Text: James 5:13–16
Topic: How to experience God's provision and power

• James 5:13–16 says that God wants to pour blessings on our lives at this very moment.

• God is lavishly generous, with abundant and overflowing resources.
• Satan tempted Eve to rebel against God by convincing her that God was stingy and oppressive (Genesis 3:1).

• James refers to prayer as calling out to God in a time of need (James 5:16).
• Our prayers trigger God's blessings.
  • Illustration: Stowell used a quarter to access a gumball machine.
  • Illustration: The house-church movement in China has been blessed and sustained by prayer.
• We disappoint God greatly when we fool ourselves into thinking we have no needs; that was the sin of the church at Laodicea (Revelation 3:17).
• Our prayers must be full of passion and energy and must flow from a righteous heart.
  • Illustration: Jesus' parables about the hungry traveler and the persistent widow demonstrate the power of persistent and fervent prayer.

• God blesses us with the forgiveness of our sins (1 John 1:9).
• God blesses us with wisdom (James 1:5).
• God blesses us with peace (Philippians 4:6–7).
• God empowers us to do great things, and to battle Satan successfully (James 5:17; Ephesians 6)
• Most importantly, God's "muchness" expresses itself in our salvation.
  • Illustration: A woman in Keswick, England, feels supernaturally drawn to Christ, and later learns that her friend had been praying for her for several years.

• Prayer unleashes the muchness of God for the strengthening of your life in a time of need and empowering you to do great things for him.

For the full text of this sermon, go to "The 'Muchness' of God."