More than Enough | Jul. 19, 2026 | Pastor Raph

More than Enough

It is all a matter of the revelation of how much God has actually blessed us in Christ Jesus. 

Out of that revelation, our faith would be brought to a level of trust and confidence that it will have no more limits.

Ephesians 3:14-21 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Paul’s prayer for the church was not a matter of provision, structure and more money. It was all about revelation.

But Paul says,

vv. 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Grasping God's love requires spiritual, strength, "muscle" and endurance, not just casual reading .

"Comprehend" καταλαβέσθαι(katalavesthe). It does not mean "comprehend" in the sense of solving a math problem or intellectually understanding a concept. It literally means to "lay hold of," "seize," "pull down," or "make one's own."

The literal Greek reads something like: "you may have the full power to seize and lay hold of all the measures and implications of Christ for us."

power at work within us.

Ephesians 3:20 (ESV): "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,"

Ephesians 3:20 (AMP): "Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us,"

It's incredible to realize that God responds to our prayers, even those beyond our wildest dreams. Everything unfolds through His power working within us.

The scripture does not say that you must do certain things for the power to work. It simply tells you that power operates within us. 

You need to believe that. It’s not a matter of feelings or sensations. God says His power is at work in you. 

The word “power” is dunamis δύναμις 

That means: force (literally or figuratively), miraculous power, ability, abundance, might.

That power " operates in us.” 

That expression, “operates in us,” is energeo ἐνεργέω: that means to make active, to make efficient, to energize. 

Our word energy comes from energeo in Greek. 

Because the power is always working in us, be careful what you say, because God will respond abundantly above all that you ask or think. 

To help you understand, I will divide this text into seven levels. 

1. Now, to Him who is able. 

We have a God who is all-powerful. He rules over the earth and the heavens. 

2. Now, to Him who is able to do all things.

God is capable of doing everything. For our God, nothing is impossible.

3. Now, to Him who is able to do all that we ask. 

Be careful what you ask for because heaven is listening. Be careful what you ask for because God will do it.

4. Now, to Him who is able to do all that we ask or think.

Have you ever fantasized about a beautiful house? Have you leafed through some magazines and thought how good it would be to have a house like that?

Be careful what you think, because the power is at work in you. If you knew this, you would ask more of God. Once this verse comes alive in your heart, you will ask and keep asking, and think and think. All of this is already good enough, but God has more for us. 

5. Now to Him who is able to do all that we ask or think abundantly

The next level is that God is able to do abundantly all that we ask for or think of. Suppose you ask me for prayer. Before praying, I will tell you: "Let's pray to Him who is able." That would already be good, but the Word of God says that He, besides being able, will answer abundantly.

6. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think

He is able to do far more than everything we ask or think.

7. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us

At the seventh level, we learn that the power to accomplish all things is already at work within us. He has unleashed upon us the floods of the abundance of grace. How can sinful man, unworthy man, experience the favor of God? God did it so that when Jesus cried out, "It is finished," all blessings were released.

The Surplus of Grace

Let’s visit the story of the multiplication of bread and fish again in John 6.

Aside from the ultimate miracle of Jesus's resurrection, the feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle performed by Jesus that is recorded in all four Gospels.

John 6:1-14 1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 

7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

I'm curious about the thought process the disciples used for the math involved. Today, I'll teach you a simple math problem. When you run a business, the key financial concern is whether your income minus expenses results in a positive number—this is called surplus, revenue, or profit.

The disciples made the calculation, and the result was not positive; it was very negative. So, the logic implies that you must close that financial gap with investment, an outside resource that is not part of the original relation of supply and expenses. They made the calculation and said, if we get 200 days of man’s wage in bread, it will not be enough to give each one a piece of bread.

If Average Daily Wage (8-hour shift): $265.56 per day. 200 denarii would hold the purchasing power of about $30,000. At Publix Bakery, you would be able to buy around 5,454 loaves. 

The next verse informs us that there were 5,000 men. Counting women and kids, scholars affirm there were approximately 15,000.

During this week of preparation for our Nation’s Festival, it took us about 3 days to prepare the party. Because not everybody could do the job together, each one was doing a little here, another little there. But after the party, all of us helped to clean the building. In 1 hour, the building was ready for the service.

I think of how I would try to resolve the problem of 15,000 people being hungry. I would try to make everybody work, particularly the men. 

Five thousand men can do a lot. Maybe one of them had a barley field ready for harvest. Maybe I could send 1000 of them to collect the barley, while another 1000 would be building the temporary sifting and threshing floors and the roasting ovens, and another 1000 would be gathering the other ingredients or fishing in the Sea of Galilee. 1000 would be baking the breads and cooking the fish. The other 1000 would be working on the logistics of the distribution. Done. Great job. It is like the historical phrase "United we stand, divided we fall.”

But Jesus did something different.

Sit down, it is time to grow

 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 

Why not lead in work? Because Jesus is the employer.

Why not lead them to fight for their rights against the lack the Romans created? Because Jesus was not a union leader or revolutionary.

Why not motivate them to be more civil? Because Jesus is not a politician.

Why not calm them down while they find their way back home? Because he was not a pacifist. 

Jesus said: “Sit down.” Why. Because He is the good shepherd.

Psalm 23:1-2 1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

The position of blessings is the position of a king. It is the position of authority in faith. 

I know it seems crazy and contradictory compared with the momentary circumstances we are in right now, but that is the growth pain before a fast growth spurt comes.

Recently my teenage son woke up with knee pain. It was not muscle pain. It was bone pain, painful growth. 

When teenagers hit a rapid growth spurt, the most intense growth occurs in the dark while they are sleeping. The body shuts down other functions to push all its energy into expanding bones and muscles. It is uncomfortable, and it hurts.

Lying down to sleep relieves this constant physical pressure. While hormones are the primary driver of growth, this "unloading" allows the cartilage at the ends of long bones (the growth plates) to expand and lengthen more freely. Growing takes an immense amount of caloric energy. When the body is asleep and largely paralyzed, it can divert all of its available resources to the metabolically expensive task of building new bone and tissue.

The circumstances we are in right now might feel dark, crazy, and completely at odds with the peace.

Mark 6:30-31 30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

It is not a setback. This is the growing pains before a massive spiritual growth spurt.

The place of accessing the more than is in the rest, seated.

Ephesians 2:4-7 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

It is a test of time and Prayer

vv.6 ”He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.”

It is all a matter of perspective. 

Jeremiah 29:10-13 10 “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Daniel heard about this promise and sat down. That does not mean passivity; he prayed about it. He did not 

Daniel 9:2-3 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

The seventy years of captivity were a prolonged period of testing and difficult "momentary circumstances."

However, because Daniel aligned his perspective with God's predetermined promise rather than his current captivity, it moved him to take a position of "authority in faith" through prayer. Just like in John 6:6, God already knew what He would do, and Daniel used prayer to align himself with that future blessing.

Only the grateful give

If you are sick, thank the Father, because there is abundant grace available to you.

If you are struggling financially, say: "Father, I thank You because there is a superabundance of grace in the midst of my need." What is this need compared to superabundant grace? What is this sickness compared to superabundant healing?

Simply thank God. There is abundant grace available to you.

John 6:11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

The boy gave because of gratitude.

Jesus gave to the disciples, so the disciples could give with gratitude.

Gratitude is the main gear of God’s multiplication. 

When the boy surrendered his lunch to Jesus, he never thought that a small amount would become more than enough for a multitude of thousands. 

But everything we surrender, everything, with gratitude, releases the power of multiplication upon us and others around us.