English Español

I Didn't Ask | Reggie Dabbs

Tuesday, September 8



Don’t let your past dictate your future. A miracle will heal you, and His Word will give you a new identity. God saw you and knew you before your pain. God doesn’t just want to heal you but remind you of who you are. You are made in the image of God. In addition, God will never give up on you. When you’re full of excuses, God is still full of healing. Excuses stop you from growing spiritually, but God’s grace will keep you going. 

Key Scriptures

Luke 13:10-17; Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:7; John 5:1-15

 

Introduction 

Today we’re reflecting on Reggie Dabbs’ message, “I Didn’t Ask.” Pastor Dabbs reminds us of a simple but powerful truth: God sees us whether we are seeking Him or not. In the two Bible stories he shares, the people Jesus healed never asked Him for anything. Yet Jesus saw them, knew their needs, and responded. 

How often do we feel overlooked by God? It’s easy to feel that way when we don’t have a relationship with Him—but even those who earnestly seek the Lord can feel forgotten when their prayers seem unanswered. When we pray for healing, provision, direction, or answers and don’t see a response, we may begin to wonder, Does God really see me? 

We can also fall into the belief that we have to say the right words or pray hard enough to get God’s attention. Scripture certainly calls us to pray, and Jesus teaches us how to pray. But this message reminds us of something deeply encouraging: God already sees us. He knows our needs, even before we ask, and He often responds to those needs despite our hesitation—or even our failure—to pray. 

This week we will dig into: 

  • He Saw Her Before She Asked 
  • He Moved First, Even With Our Excuses 
  • Change The Way You See It  

 

LET’S START THE DISCUSSION: 

  • What stood out to you in this past Sunday’s message? 
  • Have you ever felt unnoticed by God? If so, what were the circumstances? 

He Saw Her Before She Asked

   

For 18 years a woman had been bent over by a spirit of infirmity. She could not straighten up. She was in the synagogue that Sabbath, but the text never says she asked Jesus for anything. She did not call His name. She did not reach for His robe. Jesus saw her first. He called her forward, laid His hands on her, and said, “Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.” She stood up straight and glorified God. Before she asked, He saw her. Before she had the right words, He moved. 

Luke 13:12-13, 16 

“And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God… And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?” 

Jesus did not treat her as a problem in the crowd. He named her dignity. She was a daughter of Abraham. Genesis 1:27 says God created them male and female in His own image. Genesis 2:7 says He formed man from the dust and breathed into him the breath of life. That same God looked at a woman the world had learned to look past and called her forward. Some of us have been bent so long we stopped expecting anyone to notice. This story says He already sees you. You do not have to get His attention. You already have it. 

Genesis 2:7 

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” 

 

Discusion Questions

  • When have you felt unseen, and how does it change things to know Jesus saw this woman before she asked? 
  • What “bent over” place in your life do you need to believe He already sees? 

He Moved First, Even With Our Excuses

 

At the pool called Bethesda a man had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him lying there. He learned how long it had been. Then He asked a question that cut under every explanation the man had built. 

John 5:6–8 NIV 

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 

Notice what the man did not say. He did not say yes. He did not ask for healing. He listed reasons it could not happen: no one to help him, someone always gets there first, he is too slow. There is no recorded request and no declared faith. Just a man full of excuses and a Savior full of love. 

Jesus did not wait for the man to get his theology right. He did not wait for a better answer. Grace moved first. “Get up. Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured. 

Then the religious leaders saw him carrying his mat on the Sabbath and started with the rule instead of the person. They asked who did this to him before they asked what thirty-eight years had done to him. It is easy to point when you have never been bent over. It is easy to judge what you have not carried. Find out someone’s why before you write them off. Compassion still belongs to the people of God. 

‘I’m Batman’ Story Reggie told a short story from a midnight Walmart trip. A little boy wanted a Batman costume his mom could not buy. Milk and bread came first. The boy wiped her tear and said, “I know we poor, but mama, don’t you ever forget I’m Batman.” A stranger bought the costume. One act of kindness did what a speech could not. We hold the key to someone else’s hope becoming real. That is who we are when we stop explaining why we cannot move and start seeing the person in front of us. 

We make excuses all the time. They sound reasonable. They also become a barrier. Jesus did not listen to the man’s list. He did what He came to do. The most honest thing about grace is that He moved first. 

Discussion Questions 

  • Jesus asked, “Do you want to get well?” and the man answered with reasons he could not. What excuse have you been handing God that sounds true but is keeping you from getting up? 
  • The leaders judged the healed man before they learned his story. Why do we often do the same? 

Change The Way, You See It 

Reggie Dabbs said “sometimes you have to change the way you see it” after he shared the story of a factory worker who was seemingly stealing sawdust only to share with us that the worker was doing something else. In our hearing of that story, we likely saw the ‘expected’.  When Reggie was told about God’s love in a way that he would never forget, he saw it in way he had never seen it before; it was no longer ‘expected’ but eye-opening and heart changing. 

  • How about us? Take John 3:16; how many times have we read it, repeated it and shared it? The question becomes: How do we see it? How has that verse become real to us? 

 

His Love Requires Our “Yes” 

In our sin, we didn’t even know the depths of what we needed nor what to ask for but God knew and He moved. What, then, shall we say? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He did not spare his own Son but gave His Son up for us all. Romans 8:31. So, what should we say? We should say “Yes!”.   Yes, to His invitation. Yes, to His love. Yes, to His mercy. Yes, to His forgiveness. 

Jesus told the parable of the great banquet where the master prepared a banquet and invited many chosen people. When those people all made excuses, the master told his servant to go out So his master said, ‘Go out and urge anyone they could find to come, so that the house will be full’. Luke 14:23 NLT 

Why urge them to come? Because God wants a relationship with all those He has created.  That means you and I – no matter our past. God did not wait for us to get fixed up or cleaned up; Jesus died while were still sinners. Romans 5:8. The invitation is for ALL. For God so loved the world. John 3:16. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:13.  

  • Do you feel a tug in your heart that is undeniable?  Is it time to say “Yes” to Jesus or say “Yes, again” to Jesus? If so, God’s word says, confess out loud that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and you will be saved. “For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved” Romans 10:8-10 

Conclusion

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 

As we close, remember this: God doesn’t just see you—He loves you. He demonstrated that love by sending Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and pay the price we could never pay ourselves. Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, God redeemed us from emptiness, hopelessness, and destruction. 

And He did it before we ever asked. 

God knew us so well that He anticipated our greatest need—our need for salvation—and willingly paid the ultimate price to meet it. If God loved us enough to do that, how could we believe that He is unaware of what we are facing today? 

So, when you’re tempted to believe the lie that God doesn’t see you, remember the cross. It is the ultimate proof that He sees you, knows you, and loves you—and that He cares deeply about what you need. 

Call To Action:   

  • Examine your circumstances and when you feel overlooked ask the question: What Has God already done for me without me asking? 
  • Commit yourself to seeking the things that God has done for you daily. 
  • Spend time in in thanksgiving for all of the things that God has done and is doing in your life, especially when you think you have unanswered prayers. 
  • Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and show you all of the ways that the Father has been actively watching over you. 
  • Journal what God is doing in your life and how you are responding to Him. 

Prayer:   

"Lord, thank You for seeing us especially when we think we are unseen by You.  Thank you for caring so much as to answer our needs even before we think to ask You for them.  Thank you for the greatest gift of all in the form of Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Lord, whose sacrifice for our salvation was the ultimate reminder that You See Us, even when we don’t ask.  Help us to be mindful each day of Your presence and the hope that we have in You.  Empower us to yield to You daily so that You may guide us in the ways of righteousness, hope, and faithfulness.   

In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. "

Resources 

Youtube 

Download Group Guide