I Must Decrease - Stephanie Ike Okafor
Transcript
00:00:00 You know, I want to share something and then I'll explain what the Lord was showing me that I need to do.
00:00:07 I want to encourage everyone here, everyone listening online, never leave your home.
00:00:15 Never have a day that passes that you don't spend time in prayer.
00:00:22 And no, no, no, I want you to listen to this. No, don't clap please.
00:00:27 Because a lot of times we can get excited and we still keep in our ways.
00:00:33 You have to realize these days that we're in, the Bible talks about the last days, about how the days are evil.
00:00:42 There is so much that is happening outside of our bubble, spiritually.
00:00:51 You see, even in America right now, the political climate is very tense.
00:00:59 And as we were worshipping, you see there are meetings taking place right now.
00:01:08 And things are being planned for mass shootings, mass killings, because of the climate we are in.
00:01:19 But when you realize that you are an ambassador for the kingdom,
00:01:25 when you begin to spend your time, you have a time allocated.
00:01:30 Look, time in prayer matters.
00:01:32 I remember that there was a time where I would tell people,
00:01:36 "Look, if all you have is 5 minutes, 10 minutes, that's alright."
00:01:40 And that sounds beautiful, but God created time.
00:01:45 And there was a moment where Jesus said something, every word Jesus speaks, pay attention to it.
00:01:52 Jesus was praying in the garden, and he brought his three disciples, his inner circle disciples,
00:02:00 to watch with him, and to pray with him.
00:02:04 And then they fall asleep.
00:02:07 And Jesus looks at them, he says, "Could you not watch with me for an hour?"
00:02:13 That is a mystery where Jesus is revealing the very least.
00:02:19 The very least in my presence, the very least that you should be spending in prayer is at least an hour.
00:02:27 And you know why that actually makes sense?
00:02:30 Because you need time to first unpack you, get yourself out the way.
00:02:37 Because when you come before the Lord, you come so full of stuff.
00:02:43 You're coming with worries, with plans, with ideas, with dreams, with visions.
00:02:48 All of that needs to first get cleared out, so now spirit in spirit can start speaking.
00:02:55 And even in the midst of that, there must be a time where you also hear and receive.
00:03:01 It's not just that you're going to go and say, "Bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, amen." Boom, and you leave.
00:03:06 You have to also learn how to literally not just wait in a sense of worship and pray,
00:03:12 just to literally wait in the presence of God.
00:03:15 You have to learn and teach yourself the ability to just wait in his presence.
00:03:23 You see, many times we don't have the encounters we're looking for,
00:03:26 because we don't have the discipline to match it.
00:03:31 And these days you have to spend time in prayer.
00:03:35 There are things that can be avoided if you only heard.
00:03:40 If you simply heard what the spirit was saying that day,
00:03:44 if you simply heard how the spirit wanted to tailor your movements,
00:03:48 there's so many things that could be avoided, not just in your life,
00:03:52 but how God could use you as a vessel to release a word, to release a decree,
00:03:58 a declaration that will cause something else not to happen.
00:04:03 And it's not everything that happens that was the will of God.
00:04:09 The Bible says that God has given the earth to us.
00:04:14 There is a responsibility we have in co-laboring with Him.
00:04:19 There are some things that happen not because it was His will,
00:04:23 but there was no what the Bible calls a watchman on the wall.
00:04:27 These are the people that are supposed to set guard in prayer,
00:04:31 watch in the spirit, "God, what is about to hit? What is about to happen?"
00:04:36 And the Lord begins to whisper, "Do you know?"
00:04:39 The Holy Spirit is shifting this.
00:04:42 "Do you know that in every family there is a watchman?"
00:04:48 Things are not just supposed to happen in your family and you don't know.
00:04:52 There is someone in the family that's supposed to be a watchman in the family,
00:04:56 that even before someone dies, you know.
00:05:01 No, I'm not trying to hype you. This is a fact.
00:05:04 In every family there is someone the Lord appointed to be a watchman in the family.
00:05:10 That nothing should happen randomly.
00:05:13 There are many things that you would have the ability to stop
00:05:17 if you were sensitive enough to have a place of waiting in God's presence.
00:05:23 There are some things that only take place because no one was watching.
00:05:29 I will give you an example.
00:05:32 There was a time, I don't think I've ever really shared who this was,
00:05:35 maybe if I shared this in the past.
00:05:37 There was a time that while in prayer, before going to bed,
00:05:41 I was in prayer and there was just something, there was a burden on me.
00:05:45 I couldn't give language for it, so I just prayed in the spirit.
00:05:49 And praying in the spirit is praying in tongues.
00:05:52 If you don't pray in the spirit, we have many sermons on it.
00:05:55 I encourage you to watch that.
00:05:58 So I go to bed, while I'm in my dream, the Lord shows me a calendar.
00:06:05 On that calendar there is a date that was circled in red.
00:06:09 And the Lord says to me, "You need to pray concerning this day for your brother."
00:06:16 And I woke up out of that dream.
00:06:19 I write it down in my dream journal.
00:06:22 I write the date.
00:06:24 I write, you know, because the Lord showed me danger.
00:06:27 Now I want you to see what's happening.
00:06:30 The Lord showed it to me.
00:06:32 But that's not what stopped it.
00:06:34 He says, "You need to engage in prayer."
00:06:40 Same thing, Elijah in the Bible.
00:06:43 The Lord is the one talking about the drought.
00:06:46 But Elijah is there praying.
00:06:49 The Lord gave a word.
00:06:51 "Oh, the rain is coming."
00:06:54 But Elijah didn't just go about his business and say, "Oh, rain is coming. Let me just pack on back."
00:06:59 Elijah was found on the mountain praying.
00:07:02 Because prayer reveals agreement.
00:07:06 The Lord shows me that day.
00:07:08 I called my brother. I said, "Hey, we need to be praying."
00:07:11 "I don't know what this is about, but mark this day down."
00:07:14 "Be careful on this day."
00:07:16 "Don't make any random moves."
00:07:18 "But I'll be in prayer as well."
00:07:21 I committed time to pray and fast concerning.
00:07:25 Because I said, "Lord, whatever the enemy has planned will not happen."
00:07:30 That day came.
00:07:32 My brother is in real estate. He flips properties.
00:07:35 He does many things with properties.
00:07:37 He was going over to one of his properties.
00:07:40 And all of a sudden he realizes that someone is following him.
00:07:45 He turns right, they turn right.
00:07:48 He turns left, they turn left.
00:07:50 He makes a U-turn, they make a U-turn.
00:07:53 Then he looks in the car.
00:07:54 When he looked in the car, it dawned on him,
00:07:57 "This is not good."
00:07:59 "Whatever these people want with me,
00:08:02 the only thing that made sense was to rob him."
00:08:07 And you don't know the state of mind they're in.
00:08:10 If it's just going to end in a robbery.
00:08:14 And then all of a sudden he gets a wisdom on how to drive and how to move.
00:08:19 And he loses them.
00:08:21 Then he called me.
00:08:24 And he's like, "Yo, the craziest thing just happened."
00:08:28 And I said to him, "Yo, what's today?"
00:08:31 It was that day.
00:08:34 There was a weapon already formed.
00:08:38 The Lord shows it in a dream.
00:08:40 He marks it in red.
00:08:41 He says, "This day, pray concerning your brother."
00:08:45 "Pray concerning your brother."
00:08:47 You have to have a posture of prayer.
00:08:54 No, no, no.
00:08:56 Right now be quiet.
00:08:58 Be quiet, be quiet, be quiet.
00:09:00 (Praying in Tongues)
00:09:04 Thank you, thank you.
00:09:06 Because I want you guys to catch this.
00:09:09 The reason I kept telling the band to wait,
00:09:13 because I don't know which individual particularly,
00:09:16 but the Lord showed me the band.
00:09:19 Now this band, they play all around the world for different people.
00:09:24 And I want us to also take a moment.
00:09:27 There is something that is formed in a venue,
00:09:31 but it will not prosper.
00:09:34 It will not prosper.
00:09:38 And so right now,
00:09:40 we're going to use them as a point of contact.
00:09:43 Not just for the places they play in,
00:09:46 but we're going to use them for a point of contact for this country.
00:09:52 We don't need another mass shooting.
00:09:58 And if there's a moment,
00:10:00 if the Lord is looking and saying,
00:10:02 "Who will stand in the gap?"
00:10:04 Let Him find us faithful.
00:10:08 And so right now, if everyone would close their eyes,
00:10:12 and just speak a prayer over this nation,
00:10:16 and come against every plan,
00:10:19 every gathering,
00:10:21 where people are coming together to plan and attack
00:10:25 against God's people,
00:10:29 against innocent lives.
00:10:33 And I want you to pray out loud.
00:10:36 Pray like you mean it.
00:10:38 Heavenly Father, we worship You.
00:10:41 Lord God, we stand as a corporate body,
00:10:46 and we come against every attack on this nation of mass shooting.
00:10:54 Wherever the venue may be, Lord God,
00:10:57 we use the band as a point of contact.
00:11:01 I use Justin as a point of contact.
00:11:04 Esther, Sam, Samuel, Timmy, Jermaine.
00:11:08 I use them as a point of contact, oh God.
00:11:11 That wherever they play, there is a covering.
00:11:15 That Lord, because their presence is there, Lord Jesus,
00:11:19 You would cause confusion to the enemy.
00:11:26 Heavenly Father, we commit these next 90 days, oh God,
00:11:30 that wherever the enemy has planned to bring an attack, Lord God,
00:11:35 confuse his ways,
00:11:37 that without any life being lost, they will be caught.
00:11:42 Lord God, we pray for those who are just coming out,
00:11:51 going to places to have a good time.
00:11:55 Have mercy on their lives.
00:11:58 Have mercy on their lives in the name of Jesus.
00:12:03 We thank You, oh Lord, that You would be a covering.
00:12:09 That You would be a hedge of protection in the name of Jesus.
00:12:14 We speak against premature death.
00:12:20 Lord God, as we are celebrating Mother's Day,
00:12:24 we speak against any mother having to bury her child.
00:12:30 And any child having to bury their mother prematurely.
00:12:37 Heavenly Father, have Your way.
00:12:41 In Jesus' mighty name.
00:12:45 Thank You, Lord.
00:12:48 Thank You, Lord.
00:13:00 Thank You, Lord.
00:13:07 The Lord wants to do something so different in this service.
00:13:11 Now earlier, a lady was praying in the spirit,
00:13:15 and I will give clarity to this.
00:13:17 In the house of God, there is order.
00:13:20 And in that moment, what the Lord needed you to hear
00:13:25 was the need for you to cultivate a prayer life.
00:13:29 But right now, if you pray in the spirit,
00:13:32 I want you to pray in the spirit.
00:13:39 Thank You, Jesus.
00:13:41 You don't realize that even as you're praying in the spirit,
00:13:44 someone else is going to get activated.
00:13:46 Someone else who has been believing God to speak in tongues
00:13:49 will begin to speak in tongues.
00:13:52 Someone else will start having interpretation for what you're saying.
00:13:57 Thank You, Jesus.
00:13:59 What you may not realize is that while you're praying in the spirit,
00:14:03 you're praying even for a loved one that you don't even know
00:14:05 what the weapon is formed against them.
00:14:08 I want you to be bold in this moment.
00:14:10 And if you don't pray in the spirit, just pray in your own language.
00:14:14 Pray in the language that you speak.
00:14:17 Right now.
00:14:19 Thank You, Jesus.
00:14:21 Thank You, Lord.
00:14:23 Thank You, Lord.
00:14:25 [Praying in Tongues]
00:14:29 [Praying in Tongues]
00:14:33 [Praying in Tongues]
00:14:36 [Praying in Tongues]
00:14:39 [Praying in Tongues]
00:14:42 [Praying in Tongues]
00:14:45 [Praying in Tongues]
00:14:48 [Praying in Tongues]
00:14:51 [Praying in Tongues]
00:14:54 [Praying in Tongues]
00:14:57 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:00 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:03 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:06 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:09 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:12 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:15 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:18 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:21 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:24 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:27 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:30 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:33 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:36 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:39 I see where the Lord is going to begin to empower you to know how to pray.
00:15:44 That in your secret place you will start praying.
00:15:47 That the Lord will make you a weapon.
00:15:50 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:53 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:56 [Praying in Tongues]
00:15:59 [Praying in Tongues]
00:16:02 [Praying in Tongues]
00:16:05 I see the angels of the Lord around this room.
00:16:08 And there is a fire in their hands.
00:16:11 [Praying in Tongues]
00:16:14 [Praying in Tongues]
00:16:17 [Praying in Tongues]
00:16:20 You have been wondering why God placed you in certain rooms.
00:16:24 Certain people. And he's putting you there almost undercover.
00:16:28 Because there is a grace that is going to come upon you.
00:16:31 That you're going to begin to pray in a way that you've never seen yourself pray before.
00:16:36 And the Lord is going to put you there.
00:16:39 [Praying in Tongues]
00:16:42 You're not going to be the one on top.
00:16:44 But your prayers will dictate what happens in the company.
00:16:48 You're not going to be the one who is in charge.
00:16:51 But your prayers will have a way to dictate what takes place around you.
00:16:56 Thank you Jesus.
00:16:59 Thank you Jesus.
00:17:01 Thank you Jesus.
00:17:03 I see the Lord turning things around.
00:17:06 I see the Lord turning things around.
00:17:09 I see the Lord turning things around.
00:17:12 [Praying in Tongues]
00:17:15 If you have a sickness in your body, the Lord wants you to pray for yourself.
00:17:20 Place your hands on your own body.
00:17:22 Thank you Jesus.
00:17:24 Thank you Jesus.
00:17:26 [Praying in Tongues]
00:17:48 May the Lord begin to open your spiritual eyes.
00:17:51 In the name of Jesus.
00:17:54 [Praying in Tongues]
00:18:00 I see three people.
00:18:02 One is going to feel like there is a fire that comes upon your body.
00:18:06 It's going to feel like it will start from your head.
00:18:09 But you will feel it penetrate through your body.
00:18:12 When this begins to happen to you, I want you to run to the front.
00:18:15 Because the Lord is going to open your spiritual eyes.
00:18:19 He's going to open your spiritual eyes.
00:18:22 Because you've been having a desire to see and to know.
00:18:26 And he's going to open.
00:18:27 And I see what the angel wants to do right now.
00:18:29 There are three people.
00:18:30 Thank you Jesus.
00:18:31 Thank you Jesus.
00:18:33 And hear me, hear me.
00:18:34 You're going to experience what I'm saying.
00:18:37 I don't want you to come out in faith.
00:18:39 You're going to feel what God is doing.
00:18:41 Because he's the one selecting you, not me.
00:18:44 Thank you Jesus.
00:18:46 Thank you Jesus.
00:18:48 Thank you Jesus.
00:18:49 Thank you Jesus.
00:18:53 There is somebody who is not out.
00:18:56 I want you to hear what I'm saying clearly.
00:18:59 I'm not asking you what you desire, what you wish for.
00:19:03 There is a fire that is going to come upon you now.
00:19:07 You're going to experience it.
00:19:09 You're going to experience it.
00:19:11 The Lord is going to begin to open your spiritual eyes.
00:19:15 Even now you're going to start seeing things.
00:19:19 Thank you Lord.
00:19:20 Because it is going to make you more accurate in prayer.
00:19:24 Thank you Jesus.
00:19:26 Holy Spirit, the person that you're talking about.
00:19:28 There is one more person that I've not seen.
00:19:32 Touch them right now.
00:19:34 Touch them right now.
00:19:36 Touch them right now.
00:19:38 Thank you Jesus.
00:19:40 Thank you Jesus.
00:19:42 Thank you Jesus.
00:19:44 Thank you Jesus.
00:19:46 Thank you Jesus.
00:19:50 You see, I have a whole message.
00:19:52 But the Lord has something else he wants to do.
00:19:55 Thank you Jesus.
00:19:57 Thank you Jesus.
00:19:59 And the Lord will confirm it.
00:20:02 Someone lift her up please.
00:20:04 Thank you Jesus.
00:20:06 Thank you Jesus.
00:20:08 Thank you, Jesus. Thank you,
00:20:16 Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus.
00:20:27 Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
00:20:37 Thank you, Lord. The Lord will begin to confirm those that he highlighted. Have your way,
00:20:44 God. Have your way, God. Have your way, God. Thank you, Lord. There are many things the
00:20:58 Lord wants to do in this moment. You see, the message that I have prepared, I'm going
00:21:05 to just share the key thing in a few minutes because it's all connected. There's a scripture
00:21:13 in John 330 and it says that he must increase and I must decrease. In order for God to have
00:21:26 the glory through your life, you must decrease. And what is that about? Is it about God asking
00:21:35 you to not enjoy your life or anything? No. The apostle Paul will say something like,
00:21:41 I die daily. And what he means is every day my flesh has to decrease before the Lord so
00:21:51 that he would have his way. This very moment is I must decrease that he must increase.
00:22:01 I had a message that I had planned for y'all, but when the Lord says, I want to do something
00:22:05 else, then I have to get out of my own way because at the end of the day, the assignment
00:22:13 is for the glory of God to manifest. And what the Lord needs you to know in this time, because
00:22:23 able to take on the discipline and the posture of prayer, you must decrease. We have all
00:22:32 these reasons many times why we say we don't pray. Even when you're busy, there is still
00:22:39 an hour you can give to the Lord at the very least. But if you are so full of yourself
00:22:47 and you just assume that life is all about what you see and what you can handle and what
00:22:53 you can control, then you don't see the value in one of the most valuable things available
00:22:59 to you. And then when things happen that you don't like, you say, God, where were you?
00:23:08 Where were you? There are things I'm telling you, the way God is interrupting this and
00:23:14 what he's showing me about this season that we're in, you must become a priest in your
00:23:20 home. The Bible says he has made us kings and priests. The problem is that we are so
00:23:28 after being kings. We are after positions, but we are not after the posture that maintains
00:23:36 that position. We are after the positions of influence. We're after the positions of
00:23:44 wealth and affluence. We're after being known, being liked. We're after being the head. We're
00:23:51 after getting the contract, getting the job, getting the raise. We're after all these things,
00:23:57 not realizing that everything is working towards something. And if you are not a priest representing
00:24:07 the kingdom of God, then you would be automatically a priest of a different kingdom. No position
00:24:17 in your life is just space. It's not just for you. When you start, when your life starts
00:24:27 causing a disruption in the world, do you think the enemy is just going to sit back
00:24:33 and smile? You see, one of the things about the last days that we're in, it says that
00:24:40 the word of God would reach the ends of the earth. How is that going to happen? Through
00:24:48 you. Through you. In the spaces you're in. In your workplace, in your industries. You
00:24:58 cannot be, this is not a season where you become a coward about your faith. Because
00:25:06 you have no clue that the reason God even positioned you there is because there are
00:25:12 people that you would be connected to that need to hear about Jesus. That you cannot
00:25:19 be more worried about losing the clients than sharing your faith. Because here is the thing,
00:25:26 here is something you must hold on to about the Lord. What comes from Him cannot be shaken.
00:25:34 What is built by Him cannot be shaken. What's built by you can be. And oftentimes, we are
00:25:41 afraid to be bold for Christ because we don't know if the thing we love more is what we
00:25:48 built. And so if it gets caught up, and that is now shaken, that me having integrity in
00:25:59 this moment could cost me the job, am I willing to let it go? I'll tell you this, years ago
00:26:07 there was this show I was working on. Many people don't even know this story. And there
00:26:14 was this exec, I was a kid, but I was driven. I always had a focus. There was this exec
00:26:22 I had met. And they were like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're going to set up the meeting, man,
00:26:27 come to Atlanta and we're going to get this show running." And I was like, "Okay, cool."
00:26:33 Then when I was in Atlanta, I hit them up. And I'm like, "Oh, I'm out here, can we, you
00:26:37 know, went through the whole conversation." They said, "Oh, wait, cool." They were like,
00:26:43 "Yeah, there is this strip club on Peachtree that we're all going to meet at." I said,
00:26:51 "What?" I didn't know Atlanta people just went to strip clubs just for lunch. Right?
00:26:59 So at first I thought I was being insulted, then I knew it was normal, but I still felt
00:27:03 insulted. I said, "I don't do strip clubs." They said, "Well, we are all here. That's
00:27:12 where we're heading." I said, "Well, then we have no need to meet. If you're not willing
00:27:20 to change..." Because for them, they thought they were doing me a favor. But at the end
00:27:24 of the day, when you know what you carry and who you are, you might have the position,
00:27:33 but I have his attention. I don't need you like that. And they thought I was stupid because
00:27:43 I was not willing to budge. And I will lie to you. A few days later, I was like, "God,
00:27:51 man, did I... Maybe there was a stripper who I should be bringing the word to." I'm not
00:27:59 going to lie to you and make it feel like it was all holy. I started questioning because
00:28:05 you see, sometimes the enemy wants to get in your ear. "Did you fumble that bag? You
00:28:11 dropped it, huh?" And then the enemy gets so creative. I said, "Why would I walk away
00:28:18 from the Lord's people?" Because I remember in college, one of my very close friends was
00:28:21 a stripper. Right? That was how she got through school. I said, "Look, I'm not going to judge
00:28:27 you. Whatever you're doing, hey, do you." But then the enemy starts using things that
00:28:32 connect and they're like, "You should have gone." No. Because in that moment, my integrity
00:28:42 and my morals and my principles in representing God meant more to me than bowing down. If
00:28:55 I started bowing down in that moment, there will be many more that would be required of
00:29:02 me to bow. Why am I sharing this with you? There are places that you need to know how
00:29:10 to stand your ground and say no. And even if it costs me the job, I still have His attention.
00:29:18 And He, what He could do with me, you could never match. You have to stand your ground.
00:29:30 You have to take a stand. In those moments, decrease so that He may increase. Don't make
00:29:41 it about your name. Don't make it about your dreams, your ambitions, your goals. No. What
00:29:48 is His will? What is His goal for this moment? What is His vision for this moment? And then
00:29:59 a few years later, that whole network fell apart. So if I bowed because I was so full
00:30:09 of me, lost His attention, what do I have left? Crumbs. Now I'm running back to God,
00:30:18 "God, you can use me." No, it's not even pure. Your walk with God will be tested when there's
00:30:30 something in front of you that you desire and the Holy Spirit says, "No." And you can
00:30:39 decrease in that moment. And it's not a bad thing. Look, there are many ways that I could
00:30:44 have made going to the strip club a good thing. I could, you know that, that's why you have
00:30:50 to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. What is the Holy, in that moment I knew so loudly
00:30:56 the Lord said, "Do not go." But then we can twist things and lie to ourselves. I could
00:31:02 open the scripture and say, "Look, Jesus went to the house of sinners. He calls us a light.
00:31:10 Where should we light up? Not the light." You could make things up and, but what did
00:31:15 God say? There are places, it could even be good things that the Lord would say, "I don't
00:31:22 want you to be a part of this. I want you to stand your ground. I want you to let it
00:31:28 be known why you will not be a part of this. Be bold." You see, it's interesting that oftentimes
00:31:40 Christians are the last people to recognize spiritual warfare. While Satanists are loud
00:31:49 and proud. They're having rituals in front of you. They're putting it in films. They're
00:31:57 putting it in shows. They're having a ball in front of you. But then we're the ones that
00:32:02 want to hide and just be under the table. This is when you get bold for the kingdom.
00:32:14 But this must be backed up. Live a prayerful life. You don't have to be a pastor, a prophet
00:32:23 to know how to pray. No. However you pray, God desires that. God desires counsel, a meeting
00:32:31 with you. There are things he wants to show you. Not just about your life, your family,
00:32:38 the people connected to you, your society, your community. Every individual has a sphere
00:32:45 of influence attached to them. And when you're faithful with what is currently attached to
00:32:50 you, it grows. It grows. There are things that God wants to show you about America,
00:32:58 but he wants to start first with your home. Be faithful there. When you can be faithful
00:33:05 there, then he begins to show you things about other countries. He begins to show you things
00:33:10 about the industries you're involved in. He begins to reveal mysteries connected to them.
00:33:18 Let me tell you something. Encounters with God, when you hear some wild stories people
00:33:23 have about Jesus, it's not because anybody is special. They just create a time. That's
00:33:33 it. They're patient and they know they can wait. And they're willing, they recognize
00:33:43 the value in creating a space for the presence of God. That's it. There's no shortcuts. God
00:33:55 wants that with you. God wants to reveal to you. The Bible says, "Call to me." Literally,
00:34:04 God is like, "Hey, hey, pick me, dodgeball." He's like, "Call to me and I will show you
00:34:12 great and mighty things that you do not know." There are things, you see, one of the things
00:34:21 that I had to learn about the Lord is that I will not only be accountable for what I
00:34:28 know, I will also be held accountable for what I did not know. Why? Because I had access
00:34:38 to know it. Your ignorance is not bliss. You will be held accountable for the things you
00:34:51 don't know because you have the access to know it like the next person. That access
00:34:58 is called the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not in you just to call you a Christian.
00:35:08 You have to understand that you're talking about God in you. God in you. It's not just
00:35:17 so that you can say you're a Christian. It's not just so that when you walk in a place
00:35:23 you either have peace or you don't have peace. God in you. There's no limits to him. There's
00:35:32 no limits to how he wants to walk with you. But will you make the time? Jesus said, "Could
00:35:41 you not at least wait with me an hour?" When he said that, he was not just speaking to
00:35:50 the three disciples. He was speaking to each and every one of us. That when we are falling
00:35:58 asleep, "Hey, could you not wait with me an hour? At least an hour." Do you know that
00:36:11 there is a time, there are things that I wish I could really unpack, but there are things
00:36:16 that God will not give me full permission to do. But do you know that even in God, there
00:36:22 are certain encounters that you can only have with God depending on a specific amount of
00:36:27 time you spend in his presence daily. Priorities. Sacrifice. The language of the spiritual realm
00:36:43 is a language of sacrifice. David will say, "Can I give to the Lord what cost me nothing?"
00:36:53 He understood something about God. He says, "Can I give to God what cost me nothing?"
00:37:03 And we get comfortable with just giving five minutes here, ten minutes here. Some of you
00:37:10 don't even use that amount of time to brush your teeth, which is a good thing. What you
00:37:19 spend time with God on, you would give God five minutes but have an hour taking a steam
00:37:25 shower. You would take your time in the gym, go swimming, do your thing. I mean, for the
00:37:36 women, listen, this hair alone, it's embarrassing to tell you how long it took. But then the
00:37:43 Lord says, "Can you not give me at least an hour?" I want to challenge each and every
00:37:50 one here. You have kids, bring them into your secret place. Don't let your kids be the excuse.
00:38:00 Bring them in. Carry them while you pray. They're going to learn. Have them around you.
00:38:11 Let them understand this is just as important as whatever else they want to do. You're cooking?
00:38:19 Pray. Just take, use, cultivate time. Let it have weight in your life. If you are disciplined
00:38:29 in this area, if you are consistent in this area, the Lord will begin to open your eyes.
00:38:37 There are things you will start seeing. There are things you will start knowing. There are
00:38:42 things that He will prepare you in before you even step into it. Your life is not random.
00:38:50 You're not called just to wake up, live, go shopping. Book a great brunch spot. Book it
00:38:58 ahead of time. Get that one person that, I don't know, whatever we make a big deal about.
00:39:06 Get some followers numbers on Instagram. Celebrate. Oh my gosh. No, this is not your life. Don't
00:39:15 reduce the quality of a life Jesus died for, for things that are so mediocre. Do you think
00:39:26 Jesus died for that? He died to give you life and life more abundantly. That abundance of
00:39:40 life. The Bible talks about the God kind of life, the Zoey life. God wants you to flow
00:39:51 like Him. He wants you to think like Him. He wants you to see like Him. He wants you
00:39:56 to know like Him. There are things that should not be happening in your family. There are
00:40:03 patterns that should not continue in your family. There are things you've been experiencing
00:40:10 back to back to back, but you know the only reason that's still going on? And you're wondering,
00:40:17 "God, I've been praying, I've been praying, I've been praying." Nothing is changing because
00:40:20 you're not even, it's how you're praying. Two minutes, God, please break it. Amen. The
00:40:29 next day, three minutes, "Lord, I just need a breakthrough in this area. I'm praying for
00:40:34 a breakthrough." Amen. There is no space. Do you know that there is a revelation that
00:40:41 God would give you about a thing and it is the revelation that brings the breakthrough.
00:40:47 But what space have you created to hear from Him? You just have your formula. If it was
00:40:55 just about, "God, please give me the breakthrough." Amen. That was it. He didn't really need you
00:41:00 to say it. There is a partnership. There are times that God wants to show you where it
00:41:07 started from. He wants to give you a vision that this goes all the way back to your great
00:41:18 grandfather. This is what your great grandfather did and this is what you must do. This is
00:41:26 what he did in darkness, now this is what you must do. There's a way. Let me share this
00:41:36 with you. We're going to pray. There are certain strongholds in your life. What is a stronghold?
00:41:44 When there has been a pattern in your family. Maybe in your family you've noticed how men
00:41:50 and women are not getting married. They're not getting married. For the men, there's
00:41:56 something going on in your family. There's an issue. Every time the moment a man turns
00:42:01 40, he has diabetes. There's something going on. You've been praying, praying, praying
00:42:08 and it doesn't seem like nothing is breaking. Maybe you need to change your strategy. Not
00:42:14 just saying, "God, break it, break it, break it." "Lord, reveal to me how to break this."
00:42:25 Because you don't know what was behind how it started. I tell you this, whenever you
00:42:31 notice a pattern in the family, it is spiritual. There is a spirit engineer in it. And you
00:42:39 need to ask the Lord, not just break it, break it, break it, because there is partnership
00:42:44 required. God, how? When the Lord was talking to the Israelites about Jericho, he didn't
00:42:56 just say, "Hey, just go." He gave them a strategy. He says, "Now, this is more than meets the
00:43:05 eye. And here is the strategy. Walk around it and be quiet." He says, "Walk around it
00:43:16 day one and be quiet." But you know what we want to do? "Lord, open the doors day one.
00:43:26 Lord, we are here. You have sent us to conquer all. Open the doors." And the angels are like,
00:43:33 "I don't recognize what these people are doing." And then on day seven, you say, "Lord, we're
00:43:40 going in." And then they kill the people. And then when they die and they show up in
00:43:46 heaven, they say, "Lord, what happened? You sent us." And he says, "But that's not how."
00:43:54 Do you realize that God is the one who told them to go and conquer? But the instruction
00:44:04 doesn't stop there. Because there are some lands you could just go and conquer with your
00:44:08 swords. But some lands, what fortifies it is more spiritual than natural. And if the
00:44:16 Lord doesn't give you an instruction, even though he said go, it will not work the way
00:44:22 you think. So before you reach a Jericho, you got to look at it. Okay, wait. This is
00:44:34 a place that nobody has conquered. It's not just because they're strong. Nobody? God,
00:44:42 how? God, God, how? When you look in your family, you stare at your family. The women
00:44:51 don't get married. I mean, they're beautiful. It's not just, God, how? How do we break this?
00:45:03 You stare at your family, you look at the men. After 50, that's the height of how old
00:45:09 people live? No one lives past 50? From generation to generation? God, how? There is something
00:45:22 I don't see beyond what I know. Make room for God. You see, sometimes your wisdom has
00:45:32 to decrease so that his wisdom would increase in your life. The problem is that you're relying
00:45:40 on your intelligence for things that have spiritual intelligence. Your wisdom needs
00:45:48 to take a back seat. And you say, God, how do we do this? It was their obedience to the
00:46:02 walls of Jericho. And in their obedience, when the Lord now tells them to shout, the
00:46:10 angels could recognize this instruction. So the shout was a signal for the angels to break
00:46:16 the walls. The problem is that you don't know your signal. You don't know the instruction
00:46:25 that would give them the signal. So you're making noise and you're worrying, you're fighting
00:46:35 yourself and you feel like God has forsaken you. I'm here to tell you, God did not forsake
00:46:40 you. But he's waiting. Take a seat so I can tell you. There are many in this room and
00:46:51 listening and you are disappointed with God. Because you're like, God, time is running
00:46:57 out. And I will be honest with you, sometimes it's not because there is some grand thing
00:47:03 that God is trying to do. I'll be real with you. There are times that that's the case.
00:47:10 But sometimes time is literally running out. And then and all you feel is anger because
00:47:20 you're like, God, what do I do? You're not even saying, what do I do? You're just like,
00:47:24 God, give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me. Break it. Break it. Break it. I want
00:47:30 to encourage you for at least and the reason I'm saying at least because if you do this
00:47:36 for 30 days, you will continue it on your own desire. If for the next 30 days, you can
00:47:45 spend at least an hour in prayer, watch what will happen to your life. At least just just
00:47:55 an hour. And even before you start, I will tell you this set a time. Give the Lord a
00:48:01 time that you're like, God, I'm going to give you this time. Help me. And I'm telling you,
00:48:07 the Lord will help you. Your job is to partner with his help. I had a family member, we just
00:48:14 talked about this. And she was like, okay, you know what? 6am God help me. 555 she woke
00:48:24 up on her own. I've had moments where the Lord would give me a random time. Let's just
00:48:31 call it four in the morning. And I'm like, God, who you got to help me. And I'm not even
00:48:37 lying to you about this. 345 somebody would be hitting my leg. And it was not my husband.
00:48:45 Like boom, boom, boom. I'll be like, Oh my gosh. And I'll look around. I said, Okay,
00:48:50 Lord, I'm up. If you truly say yes in your heart, God will help you. Because you would
00:49:00 see that he wants to spend as much time with you as you are trying to spend with him. He
00:49:05 wants to spend more time with you than you want to spend with him. And here is another
00:49:08 reason why. Because there are things that God only releases according to the questions
00:49:14 you ask him. God is to you're talking about God is infinite. There is you he doesn't have
00:49:23 a beginning, he doesn't have an end. If where would he start? Just to start telling you
00:49:32 about your life? Where will he start? That's why he says, call on me. Ask me. Because the
00:49:42 Lord reveals according to what you ask. So many things that we you do, we don't know
00:49:53 is because we're not asking right. Because where would he start if he was to initiate
00:49:58 everything? Where would he start with you? Is he going to start in your life, or your
00:50:04 family's life, or your children's life, or your grandchildren, or your great grandchildren,
00:50:09 or what he wants to do in the States, or where he wants to take things? What's the next war?
00:50:14 Where would he start? But if you start asking him the right questions, if you partner with
00:50:22 the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will start to prompt on your heart about what to ask
00:50:26 God in the season of your life. Because if the Lord just started unloading things, you
00:50:32 may not know what to do with it. And the word of God says he will not give, he will not
00:50:38 cast pearls before swine. So he will not give you something valuable and you drop it to
00:50:44 the ground. That's why it requires partnership. You need to engage him. You need to desire
00:50:53 to understand some things about your life and in that process he begins to reveal it.
00:50:59 And you know why? Because when he drops it to you, you will pick it up. You will do something
00:51:05 with it. You will respect the weight of his revelation. At least 30 days family, spend
00:51:15 time in prayer for at least an hour. At least. In that hour, worship, whatever. At least,
00:51:26 and also in that hour, wait on the Lord. Have a journal. Let that be as important to you
00:51:34 as bathing. And I believe everybody believes bathing is important. Right? Let that mean
00:51:46 something to you. It will change your life. There are people that did not need to die
00:51:53 if we had that posture. Because the Lord would have shown you before time and say, "Watch."
00:52:01 I remember before my grandma died, we're going to pray. She came to me. She said she has
00:52:14 to go in a dream. She's like, "I got to go." I said, "No, no, no, no, no." And she was,
00:52:23 she's like, "No, you have to let me go." I didn't understand why she's telling me you
00:52:28 have to let me go. Because there is always going to be at least one watchman in the family.
00:52:38 There's always someone who has the power to shift things with prayer. So she says, "You
00:52:47 have to let me go." I'm like, "Grandma, no. Mom is going to lose it." And then she tells
00:52:56 me this mystery. I never understood it. And she says, "Life is coming, must come after
00:53:03 death." And I didn't understand what she meant. And then I knew I had to let her go. And so
00:53:16 after that, I told one person, I said, "Man, grandma has to go." And everything else, she
00:53:24 was going to be fine. They had one surgery they needed to do. And after that, but her
00:53:30 body was rejecting the surgery. And I knew, man, it's time. And it was the next day or
00:53:39 either the day after or two days after, she was gone. And not long after that, somebody
00:53:46 got pregnant in the family. And then I heard her voice, "Life must come after death." And
00:53:54 that was someone who had been waiting to get pregnant. Why am I sharing this? You don't
00:54:02 realize the power you have in prayer. That is why the enemy keeps trying to distract
00:54:11 you from it, wants to downplay it, wants to make prayer something that you just do to
00:54:17 fulfill your religious checklist. It is more powerful than that. It is a place. When you
00:54:26 begin to understand how legal the spiritual realm is, you will understand how powerful
00:54:33 prayer is. The spiritual realm works like a courthouse. It's very legalistic. There
00:54:44 are things that God would desire to do that His hands are literally tied because of something
00:54:50 that already happened in the family. And that's why He has to reveal to you a mystery and
00:54:56 tell you how to get it done so He can partner with you and break it. It's a very legal realm.
00:55:05 If it wasn't legal, then it would just be about God, whatever you decide to do, do.
00:55:09 Why would Jesus even have to pray? Jesus would just be walking about and things would just
00:55:17 be happening. My desire for you more than anything else is that you desire God more
00:55:32 than anything else. You desire a relationship, a true intimacy with Jesus more than anything
00:55:40 else. That you would desire to know Him more than anything else. More than you know your
00:55:47 industry, more than you know your spouse, more than the desire that you have for whatever
00:55:54 it is. That you would have a desire for Jesus more than that. And it would radically change
00:56:00 your life. Let's pray. If you're saying yes to this, that you're going to take the next
00:56:13 30 days, at least an hour each day, just lift up your hands with me. And I want to encourage
00:56:20 you, even if there's a day that goes by that maybe you missed it for whatever reason, don't
00:56:26 let shame and guilt trip you up. Pick it right up. Pick it right up. Don't let the pattern
00:56:35 become the shame. "Oh, I messed up." Let me tell you, this thing I'm telling you to do
00:56:43 right here, expect warfare. Expect the enemy to throw at you all manners of things. Expect
00:56:53 that toxic relationship that you walked away from to text you, "Hey, you up." You know
00:57:02 why? Distraction. Expect the people that you have not heard from in child years to say,
00:57:11 "Yo, you want to go out to this thing?" You know why? Distraction. I'm telling you, expect
00:57:18 it. Expect it. Expect that person that you were just crushing over heavy. Didn't give
00:57:26 you the time of day. All of a sudden, be like, "Oh, hey you." No, no. Say no to hell. Say
00:57:40 hell. Hell is a location. No. Hell, no. Okay, no to hell. All right? No. Because you become
00:57:56 dangerous by what you know. It's what you know that makes you a weapon. Do you know
00:58:06 why the apostle Paul, a snake bit him and he just shook it off and the fire kept going?
00:58:14 A poisonous snake. It was what he knew. You see, the power of a believer is not just in
00:58:21 saying that I'm a Christian. It's in what you know because life happens to everybody
00:58:27 including Christians. But what you know sets you apart. It was something the apostle Paul
00:58:37 knew. He said, "What is this snake? I got things to do." What he knew. Another believer
00:58:43 that would have killed them because they had not known the revelation that the blood of
00:58:49 Jesus in me nullifies this poison. The enemy is not afraid of you when you said yes to
00:58:58 Jesus. He's afraid of you when you posture yourself to know what Jesus knows. That's
00:59:06 why last thing we're going to pray. That's why when Jesus was with Martha and Mary and
00:59:14 Martha was all about serving the food and people and Mary is like, "Look, I'm going
00:59:19 to sit at his feet." And Martha is like, she's complaining about her sister. Study this when
00:59:25 you get the chance if you haven't. She goes to Jesus. She's like, "Look, she should be
00:59:29 helping to serve." Jesus is like, "You don't understand. Mary has chosen the better because
00:59:36 right now I could care less about you serving me or any of these people. You need to be
00:59:43 empowered with what I know. Sit at my feet and listen because what you know will make
00:59:50 you a weapon. What you know. When you spend time to pray, don't just spend time to talk.
01:00:00 Spend time to listen. Spend time to read the word. Open the word of God and say, "Holy
01:00:08 Father, speak to me. Let me not just read this as a story but reveal Jesus through these
01:00:15 pages to me. What you know makes the difference in this kingdom. What you know. Let us pray.
01:00:24 Lift up your hands. Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord because you are in this place. It
01:00:32 is so evident that you just wanted to do something different. I pray that for each and every
01:00:39 person in this room and listening that you would make them a weapon Lord God. In the
01:00:46 places you've called them to, you will make them a weapon. That Lord, let them hunger
01:00:52 and thirst after you in a fresh way. Let the desire of their soul be to know you because
01:01:01 in the place of intimacy, we start to know like you know. And let that bring change and
01:01:07 transformation in their lives and in their homes. Let that be the open door to doors
01:01:13 that have been shut for years and generations that they cannot figure out how to get this
01:01:18 open. But Lord, may they change their posture. May they value time with you. May they desire
01:01:27 to sit before your presence. May they desire to be people of intimacy and not performance.
01:01:34 Have your way oh God in each and everything that they do. In Jesus mighty name. Amen.
01:01:41 Amen.