Break Out!: 5 Keys to Go Beyond Your Barriers and Live an Extraordinary Life (4 page)

I once told Craig: “When a five-year-old chooses me over Barney, I know I have favor!”

But I love the fact that God gave them something to talk about. They were so excited about it, they tell everybody what God has done for little Connor. It was dark but the light came bursting in. Whenever they’re tempted to be discouraged, all they have to do is put that video in. They can see the favor of God like a flood.

When I’m tempted to think that something will not work out, or looks impossible, all I have to do is drive down to our beautiful church in
Houston. And I’ll think, “God, You did it for us once. I know You can do it for us again.”

God wants to release a flood of His power, not a trickle. Not a stream. Not a river. Get ready for a flood of favor, a flood of restoration, a flood of healing, a flood of promotion. You may be thinking too small. Maybe you’ve settled because you think you’ve reached your limits. You think your sick child will never get well, or that you’ll never accomplish your dreams.

No, I can see something in your future. Through my eyes of faith I can see a tidal wave coming your way. It is not a wave of defeat, a wave of discouragement, a wave of more of the same. It’s a wave of God’s favor, a wave of promotion, a wave of deliverance, a wave of restoration. It’s the God of the breakthrough releasing His favor like a flood, causing you to overcome obstacles that you thought were insurmountable, causing you to accomplish dreams that you never thought possible.

Dare to believe. If you think “trickle,” you will receive a trickle. If you think “barely get by,” then you will barely get by. If you think that your problem is too big, it will keep you defeated. But if you will learn to think “flood,” you will experience a flood. If you think “overflow,” you’ll experience an overflow. If you dare think “tidal wave,” then God can release a tidal wave of His goodness in your life. This is what Jesus said: “According to your faith it will be done unto you.”

We were out to dinner several years ago with our son Jonathan. He is college age now, but then he was just fourteen years old. When he went to order Jonathan said to the waiter, “I would like a steak.” The waiter asked him, “Do you want a six-ounce, a ten-ounce, or a fourteen-ounce?”

Jonathan didn’t think about it twice. He didn’t ask me if it was okay. He didn’t look at the menu to check the price. He immediately said, “I want the fourteen-ounce.”

When it comes to food, Jonathan was not expecting a trickle or a stream. He was expecting a flood. He not only has a big appetite, but he knows who his father is. He knows I want to be good to him.

That’s the way we need to be when it comes to our Heavenly Father. Don’t have a small-minded mentality. Don’t have a narrow, limited vision. Some people act like they’re inconveniencing God. They don’t think they
can expect their dreams to come to pass. If they can just barely get through life, that’s good enough.

“I don’t expect to get out of this problem,” they’ll say. “God, if You’ll just help me to endure it.”

“I don’t expect to ever meet someone and really fall in love. God, if You’ll just help me to not be so lonely.”

No, you are thinking “trickle” when God has a flood. You are thinking “survive” when God has abundance. You are thinking six-ounce steak when God has a fourteen-ounce steak. When you think bigger, God will act bigger.

If you will dare to be bold and step up to the plate like Jonathan and say, “God, I know You control the whole universe. I know You’re longing to be good to me. So I want to thank You for releasing a flood of Your favor in my life.”

In other words:

“God, I want to thank You that my little Connor one day will speak fluently.”

“God, I want to thank You that I’ll be totally free from this addiction.”

“Thank You, God, that I’ll be totally healthy and whole.”

“God, thank You for letting all the dreams and desires You’ve put in me come to pass.”

When you release your faith in a big way like that, in a fourteen-ounce serving, God doesn’t say, “Who do they think they are? The nerve of those people—don’t they know they don’t deserve it?”

No, when you talk like that it brings a smile to God’s face. He says to the angels, “Listen to what they’re saying. They believe I can do great things. They believe I can turn any situation around. They’ve got their trust and confidence in me, so I won’t disappoint them. Let me open up the windows of Heaven and pour out a flood of favor, a flood of healing, a flood of promotion, a flood of vindication.”

When my father first started ministering, he would travel from town to town speaking in small auditoriums and small churches. Back then, in the 1950s, he carried all of his sound equipment in the back of his car. When he went into an auditorium he would set it up and be ready to go in no time at all. One night, there were a couple hundred people expected. It
was a big deal for him. He was this up-and-coming young minister, and so he arrived a couple of hours early to make sure he had plenty of time to set up.

But in the midst of all the excitement he accidentally locked his keys in the trunk of the car. He knew he couldn’t have his big service without that sound equipment. So he tried to pry open the trunk of the car with no success. Some bystanders came up and helped him. They shook it and they wiggled it and got some coat hangers and some tools. They couldn’t open the trunk, either.

Time was running out. They were way out in the country and didn’t have time to bring in a locksmith or to tow the car to a repair shop. It looked like my father’s big evening was about to be ruined. Just when he was preparing to give up, it dawned on him that he had not prayed about it yet.

He announced to the people that he was going to pray and ask God to open up the trunk. They looked at him like he had lost his mind. They began to snicker and laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding. You can’t pray that God will help you open up a trunk.”

The doubters did not bother my father. “Sure I can,” he said. “You have not because you ask not.”

He went over, put his hands on the trunk and said, “Father, I know there is nothing too difficult for You. You know I need this sound equipment to have this meeting tonight. So I’m asking You to somehow, some way, help me to open this trunk.”

He began to shake it and rattle it more vigorously than ever, but it still would not open. As he turned and walked away, the laughter and the snickering grew a little bit louder. But all of a sudden they heard this
pop
.

They all turned around, and the trunk had popped open. Just like slow motion the trunk lid began to rise up toward the heavens, just as if God was saying, “I told you I would do it. I’m the God of the breakthrough.”

The people helping him nearly passed out. From then on they did anything my father asked. It was, “Yes, sir.” “No, sir.” “Whatever you say, sir.”

That was a Baal-Perazim in my father’s life. Here I am fifty years later still telling the story. But I don’t believe it would have happened if my father had not been living breakthrough minded. You may not need a
trunk to open, but maybe the doctors have told you there is nothing more they can do. Maybe it’s a sickness trying to pull you down. Get ready for the God of the breakthrough to show up. Maybe it’s a relationship that needs to be restored, a family member whose life is off course. Start declaring, “The God of the breakthrough is turning it around.”

Or maybe your dreams just look so big, like it’s not possible. Don’t ever rule out the God of the breakthrough. Like a flood, His favor can overtake you. Like a flood, God can cause your employer to pay for the surgeries your family member needs. Like a flood, God can cause your little boy to start speaking clearly. Like a flood, God can cause a trunk to supernaturally pop open. I’m asking you to live breakthrough minded.

You may be accepting things in your life that are far less than God’s best. It’s been so long you don’t see how it could change. But this is a new day. New seeds have taken root in your heart. And the good news is the God of the breakthrough is about to visit your house, not with a trickle, not with a stream. No, get ready for a flood of God’s favor, a tidal wave of God’s goodness.

Release your faith in a greater way. If you don’t pray for the trunk to open, then it won’t. Dare to believe. God wants to give you something to talk about. He wants to give you some new Baal-Perazims; new landmarks where you can look back and say, “I know that was the God of the breakthrough.”

Isaiah said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to announce a day when the free favor of God profusely abounds.” Notice the word he used to describe God’s favor,
profusely
. That means, “overwhelming, out of the norm, exceeding.”

Like Isaiah, I’ve announced that a flood of God’s power is coming. Favor like you’ve never seen before. Instead of being overwhelmed by burdens, you will be overwhelmed by God’s blessings. But the real question is this: can you receive this into your spirit?

It’s easy to think, “This is not for me, Joel. I don’t see anything different happening. I tried before and it didn’t work out. I’ve been through too much.” That kind of negative thinking will stop the flood. God works where there is an attitude of faith. When you believe, all things are possible. The enemy cannot stop this flood. He doesn’t have that much power.
Other people cannot stop it. The only one that can stop it is you. You control your own destiny. God is for you. The enemy is against you. You get to cast the deciding vote. I’m asking you to take the limits off of God. He wants to do something new, something amazing in your life.

But the real battle is taking place in our thought life, those thoughts that say, “It will not happen. You’re too old. You’ve made too many mistakes. You’ll never get well. You’ll never accomplish your dreams.”

No, this is the day you will see the free favor of God profusely abound. God has floods of blessings in your future. He has tidal waves of increase and joy and healing and mercy. Make room for this flood. Get in agreement with God.

Paul prayed in Ephesians that the eyes of our understanding would be flooded with light so that we would know the amazing future God has in store. It’s interesting that Paul used that phrase: “flooded with light.” Paul had experienced a portion of this flood, but we’re living in a better time than his.

This is the day where Paul declared we would see the surpassing greatness of God’s favor. Paul was saying in effect, “I’ve seen one level of God’s goodness, but the day we’re in, we will see God’s goodness like no generation has seen it before.”

I can tell you firsthand, Victoria and I have experienced this flood of God’s favor. God has overwhelmed us with His goodness. I’m not bragging on us. I’m bragging on God. God has taken us beyond our education, beyond our talent, beyond our training, and He has unleashed His abundance, His wisdom, and His favor in our lives.

For this to happen, you have to keep God in first place in your life. Honor God. Then, learn to take the limits off of Him.

Like Jonathan, we should ask for the fourteen-ounce. Believe big. Pray bold prayers and live with this expectancy that God has floods of favor, floods of wisdom, and floods of goodness in our future.

My prayer for you is that the eyes of your understanding would be flooded with light, that you would know how much God loves you, how much He is for you, and what an amazing future He has in store. My prayer is that faith will fill your hearts, that you will raise your level of expectancy, and that you will see God’s goodness like never before. Like
Isaiah, I’ve announced to you that you’re under a Flash Flood Warning. You need to get ready. You’re about to see the favor of God profusely abound in your life. Because you’ve honored God, because you have been faithful, things have shifted in your favor.

My encouragement for you is for you to wake up every morning and say: “Father, thank You for this flood of favor in my life.” Then go out expecting it. If you do that, I believe and declare you will see God’s goodness overwhelm you. You are coming into floods of favor, floods of healing, floods of wisdom, floods of good breaks, floods of mercy. Get ready for it. It’s headed your way.

I
n December 2003, we signed a sixty-year lease with the City of Houston for our Lakewood Church facility. We always wanted to own it, but the lease was the best thing to make it happen at the time. Deep down I knew sometime during that sixty-year period God would give us the ability to purchase the building. In 2003, I was forty years old. I would be one hundred years old at the end of the lease.

I prayed, “God, I want to purchase this building in my lifetime. I don’t want to leave it up in the air for the next generation.”

Seven years into our sixty-year lease, the city was running low on funds. The tax revenues were not what they projected. They decided to sell off some of their excess properties to make up for the shortfall in the budget. The mayor’s office called and asked if we would be interested in purchasing the facility, buying out the lease. A building like ours would cost $400 million to construct. Of course, we were interested, but we had to see what the sale price would be. The city did an appraisal. They had to take into account that any new buyer would still have to honor our sixty-year lease. The appraisal came back not at $100 million, not at $50 million, but at $7.5 million!

Today, we own our beautiful facility free and clear. No lease involved.

Here’s my point: What could have taken sixty years, God did fifty-three years sooner. He took us further faster. We’re living in a day where God is speeding things up. Because you honor God, He will do in a fraction of the time what should have taken you a lifetime to accomplish.

In your career, maybe it should take you twenty years to work your way up to that position, twenty years to build up your business. No, things have shifted. God will give you breaks that you didn’t deserve. He will bring the right people across your path. You will see opportunity like you’ve never seen before. It will take you further faster. Get those two words down in your spirit. It may look like in the natural it will take you years to get out of debt, years to get well, years to overcome that problem. No, you need to get ready. You’ve come into this shift.