I should be on am I there? Can you find me? Hello?
Hello? There we go, Thank you. Let's stand prayer for the word.
I think I sound funny, something's wrong with the EQ. Father.
We thank you for this morning. Thank you for your word. Thank you
for the way you move in our lives and the way you lead us to
draw us, bring us into the fullness of victory. We bless you for
it. We bless you for your word today, and we welcome your leading
us even deeper. Give you the praise for it in Jesus name. And
everybody said, Amen, Amen, Amen. I want to start in John
seventeen and John seventeen. A bunch of us in this a bunch of us
in the room today are married. Those of us that aren't maybe want to
be, or a bunch of us that aren't were and it didn't go well,
right, But marriage is marriage is very much about unity. You know,
where there's disunity, there's disharmony. Right where there's disunity, there's right,
strife, anxiety, conflict. Where there's disunity, there's usually a division.
Right division is connected to disunity more than one vision. That's a division
and part of you know, part of the calling on our lives. I
still sound funny, but I don't know what we can do about it.
That soundthhingy to you, that's some funny to me. Part of the the
microphone's not supposed to bring attention to the speaker, you know. Part of
the calling on our lives and the calling of this ongoing season is to continue
to leverage Heaven on earth. Right, we're want to continue to leverage forward
Heaven on earth. That's what that's what we want, that's what we desire,
and it you know, so much of that flows out of unity with
the Lord, right as in a marriage, because we're married to the Lord.
He's the groom, he's the husband of our spiritual relationship. And I
think you know so much of you know, so much of what he did
when he was on the earth is because of his unity with Father. So
rather than going to John seventeen, just for a second, let me go
to John twelve. And you don't have it, I'll just read it John
twelve forty nine. I don't speak on my own authority. The Father who
sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. Think
about that for a moment. Would you allow the Holy Spirit to micromanage your
mouth that much? Would you allow the Holy Spirit to micromanage? Well,
if it resulted in victory and exaltation and triumph over all your enemies, maybe
it'd be worth it, right, So I think this is pretty cool,
Matthew, this is I'm sorry, this is John twelve forty nine. I
don't speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me
what to say and how to say it, and I know his commands lead
to eternal life. So I say whatever the Father tells me to say.
Oh, that Dwayne would be so cooperative, right, Oh, that we
would be so cooperative. And then you know there's another passage here. I
wanted to bring it to you. This is John as well, John five,
and I think it's verse nineteen. Let me look real, God,
yeah, verse nineteen. Jesus gave them this answer. I tell you the
truth. The son can do nothing by himself. He can only do what
he sees the father doing. Because whatever the Father does, the son does
also. So what we're hearing about when we look at those passages, we're
hearing about complete unity, no division, complete unity, and that's where that's
where the blessings are going to flow, and that's where the annoying thing is
going to be present. And we're going to see the Church, the body
of Christ, the believer leveraging heaven forward not only in their own lives,
but also in the world. And it comes out of unity. So even
as he was, even if he was unified with the Father, that we
are called to be unified with them as well. John seventeen, we're called
to be unified with them as well. My prayer John seventeen, verse twenty
is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in
me through their message, that all of them may be one Father, just
as you are in me and I am in you, May they also be
in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
May they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you
have sent me. I have given them the authority that you gave me,
that they may be one as we are one, I in them and you
in me, so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the
world will know that you sent me and have loved them as you have loved
me. Not crazy. So this is part of why we fast, part
of why fasting is commonplace, normal. Everybody say normal, common is common
and normal, and it's part of our lifestyle. Is because fasting is ordained
to bring us near and though we we know biblically that we're one with him,
we know biblically and legalistically, legalistically from scripture, we know that we're
born of the spirit. We know the Holy Spirit dwells within. We know
all of these things that often we don't experience because there is the lins and
the impairment that blocks us from that connection that is truly ours. We have
this divine privilege, and fasting is meant to remove, even to remove the
you know, Paul says. For Strengthians, Paul says that though we prophesy,
we prophesy through a darkened lens. We only see through a darkened lens,
remember that passage. So we don't see fully, we don't see clearly,
we don't see completely. And then actually he says something. He says,
you know, this is the end of chapter thirteen. He says,
but when the perfect comes, Oh who's the perfect, by the way,
Jesus is the perfect. When the perfect comes, then we will see him
face to face, and we will know as we are fully known. That's
interesting. In other words, whenever you're in the presence of Jesus, it's
totally different than not being in the presence. And when you're in the presence,
everything that you could ever imagine is available to you. But when you're
not in his presence, then you and I are called upon to remove whatever
encumbers the hearing and the seeing so that you can be in his presence.
Am I making sense? Mark two? Let me read it to you Mark
two out of the King James, No, no, no, I can
read this out of the nivy Mark two, verse eighteen. Now John's disciples
and the Pharisees were fasting. Everybody say fasting. John's disciples and the Pharisees
were fasting. And so some people came and asked Jesus, how is it
John's disciples and the disciples are fasting, but yours are not. Jesus answered,
how can the guest of the bride room fast while he is with them?
They cannot so as long as they so, They cannot so as so
long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the
bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
The thing about that. You know, they're comparing. They're comparing relationships and
their comparing lifestyle between John and the Pharisees, who are not in the presence
of the King of Kings, they're not in the presence of Yeshua. They're
observing on the outside, and they're still yearning for something more. But the
Disciples of Jesus were dwelling with something more. They were literally with him,
so they had no yearning that was not being fulfilled because they're literally with him.
So during the whole period that he walked with them, there was no
reason for them to fast, because the fasting, even Old Testament fasting,
was a fasting to humble the soul and to be drawn closer so that the
veil would be removed, the ear would be opened, and the colored lens
that blocked the vision would be removed. So the Disciples of Jesus, they're
in the midst of that. And he says this is much like a groom
with the bridal party or a groom with the bride, that when he is
away, they yearn for him, they desire him. They don't know what's
going on. There's distance, they're impeded from communication. But when he's present,
then there's fulfillment, and this is how we move ourselves. And it
shouldn't be you know, it shouldn't be once a year. Fasting has been
the practice of the Church throughout history. Once He ascended, then the church
used fasting historically once a week. The church used fasting often frequently, to
draw near and to get into the place where His presence was real and deep
and abiding, and they could hear what he was saying. Because we aren't
supposed to say what we want to say. We aren't supposed to do what
we want to do. We're supposed to say what he's saying and do what
he's doing five twelve. We have the same call on us. We have
the same exact call on us that he had on him that we would,
but we can't do that unlessener's unity. And this is one of the purposes
of fasting, is to bring us into divine unity. And if you haven't,
if you haven't, you know, it's amazing. Sometimes I could confess
to you sometimes I've needed to hear something and I was going to go into
a big fast, right and maybe I was going to fast a day or
two or three. I've had every kind of fasting experience you could imagine.
But the Lord was so good. I got my answer maybe after skipping meal
number two. So praise the Lord. That was the shortest fast ever.
I'm done with that one. You ever done that? Oh? Yeah,
well, thank you Jesus. We're back to stake tonight. God is good.
Wow. I don't think he's upset with that. I think this is
fun. This is fun. It's it's it's the kingly who desire to look
in the mysteries and desire to know. That's the that's the yearning of the
royalty within us, that we would yearn to look into mysteries, that we
would love to know him, that we would love his heart, that we
would love to flow with him. This a little confession there for him,
a little confession. So this is one of the this is one of the
until things that that we get to walk in and fulfillment of. Is that
until the groom comes, say that with me until the groom comes? Are
you with me until the groom comes? This is what the bridal party does.
This is what the bride does. This is what the bridal party does
until the groom. As the groom come, he hasn't come back yet.
He hasn't come back yet. So this is just what we do. Come
on, this is what we do. And the reward in it, the
delight in it, the joy in it, the revelation in it. It
will always bless you because Father or Dane, that we do this. Now,
just a couple of thoughts, and I know we're moving on time,
but just a couple of thoughts. The Daniel Fast is interesting, right,
It's interesting the Daniel Fast. God honors the Daniel Fast. God honored the
dan teenagers. God honors the Daniel fast children. God honors the Daniel fest
seniors, framers, ironworkers, electricians. Where am I going to get my
protein? You'll figure it out. But maybe you'll fall short a little bit,
maybe you'll burn up. Maybe you'll burn up a little bit. See,
the power of fasting is not only suffering, but the power of fasting
is to declare that whatever you are setting aside, and these are legal things,
by the way, it's not a sin for you to mean, not
a sin for you to eat sweets, sweetbreads. Talking about imbalance, and
for most of us, it's not a sin for us to drink wine unless
the Holy spirit's quickened you to leave it alone for you. So Daniel was
not leaving off things that he shouldn't. You know, they were sinning.
I shouldn't be doing those anyway, Shame on me. These were all things
that he had a legal entitlement to do. But in the fast, he
was saying, you are my sweet, you are my meat, you are
my wine. I would rather have the meat of heaven. I would rather
have the sweet of your presence. I would rather have the wine of your
anointing than to have these elements that satisfy my body. So this is why
it's powerful, This is why it's effective. This is why it opens you
up. This is why it opens up the heavens. This is why it
opens up Holy Spirit toward you because of this proclamation and this declaration and this
heart and this attitude that you're going to be manifesting toward him as you embrace
this. But it's challenging that Daniel. I find the Daniel fast is almost
more challenging than a total fast, because you got to mess with food.
You got to mess with food. You go in a regular fast, you
go in to full fast, and you can do that. You want to
go in a full fast, that's good. You can do that. They're
both effective, they're both revered in the spirit realm. You can go in
a full fast. But this is what we've chosen and we invite you to
be a part of it with us. But it's challenging because the enemy can
get in there and your flesh can get in there, and all it once.
It's all about the food and all it once. And we can take
a twenty one day Daniel fast and turn it into a twenty one day diet
if we don't keep the spirit realm first. This is not a twenty one
day diet for a slimmer trimmer you. This is a twenty one day fast
asked that will have physical benefits for you to leverage heaven forward and to put
the enemy under your feet. This is a spiritual This is a spiritual game
change or for your entire life and your family. This is meant to leverage
you and the kingdom forward. And so you want to be aggressive, you
want to be hounrey, you want to be you want to be serious,
and so just you know, I would just say don't let it be about
the food. So you know, some of us get really wild about the
food, trying to make the you know, the artificial meat tastes just like
meat. Why why why why why why why why you're going to Trader Jones
and looking for artificial meats that tastes just like meat. The power is in
the suffering, because what are you going to tell Father when you say when
you say, I'm not having meat because I'd rather have meat from you.
If you're saying this soy meat is really good, though, I mean,
I'd rather have meat from you, and and the soy meat. I'm you
know, I'm you know, just hear me out. You know, we
take care to not literally kill our palette at the wolf House during this.
We're not trying to kill ourselves just make it taste like garbage on purpose.
No, we're not. We're not doing that. But what I'm saying is
that the emphasis is the prayer. The emphasis is you in the spirit realm.
The emphasis is hearing better, hearing well, seeing better, partnering in
the unity of the spirit. That's the emphasis, right, And that's Daniel
chapter ten. He said I was in mourning. I'm I'm leveraging my prayer
life for the nation of Israel. This is this is Daniel chapter ten.
I'm leveraging my prayer life for the nation of Israel. And he goes into
twenty one days of mourning. It wasn't twenty one days of rejoicing. It
was twenty one days of the prophet Jeremiah has spoken over my nation. There's
been prophetic words over my nation. They're not coming to pass. I yearn
for them to come to pass. I yearn to know why they aren't coming
to pass, and why our people are still suffering. So he found a
cause, and he attached his heart to that cause. And yeah, we
still rejoice in the Lord, and we still rejoice that we're born of the
Spirit, and we still rejoice in worship. And you know, we have
different elements, but there's something about this twenty one day period where we are
continuding to shift things forward and to move things forward because we see the chaos
and the peril and the evil and the works of darkness. Anybody know it's
not God's will. There's a second thing I want to touch on that we
do until Luke chapter nineteen. Something else we do until until he comes.
Everybody say until he comes Luke nineteen twelve. He said, Therefore, a
certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to
return. And then he called ten of his servants and delivered them and said,
unto them, occupy until I come. Everybody say occupy until I come.
Now, now, what in the world does that mean? This is
the King James, and said, the King James doesn't give us enough clarity
on it. But he's telling them to do something until he comes back.
Now this same parable, it's a parable, and it's about the kingdom.
It's about the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of
Heaven. These are synonymous terms. And it's about leveraging the Kingdom of Heaven
forward, leveraging the Kingdom of God forward in culture, in life, in
manifestation. And I want to pick it up in the New International the NIV
at verse eleven and give you the context. While they were listening to this,
he went on to tell them a parable. And again he's telling them
parables. The Kingdom of Heaven is like, the Kingdom of Heaven is like,
the Kingdom of God is like. He goes on to tell them a
parable. Because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the Kingdom of
God was going to appear at once. Now, imagine you're living in his
day. You know, you're yearning for the Kingdom of Heaven to come,
and you just you were, you know, Matthew twelve. You're with him
when he's driving out demons and he says that if I drive out demons by
that finger of God, then the Kingdom of Heaven has come under you,
right, And you're around him and you're seeing all this stuff, and you're
like, you want the Kingdom of Heaven to come, and you're thinking,
Oh, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, it's coming.
Now, this is the Messiah. He's going to bring the kingdom. But
now they're walking with him a few days and like, the Kingdom's not coming.
So they're asking and they're perplexed, and they're like, what in the
world's going on because the people thought that the Kingdom of God was going to
appear at once. But then he tells him this parable. He said,
a man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king
and then return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten
minas. Put this money to work, he said, until I come back
but his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him. We don't want
this man to be our king. No, this is a parable about Israel
and about the Jewish community, and it's about him. He was made king,
however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom
he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained
with it. The first one came and said, Sir, yur Minna has
earned ten more. Well done, my servant, said the master, because
you've been trustworthy in a small matter, take charge of ten cities. The
second came and said, Sir, your mina or minna has earned five more,
and his master answered, you take charge of five cities. So you
remember this story In Matthew twenty five, it is called the Story of the
Talents. Matthew tells it. Luke tells it a little different spin on it.
But Luke uses the word occupied till I come Matthew doesn't. The New
International translates it, put this money to work until I come back. Now.
Is it all about money? No, it can't be about money,
because the question that they brought to him was when is the kingdom coming?
We thought that the kingdom was coming. Now, how is it? When
is it? When kingdom coming? When are you bringing the kingdom? He
doesn't answer them, He answers them with a story. Here's how the Kingdom's
going to come. I'm going to pour my treasures into others. I'm going
to pour my treasures and they're going to invest the treasury of heaven with their
life, in culture, in family, in work, everywhere they go.
They're going to be investing the treasure of heaven that I give them authority with.
And that's how the kingdom's going to come. That's how the kingdom's going
to come. That's how the Kingdom's going to come. That's how the kingdom's
going to come. That's how the kingdom's going to come. Here's what occupy
uh, here's what occupy it. Till I come means the word occupy.
It's the word from which we get pragmatism, practice, put it into practice.
Pragmatism. The Greek actually says practice till I come, or practice till
I am coming. Be pragmatic with what I've given you, Put the treasure
I've given you into practice, take over and dismiss the influence of darkness until
I come back, invest all I've given you fully on my behalf until the
last moment of my return some of us. Some of us we got all
excited about the rapture, and so we got so excited about the rapture that
we thought, well, he's coming back anyway. I'm going to take what
he's given me and just stop investing it because he's coming back so soon.
It seems silly for me to invest what he's given me in the marketplace or
in the world around me. I mean, he's coming back any minute.
He's coming back so fast that I think I'm just gonna hang on to this
for now. But that isn't the word. No matter how smart you are
prophetically about the end times, he said, be pragmatic, put into investment,
run with do something with what I've given you until I go. This
man in Ezekiel chapter thirty seven, a lot of you know the story Ezekiel
thirty seven. Ezekiel goes into a vision and he sees a giant valley of
dry bones, and the bones are separated from each other. They're dismembered,
and they are dismembered from their head. And then this revelation comes to him
God says that that valley of dry bones is the whole house of Israel,
and the whole house of Israel, they are dismembered, They are disunified because
they say their hope has perished. So what about us as a church,
what about us in our own lives, in our cultural situation, in what
we see around us? What is our perspective? Is our perspective? Our
hope is perished, our hope is perished? Mind, the set separates us,
and no longer are we unified with the victor, but we're separated from
him. And now we're just a dry bone out here. But that isn't
what God has in mind. God wants us unified together, and he once
us unified under the heart of Holy Spirit, and his hope hasn't perished for
the world. And so then he tells him to do something. He says,
can these bones live? This is Exequel thirty seven three through eight.
Can these bones live? And like any good church member is equal's likings.
I don't know, Lord, only you know if these bones can live.
The Lord's like, of course these bones can live. Shut up, boy,
stand up here and get the microphone. Speak to these bones. Command
these bones to live, command life to come into these bones. This is
nothing more than decree. This is nothing more than decree. When we're unified
with him, then we get revelation from him, then we say what he's
saying, that's to issue a royal decree. When we issue royal decrees,
things begin to happen, and so Is steps up to the microphone and he
commands the bones to live, and all at once the bones start living.
Now, most Christians, all they want to do is assess the bad bones
and to pray about the bad bones. Oh Holy, give you the microphone.
Yeah, okay, we'll come up in the prayer. Oh Lord,
you see the broken bones, you see the scattered bones. Lord. And
then we start asking him, Lord, can these bones live? He's asking
you, because they can. He just needs a prophet. He just needs
a prophet. He just needs a prophetic church. He just needs a prophetic
word. He just needs agreement with Heaven. That's why we're gonna spend twenty
one days in decrees. Right, We're gonna spend twenty one days in his
presence in a deeper way, but twenty one days in doing what his Ekiel
was told to do. Thank grabs the microphone pretty soon as the bones are
living, and then he starts to command life. The Lord says, command
life to come on those bones alone, life and muscles and sinews. Pretty
soon, pretty soon it was a whole army raised up. Pretty soon,
the whole army was raised up because the Ezduel had a John twelve moment.
He's submitted to I'm only gonna say what he's saying. I'm only command what
he's commanding. But I'm definitely gonna do that. I'm definitely gonna do that.
I'm not gonna leave it to him. I'm gonna do that. I'm
gonna do that. I'm gonna partner with him. I'm gonna be his mouthpiece.
And as I'm his mouthpiece, then he'll he'll lose that which needs to
be loosed and he'll cause things to begin to shift. That's what we're gonna
do. I'm gonna ask the prayer team to come this morning. I'm gonna
close in this way this morning for the whole prayer team would come, those
of you that serve in the prayer team. And I want to I just
I see it's coming up and just getting a hand put on us. And
just as an impartation for this season and my prayer, my desire is that
if you're if you're in any way hesitant or you just don't know how it's
gonna work or how it's gonna happen, or you know, how's you know,
what are the elements of it? The natural, the physical, the
spiritual elements of all this, and is this even something you want to do.
I'm just believing that we're going to release a impartation over you and you're
gonna be quickened, You're gonna be you're gonna be empowered to embrace his season,
and you're gonna have the grace on you to enter into things you've never
entered in before, and walking in things you've never walked before, and just
taste of him and the ways you've never tasted of him before. Yeah,
thank you Lord. Byron spread out a little bit. There aren't too many
of us here, so I'm seeing we're low on prayer team. Yeah,
Ron, you come up and help, And yeah, Todd, that's good.
Some of you come up and help. Yeah, Nate, if you'd
come up, Nate and Gale just come up and help, if you would.
Oh, that's good Edie, how beautiful. So I'm not looking for
long prayers. All I'm looking for is there going to release over you a
grace for this season. Just literally shout an impartation grace over you, and
we're gonna believe. Holy Spirit's gonna meet you, and there's gonna be a
shift. Amen, Holy Spirit's gonna meet you, and there's gonna be a
shift. And I just you know, you don't have to do nothing,
but I'd love it if you'd just come up and you know, just give
them thirty seconds just to let God do something. Holy Spirit, we thank
you this morning for a shift inwardly in our own hearts yearn for your presence
like the bride for the groom, and where we take on a heart to
leverage the Kingdom forward, Heaven forward, until you come scrapping, throwing away
every excuse, every mindset, every rationalization that would hinder that Holy Spirit,
we welcome right now in impartation to flow right now through the hands of these
prayer warriors, and impartation of grace flow through these prayer warriors to enable to
enable us as a body to rise into this and apprehend spiritual things and breakthroughs
we've never apprehended before. We thank you for it in Jesus' name, and
everybody said Amen, Amen, God bless your church. Yeah, just come
forward as we worship gay