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Joel Osteen (1:07)

Terms and conditions apply. Hi, this is Joel in Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoyed today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend? We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. Well, God bless you. It's a joy to come into your homes and if you're ever in our area, please, please stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning in and thank you again for coming out. I like to start with something funny and I heard about these two men named Archie and Jack. They argued their whole life as to whether Jesus was white or whether he was black. Archie was certain he was white. Jack was just as sure that he was black. As fate would have it, they died on the same day. Rushed to the Pearly gates, said St. Peter, please tell us, we've been debating our whole life. Is Jesus white or is he black? About that time, Jesus stepped up and said, buenos dias. Hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess. My mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same in Jesus name. God bless you. I want to talk to you today about being a Rainmaker rain in the scripture is symbolic of blessings. Favor increase. One place talks about how we should be like a well watered garden, always in blossom. That's the way God designed us to flourish, even in tough times. But too many people are in a dry season. They haven't had a good break in years. They're stagnant in their marriage, they're not moving toward their dreams, and it's easy to settle there. Think, well, this is as good as it gets. I'll just learn to live with it. But there is a way you can put an end to that drought. There's something you can do to cause it to rain. It's interesting how a cloud forms. The sun shines down on water and it produces an invisible vapor. These vapors condense and eventually rise up into the sky and form clouds. When enough vapors go up, the water becomes too heavy for the cloud to hold and it begins to drip out. That's when it sprinkles and mist. If the cloud gets so full of condensation, so full of these vapors, then it will open up and begin to downpour rain. The point I want us to see is the water didn't start in the sky, it started on the ground. The amount of vapors that went up determined how much rain came back down. The way we can create rain in our own life, the way we can put an end to a drought, is through our praise. When we go around thanking God for his goodness, talking about what he's done, our praise is the invisible vapor that goes up into the heavens and forms a cloud. When your cloud gets so full of praise, so full of thanksgiving, so full of you bragging on the greatness of God, it can't hold it anymore, that's when it will rain down right back on you. Blessings, favor, increase, healing. You can become a rainmaker. You've heard the saying, when the praises go up, the blessings come back down. Now, if you're not seeing any good breaks, if you're in a drought, my encouragement is check up on what you're sending up. Here's the principle. No praise, no rain, limited praise, limited rain. You might get a sprinkle, a little drizzle every once in a while, good break here and there. But if you want to see a downpour, a Texas sized rain, the exceeding greatness of God's favor, you've got to stay full of praise. Everywhere you go under your breath, you're always thanking God for his goodness. When you wake up in the morning, Lord, thank you for another beautiful Day. What's happening? Your cloud is getting a little bit fuller when you see your children. Lord, thank you for these gifts that you bless me with. Driving to work, not complaining about the traffic. I can't stand my job. Gasoline is so high. No, Lord, thank you that I have a job. Thank you that I have a car to sit in traffic. Thank you that I have money for gasoline. Thank you that I'm healthy enough to go to work. Lord, thank you for my gifts and talents. God, I'm just grateful to be alive. When you live like that, you better get your umbrella out. It's just a matter of time before your cloud will open up and unload a downpour of God's favor. Abundant praise will produce abundant rain. The amount you send up is the amount that's going to come back down. Now. Some people only give God praise on Sunday. Joel, I went to church. I sang three songs, stood the whole time, sat through the whole message, missed the first half of the football game. It was a big sacrifice. That's great. God sees your efforts. But here's the problem with only having Sunday praise. On Monday when you need a good break. On Tuesday, when you need wisdom. God says to the angel, he needs some rain. Help him out, give him some favor. Increase promotion. The angel says, we tried, but there's nothing in his cloud. He got a little drizzle on Sunday, a little sprinkle. Now it's completely empty. Friend, you got to do your part and keep your cloud filled up all through the day. Instead of thinking about what's wrong, thank God for what's right when you're in a tough time. Instead of being discouraged, instead of complaining. No, Lord, thank you that you're turning it around. Thank you that you're bigger than this problem. Thank you that you've given me grace for every season. Even in small things, you get a good parking spot. Lord, thank you for your favor. Vapors went up at the mall. You find what you were looking for. Lord, thank you for directing my steps. More vapors are rising. You see a friend that's not feeling well. After you pray for them under your breath. Lord, thank you that I'm healthy. Thank you that I can breathe without pain. You walk outside in the morning. Lord, thank you for the sunrise. Thank you for the beauty of your creation. Eating dinner with friends. Lord, thank you for the people you put in my life. Thank you for my friends. If you're going to reach your highest potential, you've got to become a rainmaker. You've got to develop this habit of constantly sending up these vapors of praise. Every time I drive up to this building, I say under my breath, lord, thank you for our beautiful building. I've said it probably 10,000 times. What am I doing, sending up more vapors? Let what once was a miracle become ordinary. Don't get so used to it. But you're not excited about it anymore. One time I was driving by the building on the freeway. We were headed to the airport, and I was on the telephone. Our son Jonathan was about 10 years old. He said to everyone in the car, since Dad's on the phone, let me say it for him. Thank you, Lord, for our beautiful building. He had heard it so many times. It had become ingrained in him. What has God done in your life that you could be sending up vapors of praise? You thanked him for a week when he gave you that job. Why don't you continue to thank him? You were thrilled when you moved into that house five years ago. Have you thanked him lately? When your baby was born, you were on cloud nine. You thanked God every day for a month. Now he's 16. You're saying, God, what did you do to me? No, thank him again and again. Or how about this? When God turned that problem around, when he made a way, when you didn't see a way, you were so overwhelmed, so relieved. Don't lose the awe. Don't lose the amazement. Those are opportunities to fill your cloud back up. The scripture talks about how if you will sow to the heavens, the heavens will sow back to you. Could it be that you're not seeing God's best? You're stuck in a drought because you're not sowing to the heavens? If you would begin to thank God more often, remember what he's done. Look for these opportunities to send up vapors of praise. Then your dreams would come to pass. Then maybe those problems would turn around. Well, Joel, I'm living in this small house, and I don't really like my job. And my kids won't do what's right. My car's a piece of trash. When things change, then I'll have a better attitude. Then I'll give God praise. Now, that's backwards. Praise is what causes the rain. Praise is what allows God to turn it around. In Matthew 14, Jesus had been teaching the people. Now it was late in the day. Everyone was hungry. Jesus told his disciples to feed them. There were 5,000 men there, probably 15,000 people in total. No city nearby. No grocery stores. It seemed impossible. Jesus said, well, just give me what you have. They went through the crowd and found a little boy's lunch, five loaves of bread and two fish. What good would that do with 15,000 people? But what Jesus did next was extremely significant. Verse 19 says, he took the five loaves and the two fish, held them up to heavens, and he gave thanks and blessed them. Notice. He gave thanks for what was not enough. He blessed what seemed to be too little. Here's the principle. Until you're grateful for what's not enough, you won't see the multiplication. Well, Joel, I can't thank God for my job. I don't like it. The people don't like me. They don't treat me right. They don't pay me enough. You're right. Where Jesus was, you have five loaves and two fish. It's not enough. What are you going to do, complain? God, I've been begging you for three years to get me out of this place. The problem with that approach is in three more years you're still going to have five loaves and two fish. It's still not going to be enough. But if you will try a different approach and learn to be grateful for what's not enough, then one day God will multiply it and you will have more than enough. If you will thank God for what you do have, he will give you what you don't have. Well, Joel, I don't like my house. It's too small. My neighbors get on my nerves. Why don't you try sending up some different vapors? Lord, I want to thank you for this place you've given me. God, I'm grateful that I have a roof over my head. I'm grateful that I'm not out on the streets. It may not be enough. It may be small, but I know you're the God of more than enough. So, God, I continue to give you praise. That's what brings the multiplication. Not complaining, not thinking about what's wrong, but thanking God for what's right. Being grateful even when it's not enough. This is what Elijah did in the scripture. There had been a drought in the land for three and a half years. No rain. The people were barely making it. There wasn't any sign of it changing. Elijah could have become sour, thought God. I don't understand it. You said we'd always be in blossom, but it's just the opposite. We're drying up. We're struggling to survive. No, Elijah understood this principle. In the middle of the drought, he went on top of the mountain and began to thank God for His goodness. Thank him for what he's done. Thank. Thank him that rain was on the way. Thank him that he was in control. Six times his assistant went out to check. Each time he came back with the same report. There's nothing. Not a cloud in the sky. It's not going to rain. If you're going to see a drought come to an end, you have to pass the test of not getting discouraged when circumstances tell you nothing is happening. The medical report says you're not getting better. You prayed, but your child's not improving. The financial situation isn't changing. Every voice will tell you it's not going to work out. Elijah heard this same negative report six times. He didn't get discouraged. He knew as long as he kept sending up those vapors of praise, eventually the cloud would form and things would change. The seventh time the assistant came back and said, this time I saw a small cloud up in the sky. Elijah said, you better take off running because I can hear the sound of the abundance of rain. It wasn't long after that before the clouds formed. The heavens opened up, there was a downpour. The three and a half year drought came to an end. If you'll learn to be thankful for what's not enough, there will be a day when you have more than enough. The abundance of rain. But too often, when we're in difficult times, it's easy to complain and talk about what's not working out. But I've learned that God does not answer complaints. Don't go to God and just tell him all of your problems. God, I don't like my job. I don't like my car. God, my children aren't doing right. God, you know, I need to lose £20. God, I've had it up to here. That's not prayer, that's complaining. Complaining doesn't get God's attention. Psalm 22 says, God inhabits the praises of his people. When you start praising, God shows up. When you have a thankful heart, when you start talking about God's goodness, you start thanking him for his promises. That's what gets God's attention. When Paul and Silas were in prison at midnight, they started singing praises and giving God thanks. Suddenly, God showed up in the prison. Why did that happen? God inhabits the praises. They were in chains in the deepest part of the prison. But at midnight, there was a great earthquake. The chains fell off of them. The prison doors flung open. They walked out as free men. Think about this. Those same chains had held the roughest prisoners for years. The strongest, most powerful criminals. Yet when two ordinary men showed up and started praising, those chains could not hold them. Friends, praise is powerful. Praise will break addictions. Praise can stop a sickness. Praise can turn a problem around. Praise is what will give us the victory. In Psalm 31, David starts off talking about how bad his life is. He said, I'm dying from grief. My vision is blurred because I've cried so many tears. My strength is gone. I'm scorned by my neighbors, hated by my enemies. My friends are spreading rumors. My enemies are plotting to take my life. He went on and on, telling in great detail all of his woes. When I was reading it, I started getting depressed. I can imagine God up in the heavens, just sitting back, not paying any attention, going in one ear and out the other, not even phasing him. At one point, David realizes, I'm sending up the wrong vapors. God doesn't answer complaints. If you're just sending up discouragement, defeat, self pity, that's what's going to come back to you. I like this phrase, complain and you'll remain, but praise and you'll be raised. In a few verses, David changed his whole tune. He realized that wasn't getting him anywhere. He said, yes, I've got a lot of things coming against me. But God, I know your goodness is great. You have blessings stored up for me. You protect me. You vindicate me. You answer me when I call. So I will take courage. I will be strong knowing that you will give me the victory. As David began to brag on God's goodness, as he began to send up these vapors of praise, I can see God come to attention. He says to the angels, I've got to go someplace. I hear somebody talking about my goodness. I hear somebody bragging on what I can do. I've got to inhabit those praises. When you praise God shows up in some battles, the only way you'll get out is to praise your way out. God, I want to thank you that you're turning this around. You said you hold victory in store for the upright. I don't see a way. But God, I know you have a way. As you brag on God's goodness, your cloud is filling up. And at the right time, it's going to rain down breakthroughs, rain down healing, rain down vindication. Pay attention to what you're sending up. It may look like that you could never get out of debt. It would be easy to get discouraged and complain, talk about how big the obstacles are. No, don't send that up. Turn it around. Lord, I want to thank you that I'm blessed. I will lend and not borrow. Whatever I touch will prosper and succeed. When you do that, your cloud is filling up with the right things. If you're struggling in your health, Lord, I want to thank you that you're Jehovah Rapha, the Lord, my healer. That the number of my days you will fulfill, that you're restoring health back unto me. Maybe you're believing for a spouse. Lord, you said if I would delight myself in you, you would give me the desires of my heart. So, Lord, I want to thank you that you're directing my steps, bringing the right person into my life. If you will keep sending up the right vapors, if you'll keep thanking God for his promises, just like Elijah, your praise will cause the downpour. It was God's goodness, but you were the rainmaker. It was your praise that filled up the cloud. And some of you have been thanking God for a long time. You've been faithful. When you felt like complaining, you praised anyway. Like Paul and Silas, you praised in pain. You praised when it was unfair. You praised when you were lonely. You need to get ready. Your cloud is about to open up. You're about to see God amaze you with his goodness. It's going to happen suddenly. The favor of God is going to overtake you and amaze you with his goodness. This is not the time to get discouraged. This is the time to turn up your praise. I read about this American Indian tribe that was known for their rain dances. They had a reputation that anytime they did a rain dance, it would always rain. When the neighboring communities needed water, they always called on this particular tribe. Without fail, it would rain. The leader of the community asked the Indian chief, how is it every time you guys do a rain dance, it always rains? He said, it's very simple. We dance until it rains. That's the way it is with praise. You have to keep praising until you see the victory. Praise until you get out of debt. Praise until your health turns around. Praise until you meet the right person. You don't ever stop praising. Then when the answer comes, when you get the breakthrough, the healing, the promotion, then you start thanking God for what he's done. You spend your whole life thanking God for your compact sinners, thanking him for healing your mother of cancer, thanking him for healthy children, thanking him for taking you where you've never dreamed. You develop this lifestyle, this habit where you're always sending up these vapors of praise. One thing I've learned is God will not disappoint a praiser. Just ask Jonah, sitting in the belly of the well. It looked impossible, but he offered up a sacrifice of praise. That well spit him out on dry ground. Just ask Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. They were thrown into the fiery furnace full of praise, and God showed up the fourth man in the fire. They came out without the smell of smoke. Just ask Job. When he lost everything, when the bottom fell out, he said, I know my redeemer lives. Job came out with twice what he had before. You may have gone through some bad breaks, some disappointments. Our attitude should be, I may have lost a few things, but one thing I'll never lose is my praise. I'm going to keep thanking God for his goodness. I'm going to keep sending up the right vapors. I'm going to live my life as a rainmaker. The scripture says, out of your belly will flow rivers of living water. Notice the water, the rain. The favor is on the inside of each one of us. How do we get it out? Through our praise. Some people get a sprinkle every once in a while, a little mist here and there. But God has some downpours, some gully washers in store for you, like Elijah described. An abundance of rain, if you will. Turn up your praise, lose the complaining, zip up the negative, defeated talk. Our attitude should be. The only thing I'm going to let come out of my mouth are words of faith, victory, health, abundance. I'm not going to magnify my problems. Magnify my God. If you're always sending up praise, then it's always going to be raining back on you. Driving to work, minding your own business. Out of nowhere, you have a good idea what happened. You got rained on. That's God raining down creativity, raining down wisdom. At the mall, you find what you wanted to purchase and it just went on sale. You got rained on out to lunch with some friends. They introduced you to one of their contacts. You pick up a new client and your sales take off more rain. When you have this attitude of praise, you won't be able to outrun the good things of God. God said in Psalm 81, open your mouth wide and I will fill it. The reason some people never see God's best is their mouth is barely open. Well, Joel, this sounds good today, but you don't know my story. I've had a lot of bad breaks, and I'm dealing with this illness. My mother's depressed. I don't see how I could ever get out of debt. No. If you have a poor mouth, you're going to have a poor life. Why don't you open your mouth a little bit wider? You may have had that sickness for many years. Dare to say, Lord, I believe today is a new day. The tide of the battle is turning. I thank you Lord, that I will live out my days in good health. Maybe that addiction has been with you since high school. Dare to say Lord, I want to thank you that no weapon formed against me will prosper. This is a new day of victory. I am free. Maybe somebody did you wrong, walked out of a relationship. Don't sit around in self pity. Don't send those vapors up. Dare to say God. You said you'd give me beauty for ashes, joy for morning. I want to thank you Lord. My best days are still out in front of me. You have to open your mouth wide. That's what allows God to do great things. Don't limit him with little praise, little prayer, little dreams. Thank him for the greatness of his power. Thank him for the fullness of your destiny. Thank him for new levels. When you brag on the goodness of God, he'll do amazing things in your life. We've all heard little children before bragging on their fathers, saying things like, my dad's stronger than your dad. My dad can run faster than your dad. Well, my dad's tougher than your dad. A few years ago, my nephew Christopher was over at our house and he was 5 years old at the time. And Christopher's as tough as can be, solid as a rock. We were in my garage and I was lifting weights and Christopher was there with me and I just kind of playing, teasing him and I pointed at my muscle and said, christopher, you do realize that I can whoop your dad. He looked at me as stern as can be and said, uncle Joel, my dad could squash you. He said it so dramatic, so mean. I thought, he's going to come over there and whoop me. But that's the way we need to be with our heavenly Father. Look at that obstacle, that addiction, that sickness. Announce to it my father can squash you. What are you doing? Sending up the right vapors, bragging on the greatness of God. This is what David did when he faced Goliath. He said, goliath, you come against me with a sword and a shield, but I come against you in the name of the Lord God of Israel. When your mouth is open wide, not talking about how big the problem is, but talking about how big your God is, you better get your umbrella. That's When God will unload a downpour of his favor. You will defeat giants that are much bigger. You will overcome obstacles that looked insurmountable. What kind of vapors are you sending up? What kind of clouds are you allowing to form? Man, Joel, I don't think I'll ever get well. I'll never break this addiction. No. Start sending up these vapors of praise. Start thanking God for His goodness. Don't wait for everything to change. Learn to thank him for what's not enough. All through the day, under your breath, this attitude of praise. If you'll do this, you will become a rainmaker. And like Elijah, I believe and declare. Every drought is coming to an end. In your life, God is about to rain down favor, promotion, healing, restoration. As you thank him for what's not enough. You're about to come into more than enough. The abundance of rain in Jesus name. If you receive it, can you say Amen today? We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and Savior. Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get in a good Bible based church, Keep God first place. He's going to take you where you've never dreamed. When was the last time you asked God to do something that seemed impossible? If you only pray small, ordinary prayers, you'll live a small ordinary life. I have a new book called Pray Bold. I'll challenge you to stretch your faith and believe for the big things God puts in your heart. Victoria and I used to have season tickets to watch the Rockets play basketball here. We never dreamed it could be ours. But when they moved out, somehow we had the faith to pray a bold prayer. God made things happen that we could never make happen. It's the same for you. Who knows what God will do in your life if you'll dare to pray bold. Ask him for your dreams. Ask for your healing. Ask for your freedom. That's when God will show up and do more than you could ever imagine.