Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing, a biblical, faith-filled vision for your life. With the Lord as your shepherd, you'll never be lost. Need nourishment? He leads you to the green pastures. Need refreshment.
He leads you beside clean waters. The direction? He'll lead you. by the right paths. When you can't see the next green field, He sees when you can't see the fresh water.
He leads. And when you don't know the right way forward, He knows.
So I bless you today to see the shepherd, to hear his gentle voice. to feel the nudge of his staff.
So you can rest easy. and the guidance. Of a very good shepherd. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. He's going to risk it now, believing that God had called him to this, and if so, God would provide.
And he asked the king to be released to go rebuild, and the king is favorable, and he's seeing the favor of God, and he's still praying to God, and he's facing his own fears, and he just keeps on asking because he's being led of God, and that's the way faith happens. It's a growing and relational thing. according to the word of God. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light.
I'm Daniel Britt. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Nehemiah, Dreamer, Builder, Warrior, as presented at Renolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. For a limited time, this can be yours for your donation to Allen Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer.
Contact us at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Or call 877-544-4860. Again, by phone, 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program, but now let's get started with today's teaching.
Here. is Pastor Alan Wright. Mm. I got one suit. She said, well, get more than that.
And I got one suit. I felt bad about, I don't want to, you know, take advantage of this man's offer, and so I got as an ice suit. And I got a sick. And that was the end of the story. How idiotic was that?
A, you see, I'm assuming I shouldn't do this because it feels selfish or it feels, you know. But what if God was trying to do something Much more. And then many years later, We're out developing a donor base to have a radio ministry that might have been launched way back then. Who knows? And not to mention my kids upon hearing stories like this.
Have added it up and said, Dad, do you realize if you'd let him pay for your seminary and put all this into some interest-bearing investment that after all these years we'd be a wealthy family? But instead, here we are, you know. Nehemiah. Was a servant. And he was asking.
to become a governor. And he took it. And I like that. Because I've wanted to learn to walk. In both the humility of someone who's not thinking of self.
Yeah. But the faith of someone who could ask and receive big for the sake of the kingdom of God. I was, there's a way to do this. I was watching. I was looking online at something.
I don't know. It just popped up, and I ended up clicking on it as a distraction. It was an interview. of Billy Graham on the Johnny Carson Show many years ago. It was great.
I sat there and watched about 20, 25 minutes of Billy Graham sitting there in that seat. Between Johnny Carson and Egg McMahon. Where movie stars and rock stars and tycoons and political figures and people sit. And to watch Billy Graham. I love Billy Graham.
I didn't ever meet him or know him, but I knew so many people that knew him. Ann's uncle was his pastor for a long time. I've got, he was so humble. He just was humble. Through and through.
I've got some correspondence that Billy Graham sent to Ann's uncle. He was a pastor in Montree. And I've got a letter that Billy Graham sent to Uncle Stanley. After Billy Graham had filled the pulpit at the Monterey Presbyterian Church for Stanley, because Stanley was on vacation. How do you like to get Billy Graham filled the pulpit for you?
Go, I'm gonna be out, Billy. Could you give us a word? And he wrote him this note, wrote him a note. Who even does that anymore? Wrote him a note.
And I've said, Dear Stanley, thank you for allowing me to preach in your pulpit. He said, I guess you looked all over for a Presbyterian and had to scrape the bottom of the barrel and get an old Baptist. And he said, he concluded, he said, but I don't think I did a very good job. He said, because when we were leaving, my youngest daughter said, I like Uncle Stanley's preaching better. And sent him a note like that, you know?
This man's so humble, and he was delightful. He was delightful. I just like, he was so comfortable with his own skin sitting there next to Johnny Carson. It's weird. Like, you know, often the guest is the nervous one, but you kind of felt like Johnny Carson was a nervous one, sitting next to Billy Graham.
And he had this beautiful, clever strategy that he, I guess I didn't hear the monologue, but Johnny Carpson must have mentioned the Ten Commandments in his monologue. And so Billy Graham brings it up. And he says, I like the fact you brought up the Ten Commandments in here. And your monologue, Jody Garr said, well, thank you. And Billy said, that's good because we've all broken them.
And Johnny said, Really? Billy said, Yeah, we've all broken all the Ten Commandments. He said, Really? Billy Graham said, Yeah, the Bible says if you've broken one, you've broken them all. And the Bible says further that That really Jesus says our hearts can break the commandments, even if we haven't done it in some outward way.
So we've all broken all the commandments. He said, so therefore that means we're all sinners. And Billy joked and he said, even Ed here's a sinner. And Ed says, quite the surprise. And they're just laughing up there.
And the reason he was there, though, in all of this fun and humility, was he just returned from Seoul, Korea. And they had video footage of it. Of what historians said was the largest assembly of people for one. Gathering like this in the history of the world, and Billy Graham had just spoken to 1.2 million people at one time. And they were talking about it.
And I was watching him, I was fascinated because he's so humble. And yet on the other hand, He was not shy about the fact That he just spoken to the most people in the history of the world, and he was proud of what God did with that. And he didn't shy away from that. And he didn't shy away from all the people that had come to Christ and all of the There is a way Then We walk In this fullness of humility, and yet at the same time, in expectancy of the big blessings of God. Yeah, sin.
Remember Tim Keller said humility is not Thinking less of oneself. But it is thinking of oneself. Less. You're less on your own mind. You're not thinking about whether you're getting approval or doing it right.
You're thinking more about About the mission and about others and about the love of God, and you walk in that. And this is what Nehemiah did.
So, if we want to get rid of the things that impede us from asking big, we must come to God and let Him heal our shame, and we must. walk with an authentic humility and we come into an awareness of what James means when he says you have not because you ask not. But often when you do ask, you're asking for all the wrong reasons. And so it is, Nehemiah is asking for all the right reasons, and though he is humble, he is expecting something. Huge.
From this king. Wow. That's Alan Wright. and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Parents, are you ready for some good news?
You can have a low-pressure, high-expectation home by God's grace. If you want your children to be their best without hounding, threatening, or pressuring them, there's good news. God's grace works in parenting. Shame and pressure offer only fleeting motivation while creating long-term, toxic anxiety in a child's heart. But children thrive in the environment of grace.
Now, for the first time, Alan Wright has joined with his wife Anne to produce eight video sessions that blend humor, deep gospel insights, and loads of practical advice to equip parents and grandparents to raise their children in homes filled with grace and blessing. Use the videos for personal growth with your spouse or with your small group. The DVD album comes with a detailed study guide as well. When you make your gift this month, we'll send you the DVD album as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Make your gift today and start raising kids by the power of the gospel.
This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. That's eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty.
Or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. I think he dared to ask so big because the vision. that the Lord had given him.
Had been born through a time of prayer and seeking. and mourning, and he knew it was from God. And that's the thing that builds faith. In his flesh he was afraid. But in his spirit he He knew God's heart was in this, and that's.
what faith is. Let's be clear, faith is not some kind of drumming up. Of mental certainty of something that we want to have happen and saying it's going to happen, it's going to happen. That's not what faith is in the biblical. Picture of it.
Faith is coming into a growing assurance of the revelation of God to you in Jesus Christ. It is growing in the certainty of the promises of God and in the heart of God, and knowing God's heart towards you. It's in the knowing of his heart that our faith is growing. That's where it is. It's born out of our adoption as his children.
Ann's been going through some cabinets, you know, summer cleaning here, and cabinets and drawers and stuff, and she's finding fishing out some old children's artwork and stuff like that. And she put one out the other day. She said, Look at this. I think Abby was about eight years old or something. And I don't know if it's a vacation Bible school or Sunday school class or something.
It was a little journal. you know, little eight or nine year old with misspelled words everywhere and cues could be. And each day in this five page, five day journal, it had a little box and it said what I'm asking for, you know. And amongst the things she was asking for every day, she said that I will get a horse. H-O-R-S, a horse.
It was so cute. I took a picture of it and I texted it to my. daughter in Washington, DC, and I said, Look at this cute thing and in typical snarky Abby fashion, she texted back, Now don't you feel rotten about never giving that little girl a horse? I said, I feel terrible. I really do feel terrible about it.
And it reminded me of this time. When she wasn't on a horse at all, she always, from the time she was like six years old, wanted to be on a horse. And I just said, Abby, you just want to steer big things. But anyway, she loved the horses, loved them. She took horseback riding from that time.
But she also danced ballet, and she had all this other stuff that she started doing. But she would take English-style riding horse, and she was on a horse once or twice a week. We never did buy our horse. Maybe we should have. I don't know, but we did.
And anyway, we had at one point a hiatus. I think she might have been about 10. And it was just, we just had too much going on. I mean, it was there. Bennett had all this going on.
She had all this going on. And we just, and the horse stables were a long way away. And we just couldn't get her there. And it was just, and she said, Am I going to get, are we going to start my lessons back at some point? I said, yes, baby girl, we're going to.
You're going to. It's just right now is not a good time. We've got so much going on. And so I don't remember how long the hiatus was from a horse, but she would ask, Rick, when am I going to get back? I said, you're going to.
So I'd given her a promise. And once some Father's given you a promise. The appeal afterwards is only to the promise. She didn't come to me and say, Here are all the reasons horseback riding is fun. Here are all the reasons it's good.
She had one thing, and it was more powerful than Trumped everything else, and that is, you said we're going to.
So all of her petition depended on that promise. Right. And I said, you're going to. And then she win. You promised.
And so finally one day I said, okay, I'll call your instructor, Michelle. Maybe on my day off, on Monday, we might be able to fit it in, and if she could fit you in on Mondays. Yeah. And so she said, when are you going to call her? I said, I'm going to call her.
And you said you were going to call her. I will call her.
So I eventually I called her. And indeed, she said, Yeah, we could do it. We got a slot on Monday.
So I went back to Abby and I said, Abby, she has a slot on Monday. I said, So we'll be able to get you started.
Okay, that's awesome. When, Daddy, when are we going to get started on Monday? You said we were going to start on Monday. And a few Mondays go by. When are we going to start?
And I said, Okay, I know. I promised you said you can do it on Monday. I'll call her, and we'll start next Monday. And so it's like, yes, thank you so much. And that Monday, I go, as I promised, and I drive her out there this long way out to the horses.
And she's before long, she's up on her favorite horse that was called Beauty. And uh beautiful horse and she's posting the trot and She canters, she even gets to jump a little bit that day. And she is elated and on the way back, thank you so much, Dad. I just love this so much. And we were making plans for a big trip out west in which we were going to do some horseback riding.
And I said, I tell you what, not only this, I said, but one of these days, if you'd be willing, and I'm not going to do this English style stuff, but if you do a Western thing for a trail ride, I'd like to get a lesson and we'll go riding together in preparation for our trip out west. He said, really? I said, yeah.
So a few weeks later, we're both on a horse. And we're riding through the trails, and she's smiling because she's now. riding with her father. And I'll tell that little everyday life example, the kind of thing that happens when kids ask things from their parents, to illustrate how faith is born and how it grows. Faith.
is born out of A promise. from the father. The Bible says faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. That It's the Word of God that builds faith. It's what happens in Nehemiah is a revelation from God to him.
That's where his faith is being born. Faith isn't born just because Nehemiah dreamt up something he'd like to do. You just thinking up something that you would like to do And your own ambition, and then creating some kind of mental certainty that you're going to get it, that's not what faith is. Faith is much deeper and richer than that. Faith is born out of our fellowship.
with God through the Holy Spirit. where God makes His word alive to us. And God brings revelation to us. And he begins to show us what he has in store. And so our faith then grows as we are in relationship with God, and our prayer life is shaped by this God You said.
God hears your promise. God, here I bring it to you again. And as you relate to God and the growing assurance that God will do what he has said as that revelation of the Father heart of God grows, then what's increasing in you is faith. And that's what happens with Nehemiah. And I think this happens while he's even talking to the king.
I don't know if he'd even plan to ask the king for all that he asked, but he knew he was going to come, he was going to get real. He was going to let the king know that he was sad. He's going to let this call that had been born in him over a four-month period and been growing in him. He's going to risk it now, believing that God had called him to this, and if so, God would provide. And he asked the king to be released, to go rebuild.
And the king is favorable, and he's seeing the favor of God, and he's still praying to God, and he's facing his own fears, and he just keeps on asking because he's being led of God. And that's the way faith happens. It's a growing and relational thing. according to the word of God. And I just loved it.
So you have in Nehemiah chapter 2 this beautiful boldness. And I cannot find an instance in the Bible where God shamed someone for coming with a bold request. Instead, it seems like God's always wanting to ask more. Jesus met a woman at a well and she said, I'm a Samaritan, you're a Jew, how would you be speaking to me? And Jesus said, if you knew who you were talking to and the gift of God, you'd ask him for more.
You'd ask him for living water. God likes us to ask big. And so Yeah, I took my few odds and ends at Brookstone out of the store and the little bag, and I always remember of what I might have been able to take to the cash register that day, and somehow it inspires me to become a little bit more Nehemiah-like, and may you also. Because you have a big God. And he has given to you The infinite gift, the perfect gift.
to purchase for you salvation. Paul says, if he gave you his most precious. If he gave you Christ How much more so could you count on him to give you these other things?
So follow the Holy Spirit. Ask big. God really likes it when you do, and that's the gospel. Uh Pastor Alan Wright in our good news message, asking big from the series on Nehemiah. Please stay with us.
Pastor Alan is back joining me in the studio, sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement, get Alan Wright's Daily Blessing. It's free, and just a click away at pastoralen.org.
I don't want to pressure my kids and I sure don't want to shame them, but I do want them to try hard and be all they can be. That's the desire of every well-meaning parent. For over a decade, Alan Wright has been teaching all over the nation about the toxic effects of shame and the amazing power of the gospel of grace to heal and set free.
Now, for the first time, Alan has been joined by his wife Anne to produce a video series about shame-free parenting. It's called Good News for Parents: Raising Grace-Filled Kids in a Pressure-Filled World. The eight DVD video sessions are chock full of humor, deep gospel insight, and loads of practical advice. Use them for personal growth or with your spouse. They're also perfect for use in your small group.
The DVD album comes with a detailed step-by-step study guide as well. When you make your gift this month, we'll send you the DVD album as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Make your gift today and start raising kids by the power of the gospel. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer.
We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. That's eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Back here now with Pastor Alan in the studio and the conclusion of Asking Big.
Pastor Alan, for someone listening right now who may be discouraged, I mean, they want to ask big, but they feel beat up or just flat out maybe negative, even is the feeling of what I'm talking about. I was talking to a dear friend this week who's been through some really difficult surgeries and Was just experiencing a lot of pain, and he's such a fantastic man of faith. But he had a few days in there where he just kind of says, Where's God? You know. And who amongst us hasn't felt that when you're asking big?
And the answer seems to be delayed I think that It goes without saying that the story of Nehemiah is that he's both dreamer builder. but also he's warrior. Do not be surprised at the fiery trials that you face. Do not let the pain of this world Cause you to think I should ask less of God. And don't let the devil define The scope of the surface.
of what your dreams should be. That's God's job.
So God puts the dream in. And then he has ordained it. that through your prayer, and asking big things of God. that he moves. And if we ask something big, And it isn't fulfilled.
We've been faithful. in delighting really the very heart of God. who never wanted us to think too small. About what he could do through us. Nehemiah asked big, and he's no different than we are.
We should ask Big too. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org. That's pastoralan.org. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
