Matt Hagee - Hide and Go Seek

The "If" is always in us: it's never in God. And one of the "If's" that you read about in the Bible is Jesus Christ when it says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. And if any man opens the door and answers me, then I'll come in". The "If" is in you: it's never in God. Today, you need to know that I hear God knocking, through his word, on the door of your heart, asking you, "Would you come out and play with me"? "Would you come out and join me"? "Would you step out of your comfort zone and allow me to show you what great and mighty things you know not"? "Would you allow me to prove to you that my ways are not your ways and that my time is not your time, but as the heavens are above the earth, so are the ways of the Lord above that of man. And as the rain goes up from heaven but does not return there, neither does my word leave and return void".

God wants to show you what amazing things he can do for you. But the first commitment that you have to make is to answer the door as he knocks upon it and be willing to get outside! Step outside of your comfort zone. Step outside of your past. Step outside of your offenses. Step outside of your limitations. Step outside of what you've heard other people say about you. You see when I was a kid, there was nothing more frustrating than being told to go outside. And the first thing you do is you run to the neighbor's house and you knock on the door. "Hello, Mrs. Smith. Can trey come out and play today"? And trey's sitting inside. He goes, "I'm good". I'm banished to outside. You need to come outside with me.

And the Bible says that Jesus is a friend that's closer than a brother. And so he's inviting you. He's asking you. He wants you to come outside. And you come to church, and through the word, he knocks on the door of your heart. And the Holy Spirit opens it up, and you go, "I'm good". Why do you choose to be good? Because you're comfortable. It might not be what you want, but at least it's something you can deal with. It might not be just exactly like you wished for, but at least it's something you can handle. And God's saying, if you'll come outside, if you'll answer the knock on the door of your heart, and you'll step out into a place where you're going to have to trust me, whoever asks, receives. Whoever seeks, finds. Whoever knocks, it's opened. The "If" is always in us. Whenever you answer the door, you're going to find out that God wants you to come out and play what I call "Hide and go seek".

You see if you're willing to accept his invitation, the first thing he's going to do is ask you to get out of your comfort zone. How many of you played hide and go seek when you were kids? We used to play it at our house. And the thing that always made it really exciting is whenever we decided to play in the dark. How many of y'all have ever played hide and go seek in the dark? Oh, it was fun in the dark. Because in the daylight, you really had to go somewhere to hide. But in the nighttime, you just lay down in the grass and you were hiding. If it was fall, you could cover yourselves in leaves and look like a leaf pile. And then when the person who was it walked by, you'd just grab their ankle.

Now being the fourth of five kids, and being young in the pecking order, I hated playing at night. The house we grew up in, there was one porch light, and it covered the patio. But right on the other side of the patio was a veil of darkness like no one has ever had to live through before. When I was a child, I hated darkness. I got over that about two weeks ago. It's good. I'm strong. I'm believing for a breakthrough. But when we were kids and we would play at night, I was always the lazy seeker. Here's how it would work. It was my turn to be it, and I would be under the light, because that was base. How many of you knew that hide and seek had a base: right? Base was the safe place. Well I'm up here by the safe place. The light is right on me. I'd close my eyes. One, two, skip a few, one hundred: I'm ready to start looking. I would walk to the end of the patio right where that veil of darkness started and I'd never get off the patio.

And just about the time everybody got good and hid, being the lazy seeker, I would say, "Come out, come out", wherever you are. Oh, y'all were lazy too: weren't you? You see they always got mad when I was it, because they knew I was never going to come out and find them. I wanted them to show themselves to me, but I didn't want to go seek them. I'm going to talk to the single people in church for just a little bit. All you married people just stay mad: I mean married. You see they knew that I wanted them to show themselves to me, but they didn't want to seek me. They knew I wouldn't seek them. Single people, there are a lot of people in this world that want you to show yourself to them, but you want one who is seeking you. Don't find somebody who's lazy enough to say, "Come out, come out, wherever you are". Go find someone who has been looking for you for a long time. Make sure they're seeking you.

There are a lot of God's kids that come to church every Sunday. And they sit in church, and rather than seek the Lord, they say, "Come out, come out, wherever you are". "Come out, come out, Jesus". "Come out and bless me, Jesus". "Come out and bring me my breakthrough, Jesus". "Come out wherever you are, Jesus: I need a victory". "Come out wherever you are, Jesus: I need a healing". "Come out wherever you are, Jesus. Improve my business. Improve my marriage. Improve my life". Jesus Christ didn't say, "Want and you'll get". He said, "Seek and you'll find". The reason that we don't seek him is because we're comfortable right where we are. And rather than move out into the unknown and go see what God has in store for us, we would rather stay where we feel it's safe. You need to know Jesus doesn't play that way.

Psalm 18, it says very clearly, David speaking, "The Lord makes darkness his secret place". The Lord, when you follow him, is going to ask you to seek him. And the first thing he's going to do is he's going to take you to a place where you can't see, but he can. You need to know that when you can't see, he can. What you don't know, he does. What you can't do, he will, because that's the kind of God that we serve. When you decide to follow the leader, he wants to know if you're willing to play hide and go seek. We talk about "Pressed down, shaken together, and running over blessings". I want to show you what that looks like in this illustration. Bring out my vessels of honor here. People come to church, and they say, "Oh pastor, I need a blessing".

Well, are you wanting a blessing or are you seeking a blessing? Because wanting something is a feeling. Seeking something is an action. And the Bible says, "Faith without works is", what? "Dead". So you can want something all that you can, but you're never going to get it. It's not until you seek it that you find it. And there are people who come to church, and they say, "Pastor, I know who Jesus is. I don't read my Bible. I don't say my prayers. I hear what the pastor says. I shout for him, but I don't follow the advice". You, my friend, are what I call "A teacup Christian". You toast the truth, but there's not a whole lot in you. And whenever you have things that are pressed down, shaken together, and running over, you need to know that the limitation is not God.

Here I have what I call "Shredded blessings". That's for the illustration purposes, of course. We tell the Lord we want joy. We tell the Lord we want peace. We tell the Lord we want blessings in our finances. We tell the Lord we want prosperity in our physical body and in our family. And he says, that's just fine. If all you're going to give me is a teacup to fill up, that's all you get. And we say, "Lord, when are things going to grow"? And he says, that's a good question, because I've given you all I can, pressed down and shaken together. Okay. A little more. But look how much God wants to give you. And look how much you can contain. Now you say, "I'm going to follow the leader. I'm going to do what he says. I'm going to make his word a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And I'm going to grow in my faith".

Now how many of you know what growing pains are? There are spiritual growing pains just like there are physical growing pains. And whenever you get into a spiritual growing pain, you might think that God has abandoned you, forsaken you, walked out on you, because the storm in your life is greater than you can face. You need to know that storm might be greater than you, but it's not greater than the God who's growing you. So what happens then is your teacup faith begins to grow, and God can do more, and he sends his angels. This is angel one and angel two. And he says, angels, this child of mine is reading the word. They're praying. They're believing in faith. And I promised them, pressed down, shaken together, and running over: they were going to have blessings.

So let's just press them down, and let's shake it together, and let's run it over. And we get to another place where we're comfortable. I mean business is good, and the marriage is good, and the kids are good. And we get here and we say, "Lord, is there more"? And God says, there's more. "Seek me and you'll find me. Knock and the door shall be opened. Ask and you shall receive". You want more? "Yes, Lord: I want more". And people wonder all the time. They say, you know, "When is enough, enough"? Let me tell you: with God, there's never enough, because he promised he'd take you from glory to glory, to glory, to glory. I watched pastor Hagee stand in Jerusalem, Israel, and declare that Jerusalem was the eternal capital of Israel at the United States embassy in Israel.

Let me tell you something. That came at the end of several seasons of growing pains, in which a child of God was willing to seek him, and a child of God was willing to take him at his word, and a child of God was willing to do what he asked. When other people said it was crazy, when other people said, "No one will ever see that day come," God said, pressed down, shaken together, running over: I'm going to bless him with blessings that he cannot contain. In his age, I'm going to give him strength. In his family, I'm going to give him favor. In his businesses, I'm going to give him prosperity. In his health, I'm going to give him goodness and mercy. Child of God, there isn't anything that God cannot do for you! Give him a handclap of praise!

But when all we do is shout and don't serve, it's a teacup, because faith without works is... This is what faith looks like without works. This is what six decades of faith looks like when you're willing to seek and find, ask and receive, knock and let it be opened. People say, "Where is my blessing"? God says, where is your faith? "Where's my miracles"? He says, where is your effort? "Where's my breakthrough"? He says, how long are you going to wait until you go to work? You see because the way we seek the Lord is through prayer. Thank you, gentlemen. We'll just leave that right there. It's going to do just fine for the rest of the service. Momma, if you don't like the mess, he made me do it. Seeking the Lord is a matter of prayer. Seeking the Lord is something that you can't want to do: you have to actually do. And it's an exercise of your faith.

This is what the Bible says: it says, "Work out your own salvation". That's Philippians 2:12. That word "Work out" is a very real and literal term. It means that you have got to put out the effort in order to grow. And there's a lot of God's kids that they want to be around people who are praying, but they don't want to work out their salvation and pray. There are a lot of people who want to be around people who are praising, but they don't want to lift their hands and praise. There are a lot of people who want to be in the right place for those things to happen, but they don't want to do the work that makes it happen. Why? Because we know what the Bible says: we just don't do what the Bible tells us to do. "Faith without works is dead". Matthew 7:7 and 8 says that if you want it, you're doing to have to seek it. If you need it, you're going to have to ask for it. It takes action. Seek. Ask. Knock.

The challenge with most American Christians is not a lack of knowledge: it's a lack of action. We have all the information we need at our disposal, but we refuse to put it to practice. We're always learning. But in 2 Timothy, it says, we're never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. In another verse, the Bible says that a lack of action is actually sin, because in James 4:17, it says, "To him who knows to do right, and does it not, to him it is sin". We know what the Bible says about tithing. God said, "Bring all of the tithe into the storehouse". When you don't tithe, it's not a financial decision: God says it's sin. Here's what the Bible says about prayer: Philippians 4:6 and 7, it says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer".

Stop worrying about what you're facing, and by prayer, make your requests known to God. If you'll pray, the Bible says that the peace of God will rule your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. So now we know what the Bible says about prayer, but do we pray? Philippians 2:12, you've got to work out your own salvation. When you start to talk about prayer, people say, "Oh, it's just so hard to pray". The guy who's in the gym today lifting 300 pounds, he didn't start at 300 pounds. He probably started at three. And God's not asking you to give a 300-pound push in your prayer life. He'd be content if you go from zero to three. Because if you'll go from zero to three, if you'll start seeking him, he'll allow you to find him. And the more you find him, the more you'll seek him, and the more you'll be able to grow as you continue to exercise your faith.

And the next thing you know, you'll be the one who's pushing 300 pounds in a prayer life whenever you didn't even used to pray. How does it happen? Work out your own salvation! And Proverbs 3 bears a message that those of you who are challenged by this need to hear. It says, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest his correction: for whom the Lord loves, he corrects, just as a father takes delight in his own son". Do you know how I know my father delighted himself in his five children? It wasn't the fact that he fed us. It was the fact that he corrected us. He didn't correct every kid in the neighborhood. There were some weekends he fed every kid in the neighborhood. But whenever it came to how we were going to turn out, we were the only five that he wanted to make sure thrived.

And because he was our father, he delighted in us enough to know that what we were doing, we didn't need to do: so he would correct us. Sometimes he could correct you with a look. He'd just catch your eye. And looking at you, you could have an entire conversation and never say a word. If the look didn't work, sometimes he would snap. And when he snapped, it sounded like the whip crack on the show rawhide. If the look and the snap didn't work, he could whistle. And to this day, if he whistles, there's like an umbilical surge that runs through my body, and I have to go in any direction I hear that whistle. I've literally left meetings with people whom I'm supposed to be talking to because dad whistled. It's like a rapture: poof! I'm gone.

And if the whistle didn't work, and the snap didn't work, and the look didn't work, oh, there was such a gentle touch of impartation that inspired and motivated change in our behavior. It didn't matter how you saw it. After he touched you, you suddenly felt the Lord moving through you. But the reason that he did that for us and not for every kid in the neighborhood is because he didn't care where they were going to be in five years. And he wasn't concerned about what they'd be doing in 20 years. And he wasn't worried about the way that those kids were going to raise their kids. He was caring about where we were going to be, and what we would be doing, and how we would raise his grand kids. So whenever we went wrong, he made sure to bring us back right.

You say, "God, I want precious, unmerited blessings, pressed down, shaken together, and running over". He says, you're going to have to grow up, get outside of your comfort zone, and allow me to change who you are. So church, I want to ask you in closing: do you hear him knocking? He says, step out of your comfort zone. Come out here and play with me. Be childlike enough to follow me. Seek me. Seek me first. I'll pour out blessings you can't contain. Seek me first, and what thought was impossible, I'll make happen so fast: it will stun your enemies. Seek me and you'll find me. Don't sit here in your comfort zone, and say, "Come out, come out, wherever you are". Be willing to let Jesus take you places you never dreamed you'd go by seeking him through prayer.

I want you to stand right where you are today. And if you're in this place and you know what you want God to do for you, you know the area in your life where you need God to move for you, I want you to take one hand and just hold it high towards heaven. Maybe it's physical. Maybe it's financial. Maybe it's in your emotions. Maybe it's in a situation and circumstance at your work. Maybe it's got to do with your children. Just one hand, hold it high.

Now this represents what you want. If you're willing to seek God in prayer, I want you to take that other hand and put it right up next to it. And right where you are, I want you to begin working out your faith and your salvation. And I want you to open your mouth, and let's close this service with an application of what it means to pray. I want you to say, "Lord, I need..." And then you fill in the blank, and say, "Lord, I'm going to seek you". And give him the opportunity to answer you. Whatever it is you're asking for, I know that God has the ability to do it. Whatever need you're facing today, I know that he can provide it. Whatever desire is in your heart, I am certain that he already knows it. And there isn't anything that God cannot provide. So whatever it happens to be, let the Lord hear your voice calling upon him.

Father, you promised that when two or three of us would gather in agreement, that what we asked in faith believing, what we asked for doubting nothing, what we asked for in Jesus' name: that you would do it. So Lord, I'm coming into agreement with my church today. I'm coming into agreement with church members, who are looking for blessings in their business today. And I'm asking you to open up the windows of heaven and pour out blessings they cannot contain. I'm asking you to give them a season of favor like they've never known before. Heavenly Father, you told us that what we asked, we could receive. So there's those in this place who need healing in their physical body. I'm asking you to reverse a diagnosis. I'm asking you to cancel doctor's orders. I'm asking you to cancel surgeries that have been booked in their future. I'm asking you to give them divine health and strength that cause medical minds to marvel at the miracle-working God that we have.

There are people in this place today who are seeking an outpouring of your joy, your peace, your hope, your courage, your confidence. Lord, I'm asking you to remove the burden of fear, to remove the shackles of doubt, to remove the pain of worry, to remove the offense of their past. And in the places where the enemy has tried to hollow them out, fill them, Lord, with love. Fill them with joy. Fill them with peace. Fill them with confidence. Let them leave this place knowing that God has a plan for them that is far greater than they could ask, think, or imagine.

If there's a mountain, he'll move it. If there's a giant, he'll defeat it. If there's a crooked way, he'll make it straight. If there's an enemy, though they come in one direction, they'll flee in seven, because the Lord is on our side, and we are more than conquerors through Christ. In Jesus' name, we ask in faith believing. In Jesus' name, we declare it here on this earth, and it is settled in heaven. In Jesus' name, we say that nothing is impossible to those that believe. And we give you all of the thanks, all of the glory, all of the honor, all of the praise! Church, shout unto God with a voice of triumph: for he's worthy, worthy, worthy, worthy to be praised! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!