Sermon #S046 -
Something Within Me (Part 1)
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Pastor Snell: Today, we
need to go right into the word.
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I'm going to invite you to stand
to your feet as we go into the
teaching of God's word today.
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If you don't mind, go with
me and your bibles to Daniel
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Chapter Six and we'll begin
together at Verse number One as
we really spend some time
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talking about our
prayer-answering God. Daniel
Chapter Six and Verse number
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One. When you get there, say,
pastor, I'm here. Daniel Chapter
Six and Verse One, and we'll
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read a good little bit this
afternoon. Daniel Six and Verse
One again, when you get there,
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say, pastor, I'm here. The Bible
says, it pleases Darius to set
over the kingdom 120 satraps to
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be over the whole kingdom and
over these three governors of
whom Daniel was one, that the
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satraps might give account to
them so that the king would
suffer no loss. Then this Daniel
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distinguished himself above the
governors and the satraps
because, and what? Excellence
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spirit was in him and the king
gave thought to setting him over
the whole realm. So the
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governors and the satraps sought
to find some charge against
Daniel concerning the kingdom,
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but they could find no charge or
fault because he was faithful,
nor was there any error or fault
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found within him. Then these men
said, we shall not find any
charge against Daniel unless we
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find it against him concerning
the law of his God. So the
governors and the satraps
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thronged before the king and
said thus to him, King Darius
live forever. All the governors
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of the kingdom, the
administrators and the satraps,
the counselors and the advisors
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have consulted together to
establish a royal statute and
make a firm decree that whoever
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petitions any God or man, for
how long? 30 days except you, O
King shall be cast into the den
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of lions. Now, O King
established the decree and
signed the writing so that it
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cannot be changed according to
the law of the Meads and
Persians, which does not alter.
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Therefore, King Darius signed
the written decree. Now, when
Daniel knew that the writing was
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signed, he was not ignorant. He
knew what happened. He went home
in his upper room with his
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windows open, good Lord, toward
Jerusalem and he knelt down on
his knees three times that day
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and prayed and gave thanks
before his God as was his custom
since the early days. Then these
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men assembled and found Daniel
praying and making supplication
before his God and they went
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before the king and spoke
concerning the king's decree.
Have you not signed a decree
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that every man who petitions any
God or man within 30 days except
you, O King, shall be cast into
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the den of lions? And the king
answered and said, this thing is
true according to the law of the
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Meads and Persians, which does
not alter. So they answered and
said before the king that Daniel
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who is one of the captors from
Judah does not show due regard
for you, O King or the decree
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that you have signed, but makes
a petition three times a day.
And the king, when he heard
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these words, was greatly
displeased with himself and he
set his heart on Daniel to
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deliver him and he labored until
the going down of the sun to
deliver him. These men
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approached the king and said to
the king, no O King, that it is
the law of the meads and
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Persians. No decree or statute
with the king degrees may be
changed. Then the Bible says
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here in Verse 16, so the king
gave the command and they
brought Daniel and cast him into
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the den of lions. But the king
spoke saying to Daniel, your God
whom you serve continually, he,
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man, the king got some faith up
in here, he will deliver you.
Then a stone was brought and
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laid on the mouth of the den and
the king sealed it with his own
signet ring and with the signets
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of the Lords and the purpose
concerning Daniel might not be
changed. Now the king went to
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his palace and spent the night
fastly with no music. Musicians
were brought before him and also
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his sleep went from him. Then
the king arose very early in the
morning and went to haste to the
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den of lions. And when he came
to the den he cried out with a
lamenting voice to Daniel and
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the king spoke saying, Daniel,
Daniel, servant of the living
God, has your God whom you serve
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continually been able to deliver
you from the lions? Then Daniel
said it to the king, O King,
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live forever, my Gods and his
angel, and shut the lion's mouth
so that they have not hurt me
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because I was found innocent
before him and also, O King, I
have done no wrong before you.
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Second half of Verse 28:3 says,
so Daniel was taken up out of
the den and no injury whatsoever
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was found on him because he
believed in his God. But again,
for emphasis, I just want to
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read Verse Three, then Daniel
distinguished himself above the
governors and the satraps
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because an excellent spirit was
in him. Today's saints, for just
a little while, I want to talk
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to you under the subject,
Something Within Me. Let's pray
together. Father, in this little
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while, would you please say
much. Lord, would you attach
special anointing to the
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speaking and the hearing of this
word. Lord, I'm praying that you
would give me the strength to
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preach it, but then Lord give
the believers the courage to
hear and act on it. And so Lord,
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we need more than oration. We
need more than information.
Lord, we need a change. Lord,
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begin a change in us today and
continue it until the day of
Jesus Christ. Hide me in the
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shadows of the cross that Jesus
alone might be seen, heard, and
praised. Do this before we ask
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it in Jesus' name. Let those who
believe say together, Amen. And
amen. You may be seated in the
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house of the Lord. Again talking
the subject, Something Within
Me. Thank you. Friends, our text
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today is filled with some
immense implications for the
body of Christ. But the first
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thing Daniel teaches us is that
you don't have to choose between
being spiritual and being
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successful. You see, as Darius
the king of the Meads and the
Persians adjust to his new role,
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he chooses a government of
structure that somewhat
overgoverns the people so that
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he sets up 120 satraps on the
land, and above them are three
governors of whom Daniel is one.
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And the Bible says that Daniel
so distinguished himself above
them all that the king was about
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to set him over the entirety of
the land. But please, make a
note of what distinguished
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Daniel, what distinguished him
was not just a disciplined work
ethic. What distinguished him
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was not just punctuality
consistently, what distinguished
him was not his political
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connections. What distinguished
him was an intangible quality
that was inimitable by those who
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were around him. In other words,
it wasn't a behavior that he
demonstrated. There was just
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something within him that set
him apart. And the Bible says,
friends, that he had an
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excellent spirit within him, but
understand that these pagans or
unbelievers don't have the
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verbiage or the context to
recognize it wasn't just an
excellent spirit, but it was the
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Holy Spirit at work within him
and understand that this spirit
that Daniel received could not
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be gotten by burning sage in the
living room, praying to the
universe, our good works. This
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spirit can only be received when
you are in connection with the
living God of heaven. Now, to be
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clear, friends, Daniel was a
very sharp person. In fact,
Daniel One and Verse Four talks
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about how he and the three
Hebrew boys were good-looking,
how they were skilled with
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science, and how they had wisdom
in literature. But be clear, it
is not Daniel's abilities that
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set him apart. In other words,
your abilities can get you in
the pack, but it's your
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anointing that sets you apart
from the pack. It is your gifts
that might get your foot in the
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door, but it is your character
that opens up the door. It may
be your education that sets you
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apart on paper, but it's your
anointing that sets you apart in
real-time. It might be outer
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beauty that makes him ask you
out on a date, but it's that
something within you that makes
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him get down on one knee. And
the reason this is critical
because there is this sense
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amongst the people of God that
somehow we've got to blunt our
spirituality in order to get
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ahead. There is this feeling
that we've got to become a
little bit more common and
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world-like in order to prosper.
But because we don't believe
that our steps have been ordered
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by God, sometimes we sacrifice
prosperity in the name of
popularity. You all not with me
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today? In other words, we
sacrifice our prosperity because
we believe the advantage is in
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blending to be like everyone
else. But I need you to know
that blending just makes you
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average. That blending makes you
fit in with the crowd. That
blending keeps you from God's
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best. In fact, some of us are so
messed up that we think our
success is tied to being a
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kappa, a lambda, or a delta, but
your success is tied to knowing
the alpha and the omega. There
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are some that feel like we've
got to curse like the men on the
loading dock, that we've got to
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gossip with the petty in order
to be down, that we've got to
drink at happy hour in order to
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be accepted, that we've got to
step on others in order to get
ahead. But what sets Daniel
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apart is not that he reflects
the culture, but what sets him
apart is that he is different
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than the culture. And see, what
I need the modern church to get
back to is we've got to get used
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to a little awkwardness. And in
other words, friends of mine, I
need you to understand that you
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never sacrifice prosperity for
the sake of popularity. Are
y'all with the pastor today? In
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other words, I'm not telling you
to be awkward, I'm not telling
you to be weird, but how many of
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us know that if you are like
Jesus, it's just going to make
you different than everybody
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else in your circle? And what
I'm saying to somebody today is
that you'll never get
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comfortable in that awkwardness
until you embrace your Christ's
likeness. Are you all with me
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today? In other words, friends
of mine, you ain't got to try to
be different, just be like Jesus
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and it's going to make you
different. In other words, I
need you to get that on the job
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when their conversation is
filled with curses and
profanities, it's going to get
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awkward when they notice that
your speech is a little
different. In other words, when
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they get hammered and baked and
they notice you don't move like
that, it's going to get a little
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bit awkward. When they begin to
get petty and tear folk down and
you don't participate, it's
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going to get a little bit
awkward. When the men start
passing around pornographic text
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and you don't reply, it's going
to get a little bit awkward. And
what I'm saying to somebody
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today is that just like it was
for Daniel, he did not have
their friendship, he didn't have
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their admiration, but guess
what? He had their respect and
he prioritized his witness above
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their friendship. Are you all
with the pastor today? And see,
I need you to know that there
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was just something within Daniel
that moved him ahead of his
peers. In other words, the
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spirit of God, with being Daniel
in such a way that whenever
there were complexities and
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conundrums, the spirit would
give Daniel the answer to the
problem. That whenever they
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tried to communicate the same
thought, the spirit would teach
Daniel exactly how it needed to
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be said. When they worked on a
group project, the rest of the
group would work seven days a
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week. But Daniel would take the
seventh day off and come in
Monday morning with the answer
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to the problem. And see, I need
somebody to understand that the
Holy Spirit doesn't just fill
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you in church, but the Holy
Spirit sets you apart on your
job. The Holy Spirit anoints you
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in your school. I need you to
know the Holy Ghost is your
superpower. In other words, I
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need somebody to know that the
Spirit does not just aid
preachers, but is there anybody
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that knows the spirit aids
teachers, it aids doctors, it
aids contractors. Look at your
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Bible. You realize that Samson
became like any other man as
soon as the spirit departed from
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him. That David was like any
other shepherd until our Samuel
anointed him and the spirit came
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upon him. That Joseph was like
any other prisoner until the
spirit began to set him apart.
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And what I need somebody to
understand today is that your
advantage is not in what's on
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you. It's not in who's around
you. It's not in who you know.
There's just got to be something
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within you that sets you apart
as a child of the most high God.
Are you hearing me today,
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Friends? And so as we move into
this text, I need you to know
that the second thing that this
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word teaches us today is that
sometimes your strength is going
to be seen in what the enemy
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attacks. Okay. So I need you to
get that, these other governors
and satraps, they are enraged by
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the king's decision. One because
of personal jealousy. They big
mad because they were not
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chosen. But understand they are
also mad because Daniel is not
one of them. He is a holdover
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from the previous regime and
also he is different in race and
also in religious practice. Are
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you all hearing me today? And I
need you to get, man, that Satan
literally inspires them with a
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plan that is destined to succeed
apart from divine intervention.
In other words, they've got a
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plan to execute Daniel, but
they've got a sinister
contingency that we don't often
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take note of. In other words,
plan A is to execute Daniel, but
plan B is to disconnect Daniel.
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In other words, I need you to
get that the men's goal is to
get rid of Daniel, but Satan's
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goal is to weaken and discredit
Daniel. In other words, if they
can't get rid of him, their next
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goal is to disconnect him and to
get him to stop praying for 30
days. In other words, the devil
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knows that if he can get Daniel
to stop praying for 30 days,
guess what? His morality is
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going to weaken. His decisions
are going to go bad. His work is
going to stop prospering,
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mistakes are going to be made
and it's going to expose Daniel
in such a way that the king will
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recognize that he made a
mistake. And see, there are some
of us that still have not gotten
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the nature of the plan. See the
men, they're haters. They just
want to kill him. But Satan's
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goal is to discredit him and
cause him to be lost. Are you
all with me today? And see, the
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reason this is critical is I
need you to know the destruction
of any powerful habit begins
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with the temporary suspension of
that habit. In other words, he
knows that if he can disrupt
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Daniel's prayer rhythm for 30
days, he is going to have a hard
time getting back into rhythm.
00:20:25.32\00:20:36.50
Are you all hearing me today?
Anybody know that if you work
out every day and you go 30 days
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without working out, it's going
to be hard to regain that
rhythm. Am I telling the truth?
00:20:42.87\00:20:49.41
That if you go 30 days without
reading or study, it's going to
be hard to regain that rhythm.
00:20:49.44\00:20:55.62
And the reason we struggle to
stay consistently in prayer is
because the enemy so
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consistently disrupts our
rhythm. And what I've got to
pause to tell somebody today is
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that the person the devil fears
most is not just the man or
woman behind a pulpit. It's not
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the person in a choir loft. It's
not the person sitting in a pew,
but the one he fears the most is
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the one that can be found
consistently calling on the name
of Jehovah. Are you all hearing
00:21:22.94\00:21:29.35
me today? Listen, great quote
here from the book, Christ
Triumphant. I want you to see,
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man, the power that is too often
forfeited by a dereliction of
prayer. I need you to know,
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watch this, satan cannot endure
to have his powerful rival Jesus
appeal to for he fears and
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trembles before his strength and
majesty. Watch this, at the
sound of fervent prayer, satan's
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whole host trembles. And when
angels all-powerful, clothed
with an armory of heaven come to
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the help of the faint and
pursued soul, Satan and his
hosts fall back knowing that
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their battle is lost. Oh, you
all didn't catch that church? Oh
God. Look, it literally says
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that Satan trembles at the sound
of fervent prayers. See, some of
us don't realize that your
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prayers give the devil
post-traumatic stress disorder
so that when you start praying,
00:22:15.46\00:22:21.97
the devil starts sweating. His
hands start tripling. He starts
glitching because it awakens
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repressed memories of what
happens when the people of God
pray. He starts remembering what
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happens when Paul and Silas
prayed in the midnight hour. He
begins to remember what happens
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when you call on the name of the
Lord last. And what I'm saying
is, instead of you walking
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around, talking about how the
devil got his foot on your neck
and how strong he is, you just
00:22:47.60\00:22:54.37
need to connect with your source
and call on the name of the...
Oh, Lord, you all are not
00:22:54.40\00:23:01.64
hearing me today. And I need you
to get that he doesn't tremble
at ceremonial prayers. He
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trembles at fervent prayers. He
doesn't tremble at rehearsed
prayers. He trembles at fervent
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prayers. He doesn't tremble at
your mama's prayers. He trembles
when you call on the name of the
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Lord. And when I'm saying to
somebody today is your prayers
got to stop being so pretty,
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they got to stop being so well
spoken. They got to stop
sounding so good. Sometimes you
00:23:28.54\00:23:36.51
got to pray with some broken
English. Sometimes there ought
to be some sweat on your brow.
00:23:36.54\00:23:42.12
Sometimes you ought not be on
your knees, but you ought to be
on your face. Who am I preaching
00:23:42.15\00:23:49.19
to today? You got to get between
the porch and the altar before
you call on the name of the
00:23:49.22\00:23:55.40
Lord. And see, I need us to
understand that your strength is
going to be seen in what the
00:23:55.43\00:24:00.34
devil opposes. That's why the
most challenging part of your
day in many ways is going to be
00:24:00.37\00:24:07.34
two things. It's going to be
eating right and praying
consistently. Do I got at least
00:24:07.38\00:24:15.05
one cousin in the church today?
And see, a part of praying
consistently why is it going to
00:24:15.08\00:24:23.29
be hard? One is because of
falling nature. It's going to be
hard because my nature is going
00:24:23.32\00:24:34.74
to shrink from the things of the
spirit. My nature is going to
withdraw from the things of God.
00:24:34.77\00:24:43.18
But I need you to know also that
there is also going to be a
circumstantial attack on the
00:24:43.21\00:24:49.32
time you commit to pray. Am I
the only one that whenever it's
time to pray, all kind of stuff
00:24:49.35\00:24:56.96
start popping off all over your
life? Am I talking to anybody
today? Ain't it crazy how man,
00:24:56.99\00:25:02.43
don't nothing bad happen when
it's time for you to get on your
Sega? Don't nothing bad happen
00:25:02.46\00:25:08.64
when it's time to go to
Dillard's. Ain't no opposition
when it's time for you to watch
00:25:08.67\00:25:19.78
TV. But man, try to get down on
your knees, and the phone start
ringing, babies start crying,
00:25:19.81\00:25:29.36
roof start leaking, car start
explosion. All kind of stuff
happens when it's time to pray.
00:25:29.39\00:25:35.16
And I need you to know that your
opposition is the proof of where
your strength is at. And it's
00:25:35.20\00:25:40.40
crazy because in the field of
war, one of the things that
happens is that when they want
00:25:40.44\00:25:46.17
to cripple a certain country,
they attack the source of their
strength. So that even in this
00:25:46.21\00:25:53.21
war crew against Ukraine, one of
the things Russia does is they
bomb the power grids and the
00:25:53.25\00:26:04.76
plants or certain countries in
the Middle East, what they'll do
is they'll destroy the oil
00:26:04.79\00:26:12.70
fields. And the reason they
burned the oil fields is because
they don't want them to have
00:26:12.73\00:26:17.57
access to the oil. They want the
oil flow to cease so that they
don't have the power to re... oh
00:26:17.61\00:28:06.01
you all not with me. How many of
must know that the devil wants
to attack your oil supply so
00:28:06.05\00:28:30.47
that your anointing does not
flow and you can't respond to
the wiles of the devil? Are you
00:28:30.51\00:28:45.52