Join Priscilla Shirer as she speaks at the Fervent conference in New York on TBN’s Praise. Be encouraged as Priscilla Shirer shifts your perspective to what God is doing behind the scenes in your life, and why your prayers will impact personal revival upon your life and its direction.
and the holy spirit said to me that’s
just like you and me priscilla
because i’m behind the scenes
orchestrating and crafting the chapters
of your story all the while you think
i’m doing nothing you point an
accusatory finger at me wondering where
i am and why i’m not hearing your
request and why i’m not moving in the
way that you would like me to move
you’re assuming that i’m sitting back
passively ignoring you where all the
while i am busy making a story out of
your life the likes of what you can’t
imagine
[Music]
praise the lord
praise the lord o my soul i will praise
the lord while i live
i will sing praises to my god while i
have my being some trust in princes and
some trust in mortal man and whom there
is no salvation but not us not tonight
we trust in the name of the lord our god
how blessed is the one in whom the god
of jacob is their helper whose hope is
in the lord his god the one who made
heaven and earth the one who made the
sea and all that is in them he’s the one
who gives food to the hungry he is the
lord that sets prisoners free he is the
lord that opens the eyes of the blind he
raises up those who are down he is the
lord who loves the righteous he is the
lord that protects anybody that feels
like a stranger he is the one that
supports those that might be fatherless
and the widow he thwarts the way of the
wicked the lord will reign forever
he is our god
o zion o church to all generations we
ought to praise the lord for it is good
to sing praises to our god it is
pleasant to praise the lord he builds up
his people he gathers the outcasts of
israel he heals the brokenhearted he
binds up their wounds he counts the
numbers of the stars he gives all of
them names that’s basically his way of
saying if i can control the entire
universe i’ve got your life covered
that’s what he said
great is the lord
abundance is his strength sing to the
lord with thanksgiving sing praises to
our god praise the lord jerusalem praise
him in the house tonight for he has
strengthened your bars and your gates he
has blessed your sons and your daughters
he brings peace to your borders he
satisfies you with real good things he
makes sure his word runs very swiftly he
scatters the frost like ashes who can
stand before him because our god is good
so praise the lord
praise the lord from the heavens
praise him from the heights
praise him all ye angels praise him all
you hosts praise him sun and moon praise
him highest heavens praise him waters
that are above the heaven let even those
people praise the name of our great god
praise the lord sing to the lord a new
song praise him in the congregation let
israel be glad in her maker let the
godly ones exalt in glory tonight praise
the lord praise god in this sanctuary on
broadway in times square tonight praise
the lord
[Music]
praise him in the mighty expanse
praise him for his excellent greatness
praise him with the trumpet sound praise
him with the harp and the liar praise
him with the timberland with the dancing
praise him with the stink stringed
instruments in the pipe praise him with
the loud symbols praise him with the
resounding symbols let everything
that happens
come on y’all let’s praise the lord
tonight
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
y’all are my people y’all came to have
church tonight it’s what you did
take your seats if you can i want to
tell you what a privilege that it is as
anthony has already said for us to be
here with you tonight to have an
opportunity to lift up the name of jesus
because he’s worthy to be praised y’all
even with what you wrote down what you
need prayer for what’s hurting your
heart what’s ailing you what what needs
to be answered even with the miracle you
require what you need to know is that
your god
is still good he’s still sitting on the
throne and the truth is
even if he never did one more thing
i mean seriously y’all
if he never did another thing on our
behalf
if he doesn’t answer this request
exactly the way that you’re hoping he’ll
answer this request the truth is he has
already done enough
but the great thing about our god
is that he invites us to make our
requests known
he invites us to give to him the desires
of our hearts and then he invites us to
trust him with the answer
so i’m so excited to pray with you
tonight because we get the privilege
tonight not only to very specifically
and boldly approach the throne of grace
with every single request that has been
written down and even those that are
still tucked away in the quietness of
your heart even those of you that i know
are on the other side of the screen your
request we want to cover those tonight
but the great thing about our god
is that not only can we present our
request trusting him
but at the end of every prayer we can
say lord do this do what i’ve asked
or
do something better
[Applause]
because seriously the truth is he is the
god of ephesians 3 20 and
he is the one that does immeasurably
more than you can ask
and listen if you can’t ask it because
you can’t your brain can’t even come up
with the right words to vocalize what it
is you’re trying to ask for he says
that’s all right just think it and i can
do past that
[Applause]
so we can boldly bring all of our
requests
to the throne of god tonight trusting
that he is a great big god who still
does great big things i believe
that god works miracles anybody
[Applause]
i’m talking about flat up flat out
jaw-dropping straight up can’t explain
it
miracles
where you stand back and go i don’t know
you know
that kind of stuff
we’re going to pray about that tonight i
love that we have a god that allows us
to do that in even this setting that any
place is a sanctuary where god can meet
us i love this unique opportunity that
we have to be in this place where many a
celebrity many a talented person many a
gifted person has stood on this platform
many productions have taken place and in
a place where people have been
celebrated for their gifts and their
talents on this kind of a platform i
love that in this place today there is
only one celebrity and it’s nobody on
the stage i love that
i love that the celebrity is jesus
christ
[Music]
man i can’t tell you how that takes the
weight off us there’s just no pressure
for us up here because we ain’t trying
to impress you how about that
we’re gonna have a good time tonight in
the presence of the lord
my um i will tell you more about them
later but my three sons you might see
them sort of around and about that we
kind of all dive in together in ministry
as anthony said he’s my younger brother
and just in case you wondered everything
he knows about music he learned from me
anyway
[Applause]
and
my husband is here as well we have three
sons
they’re 14 12 and eight jackson is our
oldest and then jerry jr and then jude
jude is our surprise baby
jude that’s why i named him jude because
that’s as close as i could get to
revelation
[Applause]
because it is finished that’s it that’s
the end of the line jackson jerry jr and
jude and jude and i were sitting
together on an airplane and he was
seated over the wing where our seats
were directly over the wing of the
airplane and so he was sort of just
looking out at the wing of the plane and
there we were suspended in midair flying
to our destination and i could tell he
was mesmerized by this whole concept
that this tube of steel is in the air
holding us up and that um this this wing
is connected to the plane he was sort of
just dissecting this entire this entire
situation and as he looked over the wing
he looked back at me
and said mom how do they get that wing
on this plane
i said buddy i’ve got to be honest with
you i have no idea i have no idea how
they get that wing on the plane i don’t
know how it works but i have an idea for
you jude you have an uncle their dad’s
brother uncle vaughn he works in the
airline industry he actually works in
the business where they they make all
the veins and the wiring that connects
the different parts of the aircraft so i
saw this as a teachable moment i said
you should talk to your uncle vaughn
when we get home and it’d be a great
opportunity for you to learn something
and then i said to him you know what
you can be whatever you want to be when
you grow up do do you know that you can
do whatever you want to do like if you
want to make airplanes like your uncle
vaughn when you grow up you can so
totally do that if you’d like to and as
i said that to him i said buddy you can
be anything you want to be in your life
anything you want to do you can do it he
looked back at me and he said mom
i don’t want to do what uncle vaughn
does when i grow up i want to do what
you do when i grow up
[Applause]
you know it’s one of those moments where
you’re just thinking baby what do you
want whatever you want i’ma give it to
you
oh but wait for it
because i looked back at him and said
buddy
what does mama do
now i had expectations about what his
answer was going to be at least some
framework about how he might respond
lord i’d love to or mom i’d love to
share the lord with people mom i’d like
to write mom i would like to do a myriad
of different things maybe that he could
have said
but he looked back and he said mom
i want to do nothing just like you
you do nothing all day every day you do
nothing
i said buddy you see how
like the clothes you’re wearing right
now are clean how do you think that they
actually get clean he said well that’s
just like washing that’s no big deal i
said but you eat every day you eat
actual food how do you think it gets
cooked that’s what moms do that’s no big
deal
and i said but you know every now and
then there’s a book or there might be a
bible study there’s even there was a
little film a little movie remember it’s
been we spent like three months maybe
that what do you think i’m doing he’s
like you just sitting behind the
computer all day just do it you’re doing
nothing
i laughed and then i thought in that
moment right after the conversation
how much that is like my relationship
with the lord
in fact there was confirmation of that
because the very next day and i only
share this with you to make this point
but the very next day after that
conversation with jude
my publisher sent me an email they sent
an email to tell me about something that
they know i never know because i’m
keeping up with three sons they said
priscilla we just want to let you know
that fervent um a little book that i had
written we want you to know that it’s on
the new york times bestseller list it
actually won a few awards they said that
to me in the email and all i could do
when i looked at it was chuckle because
it was just the day before that my son
said to me
that when i was doing to him to what
looked like an amounted to nothing
that is exactly when i was crafting
something that hopefully would be a
blessing to people’s lives
and the holy spirit said to me that’s
just like you and me priscilla
because i’m behind the scenes
orchestrating and crafting the chapters
of your story all the while you think
i’m doing nothing you point an
accusatory finger at me wondering where
i am and why i’m not hearing your
request and why i’m not moving in the
way that you would like me to move
you’re assuming that i’m sitting back
passively ignoring you we’re all the
while i am busy making a story out of
your life the likes of what you can’t
imagine
i came to encourage somebody today
that there’s a chapter that is being
written right now with your story i’m
talking about right now in that
difficulty right now in that valley year
of your marriage right now in that
trouble in your finances that difficulty
on your job that hardship with your
co-worker i’m talking about that one
co-worker the one that if she says one
more thing to you you go knock her out
that one
[Applause]
there is a chapter he is crafting
a manuscript he’s writing
that one day when we see him face to
face
we’re going to see the story that he was
telling
and every single crown we get we’re
going to turn around and place it right
back at his feet
and say thank you lord for this
privilege that we had to live a life
a life in relationship with you
and so even with these hardships and
even with these hurts we pray and we
pray in gratitude we pray in
gratefulness in advance thanking him for
the answer that he will give us that is
simultaneous to what we’ve asked for or
the answer that is so far beyond our
capacity to even comprehend and pray
that we trust him for something that
that has so much generational ripple
effect the likes of which we may never
see in our grandchildren and our great
grandchildren and our great great
grandchildren i’m so glad for the
prayers of a grandmother and a great
grandmother and grandfather in my life
who prayed some stuff that y’all they
didn’t get to see the fruit of their
prayer
but how glad i am that they trusted him
to do what they were asking or
something better
so
in that mindset i invite you to pray
with me tonight
as anthony said we couldn’t have an
event called fervent and not and nobody
actually fervently prayed
about nothing in fact it would be an
injustice actually we’d be ripping you
off if we came in here and all you did
was watch stuff happen up here
the point of tonight is for you to meet
with god
and the truth is if your life if your
life has been anything like mine you
you’ve been busy there’s been stuff
pulling you left and right there’s been
traffic that you’ve been fighting
there’ve been soccer games that you’ve
been going to there’s been errands that
you’ve been running and i know you might
you might think you might some of you
might think that i’ve just been you know
sitting up on a mountainside fasting and
praying and thinking about you
but the reality is my life is just like
yours i’ve been trying to figure out a
new way to cook chicken for dinner just
like you
my clothes right now laundry at my house
it is washed it is dried but it is
dumped out on the dining room table
waiting for somebody to come and fold it
our lives are full of stuff
and every now and then we just need to
be offered a moment
to meet with god
he is omnipresent
that means he is everywhere all at the
same time
and i thank god for his omnipresence
meaning that wherever you are seated in
this room whether you’re in the furthest
reaches of this theater tonight
or you’re right here on the front row
you can have a meeting with god whether
you’ve ever prayed before or not whether
this idea of actually talking to god
um is new to you whether or not you’re
not sure whether you have to say
specific word there’s no magic to prayer
it’s just taking a minute to just
offer to him the needs you’ve written
down the ones that are still hidden in
your heart to just thank him for what
he’s already done that maybe you’ve
neglected because of the rise of needs
that you’ve had in your life this is our
invitation to you
to join us in a moment of prayer and
together we’re going to collectively
cover some categories of prayer tonight
that we find a lot of the requests that
are written down and by the way if you
did not write one down but you kind of
want to get in on this at any point just
bring a request down into any of the
boxes i know there there are some there
on every level you just bring them down
and put them here at any point because
we’re going to cover them all
collectively and then i’m going to tell
those of you who are here in the theater
how we’re going to cover every single
one of these requests individually
before the night is over but even you at
home listen pray with us we’re going to
pray and include your requests in our
prayer tonight we’re going to cover some
categories of prayer you’re going to
help me to do that
the very first category of prayer that i
want to cover because we find many of
these requests fall into these larger
categories
the very first one that i’d like to pray
for is in regards to your marriage we
find that many of these requests have to
do in and around the topic of marriage
and the reason why i bring that up first
is because you do know that the enemy
even more than than many things the
enemy is is really after your marriage
if you’re married he’s trying any any
which kind of way he can to destroy
dissolve disunify your marriage he
doesn’t want the two of you to be happy
he doesn’t want the two of you to be
content in your relationship he doesn’t
want you walking in health and fullness
so we want to pray for your marriage
tonight because i bet you there are some
requests that are written down here that
have to do with that particular
relationship and i believe that if there
anybody in this room or on the other
side of the screen and
you guys are on the brink of divorce i
mean you’re teetering right on the very
edge and you know that apart from a
straight-up miracle the two of you are
not gonna make it you in the right place
tonight i can tell you that because we
know a god that can snatch you back from
the brink
that you might be teetering on tonight
so we’re going to pray about that
so if you are in this room here’s how
you all are going to help me in this
room
if you’re in this room tonight
and you actually have a testimony
because you can remember a time where
you thought you and your spouse were not
going to make it and you’re here tonight
and you’re not just still married but
you’re happily married and you know it
is a straight-up miracle that you’re
actually happily married
you know that god
did something that revolutionized um
your marriage if that’s the case for you
would you please stand up and just be a
living visible illustration of the power
of god in this relationship in our lives
and stay standing when you stand
[Music]
[Applause]
please stay on your feet okay stay on
your feet
and the reason why i want you to stand i
hope that you all can see each other
even up in the top there of the theater
because the reason why i want you to
stand is because i want you to recognize
that the message that many people came
for tonight we hadn’t even opened up the
bible yet to teach from god’s word and
the message that somebody need tonight
is coming through your life this is why
the lord brought them he wanted to say
to them through your testimony that what
he has done for others he can also do
for them
so please stay on your feet for just a
second you’re encouraging somebody
oh y’all please don’t let this moment
pass you by look all over this room from
the back to the front
the lord wants to encourage somebody
tonight he’s got your back
he’s got your back
he has not forgotten you
if you need healing whether it is
something small
i say that loosely because listen even
if you just have a headache that pain is
not small to you
pain in the small of your back a knee uh
so if it’s just something a tumor that
has just been diagnosed whatever it is
we’re gonna pray for you tonight if it’s
a broken heart a broken mind whatever if
you need healing for yourself or a loved
one would you please stretch out your
hand we cannot wait to be the body of
christ and pray for you
y’all there’s so many hands those of you
that are standing would you all be the
first it’s almost like you’re paying it
forward just reach out to someone who’s
near you’re just extending to them what
it is that god has done for you
and then those of you that are seated
even beside other people that have their
hands raised come on y’all would you
just make sure that everybody is touched
by another
again even if the two of you both have
your hands raised just grab hands or put
your hand on the knee or the shoulder
nearby
if you feel like you’ve been missed
don’t worry i got you i got you come on
y’all for 60 seconds let there be a
chorus a symphony of prayer that we ring
out to our god
lord jesus
[Music]
there is power
[Music]
there is
[Music]
father i thank you that we can boldly
approach your throne and that we can ask
you for something as bold as healing
lord i ask you right now in jesus name
for every cell in our bodies that is not
under the authority of jesus christ i
pray right now in jesus name that you
would realize every misplaced cell in
jesus name i pray for organs to begin to
function at 100 capacity again in jesus
name lord i pray for tumors to shrink in
jesus name lord i pray for x-rays to be
completely different in jesus name for
tests lord to be negative that we’re
positive in jesus name father i pray
that you would heal broken bodies take
away the pain lord diminish the
difficulty father and make it be so
radical that everybody has to point to
you to give you the glory and the praise
i pray for broken hearts to be mended
tonight father wipe tears for their eyes
their eyes restore them lord from this
grief or this betrayal or this loss lord
walk with them through the flames
restore fissured fractured minds lord
and do it for your own glory we give you
our healing we entrust it to you in
jesus name everybody agreed with me
tonight when they said amen
[Music]
amen
amen
just in case you were wondering prayer
is not like the stuff we do before we
get to the good stuff
prayer is the good stuff
listen
you might not actually be aware of it
but this is actually what you came for
you you might not even know this is what
you came for i’m telling you is what you
came for
this is the good stuff right here
just one more little category that i
think we just must pray for together
let’s pray for the church
let’s pray for the
church let’s pray for i mean y’all this
opportunity to pray together
in this place where we’re together
across lines that would normally divide
us
whether they’re denominational lines or
racial lines or cultural lines or
geographical lines just because we don’t
live in the same place so we don’t all
go to the same church stylistically with
worship sometimes you go to that church
because you like that style we go to
this church because we like that style
it divides us not not bad necessarily
not negatively but it divides us and
here we are in this place where you know
the only time in scripture where god
commanded a blessing
is in the psalms where he said in that
place where brethren or sister and dwell
together in unity he says in that place
i will command that there will be a
blessing
so here we are
in a place where we’ve gathered across
lines that might normally divide us
we’re united in this place no matter how
different we may be and in this place
y’all tonight we’re underneath an open
heaven
the commanded blessing of god is upon us
so why wouldn’t we milk it for all it’s
worth and ask god
to drench the church of jesus christ
and listen when i say church
i’m not just talking about your little
little sea church i’m grateful for your
local church we’re gonna pray for your
pastor we’re going to pray for his wife
we’re going to pray for the leadership
team we’re going to ask that the lord
put a wall of fire around them so that
we they would not be caught up in the
snares of the enemy to entice them
toward immorality
or financial under dealings that will
undermine the name of our great lord
we’re going to ask god to give them
integrity and let them walk in character
and wholeness
and health we’re going to ask for a
fresh outpouring of god’s spirit upon
your local church we’re gonna ask god to
let your church be so set a fire with
his glory that the community around you
can’t help but come into that church to
see
what’s happening in those four walls
but we can’t stop there
we got to pray for the capital c global
body of christ
that all of god’s people
will be set a fire y’all that revival
would come
in this generation because he said if my
people
who are called by my name listen he’s
like you don’t even have to
have to evangelize necessarily for this
promise to take place you don’t need a
whole bunch of new folk he said if the
folk that are already claiming they know
me
if they would just pray
if they would for real seek my face if
they’d stop messing around and just go
ahead and be for real about calling out
to me he says i will hear from heaven
and i’ll sweep revival through this
whole land
so i figure tonight this is the greatest
opportunity as any right in the middle
the heart of the city to go ahead and
just ask god would you picture in your
mind your your local church would you
picture your pastor would you picture
the leadership team there would you
picture that family in particular if you
see ask the lord to put a wall of fire
around him
come on just for 60 seconds pray for
outpouring of god’s spirit on your
church
lord jesus i pray
[Music]
[Music]
the lord we lift up the body of christ
you
in every corner of the globe and i ask
you right now for every local church
that is represented in this room i pray
father no matter the tribe no matter the
tongue lord no matter the denomination
no matter the worship style i pray that
in every case lord we would not be
pleased to impress people but that we
would impress the audience of one lord i
pray that you would be glorified that
you would be lifted up lord i pray for
every pastor his wife father the
leadership team at that church lord i
pray right now in jesus name that you
would gird them with a hedge of
protection wall them up father so that
they will not be ensnared by the attacks
of the enemy lord i pray that where he
is coming in like a flood you would push
him back lord so that the gates of hell
will not prevail against the church of
jesus christ we ask you for integrity
lord to mark the leadership of your
church lord we pray that you will be so
highly esteemed and highly lifted up
that we will be like a city that is set
on a hill that will pronounce the
matchless name of jesus christ and then
father i pray that all across the globe
we will come together in unity forgive
us father where we have been divided
where we have judged and we have
criticized father so that the enemy has
been so pleased to see god’s people
divided from this day forward lord help
us to love one another father and in
doing so bring glory to your name
we honor you tonight lord it is in jesus
name that we pray
amen
amen
[Applause]
y’all remember
y’all remember that one part of the lion
king i’ve been thinking about this today
because the lion king’s next door
y’all remember that one part the lion
king where simba’s thinking he’s all big
and bad now because he’s got a little
bit bigger and the hyenas are there and
they’re like are you for real little boy
and he’s little teeny he comes up to him
and he’s like
and they’re like
and he’s like
wow
and they’re like seriously that’s not
gonna do anything he tries it again wow
and they’re just laughing hysterically
all over the place because they’re like
this little teeny cub of a lion can’t do
anything to us and simba’s so upset he
can’t believe that he’s not threatening
them or intimidating them at all he’s
going to give it one more try and so he
opens up his mouth to roar
and it is the loudest most profound roar
even simba is shocked that he created
such a loud noise and the hyenas go
scampering away because there’s a
valiance that has come to to this young
cub that even he was not aware that he
had he did not know that his father
mufasa was coming up in the rear he was
standing behind simba so that he could
help to scare away the enemy and here’s
what i’m saying when you pray no longer
is it just you trying to attack the
enemy with your little wimpy sad self
but now you’ve got the power of almighty
god who is fighting on your behalf
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
and i’m just saying
if god be for you
who
[Applause]
can be against