The Danger of Ritualistic Faith: Why Human Effort Cannot Save

• Saturated Event Recap 00:01:14 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the recent 'Saturated' event, highlighting the spiritual activities (singing, preaching, baptism) and statistics (20,000 attendees, 49 saved, 242 baptized) to establish context for the sermon.
• Healing and Anointing 00:02:16 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor announces the upcoming liturgical segment of prayer and anointing for healing, clarifying his role as a Bible believer rather than a faith healer.
• True vs. Fake Faith 00:03:37 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor distinguishes between 'fake faith' (believing without changing) and 'true faith' (faith that changes everything and molds one into the image of Christ).
• Worldly vs. Godly Wisdom 00:04:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts worldly wisdom ('I got this') with godly wisdom ('God, I need you'), emphasizing submission to God's authority.
• Abundant Life vs. Death 00:05:45 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that following Jesus leads to abundant life, while self-rule leads to death, framing the Christian journey as a choice between these two paths.
• Conviction vs. Condemnation 00:08:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor clarifies that conviction from the Spirit is God drawing believers closer to Him, whereas condemnation is feeling 'busted,' urging the congregation not to reject conviction.
• Patience in Sanctification 00:09:16 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor emphasizes patience as the first step in applying James' teachings, using the analogy of a farmer waiting for rain to illustrate God's timing in sanctification.
• Patience and Sanctification 00:10:38 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that God's promise of completion in Philippians 1:6 is a guarantee for effort, not an excuse to stop trying, using the analogy of a diet program or investment.
• Eternal Perspective vs. Temporary Circumstances 00:13:10 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor urges believers to 'establish their hearts in eternity' and fix their eyes on Jesus, warning against living as if the current world is permanent.
• The Danger of Grumbling 00:13:59 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor connects grumbling to a lack of eternal focus, illustrating how complaining about temporary issues (like a broken wagon wheel) ignores the greater inheritance awaiting believers.
• Suffering and God's Compassion 00:16:49 ▶️ 📄
  > Using the example of Job, the pastor argues that suffering is not a sign of God's absence but a means to draw believers closer to Him, demonstrating His compassion and mercy.
• Humility and Reliance on God 00:21:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor interprets James' command against swearing as a call to humility, suggesting that admitting 'I ain't got this' positions believers for God's mighty work.
• Earthly vs. Godly Wisdom 00:21:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts earthly wisdom ('I got this') with godly wisdom (admitting 'I ain't got this' and needing help).
• Oaths and Swearing 00:22:04 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that swearing is rooted in pride and that believers should let their yes be yes and no be no, relying on God's authority.
• Suffering and Prayer 00:24:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines suffering as life happening to us and instructs those who are suffering to pray, noting that prayer is the most powerful action.
• Anxiety and Peace 00:30:08 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes anxiety as being worried without a place to put it and offers the promise of God's peace guarding the heart and mind through prayer.
• Soul Sickness and Hope Deferred 00:32:49 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor expands 'sickness' to include emotional and spiritual states, such as hope deferred making the heart sick or feeling distant from God.
• Sickness and Suffering 00:32:30 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor expands the definition of sickness beyond physical illness to include heart, soul, mind, and strength, citing 'hope deferred makes the heart sick' as a biblical principle.
• Anointing with Oil 00:34:21 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor clarifies that the oil itself has no magical power; rather, the power lies in the blood of Jesus and the prayer of faith offered by the elders.
• Confession of Sin 00:36:04 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor urges the congregation to confess sins to one another, emphasizing that confession is necessary for healing and victory over sin, particularly addiction.
• Addiction as Demonic Oppression 00:36:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes addiction not merely as poor decision-making but as a 'demonic oppression' that requires spiritual intervention alongside practical steps.
• Sexual Sin 00:38:28 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor distinguishes sexual sin as being in a 'different category' because it sins against one's own body, urging specific confession for this type of sin.
• Catholic Theology Correction 00:38:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor corrects Catholic theology by stating that believers do not confess to *be* forgiven, but to walk in the freedom of forgiveness already accomplished by Jesus' blood.
• Barriers to Healing 00:39:18 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor identifies pride and fear as the two primary obstacles that prevent healing, defining fear as a demonic spirit rather than just a feeling.
• Elijah as an Example 00:41:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses Elijah to illustrate that God uses ordinary men with 'nature like ours,' including those who suffer from depression and anxiety, to perform miracles.
• The Holy Spirit and Pentecost 00:43:26 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references Acts chapter 2 to describe the presence of the Spirit of the Lord as a source of power and fire.
• Freedom in Christ 00:43:32 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that there is freedom available through the work of the Spirit.
• Faith and Possibility 00:43:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor encourages choosing to believe that if the tomb is empty, anything is possible.
• God's Miraculous Power 00:43:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor emphasizes that the efficacy of prayer lies in the nature of God as a miracle-working responder, not merely the act of praying.
• Prayer for Others 00:43:55 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor notes that believers sometimes need to pray on behalf of others who are sick or struggling.
• Community and Mutual Support 00:44:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor suggests coming in groups to combat loneliness and encourage one another to participate in prayer.

• Sermon Illustration 00:02:50 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about growing up in a Southern Baptist camp where they 'anointed biscuits with gravy' to humorously contrast his upbringing with the current practice of anointing with oil.
• Sermon Illustration 00:11:01 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses a hypothetical scenario of a 100% guaranteed investment that triples money to illustrate the certainty of God's work in sanctification, encouraging patience.
• Sermon Illustration 00:11:01 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses an analogy of a guaranteed diet program or investment to explain that God's promise of sanctification guarantees the effort is not in vain.
• Sermon Illustration 00:14:46 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts Charles Spurgeon's illustration of a peasant who inherits a kingdom but spends his final moments complaining about a broken wagon wheel instead of enjoying the kingdom awaiting him.
• Sermon Illustration 00:17:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor summarizes the story of Job, detailing how God allowed Satan to take Job's children, wealth, and health, yet Job remained steadfast, leading to a deeper understanding of God's sovereignty.
• Sermon Illustration 00:20:23 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references Hebrews 11, noting the 'hard left turn' from heroes who shut lions' mouths to those who were tortured and killed, illustrating that faith does not guarantee earthly comfort but eternal reward.
• Sermon Illustration 00:27:03 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal story about the fear of having a daughter, worrying he wouldn't have enough love to give her like his first child, only to realize God's love is inexhaustible.
• Sermon Illustration 00:26:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a king's daughter walking into the king's chamber at 3 a.m. to illustrate the bold access believers have to God through prayer.
• Sermon Illustration 00:37:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts a story about 'how it's done' animal attack videos where a bear eats a woman's face, using it as an analogy for how 'pet sins' can unexpectedly destroy a believer if not confessed and dealt with spiritually.
• Sermon Illustration 00:37:18 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares personal anecdotes about his children watching animal attack videos and the trainer's denial, illustrating the danger of ignoring obvious spiritual threats.

• Pastoral Charge 00:00:03 ▶️ 📄
  > Open Bibles to James chapter 5
• Pastoral Charge 00:03:01 ▶️ 📄
  > Actively practice the teachings of the Book of James
• Pastoral Charge 00:05:02 ▶️ 📄
  > Draw near to God daily
• Pastoral Charge 00:06:06 ▶️ 📄
  > Take steps of obedience to Jesus
• Pastoral Charge 00:08:53 ▶️ 📄
  > Accept and respond to the Holy Spirit's conviction
• Pastoral Charge 00:09:37 ▶️ 📄
  > Practice patience and trust in God's work during sanctification
• Pastoral Charge 00:11:55 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to write down the command to be patient as a primary takeaway.
• Pastoral Charge 00:22:55 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor urges the congregation to seek divine intervention and miracles from God rather than relying on their own efforts.
• Pastoral Charge 00:29:54 ▶️ 📄
  > Engage in spiritual warfare against internal demonic oppression and lies.
• Pastoral Charge 00:30:59 ▶️ 📄
  > Pray in response to personal trials and suffering.
• Pastoral Charge 00:35:41 ▶️ 📄
  > Physically turn to the neighbor and acknowledge that the biblical instruction is directed at them.
• Pastoral Charge 00:35:42 ▶️ 📄
  > Proceed to engage in the prayer and confession process.
• Pastoral Charge 00:44:05 ▶️ 📄
  > Verbally commit to accompanying another person to the prayer area to overcome loneliness and fear.
• Pastoral Charge 00:44:05 ▶️ 📄
  > Invite the neighbor to join in prayer.

[00:00:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:03] Amen and amen. How we doing, church? Good? If you've got your Bibles, and I hope you do, James chapter 5 is where we're going to be. We're at a bit of a crossroads today. You've heard it already. We're finishing up Saturated, and we're finishing up the book of James. Pretty incredible, all right? How many of you were at every day of Saturated? You made every single day. Praise God for you. This is going to be the best sermon you've ever heard. Not because of the delivery of the sermon, but because of the content of your heart, because the soil of your heart has been tilled up for the last five days.
[00:00:36] so that you will be able to receive the word of God.
[00:00:39] Now, if this is your first time here, you have picked a doozy to show up to.
[00:00:44] You see, as a part of what we were doing in Saturated is we really followed the narrative of Acts chapter two.
[00:00:50] And a bunch of cool stuff happens in Acts chapter two.
[00:00:53] That the disciples are doing what Jesus told them to do, that they're waiting in the upper room to receive the power that's only gonna come when the spirit of God comes upon them.
[00:01:01] And sure enough, the spirit of God descends on the disciples like tongues of fire and they speak in different tongues.
[00:01:08] And then there's songs sung and there's sermons preached and men and women get saved and people are baptized, amen?
[00:01:14] And that's what we did during Saturated.
[00:01:16] We sang and the Spirit of God fell upon us and we preached sermons and we baptized people.
[00:01:21] In fact, over 20,000 people attended live in person for Saturated.
[00:01:27] Over 20,000 people watched Saturated with us online.
[00:01:30] 49 people got saved and 242 got baptized during Saturated, right?
[00:01:34] Praise God.
[00:01:39] And what's very interesting is, I don't know if you know this, but after Acts chapter two comes Acts chapter three.
[00:01:45] Not a trick question.
[00:01:45] You always look at me like I'm, what is it, pastor?
[00:01:48] Three.
[00:01:49] When you get to Acts chapter three, guess what happens?
[00:01:52] After the tongues of fire, after sermons are sung, after men and women are saved, after sermons are preached, after people get baptized, you flip over and in the next chapter, miracles happen and somebody gets healed.
[00:02:06] And so the way we're gonna end our service today, according to James chapter five is you have walked into a healing service. We're going to, we're going to pray and we're going to anoint. If you ever show up here, okay, this is just a little
[00:02:16] 1122 hack. If you ever see a little oil up here and then buckle up buttercup, because in about 40 minutes, we're going to cast out demons. In about 40 minutes, we're going to pray for healing.
[00:02:28] In about 40 minutes, we're going to ask that marriages are restored and that life is given and that bodies are healed. And let me be clear, man, I'm not a faith healer. I'm just a Bible
[00:02:39] believer. And so, and look, and we didn't do the anointing with the whole thing when I was growing up. I was, I got saved at a Southern Baptist camp. We anointed biscuits with gravy. That's as far as
[00:02:50] we went with anointing. But we're just going to study what the book says. And just like we learned in James, we're not going to be merely hearers of the word and so deceives ourselves. We're just
[00:03:01] going to do what it says. Now, if this is your first time, again, welcome, but you're at the end of a 14 week study on the book of James. How many of you have loved the book of James? Yeah,
[00:03:14] me too, man. And I mean this as nice as possible. Okay. Ignore the look on my face when I say this, I'm not trying to be this rude, but I really don't care if it's entertained you. What I really care
[00:03:27] about has said the word changed you because that's what James is all about. You see, James says there's two kinds of faith. James says there's two kinds of faith. There's one kind of faith.
[00:03:37] that's a fake faith. It's not real faith. It's the kind of faith that says all the right things, that believes all the right things, but changes nothing. And he says that kind of faith is a
[00:03:48] worthless faith. It's a dead faith. It's faith without work, so it's dead. But then there's a true faith. And a true faith is that the faith that God gives to you changes everything. Not that you're perfect, but you're different. That you're being molded into the image and likeness
[00:04:05] of God's son, Jesus Christ.
[00:04:08] James also said that there's two kinds of wisdom.
[00:04:11] There's the world's wisdom, and then there's godly wisdom.
[00:04:14] The world's wisdom is simply summarized this way in our current culture.
[00:04:18] You do, you boo.
[00:04:20] That's the world's wisdom.
[00:04:21] That you are the center of your own universe, and whatever you determine about you is your truth.
[00:04:26] James would say your truth is dumb.
[00:04:28] There is no your truth.
[00:04:29] The truth is in a person.
[00:04:31] His name is Jesus Christ, and God's wisdom is when you realize I don't get to do it my way, I need to do it your way because you are the author of life and when I do life your way, things go better.
[00:04:42] That's what godly wisdom is.
[00:04:44] Godly wisdom is I don't got this.
[00:04:45] Worldly wisdom is I totally got this.
[00:04:48] Godly wisdom is that we say, God, I need you.
[00:04:51] We pray this, God, I need you.
[00:04:54] And then we get this unbelievable invitation from the almighty sovereign of the universe, the almighty, perfect, holy one of the universe.
[00:05:02] and he says if you will just draw near to me every single time I promise because he is a promise keeping God if you will draw near to me I will draw near to you that's what we'll be doing in
[00:05:15] the book of James that's what we've done in saturated now when you get to the end of James hopefully you feel kind of messed up anybody every week be like oh no I've got to change so many
[00:05:31] things in my life. You see, the reason that we're studying the book of James is because we're in this two-year discipleship journey called the 10-10 life, that the enemy, the thief, comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He's a thief, and what he wants to do is kill, steal, and destroy. That's
[00:05:45] all he wants to do. But Jesus is the good shepherd, and Jesus says, but I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly. The next thing he says is, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
[00:05:56] lays down his life for his sheep, so the abundant life is found in the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then he goes on to say, and my sheep, check this out, my sheep recognize my voice and
[00:06:06] follow my lead. Here's what this means. Every single time you hear, you recognize the voice of the good shepherd and take a step of obedience in the direction of the good shepherd, you're always traveling towards abundant life. And every single time you're the Lord of your own life and
[00:06:21] say, forget you, I do what I want. You're always traveling towards death. This is far beyond right and wrong. This is far beyond moral and immoral. This is about life and death. And so everything
[00:06:34] that we're preaching this year is under the banner of what does an abundant life look like.
[00:06:39] And so James gets very, very practical because James is like, you got all the feelings? Great.
[00:06:45] You got all the right beliefs? Great. But if you are not doing what the word says, then you don't actually believe. Listen, man, if James don't light your fire, it could be because your wood's wet. You understand? You people from Palatka, explain that to the
[00:07:01] Pontevedra people what we're talking about, okay? It's very convicting. Anybody else feel convicted after you studied the book of James? I mean, look, man, I'm preaching it. And I felt like every week I had to be like, Gretchen, I'm sorry. Children, I'm sorry. What do you mean? Well, it seems that
[00:07:19] I got to change everything about my life according to the book of James. I mean, I got to change my words because I'm careless with them. And with one wrong word, you can set your house on fire.
[00:07:30] It's clear I got anger issues.
[00:07:34] I gotta change the way I do money according to last week.
[00:07:37] Heck, some of you are thinking I gotta change my whole career.
[00:07:39] Definitely can't do retirement the way I thought I was gonna do retirement.
[00:07:42] I gotta quit comparing myself.
[00:07:45] In fact, James even changes the way we go through trials.
[00:07:49] James says, he has the audacity to say, take joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds.
[00:07:57] How many of you know it's kind of easy to look over your shoulder and see the reality of Romans 8, 28, that God is at work in all things for the good of those that love him
[00:08:04] and are called according to his purpose, that we can look in the rear view and make sense of how God uses it.
[00:08:09] James says what the true believer does is when they meet trial, oh, hey, trial, how are you?
[00:08:13] I'm looking forward to the joy that you're gonna bring into my life.
[00:08:17] Anybody do that?
[00:08:21] We look at this and we're like, oh, no, I gotta change everything.
[00:08:23] In fact, the easiest thing we did in the book of James is sponsor a compassion kid.
[00:08:28] Because you can just write a check for 40-something dollars and get them.
[00:08:30] You know what I mean?
[00:08:33] And so in regards to that, in regards to putting your faith to work, James has two concluding thoughts.
[00:08:40] He says, here's what James is going to leave us with.
[00:08:44] He's gonna say, all right, folks, if you have been convicted by the Spirit of God, there's a big difference between conviction and condemnation.
[00:08:53] Condemnation is you're busted.
[00:08:55] Conviction is that God would love you enough to draw you closer to him, and in that abiding, you'd look more like him.
[00:09:02] don't reject don't reject the conviction of the spirit of God in your life and so he says all right so here's what you're gonna need you're gonna need two things you're gonna need patience and you're gonna need a miraculous work of the Lord in order to put this thing into action
[00:09:16] you're gonna need patience and you're gonna need a miraculous work of the Lord so you go okay Lord I'm ready to get to work I'm ready to change my life what do I do the Lord says all right I'm
[00:09:26] glad you asked James tell him verse seven here we go number one be patient be patient therefore brothers until the coming of the Lord listen I rarely tell you to do this but look at me just
[00:09:37] okay if you feel the conviction of the spirit over all kind of things from the word okay just hold on just breathe in breathe out God says relax a little bit why he says because I got this
[00:09:50] I've got this do you remember we memorized this verse remember we studied Philippians feels like 19 years ago it was January and I asked you to memorize Philippians 1 6 and it says this I am
[00:10:03] confident of this that he who began a good work in me will bring it to completion in Christ Jesus that's what he's saying there is there like a thousand things in your life that need to change
[00:10:17] he's like yeah of course there is okay because you're a wretched black-hearted sinner and it's actually worse than you think the gap between you and glory is a long way away however can you just
[00:10:27] be patient because it is God who is at work in you the reason that you can be confident is because you didn't sign up for this this wasn't your idea God chose you and God adopted you and God paid for
[00:10:38] you and the good news about about Philippians 1 6 that I am confident of this that he who began a good work in me will bring it to completion that's not the kind of verse that tells us that we got
[00:10:49] we can stop trying because God's got this that's the kind of verse that tells us that we can try harder because God guarantees that the effort is not in vain imagine if you signed up for my diet
[00:11:01] program, and it worked every single time. We would all sign up for that. Obviously, it doesn't, but just pretend. What if I have an investment for you, and it was 100% guaranteed that you would triple your money? Would you not take that investment? This is what he is saying.
[00:11:18] Just relax. God is sanctifying you. I promise. Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Then he gives an example. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, there's a second time he mentions the word patient,
[00:11:36] until it receives the early and the late rains. Okay, here, it's like a farmer. Sanctification takes a minute, but it requires daily attention before you get the harvest. So he's saying, okay, you need to put your faith into action. There's some action steps you want to take.
[00:11:55] Write this down. Number one is be patient. Number one is be patient. And then every single one of they're like, okay, God, I got it. Number one, be patient. All right. What's number two? Ready for
[00:12:06] this? Number two, be patient. I'm not making this up. Verse eight, you also be patient. Do you see the irony here? Because God knows the human heart. All right, be patient. Oh, I got it. I got it
[00:12:24] faster than everybody else too. Are you proud of me? Okay, I got it. All right, what's next? And he goes, be patient. Three times in two verses, God has said to be patient. How many times do
[00:12:34] you think he told the world to let there be light do you think he had to say it over and over again do you have to say let it be light light i said light let there be like alexa listen you know
[00:12:45] what i'm saying no when he spoke everything obeyed were the only thing in creation that knew that doesn't do what he says the first time he says it and so three times now he has to tell his people
[00:12:56] be patient you also be patient establish your hearts for the coming of the lord is at hand Establish your hearts and quit thinking about now only.
[00:13:10] Establish your hearts in eternity.
[00:13:12] Establish your hearts in forever.
[00:13:14] Set your hearts on what is coming.
[00:13:16] You gotta get your eyes up off the horizon.
[00:13:19] See above the horizon.
[00:13:20] Fix your eyes on Jesus, who is the author and the perfecter of our life.
[00:13:25] He said, why are you acting like you're gonna live here forever and the things that you're going through in this world are the only thing that matter?
[00:13:31] In the twinkling of an eye, it's gonna seem like a distant dream one day when we get into his presence and so we have to quit living like we're going to live here forever we've got to start living as if eternity begins when we get our eyes on him amen so he says
[00:13:46] establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand verse 9 do not grumble against one another brothers so that you may not be judged behold the judge is standing at the door none of
[00:13:59] us know the day or hour not even Jesus but he is standing at the door just awaiting the moment where his father says, go get my kids and bring them home.
[00:14:07] And when we grumble, what we do is we totally get our eyes off of eternity and we get them fixed on people around us, on circumstances around us.
[00:14:16] This is why we complain and this is why we argue because all we are seeing is the thing that is happening right now.
[00:14:23] And James is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, man, be patient, be patient.
[00:14:26] God is at work in you, but he's not at work in you for just what's happening now.
[00:14:30] He's at work in you forever.
[00:14:33] So what if we started living with eternity in our focus. We complain about the dumbest stuff. Charles Spurgeon used to share this illustration. He shared it. He said it was true. Charles Spurgeon was an old dead preacher from
[00:14:46] like the 1800s in England. He was awesome. And he said that there was a man, he was a peasant. He had nothing. He had one little shack, one little house. He had one mule. He had one little carriage
[00:14:56] and he got word that he had inherited a mansion. He had inherited a kingdom with staff and with walls and with food and with acreage he'd inherited his entire kingdom and all he had to do he had these relatives that passed away that gave him this kingdom and all he
[00:15:13] had to do is leave the place where he lived pack up whatever he wanted to and travel to the kingdom and when he walked through the city gates that mansion in that kingdom would be his
[00:15:23] and Charles Spurgeon said this is what you have been guaranteed through the life death and resurrection of Jesus and this man puts everything that he has in this one little dinky carriage and he makes the multi-day journey to go to this kingdom that he had inherited and can you imagine
[00:15:39] if he finally makes that last turn and kingdom is in sight he could see the castle he could see the walls he could see the people he could see all that was in store for him but then the wagon wheel
[00:15:50] on the carriage breaks and he spent the rest of his time standing on the side of the road complaining about the carriage.
[00:15:56] Meanwhile, there was a kingdom awaiting him.
[00:16:01] That's what we sound like to heaven when we're grumbled and complained.
[00:16:04] That's what we sound like when we fight and we quarrel because we don't get what we want.
[00:16:09] James says, lift your eyes up off of the temporary and fix them on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
[00:16:15] Verse 10.
[00:16:17] Because he says, he's not promising Cadillac and cotton candy.
[00:16:21] He says, as an example of suffering and patient, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
[00:16:28] If you do a brief study in the Old Testament of the prophets in general, they did the will of God and life did not go their way.
[00:16:35] But they remained steadfast, not based on circumstances, but based on the faithfulness of God.
[00:16:41] And then he's going to give us a specific example.
[00:16:44] He says, behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast.
[00:16:49] You have heard of the steadfastness of Job and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
[00:16:58] And just in case you're unfamiliar with the story of Job in the Old Covenant, Job was the most blessed man on the planet.
[00:17:05] The Bible says he was the most righteous man on the planet.
[00:17:07] And the enemy comes to the Lord and says, the only reason that one blesses you is because you have blessed him.
[00:17:14] You take away his blessing and he won't bless you anymore.
[00:17:18] And God says, okay, have at him, but you can't kill him.
[00:17:22] And so the enemy who only comes to steal, kill and destroy comes after Job.
[00:17:30] He takes his kids, he takes his money, takes his livelihood, takes his health.
[00:17:37] You know what the only thing he leaves him with?
[00:17:40] Is his wife.
[00:17:41] Choose wisely, my friend, all right?
[00:17:44] She may be a tool in the hand of the devil, I don't know.
[00:17:46] So good luck with that.
[00:17:50] And his dumb friends come around him and they say, listen, listen, you should curse God and die.
[00:17:56] And you know what Job says?
[00:17:59] God gives and takes away.
[00:18:00] Blessed be the name of the Lord.
[00:18:01] over and over and over.
[00:18:03] God gives and takes away and blessed be the name of the Lord.
[00:18:07] In fact, it comes to this culmination towards the end of the book of Job where Job finally gets together some angst and he comes to the Lord and he accuses God.
[00:18:15] This isn't fair, God.
[00:18:16] This isn't fair.
[00:18:17] You don't owe me this kind of tribulation because I was faithful to you.
[00:18:21] You know what God says to Job?
[00:18:23] God says, gird up your loins and take this like a man.
[00:18:27] That's what he says.
[00:18:28] And then he begins to ask Job questions.
[00:18:30] Job, I remember when I was creating everything that is, and you know what?
[00:18:34] I don't remember seeing you there.
[00:18:37] I don't, did I ask you where I was gonna hold the snow before I let it fall?
[00:18:41] Did I, I don't remember consulting with you before I decide where a lightning bolt is gonna strike.
[00:18:47] You know what, Job, Job, you took, you took two tries at the eighth grade, you can't kiss your own elbow, and you can't, there are places under your back you can't scratch, but you wanna stand in judgment on me?
[00:18:56] That's not exactly word for word, kind of the message of remix translation, But that's what he's saying.
[00:19:02] And so you say, so where was the Lord's compassion and patience?
[00:19:05] Here's where the Lord's compassion and patience was.
[00:19:07] All the things that Job went through led him to a deeper understanding of God.
[00:19:12] And it don't matter whether he blesses us or he breaks us.
[00:19:15] The greatest thing he can do for us is draw us closer to him.
[00:19:18] That's what he's talking about.
[00:19:24] You see, it may be tough now, but we've got to be reminded that the Lord is in control.
[00:19:32] you may be walking through circumstances right now and you may be crying out in your heart God what are you doing but just be reminded you know what he's done and what he's done is he's demonstrated his love for us
[00:19:44] in this that while we were yet still sinners Christ died for us it reminds me of what the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 11 32 and following it says what more shall I say
[00:19:53] for time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah of David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms and forced justice obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
[00:20:06] quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, putting foreign armies to flight.
[00:20:15] Women received back their dead by resurrection.
[00:20:19] And wouldn't it be great if it stopped there?
[00:20:23] Wouldn't it be great if I could tell you, just put your faith in Jesus and you can shut the mouths of lions.
[00:20:29] You know what the problem with the Bible is?
[00:20:31] It's true.
[00:20:33] So it just doesn't even stop.
[00:20:34] without any warning, it takes a hard left turn.
[00:20:37] Some were tortured, like, whoa, what?
[00:20:39] I thought we were shutting the mouths of lions.
[00:20:41] Yeah, sometimes.
[00:20:43] But some were tortured, refusing to accept release so they might rise again into a better life.
[00:20:49] Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment.
[00:20:53] They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with a sword, they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated.
[00:21:01] Anybody wanna sign up for that ministry?
[00:21:02] and yet the promise is of whom the world was not worthy.
[00:21:11] James says, if you feel convicted of the Lord, be patient because regardless of your circumstance, the Lord is compassionate and merciful and the Lord always has the long game in mind, like the eternally long game for his glory and for your joy.
[00:21:30] Then he finishes up with this.
[00:21:31] He says, but above all, and I think about how important it is when the Bible says, but above all, but above all, my brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath,
[00:21:42] but let your yes be yes and your no be no so that you may not fall under condemnation.
[00:21:48] Many commentators are like, this verse seems out of place.
[00:21:50] I don't think it seems out of place at all.
[00:21:52] In context of the whole book of James, what James is saying is there are two kinds of wisdom.
[00:21:57] There's the wisdom that says, I got this, which is earthly wisdom, and then godly wisdom is when we admit, I ain't got this.
[00:22:04] I need help.
[00:22:05] He says, so don't swear because on who authority will you swear when you swear, when you make a promise, when you make an oath, when you say, listen, listen, listen, no matter what, trust me,
[00:22:16] I got this. Watch out. Watch out. Because at the root of that is pride and God opposes the proud.
[00:22:23] He's no, no, no. You just let your yes be yes and your no be no. You don't need to swear by anything because you realize I ain't got this. And the moment you realize you ain't got this,
[00:22:33] then I got really good news for you. You are perfectly positioned for a mighty move of God in your life. When you realize, no, no, no, no, I need help. And God, I need for you to do for me
[00:22:43] what I cannot do for myself. And so he says, if faith is going to change your life, you need to be patient, trust in the Lord, don't trust in yourself. And then he says, and you need one more
[00:22:55] thing. You need God to do a miracle in your life. That's what you need. You want to put to application the things that James has told us about, then God's gonna have to show up in a mighty, mighty way.
[00:23:09] Try harder will never be enough.
[00:23:12] See, because again, if you feel a little bit overwhelmed right now, if you look at all of the instructions from James and you feel a little overwhelmed, I got really good news.
[00:23:23] When you look at your life and you think, there's no way I can pull this off, then you are perfectly positioned for God to do a miracle in your life.
[00:23:30] The way Jesus would say it is this, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God.
[00:23:36] Poor in spirit is when you realize that you are personally and spiritually bankrupt.
[00:23:42] And so he says, you're gonna need help.
[00:23:45] You're gonna need a miraculous work from the Lord.
[00:23:50] And so what we're gonna do in this next section is we're gonna practice it even more than we're gonna study it.
[00:23:56] In about 25 minutes, we are going to end our service with a prayer and anointing healing service.
[00:24:02] That's what we're gonna do.
[00:24:03] And what's great is the Bible has given us instruction on how to do this.
[00:24:07] Okay. And so listen, man, I know there has been some crazy Christians that have done some weird things in church. And how many of you know, in every family, there's always some weird ones.
[00:24:18] Anybody know this? And God bless you. And you're like, not in my family. That's cute. You haven't realized. Okay. But just cause some weird parts of the family have done some weird stuff with the
[00:24:35] word. That doesn't mean that the rest of us neglect the word. We're just going to do what the word says. And so James says this, is anyone among you suffering? Listen, I know there's some
[00:24:52] people when you walked in here today, man, and you, you were on the struggle bus. I mean, you were suffering. This is anybody that says, man, I need help. Suffering is when life happens to us.
[00:25:02] We live in a broken world. Sometimes this broken world, man, it breaks us. There are evil people in this world that do evil things sometimes against us. Sometimes the suffering that we're going through is at our own hands. How good is our God that he would love us enough that even if
[00:25:16] the suffering that you're walking through is a self-inflicted wound, he has healing for that wound too. Anybody suffering? Yeah. He says, let him pray. Not do better, not try harder, but pray.
[00:25:33] Listen, prayer is the most powerful thing you can do. Every time some catastrophe happens, the pagan elites of our world say, we need a lot more than prayer. Well, the James says that for sure action accompanies prayer but we never need less than prayer because prayer is the most
[00:25:49] powerful thing a person could do amen because think about this you want to know how what a big deal prayer is is that when Jesus dies on the cross and he pushes up on his nail pierced feet
[00:25:59] and he says it is finished an earthquake hits Jerusalem cracks right through the middle of the temple and it tears the curtain that separated the people of God from the presence of God from the top to the bottom as an invitation from God to enter into his throne room and ask him
[00:26:13] for what you need because he's a good dad and he loves his kids. I mean, who gets to walk into the king's chamber at 3 a.m. and ask the king for a cup of water? I'll tell you who to. The daughter
[00:26:24] of the king gets to. That's who gets to walk in. He says, anybody suffering? Suffering is when life happens to you. Some of you have lost a loved one recently and it's overwhelming and you're
[00:26:36] suffering. Some of you are suffering through a prodigal son or a prodigal daughter. We talk about this one all the time, right? Ain't no pain like kid pain. Why? Because ain't no love like kid love.
[00:26:50] Amen. I mean, my daughter's sitting right here, front row. I like you sitting there. Okay. I remember we were having her when we found out it was a girl. I was terrified, terrified. It just
[00:27:03] takes a little extra from a dad to raise a daughter these days. You understand? And so I knew that I was going to be at war against an enemy who was going to lie to her every single day. And I have
[00:27:12] confessed this to you before. I don't mind running this place from our Columbia campus. All right.
[00:27:18] The guys at Columbia told me I was too old.
[00:27:20] I might have to run it from Union.
[00:27:21] I don't care, whatever, all right?
[00:27:22] I would do whatever it takes to provide and protect for her.
[00:27:25] But when we were having her, I didn't realize.
[00:27:27] See, when we had JP, I thought, uh-oh, I may have messed up.
[00:27:31] I may have messed up because I didn't portion out the love right.
[00:27:36] I took every bit of love that I have, and even when you have a baby, man, he will unlock another, like, section of it you didn't even know was there, and I took it all, and I dumped it on that first little thing we had.
[00:27:47] Then we found out we're having another one and I was thinking, I legitimately, who do you tell this to?
[00:27:51] And I thought, oh no, what if I can't love the second one like I loved the first one?
[00:27:55] And then when I met Reagan Capri, what dawned on me is I still had all the love to give because God is love and love is an inexhaustible resource and he lives in me so you can pour it out
[00:28:06] on the next one, right?
[00:28:08] Okay.
[00:28:12] And then you let them get hurt, you let them get sick.
[00:28:15] You let them get diagnosed with something.
[00:28:16] You let them turn away from the Lord.
[00:28:18] ain't no pain like kid pain amen there ain't a suffering like that on the planet how many parents have seen your kids go through something and you know exactly what it would be like for God to say
[00:28:30] I would take their place yeah that's a little that's a little gospel in you right there so maybe some of you are suffering and you need to come and be prayed for on behalf of your son and
[00:28:40] daughter for some of you it's a financial loss some of you are suffering at debilitating depression suicidal thoughts listen to me man that is that is a demonic oppression against you sometimes now sometimes when i talk about demons around here some of you get too excited
[00:28:58] you're like finally here we go you know you got water guns with holy water in it ready to go that ain't what we're doing and then some of you like hold on pastor 21st century you believe in
[00:29:08] demons you ever talk to somebody that's depressed i mean they will tell you straight up this ain't me this is like there's another thing telling me things that i don't want to believe i look
[00:29:20] around at my circumstances and I ought to be able to flip happy on got a pretty decent spouse I got healthy kids I got money in the bank and a house to live in I should be overwhelmed with gratitude
[00:29:29] and for some reason I just can't turn gratitude on what's wrong with me but be clear man if you're a believer in Jesus Christ the enemy comes against you to oppress but he cannot possess you because
[00:29:42] you are a ball and pay for possession of Jesus Christ you are not your own you were bought at a Christ. And so we're going to come at war against the enemy in your life between your ears. Some of
[00:29:54] you are suffering from anxiety. Man, anxiety is brutal. Anxiety is when you're worried and you're worried and you're worried and you don't even know what you're worried about. You got no place to put it. So you put it on the inside of you and it's tearing you down. And the good news of the word
[00:30:08] is we're to be anxious for nothing. But by prayer and supplication, we are to make our request known to him with thanksgiving. And then there's this unbelievable promise, literally unbelievable.
[00:30:20] And the peace of God that transcends understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
[00:30:28] Man, I've been walking with some people this week and the circumstances of their life, they shouldn't be able to get out of the bed and somehow they are being able to walk in a peace
[00:30:38] that doesn't make sense.
[00:30:42] And even when you ask them, how are you going through this?
[00:30:44] They're like, I don't know how I'm going through this.
[00:30:47] But I don't know if you know this, but new mercies come in the morning.
[00:30:50] This is why you don't worry about tomorrow.
[00:30:53] Because God hasn't given you the mercies that you need to deal with tomorrow.
[00:30:57] He's giving you the mercies for right now, for today.
[00:30:59] And if you're suffering because you're going through a trial, you need to pray.
[00:31:05] And I'm glad it keeps going here.
[00:31:06] It says, anybody cheerful?
[00:31:08] Anybody cheerful in here?
[00:31:10] How about you Florida State people?
[00:31:11] You ought to be cheerful.
[00:31:15] You won two in a row.
[00:31:16] It's fun, isn't it?
[00:31:17] It's great.
[00:31:19] Well, good.
[00:31:22] Well, you got a job to do too.
[00:31:24] See, because what's going to happen in 13 minutes is we're going to pray and we're going to anoint and chains of addiction are going to fall off and bodies are going to be healed and life is going to birth inside of people.
[00:31:34] All kind of miracles are going to happen.
[00:31:36] And meanwhile, there's going to be a whole bunch of people that don't feel necessarily like they're suffering or they're sick or there's some kind of sin struggle that they have.
[00:31:43] Those are the three categories James gives us.
[00:31:46] And so you get to pray too.
[00:31:47] You just get to pray from your seat by singing.
[00:31:50] Singing is when the church gets together and corporately prays.
[00:31:55] We're going to sing that amen song that we wrote.
[00:31:59] Let it be so.
[00:32:01] You're going to be participating in the prayer and anointing because you're going to be singing over the people unto the Lord and you're going to be saying, all right, Lord, every prayer that's happening up there
[00:32:12] and in every single campus and online, let it be so.
[00:32:16] And then after that, we're going to sing goodness of God.
[00:32:18] And depending on how many people, we might sing six more songs.
[00:32:20] We ain't got nowhere to go.
[00:32:23] So is anyone cheerful? Cool.
[00:32:26] Let him sing praise.
[00:32:28] Then he goes from suffering to sick.
[00:32:30] Anyone among you sick?
[00:32:32] Now, oftentimes we think primarily about physical sickness, which is included here, but it's not limited to physical sickness. You see, sickness is any time we're off, heart, soul, mind, or strength. In fact, the Bible says hope deferred makes the heart sick.
[00:32:49] Some of you find yourself in a hopeless situation. You've been trying for three years to have a baby and it feels hopeless. And hope deferred makes the heart sick. Some of you find yourself in a sick
[00:33:01] marriage and nobody else knows and you need it to be healed. Some of you are struggling with mental illness. And again, you don't have a Christian category for that because somebody at some point told you that if you know Jesus, all you should know is joy in the Lord and you can't quite flip
[00:33:18] it around and you say, what is wrong with me? Some of you have some soul sickness. You've been a Christian for a minute, but lately it feels like you're just going through the motions and you feel
[00:33:29] a million miles from God or maybe there's this there's this thing that you can't let yourself off the mat on even though you know the reality of the gospel and you know theologically that God
[00:33:40] has forgiven you for some reason you won't let you forgive you and you're buying into the lies of the enemy that you are unfit for use that you were condemned and I'm going to pray today that
[00:33:49] the spirit of God would unleash in you Romans 8 1 that you would know that therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and for some of you it is physical sickness
[00:34:00] And we're gonna pray for healing, whether it's cancer or tumor or surgery or whatever it is.
[00:34:05] If anyone is among you sick, the reason that God would make you whole is so that you could love him with all.
[00:34:11] All your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.
[00:34:15] And so we are going to pray for that.
[00:34:18] So if you're suffering or if you're sick, he says this.
[00:34:21] Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
[00:34:29] There's nothing magical about this.
[00:34:30] and it's not the oil that has the power.
[00:34:35] It's the blood of Jesus that has the power.
[00:34:38] So we're just gonna do what it says.
[00:34:40] Now we've got nine elders and about 19,000 people to come to our church.
[00:34:44] And so the elders have commissioned pastors and deacons and ministers and care leaders and all kinds of people to pray for you.
[00:34:54] And then James, I think he could anticipate this coming.
[00:34:59] He says, let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
[00:35:04] and the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
[00:35:13] It is not the person that is praying that has the power.
[00:35:16] It is the one that we are praying to that has the power.
[00:35:19] So it doesn't matter who prays for you.
[00:35:20] It matters in whose name we are praying and we are praying in the name of Jesus.
[00:35:25] And then notice here, man, he mentioned sin.
[00:35:28] So here's who should come you can pray for.
[00:35:31] If you're suffering, if you're sick, or if you're a sinner, Turn to the person on your left and say he's talking to you.
[00:35:41] Go.
[00:35:42] He's talking, yeah, that's right.
[00:35:45] That's it.
[00:35:46] It's the only people that need prayer tonight.
[00:35:53] He says in the prayer of faith, we'll save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up.
[00:35:57] And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
[00:36:00] So listen, man, if you're in sin, you need to come and confess.
[00:36:04] He goes on to say, therefore confess your sins.
[00:36:08] So maybe, man, maybe the grip of addiction is just wrapped around your neck.
[00:36:13] I'm telling you, it is a demonic oppression.
[00:36:17] Like, should you go to meetings and run the play?
[00:36:19] For sure.
[00:36:20] But if you don't deal with this on a spiritual level, then it's over for you.
[00:36:23] Again, have you ever talked to somebody that has an addiction?
[00:36:28] Here's what they'll say.
[00:36:29] They'll say, there's this thing I don't wanna do.
[00:36:31] There's this thing on my own power I've promised I'll never do it again.
[00:36:34] And I know, I know if I go down this road, it's gonna kill me and everybody else I love.
[00:36:39] And yet, at certain times, it's like a voice that's not my voice baits me down a road that I promised I'd never go down again.
[00:36:45] What you call that?
[00:36:46] Poor decision-making?
[00:36:47] I don't think so.
[00:36:51] There is no room for the enemy's work in this house because this is a blood-bought church.
[00:36:56] And if you're a believer, you're a blood-bought believer.
[00:36:58] So whether it's drugs or alcohol or food or pornography or whatever it is, and some of us need to come and confess our sins because you've got this little pet sin that you've been trying to tame.
[00:37:11] See, here's the thing about sin.
[00:37:13] Either you kill it or it's gonna kill you.
[00:37:17] I remember my kids were little.
[00:37:18] they used to watch those when animal attacks videos remember those how does everyone end starts out the same right there's a lady in a bikini selling shampoo with a bear because that makes sense is anybody surprised when the bear decides not to shampoo but eat the lady's face
[00:37:37] off and then they always interview them afterwards well to the trainer what happened i don't know i don't who saw that coming i want to be like i saw it coming but fluffy's always been gentle
[00:37:51] it's a bear it's just what bears do they don't eat honey they don't put out fires they eat faces off when hungry enough a part of what confession is is you got this little pet sin you think it's not
[00:38:03] that big a deal and the enemy has it perfectly positioned to eat your face off right when you don't expect it you need to come and confess say it out loud here's something that here's a sin in
[00:38:14] my life and I want some victory over this thing and listen now listen and any sexual sin because it's just different. It's just different. The Bible says that, that the sexual sin is in a
[00:38:28] different category. It says for all have sinned, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. And I know we live in a world that doesn't call it sin, but we're going to call sin what
[00:38:40] the Bible calls sin. And we're going to confess our sin. And let me tell the Catholics something, listen, Catholics, all right, I ain't trying to beat up on you. Just trying to correct some theology. Listen, we don't, we don't confess so that we will be forgiven. We confess that the
[00:38:52] blood of Jesus has already worked and forgiven us. There's no work that forgives us. It's the blood of Jesus that forgives us. But sometimes you don't walk in the freedom of victory over sin because you keep it to yourself. And God has given us this avenue called confession and it shines
[00:39:08] light and where the light is, darkness has to flee. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. Let me tell you two things that will keep you
[00:39:18] from healing that God has for you today.
[00:39:21] One is pride, because you begin to think, what will people think if I walk up there?
[00:39:27] And the Bible says God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.
[00:39:33] It'll take a humble heart for you to have to walk up here and say, I need help, I ain't got this.
[00:39:38] The other one is fear.
[00:39:41] Fear is not a feeling.
[00:39:42] Fear is a spirit, a demonic spirit.
[00:39:45] My Bible says, Paul says to Timothy, God did not give you a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control and the moment you feel this invitation this warm invitation to come and confess and repent and be prayed for the moment you hear another voice
[00:40:01] telling you not to do that who do you think that voice is from you think god is going to say no you shouldn't go get prayed for no you shouldn't do what the bible says that's the enemy trying to
[00:40:12] steal from you healing that god has in store for you therefore confess your sins to one another to pray for one another that you may be healed. And then he says, the prayer of a righteous person
[00:40:22] has great power as it is working. Every single person up here that's going to be praying is a righteous person. Not because of right activity, but because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed unto them. It's in Jesus' name that we pray, period. In fact, if we're honest, every
[00:40:40] single one of the anointers and prayers at some point ought to hand you the bottle and switch sides and now okay it's your turn because I need to be prayed for too and then he gives a specific
[00:40:50] example he says Elijah now listen man when James audience a Jewish audience when they heard the name Elijah they were like oh Elijah it's like when I'm talking about Tebow around here and y'all like oh okay listen to this Elijah was a man with a nature like ours let me put that and let me
[00:41:11] translate that for my Dylan people Elijah was a dude just a dude just a regular old dude wasn't super spiritual, not super special, but because, because of who God is, God decided to use this
[00:41:28] man. Elijah was a, he's a dude just like the rest of us. He's a man with a nature like ours. And he prayed fervently that it might not rain. And for three years and six months, it did not rain on
[00:41:38] the earth. And then he prayed again and heaven gave rain and the earth bore its fruit. Here's the thing about Elijah. He's just a regular guy. Now he had some super high highs, pretty cool.
[00:41:51] He called down fire.
[00:41:52] He revived a kid from death.
[00:41:53] He turned off the rain for three years.
[00:41:54] He outran a chariot.
[00:41:55] That's all cool.
[00:41:58] He also had some really low lows.
[00:42:00] He suffered from a debilitating depression.
[00:42:03] He had suicidal ideation.
[00:42:04] He suffered from loneliness.
[00:42:06] He had this overwhelming feeling of anxiety and failure.
[00:42:11] And God used him to do the miraculous because God is in the business of using ordinary men and women just like me and you so that he gets all his glory.
[00:42:23] And so the way he ends it is this.
[00:42:25] My brothers, if anyone among you wonders from the truth that someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
[00:42:34] We're just gonna try to do what the Bible says.
[00:42:37] Some of you are suffering.
[00:42:39] Some of you are sick.
[00:42:40] Some of you are struggling with some sin.
[00:42:43] We're gonna pray.
[00:42:45] We have an army of your brothers and sisters, your 1122 brothers and sisters in Christ and some pastors and elders and all the things, man.
[00:42:54] And we're going to pray for healing.
[00:42:56] We're going to pray for wholeness.
[00:42:58] We're going to pray that chains of addiction would be broken.
[00:43:01] We're going to pray that bodies would be healed.
[00:43:04] We're going to pray that minds would be made right.
[00:43:07] And let me just warn you, okay?
[00:43:10] You don't have to go into excruciating details of what's going on in your life.
[00:43:14] The Lord knows.
[00:43:15] And we ain't praying no little lame Presbyterian prayers up here.
[00:43:19] I love a good Presby.
[00:43:20] We hire a bunch of them.
[00:43:21] They got great theology.
[00:43:23] But this isn't just going to be like, well, we'll be done.
[00:43:25] That ain't what we're doing.
[00:43:26] We're going to call down the fire described in Acts chapter 2, where the Spirit of the Lord is.
[00:43:32] There is freedom, all right?
[00:43:34] And we're going to believe, man.
[00:43:35] We're going to choose to believe that if the tomb is empty, anything is possible.
[00:43:41] That it's not the prayer that matters.
[00:43:43] It's the prayer to the one who answers the prayer that he's still a miracle-working God.
[00:43:47] And we're going to put our faith into action, saying, Lord, I ain't got this.
[00:43:52] And I'm struggling.
[00:43:53] I'm sick.
[00:43:53] I've got this sin in my life.
[00:43:55] and sometimes sometimes we need to go on behalf of somebody else in our life somebody else is sick somebody else is struggling and you need to come and pray for that person sometimes we need
[00:44:05] to come in twos or threes because because you're struggling with loneliness and the last thing that you want to do is walk down here by yourselves look at the person on your left and say I'll come with you say it out loud I'll come with you and now we're not going to be merely
[00:44:20] a hearer of the word and so deceive ourselves we're just going to do what it says I want to invite us at all of our campuses to please stand. And we're going to do what the Bible says, do what
[00:44:29] James says. I would invite our prayers and anointers to come forward right now. And if you know, when the Bible says, is anyone among you sick or suffering? Or if you know there's confession that you need to make, then why don't you just start coming now? Don't even wait until I get
[00:44:47] finished. Let's pray. And we're going to sing our good and gracious heavenly father, God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. Jesus, I thank you that you came not for the
[00:44:58] healthy, but for the sick. And God, there's a bunch of us right now, even those of us who have been following you, and God, we're sick in the heart and the head and relationships in our body.
[00:45:09] And Lord, I pray that you would unleash the spirit of God in this place.
[00:45:12] Lord, I pray that you would lavish your children with your love. God, I pray that we would know your mercy. God, we would know your kindness. And God, do you say that we have not because we ask
[00:45:23] not. So God, we pray that by your stripes, we would be healed for the glory of your name.
[00:45:30] And Lord, I pray, I pray that you would let it be so. We pray it in Jesus name.
[00:45:36] Won't you come and be prayed for? And let's sing. Let's go.