Dr. Tony Evans reminds us that God is with us in the New Year… and no matter how difficult 2022 may have been. In this word of the year for 2023, we’re shown the new year is full of new mercies that we should give God praise for every day.

[Music]

I’m gonna move a little further in this

series today but I just got to stop and

and say something to you now and I’ll

just tell you I’m just we’re gonna move

deep and I’m gonna talk about conviction

today but but before I do I want to tell

you about yesterday morning when I got

convicted by the Holy Spirit I went out

to this park that I go to it’s right by

the beach and I work out there and I go

there to pray and I went out there to

pray and when the workout was finished I

went out and I looked over the waters

and I was getting ready to pray and I

started to pray about something I need

and the Holy Spirit convicted me and

said that’s not what you need to be

praying about and I said okay because it

wasn’t a bad prayer it wasn’t evil it

wasn’t wicked it wasn’t that it just

wasn’t what the highest version of me

should have been praying in that moment

I’m gonna teach that in a minute so I go

to pray and and it felt like this is not

I didn’t feel an anointing on praying

for that thing how many of us know you

feel you should feel the anointing when

you pray sometimes it’s better let the

spirit pray for you you wanna me instead

of it becoming these vain repetitions

there is something that God wants you to

pray in a particular moment that’s why I

pray with my understanding like we

talked about last week and I pray in

this spirit because I want to cover

everybody’s prayer not just my prayer I

want to cover the Holy Spirit’s prayer

so anyway I’m there and I was getting

ready to pray this nothing wrong with

this thing this good thing and then hope

the conviction Holy Spirit you can’t

play it felt almost like sin to pray

that and it was a good thing and so I’m

like well God didn’t what am I surprised

I started thing then you know you try to

go real spiritual I’m like okay well we

got the Women’s Conference coming and

maybe I need to be praying for the

Women’s Conference and that’s a good

thing right and we’ve been praying for

it but guy was like that ain’t it either

and then you know then you get all

religious stuff like that wow I’m just

praying that all the world would be

saying and that is a good prayer right

but it wasn’t it

and the Lord was basically like asked me

what I want you to pray and so I pause

overlooking the water the vastness of

God I paused and I realized in that

moment by the Holy Spirit that my

prayers were too small and sometimes God

can’t do what he wants to do through

your life because you don’t have the

capacity to ask him properly you

understand what I’m saying he told he

told David or David sang about the Lord

in Psalm 2 & 8

and God said ask of me and I’ll give you

the nation’s he’s like ask for nation’s

and so I’m there I’m like God what do

you want me to pray for and then he said

I want you to think about what’s been

happening lately and I thought I’m like

wow okay we had a couple of earthquakes

and let me just say as a believer you’re

not supposed to just like take an

earthquake and just go on about your

business I understand you watching the

news and and getting all that you know

we’ve got those wonderful doctors from

the USGS we thank God for them and they

give us the scientific interpretation of

the earthquake but how many so there’s a

spiritual interpretation of the

earthquake – hello so you embrace the

scientific and I’m not saying that you

have a corner on the earthquake you some

people like okay in is coming not so

fast

but Jesus did say something in Matthew

24 that as the day draws near there’s

going to be earthquakes in various and

various places so there is a connection

between what Jesus said is happening and

what is happening and so it should sober

all of us at least a little bit don’t

get caught up in the science of it the

sides of it is wonderful that’s that’s

great but there’s a spiritual

understanding there’s something that the

Holy Spirit wants us to do as we start

seeing things like that happen right and

so I was like while we did have those

earthquakes he’s like yeah and then it

just came to me he said here’s what I

want you to pray he says understand this

when the earth shakes when there is a

natural disaster or when there is a

human disaster when there are conditions

that are crazy and things that seem to

get worse you have to understand that

that is what the Bible calls the earth

or the creation grow

I want you to studies when you get a

chance as Romans chapter 8 and you can

start reading the first night didn’t go

away down in fact just read from Genesis

to Revelation you’ll forget the point

trust me but it talks about the Bible

talks about how the earth the creation

everything that got created is groaning

it’s groaning and then it also says that

and we too are groaning so watch this

when the earth groans you are supposed

to groan awful holy spirit you when the

earth groans the Spirit is groaning but

sometimes just as there were some who

did not feel the earthquake because for

whatever reason you were not in a bad

way but just distract it from being

steal enough to feel it does not mean

that the earthquake didn’t happen you

feel me

so sometimes we’re busy can I just

preach for a second sometimes we’re so

busy in our lives their spirit is

groaning but we’re moving and

functioning and doing so much in our own

shrimp or in what we want to do that we

don’t even feel the shaking

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

hello somebody I didn’t feel the first

quake on the third because I was hiking

I was moving that Roma I came but when

my wife and I decided to get into bed

early and we lay down to watch TV

we felt the earthquake so as I’m

standing over this way looking at the

vastness of the sea it came to me as I

paused I let the Holy Spirit lead me and

guide me my prayer that what the Holy

Spirit wanted me to pray for was the

revealing or the manifesting of the

children of God because that passage in

Romans 8:19 says that all of creation is

eagerly waiting watch this for the

revealing of you are a Borgia

every time the earth shakes God is

calling your name every time there is a

natural disaster or some calamity every

time the earth grows the Spirit of God

assigned to you is groaning – so God

said what you need to pray for what you

need to pray for is pray for the

revealing of my children pray that what

my people would get serious about me and

start walking with me and start being

led by me so that they can start

becoming in me and that’s what I prayed

that’s what God wanted and I hear God

said I got all that other stuff covered

I feel the Holy Ghost God saying I’ve

got your life covered I need you to pray

prayers that are bigger than your life I

need you to ask

four nations asked me for America ask me

for Africa asked me for Brazil Indonesia

asked for India

[Music]

praying to small church we pray to small

if your prayer life is only about you to

small even in the model prayer he said

pray first before we got into any of the

daily bread he said pray your kingdom

come your will be done on earth as it is

in heaven and then it ends with for

thine is the kingdom and that is the

power and thine is the glory big prayers

I feel this for some of you as God

increases your capacity to pray he’s

gonna make your life bigger bigger

prayer bigger life he’s got you covered

he knows about your little money he

knows about you

he knows about your little bills he

knows about your house

play some big Kingdom

you will create a four

and it’s funny God speaks that to me and

then all of a sudden rabbits start

coming around me and squirrels start

coming around me and birds start drawing

calls and it was almost like they were

saying we’re waiting on you will you be

who God has created you to be

and stop playing and get busy can I talk

to you like that today where my real

believers ain’t talking about believers