Scripture Reference: 1 Thessalonians 2:13 (AMPC); John 1:14 (AMPC); Ephesians 1:17-22 (AMPC); Ephesians 2:6; Isaiah 60:1-2 (AMPC)
Praise to Jesus. Praise the Lord God Almighty, Hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, praise the Lord God Almighty, praise the Lord God Almighty. Glory, glory, glory to Jesus.
Let me tell you church what the Lord is doing here with us, is truly magnificent. It is a marvel, it is a sign, it is a wonder, hallelujah, hallelujah.
So, my dad’s not here today, but I will thank my mom, Pastor Sharon and Pastor John, for giving me this opportunity to minister to the people that the Lord has placed into your hands. So, it’s an honour and a privilege for me to minister to the people. So, the title of my message this morning is: “Who we are: A House of Prayer, a House of Faith, and a House of Praise. Hallelujah.
So, I wanted to briefly just talk to you about who I am, but before we do that, I’m going to pray. If you can just agree with me. Father, thank You for this opportunity. Holy Spirit, I rely on You this morning to speak through me to Your people. Thank You, for helping me to prepare. You know Heavenly Father, I have given You everything that I can in the natural, and this morning You put Your Super, Your anointing on my natural preparation. I ask You this morning to help the people that are here in attendance to hear the way that You want them to hear, to see the way that You want them to see, to receive and to believe the way that You have created them to receive and to believe. In the Name of Jesus, AMEN!
So, who I am. Some of you already know a little bit of my history in terms of ending up in a drug rehabilitation, but the Lord would have me share this morning, part of what I was exposed to growing up, spiritually speaking. I grew up listening to Kenneth Hagin, who is our spiritual father, who has gone home to be with the Lord, but he is our spiritual father, our papa Hagin. Listening to messages like Mountain Moving Faith, Plans, Purposes and Pursuits, How to Develop Spiritually, How to Talk to the Father. That’s what I grew up listening to, watching Kenneth Hagin’s camp meetings, and I am not sure how many of you have seen it, but it’s where people go wild. Where the anointing of God comes on people and people go wild. I grew up watching that, listening to that, I grew up listening to Brother Copeland talking about how to be debt free, how to live in financial freedom.
You know, I had a good chuckle when Pastor Justin was here, and he was talking to us about how he would smoke a joint, or a blunt actually he said, because a blunt is bigger than a joint. So, for those of you who don’t know, that’s marijuana, he was smoking marijuana, and he would, you know, take a hit of the blunt, and pass it on to the next person and say in a hoarse voice: “I am going to be a preacher”. Because you know, I had many of the same experiences. I, as a teenager, I would smoke a joint and then go and listen to ministry. One of the messages that had, I can remember the day as clear as if it was yesterday, I was smoking a joint and going to listen to Brother Copeland on “How to receive revelation knowledge” [laughs].
I grew up listening to Brother Jerry Savelle on “If Satan can’t steal you joy, he can’t keep your goods”, and “how to live in the favour of God”, and then of course for the last twenty years, that Pastor John and Sharon had been in the ministry, I have lived in their message, and their message to the church has been one of order, of church governance, of who you and I are created to be. So, when it comes to the seed that is in me for you, you can trust that God has your very best, coming out of me, praise the Lord.
The two questions Pastor John has been asking over the years, and Pastor Sharon just recently went over it. The first one is: “What is the point, what is the purpose of being a Christian?” You all can answer me – to be spiritual. So, what is the purpose of being spiritual? Okay, except for Pastor Sharon, that answer. Okay, so the answer is; the purpose of being a Christian, is to be spiritual. The purpose of being spiritual, is to bring heaven to earth.
So, I am going to add to that this morning – the purpose of being spiritual, is so that God can clothe us in His glory. The way that He clothes us in His glory: From the inside out, hallelujah. So, the purpose of being spiritual, is so that God can once again, clothe us in His glory. Are you all with me? So, if you remember the last time I spoke to you, I spoke to you about how Adam and Eve were clothed with God’s glory. They had no self-awareness, no self-consciousness.
When they looked at themselves, they saw the Glory of God. When Adam looked at Eve, he saw the Glory of God, when Eve looked at Adam, she saw the Glory of God. Right? There wasn’t one moment in that garden before they sinned, before they were disobedient, where they withdrew from God. So, God wants us to be clothed and filled with His Glory.
So, just a quick recap. When Adam and Eve sinned, what happened? Their eyes were opened, and that wasn’t their spiritual eyes, the spirit of Glory left them and they saw themselves, they saw themselves, they saw self. So, now they looked at each other, and themselves and they got a bit of a “skrik”, and they also saw God differently.
So, for the first time self-consciousness came into the makeup of man, and we were never created to be self-conscious. So, what happened when they became self-conscious? For the first time, they now had the desire to provide for themselves. Is this all ringing a bell? Some of you are looking at me, just blinking like this, you hearing this the first time?
Okay, [laughter]. So, they had the desire to provide for themselves, so they used fig leaves and they sewed together, garments for themselves to cover their nakedness. So, the other thing that I said is, we were never designed to be conscious of need. We were never created to be conscious of need. The only thing we ever need is the Glory of God. To be clothed with the Glory of God. The Glory of God that was on us originally was designed to create everything that we ever needed.
So, then came shame, they hid themselves, they withdrew from God. Fear came into man. They were afraid of God. Insecurity came into man, and if you remember the interaction between God and Adam; I hid myself because I was afraid.
So, if you have heard Pastor Sharon’s message on the “Hard-working Farmer”, that’s how I know it. Our language changed forever. Adam and Eve had never considered fear, they had never spoken about fear, so their mind had become corrupted. For the first time, they withdrew from God. Is everyone with me? So, even now, there is a sense of distance from God. Everyone with me? Okay. So, throughout history, God has been reassuring man of His presence being with them, and restoring the blessing or the glory to man.
So, just a quick timeline. From Noah to Abraham, the blessing that He pronounced on Abraham and every time He spoke to somebody, He said, “I will be with you, I am with you. I am with you, I will be with you. I am with you, I bless you. I will be with you, I am with you.” Is this ringing a bell?
Isaac, Jacob, the tribes of Israel, Moses, the children of Israel in their Exodus, Joshua. “I am with you Joshua, be strong, be very courageous.” You know, when I was thinking about this, one of the main themes that you hear in Christian songs today, is You are with me. I, thank You that You are with me.
However, its expressed, that’s one of the main themes in Christian music today. God is with me, God is with me, You are with me. You are faithful, You are always being with me. You know, and when I was thinking about it, the Lord was saying, “I really desire for My people to actually believe Me now, that I am with you, that I am actually with you, and you don’t have to keep reminding yourself, you can keep reminding yourself, but He is with us. Praise the Lord! Glory to Jesus.
Then, all throughout the Old Testament, right into the New Testament, until God sends His Son, Jesus, to die so we could be reunited with God and have that intimacy, that fellowship, that closeness with God that we had originally, in the Garden.
So, here we find ourselves with Pastor John and Pastor Sharon. An Apostle and a Prophet, laying the foundations of the church. Building the most powerful and most attractive force in the universe. So, the church is meant to display the closeness and the unity that Adam and Eve had with God. The union, the fellowship, the no sense of distance, no withdrawal from God, but coming to Him, running to Him, being in closeness and in union with God.
So, I asked you this question today, church? What is Pastor John and Sharon all about? You know, when I was preparing, the Lord said to me today and I am going to say this to you, because I’m encouraging you with this; that the Lord was going to use me this morning to advocate on behalf of Pastor John and Sharon, which is to lay the case before you, so that you can decide and you can choose, and you can believe that what is happening in this church is real and it is authentic. Praise the Lord.
So, what are they all about? God’s order. So, why are they all about God’s order? So, that you can have Him and then we can have Him together. So we can experience God together. So, who is He to us? How are we going to experience God in His fullness? How are we going to experience God, together? I don’t know what that looks like yet, but I can tell you this; it is going to be awesome, it is going to be full of glory, it is going to be with the fear of God, it is going to be full of splendour, it is going to be filled with His goodness.
You know Psalm 16, the Lord reminded me of this, when I was reading over my notes, that in His presence there is fullness of joy. So, when He comes church, there will be fullness of joy. Fullness of joy, fullness of joy. Not just a he, he here and a he, he there. I’m talking about fullness of joy, fullness of joy. Hallelujah. I could say that 20 more times and it would be powerful every time. Fullness of joy. Are you ready church?
So, here we find ourselves with Pastor John and Pastor Sharon. Here “we” find ourselves with Pastor John and Pastor Sharon. If you remember the last time I ministered and I shared with you about how Pastor John; I had that experience in prayer, where I saw Pastor John walking on the water holding hands with Jesus and he was calling for people to come out of the boat. I said, quite literally, I’m in the same boat as all of you. Pastor John is walking on the water with Jesus, calling all of us, including me, to come out of the boat to walk on water, to come be with him as he holds hands with Jesus. See the intimacy, the closeness there? Hallelujah.
So, we want Him. That is why you and I are here today because we want Him, right? Hallelujah. That is why we are here, we keep saying it and you keep coming, so that must be why you are here. It’s because you want Him. Hallelujah. Well, that is why I am here because I want Him. You know, I went through many years in church, where the church didn’t want Him. I don’t want to be part of a church like that. That kind of a church put me off God. I am here because I want Him. Hallelujah and you’re here, so you’re saying to us, you want Him. Glory to Jesus.
So, through Pastor John and Sharon, the Lord is showing us how we can have Him. That is what His message, their messages are created to do; to show us how we can have Him, and because I can tell you now church, He is ecstatic about the fact that we want Him. Yes, When He comes He brings all of Who He is and He will touch bodies and will heal bodies and He will come with joy and He will bring financial freedom and all of that, but besides from that, He is most magnificent, and He is good, and He is faithful, and He is wonderful, and He is awesome. Praise His Holy Name forever.
So, He is showing us together, how to create an environment that He can come to, and Pastor John and Sharon are His messengers. If you remember the message Pastor Sharon ministered a couple of weeks ago; “We want, we prepare, He comes”. We want, we prepare, He comes. Let me say it one more time; we want, we prepare, He comes. Hallelujah.
He is coming, He is coming, that is inevitable, He is coming. You know, when I was thinking about this, the Lord wanted me to keep saying this, that He is coming, He is coming, He is coming, so that it can register with all of you that He is coming. Because when He comes, it brings all of Who He is. You know, the children of Israel, when they heard the voice of God coming from the mountain, they said, “Ah, ah, ah, we don’t want Him. We don’t want Him.” Because He is also awful, in terms of being full of awe. When He comes, He comes with the fear and you better believe when He comes there will be a fear of God. I believe it will be on us already, I believe it is coming on us already. Hallelujah.
If you will remember what Pastor Sharon said: Pastor John and Sharon’s mandate is to make ready, for the Lord, a people. So, by default, myself, Pastor Christi, Pastor Melusi, walk in that same mandate, to prepare for God, a people. Hallelujah. You can turn with me please to 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 13. I am not hearing any paper, so, I am assuming you are all on your phones or iPads. [Laughter].
Okay, 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 13. 13 …And we also saw, in we, I am going to include Pastor Christi, Pastor Melusi, myself, Pastor Sharon and Pastor John. So, 13… we also thank God continually for this, that when you received the message of God [which you heard] from us, you welcomed it not as the word of [mere] men, but as it truly is, the Word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe [exercising its superhuman power in those, so this is the believing part, those who adhere to and trust in and rely on it]. 1 Thessalonians 2:13 (AMPC). Hallelujah.
We were all created and designed to receive the Word. So, even as I am speaking, the Word is going into your heart, because your heart is the soil. The Word is going into your heart and you are all receiving it, with a certain measure of gladness, I hope, and that is the case when Pastor Sharon, Pastor Christi, Pastor John, anyone of us preaches, you receive it with gladness. Amen.
You better say, Amen. Okay.
So, then what is the issue? The issue is the believing. All of us receive, it goes into our hearts. The issue is believing. So, part of what the Lord is busy doing with us church, through the messages is, making us more like children. He wants us all to be more like children.
When Pastor John says, “Praise the Lord.” You know, can you imagine a child praising the Lord, with all of that exuberance and expression and no self-consciousness? He wants us all to be more like children, receiving, believing. Immediately believing, you know.
When I, if I say to Keira-Leigh and Daina-Mae, we are going to get them something that’s… you know, they don’t say, I don’t believe you, Dad. I don’t believe you. I will believe you when I see it. Never. If they ask me for something or I tell them I am going to get something, they take it to the bank. In fact, they start asking me what colour I am going to get it for them in, or how big it is going to be, or you know, when is it coming Dad? It is not, there is no doubt. If Dad said it, it is coming. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Glory. Glory to Jesus. So then, their response to me is, if I say yes, thank you Dad. Thank You. You are wonderful. You are amazing. Tehillah. Praise the Lord.
So, what happens, when you believe? It changes you. It begins to fill your heart with God’s glory. It draws you closer to Jesus and to the Father. It changes our image. We begin to look more and more like Jesus. Hallelujah.
You know, I spend time with some of you and you are looking more and more like Jesus, every time, I spend time with some of you. Your conversation is changing, your expressions are changing, your confidence in God is changing, your desire to activate spiritual conversation is changing. You don’t want to just talk about anything that is superficial or foolish, but you want to activate spiritual conversation, all the time. That is God changing us, making us more like Jesus. Hallelujah.
So, who is Jesus? You can turn with me please, to John 1 verse 14. So, if you remember the whole scripture of John 1 is, from the beginning, the Word was with God and the Word was God. Is everybody kind of remember, because I am going to just read John 1 verse 14. 14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and then this is what I want you to see, and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth. (John 1:14 AMPC). Is everybody reading this with me?
So, Christ, Jesus Christ is, the Word. Okay, so who is Jesus? The Word. So, can we say that if we, if you go back to first Thessalonians quickly. 13We thank God continuously that when you received the Message of God, the Message of God is the Word, which is Christ, okay.
So I want to just reread first Thessalonians for you quickly with that in mind. 13And we also [especially] thank God continually for this, that when you received Christ from us, you welcomed it, Him, not as the word of [mere] men, but as it truly is, Christ. So who is effectually at work within you? Christ. Which is effectually at work in you who believe (2 Thessalonians 2:13 AMPC). Amen
So, I want to reread John 1 verse 14, as well. So just to quickly talk about John 1, when we believe the message, the same process happens to us, that was Jesus. The Word in us becomes flesh, and tabernacles in us. It makes its home, it makes its abode in us. Okay, and then, we actually see His glory. Okay.
So I’m going to reread the Scripture now in the Garth Classic Edition [Laughter]. Can you see there? Garth classic edition. Okay, and the message, Christ becomes flesh, I have also put it in the present tense, because this is what’s happening to us, and the message Christ, so the message that comes from Pastor John, Pastor Sharon, myself, Pastor Christi, Pastor Melusi, becomes flesh and tabernacles, fixes his tent of flesh, lives a while in us, and we actually see His glory. His honour, His majesty, such glory as only beloved sons and daughters received from their Father, full of grace, loving-kindness and truth.
So, the Word of God in our hearts, reveals His glory. So, a while ago, and I’ve been on this journey with Pastor John and Sharon, the Lord said to me, “I’m not withholding My glory from you, you know, you keep asking Me to show, to show you My glory, right.” Show me Your glory Lord, show me Your glory, show me Your glory, show me Your glory, show me Your glory. We asked it again this morning, show us Your glory in this Nation, show us Your glory, show us Your glory and so the Lord has been saying to me, “I’m not withholding My glory from you, I want to flood the earth with My glory, I want to flood your world with My glory.”
So, the issue is how we see. Are we looking through these natural eyes at everything going on in our lives? So, He is changing how we see. Through which eyes we see through? Amen, He’s changing the way that we see. I’m telling you, He is changing the way that we see. He’s changing the way that you see, Pastor John Pastor Sharon, He’s changing the way you see yourself, He’s changing the way you see your marriage partner, He’s changing the way you see your children, He’s changing the way you see business, He’s changing the way you see this Nation, He’s changing the way you see the Church, He’s changing the way we see everything. Amen. So He’s doing it through the Message, which is Christ. Amen, all glory to Jesus.
So, we only see His glory through the eyes of glory. So, we only have two sets of eyes. We’ve got these natural eyes and then we have the eyes of our heart which are our spiritual eyes, and our spiritual eyes are glorious. So, we only see His glory through the eyes of glory.
You know, Pastor Sharon came into the back room there and I was just spending a little bit of time in prayer again, and she was visibly under the anointing. She was talking to me, about how in the practice, she’s practicing, she’s experiencing the anointing. So strong is the anointing on her, I can see she’s shaking all over. Her whole body shaking, and she told me that that has been the case for her, for the last couple of weeks.
I haven’t had the same experience. What’s the difference Church? What’s the difference? Why is Pastor Sharon experiencing that level of anointing and closeness and intimacy with God and I haven’t had the same experience?
What’s the difference? She is seeing differently to how I’m seeing. That’s as simple as it gets. So her closeness, her intimacy, her fellowship with the Father, is face to face, it’s close. Hallelujah, glory to Jesus. So, that’s what we’re after, that’s what I’m after. So we only see His glory through the eyes of glory.
You can turn with me please, to Ephesians 1 verse 17, verse 17 to 23. So, this is a prayer, that I know Pastor John, Pastor Sharon, Pastor Christi, myself, Pastor Melusi pray for you, I would dare to say; daily. This is a prayer that gets prayed for the people of Heritage of Faith daily. Hallelujah. Praise God, that we’re in a praying church.
Okay, 17[For I always pray and I can say we always pray, [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets]. Okay, and so this insight into mysteries and secrets, if you are reading with me, comes through the deep and intimate knowledge of Him. So, insight into mysteries, wisdom and revelation comes through the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him, knowing Him in other words, knowing Him. Insight into mysteries, comes through knowing Him.
Let me tell you, there are many ministers who want insight into mysteries and they want to share with people for their own gain. They want to share with people, the deep and intimate mysteries of God and God is saying to them; “Uh-uh, you’re not going to get it without first knowing Me.”
So, the fact that we did we get the deep and intimate mysteries of God in this church is a clear indication that Pastor John and Sharon know God. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. We are truly blessed in this house.
Okay, so by having, so we get all of this; the wisdom, the revelation, knowing Him. 18By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light. So, note there is your eyes, your spiritual eyes. The eyes of your heart flooded with light, not just a trickle or just a couple of eye drops every Sunday. A flood of light. This is how we’re going to know Him intimately, deeply. Have insight into mysteries.
I know that this is, some of your experiences, when you hear Pastor John talking about that business deal, that particular business deal, where he prayed in the Spirit and the Lord showed him, the face of that man to go and talk to him. Show him what was happening with that business deal and the Lord reversed that whole business deal. Some of you sit here thinking, how is that possible?
Here it is, by having the eyes of your heart flooded with light. That’s how it’s possible, by having the eyes of your heart flooded with light. So that you, so here’s the process because God is interested in you first, privately, personally, powerfully. 18… so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance and here’s the next part, in the Saints which is you and I. (His set-apart ones.) We are your set apart ones. 19And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe.
So, just see the process here, firstly He wants to show you, He wants to show you the hope to which He has called you to, and then He wants to show you the glorious inheritance that is in every one of us. So, if you’re married or you’re in a family, He wants to show you the glorious inheritance that is in your spouse. It’s His glorious inheritance, but He’s given it to you. Your children, He wants to show you, what is the glorious inheritance that He’s put in there. Hallelujah.
As demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength, 20Which He exerted in Christ, or you could say in the Word, when He raised him from the dead and seated Him as at His [own] right hand and in heavenly places. (Ephesians 1:17-20 AMPC) And Ephesians 2 verse 6 says that; We are seated together with Him in heavenly places 21Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age in the world which are to come. 22And He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him, Jesus, the universal and supreme head of the church, and this in brackets is particularly powerful, [a headship exercised throughout the church]. (Ephesians 1:21-22 AMPC)
So, who’s exercising the headship of Jesus Christ? The church. You and I, are we the church? So, His headship, His rule, His authority is being exercised, through you and I. Remember I’m advocating something here, I’m presenting my case before you, okay. Which is His body, so the church is His body. So, you and I are his body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
So, how is He going to fill the earth with His glory? Through the church, through you and I. He’s going to fill the earth with His glory through you and I. Say this after me “He’s going to fill the earth with His glory, through me” Hallelujah.
Did all the young people in here say that with me? Okay, good, you can be lucky I don’t get you to stand up and say just without all the older people.
So, we can see it is vital that the eyes of our hearts are flooded with light, Amen. So then, the Lord said this to me, “There is a flood of light in this house. There is a flood of light in this house. So, if you’re looking for the flood of light, go no further you found it, in this house.
You know, and there are many churches that have very little light, church, they had a very little light, very little. In fact, there are many leaders, that lead the church that walk in darkness. We are very privileged, very privileged, very honoured, very blessed in this house to have a man and woman who have given their life, so that they can share the light of the gospel with us, truly.
Pastor John said this in his “Praying with Faith Produces Results – Part one.” So, if you remember that that whole message where he spoke about how, you know, during Passover they were selling doves and they were selling lambs and they were exchanging money and all of that, and people were coming from all over the place for Passover and they were buying the doves and the lambs and all of that. Does all of this ring a bell? One of the statements he made was, that the people, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the religious people of that time, were profiting off people’s desire to worship God.
When Pastor John said that, it went off in me like a nuclear bomb, because let me tell you, there are many churches that, that is the case. Their leaders are profiting off men and women, children’s desire to worship God. That is not the case in this house, hallelujah. If you haven’t settled that already, I’ll give you a moment right now to settle it. That is true in this house. Pastor John and Sharon, love you completely. Amen. That is not who we are.
I’ve got some handwritten notes here, I went back to the pen. So, God is crying out to us, every one of us, and I’m including myself in this, to step up and to step out, and He wants us to do it together.
So, you know Pastor Sharon said; that people in this church are gold. Is everyone with me? Every one of us in this church is gold, and if you’re here today and you’re here by choice, I want to tell you who we are. We are a House of Prayer, we are a House of Faith, we are a House of Praise. That is who we are.
So, if you’re coming to this church and you keep coming, then that is who you are, that is your identity. Amen. So, will you say it with me? “I am a House of Prayer, I am a House of Faith, I am a House of Praise.” Hallelujah. So, you are a House of Prayer. Can we will agree on that? Excellent. You said it, and the Lord heard you. So, this is your identity, and if you keep coming to this church, whether you recognize this or not, you want what we are, and we are a House of Payer.
I’m setting you up here, a little bit. So, if you haven’t been attending, this is why I’m setting you up. If you haven’t been attending corporate prayer on a Tuesday night, then I want to say this to you, because you are a House of Prayer, that it is just a matter of time before there’s enough light that penetrates your heart that you will begin to believe that prayer will change you and make you more like Jesus.
Really, what prayer is, is us exercising the headship of Christ, right? Like Ephesians said, “Prayer is exercising the headship of Christ”. Because what is prayer? As Pastor John keeps telling us, “It’s communion, it’s fellowship with God, it’s talking to God”. Prayer is talking to God. So, why would you not want to pray? You’re seeing through the wrong eyes. So, the Lord wants to change the way that you see about corporate prayer. Because we are a House of Prayer. We are, and if you’re here today, then you are, because you want what we are. Amen.
Am I presenting my case well today? Excellent. Well, it’s the Holy Spirit.
So why should I pray Pastor Garth? So God can make you like Him, that’s why. Do you want to be like Him? Remember what Pastor Sharon says, “We want, we prepare, He comes”. So, part of the issue is; what do you want? What do you want? Do you want to be like Him? There’s not one of you that would look at me and say you don’t want to be like Him. You want to be like Him. Amen. We want, we prepare, He comes.
So, the next thing that you could possibly say to me is, “I don’t know how to pray, I feel really awkward praying”. Right? Come on, I’m just being real with you. “I don’t know how to pray and when you do this funny language stuff, it sounds really weird”. Hey? Which is another way of saying, “I’m self-conscious”. What does that mean? You’re seeing through the wrong eyes, you’re seeing through these natural eyes, that have been corrupted by the world system.
You know, when I, when I was preparing and, and I wrote this down; “I don’t know how to pray, I feel really awkward.” It was like the Lord was saying to me, uhm; it would be like coming, it would be like coming, to enlisting in the army, and this is the army you’ve enlisted in and saying, “I feel so foolish firing this gun. I don’t even know where to put this thing, where does it even go in? I feel really weird”. You know. “I don’t know”. That’s why you’ve come to this church, so that we can teach you how to pray, how to talk to God. Amen. It would be like going to the army and say, “I’ve enlisted, but geez, you want me to leopard crawl? You want me to run where? With what?”. You know. “You want me to fire my gun? You want me to learn to fire a gun? That’s just weird”. Well that’s part of being part of this army. Amen.
Okay, I’ve got to find myself here. So, Pastor John recently said; If you don’t live by faith, you can never cross that bridge of knowing how, if you don’t start to live by faith. I want to say the same thing about prayer, if you don’t pray, you’ll never cross that bridge of knowing how to pray unless you don’t start to pray. You cannot reason, intellectualize the process of living by faith. Same thing with prayer. Or someone who lives by faith, because it doesn’t make sense. You cannot intellectualize it. Faith is something that you have in your heart. The ways of God are what you choose from your heart and not from the realm of reason and what makes sense. That’s all from Pastor John.
Same with prayer, prayer doesn’t make sense. Doesn’t make sense, naturally. Especially when we pray, pray in our heavenly language, which is very basically the language that God gives us from our spirit. I mean, do you think that God speaks English, Afrikaans, French, Zulu, all of those things? Is that the main language He speaks? He speaks the language of the Spirit. So those languages came out of Him, but He speaks the language of the Spirit. Well, what does that sound like? When you let your spirit pray. That sounds kind of weird because it doesn’t make sense to this thing. [Pointing to his head]. Amen.
You know, the Lord said this to me recently; There’s an element to walking by faith, and that doesn’t matter what you’re doing, doesn’t matter if you are praying or you believe in God for something, you could be believing for socks or just, like an increase or promotion or whatever it is. There’s a part about living by faith that is fake.
It’s fake, and I was saying this to someone the other day. It’s like planting a seed in the earth, if you’re a farmer. You’re already banking on that seed to grow. You’re already taking it to the bank. You’re already calculating things about that seed, and if you’ve got a whole, you know, farm. You are already calculating what part of that harvest, you know. I mean, I know with Loutjie, there’s a certain percentage of his apples, that they can’t use, because there is some apples that get damaged. He’s already, you know, he’s got statistics about the amount of apples that he’s going to take to the bank. Are you with me?
But there’s no evidence yet of that thing growing, and that’s the same thing with faith. It’s like what Pastor Justin did, when he lay on that couch. He didn’t even know God and he just said, “I love You, Lord. I love You. I love You. I love You”. The Lord told him, “Do that and don’t stop”. I’m sure the first couple of times he said it, it, he was, it sounded silly. You know. “I love You, urgh. I love You, argh. You know. But after 30, 40, 50, whatever it was, 100 times he did it, “I love You, Lord”, then it went from, “I love You” to “I love You, Lord”. Now all of a sudden it’s becoming a little bit more real to him. “I love You, Lord. I love You, Lord. I love You, Lord”. Now there’s life coming into him. Life, life, life coming into him.
It’s the same thing with praying. When you start praying it feels weird. It feels fake. Until that little seed begins to grow. Hallelujah.
Oh, I need my phone for a second, because I wanted to read to you, and then I’m done. I wanted to read to you something from Charles Finney. No, it’s in my bag. All my books are on my phone. So, I want to read this. Do you all know who Charles Finney is? Pastor Sharon sometimes reads from his book. He’s a revivalist. You can call him that, but he was also a great man of prayer. That’s how he, you know, that was his principle; to bring revival anywhere, was on the back of prayer.
So I want to read this;
Revival… So, almost all religion in the world has been produced by revivals. God has found it necessary to take advantage of the excitability there is in mankind, to produce powerful excitements among them, before He can lead them to obey.
Let that sink in for a moment. He’s used the excitability of mankind to produce powerful excitements among them before He can lead them to obey.
Men are so sluggish, there are so many things to lead their minds off from religion, or spirituality, let’s put that word in there rather, off from spirituality, and to oppose the influence of the Gospel, that it is necessary to raise excitement among them, till the tide rises so high as to sweep away the opposing obstacles. They must be so aroused that they will break over these counteracting influences, before they will obey God.
Do you know that is what the Lord is trying to do with us, church? He’s trying to arouse us and excite us, to a place where we will actually obey Him. I mean, when I say that, I want to bawl my eyes out and say, “Lord, does it really have to be that way with Your children, that You have to excite us before we will obey You?” Come on, church. Hey? So, this is my last scripture, then I’m done and I will leave that with you.
Isaiah 60, and this is an encouragement; 1Arise [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you—rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and does, and dense darkness [all] peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you, which He now does, and His glory shall be seen on you. (Isaiah 60:1-2 AMPC) And this is who we are. The glory of God shall be seen on you and I. I truly look forward to the day church, I truly look forward to the day when I look at you and I don’t see flesh. I see the glory of God. I don’t see self-consciousness and insecurity and fear and shame. I see the glory of God. I look forward to the day when you look at me and you see that. You see the glory of God. Not fear and shame and insecurity and all of those gagga things. Truly, church. The light has come. The glory of God has risen upon us. There is a flood of light in this house. Amen. Glory to Jesus.
I’m done. So, I will pray over you and then you can go on your merry way. Praise the Lord.
Father, thank You for this time that we’ve had in the Word, which is in Christ. We thank You for manifesting Yourself in us, among us. Thank You for changing us. Thank You for providing us with every opportunity we need, Father, to be changed into the image and likeness of Jesus. We’re so grateful. We’re so grateful. We’re so grateful. We’re so grateful. We’re so grateful. We’re so grateful, Father. We’re so grateful, Father. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank You for flooding our eyes with light so that we can know the hope to which we’ve been called, Father. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You for blessing us with such wonderful spiritual leaders. We are so grateful for them, Father. And we purpose today, Father, that we will get out of the boat and we will walk on water with Pastor John and we will hold hands with the Lord Jesus Christ and we will have intimacy and we will have fellowship with You in this church, individually and together. We say it, we receive it, we believe it and we thank You for it, in the name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you for coming. And thank you for going.
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