thank you nice to see you man

somebody was long-winded over at twin

view

i don’t know who it was but uh

anyway man i got here just in time

i don’t know what happened if you’re

late i guess you guys just have to fake

it chris gets up and

he’ll do yodling he has a yodeling album

he’s gonna do so

he keeps threatening

oh by so good so wonderful to be

together i

i’m so thankful that uh we’re in the

midst of breakthrough

and many many blessings to our online

family and community as well

so thankful for you guys i i get to meet

so many when

travel i just got back from florida this

week uh late

friday night and uh cool thing is we saw

a lot of people healed of the effects of

covid

people who had lost their smell their

taste

the bible says all foods are to be

enjoyed

that’s the bible that’s the i didn’t

make that up that’s not like my thoughts

that’s the will of god all foods are to

be enjoyed

if you can’t taste it they’re not

enjoyed

i’m i’m i’m giving you slow pictures

here this is a chance to

for you to really say amen so anyway we

had a bunch of those we

actually had several hundred people

healed though this week very very fun

but i just have a couple signs and

newspaper headlines

that i just thought would be fun to read

here’s a sign

toilet out of order please use floor

below

automatic washing machines please remove

all your clothes when the light goes out

in a department store in london it says

bargain basement upstairs

[Laughter]

outside of a secondhand shop it says we

exchange anything bicycles washing

machines etc

why not bring your wife along and get a

wonderful bargain

[Applause]

[Laughter]

that’s wrong that’s wrong i rebuke that

notice at a health food shop window

closed due to

illness

i love this one notice on a farmer’s

field it says the farmer allows

people to cross the field for free but

the bull charges

all right let me see here real quick oh

man struck by lightning faces battery

charge

astronaut takes blame for gas in

spacecraft

here’s the last one i’ll read the last

one now now we’re just gonna get serious

typhoon rips through cemetery hundreds

dead

why don’t you open to uh book of acts

chapter one it’ll take me a while to get

there so

show some patience but turn there put a

piece of paper in place or something

um i spoke to you a couple weeks ago for

those who are either here or online

i i spoke about the

the design of god in our lives

enabling us to hear his voice we were

actually designed by god to hear his

voice

even our senses our physical senses

are designed to be able to perceive god

it’s a hebrews 5 uh passage

so i i asked the question how many of

you

have had a hard time at times have a

hard time hearing the voice of the lord

but you you could sense his peace so i

ask you that now yeah

that’s his voice recognizing that that’s

actually the voice of the lord

manifesting differently than we are

dialed into

or ready for it’s actually the voice of

the lord because he

is the word and what happens is the lord

ministers to us

most of the time at a level that we do

not comprehend

and we tend to judge our ability to hear

god’s voice

we measure it by our comprehension

i doubt that we comprehend 10 of what he

says

but when he speaks every time he speaks

to us he

puts us on a track where we’re going to

get

what he just said but a lot of what he

said the disciples look through the

gospels

they didn’t understand so many things

jesus said until after he died and a

certain event happened to go oh and then

they remembered that jesus said

we’re not any different that’s why it

scares me to have people

predict what they think how the end is

going to come and how the lord’s going

to return

and nobody before you got it right quit

trying

just be just be ready when he goes you

know

just do what he said to do keep busy

with what he said to do and be

get your heart ready to go when he goes

that’s you know so that’s

that’s my very deep end time theology

so we’re designed to hear the voice of

the lord but here’s what happens as many

times

the lord sees for example you say you

own a business you’ve got a very

difficult decision to make

in four weeks but you don’t know it in a

worship

service here he’ll deposit the seed of

that

concept in your heart at that time and

over the next several weeks as we

worship your own times in your devotion

there’s a watering of that seed and

suddenly you have a decision to make

and you’re ready to make that decision

not because of your brilliance

the willingness to obey yes but not

because of brilliance it’s because the

lord set you up

and if we could realize how often he

speaks to us when we literally are not

conscious that it’s his voice

at this moment i sense presence i don’t

hear a specific voice

but i’m not supposed to does that make

sense

it’s the kind it’s the awareness of his

presence so that’s where we’re going to

hit today

excuse me that’s where we’re going to

leave today and head into something else

where we’re headed today is that in the

same way

i am designed and fashioned to be a

living

instrument that perceives god

in the same way i have been designed

to influence his heart

i heard somebody say recently in the

same way

in the same way i’m designed to

influence his heart

there’s something about the commission

for prayer

it’s happening right now in the bethel

world probably happening all over

the world but what i know for sure is

what i’ve been seeing

stirring here for weeks on end it

actually started over a year ago

with uh when olive died there was such

there was such a mantle for prayer that

fell in the house the pandemic came

we had to take it to our homes but now

we’re able to meet in this tent out here

and it’s it’s like it picked up where it

left off and there’s a there’s a passion

it’s not

it’s it’s not um

it’s not a brilliant strategy i think he

has a strategy

it’s just the willingness to come into

worship and to pray and there’s

something so profound happening

in that environment that i don’t ever

want to forget it i don’t ever want to

lose it

but it’s unto something the lord

invites us into the inner chambers if

you will

of the king of all kings of the lord of

all lords of the great i am

to converse with him so that out of the

conversation

certain events would be changed certain

things would be affected

on the earth because of our conversation

from the beginning it starts in genesis

chapter one and it goes to the end of

the book

that god’s primary design for us

is to be a co-laborer

he didn’t create us as robots and

program us to do specific things

we are living entities who through

surrender yield our will to his purposes

and we find that he shapes our heart and

our mind our thinking

until we become recalibrated in what his

dream is for the planet

he said to pray for his will to be done

on earth

as it is in heaven

can you imagine him saying now pray this

prayer

it’s not going to happen

but it’ll keep you busy it’ll keep you

busy

keep you positive while nothing happens

and that’s my design for you is nothing

happens

it’s silly we would never give an

assignment like that in our own areas of

responsibility

and the lord gave us a specific

assignment because of his dream

praying his prayer links me to his dream

links me to his process links me to

engage with the one who can actually

make these things happen

that i cannot possibly make on my own

so we have an assignment to pray on

earth as it is in heaven we have this

assignment

through our engagement our interaction

with him to actually have him fulfill

the cries the dreams of our heart and

that’s part of the revelation of him as

a father

is that the things that are prayed for

actually happen

john 16 has this a very important verse

there’s four times in three chapters

john 14 15 and 16.

there’s four times in those three

chapters where the lord says

ask for whatever you want and it’ll be

done for you

we know that’s not an invitation to

become arrogant and independent and

selfish

and build your own empire what it is

it’s an invitation

to die until you can represent his heart

and see a continuous flow of answers to

prayer

that keep you filled with joy god

designed

us if if look at it this way he designed

us

with a capacity for overflowing joy

but he said the way you enter into the

fulfillment of that capacity is through

answers to prayer

so in in john 16 it says

whatever you ask for will be done for

you that your joy may be full

that your joy may be full so here here’s

the here’s the process

engage with this pray till something

happens and the result of that is you’re

gonna have

absolute overflowing fullness of joy

it’s the design you’re designed for joy

you’re designed to pray and make a

difference and those two things working

together

keep you fulfilled

in proverbs it says proverbs 12 says

hope deferred makes the heart sick

the second part is as important desire

realized is a tree of life

desire realized is this life-giving

fruit

fulfilled desires how are they fulfilled

in the believer’s life

through prayer it’s the automatic

implication that you engage with god and

things happen because you met with him

and those responses from god

the fulfilled answers and dreams that is

the tree of life for you

so we were designed to live with ongoing

answers to prayer and the problem is

if i’m not getting answers to prayer see

we tend to pray enough

to ease our conscience but not enough to

make a difference

we have a lot of relief valves in our

lives

when the lord is moving us to pray for

government we tend to relieve

the pressure by criticizing government

it eases the conscience just enough to

remove the pressure

when actually the pressure was supposed

to be a divine invitation

to enter into the courts of god and make

a difference through prayer

to stand before the lord and to accuse

people is a misuse of my authority

and he’ll defend the person i’m accusing

because he will not bless the curses

of one of his priests if you will

because we’re not giving that assignment

so if i am designed to live with

overflowing joy

because of answers to prayer and i’m not

getting answers to prayer

then i have to get my joy from the

discipline of prayer

if i get my joy from the discipline of

prayer

then i’m training my heart to celebrate

form

and not impact what is religion

form without power

it’s the beginning of the end when

there’s no answers to prayer

and we have to find our joy in the fact

i prayed

when we’re actually designed by the lord

to see things happen around us

you are here as an ambassador of another

world

an ambassador

if you’re an ambassador in the natural

from the united states

your income is according to the income

of an official in the united states not

the country you go to

let’s say that you go to extremely poor

country the food you eat is from your

country it’s not

the country that you’re sent to unless

you want to

in other words everything everything

that you experience as an ambassador

is that embassy is actually considered

the united states when you’re on that

land

you’re considered in this country

translate that now to our life as

believers we’re ambassadors of another

world

and we are to dedicate our homes our

apartments

our properties to the lord so that this

land

actually becomes healed the land becomes

healed

excuse me and it becomes an

so sorry my throat is dry

come out come on no never

my the land then becomes

the property of the king of kings and

the lord of lords

and he is able to work his purposes and

his will

into that which i own as a

representative

of the kingdom of heaven when we pray

we make decisions that mark people with

eternal purpose

this is our responsibility now i want

you to go to

are you you’re already in acts one so

just take a look with me go look at

i think three verses maybe yeah i think

three uh

the the interesting thing about the book

of acts

is the book of acts talks about prayer

or uses the word prayer or quotes

prayers

more than any other book in the bible

with the exception of psalms

which is a book of prayer

now think through this logically with me

the acts of the apostles

which could easily be also called the

acts of the holy spirit

is linked with the predominant subject

of prayer

from beginning to end of the book of

acts you see it in jesus’s life

i remember a study one day and john the

report that john the baptist

had died and jesus sought to get alone

the crowds followed him he ministered to

him

he finally sent them away and went to a

mountain to pray

he got along with the father why because

somebody just died because of him

i i don’t know says that he was tempted

in all ways as we are so

i’m assuming he had similar emotions and

things going on in his heart that we

would have in ours

if you find that somebody died because

of you

says he went up to a mountain to pray

and then it says when he came down

everybody he prayed for was healed

might be a correlation

see we tend to pray for specific needs

pray and fast jesus fasted into a

lifestyle

acts 1 acts 1 verse 14 says

they all continued with one accord in

prayer and supplication with the women

and mary the mother of jesus

with his brothers first half of the

verse they continued with one accord

in prayer and supplication what’s the

point

the great features the great

happenings in the book of acts are

always linked to prayer

we are about to have literally heaven

invade earth

in the upper room what preceded it ten

days of prayer

i’d like to put it this way before

heaven ever invaded earth earth invaded

heaven for 10 days

there was this apprehending taking hold

of what god had promised

which means you’re automatically

engaging

in mystery because it’s not a it’s not a

uh

a slot machine you put in a dollar and

pull the slot and you get your answer

we’re invited into a relational journey

where there’s push and there’s pull and

there’s adjustment and there’s

repentance and there’s declaration

there’s confession there’s all these

things that we do

in the journey because we were born for

these answers to prayer

and sometimes we’re in a day to a

two-day struggle

but we pray for a day and blame the

absence of an answer on the sovereignty

of god

chapter 2 is kind of cool this is after

the outpouring of the spirit i think

this is something

i think this is somewhere between two

and five years after the day of

pentecost

verse 42 says and they continued

steadfastly

in the apostles doctrine fellowship the

breaking of bread and prayers

it’s just pointing out some of the

prayer references

but what is good to notice here is they

had found the secret for sustaining a

move of god

you know we we read throughout history

where a great move of god took place and

and it lasted six months it lasted a

year lasted five years

but it ended why did it end

they found out how to continue

new american standard says they

continually devoted themselves to

the apostles doctrine the breaking bread

fellowship prayers

they they re-upped their own personal

investment

in these things they didn’t complicate

it

the apostles doctrine for me is whatever

the word of the lord is for that

particular season

and you will find themes throughout all

of the body of christ

in every season there’ll be a similarity

we’ve watched it for years

it’s not a list of doctrines or it would

have been listed

amen bill that’s a good point

breaking of bread sharing meals together

fellowship

prayers they continually devoted

themselves why

it’s how they got where they were

all right

go to chapter 12.

i’m going to read five verses here

beginning with verse 1 acts chapter 12.

it says now about that time herod the

king stretched out his hand

to her ass some from the church then he

killed james the brother of john with a

sword

and because he saw that it pleased the

jews

he proceeded further to cease peter also

now it was during the days of unleavened

bread so when he had arrested him

he put him in prison and delivered him

to four squads of soldiers to keep him

intending to bring him before the people

after the passover

peter was therefore kept in prison but

constant prayer was offered to god for

him by the church

the following verses an angel comes and

literally guides him out of prison

he doesn’t even know it’s a real

experience he thinks it’s a vision and

after he gets out of the prison he

realizes oh this is for real i’m out of

prison it’s

it’s a tremendous story but what’s the

point james was martyred

peter wasn’t what’s the one

distinguishing

feature was the constant prayers of the

church

i hear people teach things like you know

that martyrdom like this was the will of

god

well it is if people aren’t praying

in the absence of prayer the will of god

is shaped and changed

he can use it he’ll use the martyrdom

and he did

but it says but with peter

the church constantly prayed why

constant

any time we’ve been summoned into the

need for constant prayer

it’s one of two reasons one is there’s a

demonic opposition to the answer

in place number two is because god is

trying to shape something in

us to be ready to handle the answer when

it comes

he molds us in the perseverance

brings answers to prayer but enduring

faith brings answers with character

he’s trying to create the context for an

answer to be stewarded well

constant prayer why because we’re

dealing

with a governmental power that had

partnered

with the demonic in a level of

principality influence over this nation

i don’t live conscious of the devil i

don’t chase him around i hardly ever

talk about him

but i’m going to today

there are individuals that have made

covenants whether they know it or not

with principalities and powers

and through their position of authority

have released darkness over the land

it’s true in our country it’s true in

other nations

they have so deeply entrenched their

hearts their souls

to a demonic agenda they that they

actually

personify that principalities purposes

and plans

they are not the enemy i cannot

i cannot relieve my burden that i have

in prayer

and release it through being critical at

this leader of that leader it doesn’t

bring about any change

and it’s a misuse of authority but the

enemy has

fooled the church to think these issues

are political issues and we don’t need

to be involved

it’s absolute stupidity

we’re we are moral agents that help to

keep

clarity not through control and

manipulation but through

literally through heaven’s atmosphere of

what is right what is true what is wrong

it’s crazy but in this our demons are

starting to look a lot like people

the yes on behalf of certain leaders

have so illustrated things

that only five years ago would have been

considered insanity

you know this i’m preaching to the choir

but i’m just trying to i’m just trying

to say listen we have a responsibility

it’s a responsibility to engage with god

to make a difference

it says the church had constant prayer

it wasn’t a

now he lay me down to sleep prayer

it wasn’t a prayer before a meal it was

an engaging with god

until something changed constant prayer

is digging the heels in because

something is going on

there has been a partnership made in

this case herod

where a spirit of has come upon a a

leader

and he’s governed by watch this you’ll

see this all through scripture

where a political leader is governed by

the fear of man he sees it pleases the

jews

so he will commit yet another crime to

please

this particular group the group that

illustrates

the spirit of murder he will adopt the

spirit of murder to gain their favor

and that’s how the political system

works

and we pray not to throw stones at

people in leadership because we’ve got

some

wonderful people in leadership and we

have some that are wonderful they just

don’t know it they’re

thinking stupid

i’m not going to give names

but the responsibility is still to pray

to sit back and say well god’s

sovereignty he can turn this abortion

thing around anytime he wants

oh don’t be stupid maybe 62 million

babies is enough

maybe it’s enough maybe it’s enough

where we actually draw a line

we say no no this is not okay

this is not okay yes we

vote yes we we do do what we’re supposed

to do but don’t fall for that trap

that these life and death issues for a

nation

are political issues they are not

constant prayer why because there was an

opposition

i loved the story about jesus the devil

met jesus in the wilderness

tempted him and he tempted him

and tempted him again and then it says

finally the devil left him

the devil has been severed from his

source of strength

you have an eternal source of strength

your yes to god wears him out

your yes to god can outlast the enemy’s

attempts to dissuade you

constant prayer

agreement in prayer is is is profound

it’s not just an intellectual agreement

although i’m not opposed to that

it’s not just that we agree on an idea

you know we can say let’s pray together

about abortion being

uh god healing forgiving our land and

healing our nation

and and we would be in agreement

together but it’s more than that it’s a

burning of the soul it’s the joining of

hearts

that says this is something we must lay

hold of and there’s that

unity in prayer there’s this

exponential increase that happens and i

the way i like to illustrate is if i

take a fishing line which

it’s only right fishing is more

acceptable than hunting so i can use

fishing

line in my illustration today and

spare all the non-hunters not in this

room of course

none here but maybe out there somewhere

the youtube world if you take a fishing

line

that breaks with two pounds a two pound

weight on the bottom

two pounds of pressure you tie two pound

weight it breaks

you take two of those and you wrap them

together

you would think it would be it would

hold up to four pounds of weight

because it’s two plus two but it

multiplies

it has this effect it’s like six or

eight pounds

now to break two two pound test lines

you take a third one and wrap it around

you’ve got three rep together now you’ve

got something like 15 pound

test line out of three two pound

it’s exponential growth

and in the natural it prophesies to us

about the power of agreement in prayer

i believe in praying on our own i we

have 12 acres and i walk my property

that’s what i like i walk

when you walk and pray you don’t sleep

and pray

now every night i try to sleep and pray

i get in bed and i begin to pray until i

go to sleep

and i like that but if i

if i sit down and pray it’ll be nap time

soon

i will sleep in the arms of jesus he’s

never mad but i would like to pray for

something

so i like to i like to walk i like to

walk and pray and to bring things before

the lord that’s generally what i do i

come here early in the morning sundays

and i just i

walk for an hour i just walk non-stop

for an hour sometimes hour and a half

just walking

and praying for what’s supposed to

happen on that day the point is

is that we engage with god to make a

difference we don’t engage with god

to check the box and say we we finished

our assignment

the engagement in prayer is to make a

difference

and it’s the only way i can access the

reality of joy on a kingdom level

that is overflowing because things have

happened due to this partnership

we’ve been called into a co-laboring

role a co-laboring partnership

so here we have constant prayer was

offered up now i want you to go

to john chapter 15 and

let me talk to you to john 15.

verse one we’re gonna excuse me we’re

gonna read eight verses verse one

i am the true vine my father is the vine

dresser jesus is giving

a lesson a metaphor an illustration

of an extremely profound reality

let me tell you where we’re headed

before we get there so that you’ll be

able to picture it as we read it

if you take a a vine a grape vine a vine

that grows grapes

the branch connects to the vine

but the fibers of the branch

and the fibers of the vine

are so intertwined that you can’t

separate them

you can cut the branch off but that’s

there is actually a growth

into itself and that is the actual

picture in scripture of abiding in

christ

is that you can’t tell where he ends and

where you start

there’s this intertwining of hearts of

minds of will

there’s this yieldedness to the heart

and purposes of god so deeply

that that i can’t tell where he starts

and where i am that that sort of thing

that’s the work that god is doing in us

and that’s the purpose of this

illustration

verse two every branch in me that does

not bear fruit he takes away every

branch that bears fruit he prunes

that it may bear more fruit god rewards

all growth with pruning

how many of you want to grow yeah

he rewards all growth with pruning verse

three you are

already clean because of the word which

i have spoken to you the word clean

there

is the same word as the word prune

you’re pruned i pruned you and then he

says but you guys are already pruned

because of the word i spoke to you what

does it tell us the discipline of god

comes from his voice

the circumstances are just to get our

attention

oh the whale swallowed jonah and that

was the discipline of the lord no i just

got his attention

it just got his attention so the next

time god spoke he was actually listening

he actually prunes us with his word it’s

called a sword for a reason

it was that was better than your

response but it’s all right

verse 4 abide in me i in you as the

branch cannot bear fruit of itself

unless it abides in the vine neither can

you unless you abide in me

boy isn’t that the truth there’s

nothing of the eternal i can produce

through my own efforts

but everything is available

if i yield to them i am the vine you are

the branches he abides in me

i in him bears much fruit without me you

can do nothing if anyone does not abide

in me

he is cast out as a branch and is

withered

they gather them throw them into the

fire they are burned verse 7

if you abide in me and my words abide in

you you will ask whatever you desire

and it will be done for you please

listen carefully

this is a verse i like to bring up our

team brings up

fairly often these verses out of john 14

15 and 16.

in three chapters jesus repeats

one thought four times four times in

three chapters

and the thought is this whatever you ask

for will be done

four times he does it whatever you ask

for will be done

in this particular verse he creates the

context

for the absolute the um he creates he

creates

the definition or the uh he

illustrates how is it i can live in such

a way

that i live with the overflowing

fullness of god’s joy through answers to

prayer

it’s according to verse 7 abide in me

let my words abide in you and you will

ask whatever you desire

and it will be done for you i

i don’t like i don’t like the i don’t

like the teaching that

that basically says if you pray for what

god tells you to pray he’ll answer your

prayer i know there’s truth there

but god makes himself vulnerable to the

desires of his people

this isn’t licensed to control or

manipulate god but it is an invitation

for a relationship where you actually

have input in interaction

into the outcome of things the the

the effort in consistent prayer is not

to persuade god

it’s to deal with the powers that are

entrenched in the area that we are

pushing into

and the process transforms us so that we

become

responsible stewards of what we’ve just

prayed into

see israel if they would have walked

into the promised land in a 11-day

journey it was supposed to take

they would have wandered right out they

didn’t didn’t have the parameters

for the how to do life

they were careless in their worship of

golden calf and all these other stupid

things

they wouldn’t have had the maturity to

maintain the inheritance

and so the lord puts us in situations

where we push

to build a strength so that once the

answer is released we have the maturity

to use it for his glory

there’s this overriding theme that if i

if i can maybe

if i could communicate one one thing

today it would be this

when it becomes my passion

for his will to be done on earth and for

him to be glorified

as a result that’s two sides of the same

coin

when it becomes my passion

to see the will of god done on earth i

don’t mean the parts that benefit me

i’m talking about the absolute

demonstration of the lordship of jesus

when that becomes demonstrated and god

is glorified in all the earth in first

service today i read this first

of the passion translation now one of

the psalms and it said

there’s a day coming when all the kings

of the earth are going to give him

thanks because they’ve heard his voice

all the kings of the earth will give him

thanks because they heard his voice so

god has these lofty plans these lofty

dreams

and i i’m not angry about this but i do

get frustrated

to hear so many believers say well

that’s that can’t happen until jesus

returns

that’s only because we have greater

faith in the return of christ than we do

the power of the gospel

confidence in the power of the gospel

how does it end i don’t know how it ends

i’m ideas so do you

neither of our opinions are worth much

unless we got them from him you know

but the point is is the power of the

gospel can change anything

he gave me an assignment not with the

intention

of ignoring me

he didn’t say seek for me to be

glorified in the earth it’s not going to

happen

i’ll come back someday and then it will

seek for my will to be done on earth as

it is in heaven

it’ll just keep you positive in your

thinking and it’ll keep you active

until you die he gave us an assignment

why

because of his personal dream to see

something happen

on a planet that has been marked by sin

he paid a price for the healing of the

land and the healing of the people that

live there

and he wants to see that world mirror

the reality of the one he’s in complete

charge

so here he says if you abide in me my

words abide in you i’ve had

quite a few times in the last couple

months especially where

i’ve been awakened in the night you know

i don’t know if this happens to you

where you’re just

perfectly sound asleep and then all of a

sudden

your brain is working 100 miles an hour

how did that happen out of nowhere it

was a dead start how did it suddenly

wake up

and i’ve got a million things going on

through my mind and i’m just wide awake

and physically tired but wide awake

mentally

and what i’ve been doing of late in the

past what i’ve always done is just

anchor my affection in him

but in recent days i’ve had to bring

another tool into this

toolkit of mine and i i will lay there

and i won’t do this out loud because i

don’t want to wait benny

but i’ll lay there and i’ll just begin

quoting scripture

psalms 34. i will bless the lord at all

times

his praise will continually be in my

mouth

my soul shall make its boast in the lord

the humble will hear it and be glad

magnify the lord with me let us exalt

his name together

i sought the lord and he heard me he

delivered me from all my fears

taste and see that the lord is good and

just lay there and just begin to quote

scripture what

what’s happening the verses may have

nothing to do with what’s in my mind

it doesn’t have to it’s the living voice

of god

it’s the living voice of god that brings

all the random stuff it just starts

pruning

uh this thought isn’t necessary this one

won’t help you

this one’s illegal this one starts

pruning all these illegitimate thoughts

that are competing for my affection and

it restores me

to this railroad track that already has

a predetermined destination and it puts

me on this thing

i rejoice in the lord always again i say

rejoice

i had somebody asked me just uh oh just

a few weeks ago

if you had to live the rest of your life

i’ve never been asked this one before

i’ve had a lot of good questions for the

years but this is the first

if you had to live the rest of your life

off of one verse what it would it be

i thought that’s easy john 3 16.

it’s hard to get any higher than that

one that’s the grand finale of all

scripture

for god so loved the world that he gave

his only

begotten son that whoever believes in

him

will not perish they’ll have everlasting

life

that’s not just an evangelism verse

that’s a hearer bill stay alive verse

get centered into what i’m saying and

doing become anchored in my

presence once again here this will help

you fight off every distraction

that is simply there to dilute your

affections for christ

for god so loved the world that he gave

his only begotten son

that whoever believes in him would not

perish

he’ll have everlasting life

something happens in that midnight hour

3 a.m

hour where i was so awake suddenly i’m

i’m anchored into the person of peace

verse 8 says by this my father is

glorified

that you bear much fruit and so you will

be my disciple by this

my father is glorified that you bear

much fruit

what is this in that verse

by this if god’s going to be glorified

by it we

probably ought to figure out what it is

by this

my father’s glorified

at minimum in his answers to prayer

a fuller definition would be me abiding

in christ

until there’s answers to prayer but

that’s the

this

i want you to picture this

you have a concern for a relative

and it just wakes you up at night and

you walk and you pray

the next day you do the same and you

pray for several days

and then all of a sudden you get this

phone call and

that relative was spared in an accident

or or they

they turned their heart to the gospel

and received christ whatever it might be

you got an answer to prayer

what you don’t see is the angelic realm

that witnessed the interaction between

a born-again person created in the image

of god

who yielded themselves to be a worshiper

by choice

interacting with the great i am and

having an audience with the king of all

kings

and making a request that actually

shaped the course of history

the angelic realm celebrates

your plan worked

your plan worked

you created them in your image and even

when they fell you restored them

and you brought them into a place of

co-laboring

you brought them into a place of

partnership with the almighty god

fallen redeemed man partners with the

almighty god

they pray you act things change your

plan

worked

by this my father is glorified that you

bear much fruit

by this this abiding in this

felt reality of the spirit of god the

greatest reality in my life is the

presence of god

to live unaware of it is a waste of time

to live unaware of this most precious

gift of all that the holy spirit himself

would dwell in me

and rest upon me to live unconscious of

that one thing

is to sell myself short of every divine

purpose

that he has created for me

i owe him answers to prayer

i owe him answers

he decided a long time ago to answer

that’s why he gave me promises

he gave me promises to pull me into a

place of relationship with him

where together we would affect the

course of history it was already written

my name was already written in the in

the document this is what my son is

created to do

i can stand away from the river and say

well there’s no current where i’m

at or i can move to that which has been

flowing

since the beginning of time god created

us to co-labor with him

to see his purposes in the earth be

fruitful multiply

subdue the earth he engages humanity

engages people

with divine purpose because he

he could do a military invasion but then

it breaks the entire protocol he created

if i own a house here in reading and

you’re renting it from me

i can’t go into that home anytime i want

even though i have the master key i can

only go by your invitation even though

i own the house and let’s say i own it

outright the bank doesn’t know i’m not

making payments i own it

i like this conversation this is working

well i can’t i have the master key i

can’t go any time i want why

because uh you are the legal guardian of

that property as long as you’re paying

your rent

right the scripture says

the heavens were made for god the earth

he made for men

we’re the renters he comes

by invitation

he comes by invitation understand

in mark chapter 9 there’s a powerful

story

of a dad with a son he wanted his son

free he was so tormented

he brought his son to the disciples and

i remind you they were the most

trained people in healing and

deliverance of any group of people to

ever live up until that time with the

exception of jesus himself

this was not their first rodeo

the dad brought the kid to the disciples

they prayed the prayer

they had done countless times before

they had been sent into cities

they had saw dramatic impact so profound

was their impact in the cities jesus

said

i saw satan fall like lightning that was

the impact

but this one child they couldn’t get

free

in church history we’re at that point

where the child didn’t get free

and we generally create theology to

explain what just happened

we create theology that says well the

sovereignty of god he works in

mysterious ways

perhaps his will for him to be delivered

is further down the road

but thankfully the father was not happy

with the absence of an

answer and he took his son to jesus

jesus set him free the disciples

saw this happen and they took jesus

aside and they said

how come we couldn’t do it jesus said

this kind only comes out with prayer and

fasting

most people leave that story with the

key of prayer and fasting for

breakthrough

which is wonderful but the real key to

the story

is they weren’t happy with the absence

of an answer

and they took jesus aside

see you’re not designed for having

nothing happen

you’re not designed for that you’re not

wired for that you’re not wired for

nothing happening

the key to that story is taking jesus

aside

finding out why i’m not wired for this

god

you didn’t teach us how to deal with

unanswered prayers because you didn’t

have any

help us help us to engage the same way

you did

teach me i give myself here’s this

prayer

of repentance from dead works faith

towards god

reconsecrate ourselves i’m telling you

the prayer of petition becomes powerful

when it follows the prayer of

conservation

it’s god i abandoned my own my own

efforts my own dreams

everything and i give myself completely

to what you’re saying

what you’re doing all i want is your

heart in this matter

that that abandoning of personal agendas

and then praying

suddenly we pray with clarity of thought

clarity of heart clarity of mind

in ways we’ve never known before father

i pray for that kind of clarity

to rest upon us as a church body as we

enter in this next season

this next season of just simple

simple prayer meeting with god and

praying to make a difference

i pray for that to happen in this room

in jesus name

i’ve gone over a couple minutes let me

just address

our online family as well as anybody in

the room

there’s always a chance when as a crowd

decides that we’d have people here that

don’t have a personal relationship with

jesus

jesus is god he’s not one of many ways

if that were true

then god was so cruel to require jesus

to

die when you could have gotten there by

singing a song and lighting a candle

it’s not true jesus suffered and died in

my place

so that i could receive the gift of

eternal life that

is made available to every one of you

that would just say

i want to be a disciple of jesus i don’t

want to follow my own agendas anymore

if there’s anybody in the room in that

case i want you just to put a hand up if

you would right where you are

because we want to make sure to pray for

you anyone at all

okay let me speak to the online family

we have so many people that come to

jesus online

it’s been wonderful i want to encourage

you on bethel tv on youtube

just put in a post that you you are

surrendering to jesus

and somebody will come and pray for you

amen sure it was nice to be in the same

room together

i love you i love you i love you