Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer – Stand in Victory

Priscilla Shirer (born December 31, 1974) is an American author, motivational speaker, actress, and Christian evangelist. Her father is Dallas mega-church pastor Tony Evans and her brother is Christian entertainer Anthony Evans.
The daughter of Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas,[1] Priscilla grew up well acquainted with the Bible. As a freshman at the University of Houston, she interned with a Christian radio station. Soon listeners were calling the station, inviting Priscilla to speak at their Bible study groups and other events. Soon she was invited to lead a weekly Bible study at the Zig Ziglar Corporation and then to join its speaker team. Priscilla has worked as an independent contractor for CBS and hosted a local television show, but recently she has focused solely on Christian ministry opportunities. She calls Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, her mentor in ministry.

Together the Shirers established Going Beyond Ministries, a speaking bureau featuring Priscilla. The parents of three young boys, the Shirers share ministry and family responsibilities. While Priscilla continues to minister full-time, Jerry manages his schedule and other business aspects of Going Beyond Ministries.

Priscilla speaks around the world at churches and other events, including the LifeWay Christian Resources-sponsored Going Beyond conference and Deeper Still: The Event, where she shares the stage with Beth Moore and Kay Arthur. She has also authored several books.

Shirer graduated from Duncanville High School and Dallas Theological Seminary, earning a master’s degree from the latter in Biblical Studies.

In 1993, Shirer was a freshman at the University of Houston. Shirer was married in 1999 to Jerry Shirer, former Hilton Hotels executive. The couple has three sons.

In 2013, Shirer was a speaker at the 2013 Women of Faith conference. In 2015, Shirer made her film debut in the Kendrick Brothers film War Room. In October 2016, Shirer was recognized as one of four prominent women of faith during the 10th anniversary of God’s Leading Ladies Life Enrichment Program at The Potter’s House.[1] Shirer also featured at the 47th GMA Dove Awards.

[Music]

Wow hi y’all

very glad to be here with you before you

take your seat why not just go ahead and

pray and ask the Lord to bless our time

together in his word Lord Jesus we thank

you so much that you are indeed the one

true God and that we have the privilege

to hear your voice through your word we

do not take it for granted Lord that you

speak to us and so today I’m praying

that you will open up every spiritual

ear Lord from the front of this room all

the way to the back Lord so that every

single one of us will hear a direct

personal word from God we are sitting on

the edge of our seat this morning we

cannot wait to hear what you will say in

Jesus name everybody agreed instead amen

you may take your seat it is great to be

back with you again we love your pastor

so much and we love the leadership of

this church I love it I get got to be a

part of the Women’s Conference and now

to be here with you on this incredible

Father’s Day it’s great I told my

husband that today even though it is not

Father’s Day in the US and he should

celebrate Father’s Day because it’s

Father’s Day in New Zealand and so he is

wasn’t able to come with me this time to

New Zealand I’ll tell you why in just a

few moments but he is there celebrating

a New Zealand Father’s Day in the US so

I just brought a little photo along of

them so that you can see my man and the

boys all my big boys that’s Jackson over

there Jerry jr. and Jude and then my

husband of nearly 16 years now right

there in the sentence center and so

happy Father’s Day to him and to all of

you it is just a joy that I get to be a

part of this day with you and the reason

why Jerry was not able to come with me

this time is because this week happened

to fall on a week that was very busy in

the boys live there were a lot of firsts

a lot of new school year things kind of

happening during the course of this week

one of those things is that baseball

season was starting you need to know

that my second son Jerry junior which is

this one here on the left side of the

screen Jerry junior is a baseball player

the other two honestly they’re still

trying to find their niche if it’s going

to be in

kourt’s at all and if so if baseball or

American football or soccer or whatever

it’s going to be we don’t know but what

we do know for sure is that Jerry junior

loves baseball and honestly I will brag

on him just a little bit to tell you

that he’s actually pretty good at it

he’s a good baseball player my place as

I told the ladies this weekend are

actually pretty big boys my 11 year old

wears a size 11 men’s shoe yeah somebody

come help me feed these people my 9 year

old tendril just turned 10 years old he

stands about eye height on me so far

he’s a kind of bulky kid a hefty kid

he’s got a lot of power behind him so

when he takes those swings there at the

base he’s already hitting the ball over

the fence when he gets a good hit he’s

great at first base lots of catches lots

of stops and so he’s pretty good at the

game of baseball and he’s normally

pretty confident about his game as well

he knows that he has a lot to learn a

long way to go but he’s pretty confident

about his game we like when baseball

season starts particularly spring ball

he plays in the fall which our fall is

right now we’re going into fall and then

I’m also in the spring and when the

season starts we actually really enjoy

it and the reason why we mostly enjoy

the season when it starts in the spring

is because it’s not summer yet and in

Texas it gets hot in the summer it is a

scorching kind of deathly heat it can be

sometimes and you just don’t want to be

outside sitting there for those games

but in the springtime when it when the

season starts it’s fantastic we go out

in the evening and it’s still cool

there’s a breeze in the evening the

sun’s going down it feels great even on

Saturday mornings when it’s time for

those games most of the time in the

springtime

it feels great but the season goes on

for several months and inevitably the

summer comes bringing with it that

scorching summer heat and there you are

as a parent sitting out there at those

games in the summer trying to be happy

that your kid is winning when really all

you want to do is get out of the heat it

normally is still okay though if you’re

just playing one game on a weekend

but toward the end of the season you

have the series the end of the season

tournament those of you to have children

that are in Little League sports you

know exactly what I’m talking about

you’re there Friday Thursday and Friday

and Saturday and Sunday and you’re not

just playing one game at a time you are

playing up to three or four games every

day that you are out there and there you

sit watching your kid play trying to be

excited that they’ve won this game and

they’re going to the next game and then

they’ve won that game and they’re going

to the next game I don’t know if it is

ever okay for you to pray your kid loses

so you can go home and I will neither

confirm nor deny that I have ever done

that but I do recall last summer being

out there at one of these what they call

the Little League World Series I don’t

know why they call it the World Series

they really just mean all the teams that

live in your neighborhood are going to

get together for a tournament at the end

of the season and so we were playing one

game after the next after the next on

Thursday maybe about three or four games

the same on Friday we got to third to

Saturday and we were about halfway

through the day they had won the last

game so they were going on in the

tournament but it was at least time for

a break so we all went off to a nice

air-conditioned restaurant we were so

glad to just cool off for just a little

while and get refreshed after lunch we

came back to the baseball diamonds

parked our car got out all of Jerry

junior we call him JC all of JC’s

equipment so that we can be ready for

the next game we got all the stuff and

we began to walk over to the field where

this next game was going to be played

and my son who’s normally confident was

actually pretty excited about this next

game he’s been talking about it on the

car ride back over to the baseball

diamond he was excited about playing

again but as we walked over toward the

field where we were going to be playing

this next game I watched my son’s

countenance change his chin that had

been held up high all of a sudden I

watched it start to hang low his chest

that had been poked out in enthusiasm

about this next game all of a sudden I

watched it kind of get funky in and he

hung his shoulders down and he started

to wring his hands he actually looked

nervous I could not figure out what was

going on

what had changed from when we had just

gotten there in the car to now walking

over to the baseball diamond I looked

around me to try to figure out what was

going on and then I spotted what I

thought must be the problem the team we

were about to play in the next game was

seated underneath the shade of a tree

they were all laid out in the grass just

trying to get a little shade before the

game began and when I got a good look at

this team I realized what the problem

was my son’s team had faced this team

earlier in the season and with this team

had played my boys team they had

annihilated my son’s team it had been a

complete upset this is a team that is

filled with serious baseball players you

know those kind of kids these are the

kids that had the parents that when they

gave birth to them they put a mint on

one hand and a baseball in the other

y’all know what I’m talking about the

kind of team where they’ve got those

serious parents that just aren’t messing

around these boys were serious baseball

players I could never forget them

because they had been so good when they

had played my boys team before so when

my son saw them I watched his

countenance change he got nervous

because he had to face this team but as

we walked right by them we had to walk

directly by them to get to the dugout on

this particular baseball diamond as we

walked past them we overheard two of the

team members whispering to each other

they weren’t doing such a good job so we

overheard them one of them leaned over

to the other and said there goes that

big kid from the other team do you

remember he was the one that hit the

ball and it went over the fence you mean

you mean the kid that was at first base

the one that any of the outs we got he

was the one that caught all those balls

and got me I got the outs the other team

member said yeah that’s him that’s Jerry

Shire when my son heard his name passed

the lips of the opposing team members

all of a sudden his head that was once

hung down all of a sudden it popped back

up again

all of a sudden he got his swag back in

fact we had to bring him down a few

notches before the next game began

because it is amazing how your

countenance changes when you really

understand what the enemy thinks about

you it occurs to me that in a group this

size very many of us are facing our own

battles and when we look at them our

tendency is to get insecure when we’re

facing that difficulty in our marriage

or in our finances are in our ministry

or in our organizations in which we’re

involved or whatever it is that you may

be facing in your life it is our

tendency to look at it and hang our head

and discouragement because we feel

overwhelmed just looking at it

but when you really understand what the

enemy thinks about you it changes the

way you face your battle you need to

know that every time he sees a daughter

or a son of the Most High

he is shaking in his boots because he

really recognizes what your potential is

you need to know that even if you don’t

believe every single thing that the Word

of God declares to be true about you the

enemy does he knows even if you don’t

believe it that you have been forgiven

he knows that you have already been

given the victory he knows that you have

been made competent by the Spirit of God

he knows that he is already under your

feet listen to me he knows that he can

form a weapon against you but he is very

clear on the fact that it will never

prosper he understands and knows and

believes every single thing that the

Word of God declares to be true about

you and about me he knows that you have

been given power and authority that he

will never ever have access to he knows

that you have been made competent by the

Spirit of God

what ashamed it would be y’all for the

enemy to believe more about our

potential than we do what ashamed it

would be for you and I to face our

battles with insecurity and lack of

courage because we don’t even understand

as clearly as the enemy of our soul does

how potent and powerful we really are so

it doesn’t mean that your troubles will

change your battles will change that you

don’t have to play the baseball game it

doesn’t mean you don’t have to play it

it just means that the way you

face that changes when you recognize

that when God is for you who can be

against you there is a man in scripture

who knows exactly how it feels to be

overwhelmed to be insecure lacking

courage like some of you may be as you

look toward what’s happening this week

in your life or a decision that is

approaching or a problem that is just

imminent that you’re going to have to

deal with or a marital issue or an issue

in your parenting and maybe honestly it

feels overwhelming to you this guy can

relate his name is Gideon Gideon was

facing an army of one hundred and forty

five thousand Midianites the problem is

there were only 300 with him 300 going

against 145 thousand the ratio was 450

to one talk about being the underdog

talk about being overwhelmed in a

position where you are just in over your

head

Gideon was in that position and he was

insecure he felt overwhelmed he lacked

courage when we see him in the

scriptures he is completely timid and

shirking away in fear from what it is

that is approaching in his life and in

the life of the Israelites but God told

him but before the battle started he

wanted him to creep down into the

Midianite camp during the evening hours

and he had Gideon positioned himself

right outside of the tent of two members

of the opposing team and when he heard

these two men talking to each other he

overheard what they really thought about

Gideon they knew that God was on Gideon

side they knew that God was for them and

so it didn’t matter what their army did

that they were going to come out

successfully and when Gideon overheard

what the enemy thought about him all of

a sudden his chin was back up in the air

his chest was poked out in confidence

the battle had not changed

he changed because he knew that his

great God was for him and that victory

was already on his side and so with this

new level of confidence

Gideon now faces the battle

and in the passage you and I are going

to look out for just a few moments today

he is going to teach us how to win a

battle anybody interested in knowing how

to win your battle if you have your

Bible and you want to turn with me to

judges chapter seven you can or they

will also put these verses on the screen

in the book of Judges you and I meet

Gideon he is one of about a dozen judges

or so that rules over Israel before they

became ruled by kings one after the

other Gideon is one of the most famous

another one is Samson or the woman

Deborah there are several names that we

know in a list of others that ruled over

the nation of Israel but Gideon is one

of the most famous because of this

Battle of the three hundred against the

145 thousand the underdog taking the

victory in these principles that his

example is going to show us today he is

going to give us courage to know that no

matter what circumstances we are facing

we also have opportunity for victory

Judges chapter 7 verse 15 right after he

has heard the discussion between the two

men from the opposing team this is what

Didion does it came about that when

Gideon heard the account of the dream

and its interpretation that’s the

conversation between the two men that he

bowed in worship let’s just start right

there

Gideon is still facing a battle there

are still one hundred and forty five

thousand he still only has three hundred

he is still the underdog the

circumstances are still against him he’s

still going to have to swim up upstream

to try to make this thing work out in

his favor but in the midst of impending

danger was an army facing him and daring

him to come after them we find that

Gideon teaches us the primary way the

very first thing that we have to be

committed to doing if we’re going to win

battles in our life he teaches us that

the way to win a battle is to begin the

battle on your knees to make a choice

that even though the circumstance has

not changed that you are going to thank

God in advance for the victory that

you’re anticipating him to give

do you know if I were your enemy if I

were and you do know we have a very real

enemy right now with a very real enemy

listen if I were the enemy of the Church

of Jesus Christ what I would want to do

is devalue the significance of the most

potent weapon you have I would want to

make you think that the most powerful

and potent weapon that I know that you

have I would want to make you think

there is no value in it that there is

nothing powerful about it I would want

to make you lay it down and pursue other

things instead of grabbing hold of what

I know will be the thing to bring my

kingdom down do you know that worship is

the most powerful tool that you have and

if the enemy can get you and I to

relegate worship to just Sunday mornings

he’s got us exactly where he wants it

it’s the only time you worship God you

thank him you are grateful toward him

that you exclaim his grandeur and his

authority and his glory in your life and

in the life of your family if the only

time you do that is when the praise team

and the band is up here on Sunday

morning then you have not worshiped God

enough it’s on your Monday mornings and

your Tuesday afternoons and your

Wednesday on the job and your Thursday

running errands and your Friday out with

your friend and your Saturdays it is in

the regular rhythms of our everyday life

in the face of our battle when we choose

to get down on our knees and stretch our

hands up high and say thank you Lord in

advance for the victory that I know that

you are going to grant me when you make

a decision and when I make a decision

listen I’m talking about before the

145,000 has been cleared away

I mean you are looking at the problem

your marriage is still a disaster your

child is still living in a way that is

not a congruent with the way that you

raised them you’re still having a hard

time with your boss on your job when you

are still looking at the problem but you

choose to worship your great God it is

an affront to the enemy it lets him know

that you are still your allegiance is

still firmly planted to God when you

worship God you roll out the red carpet

that’s what worship does it rolls out

the red carpet for God Himself to

descend and March into your

circumstances

and the enemy knows that that’s why he

wants you to do everything except begin

the battle on your knees because he

knows that if you do what Gideon did if

I do what Gideon did begin that battle

by worshipping God in advance he knows

she can’t do anything much with a person

that chooses to live a lifestyle of

worship where worship is not an event

it’s just what you do because you’re

breathing today do you remember when

Joshua Joshua took the children of

Israel into the Promised Land after 40

years of wandering in the wilderness

they finally crossed over the Jordan

River and then they came to this problem

called Jericho these walls were huge

they were impenetrable they had no idea

how they were going to be able to

conquer Jericho they were waiting on

this strategy from God that they thought

would have to involve lots of brutality

and force but but oh no God said you

know what I need you to do I just need

you to walk around the walls one time

every day for six days then on the

seventh I need you to walk around the

walls again but I want you to walk

around the walls seven times on the

seventh day he said then what I want you

to do after you walk around the walls

seven times is I want you to blow the

trumpet and then before the walls come

down I want you to shout I do not want

you to wait on the walls to come down

before you shout I want you to shout in

anticipation of the walls coming down

your shout of praise to God whether it’s

in the quietness of your heart or

verbally outlined your exclamation of

the greatness and grandeur of God is

part of the key that has to be turned

for you to experience the walls coming

down in your life gideon teaches us that

if we want to win the battles of our

life y’all we got to stop devaluing the

significance of worship we’ve got to

make it a part of our of our life where

we just look upward and say thank you

lord

yep i’m still in trouble thank you lord

yep I still have no idea how I’m going

to get through this financial difficulty

thank you lord

yep I’m struggling in my health thank

you lord my job is difficult thank you

Lord this ministry is hard Thank You

Lord this relationship still has a

breach in it but thank you Lord in

advance

because I anticipate that because you

are good you will do good on my behalf

begin the battle on your knees I go to a

wonderful church that I have been in

since I was 1 year old I’ve been planted

in the same church since then it’s a

great Church I will let you know though

that my church still carries with it a

little bit still carries with it some of

what you would think of when you might

think of the traditional

african-american church experience so if

you’ve ever kind of seen that or been a

part of a church service like that then

you know what I mean it is just a little

bit more traditional I have a lot of

women women in fact let me just say that

that that you guys make me feel right at

home because y’all talk back y’all talk

about you know I go to the kind of

church where it’s not quiet

it’s demonstrative there’s a little soul

in our church you know what I’m talking

about yes and I go to the kind of church

where we still have some folks that are

a little bit old-school in our church

there are some older ladies that will

come to church and they don’t believe in

any of this skinny jean we’re in

business they don’t know they don’t know

anything about that they still think

they need to have a church suit on you

know what I mean so they’ll have a

jacket on that jacket will match that

skirt she will have pantyhose on because

that’s what you wear to church and then

she will have on her patent leather

shoes that will match her skirt that

will match her jacket she probably will

have a handkerchief you know the kind of

has the lace embroidered around the side

she’s gonna pull that over her knees

when she sits down and inevitably to cap

it all off she will have a hat on the

top of her head and it will not be a

regular hat oh no it will have some

freaky design to it there will be a

feather sticking up over here on the

left side that’s just the way that’s

just the way it is always a little

feather or something sticking up on the

side there is one woman that will always

if I can’t see her feather through the

crowd even if I can’t see her I know

she’s there because if nobody else is

talking back to the top capacitor she is

talking back

she’s been there so long that I call her

mama I’ve known her since I was little

and I love having mama in church she

sits down the center aisle and she

always sits on the aisle seat she never

sits in the middle of the road because

there’s not enough room for her if she’s

in the middle of the road she likes to

sit on the edge because then she has

access to the aisle way and she needs

the aisle way because every now and then

randomly during the service she will

just get up in the aisleway and worship

God for how great he is and how majestic

he is and if the pastor’s preaching and

it gets real good to her she is the one

that’s going to say she’s gonna say

preach it brother she’s the one that if

it gets real good to her she might throw

something at the pastor a handkerchief a

shoe a baby anything

I love having mama in church and become

endearing to me to hear her celebrating

the greatness of God

she is a worship I mean she just

worships God so passionately and

fervently and she’s not embarrassed you

don’t care who’s watching her her God is

good and she wants him to know it I love

that about her she has two daughters

that grew up with me pretty much all our

life but in the youth group we were

particularly close during youth group

her oldest daughter’s name is Sammy tria

we called her Mimi that was her her

little short name Mimi and so on Mimi

when she was about 32 years old she

contracted a disease I can’t tell you

the name of it because it was so long I

could never remember it the name of it

but it’s a disease that causes your

joints and your muscles to harden over

time so it is almost like you become a

statue everything stops functioning it

just becomes stiff and Harden she was

relegated to a wheelchair she’s you know

30 to 33 years old I watched this

disease seemed to take over her body so

quickly it seemed so quickly and her

mother was pretty much her full-time

caregiver so myself and a friend from

the youth group every now and then maybe

once a month or so we would just go and

we would begin to to just kind of hang

out with her and and spend time with her

and and just to have lunch with her and

relieve momma just a little bit so she

can have some time to relax and it was

really great to have an opportunity to

do that with her and to spend time with

her we enjoyed that very much but after

just a couple of years that disease

claimed her life and I remember that we

were shocked you know but not just that

the disease claimed her life and I will

never forget the funeral when we were at

that funeral mama wasn’t sitting in the

back towards the center anymore like she

normally does on a Sunday morning she

was sitting right there on that front

row in front of the open casket where

her daughter was her daughter’s body was

laid

we sat right behind mama several of us

from the youth group we were there to be

a support to her we thought but during

that service there was a little bit of a

pause a little bit of a break between

the eulogy and then a song that was

going to be sung right after the eulogy

and for some reason there was a little

bit of a break in the program and it was

just a little bit of quiet just enough

time for Mama

our church is set up similar to this one

there is a platform and then there is a

little chasm of space between the

platform and the front row and that’s

all that mama needed right there in

front of the open casket

mama stood up on those same two feet

that have marched her confidently around

that church and worship to God for years

she raised those same two hands that

have celebrated God for years she opened

that same mouth that in the good times

was worshipping God right now in front

of the open casket of her daughter she

celebrated the greatness of God she said

Lord you are good and you are kind and

lord I thank you that for these 33 years

I’ve gotten to be the mother of this

child I thank you you gave her to me and

I thank you Lord that she placed faith

in Jesus Christ which means I’m gonna

see her again anyway I thank you Lord

that at this funeral today there are

some people in here who will come to

know Jesus Christ as Savior as a result

of my daughter’s life I thank you Lord

for all that you have done and we sat

there on the second row and everyone who

had gathered that day completely stunned

that in the face of so much tragedy and

hurt and grief

mama was teaching us how to begin the

battle on our knees

but even when there is grief but even

when there’s grief and hurts and a

hardship and difficulty I mean y’all we

could not believe it right there pacing

back and forth in front of the empty

casket she was saying I thank you Lord

anyway and with that choice that she

made to begin the battle on her knees

with that choice she rolled out the red

carpet for God to come in she knew that

she was going to have a hard time in the

months and years ahead and yet she said

in advance in advance I’m going to say

thank you Lord for all that I expect you

to do

Gideon teaches us when you’re facing a

battle the way to start that battle the

only way to start that battle is to

begin the battle on your knees the

second thing he teaches us is also found

in verse 15 it says after he bowed in

worship he returned to the camp of

Israel and he said arise for the Lord

has given somebody say has given the

Lord has given the camp of Midian into

your hands I love this so much because

Gideon goes back to the children of

Israel the three hundred that are

fighting with him and he doesn’t walk

back to them lacking confidence with his

head hands held down now you need to

understand when he had left them this

had been an insecure timid guy he had no

courage at all he had been trying to

figure out any way he could to not go

into this battle but all of a sudden

after hearing what the enemy really

thought about him his entire countenance

has changed he goes back to the same men

that knew him to lack courage just hours

before and he says y’all let’s get up

and go there’s a victory to be had let’s

go get it he does not say arise for the

Lord might give us the victory today

he doesn’t say arise and let’s hope that

God does justice for us today

he says arise get up put a smile on your

face gird yourself encourage let’s go

get the victory that has already been

given you know how you win the battle my

friend you begin that battle on your

knees and you face the battle from a

stance of victory

do you understand you have not are you

and I are not fighting for victory we

have already been given the victory we

are fighting from a perspective of

victory it changes everything when you

realize that in the end we win I mean I

don’t know if you’ve read it or not but

at the end yo we’ve already got it in

the bag

victory has already been given to us you

and I are just going to claim what God

has already given in the scriptures

there are over 8,000 promises that have

been offered to believers in Jesus

Christ listen y’all not a couple dozen

not several hundred over 8,000 promises

God has given us promises are

opportunities for you to experience God

while you’re on earth okay he did he

never intended for us to wait to get to

heaven to experience heaven he planned

for you to experience heaven while

you’re yet on planet Earth

that’s why he gave us the Holy Spirit so

we can experience what it means to have

God with us John chapter 1 verse 14 the

word became flesh so that he could dwell

among us I love the message version of

that the word became flesh and moved

into the neighborhood

he plans to hang out with you he fully

intends to be engaged in the regular

rhythms of your everyday living and so

when you and I are when you and I are

making a decision to face the battle

from a stance of victory it means that

you tell yourself and remind yourself

that these promises that they are

available to you right now but do you

know of those 8,000 promises most of

them he did not place in our hand he

placed them within our reach which means

you have to do your part in order to

claim what God has already given you

access to it’s not that they’re not

there it’s just you have to do your part

to go get it

Gideon says to them listen we already

have the victory but if we sit over here

in the camp and never go toward the

battle to find it we will never

experience the victory that God has

already

when I was growing up my parents did not

allow us to watch a lot of television

during the week we just didn’t really

have a lot of time for that you know how

it is you’ve got homework to do with the

kids and you’ve got dinner to make and

their chores to do so there wasn’t a lot

of time for TV and that was just a rule

of thumb for our house we had more time

for it on the weekend but on the

weekdays we were only allowed one hour

of television a week it was the same

hour of television that most people in

the world in their own time zones were

also watching television because at

seven o’clock on Thursday nights The

Cosby Show came on and then on 7:00 at

7:30 right after that a different world

came on do you remember those two

programs so we would sit for an hour we

were riveted we loved watching these

telephones these television programs

well when I moved out of the house when

I was much older and I was setting up

the apartment for my husband and I were

getting married and I moved into our

apartment first and I was kind of

getting everything organized we decided

we were going to cable television I was

so excited I had been looking forward to

the day the cable man was coming he rang

the doorbell I raced over to the door I

let him in he moved the armoire that was

holding my television in it and he

started hooking up all these cords and

cables in the back of the television to

the wall and then he pushed the Anwar

back in place he came around to the

front of the television and he gave me

the remote control and he said let me

show you how to work this he said you

see that little button there the Guide

button he just pressed the Guide button

and I remember pushing the Guide button

and become being completely stunned at

all of these channels that started

flashing across the screen I had never

seen so many channels in my entire life

I didn’t even want to turn on a

particular program because I was amazed

with the channel all of these channels

seemed so brand-new to me I had never

really seen all of these channels before

but the channels already existed

channels weren’t just created it’s just

that now I had the right hook up so I

could pick up on their frequency this is

what happens when you and I tap into the

promises of God if you’re not

experiencing them it’s not because

they’re not there it’s just because you

don’t have the right hook up to tap into

their frequency if you want to

experience the promises of God you have

to

the connections that draw in their

experience in your life and I don’t know

about y’all but I assume that you are

like me in that you appreciate the God

that we know and hear about from the

Scriptures you appreciate it but but I

want more than to just appreciate it and

know it I want to experience it if he is

this powerful and this mighty and this

worthy and this glorious and this

capable and able as the Scriptures

declare then I don’t want to just know

it and celebrate it from afar I don’t

want to just hear other people’s

testimonies of all that God has done in

their life I’m grateful for what he’s

done in your life but I want that same

God to do it in my life and so you know

what I want the hook-up I want the

connection that draws in the experience

of God to my life Gideon says this is

how you do it

you begin the battle on your knees and

then you face the battle you stop

looking at it from a position of failure

and lack and defeat you face that battle

from a stance of victory and when you

have a sense of victory it will change

the way you approach and go into and

deal with the trouble that might be in

your life can you imagine how it most

must have affected the 300 to have

Gideon come back so different than he

left I mean here’s their leader and he’s

timid and insecure and worried and

concerned likely the 300 were the same

they didn’t want to go to battle their

leader didn’t want to go to battle how

must it have changed their countenance

for him to come back and say guys we got

this in the bag let’s go

300 people’s perspective was completely

changed because one person had a

revelation of what the enemy thinks

about them what will happen with your

kids when mama comes home and goes guys

we got this in the bag because if God is

for us who can be against it what will

happen is if you dad on this Father’s

Day go back to your family or your job

or whatever it is and you say you know

what I am a man who has been redeemed by

God he has already given me the victory

how might the countenance of your wife

and your home and your children and your

legacy be revamped just because one

person chooses to believe everything God

says about them so Gideon teaches us to

begin the battle on our knees and to

face the battle from a stand

victory just one more really quickly

that I want to share with you there are

several here but just one more I want to

share with you that he says to them next

Gideon says to them here’s the plan that

God has given us 4:16 he divides the 300

men into three companies

he puts trumpets and empty pitchers into

their hands torches inside the pitchers

and he says to them look at me and do

what I do and behold when I come to the

outskirts of the camp do everything I do

when I and all who are with me the 100

who are with me because he divided them

up into companies of three three 100

groups he says when I and all the people

who are with me blow the trumpet then

you blow the trumpet all around the camp

and everybody’s safe for the Lord and

for Gideon now in my Bible there’s a

heading above this section of Scripture

the heading is the confusion of the

enemy now I want you to know that I

believe the Bible is 100% accurate

nothing should be changed but if I were

writing this particular passage of

Scripture it would not be labeled the

confusion of the enemy I would have

labeled it the confusion of the 300

because if Gideon had looked at me had I

been one of the 300 and said go get you

a jar a light and a trumpet and let’s go

to battle I would have said you got to

be kidding me it makes no sense the

strategy makes absolutely no sense

proverbs 3:5 and 6 do not lean on your

own understanding in all your ways

acknowledge him even when it’s

irrational even when it does not make

sense even when it goes against what you

think would be the best plan suitable to

win this battle in your life you don’t

do it your way

you do it God’s Way because spiritual

battles can only be fought with

spiritual weapons and most of the time

spiritual weapons don’t make sense to

our natural minds how do you win a

battle you begin the battle on your

knees you face the battle from a stance

of victory and you plan for battles

using not your strategy but divine

strategy Ephesians chapter 6 puts it

this way our struggle it’s unusual so it

calls for unusual weapons because it

isn’t against flesh and blood but

against rulers

and powers against the world Force’s of

this darkness against the spiritual

forces of wickedness in the heavenly

places therefore do not take up the

armor that makes most sense to you take

up the armor that has been divinely

given to you by God because in this

battle that’s the armor that you need to

be effective and to win the victory you

guys remember the late great Michael

Jackson right y’all don’t try to be holy

y’all remember Michael Zachary one of my

favorite of Michael Jackson songs was

Billie Jean they were doing a

documentary on the making of Billie Jean

they interviewed the director and they

said to him what was it like working

with one of the most incredible

entertainers arguably the most

incredible Entertainer of our time what

was it like the director said many cool

things but one of them was he said that

we were making this video he said there

was a part of the video you all will

probably remember this where Michael

Jackson is dancing up and down this

particular path and everywhere Michael

steps his feet the path lights up a

square in the path lights up do you

remember that the director said when we

were making that scene when we were

filming that scene I had to sit Michael

Jackson down the great Michael Jackson

and I ever said to him listen Mike you

are a great dancer it’s very clear to us

that you could dance all over this

pathway and do something incredible we

know that but I want you to know

something

I have already gone before you and

pre-lit certain squares if you diss all

over this entire walk away but never

step on the squares that I have pre lit

then you’re going to be doing all of

that and exhausting yourself and doing

all of that energy but the path will

never light up if you want the lights to

light up you’ve got a reel and all of

your your own personal impulses and make

sure you put your feet where I have pre

lit the square the Lord says to you

today I have already gone before you and

pre lit the squares he put it this way

in the book of Ephesians I have prepared

good works beforehand all you got to do

is go walk in them plan for your battle

using divine strategy

ask him where he wants you to put your

feet and then rein in your own personal

impulses to cure the situation your own

way just do what he’s asked you to do

and everywhere you place your feet in

obedience to God you will be assured

that the light of His grace and His

glory and its power and His goodness and

his presence will make itself known in

your experience every single day no

matter what the battle for the rest of

your life will you bow your heads with

me please lord I thank you for this

clear instruction on how to win a battle

Lord here in this room and across the

other campus these campuses that are

joining us during this message we thank

you Lord that it is so clear to us the

instruction is so clear as to how we are

to win a battle would you seal it on our

hearts and cause us to go home and make

choices and live differently as a result

of what we’ve heard the Lord in this

moment I’m also going to ask that you

would prick the heart of anyone who

really is in a battle but they’re in it

alone because they’re not in

relationship with you while every head

is bowed and eyes