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But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1.8 Father, I do nothing of eternal value myself. It is your Holy Spirit that others respond to in me. Make me a pure conduit of your love. I yield my body to you for your purposes.
I know it's you speaking life, comforting the sorrow, healing the sick, or delivering the oppressed through me. Continue to fill me with the power of your Holy Spirit so I can continue to witness to all those I encounter. Help them sense your presence as you meet their needs. I take no glory for myself when you perform your wonders through me. I give you all the glory, for you alone are God. Amen.
Thank you for listening to today's daily prayer. For more inspiration and an incredible message from our feature pastor, stay tuned to Pray.com's Sunday service. Welcome to Pray.com's Sunday service, sponsored by Altrua HealthShare. Follow this podcast and listen weekly to receive godly wisdom and practical advice for daily living. Stay tuned for Sunday service, coming up after a quick word from our sponsors.
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This is such a simple song, but I love the words. Because when you're sick, you can lift your hand to call the doctor.
You can lift your hands to medication, to all kind of things that would serve a natural purpose. But the words of the song is, I lift my hands to heaven. I lift my eyes to where my help comes from. The maker of heaven and earth. I look to you, my rock.
my stronghold, my strong tower in the hour of adversity. I look to you. I trust in you. I believe in you. I put my faith in you. And so I just believe there are many of us in this room that are facing some challenges and I just want us to just lift our hands in the presence of God before we receive the word. Father, we take our hands off of it right now and we lift our hands to heaven.
which is the international sign of surrender. We're caught. Lord, we've tried to fix it in our own strength. But today, your word declares that it's your will that we're healed. It's your will that we walk in the newness of life that is in Christ Jesus, that we walk in wholeness, that we walk in prosperity, even as our soul prospers in you. So God, we lift our hands to say we're caught.
Lord, forgive us. And Lord, now we look to you. We put our eyes, we put our focus, we put our attention on you right now, Lord. As the author and the finisher of our faith, the one who is able to do, even as it's already been sung, exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask, think, or imagine, God. Lord, we thank you today. You are our stronghold today.
You are our righteous tower that we run into. You are the name in which we find safety, refuge, and salvation. Thank you for being our mighty deliverer.
Thank you for being our mighty provider. Thank you for being that friend that sticks closer than a brother. God, we thank you that these mountains that we see will be made low in your presence. And we give you glory and praise for what you're doing by your spirit. And the people of God say, amen. You can find your seat in the presence of God. Hallelujah. A couple things I want to share before we
We get started. I'm a part of a class this week, an e-course. You can join us live or in person if you feel like God's given you a message that you want to write a book about. It's called Unlocking Your Book, and the author, the writer of the Passion Bible, Brian Simmons, is hosting it.
along with other leaders in the body of Christ. And so if you want to be a part of that class, if you know the Lord's calling you to write a book in this season, then you can join us by going to unlockingyourbook.com forward slash Michelle Jackson and join us there. Is that all right to share that? Okay. Also, I had the privilege of being a part of Prophetic Dateline with Cindy Jacobs this week.
It was really powerful. I know you'll be encouraged if you go and listen to it. So you can go on her Facebook page. How many have Facebook? Did you know the church is on Facebook? Okay, so you can go on her Facebook page, Cindy Jacobs, and you'll see it there. It was a beautiful time with them, and I'm excited about what the Lord is raising us up to be and do in the season for this region.
So today I'm going to be ministering to you from Matthew chapter 15. And if you can go there in your Bible, I'm going to be ministering to you from the theme healing for the nations, healing for the nations. And when you're in Matthew 15, go to verse 21. And why don't we stand in honor of the reading of the word? We haven't done that in a while as a family.
When Jesus left there, he withdrew to the area of Tyre in Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, Have mercy on me, Lord, son of David. My daughter is severely tormented by a demon. Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples approached him and urged him, Send her away because she's crying out after us.
He replied, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But she came, knelt before him and said, Lord, help me. The Lord answered, it isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to dogs. Yes, Lord, she said. Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.
Then Jesus replied to her, woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want. And from that moment, her daughter was healed. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading of his holy word. Healing for all nations.
Jesus had been ministering and he'd been moving through difficult conversations with Pharisees and the crowds were following him in this moment of his ministry. And so Jesus was trying to find a place to pray and remove himself. But everywhere he was going, throngs of people were coming because his name was becoming renowned.
consistent with his power, consistent with his ability to set free, heal, and deliver. And so even people that weren't a part of his assignment necessarily were starting to get the news. And we know that Jesus came to the house of Israel first and then to the Gentiles, right? He came to save his people. You know, because God is the word, he couldn't violate his word. He had given Abraham a covenant and the covenant was that promise.
All of the nations would be blessed through his family, right? And through Abraham came the seed that became a nation, Israel, right? So he had to come to restore Israel to fulfill what he had already spoken in the earth, right?
But it was his intention, and we see that through his commissioning of the disciples, that all nations would receive that gift through him, right? Salvation in the name of Jesus, healing and deliverance, right?
So we're seeing like a foreshadowing and a foretelling, but we're also seeing in this passage the tension that's happening right there in society at that time. Tyre and Sidon was an area where Canaanites were. What does that mean? They weren't in their native land. They were in the land where Jezebel was from. They were in a land where God was not honored.
They were in a land that was not technically on his assignment, right? Same as the moment that he approached the woman at the well. And yet in this encounter, this woman is seeking the Christ. She's seeking healing and deliverance and an authority and a power that could only come from God. She's approaching Jesus with a revelation, right?
And so we're understanding in this moment that the disciples are being trained. They're being raised up. They're being equipped because ultimately Jesus is going to pass the baton to them. But in this moment, I would submit to you that they weren't ready yet to receive that baton because they felt like, what was the word say? She's crying out, send her away. They didn't know that people like her would be their assignment.
They didn't know that situations like hers would be the way that the church would advance after Jesus had arose and ascended. And so in this moment, we're seeing that they're not in sync with the heart of God. Sometimes when Jesus doesn't say anything, it doesn't mean he isn't moving. Jesus heard her request. He didn't respond to her request.
but he also didn't respond to them. And so I would submit to you this morning that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ right now has a decision to make. Are we going to be like Jesus in this passage to hear what's happening and then move in power? Or are we going to get caught up in a back and forth with the disciples? You see what I'm saying? Because in this moment, Jesus had two ways to move.
He could respond to the woman and release virtue in accordance with her faith, or he could respond to them. And so the conflict was cultural. Let's talk about five hindrances to a move of God, to a move of healing, right?
So the disciples were there with Jesus. They're being discipled. They've been called out. They're following him. They're learning how to move with God, how to hear the voice of God, how to move in their authority, right? And the disciples are also recognizing the things that are in their heart as they follow Christ and the things that they had been discipled into. I mean, they'd grown up in a Jewish community, so they knew the word, whether they were living the word or not.
That sounds like us. We knew about Christ, whether we were living for Christ or not. And then we came into the kingdom and some of the things that we thought we knew were wrong. Some of the things that are just idiomatic phrases that we thought were actually scripture, we found out God really doesn't help those who help themselves. Like that's not even a Bible verse.
You know what I'm saying? So the same thing was happening for the disciples. And so pride in their culture could be a hindrance to them because see now Jesus has stepped outside of Israel. He stepped into another territory. And we know because we have the whole Bible in this moment is being written, right?
But from our perspective, we know that all power and authority belongs to Jesus because he's resurrected and ascended now, right? So even as he's stepping into another territory, he's demonstrating to his disciples, I have authority here. My power works here as well. And so their pride in their background could be a reason why they felt like, hey, let this lady go. She's not even worthy anymore.
of receiving from you, right? So what is that also reflects a heart that has prejudice because they prejudged her based on her cry, based on how she sounded, based on how she was acting, right? That she didn't need what she was crying out for or that it wasn't the time or that it wasn't worth his time. Those kinds of attitudes are attitudes that are empowered by a religious spirit.
And so we have an opportunity right now as the church, even as the Lord is calling us forward into revival and he's speaking all of these profound words to us, we have to contend against the same things the disciples had to contend against. Our own pride, our own prejudice, and our own understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ.
And so Jesus, he replies to her in verse 24 and he says, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He talks about his primary assignment, right? We know because we're New Testament Christians that he had to fulfill that in order that he could be sent to all the nations, right?
Sometimes we get so caught up as the church that we don't take care of elemental things before we get to all the nations, right? So can we be healed here amongst one another? Do you understand what I'm saying? So sometimes even in the body, we can be the reason why people can't receive from Jesus because we take the attitude of the disciples, because we prejudge people, right?
where we have pride in our heart about what we know, as opposed to recognizing we're preparing a table for them to meet with Jesus. We're preparing an atmosphere like our teaching, our preaching, our prophetic word, our healing, our deliverance ministry is to prepare a table for them to meet with Jesus. If they only meet with us, it wasn't enough. Ultimately, we want to connect them with the source, right?
So it's important for us to recognize that we have a choice because we are serving people like this woman who already know that the root of what they're dealing with is spiritual. We might not have that revelation yet, but honey, there are people out here that are bound, tormented, and vexed, and they've already tried everything.
And they're trying to get to touch the Jesus that you're praising about, that you're singing about, that you say changed your life. That's what they're trying to tap into. And they're convinced of that. And sometimes we can be the reason that stands in the way. So I'm so grateful that Jesus didn't go back and forth with the disciples. Instead of talking about it, he was about it. And he interacted with the woman at the point of her need.
And he said to her, what? It isn't right for to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. Well, sometimes Jesus will say what's obvious. That culturally, that's what Jewish people felt about. Canaanite women, Syrophoenician women, people from that cultural background, they felt like they were dogs. I don't know about you, but I've been called racial slurs to my face, not behind my back.
I didn't have to imagine that it was about race. They made it clear. And Jesus is here in the middle of this mess, and he's bringing healing. He's bringing healing to this woman and her child and meeting her at the point of her faith where race, ethnicity, background was becoming a hindrance for his disciples.
Jesus also said, suffer not the little children to come unto me. And so Jesus has a different perspective than we have. He has a perspective that encompasses eternity. He has a perspective that encompasses everyone from every tribe and every creed. And we know that the gospel must be preached as a witness in order for the end to come.
And so we're seeing Jesus in this moment beginning to give the disciples a foretaste of what they're going to have to step into and also step over. Can I tell you that we all have things that we believe to be true about other races that's based in mother-in-law wit, culturalisms?
Things that we believe about ourselves because we're from a certain race or background that may or may not be true as we line it up with God's word about our ability, about our potential, and even about our faith. And so, yes, the scriptures have been used. They've been manipulated. They've been politicized. They've been used by groups in order to subject us.
People all over the world, right? Enslave them, cause them to be in bondage. Yes, that's the reality of history, but that was not God's original intent of the scriptures. It was meant to be a roadmap to call people to himself, to call us out of bondage into freedom, right? And so in this moment, in this encounter with Jesus, this woman who the disciples would consider a dog, right?
would consider not even worth anything, worthless. This is the person that has come to Jesus because she recognizes him as master. She recognizes him as Messiah. She recognizes him as Lord. She recognizes him as a solution to the issues she's facing with her child. And because of that, she is moved, what? To take the crumbs from the master's table.
She understood what Jesus was trying to get his disciples to understand. That all it takes is a mustard seed of faith. All it takes is to approach him and to receive from him because he is the bread of life. And so I'm grateful for this passage in this time in which we live. Because in 2023, we're facing challenges of race.
prejudice and class like never before. And even in our nation, we are facing challenges that have resurrected themselves in this time.
And I know the Lord is calling us forth as his church to move with his power, to move in his grace. And yet there are situations of injustice that we're seeing. And we're trying to understand how do I move as a Christian in these times when I'm seeing these acts of violence against young people, when I'm seeing these acts of violence and justice is being misconstrued.
And I would submit to you that we can't move like the disciples, which would be to disqualify people from approaching Jesus by race, by creed, by color, by class, and categorize them as what? Not worth it. No. John 3.16 says that for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever. That includes all of us.
would believe in him, would not perish, but have eternal life. And so this woman, she comes to Jesus and Jesus begins to move on her behalf because her faith was great. Her faith was not in the people that served him. Her faith was in the power of God.
Her faith was not in the disciples that wanted to create barriers and hindrances for her to receive from God. It was because she knew the mighty power. So let's look at a few things she recognized about Jesus, because this is so good. Number one, she recognized his lordship. She recognized that he was Lord over all.
Over her life, over her family, over her situation, over what was happening even in this moment where the disciples are trying to keep her from Jesus. He's still Lord over all. Number two, she recognized him as the son of David.
We know that Jesus would sit on the throne of David and that that was the completion of the word of the Lord over the nation of Israel. So she wasn't even saying, come and I recognize you as king of my people. No, she was saying, I see you, son of David. I see you that you're completing what you promised Abraham in the covenant because I've heard about you.
And I recognize you as the son of David. And even like blind Bartimaeus, she's crying out saying, have mercy on me, thou son of David. So she recognized the royalty of Jesus. She recognized his lordship and she recognized his royalty.
And then she recognized that he had spiritual authority over the demonic realm. What does she say about her child? She says, my child is what? Grievously vexed with the devil. So when I looked up those words in Greek, demonized, demoniac, demons, what it began to unpack was that
There was a deity of a lesser or greater authority. And so what I want to submit to you is that the Syrophoenician woman understood the deity that was in Christ. She understood that he was coming in authority from the supremacy of God. That the authority that her child was vexed by had to be subject to the authority that Christ was walking in.
And so she had a revelation of who Jesus was. And because of that, she wasn't even saying, I need all your time. I just need the crumbs from your table. I don't even have to sit at the table. I can sit under the table and receive what your children are throwing away. You know, because that's what people do to the puppy, right? We give them the food we don't want. You know, my dog doesn't eat table food.
But that's what kids do. Whatever they don't want to eat, right? Whatever they don't desire to eat, they feed to the dog. And that's what they felt like this woman was valued at. That whatever, whatever we don't want, whatever is not a value of us, okay? And she stood there in this contentious moment that we don't fully understand because we don't have the cultural conflict that they have.
But there are cultural conflicts that we have, right? And she still received her miracle from the Lord. So I just want to encourage us in this time as we are recognizing that our nation needs healing, as we're recognizing that race and class and ethnicity are still issues first in the house of God and also in the nation, we have a choice to make, right?
We have a choice to make today. We can accept the invitation that's in 2 Chronicles 7, 14. If my people will humble themselves and pray, turn from their wicked ways, then what? Hear from heaven and he will heal the land and forgive our sins. Can I submit to you that prejudice and racism are sins before God?
How we prejudge one another based on how we look. That it is a sin before God. And I understand that we have had a lot of issues with race and enslavement since the beginning of this nation. But we are called to be a peculiar people. A chosen generation. Called out of the darkness.
of this world into the marvelous light of Christ. And so we have a different worldview now that we can operate from that is what? Grounded and rooted in love. Grounded and rooted in what? Jesus Christ. And so since he came to seek and to save the lost sheep of Israel, that's why we love Israel. Because that was his first assignment that's not fully complete yet.
Right? And then we're called to preach this gospel as a witness to how many nations? So that means that the Father has all of humanity on his mind and that he's loved them with everlasting love and he's looking for people that would partner with him that are a part of his church that would bring healing to the nations. And so Jesus, the Son of God,
Full of power and authority. He said what? Great is your faith. Great is your faith to this woman. Because she put herself in the middle of conflict and received a miracle. She put herself in the middle of a situation that was going to be contested. To what? Receive from Jesus.
There are so many people that come into church every week in churches around this country, knowing that they are going to not receive love, but be in conflict. Because we are like the disciples. We have hindrances. We have barriers. We have prejudices. Oh, y'all were real quiet. Like y'all didn't know this was real. But they come because they are seeking the power of God.
What would happen if we were like Jesus? What would happen in churches in America if we decided that we were not going to be moved by race or ethnicity, but we were going to preach the word of God as a witness and allow people to have their families healed by the power of God? Oh my goodness, that sounds like revival, doesn't it?
So they're like we talked about. They're just some enemies that we have to begin to recognize because they're subtle. They're very subtle now. But these are enemies of the move of God. Let's talk about one more. We've talked about four. We talked about pride. We talked about prejudice. We talked about the spirit of religion. We've touched on racism. But I want to talk to you about territorialism. Territorialism.
We want people to be welcomed, but we can't have a us versus them mentality. But we don't know how to have our identity, right? Embrace who we are and not have a them. Do you understand what I'm saying? And so what that does is that creates territorialism, right?
We are called to take territory for our king, right? To establish the kingdom of God. But it also means that we're calling people in, not pushing people out. So sometimes that looks like reaching people right where they are and loving them too much to let them stay the same.
and calling them into relationship with Christ, but it doesn't mean we are now pushing people out, right?
So I think like as we move forward and we are partnering with the Lord and we are hearing all of the invitations to be a part of this I-95 revival. And we know that so many prophets have seen there's waves of the glory of God that are going to hit this nation. And while there's going to be other shakings and things that come, that God is bringing a restoration to
the nations, including America, I think we have to choose to extend the borders of the kingdom, but recognize that means bringing people in, not pushing people out. We're not a country club. We're not a fraternity. We are lively stones being built into a spiritual house, the house of God, the habitation of God. And that means what?
Every joint supplies, that there's a place for everyone. And so territorialism is something that is what? Anti the heart of God, anti the agenda of God. He what? Is slow that all men might know him, come into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. So if he's slow to move because he wants to receive all, how are we quick to judge? Right?
How are we quick to push people out, right? So in this story, we're seeing where the heart of the disciples were. And Jesus walked with them and taught them, right? And they overcame a lot. And guess what? He's still walking with us and teaching us, and we're overcoming a lot, right? So while we're talking about these heavy things that affect society and affect our lives, right?
It's not without empowerment from Jesus Christ to be his witness in the earth. He will partner with us if we're willing to say, you know what? Yes, I do struggle with prejudice. Yes, I do struggle in this area of racism. Yes, I have listened to the things they've said about different people groups and I've agreed and I've made fun and I've judged. See, you know, I, uh,
The Bible encourages us to be honest and authentic before the throne of grace. We don't have to. It's not for you that I'm authentic. It's for him because he can then give me everything I need based on me being transparent before him. Right. Right.
So I just know that in this time, we're going to see a lot of minorities promoted to places that they said we couldn't go. Before you clap, let me finish. Because you might not want to clap after I finish. The reason being is that God wants to use pure people in this time, pure voices, to represent him.
A lot of agendas have come through us, through people of color, that have detracted from the holiness of the nation. And so God's looking for people of color that he can amplify their voice, put them in different places to be his representative. And so we're going to see people establish new voices, new voices of authority, new voices of influence, new voices of power.
And if the Lord wants to do that, what do you think the enemy has? A counterfeit. Because he can't produce anything of his own ability. All he can do is try to stop what God has started. So it's important for us to recognize, like, as doors of opportunity are opening for us, that we have our heart right as people of color so that we don't disqualify ourselves from the person who put us there.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So this is such a powerful passage of scripture because Jesus was concerned about this woman's child.
So if we're going to be the church that moves like Jesus, number one, we have to overcome pride. We have to overcome prejudice. We've got to overcome the spirit of religion. We've got to overcome being territorial. It's all us foreign no more and open our doors right to people who don't look like us. But we've also got to be concerned about who their children, the next generation, because if we're only living for us, right?
and we're not living for what happens next, then we don't take the stands we have to take. We don't make the moral decisions we need to make because we're living for what's expedient. And God is looking to bless to a thousand generations, right? So if he's looking to bless to a thousand generations, then he's thinking beyond today. He's thinking generationally.
And so there's an invitation for us as the church to begin to think generationally, to think about what do we want our children and our children's children to have when they're coming up as the church? What church will they find that we left behind? Is it a church that's divided by race and ethnicity?
Or is it a church that is moving forward in the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ? So the decisions we make today as a church, what our church will be like, affects what our kids will inherit and what our grandkids will inherit and what the culture that they produce from within themselves. So the decisions we make today to overcome this,
racial issues within ourselves begins to change the atmosphere within our home and therefore begins to change how we interact with people outside of the home and on the job and then begins to affect how we live our lives so much so that it becomes a witness to other people. So as I'm getting ready to close, I just want to encourage us in this time, even in this time of Black History Month, right?
that we recognize that black people make history every day. All people make history every day, right? And that it's not about, how can I say, in the kingdom of God, it's not about the color, it's about the Savior and the Spirit. So we have to rise to a higher place in our understanding. Is that okay? So Jesus offered this woman life.
relief and release from demonic torment because he was the son of God. And people today are looking for that same power. And that same power, the Bible says, is resident in you. Will you use it? Will you release healing to all nations, even those that are at your workplace? Come on, let's stand together because we're going to receive communion. Father, we just bless you and we thank you.
Because out of one blood, you made many. And we are connected because of who you are. And so even as we reflect in this month, the challenges that we've had as a nation regarding race, regarding prejudice, Lord, we just, we fall at your throne of grace to receive mercy.
Come on, if there's anything that you were convicted by as the word went forth, let's just search our hearts before the Lord, before we partake. Father, we thank you that your word comes to make the crooked places straight. Your word comes to bring life and light to the hearer. And Lord, we thank you that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And today we can move in power and grace because of the invitation to be heard.
your powerful church. Just take a moment. Father, we thank you that on the night that you were betrayed, you took bread, you blessed it, and he broke it. And he said, this is my body. Do this in remembrance of me. So Father, we just thank you for the bread today. We thank you for the bread of life. And we thank you, Lord, that when we come to the table of communion, we are one because of what you did on Calvary.
So as we take this bread today, we take on life, we take on wholeness, we take on strength. And God, we thank you that those broken places where we've been wounded because of racism, because of prejudice. Lord, we take on the life and the healing of Christ today that causes us to be more than conquerors.
Lord, we thank you that we release any bitterness, any burden from where we felt overlooked, where we felt underserved, where we have been the victim of challenge. Lord, we thank you that you came to give us life and healing. So we take and eat the bread and receive from you restoration in Jesus name. And in the same way, you took the cup and you blessed it.
And you said, this is the new covenant in my blood. And so, Father, we thank you that when your blood was shed on Calvary, resurrection life was released. Lord, we thank you that yokes are destroyed because life was released through your sacrifice. And so every sin can be cleansed. We can be washed clean again.
Lord, our sins separated as far as the east is from the west because of the blood of Jesus. And so today, even as we stand in the gap for our nation, God, we know that you will heal our land as we walk well before you. So, Lord, for those things that we have repented of, we thank you that as we drink this cup, it decrees us.
death to those things and life in you that springs up to eternal life. We take and we drink the cup in faith in Jesus' name. If you have a prayer language, let's just begin to pray for the nation. Let's just begin to pray for our state. Father, we thank you, Lord. We bless this nation in the name of Jesus. And Father, we recognize that we are in a time of challenge, a time where divisions have come in.
A time that is full of tensions. And Lord, we thank you that you are well acquainted with times of tension. You are well acquainted with times of division. Because even in your word as we read today, you stepped in with healing in a time of division. In a time of racial tension, you stepped in with your healing grace. And so today we humble ourselves and we cry out. We cry out on behalf of
this great state of Maryland. And we cry out on behalf of this great nation, God, would you restore us again? Would you revive us again? Would you restore us, God? Would you cause us to be able to move in a unity
that comes from you in the name of Jesus. Lord, we ask forgiveness today for all of the bloodshed, the innocent bloodshed that has happened based upon race, based upon challenges. Lord, we know that even as the blood of Cain cried out, the shedding of innocent blood cries out to you and brings a curse upon the nation. And so, God, we're crying out today that you would cause forgiveness
You would cause us to understand that the land must receive you. And so God, we're crying out today. We're humbling ourselves. We're turning from our wicked ways, knowing that you would hear us and you would bring a healing to the land. That even as revival comes to the land, that the land would receive you, that the
land of this great nation would receive the move of God. So we just begin to intercede right now. If you have a prayer language, if you're filled with the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in tongues, please begin to pray beyond your natural understanding as I begin and continue to pray in English.
Father we bless you. Father we thank you. From sea to shining sea we decree that this nation will reflect the holiness of God. We thank you Lord. We give you glory. We give you praise right now because even as we pray Lord you're establishing your justice in the hearts of men. So God we thank you today.
We thank you today, Lord, that we'll take territory in your name and bring many into the kingdom. God, we thank you that even as it is declared in scripture, in the book of Acts, that there were daily those being saved. We decree that in this nation, this next move of God that's coming, we will see those being activated
Amen.
in the name of Jesus that you are raising up minorities and people of color to be your witnesses. God, we thank you for Esther's. We thank you for Joseph's. We thank you for Daniel's. We thank you for those that have been called by your name to walk in uncommon integrity, to be reformers in this time, to be those like Nehemiah that had a burden in prayer. And because of that burden, you position them to be one
That would lead, that would influence, that would bring your kingdom to come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So we give you glory today.
and we give you praise, and we just cry out right now for the church in America. God, restore your power. Restore your authority to the church, God. Restore your power. Restore your authority to the church. We don't want to be that church that's like a clanging cymbal that doesn't move in love.
But God, restore us, restore us, restore us, restore us. That we would be those, because it's going to take all of us. That we would be those who are used by you in this season. And we give you glory and we give you praise. We give you glory and we give you praise. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Oh God, we recognize, we recognize your lordship over this nation.
We recognize your lordship over the church. And we thank you, Lord, that you're building your church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. Oh, God, we thank you. We thank you that all power belongs to you, God. And all powers under heaven, in heaven, and under this earth are subject to the authority that is in Christ Jesus.
So Lord, fill your church with your fullness. Fill your church with yourself that we might be those who are called by your name and used by you to raise up this next generation for your glory. And we give you praise. And we give you praise. Come on and give him praise in this place. Hallelujah. Glory to the name of our King. I want to thank you for joining us today.
You know, it's so important in this time as we're pursuing his presence that we recognize that he wants to change us so that we can be change agents. And we've got to know how to move forward and how to move in things of God.
And so the Lord's calling us to a higher perspective and a higher reality. And some of the things we talked about today in the sermon, they're going to serve us well as we move forward. And God continues to extend his church across territories and across regions so that many can be saved. Ultimately, that's the goal, right?
So, Lord, we just thank you and we bless you that you've called Hope Christian Church for such a time as this to be that apostolic hub, to be that prophetic house, to be that glory place where people encounter your presence. But more than that, that they go forward in the revelation of who you are and the word of God to be a change agent where they are. And I commission and I lose the authority of Christ today.
today upon everyone who is in this service, in this room and online and those who will catch the replay. Lord, that they will be loosed into purpose in this season for your glory. And we thank you, Lord, for what you're doing. In Jesus' name, amen. On your way out, if you want to give, if you missed the offering, you can. This was your first Sunday. We have a gift for you on this side of the boulevard.
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