#S064 - Prayer Changes
More Than Things (Part2)
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Welcome to The Breath of Life
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Television Ministries broadcast
with Pastor Debleaire Snell.
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In today's episode,
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Pastor Snell will continue
part two of the powerful message
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titled Prayer
Changes More Than Things.
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Now let's go deeper
into the word of God.
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the Bible lets us know
that when he first started
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the praying that Nehemiah
was a weeping, angry heaving
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bucket of tears that his
soul was disquieted with in him
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when he found out that the walls
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had been broken
down and that the gates
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had been burned with fire.
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But he literally says
that as he prays, his faith
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begins to swell, his courage
begins to increase that. Mr.
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Long petition forms in his mind.
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In other words, man,
we waiting for strength
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to get into the secret place.
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But I need you to know
when you go into the secret.
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Do I have seven or
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eight folk that's ever going
weak into the secret place?
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You didn't have
strength when you went in,
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but man had something on
you that when you came out,
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it caused the forces
of hell to fall back off
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a child of God.
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And see, the
reason this is critical
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is because Nehemiah does
not go into the prayer closet
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man with this rotund faith
and these huge convictions.
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I need you to get
that there is a process
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that takes place
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that the more he prays,
the more his courage begins
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to develop, the more
his strength is maintained.
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See, I need somebody to
understand that strength
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is not a
prerequisite for prayer.
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Strength, the result of prayer.
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See, we've created unwittingly
this faulty narrative
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that says, Man, only the
strong have the ability to pray.
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But the reason
somebody gets strong is not
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because they had the
ability before they prayed,
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but they got the ability.
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Once they begin the habit of
calling on the name of the Lord.
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See, see some of us, our
problem is we try to preach,
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treat prayer like some
people treat going to the gym.
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You know how like
sometimes you don't really
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want to go in the gym
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because you see all these
people already in great shape.
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And so there's
almost a part of you
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that says, I
need to get in shape
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just so I can go to the gym.
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But you don't get in
shape to go to the gym.
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You get in shape
by going to the gym.
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And the reason those
are in the gym are in shape.
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It's because they go, Tell
me, tell y'all not hear me.
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Like, in other words, you
don't get strong to go to God.
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You get strong by going to God.
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He is your
strength and your portion.
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And see, I want to
talk to that soul today
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that feels like
you're too weak to pray,
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that you're too
meager to be able
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to pray that you don't have.
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The courage to be able to pray.
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I need somebody to understand
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that you've got
to get to a place
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where you pray in
a principled fashion.
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And when you pray
in a principled way,
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it means that I am going to
summon a strength from within.
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I'm not going to wait for a
feeling that comes from without.
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How many of us know
that if you're waiting
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on a feeling to start praying,
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okay, I'm not
going to keep it real.
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Me today.
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How many of us can keep
it real and just say that
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most days you
don't feel like praying?
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yeah, Y'all not
going to be honest.
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I care.
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I'm gonna tell you, I'm
the pastor and I can admit
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that I don't
wake up in the morning
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and angels don't
fill up my bedroom.
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A light does not
sign from heaven.
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I do not hear angelic symphony
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there days where I'm tempted
to fall asleep when I pray.
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There are some times when
my mind wanders, when I pray.
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But what I have to do as
I have to grab my thoughts
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and I have to secure my spirit
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and I have to
pray, pass my feelings.
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I can't wait on those feelings.
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I hear what I'm saying, friends.
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So you got to pray
regardless of the circumstance,
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and you'll find
strength in the secret.
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And let me just say to somebody
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who's still
wrestling with this idea,
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because you're saying, Man,
I don't have strength to pray.
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I don't have the mind to. Pray.
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See, it's because you
have a lone interpretation
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of what strength looks like.
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How many of us understand
that the strength to pray
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is found in the
burden you carry?
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See, you
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thought the burden
was taking away strength?
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No, but your burden
is actually the strength
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that you need to
settle in the secret
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place and call on
the name of the Lord.
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In other words, the
strength to pray for your kids
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is in the burden
you have for your kids.
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The strength you pray for
your marriage is in the burden
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you have for your marriage,
the strength to pray for Oakwood
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is in the burden
you have for all good.
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The strength to pray for
the sick is found in your burden
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for the sick and.
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Other words,
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you don't have to wait for
it to come like a cool breeze.
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But wherever you have burdened
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you find access
to God in prayer.
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In other words, your
burden ought not push
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you away from God.
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They actually
usher you to the throne.
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Y'all hear what I'm
saying, France And see.
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This is why friends IV
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need us to know that
even when you don't feel it,
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you got to pray.
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When you don't
see nothing happening,
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you still got to pray.
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When you don't see no momentum,
you still got a call on
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the name of the Lord.
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Because, see,
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I need you to know that
when you don't, you forfeit
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one of the most
powerful promises.
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And Philippians Chapter
four when it says Be anxious
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for nothing
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but in everything,
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make your Thanksgiving.
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Let your request
be made known unto God
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and the peace
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that passes all understand
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will guard your heart
and your mind through Christ.
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Jesus wants this church.
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I need you to
realize that before God
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things God changes you.
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He changes your
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disposition, He
changes your spirit.
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He replaces your
distress with peace.
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He your chaos with order
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before he changes
stuff outside of you.
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He's got to make a
change inside of you.
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Now Notice what the promise is.
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Because I need you to
know that God takes a while
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to change things.
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But you know
what can be changed?
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As soon as you
get off your knees,
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your spirit can be changed,
your soul can can be secured.
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You can have the peace of God.
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that the word says is so great
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that it passes
human understanding,
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so that when you go
through, you go through
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and you don't respond like
folks think you are to respond.
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They thought you were
going to be out of your mind.
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They thought you wouldn't
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make it through
what you've gone through.
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They anticipated your
collapse and your demise.
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But when they see
you walking around
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and your head is held high
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and you're wrapped
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tight in your mind and
you're not a bucket of tears,
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they can't explain it.
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They think you're getting drunk.
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That's your own Prozac.
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That's in denial.
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It's just the peace of God
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that is securing me
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in the face of adversity
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and see something.
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One of the things
I say all the time.
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I need you to understand that
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prayer and peace play
on the sea salt together.
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yeah, I missed it.
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So the Bible
says the more I pray,
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the more peace
I'm going to have.
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You'll know when
you're on the seesaw.
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When you mess down on one side,
it raises up the other side.
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So the deeper I go
down in prayer, guess what?
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The more my piece
begins to increase.
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So the more you go down.
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y'all not hear me, the
more your peace goes up.
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But the more I stand up,
the more my peace goes down.
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And I'm looking for a
church who's going to stay down
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on your knees so
that your peace can go up,
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your strength can go
up, your help can increase.
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It's like the old song
say, Is this hard to stumble
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when you're on your knees?
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And y'all hear
me today, friends.
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Second thing I
want to say quickly
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is that things should not change
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faster than you do.
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Prayer changes things,
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but those things
should not change
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faster than the one trait.
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All right.
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Have you noticed that Nehemiah
Prayer is actually filled
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with more
repentance than requesting?
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It is filled
with more contrition
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then the collecting of things.
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Are y'all catching
this today, friends,
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so that when you look at me
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and my prayer is not him coming
before God and saying, God,
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give me this and give me
that and give me the other
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I want, I want, I
need, I need this man.
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Prayer is actually fueled
with this sense of remorse
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where he literally
talks about how he said
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how my father's
house have sinned,
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how the generations
have sinned against you,
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how we've done wickedness, and
how we have your commend mix.
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And see, there is
a particular movement
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behind the way
that Nehemiah phrase,
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because Nehemiah understands
that it was their unwillingness
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to repent that was
the cause of the exile.
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And if they God
concludes the exile.
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But there is no
repentance, there is going to be
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a revisiting of the judgments
of Babylon by another nation.
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See the happiness
of this moment brings
00:11:06.83\00:11:10.10
Nehemiah to a place of
complete and utter despair.
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Understand that
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the reason Nehemiah
fuels this prayer repentance
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is because even if God changes
their outward circumstances
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without changing
their inner disposition,
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that disposition is gone.
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Will those same
circumstances back into reality
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so that if God changes
their financial posture
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and their legislative posture
and their political posture
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without amending their spiritual
posture, I need you to know
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life will have this
cyclical nature to it
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and instead of Babylon,
it's going to be somebody else.
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I don't know if we're
quite getting what Nehemiah
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prays this prayer of repentance
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and with weeping
and grief, it's crazy
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because they've been in exile
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for seventy years.
00:12:03.59\00:12:07.42
Okay,
00:12:07.49\00:12:09.46
So it's strange to me
00:12:09.46\00:12:11.16
why Nehemiah
breaks down and cries
00:12:11.16\00:12:14.83
when he hears that
the gates have been burned
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and the walls
have been torn down.
00:12:17.87\00:12:20.64
Like, in other words,
that should have been given.
00:12:20.64\00:12:23.41
They have been taken by siege
and taken from their country
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over 70 years ago.
00:12:27.68\00:12:29.11
Why is Nehemiah
00:12:29.11\00:12:30.38
now weeping about
broken walls and burned gates?
00:12:30.38\00:12:33.95
That should have
been an assumption.
00:12:34.12\00:12:35.85
That's what happens
00:12:35.85\00:12:36.99
whenever one country
absorbs another country.
00:12:36.99\00:12:40.69
But understand
there is something
00:12:40.86\00:12:42.79
about the visual
that is communicated that
00:12:42.79\00:12:45.79
communicates a more
deeper and powerful truth
00:12:45.79\00:12:48.86
because the broken down walls
and the burned gates are simply
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an outward reflection of
Israel's spiritual condition.
00:12:53.64\00:13:00.74
And Nehemiah
00:13:00.84\00:13:01.48
understands that if God
changes outward structures
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before he reveals the
inner structure of the people,
00:13:05.31\00:13:08.48
see this, see
this is the tension
00:13:08.58\00:13:10.65
that someone is living in
right now, in this moment.
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Because me you're frustrated
00:13:13.22\00:13:14.86
because prayer
hasn't changed things,
00:13:14.86\00:13:18.16
but you realize that
that thing was sent to change.
00:13:18.23\00:13:20.93
You wanting God to
change this uncomfortable thing.
00:13:20.93\00:13:29.50
But that uncomfortable thing
was sent to create a character
00:13:29.60\00:13:33.54
stirring and agitation
that was to bring about
00:13:33.58\00:13:37.48
a permanent change
in your soul disposition
00:13:37.48\00:13:42.45
and see God understands
this, that if God makes bad
00:13:42.52\00:13:46.19
circumstances good
without making bad character
00:13:46.22\00:13:50.16
good, then bad
character becomes permanent.
00:13:50.16\00:13:55.86
You see, sometimes
00:13:55.93\00:13:57.63
we mismanage the narrative.
00:13:57.63\00:14:02.00
We all quiet in church today.
00:14:02.10\00:14:04.61
don't at your watch.
00:14:04.61\00:14:05.37
Look at me. I'm
right here. Amen.
00:14:05.37\00:14:09.14
So this is one of the things I'm
00:14:09.24\00:14:10.75
starting to
wrestle with in my mind,
00:14:10.75\00:14:12.15
because we say, man,
that God takes a long time
00:14:12.15\00:14:16.55
to change things.
00:14:16.58\00:14:19.15
Well, some 46 says
that God is our refuge
00:14:19.15\00:14:21.92
and our strength, a very present
help in the time of trouble.
00:14:21.92\00:14:26.59
And I guess my question
is, does God take a long time
00:14:26.66\00:14:30.47
to change things or do we
just take a long time to change?
00:14:30.63\00:14:36.47
Is the issue how
slow God is to move
00:14:36.57\00:14:40.31
or is the issue how
slow we are to adjust
00:14:40.48\00:14:44.51
to the chastening
buffeting circumstances life
00:14:44.51\00:14:48.05
that are
designed to drive us back
00:14:48.22\00:14:53.05
in the direction of our Savior.
00:14:53.15\00:14:56.59
So sometimes God
00:14:56.66\00:14:58.29
doesn't change that
irritating circumstance
00:14:58.29\00:15:01.90
because he knows that
00:15:01.96\00:15:02.80
if he changes the
placement of the circumstance
00:15:03.03\00:15:05.37
before he changes
00:15:05.37\00:15:06.43
the placement of your character,
00:15:06.43\00:15:08.07
then your character is
going to get set in stone
00:15:08.07\00:15:11.04
or cemented in something
that has you on the outside of
00:15:11.04\00:15:14.64
the city looking in.
When The earth is made new
00:15:14.64\00:15:19.11
and this is why
00:15:19.18\00:15:19.81
Nehemiah says,
Man, we got to repent
00:15:20.05\00:15:23.52
now that we're repented ain't
done by the fancy church word,
00:15:23.62\00:15:25.85
it simply means a turn
around and turn away from it.
00:15:25.85\00:15:28.89
It means that we've got to turn
00:15:28.89\00:15:30.09
in the direction of Jesus Christ
00:15:30.09\00:15:32.43
and see this thing
I like about Nehemiah,
00:15:32.43\00:15:34.30
and this is why
I need the church
00:15:34.30\00:15:35.46
to really kind of
embrace the principle.
00:15:35.46\00:15:37.60
Notice that Nehemiah
didn't do a bunch of asking.
00:15:37.60\00:15:39.87
He didn't ask, Hit it, ask God
for bricks and straw and mortar.
00:15:39.87\00:15:43.44
He just says, Lord, we're sorry.
00:15:43.57\00:15:45.27
He just says, Lord, we
acknowledge what we have done
00:15:45.27\00:15:47.88
because Nehemiah
00:15:47.88\00:15:48.81
understands this, that
if they are able to repent,
00:15:48.94\00:15:52.15
they don't even have to ask God
for a whole lot of things. Why?
00:15:52.38\00:15:56.28
Because God's design for
them are greater than what
00:15:56.48\00:16:00.16
they can even ask for.
00:16:00.16\00:16:01.49
I think God said to them
00:16:01.49\00:16:03.36
in the Prophet
Jeremiah, he says, I've got
00:16:03.36\00:16:07.50
I have plans to prosper,
you know, give you a future
00:16:07.50\00:16:11.07
and a hope.
00:16:11.07\00:16:12.07
And see, the problem is we want
to request without repenting.
00:16:12.33\00:16:15.87
But if you repent, I need you
to know that God will give you
00:16:15.97\00:16:19.57
ten times more than
what you can ever request.
00:16:19.71\00:16:22.84
Is anybody realize that we
serve the God of a three in 320
00:16:23.04\00:16:27.05
that says now unto him
00:16:27.25\00:16:29.08
that is able to do
exceedingly and abundantly.
00:16:29.08\00:16:33.09
Above all, you can ask or
think, but you've got to put
00:16:33.19\00:16:36.76
some repent tents
before your requesting
00:16:36.76\00:16:44.77
Seems crazy because
people want to put the cart
00:16:44.83\00:16:46.74
before the horse
00:16:46.74\00:16:48.20
and wonder why we can't
make any motion or traction.
00:16:48.20\00:16:51.21
I mean, it's just like
I remember one time know
00:16:51.27\00:16:52.94
we were in the house and and,
you know, there was some food
00:16:52.94\00:16:55.71
had been in the fridge too long
00:16:55.71\00:16:56.91
and one of the kids put
it inside of the trash can.
00:16:56.91\00:16:59.78
And after a while it began to
give off a bad odor throughout.
00:16:59.78\00:17:02.52
The house.
00:17:02.52\00:17:03.18
And it's crazy because,
00:17:03.18\00:17:04.25
like once everybody
smelled the bad order,
00:17:04.25\00:17:06.55
you know what their
initial response was to
00:17:06.55\00:17:08.06
do was to get air freshener
00:17:08.06\00:17:11.83
and spread all over the house.
00:17:11.89\00:17:14.13
But how many of us understand
that air freshener only lasts
00:17:14.13\00:17:16.53
for a few minutes?
00:17:16.53\00:17:18.07
C, c c air freshener?
00:17:18.07\00:17:19.97
It won't kill stench.
00:17:19.97\00:17:22.64
It just mask it
for a little while
00:17:22.64\00:17:25.84
and see
00:17:25.91\00:17:26.37
those that make
requests without repentance.
00:17:26.91\00:17:29.64
All they do is mask the stench.
00:17:29.81\00:17:33.11
But God is saying to somebody,
You got to take out the trash
00:17:33.21\00:17:36.69
in your life.
00:17:36.69\00:17:38.22
You got to get rid of
the garbage and stop masking
00:17:38.22\00:17:42.29
the things that you
don't want to address
00:17:42.29\00:17:46.73
so that if God
changes your finances
00:17:46.80\00:17:50.10
without
addressing your stewardship,
00:17:50.17\00:17:53.17
he's just
masking the inevitable.
00:17:53.40\00:17:56.71
If God changes
your health status
00:17:56.77\00:17:59.71
without you changing
your health practices, it
00:17:59.71\00:18:05.18
we're just
masking the inevitable.
00:18:05.25\00:18:08.25
If God changes the
condition of the marriage,
00:18:08.38\00:18:11.02
if without changing your posture
and the way you talk down to
00:18:11.02\00:18:14.82
your spouse,
00:18:14.82\00:18:16.76
it is just a
masking of the inevitable.
00:18:16.76\00:18:20.36
And what I'm
saying to somebody today
00:18:20.46\00:18:22.20
is that God does not function
on the level of your image,
00:18:22.20\00:18:25.33
that God is functioning on
the level of your character.
00:18:25.47\00:18:28.47
So how many of us
00:18:28.54\00:18:29.70
see we're grateful that
we serve a God who saves,
00:18:29.70\00:18:35.58
but we don't rejoice
00:18:35.68\00:18:36.85
over the God who sanctifies sin.
00:18:36.85\00:18:40.68
We just want the God that
just say expunge is the record.
00:18:40.68\00:18:44.19
We just want the God
that wipes away the strain.
00:18:44.29\00:18:47.22
But I need a God that doesn't
just make me new in heaven.
00:18:47.22\00:18:51.99
I want a God
that's going to do a work
00:18:52.06\00:18:55.00
so powerful in me on
earth that what he says about me
00:18:55.00\00:19:00.60
in heaven becomes
true in my walk on earth.
00:19:00.60\00:19:04.44
So he doesn't just
say, I'm righteous up there,
00:19:04.54\00:19:07.38
but it can be said
about me as I walk down here.
00:19:07.38\00:19:10.75
But I need you to
know that character growth
00:19:10.81\00:19:13.48
will not always
be done voluntarily.
00:19:13.48\00:19:19.59
Come on and save in church.
00:19:19.69\00:19:22.16
God has to choose for us.
00:19:22.16\00:19:25.89
The That's why through Isaiah,
00:19:25.93\00:19:27.30
he says, I have chosen for
you the furnace of affliction,
00:19:27.30\00:19:32.80
man. I be like, God,
00:19:32.87\00:19:34.47
I wish I could grow men in
00:19:34.47\00:19:37.47
in a space of extreme comfort.
00:19:37.67\00:19:42.11
I wish character grew when you
just had millions in the bank.
00:19:42.21\00:19:45.11
Come on, Azamat.
00:19:45.11\00:19:46.61
I just wish, man, that
man, I became more prayerful.
00:19:46.61\00:19:48.92
The more nice things
people said about me.
00:19:48.92\00:19:51.55
I wish I became more diligent,
the more friends I have.
00:19:51.55\00:19:54.69
But how many of us
can tell the truth?
00:19:54.79\00:19:56.39
That's not where we grow,
00:19:56.39\00:19:59.39
right?
00:19:59.39\00:20:00.43
I love how you
looking at me right now.
00:20:00.43\00:20:01.73
I mean, come on.
00:20:01.73\00:20:03.00
Like it is when you are so
broke, you can't pay attention.
00:20:03.00\00:20:07.74
That's you.
00:20:07.80\00:20:08.20
Stop praying,
00:20:08.20\00:20:08.90
rehearse prayers, and you
start praying like Nehemiah.
00:20:09.30\00:20:12.67
It is
00:20:12.77\00:20:13.11
when your enemies seem like
they're going to overcome you,
00:20:13.98\00:20:16.11
that you begin seeking God with
a different of intentionality.
00:20:16.14\00:20:20.15
And see, I need you to know
that God will never allow you
00:20:20.32\00:20:23.25
to be swallowed up.
00:20:23.25\00:20:24.35
He will never allow
you to be overwhelmed.
00:20:24.35\00:20:26.59
He'll never allow you
to be burned by the fire.
00:20:26.59\00:20:29.22
But he's going
to tailor the fire.
00:20:29.22\00:20:31.19
He's going to tailor the heat
so that it removes the dross
00:20:31.19\00:20:34.30
and the impurities so
that it fixes in place
00:20:34.46\00:20:39.67
heavenly properties
00:20:39.73\00:20:41.67
that God is able
to use for His glory.
00:20:41.67\00:20:44.54
I hear me today, friends,
this is I'm almost done.
00:20:44.54\00:20:47.51
Nehemiah Chapter
versus eight through ten.
00:20:47.51\00:20:49.68
Look at with me real
quick Nehemiah one verse eight.
00:20:49.68\00:20:52.28
The word says
this Remember, I pray
00:20:52.28\00:20:56.89
the word that you
commended your servant Moses,
00:20:56.95\00:21:01.59
saying who?
00:21:01.66\00:21:04.66
Jesus
00:21:04.89\00:21:08.46
is so good.
00:21:08.53\00:21:10.23
Remember, I pray the
word that I commanded
00:21:10.23\00:21:12.33
your servant Moses,
saying, If you are unfaithful,
00:21:12.33\00:21:16.04
I will scatter
amongst the nations.
00:21:16.14\00:21:19.14
But if you return to me,
00:21:19.24\00:21:24.15
keep my
commandments and do them.
00:21:24.25\00:21:26.88
Those.
00:21:26.88\00:21:27.18
Some of you were cast out to the
farthest part of the heavens.
00:21:28.15\00:21:32.25
Are you all catching this church
00:21:32.32\00:21:36.32
yet? I will gather them
00:21:36.42\00:21:38.63
from there and will
bring them to the place
00:21:38.63\00:21:41.83
which I have
chosen as a dwelling
00:21:42.03\00:21:45.47
for my name.
00:21:45.57\00:21:49.80
Last thing I
need somebody to know
00:21:49.87\00:21:51.91
is that no matter
how far you get from God,
00:21:51.91\00:21:55.38
God always leaves the
light on for His people.
00:21:55.44\00:22:03.72
Chris, I read this
00:22:03.82\00:22:05.55
and my soul
almost exploded because.
00:22:05.55\00:22:10.19
What Nehemiah is
praying is the promise
00:22:10.19\00:22:14.00
that God made to
Moses and Deuteronomy 31.
00:22:14.00\00:22:18.33
And it shows something
powerful about God's grace.
00:22:18.57\00:22:23.34
That grace is never reactionary.
00:22:23.41\00:22:27.41
Grace is always preemptive.
00:22:27.51\00:22:32.71
So notice what God says.
00:22:32.78\00:22:34.62
He says literally,
that man, if you are stray,
00:22:34.62\00:22:39.45
he says, I'm gonna scatter you
00:22:39.52\00:22:41.82
to the furthest
parts of the earth.
00:22:41.82\00:22:44.83
But notice what he
says, that if you ever return
00:22:44.96\00:22:49.60
and keep my commandments, I'm
gonna leave the light of grace
00:22:49.66\00:22:54.57
on so that you can
always find your way home.
00:22:54.57\00:23:00.21
In other words, I
need somebody to understand
00:23:00.31\00:23:03.04
that the grace of God, it is
not a permissiveness of sand,
00:23:03.04\00:23:07.68
but it is God's acknowledgment
of your sinful nature.
00:23:07.92\00:23:11.82
It is an expression of
His great love, where God
00:23:11.92\00:23:15.42
says, I don't want you
to sin, but guess what?
00:23:15.42\00:23:18.53
I understand who you are.
00:23:18.53\00:23:20.76
I understand how fallen you
must be so that even when you do
00:23:20.76\00:23:28.30
know God,
00:23:28.40\00:23:30.04
He didn't say If you do it,
00:23:30.04\00:23:33.01
he says, When you do it,
00:23:33.01\00:23:35.34
I want you to know
that even before you sing,
00:23:35.34\00:23:39.08
before you stray,
00:23:39.18\00:23:40.92
I want you to know that
even when you get far from me,
00:23:40.92\00:23:44.25
and even when you
are using my breath
00:23:44.49\00:23:48.62
to do your dirt,
00:23:48.72\00:23:51.26
I want you to know that no
matter how far you get from me,
00:23:51.26\00:23:56.03
I'll always leave the light on
00:23:56.13\00:23:59.33
so that you can
find your way back home.
00:23:59.40\00:24:06.34
So it's just kind of like this.
00:24:06.41\00:24:08.01
Those of us have small kids.
00:24:08.01\00:24:09.08
I remember there'll be
times where you're on Sabbath.
00:24:09.14\00:24:11.75
You go to somebody's house,
00:24:11.75\00:24:13.11
and there be times
where I would have to make
00:24:13.11\00:24:14.42
two or three stops
when Sabbath afternoon.
00:24:14.42\00:24:16.38
And so if man, you
know, I would tell the kids,
00:24:16.38\00:24:18.89
you know, that that,
you know, if you go in here
00:24:18.89\00:24:21.09
and you know how you
have to do as a parent,
00:24:21.09\00:24:22.29
you got to you
got to threaten them,
00:24:22.29\00:24:25.66
you got to say act like
you got some sense, Come on.
00:24:25.73\00:24:28.53
Your parents ever told you,
act like you got home training.
00:24:28.53\00:24:31.30
Come on and say, man.
00:24:31.30\00:24:32.73
And I tell them, man, don't
you be out there in the backyard
00:24:32.73\00:24:35.40
don't you be
crawling all over the floor.
00:24:35.40\00:24:37.17
Don't get your
church clothes dirty.
00:24:37.17\00:24:38.97
Now, I give
them that instruction
00:24:38.97\00:24:41.28
and I expect them to do it.
00:24:41.28\00:24:43.21
But guess what?
00:24:43.21\00:24:43.98
You know, your kids.
00:24:43.98\00:24:46.78
So I know that if
I'm going to a house
00:24:46.78\00:24:49.05
where they're going to
be other kids, guess what?
00:24:49.05\00:24:51.62
I don't bring a
change of clothes
00:24:51.62\00:24:54.29
because I know
they don't get dirty.
00:24:54.29\00:24:56.52
Y'all missed it.
00:24:56.52\00:24:57.89
In other words, I'm not giving
them permission to get dirty,
00:24:57.89\00:25:01.43
but I just love them so
much that I can't take them
00:25:01.66\00:25:05.50
to the next place. Still soiled.
00:25:05.50\00:25:08.14
I got to put some
clean clothes over them
00:25:08.14\00:25:11.14
and cover their stains.
00:25:11.14\00:25:13.14
And what I'm saying
what John said, he says,
00:25:13.14\00:25:16.11
I write these
things that you do not sin.
00:25:16.11\00:25:19.21
But the good news
is that if any man says
00:25:19.41\00:25:22.35
we have an advocate with Father
Jesus Christ, the righteous,
00:25:22.35\00:25:29.69
and say, I need somebody to
understand that the grace of God
00:25:29.79\00:25:32.69
is never reactionary,
it is always preemptive.
00:25:32.69\00:25:36.16
So I need you to
understand that even Jesus
00:25:36.30\00:25:40.60
was not a reaction
00:25:40.67\00:25:43.44
to Adam. Sam,
00:25:43.44\00:25:48.24
After Adam and
Eve ate the fruit,
00:25:48.31\00:25:50.48
the father didn't say, Jesus,
what you want to do about it?
00:25:50.48\00:25:53.88
See, I need you to know
that the plan of salvation,
00:25:53.95\00:25:56.48
it was not a
reaction to man's lushness.
00:25:56.48\00:25:59.49
The plan of salvation was a
part of the original design.
00:25:59.55\00:26:04.06
The plan of
00:26:04.13\00:26:04.83
this salvation was laid
before the earth was framed.
00:26:05.23\00:26:08.66
Our gravity put in place.
00:26:08.66\00:26:10.47
It is why, when
John and Revelation 13
00:26:10.47\00:26:13.23
eight sees Jesus, he
says, Behold the lamb
00:26:13.23\00:26:17.47
that was slain from the
foundation of the Earth,
00:26:17.54\00:26:22.28
so that before he
created the world,
00:26:22.38\00:26:25.61
he created it a
plan of redemption.
00:26:25.71\00:26:28.92
Because grace is not a reaction.
00:26:29.02\00:26:33.15
It is preemptive.
00:26:33.22\00:26:35.32
And God always, always
has you in mind the same.
00:26:35.32\00:26:39.23
Can the Church say amen?
00:26:39.23\00:26:43.16
It's graduation season.
00:26:43.16\00:26:45.03
And I want to say congrats
to all of our recent graduates.
00:26:45.03\00:26:48.04
And though we're thankful
for how God is blessing you,
00:26:48.27\00:26:51.11
the only problem is that
we ask 18 or 19 year olds
00:26:51.11\00:26:54.94
to make decisions that
affect the rest of their lives.
00:26:55.01\00:26:58.71
That's why I'm
inviting you to join me for our
00:26:58.81\00:27:01.52
first ever breath
of life decision day.
00:27:01.52\00:27:04.52
It's a one day online
conference on July the seventh.
00:27:04.65\00:27:08.86
I'm going to be joined
by a number of individuals.
00:27:08.96\00:27:11.59
They're going to help
00:27:11.59\00:27:12.26
our young people make
decisions about their future.
00:27:12.69\00:27:15.50
We're going to be discussing
00:27:15.56\00:27:16.50
things like how to
discover your calling.
00:27:16.50\00:27:19.57
Doesn't HBCU put me
out of this advantage?
00:27:19.77\00:27:23.20
When do I need to pivot?
00:27:23.27\00:27:24.64
Changing schools are
majors or how to dream big.
00:27:24.64\00:27:29.61
It's going to be held on
July the seventh from 10 a.m.
00:27:29.71\00:27:32.65
to 2:00 PM.
00:27:32.65\00:27:34.18
It's a free conference,
00:27:34.18\00:27:35.68
but we don't just
want the kids to come.
00:27:35.68\00:27:37.62
We want the parents to come so
that we can make these decisions
00:27:37.62\00:27:41.42
with God's
tutelage as a village.
00:27:41.69\00:27:44.66
So again, that's going to be
July the seventh from 10 a.m.
00:27:44.86\00:27:47.73
to 2 p.m.
00:27:47.73\00:27:49.16
I need you to know it's going
to be a great time of learning.
00:27:49.16\00:27:51.63
You're going to be equipped.
00:27:51.63\00:27:52.83
You're going to
be given some tools
00:27:52.83\00:27:54.64
to make sure
00:27:54.64\00:27:55.20
that you land at the right place
00:27:55.34\00:27:57.07
and that you
make the right choice.
00:27:57.07\00:27:59.11
I look forward to seeing
you soon. On decision day.
00:27:59.11\00:28:06.05
(Breath Of Life Music)-
00:28:06.05\00:28:12.92