevation Church." She came to me with the
list. She said, "Daddy…" This was years ago now. She said, "Daddy, if you're the fifth
most powerful person in Charlotte, does that mean you can pull a
tooth if it's not even loose?" What a great question. You know what I mean? Faith like a child. Not childish but childlike.
We're the children of God. We can ask questions. "Did I ask?" Now my kids say that to each
other all the time just to cut each other off. "Did I ask? Did I ask, buddy?" They are professional button pushers, and
that was their thing for about six months. Abbey came up to me and gave me this sermon
title. This was last week. She said, "Daddy, when you were preaching today, I thought you
should have called that sermon 'Did I Ask?'" Because she heard where Jesus asked
Philip… This is a 9-year-old girl. She said, "You should have called it 'Did I
Ask?'" I didn't even ask her what I should have called it. Sometimes God will give you
something you didn't even know to ask for through somebody you didn't even think to ask. Through a little boy with a lunch. So, I was thinking about the sermon, and I
was wondering, "When did it become enough?" Then I was wondering, "Where did it
come from?" Like, we're all wondering, "Where is it going to come from? I don't
know where it's going to come from. I'm not sure where it's going to come from." I want
to revisit the Scripture in detail from John 6. It's really beautiful how it's written where
Jesus, the Word of God, asks Philip a question. "Where shall we buy bread
for these people to eat?" Then I'm thankful for the little sidenote. "He
asked this only to test him, for he already knew what he was going to do." Now this is weird.
Do you want the bonus thing? Okay. This is not even the cherry. This is the stem on the cherry.
When you get the other accounts in the Gospels, it says the disciples came to Jesus and said,
"They need to eat" after he had taught all day. If you read that verse, the moment
they started coming… I'll back it up and show you in verse 5. In verse
5, the moment he saw the crowd, he already knew what to feed them, and here's
what's crazy: they never even asked for a meal. He's going to feed them all.
Right? But they never asked for it. I don't know who this is for. I honestly
don't. Maybe you'll tell me in the comments. But God in this season is giving you what
you didn't even know you needed to ask for. Do you know Ephesians 3:20? "He is able to do
immeasurably more than we ask or imagine." God is doing some things in my life right now that
I didn't even know to ask for. Here's the thing about me. I'm a sheep. I need a shepherd. I don't
know what to ask for. So he makes me lie down in green pastures. I don't want God to give me what
I need; I want him to give me what he knows. What I think I need and what he
knows I need are two different things. Twenty seconds of praise that he
has given you what you didn't know to ask for! More than you ask or imagine, more than
you thought to put on your prayer requests. It starts with a question. Jesus
said, "Where are we going to buy bread for all of these people?" I heard Philip
say back… Jesus was just testing him. He doesn't ask questions for information;
he asks questions for revelation. Not so he can see something
but so you can see something. Verse 7: "Philip answered him…" I thought,
"Well, there's the problem." Philip answered him. This whole thing is backward. Philip answered a question Jesus didn't
even ask. What did Jesus ask? "Where are we going to buy enough bread for these
people to eat?" What did Philip answer? "How much is it going to cost?" I heard
Jesus saying to Philip, "Did I ask? Did I ask if we can afford it?
Did I ask an accounting question?" I hear God saying to somebody
today, "Did I ask if you're able? Did I ask if you have what it takes? Did I
ask if you know what comes next? Did I ask?" It's backwards. We're answering when we
ought to be asking. That's why you learn so much more as a kid than you do now as a
grown-up. You stopped asking and started assuming. Everything is wrong with this text. What was
he testing him for? To see if he knew enough to know that he didn't know enough to tell Jesus.
Jesus wasn't trying to test "How much do we have?" Jesus wasn't asking for a bank deposit.
Jesus wasn't asking for a balance sheet. Jesus said, "Where are we going to get it?"
He wanted to see if Philip knew where to go. If you keep coming back to where you got it
from the first time… If you know where to go, it will always be enough. You will never run
out if you know where to go, but if you don't know where to go, you will meet your needs in ways
that will hurt you worse in the end. I think the best question for us to ask is, "Where am I going
to get it from?" When we know the answer to that… There was plenty of grass…green
grass, Mark said. Green pastures. He makes me… Now, there's a
difference between a command and a question. I always get frustrated when Holly asks the kids
what they want to eat. I'm like, "Do not… Nuh-uh. Ask me what I want and feed them that. I
bought the bread." Is that bad? I bought it. So I get mad. I'm like, "Don't ask them what
they want to eat. You're not a short-order chef. You're a sexy woman of God, a fine young
Christian, a fine young woman of God." She so loves them, though, she'll ask them. Jesus
asked Philip. He gave the test before the lesson. That's not fair. That's backward. He
didn't show him who the Bread of Life was until after he tested him. That's not
fair, but that's what makes great faith. The test is the lesson. You're in a test right
now. Not a test "Do you know enough?" Not a test "Do you have enough?" Not a test "Are you good
enough?" But "Do you know where to get it from?" Thank you, Jesus. You are my bread. You
are the Bread of Life. You are the bread that comes down from heaven, and if I keep
coming back to you, I'll always have enough. Listen. The bread was going to come
from the same place as the need. Who did they need to feed? Where did they have to go to get it? I'll fill in
the blanks in case my Socratic sermon isn't really working for you right now. I just don't want to
leave this undone. They needed to feed the crowd, and the meal that became a miracle was
in the same crowd they needed to feed. God is using every need in your life right now. Remember, the disciples were hungry too. They needed to eat too. Jesus used the need they
didn't want to meet to meet the need they had. So, when I preach, I don't start with
this question: "What do the people want to hear?" What a boring thing that
would be. That would be a boring sermon. I start with what I need to
get through the next week, and I don't apologize for it. I feed myself
first, and then out of that, let's all eat. "God, feed me, because I need it to come
from you. If it doesn't come from you, it'll be just the dumb stuff that goes through
my mind." I need bread from heaven, but the bread didn't come from heaven like the manna did.
That's the Old Testament. The new mindset is that the meal Jesus multiplied was
in the crowd he wanted to feed. Here's what you have to do. I'm going to
get really practical now. You have to ask. When Jesus said, "How many…?" Remember? "How
many?" is different than "How much?" "How many?" is plural. Five loaves. It was all in the five.
But the five was in the crowd with a little boy, like my sermon title was in Abbey
coming to tell me "Good night." If you don't ever pay attention and open yourself
up, you will miss what God gives. You will miss the miracles because you didn't ask the question.
They had to ask. You're going to have to ask. James 1:5 says, "If any of you
lacks wisdom, let him ask God." Ask! Oh, who? My friend on Facebook?
Who are you going to ask? Ask God first. That's why it didn't
work. Jesus didn't start the miracle when Philip said how much it was going
to cost. Nothing good is going to flow through our lives while we stay focused on
answering the question, "What do I lack?" Oh, I'm good at listing all of the things I lack.
I can tell you everything I'm bad at. I can tell you every reason God shouldn't use me. I can
tell you every dirty blemish, spot, and wrinkle. When people say bad stuff about me, I think,
"Well, you should call me. I'll give you a few more. You didn't even get to the really good
stuff." I mean, they'll say, "You're this. You're that." I'm like, "You are in the PG
file. We could go PG-13, R, MA. We could make this thing terrible if you really want to know."
It's not because I'm a hypocrite. I'm a human! I'm not the bread, but I know where to get it. Do you know where to get it? "If any of you lacks
wisdom, you should ask God, and it'll be given to you." Now this is cool. Write this down. On
one side put bought. On one side put given. Jesus said, "Where are we going to buy bread?"
The answer is "We're not. It's going to be given." For what the law was powerless to do in
that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son, the Bread of Life. It's going to be given. Open your palms
like this to heaven. It's going to be given. The wisdom is going to be given. It's not
going to be earned; it's going to be given. He's trying to shift them from a mentality
that is like manna (it comes from somewhere else) to get them to see that the
wisdom of God is given from within. It's going to be given. Stay with me. Are you with
me? You're not going to buy it. You're not going to earn it. You're not going to achieve it. You're
going to receive it. That's what opens your hands. Ooh, I thought about open hands. I thought about
five. Five loaves. I thought about five. It's going to come from the five. It's going to come
from the open hand, from God's hand to your hand. It's going to come from the five. God is going to
give it to you. Are your hands open or are you so full of assumptions that you've stopped asking?
Somebody told me the other day, "Well, you need to pray about it," and I got mad because I thought
that's a cliché. I've already prayed about it. I got away, and God said, "But did you?" Think
about it. We say, "Don't tell me to pray about it. I already prayed about it." But did you?
Did you pray about it or did you calculate it, overthink it, Pepto-Bismol and wake up in
the middle of the night with a stomachache? Did I ask? Did I ask God? This is so embarrassing to say this,
but I'll tell you. A lot of times, I work so hard on the sermon, and I'm like,
"Why isn't this coming together?" Then I'm like, "Oh yeah. I didn't even ask God to help me
with it." Let me tell you something else. When Abbey said, "'Did I Ask?' is your
sermon title," I woke up the next morning… I said, "God, will you just give me the sermon
this week? I don't want to work as hard as I did last week." An hour later I had it. I'm not
saying I didn't study. It was already there. I just had to ask. If you knew what was in
you, if you knew who was in you, you would ask. If you knew he was bread, you would never again
let the Devil keep you hungry or sell your birthright for a bowl of beans. You would stop
going to places that can't fill you and spending your wages on what doesn't satisfy. It comes from
the five. It comes from his hand. Do you hear me? It comes from his hand. When I know that, I
open my hands and I ask. See, I didn't ask. It's not just a one-time thing. When Jesus said,
"Whoever comes to me will never hunger again," he wasn't talking about
"Whoever comes to me one time." The voice of the verb is the middle voice,
and it only speaks to present or imperfect. That means either you're coming right
now or you're going to keep coming. John 6:30. Look it up. When they came to
him, they were fed. When they came to him. Keep coming. Keep coming for wisdom. Did I ask?
I got in the middle of my day, and I'm like, "Oh man. I wish I…" Did I ask? Did I ask
God? Did I ask the people he put around me? I mean, in order for the miracle to happen,
they had to walk through the crowd asking. You know what? I might just have to
humble myself and ask somebody to help. People can't read your mind. Miss Cleo.
(Flashback. Outdated reference from an old preacher.) People don't know what you need.
You have to ask. When you ask, you activate. The same crowd that had the need was the same
crowd that had the miracle, but they had to ask. Here's my question. Can I ask a question? How many people did they ask who said
"No" before they found the five loaves? "You got anything?" Remember last week? "You got
anything? You got anything? You got anything?" I'm putting this point in because what keeps
some of us from asking is our past rejection. It can get so deep in you that you start assuming.
"They won't want to do that for me." Did you ask? What I'm about to say is too much. I almost didn't
ask you to come do this ministry. I asked him. He almost said "No." True or false? He'd probably
be either a professional tennis player today or maybe he'd be stringing tennis rackets
somewhere on the side of the road. Who knows? Somewhere in between. I
almost didn't even ask you. I said, "Chris and Beth don't want to be here. They want
to go to Nashville." Something in me said, "Ask." Now, it's not ask people for things God can give
you, but sometimes God will direct you to people to meet the need. Remember, Jesus didn't say, "Where are we going
to feed these people?" and Philip said, "We don't have enough," and Jesus said, "Manna, come!" It
didn't come from manna. It didn't even come from a man. It came from a boy. That means they had
to go all the way through the crowd. Do you think the boy was in the front of the crowd? How is a
little boy going to get to the front of the crowd? He's not even in the count. He doesn't even
have a ticket to the Jesus preaching crusade. Do y'all remember crowds? This is a BC (before corona) kind of situation
here, back when they used to have crowds. Going through the crowd. "You got
anything? You got anything? You got anything?" Some people are lying. Some
people are telling the truth. Some people already ate. They're all hungry. "You got
anything? You got anything? You got anything?" Here's what I want you to do. Please do this,
especially if you've had a root of bitterness or you have a root of rejection, and it's like
somebody in your life told you "No" or something in your life has been "No" so many times… When
you hear "No," I want you to think "Next." "If God didn't let me do that, next. If God didn't
want me to do that, what's next?" Now, I have to do this as a matter of survival, because sometimes
people do not say they want to be a part of this ministry, but if I stop when they say "No," I
will miss the miracle that was in the thing. So, whoever this is, I want you to shout at the
top of your Holy Ghost lungs from your diaphragm. Say, "Next!" "I've got to get through this
crowd. I've got to get through this confusion. I've got to get through this shame.
I've got to get out of this lack. I've got to eat. I can't die.
I've got to find green grass." No means next. I don't want anybody to leave me, but if they do… It's not like I'm just treating people
as disposable, but they aren't bread. I know where the bread is. Are y'all awake to help
me celebrate the bread that came from heaven? The bread that came from heaven! What are you going to
eat? The bread that came from heaven! It's coming from the five. It's coming from the hand of God.
By every word that comes from the mouth of God! If they said "No," I'll just look for the
next. "Well, that's cruel, Pastor Steven." Come on, man. I've been married almost 20 years.
I'm not saying relationships are disposable. I'm just saying you have to go back
to the place where you know in God that Moses can only give you manna for so long. It's just a question. "Where are we going
to get it from?" That's what Jesus asked. Philip should have said, "Why are you asking me?" The whole thing went off the track when you
thought you knew the answer. The whole thing came undone when you assumed. Did you ask? "He won't
want to write songs with us." Did you ask? Some of y'all are too asky. God knows you
are. I've been to comments of YouTube, talking about "Do y'all have a YouTube channel?"
You are on the YouTube channel! I'm serious. People will say this kind of stuff. It's
crazy stuff people will say on YouTube. "Where did you get that shirt?"
Somebody put on a YouTube comment… We played a throwback sermon from 2013 or 2014,
one of those years, back in the day. Flashback, back when I didn't have my beard. They said, "I
like you so much better with a beard." Do you know what I wanted to respond? "Did I ask?"
You don't have to ask God everything. Sometimes you're asking God for stuff he already told
you he put people around you to give you. It came from heaven, but it came through people. That's why Holly was saying, "Hey, join
an eGroup." She's trying to get you fed. When you pray, "God, give me comfort,"
but you don't tell anybody you're lonely… And I mean telling real people, not platforms. Did you read between the lines? We don't
ask questions. We just make comments now. We make comments online. But did you ask? Going on somebody's page and going, "Well, they're
just a liberal conservative." Did you ever have a conversation with somebody different than you
in the last three years? Did you ask? "Why do you feel that way? Why do you think that way?
What does that mean to you? How do you see it?" The God who asked questions wants to know, "Did you ask?" Andrew
asked, and that's when the miracle started. Andrew asked. He didn't even
ask with a lot of faith. James said, "Ask in faith, nothing wavering."
Andrew asked in doubt, and he still got an answer. You can pray something as
unspiritual as "Help or else." How many of y'all are at a
"Help or else" season in this season of your life? "Help or
else, God. I can't make it." Go back to verse 8. Remember the first question
Jesus asked? "What do you want?" Do you know who he asked it to? Andrew. The first question Jesus
asked in John 1 was to Andrew, another disciple… Andrew brought Peter to Jesus. Every
time we see Andrew in the Scripture, he's bringing something to Jesus. You think you need to give something. You need
to bring something so he can give something. This is the miracle. He said, "Here's a boy.
I went through the crowd. I asked everybody. I asked 19,999 people, and this boy right
here… But how far will they go among so many?" The next sentence, Jesus gives a command. "Sit
down. Now I can do something, now that you asked." Did you ask? Like, really ask. I
know in a technical sense we're like, "Oh yeah. I ask God to help me all the
time." Did you ask or did you tell? A lot of what we call prayer is us
telling God stuff he already knows or telling God what he needs to do. Did you ask? Did you ask, "Why do I have this thorn?" or did
you just assume it came from the Devil? It might have come from God to help you stay humble.
Did you ask? Did you ask God what he's doing in the life of that person you lead,
whether it's a kid or someone else? Did you ask or did you just
assume that if God didn't do through them what you thought he
should do through them he failed? Did you ask? Did you ask God what he put in you
and what he wants from you or did you just assume that what everybody else thinks you should do
is the agenda you have to follow? Did you ask? Andrew asked. He said, "How far can it go?"
Then he found out. It starts with a question. The crowd didn't get it because they were
still waiting for a messiah like Moses. Even after Jesus fed them, they got
the meal, but they missed the message. Ninety-eight percent of people
who tune into a sermon like this get the meal and miss the
message, but I don't want you to. The crowd said, "Are you going to give us manna
like Moses?" I don't know if you remember manna in the Bible. It was like the original Frosted
Flakes. It would look like that. It was flaky, and it would come down, and they said,
"What is it?" That's what they named it. "What is it?" Question. It starts with a
question. They didn't know who he was. He said, "I am the Bread of Life." They thought it would
be what it was. What is it? Not "What was it?" That's where the miracle is. What is it? "What is
it to be me in this season of my life? What is it, God, that you're speaking to me? What is it
that you're calling me to do in this moment?" Did I ask? Did I sit down this week and ask,
"What's important this week…really important?" Did I ask? As long as we're the ones giving
the answers, we're going to be pretty limited in what we can access. Questions create access. I was with somebody a while back, and they
said they wanted to meet with me and talk to me about ministry because they were not as
far along. They never asked me a question. I couldn't figure that out. I guess I know I
don't know much, so from the time I was 16, I was always asking questions.
"What do you do about this, and what do you do about that? Why about
this, and why about that?" No questions. Have you stopped asking God? Just started
assuming? Just started filling in the blanks? Stopped asking, "God, what else is in me?
What else can you do? I know you can turn graves into gardens and bones into… What
else can you do?" This is the disciples' whole problem through the whole gospel. They
were always telling, and they stopped asking. That's why you're frustrated. That's why
you're stuck. That's why you're lonely. You stopped asking. "Oh, I asked." Did you
really? Or were you like the disciples? They saw Jesus talking to a woman. You
remember this. He asked, "Can I have a drink?" Here he is again, asking somebody who he shouldn't
have even been talking to, "Can I have a drink?" Oh, this is an anointed verse. This is so good.
I was running around my bathroom looking at John 4:10 on my phone. "Jesus answered her, 'If you
knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.'" I'm preaching for breakthrough today.
I'm preaching for hungry people today. I'm preaching for somebody who's
really, really needing something today. He said, "If you knew what was in you, it would be
living water." No matter what's happening around you, if you knew what was in you… Greater is
he that is in me than he that is in the world. If you knew what was in you, you wouldn't
kill yourself. If you knew what was in you, you wouldn't let pornography strangle the creative
life out of you. If you knew what was in you, you wouldn't hide yourself behind false
personas. If you knew what was in you… Everywhere the Enemy has planted condemnation
in your life, I want you to replace it with a question. Condemnation is the Devil's language.
That's not how God talks. God asks questions. The wisdom that comes from above whispers
within. Like he said to Elijah in the cave, "What are you doing here?" God asks
questions up close. He knows you like that. If you knew, you would ask. "Wait a minute.
I thought if you don't know you ask." No, no. If you knew who was in you, you'd stop
listening to everything around you so much. Who told you that you were naked?
Who told you that you were nothing? Who told you it wasn't enough? If you knew who
you were talking to when you talk to yourself… Thank you, Lord. Thank you for the ministry of
the Holy Spirit. I don't think I've ever felt you more than I feel you right now, and I thank
you, because I need you. I need you. We need you. Somebody needs you on the other end. Through
their tears, they see now that the answer is not standing outside of them. The living
water is within, and the bread is right here. Jesus isn't Moses. God is not going
to do it like he used to do it. But if you ask, he'll show you what
he's doing right now in this moment. Speaking of Moses… Remember when God came
to him and said, "I want to use you"? He had to set a whole nation free.
We don't have that responsibility, but God is speaking to us
too. He's calling us too. Moses asked a question. "Who shall I say
sent me?" God said, "I Am." You are what? That's the question. Now you get to spend
the rest of your life finding out the answer. "I Am." You're going to find out all that he is through the things you go through. Moses
said something to the Lord in Exodus 4:10, and I show you this before I close because
the Lord gave it to me like an image. He said, "If you knew what was in you, you would ask for strength. I'm in you, so
you can ask." You have to get it in you. After a whole series of excuses, God asked
Moses a question. He said, "What's that in your hand?" Moses simply had a
staff, but that wasn't all it was. It was an instrument to part waters,
to turn rivers to blood. It was an instrument. What's in your hand? It's
coming from the five. What's in your hand? Did you ask? Or do you just assume
it's not enough? Did you ask? We get in trouble when we
answer instead of asking. God said, "I chose you, Moses." In Exodus
4:10… This is the picture the Lord gave me. The Lord must really want somebody to get this
message, because it's so heavy on me I can barely move. Moses said, "Pardon your servant,
Lord. I have never been eloquent [not enough], neither in the past nor since you have spoken to
your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." Everybody has something like that they could
say why they can't make it and why there's not enough and why eight months' wages wouldn't
be enough. Everybody has an inner Philip, and the inner Philip will jump to conclusions
based on the evidence you can see with your eyes. Watch what the Lord said in verse 11. The Lord said, "Did I ask? Who gave
human beings their mouth? Did I ask? Who makes them deaf or mute? Did I ask?
You keep telling me what you're not, but I didn't ask you that. You keep telling
me what you can't, but I didn't ask you that. Don't say, 'I'm just single.' Don't say, 'I'm
just young.' Don't say, 'I'm too old.' Did I ask? I am the Lord. I am enough! Is it not I…?" Come here, son. I need $260. You didn't think
you had it, but right before I came to preach, I handed him my wallet, and I didn't tell him why.
I said, "Just hold this for me until I'm done." I'm about to be done, because when
I get to the end of my message, I'm going to put something in my boy. When I ask you for it, the fact that
I ask is the proof that you have it. If I ask, you have it! If I ask, I gave it! It's
in you! It's more than enough! Count that money. Open that wallet. What's in that wallet?
I need $260, but I will never ask you for what I didn't give you to begin with. If
you run out of that, I have credit too. God said, "My credit is good. I'll
put it in a boy. I'll put it in your Dockers. I'll put it in your spirit. I'll
put it in a basket. I'll put it in a bag. I'll put it in a weakness. I'll put it in a
thorn. I am the Lord! I Am! You're not, but I am. Can these bones live
again? They can! They will!"
