Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] James, chapter five. We're coming into one of my favorite passages of scripture and one that we actually practice every single Sunday. If you ever wonder why do we bring leaders up front and have them anoint people with oil and pray for them? Well, comes straight out of the Bible. And it's this passage right here that we're going to share from today. James, chapter five in verse twelve. Are you there?
[00:00:24] This is what it says. But above all, my brethren, do not swear either by heaven or earth or with any other oath. Let your yes be yes and your no no, lest you fall into judgment. How many know your words are powerful, your words are important. We're going to talk about that. Verse 13. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church. Let them pray over them. Anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of the righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land. For three years and six months. He prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit. Wow. Let's pray. Come on. I want to be like Elijah when I grow up. I want to have faith like that man did and see results the way that man did. So come on, let's pray and ask the Lord to anoint this time as we open the Word. God. I thank you for your word. I thank you that it is light, it's life, it's instruction, it's correction where we need it. And I ask that today, Lord, your Word would accomplish all that you desire it to. Come on, guys. Pray for a wonderful anointing to just begin to saturate this place. Lord, I pray that Luke four anointing you were anointed to preach good news to the poor Jesus. And I pray that you would anoint me to preach good news to every hungry heart in this place. Lord, I pray you would anoint us. Give us eyes that see and ears that hear in a heart and mind that perceives what your spirit is speaking today. In Jesus name, Lord, I bind the works of the enemy in the name of Jesus. He who would seek to distract, to distort, to confuse, or uproot Your word as it comes forward. I pray, O Lord, give us liberty in receiving what you are doing today in the mighty, in the powerful name of Jesus. And everybody say amen. Amen. You may be seated.
[00:02:55] Hallelujah.
[00:02:59] Today I want to deal with this passage. I'm actually going to spend a couple weeks here in this particular passage. So today I want to give us kind of an overview of what James here is dealing with. I don't know about you, but friend, if I'm suffering, I want my prayers to work effectively to bring me through that suffering. Is anybody with me? If I'm in a place where I'm like in great victory, rejoicing praising God, listen, I want my praise to be the loudest, the most audacious. I want to give honor to whom honor is due. I want to praise the Lord. If there are people that are sick, I tell you one of the things I contend for in our church is I want every person that comes within the realm of this ministry sick in body, that God is releasing supernatural healing, that God is restoring bodies.
[00:03:53] And I believe we can pray prayers that work. In fact, if you're taking notes that's what I entitled this message today is prayers that work. How many of you have ever prayed prayers that did not work? Be honest. Probably all of us have. How many of you have prayed some prayers that, wow, God actually answered me and God moved. Well, okay, good. There's more that raise their hand for that. We're going to tap into something here. We're going to learn what the word says and how Elijah, the Bible says, with a man with a nature like ours, how did he see breakthrough?
[00:04:28] But you'll notice in verse twelve, we read this just a moment ago. He said, above all brethren, he said, do not swear by heaven or earth with any oath. Let your yes be yes and your no be no, lest you fall into judgment. One of the things that you'll notice James has emphasized over and over and over again through this book is the power of your words. I want you to tell your neighbor your words have power.
[00:04:59] Tell your other neighbor your words are powerful.
[00:05:04] So what are the types of things that you are saying? We need to be mindful of this. Just to review very quickly, james 126 says that your religion is useless if you can't control your tongue.
[00:05:20] Praise God.
[00:05:22] I'll tell you, a lot of church hurt. A lot of people leaving because of the hypocrites in the church. A lot of that would be avoided if the people of God would just learn to control their tongue, right. We actually practice what we preach. We're not the type of people cutting down one another. And I praise God. I don't feel like our church is that kind, but may we never be that type of people. Amen. We're going to be people that are disciplined. I know how to control my tongue. I'm not going to diarrhea of the mouth. I think we've heard it called, are you with me? Some of you, I lost some of you with that but praise God. James 212, the power of your tongue to judge and to set people free. Did you know that your words have authority in James three two through twelve? I spent a whole day dealing with this fact that your tongue can create a world of destruction or life. Your tongue can create blessings or curses. The Bible says that there is death and there is life in the power of your tongue. So what are you releasing? What are you speaking? What are you allowing to come into your life? Your tongue, your words, has power. James 411 do not speak evil of one another. Praise God. I'm just reviewing all the things that James says. Even last week, we dealt with the fact that Jesus encouraged or I'm sorry, not Jesus. I'm getting to Jesus in a second. But the fact that James says, don't murmur against one another. Everybody say, no murmuring.
[00:07:00] Yeah. You know what that is like. No complaining, no whining.
[00:07:05] No whining about who's next to you or things that are going on. Your words are powerful. And Jesus, this is where Jesus comes in. He gives the same exact rebuke that James does in Matthew, chapter five, he tells people, don't swear by the temple, don't swear by heaven or swear by earth. Let your yes be yes, and let your no be no. How many of you have ever met the person who's always they're telling you something, it sounds outrageous. And they're like, I swear, dude, I swear, man. No, I promise. This is what that person I'm just going to tell you if that's you, that comes across like you're not trustworthy anybody, know what I'm talking about? How many of you know? I mean, I'm picturing like, elementary school kids. No, I swear, dude. My dad really is a professional baseball player. I don't believe you.
[00:07:55] I don't believe you. I actually did have a buddy whose dad was a professional baseball player.
[00:08:00] But you know what? He never had to swear about it. He's like, I've got the baseball card to prove it. And his dad was on a baseball card.
[00:08:08] Let your yes be yes, and let your no be no. And so Jesus, I mean, he deals with this in the Sermon on the Mount. I mentioned it earlier, but he says, listen, you don't need to pray vain, empty, open prayers. Don't pray so other people can hear you pray so your father in heaven hears you. And the way that you pray between you and him, god will reward it. He'll answer it. He'll show off publicly, openly. Your words are powerful. Matthew. In Matthew 77, again, this is the same message. This is the theme of Jesus message, how powerful your words are. He says, in Matthew 77, ask and it will be given to you.
[00:08:55] I know you know the rest of this passage, and you're waiting for me to quote the rest of it, but just ponder that phrase alone right now.
[00:09:02] Ask Jesus said and it will be given to you.
[00:09:08] What are you asking for?
[00:09:13] What do you go to your father and say, father, this is what I'm asking for.
[00:09:19] I'm telling you church, so much of our prayers would be answered and would shift if we would just learn to get specific with God. Lord, this is what I want, this is what I am asking for. And make sure you know the source of your prayer. There's power in the prayer of agreement. There's power when we pray corporately. That's why we do these things. However, your prayers are not directed to Pastor Jacob or the prayer worker that's here in the altar. It's not directed towards your spouse or your prayer partner. Your life group. Our prayers, if you want your prayers to be answered, need to be directed to our Father in heaven. That's how Jesus instructed us to pray. Pray our Father in heaven. And in Matthew 711 he said he's a good father and he gives good things to those who ask him.
[00:10:12] What are you asking the good Father for? What are you asking him for? Your words are powerful. Come on, say it again. My words are powerful.
[00:10:26] So you'll notice that in James, this text that deals with healing, it deals with freedom, it deals with forgiveness, so many things. You'll notice that for every need that is represented, there is also a word that is connected to it. Watch this in verse 13 again, this is James, chapter five. In verse 13, he said are you suffering?
[00:10:49] Pray.
[00:10:52] Are you suffering? Use your words to complain. No. Use your words to murmur. Use your words to whine no. Use your words to what? Pray.
[00:11:06] Are you suffering? Pray. Are you cheerful? Are you in a season of victory? Are you in a season of breakthrough? What does it say? Let him sing psalms. That literally means sing praise to the Lord. Give glory to God. Praise God for all that he is doing. Use your words to honor the Lord. Verse 14 are you sick? Well, here's what you need to do if you're sick, let him call. Those are words. Call for the elders of the church to anoint with oil. Are you one of the elders? Are you one of the leaders that's being called on? Guess what you do? You also use your words. You pray with faith. Are you seeing this? There's words, there's action connected to every single one of these. Have you sinned? Verse 16. Guess what? Confess your faults one to another. Use your words to say, Bro, I've blown it. Pray for me. Pray for me and you will be healed. Verse 16 pray effectively. Pray fervently that's feverishly in right relationship with God. It works.
[00:12:23] So this, by the way, this pray effectively, pray for. I'll spend a whole week probably just on that one phrase. But this is the reason I do not believe in unspoken prayer requests.
[00:12:35] I grew up Baptist church, and people, I don't know if they're embarrassed or they're ashamed or they really don't have faith for what God can do. And so they'd always, I have an unspoken prayer request. You put on that real suffering.
[00:12:49] I got an unspoken, like, okay, I don't know how to pray for that. I don't know how to pray for that. I will not don't come to me and say, Pastor, I have an unspoken prayer request.
[00:13:00] Then you're going to have some unspoken prayers.
[00:13:04] I don't know how to pray for that. I just don't know how to when people come to me for prayer, if anybody comes to me for prayer, I always ask the same exact thing. What are you believing for? What can we pray about? Why? Because I know that there's I know many of you and I know the needs that are in your life. But if you don't have faith to see God move and intervene on behalf I'm not going to waste my energy for somebody who doesn't want to pray, someone who doesn't want to believe I have an unspoken prayer request. Doesn't work. I love the fact that my kids, they were in a service recently. I won't tell you where or what they were doing, but the preacher gets up and he's like, let's pray. And everybody just, you ever been in that church? Let's pray.
[00:13:52] And like, the guy like, I don't know. Wait. My kids, like, they start like, sham and realize nobody's praying. And it's a weird thing. Why? Because it's the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man that avails much. And so we use our words. We use our words. Listen, do you know one of the big reasons I could just spend all day on this one idea right here? You want to know why? There's a few reasons. I feel like it is important for us to speak and to release things. Don't you think God, on the day of creation, could have just imagined within his heart what he wanted to do and it would have come into being? No. He spoke things into creation. He spoke things into creation. And that's what you do when you begin to release faith about what your God. You gave me this word, and I'm going to release faith for this. Did you know something? Did you know that the devil does not know how to read your mind? Did you know that a lot of people don't know that. They think Satan can just read my mind. And so he knows when every thought pops in my brain. No, he does not. Satan cannot read your mind. So part of the reason I feel it's important to pray out loud is because not only am I making declarations, god knows god can read my mind. God knows what's in my heart. But I feel like it's important to open my mouth because I'm literally speaking things into creation. I'm taking things that are in the Spirit and I'm releasing them into the natural. And I want the devil to know, this is what I'm believing for. No Satan. You cannot have my brother any longer. He is coming back to the Lord. He's a prodigal who is coming home. Jesus hears it. It's being released into all creation. And I want the devil to know, your days are numbered over him. You cannot influence him and stir him any longer.
[00:15:42] So. Praise God. I better move on. So that's a preview of the sermon I'll preach in a couple of weeks. Hallelujah. We pray fervently. We pray effectively. And then in verse 17, it says just like it did with Elijah.
[00:15:57] Now, look at this verse right here. Can you bring it up in the Amplified?
[00:16:03] Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. You know what that means? Elijah was a normal person like you and like me.
[00:16:18] Elijah did not have some advantage that you and I don't have yet. Elijah. And for those who may not know Elijah, elijah is the guy who called down fire on the prophets of Baal. Elijah is the guy who outran horses in order to get back to the kingdom. Elijah was the one who saw food multiplied and was fed by ravens. I mean, this was a supernatural. Elijah was the guy who had Jezebel overthrown. She hit the ground, her blood hit the wall. Oh, it's awesome. That's Elijah. That's Elijah. And guess what? Elijah is like us.
[00:16:57] Look at what it says. It says Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, with the same physical, mental, and spiritual limitations and shortcomings. Just leave that there for a moment. So you say, well, he outran horses because he was an athlete. Oh, because he had something that no, he had the same physical limitations you and I do.
[00:17:20] The same physical limitations that you and I do. Well, you say, well, some people are just more inclined towards faith and believing. I'm a pessimist. He must have been an optimist and that's why he believed. No, he had the same mental limitations that you and I do. He wasn't smarter than you and I are. He wasn't more inclined towards faith than you and I are. He had the same limitations that we do. Well, he had an anointing on his life. He was anointed in a greater way than I am. So that's why I don't see miracles await. No, he had the same spiritual you see it? This is Bible, friend. He had the same spiritual limitations that you and I do. In fact, I would tell you on the authority of Scripture, two Corinthians, chapter three and five talks about how you and I have received a better covenant than what these guys were operating in. They would be endued with power. We read it a minute ago. The Spirit of God came on him and he did supernatural things guess what? We're operating in the same anointing Jesus did, where the Spirit comes and remains. If anybody has an advantage in the Spirit and in the realm of the anointing, it's you, not him.
[00:18:42] Shortcomings. Well, Pastor, I've just got a sinful background. You don't know how many mistakes I've made, friend. He had shortcomings too. He had shortcomings, too. Every limitation. You are not any more limited than what he was. But look at the key. And he prayed.
[00:19:05] He prayed.
[00:19:07] And we're going to learn. I want to pray prayers that worked just like Elijah did. So I want to look at his story for just a moment. And in fact, I'll give you the verses in a few key places. And here's some things. How many of you want to pray? Prayers that work. Hallelujah. Hopefully, all of us, we're going to move into a realm where I believe we're going to see greater prayers answered than we've ever seen in our walk with the Lord before. Now look at this.
[00:19:34] In One King 17, this is where his story in this episode of telling the rain to stop, drought to come, this is where this story begins. First King 17, one Elisha Elijah, the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, ahab was king, murderous king. As the Lord God of Israel lives before whom I stand, there will not be dew nor rain these years except at my word. Everybody say word. There will not be rain, there will not be dew except at my word. Well, where did that word come from? Well, it continues. One King 18 one. It says, It came to pass after many days. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, go present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the earth. You want to know where Elijah's confidence came from? Where? He'd go look at a king and tell him exactly what God was about to do.
[00:20:40] He had the word of the Lord.
[00:20:43] If you're taking notes, if you want to know what's the key to breakthrough, how can I pray? Prayers that work. How can I be like Elijah and see God move when I pray? First of all, you need to have the Word of the Lord.
[00:20:55] You need the word of the Lord. I want you to ask your neighbor, do you have the Word of the Lord?
[00:21:03] Come on, ask your other neighbor, do you have the Word of the Lord?
[00:21:07] Why was that thing set on 85? I don't know. I just got the Word of the Lord. We're going to turn the temperature down. I'm getting hot. I just thought I was, like, on fire for God or something.
[00:21:19] Elijah had the word of the Lord. You want to know Moses was intimidated by man?
[00:21:27] I want you to go tell Pharaoh, let my people go. I'm going to use you, Moses, to set captives free. And this is what he says I will put my words in your mouth, Moses. I will put my words in your mouth. You want to know where confidence comes from when you know the assignment that I'm under? The words that I'm releasing are not mine. They are his.
[00:21:52] That's where Moses got confident. You want to know where Jesus I mean, this is Jesus, by the way. He preached that whole Sermon on the Mount I was quoting just a minute ago. And at the end of it, the people the Bible says were in awe because he spoke as one having authority. Everyone say authority.
[00:22:12] You want to know where Jesus authority came from?
[00:22:16] I'm just looking at this, and I'm thinking, like, Jesus has authority all on his own. He's the Son of God. He's God in the flesh. But that's not even what Jesus said. John 1249. Jesus said, I don't speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it, what to say and how to say. The reason Jesus operated in the level of authority that he did is because he wasn't using his own words. It wasn't the wisdom of man. He wasn't taking some phariseeical teaching of the day and rehashing it. No. He had the words of his Father.
[00:22:58] Do you have the word of the Lord over the assignment that is on your life? Do you have the word of the Lord? And you may be saying now, Pastor Jacob, I don't hear the Word of the Lord like Elijah did. Well, let me give you a good place to begin.
[00:23:14] Do you have one of these? Do you have one of these? Because even what we talked about today, boy, there's a lot of solutions. Are you suffering? Hear the word of the Lord. Pray.
[00:23:29] Are you in victory today, friend? Hear the word of the Lord. Praise God.
[00:23:36] Are you sick? Hear the word of the Lord. Call for other people to pray for you. Are you a leader who's being called on to pray? Hear the word of the Lord. Pray with faith. Pray with faith. Are you struggling with sin? Hear the word of the Lord. Confess your faults to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. There's a lot of words in here. If I'm not hearing the audible voice of the Lord, if I don't have a sense in what God is asking me to do there's more than enough right here, friend. There is more than enough, but I'm telling you, I do not move if I don't hear the Word of the Lord.
[00:24:20] In fact, even recently, this is like, we've got this building program, and there's doors that are opening, and I'm like, God, I need a word. You ever been in that place, God?
[00:24:31] Do we do this or do we do that? And I'm praying, and I sent a prophet friend, Bro, pray for me. I need a word. And, you know, his word back to me. He gave me some direction and gave me some ideas and whatnot. But then he said this do the last thing that God asked you to do. Be faithful, to do what God has asked you to do. And friend, I cannot tell you how many times god has brought me right back around. People just get dissatisfied. I just don't feel like doing this anymore. I feel like I need to leave the church. A lot of feelings, no words from the Lord.
[00:25:06] And if God has not spoken to you, keep being faithful where he has asked you to serve, continue to be a blessing. Where he has asked you to be a blessing. Are you hearing me today? Do you have the word of the Lord? It's very, very important.
[00:25:24] Ask your neighbor, do you have the word of the Lord?
[00:25:28] Now, the second part we see in one Kings, 1841. So Elijah receives the word of the Lord and then watch what he does with this word. He goes to Ahab and he says, Ahab, go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain. He tells this king, this guy is not a faith filled man. This is a guy who's been chasing, killing prophets, married jezebel, this was a bad dude. But he goes with the word of the Lord, and he says, listen, go for a lunch break.
[00:26:03] I hear rain coming. In fact, I like, what the new living translation? I hear a mighty rainstorm coming.
[00:26:12] And if you know how this story is, there is not a rain cloud in the sky. There is not a drop of rain. But he says, I hear a mighty rainstorm coming. You know what that is? I want you to write this down. You want to know how you're going to have breakthrough like he did, how you're going to have prayers that are answered the way that he did. Number two, you need a faith vision.
[00:26:37] You will see with your eyes what you first see with your faith.
[00:26:45] He had the word of the Lord, and it was so real to him. He could hear it.
[00:26:52] He could hear it. I'm telling you, church. My wife, years before we came to this building, had a dream about what God was going to do here.
[00:27:05] She had a dream walking down this very hallway, seeing the stores, seeing the shops, seeing the people, seeing young people flocking to this place, seeing the way that our future sanctuary, exactly where it is, the way that it's laid out, the way the chairs are, the people who are served. She saw all of it, the word of the Lord.
[00:27:27] And I have taken that, you know, this membership thing that we do tonight. For the first hour, we just share our story and what God has done. And I have shared the word of the Lord so many times. Do you know it's become a vision. To me, it's become a faith. I can picture it with my own mind. I can hear the worship going on in that future worship space.
[00:27:49] It's a faith vision that I've grabbed hold of.
[00:27:54] Do you have faith visions?
[00:27:57] Do you have the word of the Lord? And has it become so real to you? I can feel it. I can hear it. I can see it. I can taste it even before I've laid hold of it.
[00:28:09] Oh, my.
[00:28:10] That is a faith vision. And let me just tell you guys, I'm going to warn you, because some of you I feel faith in this room right now. Some of you are grabbing hold of this, and you grab hold of faith visions. I'm telling you, you will have criticism and persecution and naysayers.
[00:28:32] I'm just telling if you live a comfortable, mediocre life and walk with God, you will probably have very few critics. But if you do things that are beyond expectation, you're believing for things that are absolutely insane, you will have critics all day. Well, brother, that's just not wisdom.
[00:28:58] I had a friend.
[00:29:01] We hadn't even closed on this building yet. We were holding our Bible study on the porch right up here around the corner. We had about 20 people. Jonathan would bring his battery powered lights.
[00:29:12] We'd have everybody who was attending to bring their own chairs because we didn't have chairs. None of the rooms were done. Nothing had AC. So we're meeting out here, and a friend comes to visit a friend. Everybody say, a friend friend comes to visit me, wants to spend some time in Hawaii, see what God's doing. And he tells me, Jake, I don't think this is a good idea, man.
[00:29:36] We were about to close on a 6 million between the building and this land, $6.2 million. And he's like, Bro, you've got 20 people here.
[00:29:45] This isn't a good idea. How much is your monthly mortgage going to be? About $17,000 a month. I think it's actually a little higher, not including utilities. I think it's about 22,000 a month. He's like, Bro, this is not a good idea.
[00:30:02] But I had the word of the Lord.
[00:30:05] I had the vision of the Lord.
[00:30:08] And even the people who were closest to me that I thought would be my cheerleaders and be so excited about what God was doing were the critics.
[00:30:18] I stand before you today, guys. I will tell you to do things that nobody else will, because this is the way that my mentor worked in my life. When we were wanting to launch out and do some outrageous vision, I had all my friends and all of my peers telling me, you know what, man?
[00:30:37] Keep your salary and do this thing on the side. Keep your salary over here. You got to take care of your family. You got to be a good provider. You got to do this and that. And I'm. Like, well, that sounds like a good idea. I sat down with Steve Hill and he said, I'll tell you to do things that nobody else will go for it. Give up everything and go for it. And this man saw revival, and so we've just learned we're going to give up everything and we're going to go for it. Yeah, we'll step in. And I can stand before you today, friend, and testify that year one in this church, we closed $40,000 in the black, no deficit. Hallelujah. Year two, we were 120,000 in the black. Last year, we were over almost $400,000 in the black. We've never had a financial deficit yet in this church.
[00:31:30] That's praiseworthy, that's worth thanking Jesus for.
[00:31:34] Hallelujah.
[00:31:36] And look at what God has done. You know that very often you take all our ministries, you realize that most weeks we're impacting more than a thousand souls just here in this location right here. But you'll always have critics. In fact, one of the things that I've been praying for, I shared this a couple of weeks ago in Mark 1028, the Bible says, Jesus said, there's no one that has left. House, sisters, father, mothers, wife, children, lands for the sake of the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses, brothers, sisters, mother, children land with persecution and in the age to come, eternal life. Just leave that right there for a second. I shared this a few weeks ago, how this just came into my heart. Jesus said that he would give a hundredfold, not just one day when you die and go to heaven. Like, I gave up a house, now I have a mansion in heaven. There is that. But he said, now, who will receive one hundredfold now in this time? Everyone say now. So I began to say, you know what? We gave up a $200,000 house, which is actually worth $300,000 now.
[00:32:51] We left a parsonage that we got to live in rent free. It was a five bedroom house with over two acres of land all around it. Hallelujah. We gave it up. And so I just began to do some calculations, like, God just with one house that we have sold 100 fold on, that would be $20 million now.
[00:33:11] And so I made a statement, and I'm going to say it again.
[00:33:15] I'm believing God for a $20 million house pastor. How dare you? No. Jesus. How dare you? He's the one who said, It not me.
[00:33:27] He said it, not me. This is not my idea. Now, in this but you know what happened? I shared that about a month ago. And immediately after service, there is a first year Bible school student who already knows everything about the Bible.
[00:33:41] And they said, that's not what that passage is talking about. And I'm like, well, then tell me what this is talking about. And their answer didn't make any sense. But look at what Jesus says. You will receive a hundredfold now in this time houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children what have you left behind? Lands with persecution.
[00:33:59] A faith vision will always draw persecution.
[00:34:02] You will always have haters and critics and cynics. That's not wisdom. That's outrageous. Oh, that's that prosperity stuff. That's name it, claim it. That's blabbit. Grab it.
[00:34:15] You'll have critics, friend.
[00:34:18] I know I've lost half of the room already, but some of you are you with me today? Are you with me?
[00:34:24] What have you left behind?
[00:34:26] Don't wait until you die and get to heaven.
[00:34:30] I mean, really don't wait until you die and get to heaven.
[00:34:35] No, now.
[00:34:38] I have an inheritance now, and I'm not going to wait till I get there to get it.
[00:34:46] I have an inheritance there too.
[00:34:50] So I'm praying for a hundredfold return and there will be know dr. Morocco had somebody, they were a couple years into the church and he felt led. We need to start another church on Molokai. It was the first extension. He shares this vision and somebody comes to him after the services and says, pastor, I just don't think we can continue with you on this journey. Your vision is too big.
[00:35:16] One church. That person will probably die today if they realize we're in 600 locations believing to double by 2025.
[00:35:26] Your vision's too big. One church. And you know what was hard? This person was a board member. This person was a top giver in their church. This person was on their prayer team and in their prayer meetings. I mean, this was not just like some first time guest that had come. No, this was a core member of the church in the first critic get on the Google reviews for King's cathedral and chapels.
[00:35:49] Every criticism you will see. Well, I heard that pastor lives in a mansion. I heard that pastor drives an escalade.
[00:35:58] For real. What people don't realize is Dr. Morocco's escalade is like 200,000 miles and it's 15 years old and it was given to him.
[00:36:08] People see that mansion. It's a conference center he lives in an apartment that's about as big as this corner over here that man is the biggest giver that I know in my life but he believes for outrageous things and there are persecutions that come with it what are you believing for? Do you have the word of the Lord? Do you have a faith vision? Now, here's the last part oh, this is so awesome. So he tells Ahab, go for a snack, happy hour. Just go hang out for a little bit. Rain's coming in. Verse 42 he says ahab went up to eat and drink and Elijah, I've been to Mount Carmel. I know where this is. Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel, he bowed down to the ground he put his face between his knees and said to his servant now go look towards the sea. So when he went up and he looked he said, There is nothing. And seven times he said, Go again. How many times?
[00:37:10] Seven times.
[00:37:13] If you want to have breakthrough like Elijah had breakthrough, if you want to have your prayers answered like Elijah did, he had no unfair advantage over you and I.
[00:37:23] But one thing he did that we all need to learn from is he persistently prayed and took action.
[00:37:32] If you're taking notes, I want you to write that. I feel like this right here is the key to why you have not had prayers answered. You have faith for it. I know what the Bible says about it.
[00:37:44] I have a vision for it, but I haven't received it yet. This is the key right here. Persistent prayer and action. Persistent prayer and action. I was reading this story last night. The Apostle Paul is preaching, and there's a paralyzed man who's sitting in the room, and he looks at the paralyzed man, and the Bible said he perceived he had faith to be healed.
[00:38:16] Let me ask you a question. You pause in the story right there. The man has faith. He's heard the word of the Lord.
[00:38:24] Has he been healed yet?
[00:38:26] No, he's not been healed yet.
[00:38:30] But then Paul looks at him and he says, stand on your feet, releasing the word of the Lord. And then the man took action. He stood to his feet, and the Bible says immediately his legs received strength. This is where people miss it. I know what the word says. I have faith for it. But listen, I can have money in my wallet, but unless I go to Willie's Hot Chicken and exchange my money for the food, I'm not receiving anything.
[00:39:05] And you can have faith all day, friend. You can know what's available to you. But until you begin to operate in it, release it, activate it, you will have nothing.
[00:39:21] So Elijah elijah prays and sends his servant nothing.
[00:39:32] So he prays again and sends his servant and nothing.
[00:39:38] Most I'm just telling you, most of us would have given up right there after a time or two.
[00:39:45] I've had storms that are coming. I remember being in Haiti, and there was a massive storm that was coming, and I lifted up my hands and I rebuked that storm, and nothing happened. And that storm came.
[00:40:02] But I've learned something about how God operates since that time.
[00:40:06] I think if I would have prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed, god would have shifted that storm.
[00:40:15] But I wasn't persistent.
[00:40:18] I wasn't persistent.
[00:40:21] I share it so often. What we're standing in right now is the fruit of persistent prayer in giving. This did not start three years ago when Pastor Jacob and Pastor Leah moved to the Big Island. No, this began 43 years ago, when Dr. Morocco and a group of faithful intercessors would stretch forth their hands towards a map of the world and say, god, give us churches all around the world. Now, we're going to receive an offering. And people would give persistent prayer and action with their heart.
[00:40:56] That's where this comes from.
[00:40:59] Are we persistent? In prayer? People talk about the miracles of Smith Wigglesworth. Oh, he's one of my heroes. Saw the dead raised, saw demons come out of people, saw blind eyes open. Radical miracles. But what many people don't realize is they'll talk about a woman who came out of a wheelchair. What they don't realize is he'd preach the Word, full of faith and then would spend 3 hours praying for one person till they came out of that chair.
[00:41:29] Persistent.
[00:41:30] You hear the crazy stories about demons coming out of people. I read one story about a lady who was on her deathbed for years. Got worse and worse and worse. And Wigglesworth went to her house every day with other prayer warriors, other intercessors, day after day after day after day after day after day. I think it was about two weeks daily they were praying. And then one day he said it felt as if Jesus himself stepped into the room and immediately that sickness lifted off of her. That spirit of death which was about to take her life lifted off of her and she was made whole.
[00:42:09] Are we persistent in prayer, Elijah?
[00:42:17] He's told the King he put his faith on the line. I hear the rain. I have the word of the Lord. It's time.
[00:42:27] There are people that are around observing what's about to happen. So he hits his knees and the Bible says he put his head between his knees and he said, father, I'm standing on Your Word.
[00:42:47] And you said, this is the time for the ending of the drought. I told the king I was faithful to release your word. And so I pray. Now send the rain. End this three and a half year drought today, father, show yourself faithful to fulfill Your Word. Let the rain clouds gather. Send forth rain, O Lord, that this will be broken in the name of God Almighty.
[00:43:18] He stands to his feet and he says, servant, servant, I want you to go.
[00:43:28] I want you to go out to where you can see the ocean. And I want you to see if you can see rain clouds gathering.
[00:43:36] Go.
[00:43:55] Did you see rain clouds?
[00:43:59] Righteous Father, I ask you to send rain upon this dry and thirsty land. We've had three years of drought, and I'm asking you now, Father, will you end the drought according to the Word? I was faithful to deliver before the King and before Your people. Will you now honor Your Word and send forth the rain? I ask it now in the name of Almighty God.
[00:44:41] I want you to go look again. If the rain is gathered, has the rain started to come?
[00:45:08] Okay.
[00:45:16] Father, I ask you to send rain.
[00:45:22] I ask you according to Your Word that you would open the heavens and you would pour out Your rain. I stand on your word. I was faithful to deliver your word. I hear the abundance of rain. I have faith, and I believe that you can do this. Father, open the heavens, break this drought, and send forth rain. Now I want you to go see if there's rain.
[00:46:22] Were there rain clouds?
[00:46:25] Okay, I'm not going to do it again.
[00:46:30] You guys are getting impatient with me. I'm only on my third prayer, Elijah prayed, Go check. And he prayed, Go check. And he prayed, Go check. And he prayed, Go check. And he prayed, Go check. And he prayed, Go check. And on the 7th time, you know what? He comes back the servant comes back saying, I see a cloud the size of a man's hand coming out of the water.
[00:47:05] That's not even a full answer, friend. I mean, it's just I see something.
[00:47:10] What is that?
[00:47:13] But it was enough. And he said, Go tell Ahab that he better get on his horse and get back to town because the storm is coming. And the Bible said, as Ahab began to go, the anointing of the Lord came upon him. He began to outrun the horses. And as they did, the clouds, the sky became dark with storm clouds, and it began to rain. The drought was over.
[00:47:39] Friend, what is the vision that God has given you? What are the things you have the Word of the Lord? You have a faith vision? Well, I prayed two whole times for that, and it just didn't happen.
[00:47:53] I shared it at the early morning prayer meeting for a whole week, and it didn't happen.
[00:47:59] Pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray. Seven times. What do you think it looked like when the children of Israel are walking around this wall doing nothing? What are they doing day after day after day after day after day after day after day?
[00:48:27] Persistence.
[00:48:29] Persistence.
[00:48:33] Are we going to be a people of persistent action? Are we going to be a people that don't give up when we pray twice? And God, you don't answer prayer. God, your word is not true. That prophet must have been false because I prayed for a whole week and I didn't see anything happen.
[00:48:54] Are you going to be persistent?
[00:48:57] I'm going to pray and I'm going to pray, and I'm going to pray and I'm going to pray and I'm going to pray and I'm going to pray, and I'm going to pray until I see the rainbow.
[00:49:40] Holy Spirit, I ask you to come I don't even want music right now. We did the first service, but it was awkward for Elijah to pray and to wait and to pray and to wait.
[00:50:21] Holy Spirit, I ask you to come now, and I ask you to do what only you can do.
[00:50:32] There are some here who need a word from the Lord, a timely word.
[00:50:38] Maybe it's the word of God that is going to come alive in our heart, and we're going to take you at Your word.
[00:50:47] We're not going to blame you, God, when We've not been persistent. We're not going to blame you, God, when the devil has sought opportunity. We're not going to blame You, God, for unanswered prayers and disappointment that we felt.
[00:51:06] There are some here today. You believe The Word, but you need it to come alive. It needs to become a faith vision in you. Oh, it's so real. I can see it. It's so real. I can hear it. It's so real. I can feel it.
[00:51:21] God, I'm asking for faith to arise in this house today.
[00:51:29] But, Lord, we all need the same kind of persistent action that Elijah had.
[00:51:38] Lord, most of us can sit here and say, I have a vision, and I know the word of The Lord, but we've not been persistent.
[00:51:50] Lord, we vow today that we will be persistent, that we will be persistent.
[00:52:02] I felt in the first service, and I feel like God wants to do this again in the second service that some here today you have lost your persistence because of disappointment.
[00:52:22] You prayed and nothing happened.
[00:52:27] You asked and you did not receive.
[00:52:31] You knocked, and the door did not open.
[00:52:35] You sought the Lord and you did not find and there has come into the hearts of some here today a disappointment where you just settled into this thing, where it's like, you know what?
[00:52:49] I love the Lord, but I'm not going to believe for radical things anymore.
[00:52:56] I'm not going to pray crazy prayers anymore.
[00:53:01] I'm not going to believe for outrageous things anymore. And it's because you've been disappointed.
[00:53:09] And I believe that today, even as we were praying in exchange for Heaviness, for joy, in exchange for sin, for righteousness, I believe that today what God can do is he can break and lift off of you disappointment and release to you a fresh measure of hope and a fresh measure of faith.
[00:53:31] If you're here and there's disappointment that has come into your heart and you say, god, I am giving you my disappointment, and I want to receive hope and faith once again. If that's you, I want you to stand to your feet all across this room right now.
[00:53:49] I'm shaking off hopelessness. I'm shaking off disappointment. I'm shaking off these moments, God, where I've blamed you, where I've been upset with you. I've been angry at you, God, but I recognize today you didn't fail me. O Lord, you are true to Your word.
[00:54:13] You are a God of more than enough. You are a God who is able. And if the enemy has come in and he struck your heart, if he's bruised you, we're going to put the blame right where it belongs. It's not God. He is a good Father who gives good gifts to his children.
[00:54:32] Oh, Jesus is so wonderful. He's so loving he's so kind and he wants to lavish you with his goodness.
[00:54:41] Oh, the Holy Ghost. He's here and he's willing and able to minister. There's not one aspect of God that is unkind or unwilling or unable to minister.
[00:54:53] Come on. If there's others that you're still in this place of disappointment or maybe even anger, I know I'm asking you to I'm just asking you to be honest before the Lord. If that's you, I want you to stand. I just feel like there's others. There's others.
[00:55:09] Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
[00:55:17] Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
[00:55:29] Lord, I'm asking that right now, all across this room that the refreshing and the healing of the Lord would begin to permeate this atmosphere.
[00:55:45] Lord, I thank you for the honesty and the transparency of all these who are standing. And Your word says that when we acknowledge our faults before other people, lord, we've had doubt and we've had unbelief and we've had weariness and we've had disappointment that has crept into our hearts. But, Lord, the fact that they're acknowledging this in front of other witnesses today, your word says your word says that when we acknowledge our faults before others and we pray for one another, you ayanama us, you heal us. That means that he restores you better than before. He restores you better than before. He restores you better than before. And that's what he's doing today, right now, all across this room. He's restoring you better than before. Not where you were before you were disappointed or hurt or let down or angry. No. He's bringing you to the strongest, most secure place of your faith and Your love that you've ever walked in in your life. Lord, I'm asking for the ayanama of the Lord to be released across this place. The restoration, the healing of the Lord to be released across this room right now, as they stood to acknowledge. I have been disappointed, but I'm not going to live in that disappointment any longer. Today, we're stepping into freedom. Today we're stepping into new measures of faith. In the mighty name of Jesus, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Can we just stand? Everybody stand all across this room.
[00:57:28] And maybe I will have the guitar, our worship team piano, if you guys would just come and just play. And we're going to pray about a couple of things here's.
[00:57:45] Church. I've been so excited about what God has been doing in this house for the last number of weeks. How many of you have sensed just an increase of his presence, his spirit? And it's been awesome. It's been awesome. It's been awesome.
[00:58:02] And I encouraged our leaders as we gathered this morning for prayer.
[00:58:13] One of my fathers in the faith, god used mightily in a revival that ran for over five years.
[00:58:20] And he shares because people asked Him, like God was moving. Everywhere you went, every nation, every church you went to, the power of God was breaking out. How did you know that that church was the place that you were to stay that would host the move of God.
[00:58:34] And their answer was simple.
[00:58:37] The people were ready to carry it. The people were ready to run with it. Didn't matter if they called a Monday night service. People would show up. They were hungry and they were ready.
[00:58:53] I don't know if you guys realize some of the words that have been released over this island and over this house in particular, but I believe now more than ever in my life, there truly is a mighty revival that is coming to this place.
[00:59:09] This truly will be a hub of revival. This will be a healing center in a deliverance center for the Lord. This will be a sending place for the Lord. And we will see, just as we did in the days of Titus Cohen, we will see entire islands. In fact, the word of the Lord was that Hawaii would be the first Christian state.
[00:59:30] You know, what that's going to require is going to require some people who are willing and ready to believe for some ridiculous, outrageous things. And there will be criticism. People will call you crazy. People will say you're being presumptuous and you're believing too much, and that's this and that, and it's going to happen.
[00:59:55] But God's going to give you the faith, and he's going to give you the persistence to be able to walk this thing out.
[01:00:05] I want to pray for something specifically.
[01:00:14] I've prayed that God would allow me to see the dead raised.
[01:00:21] I've prayed that I know that seems crazy to some of you. I have friends. The guy who taught me how to pray has seen multiple resurrections from the dead. One happened on the college campus where I went to Bible school. God can do that stuff.
[01:00:35] I believe it. I know what the Word says, and I have faith for it.
[01:00:40] And I was praying this is a year or two into my walk with the Lord. I was praying, God give me the opportunity to see someone raised from the dead.
[01:00:49] Well, the father of somebody in our church died, and they did the funeral at our church.
[01:00:58] They brought the body in for a visitation. All the family to come in, like on, I don't know, a Friday night or something. The service was going to be the next morning, and they left the body in the church that night.
[01:01:12] And I just thought, this is it.
[01:01:16] Remember sitting at dinner with my wife and her sister, and I think, Mariah, I don't think Gabriel was even born yet.
[01:01:25] And as I was sitting there at the dinner table, all I can think about is, there's a dead body in that sanctuary right across the parking lot.
[01:01:32] I gotta try. I gotta go. Okay? And so I did. So I did.
[01:01:37] I went into that sanctuary and there is the open Cassidy with this guy right here.
[01:01:43] Have you ever tried this? Has anybody ever tried this. I'm crazy, man. I'm crazy, okay? But I just believe God for stuff.
[01:01:54] So I tried praying every way that I saw it in the Bible. I didn't try the Elijah laid on the guy. I didn't try that one.
[01:02:03] But really, like, Jesus, jesus had a couple resurrection. Lazarus, come forth. So I called out for this guy. I don't even remember his name, actually. But, hey, come know. I tried praying. He raised a little girl from the dead, talitha Kumi, and wake up. Wake up. That's literally what he said. And she woke up. And I tried this a few different ways.
[01:02:30] I know you guys are waiting for some crazy thing. Like, there's the guy right there. It didn't happen. Reinhardt Bonkey had a guy who traveled around with him for a lot of years that got resurrected from the dead. In one of his meetings, he'd show people his death certificate. You want to see my death certificate? They brought his dead body to a Crusade meeting, pushed the coffin up against the stage, and the guy came to life during the service. This stuff happens, man. It's real. It's real.
[01:02:56] I didn't see that guy resurrected from the dead.
[01:03:00] I didn't see it.
[01:03:03] A couple weeks later, a friend of mine from high school died in a car accident, and I knew where the funeral was going to be.
[01:03:21] And I didn't go to the funeral because I was so disappointed in my prayer that failed. I didn't even want to put myself in the position to even try and release faith.
[01:03:43] And I carried that around for several years. I still remember the Sunday morning. This was in Illinois. I still remember the Sunday morning where I laid down that disappointment, and I said, God, would you give me another chance?
[01:04:03] And he will.
[01:04:05] And he will.
[01:04:09] God wasn't angry with me.
[01:04:12] God wasn't frustrated with me.
[01:04:16] But I tell you that faith to see the dead raised still burns in my heart.
[01:04:20] And there will be a time where you hear Pastor Jacob share a testimony. And I go, and I don't know how it's going to happen, but I will see the dead raised in my lifetime. I will see it.
[01:04:36] I want to pray today for anyone you feel like. I prayed. It didn't work, and so I stopped praying.
[01:04:45] I used to believe for this.
[01:04:48] I'm not praying for that anymore.
[01:04:51] I used to have faith for this, but I've given up praying on that.
[01:04:56] I want to pray for anybody who's in that place. You're where I was a few years ago, and you say, Lord, would you let me try again?
[01:05:12] I'll pray persistently this time.
[01:05:16] You gave me that business idea. You gave me the opportunity for a home. You gave me a prodigal that I was to pray for. You gave me a spouse. I was to contend for, a healing to contend for. And I wasn't persistent to do so. But Lord, I'm telling you today I will be.
[01:05:36] I will be.
