Nothing will make God more real to you than when he answers your prayers. Dr. Tony Evans reveals why that experience isn't as common as it should be. The more of a steward you are, the more specific you can be in your requests. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr.
Tony Evans. Doing the right thing is usually its own reward. But today, Dr. Evans talks about the extra blessings in store for us when we get our spiritual priorities straight. Let's join him.
Airlines have incentive programs. These are programs designed to get you to fly more. And they are designed to bring you rewards. Awards Usually, these involve miles that you get because you traveled with them. allowing you to get free vacations or Take free trips because of your relationship with them, and they give you.
an award, a reward, and an incentive. To hang with him. In sports. Athletes are given incentive clauses. These are Clauses designed to increase their productivity and to incentivize them.
accomplishing more. More yardage, more catches, more tackles. And then they will make more money or get more bonuses. They are incentivized. and rewarded for their efforts.
Our salvation is free. Salvation is by grace through faith. In the finished work of Jesus Christ. You can't buy it, you can't earn it, you can't work for it because God will only give it away. Not by works of righteousness which you have done.
But according to his mercy hath he saved us.
So salvation is free. But once you are saved, God has an incentive. Applause. He has an awards program, if you will. That awards program has nothing to do with you going to heaven.
Because that's free. But it has everything to do with how much of heaven you experience on earth. The awards program is not related to eternal destiny. The Bible says that is free and without cost. But once you have accepted the free grace of God, God wants to incentivize you.
To maximize your potential and his engagement with your life. as you live out your life on earth. For you to take advantage of God's awards program. You have to understand what your relationship is to him, and that is your relationship to God is as a steward, not as an owner.
So let me repeat again: as a steward, you own nothing. And nothing from nothing leaves nothing. You own the Bible says you don't even own your life.
So, this means you must shift your mentality to say. Nothing in my life I own. Everything God places before me, I manage. A steward is a manager. A kingdom steward is a believer.
who faithfully oversees the protection and the expansion. Of the resources God has placed at their disposal to manage on his behalf. Let me say that again. A kingdom steward is a believer. who faithfully oversees the protection and expansion of the resources, time, talents, and treasures that God has placed at their disposal for them to manage on his behalf.
Whenever a manager acts like an owner, the management is now in conflict with ownership. Many of God's children are living and functioning in conflict with God because they're insisting on something they do not own, and God will not share ownership. This is not a joint venture. He is not sharing ownership with his creation, but he does entrust management.
So time, talents, and treasures are to be managed by you. not owned by you. One day you're going to leave it, it's going to leave you, and you will be proven to not be an owner.
So, God is an owner. The earth is the Lord's, the fullness thereof, the world, and all they that dwell in it.
So what I want to talk to you Today is about Seven incentives. for your management. If you will decide to be a manager and reject being an owner, There are seven Awards in God's awards program. That he will make available to you if you shift from ownership of your life to merely being a manager of the life God gives you. If you will, if I will, and if we collectively will take a managerial position.
In God's creative company. He says there are seven things. that will accrue to you as part of his bonus program.
Now, I would challenge you this week to read a chapter in the Bible. Psalms 104. Psalms 104, because that whole chapter, the 35 verses in that Psalm, talk about the fact that everything is owned and sourced by God. Everything is owned and sourced by God for the animals, for people, for snow on the mountain. God says all of it.
Is mine and comes from me.
So you own absolutely Nothing. Not nothing, nothing.
However, if you will manage. The sphere that he places at your disposal, he has an awards program.
So let me give you your seven bonuses, if you will. Because just because you're a Christian doesn't mean you get these things. It's only when you're in right position that these bonuses are available to you.
So let's look at them. Bonus number one. Reward number one. If you will take a managerial position as a kingdom steward, You will see that you get a lot more answers to prayer. What prayer will be answered?
when you are a manager and not an owner. When a manager is in conflict with the ownership, don't expect the ownership to respond to the management. Psalm 50, verse 14 and 15 say, If you live in thanksgiving to me, because I am your source, And you are faithful to me. In that context, Then you can call on me and I will answer you. Because you have honored me.
When you treat God as the owner and you become the manager, he's much more interested now in your conversation. He's much more interested in responding to your prayer request. 1 John chapter 3. Verse 22. says this.
John is writing, and he says in verse 22: And whatever we ask, we receive from him. Because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. Because the job of a manager is to please the owner. He says, when your mindset is to... Make me feel good.
Make me pleasured. By your decisions, then you can ask me, and I will answer you. Many Christians don't get their prayers answered because they're approaching God with the wrong mindset. They're approaching God like they are in control, like they own their lives, like they are the decision maker.
So, what they all want God to do is just bless them, just do what I want. before the manager has found out what the owner wants. He says, I want to know of your commitment to me. Then you call upon me. Then you ask me, and I will answer.
Nothing will make God more real to you than when He answers your prayers. Then when there's a specific request And there's a specific answer. There was a young lady I knew some years ago who needed a car. And she prayed. And she got real specific.
She said, God. I want A green and blue. Car. Those are my two favorite colors.
Now I don't know how I'll get that in a car, but that's my specific request. She had a steward's orientation to life.
So she went car hunting. And she found the perfect blue car. But It there was no greens. And she said, but God, I really do want. Blue and green.
So she was thinking, should I buy it or does God have something else? The salesman took her around the car. Showed everything. Lifted up the hood and the motor had been colored green, painted green. There's nothing you can tell that girl that didn't say.
Because you don't just find that. God is so Specific. That the more of a steward you are, the more specific you can be in your requests. See, a lot of us have to have general prayers. and hope God shows up in the vicinity somewhere.
But if you got the hook up right And he's the owner, and you're the manager.
Now, every prayer doesn't have to be the same because you can get real specific. Because he's that detailed. It is creative order.
So, the first thing that you're going to get if you take a steward's position. and give up ownership of Air thing. All of it. You just manage it. Says, now you can ask me.
Now you can call upon me because you understand this is my company. My creation. and my ownership. Dr. Evans will examine more of God's incentive program when he returns in just a moment.
Now, if today's broadcast has you thinking about the benefits of using the resources God's entrusted to you, We'd love to help you explore that more fully. Dr. Evans' book, Kingdom Stewardship, explains why stewardship is about far more than money. and how managing God's resources His way brings lasting fulfillment. For a limited time, we're bundling this powerful book along with a host of matching resources and making them available in return for your financial support of the Alternative Ministry.
The complete Kingdom Stewardship Package includes the book, all 12 full-length audio messages from the series, an in-depth study guide, and a leader's kit with downloadable video teaching sessions, ideal for personal study or for leading a Bible study or fellowship group. Learn more and request the Kingdom Stewardship Bundle today at tonyevans.org. or call 1-800-800-3222 or one of our friendly team members is ready to help with your request any time of the day or night. Again, that's Tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.
Well, let's rejoin Dr. Evans now for part two of today's lesson. The second Award and God's reward program. Are needs being met. In the passage I read to you, Philippians 4, verse 19, and my God will supply all your needs according to his riches.
In glory in Christ Jesus. That's a great verse. God is a need meaning God. Paul says in verse 15, 18, Because you were kingdom-minded. Because you were kingdom steward.
because it wasn't just about you but it was about god's program because you were involved in getting the gospel out because you were involved in impacting the lives of people he says because you were involved in the kingdom now you can read verse 19. My God shall supply your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. In other words, this is not a verse that any Christian can claim. You can only claim 19 if you're doing 15 through 18.
So you can't skip 15 through 18, jump to 19, and name it, claim it. No, he says, because you prioritize the spiritual, because you prioritize the kingdom, because you prioritize the gospel, I have your back. I've got you covered. You are now under my tutelage because you got your spiritual priorities in order.
So this verse is great. God is a need-meeting God.
Now. There is one time when God won't meet your need. The time that God won't meet your need, the exception to the rule. is when he's trying to take you to a new spiritual level. When God is trying to take you to the next level, He may leave you for a time in a space of need.
Even when it comes time for you to go to heaven, he's not going to meet your need. It's not going to meet your healing need.
So, because he's taking you to a new spiritual level, he's taking you to glory. But it's the same thing with trials on earth. In James chapter 1, he says that he lets you go through trials, and there are times for a while he may not meet that need.
So the good news is. If there's a need that has not been met. And God promises to meet the need. The positive thing about that. That empty time of the need not being met is that he's taking you somewhere by allowing the gap to last.
Okay, so there's a positive even though it's a negative.
Now, there's another thing stated in verse 19. My God shall meet your need. Watch this. according to his riches and glory. He doesn't say out of my riches and glory.
According to means, In link with.
Now why does that matter? Because often what we pray for is not exactly what we need. Often what we pray for Doesn't take into full consideration all the factors that we ask for. But God's need meeting ability is so good. He can even take what you left off.
What you didn't include put it in the need so that when he responds, he's not just responding to what you asked for, but what you didn't ask for, but that you also need it. He's so good, according to Philippians chapter 3, verse 20. That unto him who can do exceedingly above and beyond what you ask. and what you thought. Because a lot of things you ask.
You didn't think about, or you didn't think about things you should have asked. But God is so good, he says, that if you got me in the right position and you in the right position, I'll take all that into consideration when I start meeting needs, and I'll meet needs according to what I know. Cause I know more than you know. The Bible says sometimes we pray and we don't even know what to ask for. We so messed up and tow up from the flow up.
All we can go is, mm-mm, mm-mm. Because we just don't know how to put it all together. But God gets in his Holy Ghost system and begins to click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click. Oh, that's what they're asking for. And all you said was, mm-mm, mm-mm-mm.
Because God does meet the needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.
So he's so wealthy. that he meets what you didn't even think to ask for.
So he says, if you got me positioned right. Yeah. Then I will meet your needs according to his riches and glory. And remember, your needs come in a lot of ways. You know, Providence, Rhode Island.
Do you know why that was named Providence? because the weather was bad up north, it got really bad in the winters, and they didn't know in those early days how they were gonna make it. But God just kept coming through, and the crops just kept coming. And they were wondering how in these bad winters are we still eating? And in reminiscent of God's supernatural favor, they named it Providence, Rhode Island, because God was given providential care even in bad weather.
And does somebody here know what I'm talking about? When the providential hand of God, you can't explain it, you don't understand it, you don't know how it happened. All you know is God showed up. And showed out. and showed off right in the nick of time.
He says, You will see me meet your needs. And one of the strange things about God is, He can meet needs in weird ways. You know, because he doesn't always come front in your face. He'll backdoor you and me to knee. And all you go is, where did that come from?
Zoom. Because he does it according to his riches, and he's got so many options. By the way, That's why you never want to box God in and tell him how he needs to do it. You never want to box God in because his ways are not your ways. His thoughts are not your thoughts.
As high as the heavens are above the earth, that's how high and different he is than us.
So he's got a million ways you haven't even thunk of yet.
So the second benefit is the meeting of needs. Benefit number three: if you will be a steward, a manager. who manages under the authority of the owner. Oh, I love this one. Divine supernatural guidance.
Isaiah chapter 48. Verses 17 and 18. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer. The Holy One of Israel. I am the Lord your God.
Who teaches you to profit, P-R-O-O-F-I-T. I teach you to profit. who leads you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commandments, then your well-being would have been like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. He said, if you will pay attention to me.
And let me be the Lord your God, your Redeemer. I will teach you how to profit and show you the way that you should go. I will give you business ideas. And I will give you life's direction in the way you should go. See, one, God doesn't mind you making a profit.
That's biblical to make a profit. That's all through the Bible. God expects you to expand what he places under your authority, but he expects you to do it underneath him. And he says, and I will show you how. I may not drop it from heaven, but I will give you ideas.
And when I give you these ideas, I will show you the way that you should go. One of the names given to the Holy Spirit is the anointing. An anointing is like getting a signal. And the way the Holy Spirit gives a signal is, He places the thoughts of God into our mind. The Bible calls that the renewing of the mind.
He takes the written word, and based on the written word, he gives you specific ideas about how to apply the written word in a specific situation. Every believer has the Holy Spirit, but not every believer has their receiver turned on.
So just because you have him doesn't mean you picking up the signal because you may be turned off. And one of the things that turns off the receiver is that you're not operating as a manager, you're operating as an owner.
So God shuts down the system and you wind up like your television in bad weather searching for signal because the Holy Spirit's not free to tell you and to give you thoughts. But when the Holy Spirit is free to give the thinking of heaven and flow ideas into your mind, you wind up with thoughts you didn't originally think, ideas you didn't regularly come up with. He brings people across your path that you didn't want to meet. He has you meet people who you've forgotten years ago in order to stir stuff up. But you got to be in sync with him to pick up on the signal.
He gives guidance. That's why I love 1 Samuel chapter 9. You remember, Saul is chasing donkeys. He's looking for donkeys. His daddy told him to go out and find the donkeys that had escaped the pen.
But he's tired. He's going out for a number of days. He can't find the donkeys. He said, I'm going back home. His servant said, Don't go home.
There's a prophet out here, and your daddy needs the donkeys. Your home needs the donkeys.
So let's go a little bit longer.
So he goes on a little further. In the meantime, God tells Samuel, Samuel. There's a man out here that's going to be chasing Duncans. His name is Saul. When you run across this man chasing donkeys, I want you to anoint him as the next king of Israel.
Because he's going to be the king of Israel.
Now watch it, because I don't know if you heard me. All Saul is doing is chasing donkeys. He has no idea he's supposed to be the next king of Israel. God told somebody over here who he's never met that when you run across the man you never met, anoint him as king. God's got some anointing he wants to do in your life.
And all you doing is chasing donkeys. But God knows how to hook you up. And give you guidance and make the connections at the right time so that chasing donkeys turns into something much bigger than you ever dreamt of because you are operating under his kingdom rule as his kingdom steward. Dr. Tony Evans, with the first three of seven bonuses God offers to Kingdom Stewards.
We'll hear more about these bonuses tomorrow.
Well, as we've been learning, God has designed us to make an eternal impact. And Tony's Kingdom Stewardship book helps us understand how we can live out that calling in practical ways. Through its pages, Dr. Evans explains how aligning our priorities with God's kingdom brings purpose, clarity, and direction. When you make a contribution to help keep the alternative on the air, we'll send you the Kingdom Stewardship Book.
along with the full two-volume companion audio series, a comprehensive study guide, and a leader's kit with downloadable video teaching sessions, resources you can use on your own or to lead others as you consider these life-changing principles. To get all the details, just visit TonyEvans.org today and look for the Kingdom Stewardship Offer right on the homepage. Or if it's more convenient, you can give one of our resource team members a call at 1-800-800-3222. They're ready to help with your request any time of the day or night. Again, that's tonyevans.org.
or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. And then, one more quick item to mention: this October, our listeners will have the opportunity to journey through Israel with Tony Evans. Standing in places like Jerusalem, Nazareth, and the Sea of Galilee. as a way of bringing God's Word into clearer focus. Find out more at tonyevans.org.
Well, tomorrow, Dr. Evans will examine God's final four kingdom stewardship rewards. Be sure to join us for that.
