Beyond the Bite | Joel Osteen

2:17 So enjoy today's message. Well, God bless you. It's great to be with you today. And I hope you'll stay connected with us during the week through our daily podcast, our YouTube channel, social media, and you can come visit us in person. We'd love to have you be a part of one of our services. I'd like to start with something funny. And I heard about this husband that died and he left his wife $20,000. After the funeral, his wife told a friend that she was totally broke. The friend said what do you mean? I thought you said you had 20 000 She said I did but I spent 5 000 on the funeral and 15 000 on the memorial stone The friend said wow that must have been some kind of stone. How big was it? She held up her finger and said three and a half carats Say it like you mean it. This is my bible. I am what it says I am I have what it says I have I can do what it says I can do Today I will be taught the word of god. I boldly confess my mind is alert. My heart is receptive I will never be the same in jesus name. God bless you I want to talk to you today about favor that can be seen It's one thing to believe that you have favor to declare that you have favor You ask some people how they're doing. Hey, i'm blessed and i'm highly favored. That's great We should have that faith and expectancy, but god doesn't want you to just talk about favor He wants his favor to be seen on your life He wants to make you an example of his goodness So much so that you don't have to say anything It's evident you couldn't be where you are without the hand of god Maybe that medical challenge should have taken you out, but you're healthy and strong You don't have to say a word your life is a testimony or that addiction's been in your family for years.

4:16 You should be struggling, defeated, but you're whole, free, setting a new standard. You couldn't do that on your own. That's the favor of God showing out in your life. Perhaps you faced giants of lack, not enough, couldn't get ahead, these odds against you, but somehow doors opened, the right people showed up and now you're blessed, thriving, living an abundant life the circumstances don't match where you should be you can't explain it you didn't have the connections the experience what is that God making you an example putting you on display so people can see his favor on your life and yes there are moments when the favor is internal God gives you peace and strength and wisdom it's all happening on the inside and We're grateful for that. But there are these other times where his favor will be seen. He'll do something so out of the ordinary, people will say, only God could have done that. There's no way they could get there on their own. No way we should be here in the formal compact center. We didn't have the political cloud, the influence. No way my mother should have lived four decades after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. No way I should be up here. I've never been to cemetery. I mean, seminary. I didn't have the training, the experience. How could this be? It's God displaying his favor on you, doing something so unusual. You can't take the credit. You're simply the billboard. You're the example of his goodness. Psalm 86, David was facing opposition, people coming against him, armies bigger and stronger. He could have been complaining, but in verse 17, he prayed, God, show me a sign of your favor so that my enemies will see it and know that you are God and you have helped me. He was saying, God, show out in my life, not just for my sake, but use

6:22 me as an example so other people will know you are on my side. Favor is not just about you, it's to point people to who our God is. We're not saying, God, make me impressive, give me all this glory. No, God, show out so you can get the glory, so people will be amazed at your goodness. Significant that David didn't just pray, God, give me your favor, give me your blessing. He said, God, show me a sign of your favor. He was saying, God, make your goodness visible in my life. Let your favor be seen. Do something so unusual that I don't have to explain it. People can't deny it's the hand of God. My father grew up in poverty and lack, not having enough. His family lost everything during the Great Depression and couldn't get ahead. They had no vision for a better future. He thought this is just who we are. We'll always struggle. But my father gave his life to the Lord at 17 years old, the first one in the family. Something rose up in him that said, no, this is not who we are. I am not supposed to live defeated, broke, no opportunity.

7:37 I was created to make a difference with my life. With all the odds being against him, He had this attitude like david god show out in my life Make me an example of your goodness. Take me where I can't go on my own You have to in effect Give god permission to bless you Give him permission to do something you could never do God works where there's faith Jesus couldn't do any miracles in his hometown because of their unbelief Not because he didn't have the power god can do anything He's looking for someone that takes the limits off of him Someone that's not focused on how big the trouble is but on how big our god is Well fast forward 30 years. My father was a different person. He lived an abundant victorious life blessed Generous pastoring churches the people that knew him back then. He didn't have to say a word His life was the testimony They couldn't deny the hand of god from where he came from to where he was. There was no explanation It was more than just good breaks hard work luck. This was god displaying his favor God wants to bless you in such a way that it's undeniable Where there's no question you didn't have the training You didn't come from the right background the medical report said you're not going to get well You don't have the connection for your dream all these odds against you, but somehow doors opened. The right people showed up. Your health improved. Your business took off. Now you can't explain it. You don't know how it happened. It can only be the hand of Almighty God making his favor seen on your life. Not only to bless you, but so that other people will know who he is and that he is for you. As a teenager, David heard Goliath taunting the Israelites. Goliath stood over nine feet tall for 40 days. Every morning and every

9:44 evening, he'd come on the mountainside and shout insults, threats, making fun of the Israelites. When they saw Goliath, they'd run and hide. They were afraid. But David was a different breed. He looked at the soldiers and said, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of a living God. He told King Saul he wanted to fight Goliath. Saul told him he was too young, too small, didn't have the experience, but David wouldn't back down. As he walked out to face Goliath, I can imagine he prayed this under his breath. God, show me a sign of your favor so that my enemies will be put to shame and that they will know that you have helped me. David knew it wasn't just about his reputation. It was bigger than that. This was God's reputation. He was saying, God, show people what happens when you step on the scene. Let there be clear evidence. Let your favor be visible, not just so we can see it, but so these enemies will see it. David had no weapons, no armor, just a slingshot and a stone. Goliath started laughing. He said, am I a dog that you'd come at me with a stick. David said, Goliath, you come at me with a sword and a shield, but I come against you in the name of the Lord God of Israel. This day I will defeat you and feed your heads to the birds of the air. Listen to what he said next. And the whole world will know there is a God in Israel. David wasn't asking so everyone would see how great he was. His attitude was, God show me this sign so everyone will know how great you are. Not so I'll get the glory, but it'll point right back to you. The question is, what kind of prayers are you praying? God, help me to make it through.

11:40 Help me to survive. God, this giant, if you don't work it out, he could kill me. Don't pray weak prayers, survival prayers. Help me to get by prayers. If you're going to see God step on the scene, you need to pray bold prayer.

14:06 Have you ever prayed, God, show out in my life? Let your goodness be seen. Too often we're praying survival prayers. Why don't you switch it around and start praying, show me prayers. God, show me your favor. Moses said, God, show me your glory. Let it be visible. Let there be evidence where people can see it's your goodness in my life. No more weak prayers, get by prayers. You are talking to the creator of the universe, the God who flung stars into space, the God who spoke worlds into existence, the God who parted a Red Sea, the God who brought water out of a rock, the God who opened prison doors for Paul and Silas. He's all powerful. He's looking for people to display his power through. This is what Joshua did. Five enemy armies came against him and the people of Israel.

15:03 They'd been fighting all day. Joshua was winning, but it was getting late and about to get dark. Joshua knew if he didn't finish them off and they escaped, they would cause problems later. He could have been disappointed and thought, well, too bad. We ran out of time. but Joshua knew how to pray. Show me prayers. He said, God, I'm asking you to stop the sun. Let it stay in place until I finish my assignment. God could have thought, Joshua, what are you talking about? There's a solar system. Everything's precise. It's got to stay on track. That's impossible. But God is not intimidated by the size of your request. When it's to bring honor to him to display his power that gets his attention He says there's someone that believes I can do something unusual where people will know I am all powerful The scripture says that the sun stopped there was daylight until he finished all the enemies off Verse 14 says there has never been another day like that God wants to do things in your life that your family has never seen He wants to make you an example to where people are scratching their heads Thinking, how did he get there? How did she beat that cancer? How did he build that business?

16:27 How did he marry that girl? That's god putting you on display making you an example Where his favor can be seen How does this happen? by praying, show me prayers. God, show me a sign. Bold prayers. God, help me to defeat this giant. Help me to break this addiction. Turn this sickness around. Open these doors that I can't open. That's not being selfish. That's saying, God, I believe you're all powerful and you want to show out in my life. David would have never defeated Goliath praying survival prayers. He said, in effect, God do something so evident that even people that oppose me those that hate me that criticize They will see your blessing is on my life. He was bold He was asking for more than just peace strength wisdom. That's all good But he was saying god this time I need a sign of your favor I need you to show out in my life and do something out of the ordinary that there is clear evidence where people cannot deny your powers at work in my life.

17:38 That's a bold prayer. Joel, I don't want to be selfish and other people have bigger problems. I can handle this trouble. It's just the opposite of being selfish. God is looking for people. He can make examples. It's not to bring you glory. It's to point people back to him. a few years after my father passed the church was growing and we were seeing new doors open and television stations around the country were putting our program on and I had this desire to travel to other cities and do events to connect with the people that watch and I felt strongly about it but you know how those thoughts come no one's gonna show up Joel you have people here in Houston, but it's not going to happen in other cities. Plus at that time with all the positive things happening, we started to have opposition, people that didn't like the ministry trying to discredit us. After about six months of praying, finally took that step of faith and we lined up three cities, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and New York. My team asked what size auditorium should we get?

18:46 I didn't know how many people would come to we get one for a thousand maybe a place for three thousand I don't know what got into me, but I said just get the basketball arena that held twenty thousand In my mind. I thought joe. Are you crazy? What if a few hundred show up you're gonna look like a fool, but i've learned god will meet you at the level of your faith If you're praying survival prayers weak prayers get by prayers that's where God will meet you but when you pray show me prayers God show me a sign of your favor God let me be an example of what you can do God let my enemy see that your hand of blessing is on my life when you pray like that God will exceed your expectations he'll do things you could never imagine the day before the event we flew to Atlanta and went to the arena, walked around as they were setting up. And that night I could hardly sleep. All those thoughts. I woke up the next morning. Someone called me at eight o'clock and said, people are already lining up around the building. It didn't start till that night. A couple hours before the event, the fire marshal had to close the entries. The building was packed. I stood up there in awe thinking, how did all this happen? But when you pray, show me prayers. When you give God permission to do what you can't do, God will show out in your life. That event, it wasn't just for my benefit, but my enemies could see the hand of God was on my life. I couldn't have made it happen. We didn't have that much influence, marketing, budget. This was God displaying his favor. That night in Atlanta was the start of almost 250 nights of hope around the world. Who knows where God will take you if you'll dare pray, show me prayers. God, show me a sign of your favor. God, display your goodness in my life. Now, there may be giants in your path right now and obstacles that look way too big.

20:48 How could you ever overcome one touch of God's favor, one slingshot, one smooth stone? God is not limited by what you don't have. You don't have the resources. That's okay. God owns it all. You don't have the talent, the experience. If you'll use what you have, God will breathe on it and cause it to multiply. You don't have the connections, the people you need. God will supernaturally bring them across your path. Well, Joel, I have people at work that are against me. They lie. They talk behind my back. They try to push me down. Part of this favor is so your enemies will know God is on your side. David is the one that wrote, God will prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies. Not in private, not behind closed doors, but in public, they will see you promoted, honored, fulfilling your purpose. And here's the key. It's not up to you to defend yourself, prove you're good enough, convince them to change their mind. Don't waste your time. You have a destiny to fulfill. There's an assignment God has entrusted you with. The enemy would love for you to get distracted fighting battles that don't matter, upset over things you can't control, arguing with small-minded, jealous, critical people. Now put your reputation in God's hands. Honor him with your life. Do the right thing when it's hard and God will take care of your enemies. He knows how to make it evident that you are blessed and undeniable that his favor is on you. And this is not to gloat and pay people back. It's simply God displaying his goodness, using you as his billboard. The more people try to push you down, the higher God will take you.

22:42 Now it's tempting to fight, get upset. I'm going to show them a better approach is God. I'm going let you show them. Show me a sign of your favor so my enemies will know that you are for me. There's nothing like having almighty God put his stamp of approval on you, his blessing. God says, in effect, that's my son. That's my daughter. If you're coming against them, you're coming against me. Now stay in peace and let God cause you to shine. Let him vindicate you. Let him prove to people who you are. See, after David defeated Goliath, he never did have to convince people that God was on his side. There was no more question. Saul said that David wasn't qualified, but after that victory, Saul never again saw him as unqualified. Joshua may have had some naysayers. He's not like Moses. He doesn't have what it takes. He's not a good leader.

23:40 But after the sun stood still, nobody ever questioned Joshua. Nobody ever said, let's get a different leader. God knows how to give you credibility. He knows how to make it undeniable that his favor's on your life. Don't miss out on this because you're praying survival prayers. I don't know, Joe, I'm just trying to make it through this week and my back's hurting. My neighbor gets on my nerves. It's so hot outside. Traffic's bad. If you pray weak prayers, you're going to get weak results. If you pray defeated prayers, you're going to get defeated results. How about start praying some show me prayers? God, I have this trouble at work, but I know you're fighting my battles and I'm asking you to show me a sign of your favor. God, my finances are low, but I know you're Jehovah Jireh, the Lord, my provider. I'm asking you to do what only you can do. The enemy loves when we pray survival prayers because they're no threat. You can't take much ground, praying little, believing little, asking for little.

24:46 He'll let you do that all day long. There's no damage. But when you start praying, show me prayers. When you do like David and say, God, show out in my life, I will defeat this giant. So everyone will know that you are my God. That's the kind of prayer that sends shockwaves through forces of darkness. They know our God is all powerful. When you call on him, angels go to work. Giants come down. Addictions are broken. Doors supernaturally open. Nothing can stand against our God. If he stopped the son for Joshua because he dared to ask, God will stop things that are keeping you from your purpose if you will dare to ask. God, show me your favor so I can break this addiction. God, show me your goodness so I can accomplish the dream you put in my heart. God, show me your power so I can overcome this obstacle. First Chronicles chapter four, there's this long genealogy of different names. This person begat that one. After they had a son, they begat this one and they had children and begat this one. On and on over 30 names, no commentary, no details.

26:01 all we know is they lived and died. But in the middle of all the repetition, verse 9 says, there was a man named Jabez that was more distinguished than any of his relatives. It's like the Holy Spirit paused and said, wait a minute, this man was different. There was something that set him apart, that made the writer stop in the middle of listing hundreds of names with no explanation. Now it tells us there was something special about Jabez. Verse 10 says, he was the one that prayed to the God of Israel. Oh, that you would bless me indeed, that you would enlarge my territories and that your hand would always be on me. In the middle of people living and dying, ordinary, average, Jabez came along and prayed a show me prayer. God bless me indeed. God show out in my life, enlarge my territories. He was saying, God, make me an example. Display your goodness. God could have thought, come on, Jabez, be content.

27:11 Just fit in, be like everyone else. But the scripture says God granted him his request. God is not faulting you for praying bold prayers. God, do something out of the ordinary. Take me where I can't go on my own What's significant is the name jabez means sorrow and pain His mother named him this because she had great pain giving birth to him Sometimes people will try to label you with their issues They'll name you by the negative things they've been through But what they said about you does not determine who you are How you were raised how you were treated any limitations, injustice. That may be the environment you were in, but it's not who you are. They may call you Jabez, pain, sorrow. In today's language, addicted, divorced, unattractive, slow. Do yourself a favor. Despite what life's tried to name you, be a Jabez. Dare to say, God bless me Indeed, God enlarge my territories. God show me a sign of your favor. God will take what should have stopped you and use it to promote you. He'll cause you to defy the odds. He loves to show favor to those that should have been pushed down, left out, in dysfunction. That may be how you started, but that's not where your story ends. God's about to enlarge your territories. He's about to bless you indeed. That means more than you expected. Something unusual, supernatural. You couldn't make it happen. It's the hand of God where people can't deny it. There's no explanation.

28:59 All the facts said you should just be another name in genealogy, average, ordinary. But when it comes to you, there's a pause. This person, they went to Lakewood. They didn't pray survival prayers. They prayed, show me prayers. They saw giants fall. They saw doors open. They saw healing, provision. God wants to make you an example. He wants to display his favor on your life. Have you ever prayed, God, show me a sign of your favor? Have you ever said, God, bless me indeed? Could it be that you're missing out on the fullness of what God has because you're not asking? You're praying weak prayers, get by prayers. What would happen if every morning we would get up and say like David, God, show me a sign of your favor today. God, display your power through me to bring you glory. That's what causes the creator of the universe to go to work. And if you'll do this, I believe and declare God is going to exceed your expectations. Like David, you will overcome obstacles that look impossible. Like Joshua, supernatural doors will open, healing, breakthroughs, abundance, the fullness of your destiny in Jesus' name. And if you receive it, can you say amen today?

33:32 that He's already at work behind the scenes, even when you can't see it. As you keep your faith in front of you day after day, you'll be encouraged, your expectation will grow, and you'll begin to see God bring those dreams to pass. The I Believe Planner is a beautiful new resource designed to help you believe God for more in your health, your family, your future. Inside, you'll find a weekly I Believe declaration to frame your mindset and shift the atmosphere with God's word.