River Church NOLA
2026 Aug 23 Miracles of Provision
  • This Is Amazing Grace
  • The Only Name (Yours Will Be)
  • Evidence
  • Make Room
  • Intro
    Week 3 of I’ve witnessed it.
    We are in 21 Days of Prayer where we are praying and expecting Miracles. If God is working in your life, please fill out the Share Your Story form and either put in with your connection card or take a pic of it and send to me. If you have not participated jump in now.
    Does anyone need a miracle in your life? I believe that God still does miracles.
    Our theme verse is…
    Psalm 77:13–14 NLT
    13 O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you? 14 You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
    Then Jesus said,
    John 14:12–14 NLT
    12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!
    Jesus did these three things: teaching, proclaiming and healing. Healthy ministry should have all of these.
    Teaching is discipleship — it's meant to feed you and grow you. Some of our series lean into that. The Totally True series we just finished on Wednesdays was that kind of series. Last week was more of a discipleship sermon.
    Preaching is sharing the good news. And we're entering a season — the fall — when many people will visit church if they're invited. There are some Sunday’s we want to invite people…
    Healing is where this series lives. We want to see miracles in people’s lives. We want God to heal every part of your life where you are dis - eased. It might be your physical body… relationships… emotions… financial…
    What would it look like if we add the component that all miracles require… that’s faith. I know a lot of us want more faith. People ask a lot, How can I strengthen my faith.
    That’s what we are trying to do this month… build our faith. that’s why we are telling stories.
    1 John 1:1–3 NLT
    1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
    That’s why we are telling miracle stories. God does miracles… physical and relational.
    We watched the show Miracle. The last episode was a man who had a heart attack. They worked on him for 37 minutes… the cardiologist pronounced him dead. Everyone left except for the nurse who was cleaning him up so the family could see him.
    As the Cardiologist was walking down the hall, he heard a voice say, go pray for that man. He shook it off and kept walking. Then he heard it again so he turned around and went back to the ER and back into the room where the nurse was cleaning him up. When the ER doctor saw him come into the room, he went in with him. The cardiologist prayed and the HS had him pray for the man to come back to life. Then he told the nurse to shock him again. Finally after some discussion and his insistence, they did. And the man woke up.
    They told his daughter that he might be brain dead, but when they went to see him, he was awake and normal.
    God is still in the miracle business.
    Next Sunday we will look at emotional healing miracles. I know many people struggle with depression, anxiety, and other emotional issues. Jesus broke the power of darkness off of people. If you know people who need a miracle of their souls… invite them next week.
    Today we want to talk about miracle of provision.
    There are so many stories about this. Sometimes Jesus came along and did miracles like the feeding of the 5000. Other times, he came, told them where to fish and then their nets are breaking because he gave them so many fish.
    Another time, they had to pay their temple tax and he said go catch a fish… there will be a gold coin in it’s mouth and you can pay your tax. How many would like to be on that fishing trip?
    Stories of miracles of provision
    Beth - medical issues. Tests were not covered by the insurance company and they had an $18,000 balance. So they tried to work with the insurance company but the company would not cover any of it. So they tried to set up a payment plan and to their surprise, they had a zero balance. Beth and Anthony called the testing company to tell them a mistake had been made but the company confirmed that they had a zero balance. They marked that day on their calendar so that every year that goes by, they would celebrate on that day God’s miraculous provision.
    Couple that were trying to get out of debt and took Ramsey’s Financial Peace class. They thought they would get out of debt quicker if they didn’t tithe, but realized that was not what God wanted, so they began trusting God and began tithing again and ended up getting out of debt faster than they planned to.
    Lady that needed to pay medical debt. She crying out to God and prayed for an exact amount. She didn’t tell anyone. That day a couple in her small group called her and said that they knew she was having some health issues and the Lord to them to give her an amount and it was exactly what she needed.
    That’s the Body of Christ.
    Today as I talk about miracles of provision, I want to throw out a word that will make some of you nervous… it will send chills up your spin when I say it.
    It’s the word Prosperity.
    We are not that kind of a prosperity believing church. Those churches will tell you you are just a 1,0000 dollar check to us away from your miracle. They have manipulated people. That’s not us. Those folks have turned off a lot of people to the idea of financial provision.
    God is in the business of bringing financial miracles. Now, whether you know it or not, God wants to prosper you, but maybe not the way some of the teaching out there is.
    JOKE - There was a church that was in a building program and the pastor said that anyone who would give $1,000 dollars he would let pick out 3 hymns. This little old lady stood up and said, Pastor I’ll do that right now and she walked up to the front and gave him the check. Then she turned around and said, I’ll take him, him and him.
    The word prosper is actually in the Bible.

    Prosper: tsa lakh’ To push forward

    Prosper is all through the Bible. It means to push you forward further than you can go yourself. It has nothing to do with cars and houses. It’s not even a money principle. It’s like you do what you can do and then let me show you what you can do when I am helping you.
    I know a lot of folks have a negative idea of this but…
    Genesis 26:12–13 NKJV
    12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. 13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;
    God uses the word prosper a lot.
    Isaac reaped 100 fold.
    Maybe because of the mis-use of the word we might use the word blessed or something like that. But the Bible says that God wants to prosper you.
    Proverbs 11:10 NIV84
    10 When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.
    Do you know why the city rejoices? Because when we prosper, we can be a blessing to our city.
    Proverbs 11:25 NLT
    25 The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.
    When we bless others, we will be refreshed.
    Here is the NT
    3 John 2 NKJV
    2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
    He wants us to succeed… to prosper as our soul prospers. As you grow in your relationship with the Lord, God will give you more than you need so that you give it to others.

    Biblical Prosperity: Having more than you need so you can make an eternal difference in the lives of others.

    Biblical Prosperity is God giving you more than you need. Don’t ask God just for what you need, ask him for more than you need so that you can help someone else.
    We are blessed to make an eternal difference in the lives of those around us.
    Before God can bless us financially, I believe that we need to have a different mindset than maybe you do right now. Here is the first one

    God blesses us to be a blessing.

    He wants to bless us so that we can bless others.
    Galatians 3:13–14 NIV84
    13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
    The blessing that was originally on Abraham is now on you and me. Jesus put us back into the place God wanted… in relationship with God.
    The blessing that was on Abraham is now available for us as well. It there for us so that we can bless others.
    Genesis 12:2 NLT
    2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.
    God wants to bless us with more than we need so that we will bless others. This is why God wants you and me to have more than others… more than we need so that we can help others. Bob
    We believe that we are not here just for ourselves. Thats why we want to support missions.
    We believe that we need to know God, find freedom, discover our purpose and make a difference. God wants us to make a difference in our every day lives. This mindset will keep us focused on others that God wants us to make a difference with.
    When we live our lives to bless God and others, it gets God’s attention.
    Next mindset…

    God wants to be our provider.

    He doesn’t want you to be your own provider. We are taught to work hard and move up the ladder… to be financially independent … nothing wrong with that. Even if you have more than you need, God wants to be your provider.
    He becomes your

    Jehovah - Jireh

    God is my provider.
    Paul knew this…
    Philippians 4:19 NLT
    19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
    One of the errors in the prosperity movement is that you get so rich you don’t need God anymore. That’s not what we are talking about and it’s not what God wants.
    When you know God will take care of you there is no limit to what you can do for God. It changes everything in your life.
    Look what Jesus said,
    Luke 18:29–30 GW
    29 Jesus said to them, “I can guarantee this truth: Anyone who gave up his home, wife, brothers, parents, or children because of God’s kingdom 30 will certainly receive many times as much in this life and will receive eternal life in the world to come.” 
    Why is that? Because he wants to bless you with more than you need in this life so you can receive eternal life in the world to come.
    The problem is that we tend to want to be in control of taking care of ourselves and God is warning us against that.
    Proverbs 18:11 NLT
    11 The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety.
    They think that if they have enough they will be secure as if they are insulated against anything going wrong. Solomon says they imagine this because it’s not real…
    We need to have the attitude that God wants to bless us and that he wants to be our provider… so

    I will not trust in riches but in Him who richly provides.

    I will put my trust in God…
    God has favorites. That may be offensive, but here is the good news. You get to choose if you are one or not. That’s why there are a lot of verses in the Bible that go like this. If… then…
    If my people will humble themselves and pray… then I will hear and answer…
    There are a lot of if… thens in the Bible.
    We need to understand this principle.
    Here is one of the places…
    Psalm 1:1–3 NLT
    1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. 2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
    People who delight in their relationship with the Lord will prosper like trees along the river bank. There is the word prosper but look.

    Every promise has a premise.

    IOW there is something we have to do for the promise. There is a condition because God is looking for our hearts.
    If God is going to be your provider, then you have to …

    1. Put God first.

    God doesn’t mind you having a lot of things in your life that you love, but he does mind if you love them more than Him.
    The first of the 10 commandments is you shall not have any other God before me. He is saying that you cannot have any loves before me. He wants first place in your life. So it’s a big deal with God.
    When he sees us putting things in our lives it puts outside of him being our provider. But when we rearrange our lives and put him first in everything… it goes well.
    Proverbs 3:9–10 NIV84
    9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
    We want to be looking for as many ways as we can to put God first.
    You are doing that today… You are giving God your time on the first day fo the week.
    It’s also why we do 21 Days of prayer in January and then at the beginning of Fall… We want to give God the first.
    It’s why I take out my tithe before I even get my check. My tithe is first.
    It gets God’s attention when we …

    2. Maintain my integrity.

    It gets God’s attention when we live with integrity in our finances. We can’t be cheating on our taxes… or cheating people with our business practices. God is always watching. Look at this…
    Luke 16:10–11 NLT
    10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?
    If you have your finances out or order… or you are not doing business in a right manner in every way… Get right. When you honor God in this area, it gets God’s attention.
    Take care of the little things.
    Keep you car clean… take care of the little things…
    Why would God give you a better job if you if you are not doing the one you have with excellence?
    Why would God give you a better car if you are not taking care of the one you have?
    Why would God bless you with more money of you are stealing from him by not tithing? not paying taxes?
    God wants to bless you, and it puts you in a place to be blesses when you put God first in your finances, when you live with integrity in your finances and …

    3. Give intentionally and generously.

    Random giving is ok. You don’t need to have someone make you cry… But the Bible teaches intentional and generous giving.
    2 Corinthians 9:6–7 NLT
    6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
    You don’t give because the preacher made you cry… God wants you to give out of your heart. Ask God what he wants you to give over and above your tithe.
    2 Corinthians 9:10–11 NIV84
    10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
    God supplies the needs to those who sow seeds.
    He wants you to be rich in every way… your marriage better… your kids better… your joy and peace better so that you can give it away. Why? Because of our generosity people come to faith in Christ.
    We don’t want to forget who our source is… When we have a heart of generosity, we know who our provider is. God is looking for our hearts…

    4. Stay dependent on God.

    We want to always realize that we need God. We don’t want to ever get to a point in our lives where we think that we don’t need God.
    There is nothing wrong with making money… nothing wrong with making a lot of it. There is everything wrong with putting that money in place of God.
    Paul is talking to Timothy…
    1 Timothy 6:17 NLT
    17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.
    Here is a great proverb…
    Proverbs 30:8–9 NLT
    8 First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. 9 For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.
    We don’t want to ever get to a point where we don’t tink that we need God.
    Why does the Bible talk so much about money? He knew the chief competitor of your soul would be your stuff. That’s why we trust the Lord.
    Put God first in our life
    Maintain Integrity in every area of our life
    Give intentionally and generously.
    Stay dependent on God
    I want God to bless each one of you with more than you need. I want people to know us a generous people. We might not be a big church, but we are a generous church.
    Prayer
    Salvation -
    Go all in -
    Miracle prayer
    If you need a miracle in your finances, open your hands…
    Pray for people’s finances and jobs… Miracles of provision.

      • Psalm 77:13–14NLT

      • John 14:12–14NLT

      • 1 John 1:1–3NLT

      • Genesis 26:12–13NLT

      • Proverbs 11:10NLT

      • Proverbs 11:25NLT

      • 3 John 2NLT

      • Galatians 3:13–14NLT

      • Genesis 12:2NLT

      • Philippians 4:19NLT

      • Luke 18:29–30NLT

      • Proverbs 18:11NLT

      • Psalm 1:1–3NLT

      • Proverbs 3:9–10NLT

      • Luke 16:10–11NLT

      • 2 Corinthians 9:6–7NLT

      • 2 Corinthians 9:10–11NLT

      • 1 Timothy 6:17NLT

      • Proverbs 30:8–9NLT

River Church NOLA
robert@riverchurchnola.com
504-578-8317
https://riverchurchnola.com
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