 it's a privilege and it's an honor to be in a house of God where his spirit moves, where you get to hear such a testimonies, where you get to hear the word of God that can set your soul free in Jesus mighty name. Amen? Are you expecting something this morning? Amen. Someone said expectation is a breeding ground for a miracle. If you're expecting from God every time you come to the service, come with expectation. Every time you come to the Wednesday service, to Friday night leaders meetings, to Friday night home groups meetings, or you come to your home group, or you come to Sunday morning service, be in the attitude, be expecting because God is ready. He's always ready to give. Are you ready to receive it? It's like a faucet. There's always water when you open up. You don't have to worry about it. The water is not going to come out. We don't live in Russia or Ukraine. I used to live in a place or came from a place where if you turn on the faucet, you weren't sure what's going to come out, or if anything's going to come out. Sometimes you turn on a faucet and you have a clear glass, and the glass could be a little yellowish and sometimes greenish, depending on what kind of a day it was, or sometimes nothing comes out. Here in America, you know, you turn on your faucet, you always have water, right? That's kind of like God. Every time you come to Him, He's always ready. He's always willing to pour something out. Now, it's up to you to position yourself right under the faucet to receive something from God. Amen. Are you ready to receive something this morning? Amen. So open up to Luke chapter 11, and we're going to read from verse 5 to verse 10. Couldn't we make any smaller? Okay. I was going to say you can read off the screen with me, but it looks like I'm just going to be reading it to you. But let's read this. Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, friend, lend me three loaves of bread. Say three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have come, and I have no food to offer him. And suppose the one inside answers, don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can't get up and give you anything. I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity. Say shameless audacity. He will surely get up and give you as much as you need. So I say to you, ask and he will be given to you, seek and you will find. Knock on, and the door will be open to you. For anyone who asks, receives, anyone who seeks finds, anyone who knocks, the door will be open to you. Say amen. Amen means let it be so. God says he who asks will receive, he who knocks will be open, and he who seeks will find. Title of my message today is shameless audacity. Today we're going to talk about shameless audacity. Today we're going to talk about asking God. Today we're going to be talking about receiving from God. Point number one, God is willing to give you whatever you ask for. God is willing and he is able to give us anything that we desire, anything that we put the mend on, anything that we request. My question is today to you, what are you requesting of God? What are you asking from God today? Jesus makes it clear to us in James 4-2 is that you don't have because you don't ask. This morning my question is what are you asking God for? Could it be that you don't have today what you want to have is because lack of demand, lack of request, lack of prayer, and lack of asking from God for your need, for your desire, for your dream, for what God has in store for you. You know that God has given us in his word. Some say over 5000 promises, some say over 7 or 8000 promises, but regardless whatever the number is 5, 7 or 8, there is enough promises for every day of your life. There is enough promises, there is enough to fulfill every need that you have. My question is why aren't you asking for more? Are you putting a demand on God? Are you putting demand on what God has for you? Are you putting demand on that request, on that need, on that answer that God is waiting and willing to give you? He said in his word that ask me and I will show you great and mighty things. See asking from God, asking of God, asking from God is not an option, is not a luxury that we have, but it is a command from God. God himself commends us to ask of him. He assures us that when we ask that he will answer. He assures us that when we seek we will surely find, and then when we knock on the door he will be answered to us. This man, this parable that Jesus shared with us was a parable that Jesus was trying to demonstrate that God will answer to us. If not by our friendship and our walk with him, and our closeness and commitment to him, he will answer because of our shameless audacity, because of our shameless persistence, because we do not give up at our request. Jesus shared another parable and he said there was a woman that was coming to the unrighteous judge and she was begging that unrighteous judge. The judge was wicked, he was not just, he was not fair and she was coming to him every single day and asking and begging that he would spare her from the creditors that came to request the debt and she continued to bug him, she continued to insist that he would help her and because of her persistence, because of continuous request, because of her demand that she was putting on him, he got tired and weary of her, of her request and her continuously coming to him and he said even though I don't fear God, even though I am not just and I'm not, I will answer her and I will spare her, I will protect her simply just because she continuously comes, because she's putting a demand on me. Today I want to ask you, what are you putting a demand on? What are you asking of God? I know all of us have problems, all of us have issues, all of us have things that we're trying to accomplish, all of us we have things that we're trying to work on, all of us have dreams that we're trying to achieve. Are you asking God to help you? Are you asking God to assist you? Are you asking God to come through and show His grace and mercy in your life? A lot of times we don't receive, we don't, we don't see God's involvement in our life simply because of two things, either we don't ask or we don't ask long enough and I want to encourage you today that ask God because He is waiting to hear from you, He wants to hear your desire, your heart, He wants to hear your need because He is looking forward to answer your need. If God can't answer your need, then what uses He as God in your life? He is God because He wants to and willing to answer to you and show you His goodness, His mercy and show you that He is God in your life, He is the source in your life. Amen? Maybe you are praying, maybe you are asking God, maybe you're seeking God, you're praying for God, you're praying for God to help you in your financial situation, in your marriage, in your family, with your kids. Maybe you are asking God to help you with your everyday job and everyday work, but I want to also ask you another question. Are you asking, is your request big enough? Is your request big enough? Let me show you a personal story where I kind of God revealed that to me that God wants us to ask of Him for big things. So there was a moment in my life about three years ago, four years ago, I started working on this business proposal, this one business idea and I was putting things together and this project required about $150,000 to $200,000 of equity of funds to get this project moving and to get this project finished. So I put my business plan together, I got few things together and I went around to the banks to ask for money if they can loan me money so that I can go ahead and do this business deal. So I started off with a bank that I banked with and I went through some community banks, some other banks and to my disappointment, every bank that I went to, every personal bank that I went to, they denied me and guessed what the reason was. You're asking for too much. We don't loan on those kind of projects and that's out of our range. Some said we can loan you up to $50,000, up to $75,000, up to $100,000, but that was about $80,000 that they could loan me. I needed about $200,000 and said nope, you are above our range, we can't, you're asking for too much and then I was kind of getting disappointed. One bank said he said why don't you go to our commercial bank, they loan on projects like these and they can give you enough money because they deal with that kind of stuff. So I got my hopes up and I go to their commercial branch and I go from one commercial branch to another commercial branch. There's not many of them in Tri-Cities so I tried a few and they denied me of it and guess what the reason was? You're asking too little. If you ever can imagine, Bank would tell you. And so I was baffled, I was like what, what do you mean I'm asking too little? Finally I asked this one loan officer, he said well you have to understand, he's like we're a commercial bank. We deal with big money. He said the minimum loan requirement is $500,000 and more, $500,000 up. He says you have to understand as a loan officer for me to loan you $10 million or $10,000 requires same amount of work. He's like it's not worth to me dealing with small amount of money because loan officers they get paid off of percentage as far as I understand what of the loans they pay out or they give out. And so when he said that you're not asking enough, he said your project is like below what we usually deal with and it's not worth my time and my bank's time and my underwriter's time to go ahead and give you the money that you request. He said your business idea is great, looks like you can make money but we just can't deal with you. While I was disappointed I did receive a revelation from it. The revelation that I received was this, was that God is powerful enough, he has enough resources, he has enough connections, he has enough if you ask him for $10,000 or $10 million. God has enough resources just to get you a job and for you just to get by and God can bless you with a business that you can hire many other people, provide jobs and do many more projects and many other things that you wish to do. Let's put our hands together for Jesus. My question today, are you asking for enough? Is your request big enough? Do you just want to get by? Do you just want God just to give you another couple hundred dollars so you can make your bills? It might be your immediate need but God wants to not only satisfy your immediate need, he wants to bless you beyond your need, he wants to bless your wants. It takes same amount of energy, same amount of time, it takes same amount for God to bless you with little or much. Can you believe God for more today? Could you increase your limit with God today? Could you increase your mind? Could you increase your request because God desires to bless you beyond what you're asking him to do? Remember this, God can do little or God can do much. God can do with few and God can do with many. It's up to you. What are you gonna put a demand on this morning? There is no dream big enough that God can fulfill. There is no desire too big for God to fulfill in your life. Are you dreaming big enough? Are you requesting big enough? God is willing and able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that you ask or even think if you believe it, put your hands together. The story that that comes to my mind is Ray Hart Bonkin. Those of you that know who he is, he's a he's a mighty man of God. He's retired now. He has been a minister for many many decades. He's primarily known as a preacher and evangelist in Africa. I mean he is a great man of God. He's still alive, lives in Florida, I believe. And through him literally millions of people got saved in Africa through his ministry. And I mean some crusades were a million to two to five million people attended only single crusade that he held. He is a great man of God that God used to heal to set people free especially in the area of salvation. And so one time on his on his getaway Ray Hart Bonkin decided you know I'm gonna go and visit a local church and just sit on the back and enjoy while I'm on my getaway. And during the message pastor was preaching exactly from the scripture that man came to ask for three loaves of bread and and preacher was preaching passionately. He's saying you know God can give you three loaves of bread. All you need is three loaves of bread. It's enough for you to survive. You'll be good and God can bless you with three loaves of bread. And then all of a sudden he noticed that Ray Hart Bonkin was sitting on the back of the pews and and and he kind of paused and stopped. And he said you know what church we have a man in our in our he recognized him. He said we have a man that's in our congregation. Three loaves of bread is not enough for him. He said he wants a lot more than three loaves of bread. And Ray Hart Bonkin got up and said brother I don't want three loaves of bread. I want the whole bakery factory. For God to give you three loaves of bread or to give you a baking factory is the same. It's a miracle either or. You decide what kind of miracle God will give you. You decide what God will give you. And guess what that man Ray Hart Bonkin he definitely had a bakery factory. He definitely he definitely he definitely God what he believed for what he asked for. What are you asking God for. Maybe it's just to see your marriage finally to be together not broken for your fights to stop and marriage for you to finally reconcile with your husband and wife with your spouse. But I want to tell you that God has even bigger dream for you. God has a dream to take you out to take you out of that mess reconcile to unite you give it the kind of love that you never experienced before and to make you a person that will be a testimony to others and you will be you will be a couple that will be counseling others and getting others out of the mess that they found themselves in. Are you just asking for another business contract so you can get by this month. God has a store for you a lot more than what you're asking for. Say amen. Amen. Demand the impossible. David in his song declares prophetically he says ask me for the nations and I will give it to you as an inheritance. God is willing to even give you the nations as inheritance. He said you will lend and will not borrow you will lend to the nations. How many of you would like to lend to the nations? Come on now. That's a promise of God. The ceiling is high. The ceiling is beyond what you can even think of imagine. It's up to you what and how you're gonna put the demand on God. Amen. And point number two is do not ask for what you deserve. Ask for mercy. Don't ask what you deserve. Ask for mercy. There was a man named Bartimaeus and he was sitting on the side of the road. He was blind. His life was limited to whatever however he could get around with with maybe help of others or with that walking stick. His life was limited to sitting on the side of the road and begging for alms begging for the nations. This is as far as he could go. He was not able to pursue education. He was not able to start some sort of a business. He wasn't able to move forward and achieve his dreams and goals and I can bet you that he did have dreams and he and he did have goals but because of his condition, because of his situation, because of who he was, because of the way he was born, he was limited. And so he heard that Jesus was passing by and Bartimaeus started crying out. He says Jesus, son of David have mercy on me. He began to cry out and he began to ask for God's mercy because Bartimaeus understood one thing that all I need is his mercy and his mercy contains every need that I can ever have or want. God wants you to ask for his mercy. God has his mercy for you for every day of your life. You know, justice is what you deserve. Mercy is what you don't deserve. And see, our God is just, yet he is merciful, but justice and mercy, they can't be together. Justice and mercy, they cancel each other out. Suppose you, suppose you were wrong somehow and you go to the court and a person who wronged you standing on the other side and the judge gives mercy to the person that wronged you and declares, gives him mercy. Would you feel like, would you feel like you receive justice? Would you feel like the judge was just? No, you would not feel like he was just because he had mercy. But if the judge would, if you would have flipped the situation around and you were the one that's wronged, you wronged somebody, and if judge had mercy on you, then judge would not be just. So as you see, justice and mercy, they cancel each other out. They can't be in one setting. And if God stops, if God is going to be only merciful, then he loses his justice. And if God loses his justice, then he is no longer God. But if God is only just and he doesn't have mercy, he also ceases to be God because he has no mercy. So God decided in his wisdom and his omnipotence and his all power, he came up with a plan to be just, to remain just, at the same time, to show mercy. By sending Jesus Christ on the cross, to die for us, to take the punishment, to take what you deserve so that you can have mercy. So that you and me can receive mercy. At the same time, God remained just and God still can be merciful to us. Can you say amen to that? I want to ask you, are you asking God? Are you putting demand on God? Are you dreaming according to what you've earned, according to justice, according to what's fair, according to what you've earned, or according to his mercies? See, because curse is justice. Curse is a consequence of sin. And so justice has to be served when there is sin to punish the sin. And what happens sometimes? We suffer under the curse many times in our lives, in our finances, constant lack, constant poverty, living hand to mouth. We suffer curse in our relationship, going from one relationship to another. We suffer curse the consequences of sin, even though being saved, we still suffer consequences of curse sometimes in our lives. I want to ask you, in your personal life, in your finances, in your marriage, in your family, in every aspect of your life, are you living according to justice, which is under the curse? Or are you living under the mercy, which is under the blessing of God? Do you dream according to, do you measure yourself up? Do you dream according to how good you've been, what you've deserved, or your dreams and the size of your dreams, size of your desires, size of your goals is according to the mercy of God. Many times we dream up to that point of only what we deserve. Maybe we come out of the background where nobody graduated from school, nobody went to high school, nobody went to college, nobody graduated. Even if they started college, they dropped out, or even if they graduated from college, they've never worked in the area of their degree. And this is just kind of a pattern that we've developed, been developed in our family. And this is, this is, this means justice. That's, that's the curse that's, that's over the life of the family. That's the limitation and you might already got used to it, but might have a news for you. Jesus died on the cross, so not, not so that you will live according to his justice, but so that you will live according to his grace. Jesus says in Matthew 9, 13, I desire mercy over sacrifice. God desires that you will choose mercy in your life, in every area in your life. Maybe you came out, you know, out of bad past, you came out out of broken things. Maybe you, you came out out of broken relationships and you feel like, you know what, I messed up so much in my relationships. I don't deserve to have a great relationship. I don't deserve that God will give me, you know, the best person for me. Sure, I, I'll settle for, for, for okay, but I don't deserve the best. I don't deserve the best marriage. I don't deserve to have more than enough, you know, I've stolen, I lied, I cheated. I don't deserve the best. And so you measure yourself, you measure your dream, you measure your, your, your abilities according to what you deserve, according to justice. Well, I have a news for you that Jesus died on the cross so that we will not live according to justice, so that we will live according to his mercy and according to his grace. Jesus wants you to choose mercy and a parable of Pharisee and a tax collector. Pharisee came to the, to the temple and he said, God, I did this right. I did this right. I gave tithes of everything I did. I prayed to you, I did this and this. He began to list the things that he deserves. And there was the man studying next to him. He was a sinner. He was a tax collector. He was, he, he, that profession back those days considered, considered wicked. They, they considered those people nothing. That man, he beat his chest and he said, God, have mercy on me sinner. I don't deserve you. I don't deserve your mercy. And Jesus said that the one that asked for mercy was more justified than the one who demanded justice. Who said, I am just, I am right. You might say, well, you know, I can't, I didn't do anything bad. You know, I tried living my life according to, to the statues and laws and commandments of God. This is great. That's awesome. Good for you. That means you, that means that God's protection was over your life. But even then demand mercy instead of justice. Because his mercy, Bible says that his mercy is above justice, above judgment. Ask God for mercy. Dream according to his mercy, according to his grace, according to his loving kindness. When David sinned and he was asking, he was asking God for forgiveness. He was asking God, said, God have mercy on me, according to your loving kindness, not according to what I've earned. Look at all the things, all the good things I've done. Look at how all these times I obeyed you and listened to you. Only this once I messed up. No, he said, God have mercy on me according to your loving kindness and according to multitudes of your tendered mercies. Say mercy. Ask God for mercy. I want to ask you, does your life reflect the mercy of God, or it reflects your efforts and your works? Does your life reflect the cross and the works of the cross? Or does it reflect your own effort and your own works? No, don't get me wrong. We need to work hard. We need to excel in all things. We need to be disciplined. Bible calls us to do those things. But we live not according to justice, not according to the worldly standard. If you hustle, you work hard enough, you might make it. We live according to grace. We live according to his mercy, which supersedes justice, which supersedes just only our works and our own efforts. Does your life reflect God's grace? Does your finances reflect his grace or only your efforts? Does your marriage reflect God's grace or does it reflect only what you put into it? Does your family reflect God's grace and the works of the cross? Or does it reflect only what you've done and what you've put in? Does your business, your career, every single area of our life, we could either live from his mercies or we can live from his justice. See God has two hands. In one hand, he has justice and in other hand, he has mercy. It's up to you. What do you want to live off of? Do you want to live off of what you've deserved, only off of your own efforts, out of your own, out of your own abilities? Or do you want to live off of his grace, out of his mercy, out of his abundance, out of more than enough? What do you want to live off today, mercy or justice? And wrapping up, Jesus, wrapping up this message, Jesus is faced with a dilemma. A bunch of people caught a woman in a dolt ring. They literally dragged her out of the bed. They caught her in the act of it and they brought her to Jesus. They brought her to Jesus with their stones in their hands. They came and said, Jesus, she's did this, this and this. What would you say? What does she deserve? And I like that Jesus, he wasn't like the Pharisees, he wasn't like the Sadducees. He wasn't like the teachers of the law. He stood silent at the moment. He said to them, who is without sin through the first stone? What Jesus was saying is that regardless how righteous you feel, regardless how much good you've done, you still fall short and you still need mercy. You still fall short, you still need mercy. So you might as well ask for mercy after all. See this woman, she didn't deserve mercy. She was a homewrecker. Think about how many homes she wrecked. Think about how many fights she brought into the families, into marriages. Think about this woman, she broken many marriages. She brought a lot of pain to people. According to the world standards, according to the law, this woman doesn't deserve to be spared. She deserves to be punished. If we were the one being wronged by her, we would scream for justice. We would demand justice. We say she did this to my family, she did this to my marriage, she deserves to be punished. But Jesus, Jesus said, I don't condemn you going to sin no more. Jesus always has mercy. Jesus always has mercy. Maybe you're here in this place and you feel like maybe in certain area or just in your life. You feel like that person dirty, filthy. You feel like you must stop too much. You feel like you've blown all your chances. You feel like, you know, what good can come out of me? Look at the kind of background I came from. Look at the kind of place I was raised in. You know, look at how many people I've wronged. Look at how many lies I've heard. Look how many times I said I won't do it, but I did it again. Jesus has mercy for all of us today. Jesus has mercy for all of us today. Live out of mercy. Don't live out of justice. Mercy always prevails over justice. Now look, don't go and sin. Don't go and do these. Don't go and sin and commit wrongful acts because you will only hurt yourself more. Grace and mercy is not a license to sin, but it's a second chance for those that desire change. It's a second chance for those that want hope and life. Those that want to dream again and live again. Jesus is offering mercy to you and me today. In Hebrews 4.16 says this, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain, that we may obtain mercy in final grace in the time of need. I need mercy. I don't know about you and I trust and rely on his mercy. I want my future. I want my marriage. I want my finances. I want my business. I want our ministry. I want us to reflect God's mercy, his grace, not our own efforts. Yes, we will work hard. Yes, we will persevere. Yes, we will be diligent. We will be disciplined. But above all else, I want mercy.