A few weeks ago, I was led following an interesting chain of events, to an audio file of a message presented by Nancy Dufresne of Dufresne Ministries. I had never heard of her or the ministry, but I was drawn to this message by the title, Extravagant Asking. After listening to this message and beginning to grasp what was presented I spent a couple of weeks studying much of what Jesus, Paul and other writers of the New Testament had to say that was related. In this short article I want to present in brief what Nancy taught. Some material was taken from her monthly newsletter and an additional teaching on the subject.
The whole message was centered on two verses from Psalms 81. The entire chapter is powerful but we’ll look at and come to understand verses 10 and 11. Verse 10, “I am the LORD thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Verse 11, “But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.”
God is speaking and reveals that He is Yehovah our Elohim. He states that He brought US (as well as Israel) out of Egypt. Our Egypt that held us in bondage was sin, the world, the power of darkness (Col. 1:13), sickness, poverty, depression, etc. We have been brought out of legalism, out from under the bondage of law and into His Covenant of Grace.
Notice the next phrase, an instruction and command to us, “open thy mouth wide.” The Hebrew word rachab that is rendered here as wide means large, to make large, to grow large, to enlarge. God instructs us to open our mouths wide or large. What is He saying? We are being told to ask large, to make our requests very BIG! He is telling us not to limit Him by asking small, asking “just barely enough.” We’ll elaborate more in a moment.
After telling us to “ask large,” to open our mouth wide, He says, “and I will fill it.” He not only tells us to ask large but promises to grant whatever we ask. Notice, He doesn’t tell us to ask based on what we have in the bank account, or to ask based on what we try to “work out.” Ask wide, large, extravagantly AND I will “fill your mouth,” I will give you what you ask.
What is the “catch?” He merely tells us that we are to be “hearkening” to Him, something Israel didn’t do. Look again at what is stated. God tells us He is the One who has brought us out of bondage and He will give us whatever we ask. Our side of the equation is to ask “huge” and hearken to Him.
Nancy shared quotations from four different Jewish Rabbis, commentary or translations from the Hebrew on these verses.
Number 1.) “I am Hashim your God who raised you from the land of Egypt. Remember that I am the benevolent God who seeks your welfare, just as I redeemed you from Egypt to improve your lot so do I continually search for ways to make your existence more wholesome and pleasant.”
Number 2.) I did not merely take you out of Egypt, rather, I raised you to a higher plain of existence and spiritual achievement.”
Number 3.) Ask of me all that your heart desires and I will fulfill every request on the condition that you listen to me. Then you will never know want, hunger or thirst, just as you were completely provided for when you were brought from Egypt.”
Number 4.) Let your desire be extensive. I will gratify them if you remain faithful to me. You will lack no good thing, for I am rich enough to meet all your needs.” (As an aside see Mark 11:23)
Adam Clarke in his commentary on these verses, “Open thy mouth wide-- Let thy desires be ever so extensive. I will gratify them if thou wilt be faithful to me. Thou shalt lack no manner of thing that is good.”
The Living Bible renders verse 10, “For it was I, Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Only test me! Open your mouth wide and see if I won’t fill it. You will receive every blessing you can use.”
Nancy quoted from a sermon given by Smith Wigglesworth on August 11, 1927, from which she took the title of her message. “The last days are a time for the true people of God to engage in extravagant asking. Up to this present time, the Lord’s word is for us, ‘Hitherto ye have asked nothing.’ Surely you people that have been asking great things from God for a long time would be amazed if you entered into it with clear knowledge that it is the Master, it is Jesus, who has such knowledge of the mightiness of the power of the Father, of the joint union with Him, that nothing is impossible for you to ask. Surely it is He only Who could say, Hitherto you have asked nothing. So, God means me to press you another step forward. Begin to believe on extravagant asking, believing that God is pleased when you ask large things.”
Nancy made a couple of powerful comments following her quoting Smith Wigglesworth. “This stirs me so much because Brother Wigglesworth is reminding us that in light of the mightiness of God’s power, our asking has been so small that it seems like nothing compared to what is available to us and what He offers us to receive.”
And, “...abundance is mentality – not simply a quantity! If we think and believe small, we receive small. But if we will think and believe large, we will receive large! It’s not up to God — it’s up to us!”
She looked at the dictionary definition of “extravagant.” The word means, “more than is necessary,” “exceeding the bounds of reason,” “going beyond what is deserved,” “wandering beyond bounds.”
She looked at each of those definitions a little more closely. 1.) More than is necessary – to think and ask based on what is needed is to miss the mark. God wants us to have more than what is needed!
2.) Exceeding the bounds of reason – if we are going to have extravagant asking and extravagant receiving, we’re going to have to go beyond the bounds of reasonings of the mind! Abundance won’t flow for those who try to mentally calculate everything, then let those mental calculations dictate their level of asking and receiving. The mind sets a boundary – you can go no further than it will let you if you’re going to follow the mind. But the faith that’s in your spirit can lead you into abundance, and even extravagance, if you will bypass the reasonings of your mind and follow your spirit into it.
3.) Going beyond what is deserved – so many Christians limit their asking and their receiving based on their own feelings of human inadequacy. We are new creatures in Christ, old things are passed away, all things have become new (2 Cor 5:17). We are now in Christ, we are one with Him. We are to receive based on who we are in Him! Many let the devil steal from them by thinking more of what they’re not than of what He made them to be!
4.) Wandering beyond bounds – all around you are boundaries. Your profession, your salary, the way you were raised, your past, the people around you, etc. For us to ask and receive extravagantly, we can’t let the boundaries around us be our stopping place – we must go beyond them in our believing, in our thinking, and in our asking.
Nancy’s conclusion was quite good.
“I love what Brother Wigglesworth states: ‘...God is pleased when you ask large things.’ We ask to the level we believe God is able to work. When we ask small, we are telling God we believe He is only able to do small. But when we ask large, we are letting God know we believe He is able to do large! No wonder it would be pleasing to God for us to ask large. It lets Him know how big we think He is! We have a big God! We have an extravagant God! So let’s ask extravagantly and receive extravagantly!”
Garry D. Pifer
11/14/18
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