I Have Power - 7/19/26

All right, I get to introduce our guest speaker.

Uh before I bring her up, I'm gonna let you know how we connected and then give you her bio and then and then bring her on up.

So on May 3rd, uh during my installation, I mentioned how I was in contact with somebody and had some coaching about this transition process and uh that we were going through as a church.

And so our speakers, the the person that I talked to um and and got some very wise counsel from.

We first met in October of 2024 at the Vineyard Regional Conference.

She was leading a breakout session called Leading Through Transition, Leading Through Change.

I thought that's really appropriate because we were talking about that uh as as elders.

And not only was the content amazing, which it was, but the way that she presented it and engaged with everybody that was there was was also amazing.

And then uh last summer she got to be a speaker at this little conference uh that not many people were at.

It was called the Vineyard National Conference.

She was one of the main speakers and uh did an amazing job.

So our guest speaker is Sparkle Sanders.

Uh Sparkle and her her husband and uh Nick and their son Micah uh live in Champaign, Illinois.

Um Sparkle has a Bachelor of Science in Business from Eastern Illinois University and an MBA.

She's a longtime member of Vineyard Church of Central Illinois.

I just affectionately call him Champagne Urbana.

Uh she's one of the church's kingdom unity and diversity coordinators and is also a member of the church's pastoral advisory committee and serves as a leadership consultant and executive coach to the past uh pastoral teams.

She's also the founder and speaker of Beautiful Truth LLC, a global encouragement ministry that uses God's word to encourage people all over the world through social media, devotions, Bible studies, retreats, and more.

And in 2017, she wrote a book, 180 Days of Beautiful Truth, which is a daily devotional designed to help others transform their thoughts in life.

In addition to her work at The Vineyard and Beautiful Truth, Sparkle is a certified leadership consultant, coach, and speaker with the Maxwell Leadership, and has 20 plus years of experience in business, marketing, strategy, and organizational development.

Yeah.

I'm not done.

She owns AdSpark Consulting Inc., where she helps businesses, ministries, and organizations, executive coaching, communication, uh, training, culture shaping, strategic planning, visioning, and more.

Yeah, I'm tired just reading her.

If you're wondering how she does it, you'll see she's got a lot of natural and supernatural energy energy.

So I'm excited for the message that Sparkle has for us this morning.

So, Sparkle, why don't you come on up?

And if I can, I would love to just pray for you.

Um, I know as we were praying together before the service, uh, there's just a lot of power that's on her and through uh this message.

And so, Jesus, we just thank you so much for Sparkle.

Thank you for the message you've given her, um, the various ways that you have equipped her, and yet she desires just to be filled with you.

Um thank you for the the power and the fire that's on her and in her, and we ask that you would release it through her this morning in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Am I on here?

Am I on?

Can you hear me?

Can you hear me?

Perfect, perfect.

I'm just gonna say, I'm gonna start with this.

There is such a peace in this room.

I don't know if you sense that or you feel that.

Yeah.

We were back in the green room, I was with Kara and Mike and Pastor Randy, and they asked me, you know, just where I was at, what was on my mind.

I was like, I just have peace.

And I try to be a peaceful person, don't get me wrong, but like there's an incredible amount of peace.

And what I said was the peace that I'm sensing, I think is the peace he wants me to give away today.

So if somebody came here today and you are not experiencing peace, guess what?

You have a real opportunity today to receive peace.

And so your job today is simple.

I got a harder job than you do.

I I'm just the messenger, right?

But your job is to have a posture of openness and receiving.

And so I pray that you just receive, even starting with the peace.

And so I just thank Pastor Adam for that warm welcome and introduction.

He is absolutely right.

We met about two years ago, and I just sensed immediately that God was doing something awesome in his life.

There were a lot of people in that breakout session, but you just know when you're like drawn to somebody, and I was drawn to him.

And he had the courage to talk to me afterwards, and I was just like, greatness is all over this man.

And I was like, I don't know what's going on, but greatness is all over you.

And as we talked and got to know each other more, what I realized then that I didn't know then that I know now that that greatness was connected to you guys, that it was connected to him transitioning to leading you guys and leading this church.

And so what that means is you guys have been in a season of transition.

Right?

And as a church, but also individually.

And let me tell you a few things I've learned about transitions.

One, they are not easy.

Let me validate that because sometimes people are just like, oh, change.

Oh, no.

I don't like a whole lot of change.

So they're not easy, but they are always worth it because there's greatness on the other side of them.

And because of that greatness, you need the Holy Spirit to get through the transition and to get through that next.

And so the first thing I'll say two things.

First, those of you who do not know me, Sparkle is my real name.

Forgot to say that.

It's not a nickname, it's not a stage name.

Um, it's my real name.

It is on my debit card, it's on my license, and my birth certificate.

I've checked all of them just to make sure.

Mom and dad, are you lying to me?

They are not.

So, and then I just met a lovely person whose name is Ray, and that's my middle name.

So I'm like, Lord, I'm just anointed to be here today.

It's a Ray in the house.

Sparkle Ray is here.

So that's one thing.

Second thing I know is this series that you guys have been in the last few weeks is not by accident.

It's not a coincidence.

Nothing is with Jesus, right?

But I think it's God ordained and God led because it's connected to your next.

Whatever you came in here with, and you're thinking about, Lord, what's next?

You know there's greatness on your life.

You know there's greatness in this church.

It's connected to the Holy Spirit.

And so this series is on purpose because I believe that God wants to reveal today a special and timely word.

He wants to reveal an aspect of the Holy Spirit that you may not be as familiar with or that you may have forgotten about.

But it's connected to everything you need.

So I want to invite him in because this is vineyard, and we don't do anything without him.

So I'm gonna pray real quickly and invite him in, and then we're gonna get into this.

Holy Spirit, come.

Whew! You have already set the stage through worship, and I thank you.

I just say more, Lord, more of whatever you want to do.

Shower down on your people, Holy Spirit.

I am nothing but the messenger.

You speak, put your words in my mouth, cover me with the shadow of your hands, and you deliver in the way that you want to for your people.

We love you so much in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Okay, I got a lot I want to unpack this morning, but I'm gonna start with this.

Do you have that video by chance queued up that Pastor Adam sent to you by me?

It's like real short, like maybe like 40 seconds.

Yeah.

For me, it's around 15%.

That's for me though.

Mine is 64%.

64.

I know.

Just took it off the chart.

New poll that shows that the largest number of people anxiety creeps in when they see 38% battery power left.

About one-third of those polls said a 20% battery charge makes them panic.

13% of people, they say 10% charge makes them anxious, and 24% of those polled start to worry when their battery creeps toward the half wave point.

I need a paramedic if it's if I see 64%, I'm in big trouble.

I don't want to be out somewhere and stuck.

No, I don't.

When do you start to panic?

Okay.

When you see that, that's just gonna repeat.

You can turn it out.

Okay, let's talk about this.

This is a short little fun clip, right?

I heard some laughs because we can relate to this, right?

What's your number?

What's your number when you see on your phone that it's starting to go down that you get a little anxiety, you start to panic?

Shout it out.

What's what's your number?

50%.

I heard 50.

20, 30, 40, 6, 17.

I heard six, I heard 20, I heard 50.

I'm gonna tell on myself today.

I'm gonna be the guinea pig.

I'm about 54%.

And my husband who is watching this now is probably nodding his head and laughing at me because he'll take the battery all the way down.

At about 54%, I'm panicking.

I am frantically going up and down the house trying to find a charger.

I have literally accused my husband and my son of taking my charger.

I'm like, where's it at?

Where is it at?

Because there's something about seeing my phone at a halfway mark that I'm like, something's wrong.

I don't want this.

Like, like she said in the video, I don't want something to happen and I don't have the battery.

Let me charge it up.

And so I set that example up because as I started praying about this message, the Lord said, Sparkle, it's very interesting.

You can have such an urgency and attention to detail and an awareness about your phone losing power, but you have very little urgency and concern about when you're losing power.

And I'm already seeing nods, so I'm in the right house today.

He said, in fact, are you even aware of when you're losing power?

Do you know when you've lost your charge?

Do you know when your battery is out?

Do you know, Sparkle, when you have fizzled out and you need to plug into me, your source?

Because we're quick to grab that phone.

That phone is our life, it's got everything in it.

I have so many notes and things.

I I can't lose my phone.

I can't lose the charge.

I I got I travel with a portable charger.

That's how scary it is.

And this stopped me in my tracks, Ram, because here's the truth for all of us, most of us in here have been following God our whole lives.

We know instinctively that God is our source.

We know that, right?

But yet, the word of God in Colossians 1 and 27 says, Christ is in me, the hope of glory, and most days I don't even remember to access him.

I'm gonna be here today, I'm gonna tell the truth.

Because I know what we say on Sunday, and I know we just had a beautiful worship set, but for most of us, when we get out there and life starts life in, we forget to ask the Holy Spirit and God anything at all after it's devotion time.

Or maybe it's just me.

I'm being real honest and raw here today because I honestly don't believe I'm the only one here struggling with this.

I don't believe I'm alone.

John 14 and 16, Jesus says, He told us, and you've been learning about this, he said, I am going away because I am going to send you a helper and an advocate.

And it's actually better for you that I go away so that my spirit can be with you on the earth.

Then in Galatians 2 and 20, we learn that I have been crucified with Christ, that I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, and now the life that I live in my body, I now live by faith in the Son of God who created me, right?

We also know, so we know these verses.

Philippians 2 and 13.

It's not my strength, but it's your strength effectively at work within me to will and work for his good pleasure.

So here's the first thing we must realize the location of the Holy Spirit is on earth and within us.

God is in heaven, Jesus is in heaven, they're not here.

But the one who's here is in us.

So, what does this mean?

And I have to break this down.

This means that you and I are not alone.

You actually have assistance, you have help.

And I gotta get that in our minds today because we hear it on Sunday, but when we get out there, we act like we don't have help.

You actually have help.

You have help 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all day, every day.

The spirit of Jesus Himself, the literal spirit, just pause and think about that.

The literal spirit of Jesus Himself, all his glory, all his deity, all his power is sitting within you.

Yeah, I just just let that register.

All that we just worshiped about, you got it.

It's in you.

And if we have all that Jesus is within us, this means we absolutely have everything we need to flourish and to thrive on this earth.

But my question is, do you feel like you're thriving?

I know, I know.

I'm already getting the looks and getting the silence.

As a believer, do you feel like you have truly all the glory of Jesus within you?

That you're walking in the promises of God.

I'm already seeing some nods.

Thank you for being honest.

Because that's what we come here for.

Everybody had their hands raised, everybody was on the floor.

You saw me pacing.

But then we get out that door, and it's like, I have nothing, Lord, but a bunch of problems.

John 10 and 10, one of my favorite verses.

What I built my businesses on the thief comes only to kill, steal, and destroy.

But Jesus has come that you may have and enjoy life to the full until it overflows.

3rd John 1 and 2 says, Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you.

All and that you may be in good health, and you shall prosper even as your soul prospers.

This is the word of God.

These are actually God's promises to us.

So, what does this mean?

You're actually supposed to be walking in them.

You're actually supposed to prosper.

We're actually supposed to have abundance.

You know, those whole things like, I don't want to hear a prosperity gospel, I don't want to hear about abundance.

That's actually wrong for us.

We're actually supposed to have these things.

And the Holy Spirit is the one who leads us, who guides us, who teaches us, and who helps us to walk in these promises.

Yet, many believers don't see these results in their life.

Why?

I believe it's because we're not using the Holy Spirit to his full capability.

We're not using the one who is called to help us.

And then our everyday lives don't look like they should.

And let me be clear, it's not because we don't want them to.

We want we want this.

We are trying with all of our might, all of our heart, but guess what?

We are consumed.

We are consumed by any and everything that's around us.

The definition of consumed is to be engrossed with, to be obsessed by, to have your attention captured and taken away from.

And what are we consumed with?

Everything.

The economy, job loss, high gas prices, lettuce outbreaks.

Look, can I can I sell myself this week?

Literally, this week, I called my mom.

I'm panicking in the store because we try to eat healthy, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, and like it hit me like, oh, my mom said something about lettuce.

And I'm literally in Myers and Champagne.

Like, I don't what do I grab?

I don't like I can't even make a decision right now.

Literally.

You got inflation, you got sickness and disease, loss.

There is so much, there's been so much loss in this year for people.

And anybody that's experiencing that, Holy Spirit, come and bring comfort because that's been happening.

And then there's busyness, jobs and work, and aging parents, and teenagers, and little toddlers, and just life.

We get consumed by life, and it takes our attention, friends.

It takes our focus.

And the truth is, we don't want to talk about it in the church.

Whenever you get me here, I'm gonna do two things.

I'm gonna be really truthful, I'm gonna be really practical because we don't talk about it enough.

We talk a lot about the scriptures.

How do I apply them?

How do I live it in my life?

Holy Spirit, help me when I get out the door and I don't know what groceries to buy, or I don't have enough money to buy the groceries, or whatever it is.

I need real help.

And these are the things that have prevented us from receiving all of what the Holy Spirit has for us to offer.

And here's the result of this defeat, discouragement, frustration, powerlessness, fatigue.

These are the words that believers are using to me.

I can't tell you how many Christians I come upon and just say, Well, I guess it is what it is.

It is what it is.

And I will be honest, this is exactly how I felt a couple of weeks ago.

I was telling Pastor Adam about it like the beginning of July.

Have you ever had one of those weeks where just like every little thing that's not really a little thing, but it becomes a big thing because it's an irritant?

I had the whole week of that.

Like our refrigerator started malfunctioning out of nowhere.

And refrigerators aren't like they used to be.

Now they're computerized.

So if the motherboard or computer something is messing up, everything is messing up.

Back in the day, you didn't have that.

So refrigerator like started messing up out of nowhere.

I had a situation with a client at work that was just on my mind.

My husband had something going on at his job.

I got locked out of our bedroom door.

True story.

I still don't even know how this happened.

My husband had to like basically break down the door all in the same week.

I'm like locked out for 30 minutes.

We didn't know how to get in.

It's just crazy.

I had a friend get burned by fireworks at a fireworks show.

Yeah.

I had a friend dealing with the fact that she's got to go back to work after not being at work for 20 years because they need more income.

And so I was just done, y'all.

By Friday, I was done.

I got up that Saturday to get up to pray, and I started my day with praying in the spirit.

That's something I've been doing the last about three years.

I didn't really feel like praying.

Like most of us do most days.

We don't feel like it.

Let's not lie.

You don't feel like praying.

You don't.

You're tired.

You don't feel like praying.

I didn't.

I told the Lord, I don't feel like doing this, but I got up anyways.

And as I started to pray, I normally kneel down.

He said, Get up and walk around the house and pray in the spirit.

I definitely didn't feel like that because I was already tired.

But I was obedient.

And as I started praying in the spirit, what rose up in me, he said.

You have power.

Kept saying, I keep hearing, you have power.

He said, You have power over the refrigerator.

Why aren't you speaking to it?

You have power over the contract at work.

I called you to that place.

I called you to that client.

Why aren't you declaring it?

You have power over sickness and disease.

Why are you worried about your friend?

You go and lay hands on her.

He said, You have power over scarcity.

Why are you worried about what's going on at their husband's job?

I'm the shepherd.

You shall not lack.

Rebuke that scarcity in the name of Jesus.

He said, Why are you acting like you don't have help and you're not resourced?

It stopped me in my tracks in my living room.

You see, because here's what happened.

I forgot what most of us forget.

We live in this world, but we are not of this world.

What does this mean?

That what happens out there to them doesn't happen to us.

Why?

Because we have something they don't.

We have power.

Power is ability.

Ability is the skill or the capacity to do something.

And our ability comes from the Holy Spirit.

How do I know this?

I got Bible for it.

I'm not making this up.

Acts 1 and 8 says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

This was Jesus talking to the disciples.

This was an instruction.

He said, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere, in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Romans 8 and 11.

The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.

And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by the same Spirit living within you.

This is our evidence, friends.

I don't know how much clearer it can get.

This is the proof in the pudding.

This is the proof of the power.

You have Christ down on the inside of you, the spirit of the living God.

That means you are resourced.

You are sourced and you are charged up by the power and the grace of the Holy Spirit.

You are equipped to rule and reign on this earth.

How do I know that?

I got the Bible for that too.

Revelation 5 and 10 says that you are king priest and that you are called to rule and reign on the earth.

Why?

Because we're just not walking around here in the natural, friends.

We are here in the natural, but we have the supernatural down on the inside of us.

You have the supernatural power and help of the Holy Spirit, a driving force of strength within you.

Here's the truth that I want to highlight to people today who came in here feeling tired, exhausted, defeated, unmotivated, like it's just gonna be another Sunday.

You have been built with power.

You have built-in power.

You have a built-in assistance.

You don't need AI to give you an answer.

I'm gonna tell the truth, whether you like it or not.

AI isn't bad.

I use AI, but it doesn't use me.

It doesn't fry my brain because I have been built with an assistant.

You don't need Google to give you guidance, friends.

You have the power to hear from the Lord and know what to do, because he said, a sheep knows my voice and the voice of the stranger you shall not follow.

You have the power to speak and to move mountains because he said, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for you.

You have the power to change what you see and experience, you have the power to heal, the power to shift atmospheres, you have the power to be and exist in this world.

It's within you.

But the question is, are you using it?

That's our part.

Everything I just said, all the scriptures, his part.

He is not coming off the throne to make you use it.

I know.

We wish if Jesus would just give me a second and just come down, and he would tell me face to face.

Here's the truth, we probably still wouldn't do it.

We would just have a cool encounter with the Lord that we will go telling all our friends about, and the next day we wouldn't do it.

And we gotta get this here, friends, because we're living beneath, and we're not supposed to live beneath.

Are you tapped into the source today?

Are you plugged into the power source, which is Jesus?

That's my whole message today.

It's simple.

I drove all the way from Illinois from TVC to tell you that, to remind you that the Holy Spirit is not just a helper and a comforter and an advocate.

He is all those things.

He is great at that.

But don't you miss this thing.

He is power, he is your ability.

If you think that you can go out of these doors and do everything that God has called you to do in your strength, in your mind, and not get consumed and not get distracted, the enemy is lying to you.

You have been royally deceived.

And this is why we are fatigued.

And this is why we're tired and exhausted because we've been deceived.

Because we hear it and hear, then something doesn't translate.

We go out there and we're trying in all our strength and all our might, and that's not what you're supposed to do.

God never meant it to be like that.

The Holy Spirit is the power source.

He is how you get things done on this earth.

He is the gas in your tank, he is the spark in the engine.

And Jesus sent him to keep you constantly charged and powered up so that you're good and efficient and running, so that you can do his good work.

That's what this is about.

This is not about you.

It's not about me.

But I have to have the wisdom and the discernment enough to tap into the Holy Spirit so that he can fill me up and so I can do what he's called me to do.

I can't allow myself to be consumed all day, every day, then expect to come in here and deliver a message and to be full of power.

It's not gonna happen because I'm consumed.

So that means some of us are gonna have to deny ourselves some things that we love.

We have to sacrifice some social media, sacrifice some scrolling, sacrifice some friendships, sacrifice some things so that you're not as consumed.

Because the question is, how quick are you to run to him?

Don't you think about that?

Like get real honest with yourself.

You don't have to tell me, the Lord knows, but talk to yourself.

What are you quick to run to?

Because I'm telling on myself right here, I I'm I'm not that quick all the time because he read that long list of stuff.

In addition to that, I'm a wife, I'm a daughter, I'm a friend, I'm a mom.

I got a six-year-old who's got way more energy than I do.

Like, it's easy.

It's easy for me to say, God, I'm too consumed.

I gave you the example of the phone because we'll do anything to keep that phone charged.

And I know we think the younger generation, it's just them.

No, it's us too.

So, my my youths that are in the house, don't believe that lie.

It's not just you guys.

It's us too.

We love our phones.

But we won't do anything to keep ourselves charged up with the Holy Spirit.

We wonder why we don't have juice and we don't have energy and we don't have the weight that God needs us to carry to go into the atmosphere and shift it.

Here's the truth when you go on your job, you're supposed to have a certain weight that you're carrying to throw around that organization to shift it and to change it.

I hear so many people, my workplace is just so toxic.

What are you doing?

Because God put you there.

I just need to leave.

Do you?

You're talking to somebody who has God had sitting in toxic environments for at least 20 years.

He's like, because I need you there to shift it and to change it, not complain about it.

But I can't do that in my own strength.

Some of you guys are like, this family of mine is so dysfunctional, I just need to run away from them.

But God put you there to be the difference maker, to be the weight.

We're praying, but we can't shift atmospheres and call those things that be not as there are.

We're living beneath God's best for us because we're not accessing the power we need to excel on this earth.

The truth is, we can do nothing without him.

We have nothing and we are nothing without him.

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.

Apart from me, you can do nothing.

That's John 15 and 5.

How are you remaining today?

Are you living a life that you are more charged up about keeping your phone battery charged up than your own battery?

Are you more connected to the energy on your devices than you are on the energy that you're getting from the Lord?

Here's the truth.

How many of us would feel less tired, exhausted, and fatigued if we would plug in more?

What's your plug-in life looking like these days?

We desire the life that Christ died for us to have.

We desire a life of fruit.

Galatians 5 and 22.

But the fruit of the Spirit, we know this, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

We want it all, Lord.

Give it all, Lord.

I want all the joy, all the peace.

But you're not making the time to get charged up to produce the fruit you want to see.

Fruit doesn't just come.

Just like you take a seed and you put it in the ground and you water it and you nourish it and it becomes something.

You need to be grounded in the Holy Spirit and water and nourish that relationship and that connection to bear the Holy Spirit's fruit.

This is actually how you're supposed to function and flourish in the world.

This is how we're called to prosper.

This is actually what Jesus told his disciples when he said, I'm going away and I'm sending you the Holy Spirit.

The whole goal was that they were going to live now without Jesus physically there so they could embrace, receive, and partner with the Holy Spirit in order to get things done, to accomplish God's will, to carry out the calling.

And so, how do we do this?

Because the truth is, if you don't have the Holy Spirit, how can you live here on earth and not be defeated?

Your whole job is to be a light in dark places, but how can you be a light if there's nothing lit in you?

How can you shift the atmosphere?

People say, Oh, they're just so negative.

They're complaining so much.

Well, how can you change that if you're complaining right with them?

If they're saying it is what it is, and you're saying, Yeah, it is, you're showing them no difference.

You're called to be holy and separated.

Be holy as I am holy.

That means be different.

Be separated.

How can you be different if you're right there with everybody else doing what the world does?

You can't.

Jeremiah 29 and 11 says that he gives us a hope in the future.

Your job is to be that hope.

But you can't give away hope that you do not have.

And so you have to choose.

This is going to be intentional.

You have to choose to live differently, on purpose, and intentionally.

You have to be aware that without your acknowledgement and participation with the Holy Spirit, your soul will be constantly dry, drained, and defeated.

You will live a life going in and out of agitation and being underutilized.

And that's where most of us are at.

All these things are happening to the people in the world, and we feel no different.

We're no different.

But we want to be a witness.

How can I be a witness when I'm just like them?

So, three ways that you can do this, and I'm gonna get out your hair.

I got three slides to help you guys remember this.

There are three ways that you say charged up and plugged up so that you have power.

First one is you get into the word.

And the three things I'm gonna say, we know this, but let me give this caveat.

Because I'm gonna say them, then I'm gonna break them down.

You get into the word, you get into praise, you get into prayer.

This is a lifestyle.

So we kind of take these things as like sometimes I get into the word, and then I do my worship and praise on Sunday, and sometimes I put it in the car.

And I no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

This is your life as a believer.

If you want to have power, this is this is the recipe.

I'm not saying it's easy, but the result of not doing this is what you have right now.

Do you want that?

This is a choice.

You get into the word.

Getting into the word gives you the power to hear, which gives you the confidence to navigate in this world.

When you saturate yourself with the word, you activate your ability to hear from the Holy Spirit and navigate in this natural world in a supernatural way with his wisdom, guidance, and direction.

This is something the people of the world do not have because they do not know them and they do not see him.

It all starts by saturating yourself in the word.

And as it says in Joshua, meditate on the word day and night.

Keep the book of the law in your mouth.

This fills up your soul, friends.

This gives your spirit and your soul joy and peace.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.

What are you hearing?

What's your word life like?

When you're in the word, you're learning how the Holy Spirit operates, you're learning about the promises of God, and you're chewing and feeding on that.

That fills you up and gives you the power that you need.

If you've been feeling drained and defeated lately, I challenge you to think about what's my word life been like?

How have I been nourishing my relationship with the Holy Spirit through the word?

Second thing, get into praise.

What an awesome worship set we had.

I was here at 10.

I was like, they're gonna set the atmosphere for this word to come forth.

But this is not just a Sunday, y'all.

This is not just, I put it on in my car sometime.

This is your life.

You need to praise.

Your praise is the power to speak and move mountains.

Because I don't really know, we don't really know all the intricate details of what happens in the supernatural, but you know it's something about praising.

You get some strength, you get some might, you get some ability.

That's the way God created it.

The atmosphere for the Holy Spirit to uh to operate at his highest level is when you praise.

The Holy Spirit responds to this type of environment.

It's the breeding ground for the Holy Spirit to move in.

When you praise, the Holy Spirit goes to work on your behalf and he does what you cannot do.

Acts 16, 24 through 25, an example.

About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loose.

My God, today.

But this is an example of how the chains fall off in our life when we praise, when you're in worship, even when you don't feel like it, when you open up your mouth and you speak, chains break off.

And so my question is what are you speaking?

What are you praising about?

Because some of us are praising the negative things more than we are God.

You want to know how I know because you're talking about them.

Your praise is what you give attention to and what you're speaking about.

If you are calling on the phone and talking more about the lettuce outbreak and inflation and all these things you see on TikTok, guess what?

You've just given praise to that.

And now your soul is filled up with that.

You have no power.

Praise is focusing on Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.

Ephesians 5, 18 through 19.

That's the one that says, Do not be drunk on wine, instead, be filled with the spirit.

And then it says, speak to one another in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs.

Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord.

All I'm saying is, when you praise, atmospheres will shift.

When you sing songs and hymns, this is the word, this is not sparkle.

God is telling us through Paul what to do.

We got a clue in.

I don't know what to do, Lord.

What to do with my life.

I don't know how to make.

He's telling you.

It's really simple and we make it difficult.

And please know, this is no condemnation today because that's not what we do.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

This is awareness.

We are asking, begging God what to do about situations, and the answer is praise.

The walls of Jericho came down when they praise.

The walls in your life will come down when you activate the Holy Spirit and get your power.

What does your praise life look like?

Lastly, get into prayer.

Oh my goodness.

And we this is essential.

This is a no-brainer.

I know.

But some of us are like, I don't even have the energy to pray.

That's why you start with the this is in order.

That's why you start with the word.

Start with the word.

Get your soul filled up.

You start with some praise.

I'm not perfect at it, but I try very hard.

If anybody was at the Cincinnati conference last year, I we start our house with praise in the morning.

I need something to be in the atmosphere in this house to shift it before I get out there.

And that gives me the ability to do this.

Get into prayer.

This gives you the power to stand, to be, and shift the atmosphere.

More importantly, if you do not have a heavenly prayer language and you do not speak in tongues, that's going to be part of ministry today because I believe God wants to fill you up with that.

Because praying in the spirit is a different level.

Woo! I can't tell you how many things have shifted in my life when I just pray in the spirit.

Paul said in Corinthians, I speak in tongues more than all of you.

In Ephesians 6 and 18, it says, and pray in the spirit on all occasions.

Let me pause there.

Again, we got to stop reading the word.

It's just, let me just read it like I'm reading the book.

All occasions.

All the time.

We should be praying in the spirit all the time with all kinds of prayers and requests.

This means we should actually be praying more in the spirit than our native language.

This is a command.

This is an instruction.

Paul was not saying this because he thought he was better than them.

He was trying to give us some knowledge and a clue to what would actually help us.

Here's the result of praying in the Spirit.

Paul knew he needed supernatural power to come from on high to come down on earth to intercede on his behalf.

And in Acts 4 and 31, it says, After they had prayed, Their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

You want to go and speak the word boldly to people, you want to change that family, you want to change what's going on in your body, you want to change what's on your job.

Pray in the spirit.

Prayer in general is humility, friends, because it's surrender.

It's saying, Lord, I don't know, but you know.

When you pray in the spirit, it's a deeper level of surrender because you don't even know what you're saying.

You're just submitting to trust and say, I don't know what I'm saying right now.

But Lord, you know what I need.

When I pray in the spirit, I say, Lord, I don't even know what to pray for today.

I'm not that smart to know what I'm about to encounter out there.

But my spirit knows what I need.

Go.

My spirit knows how to cover my child when I don't.

My spirit knows how to cover my husband.

My spirit knows how to protect my job.

My spirit knows how to protect this house, this church.

He knows.

Surrender to the spirit.

And so what I want you to think about is are you praying like that?

As I close, I want you to remember those three practical ways that you can get powered and charged up today.

Because if you came here today feeling like you were on your last leg, worn out, I understand, but more importantly, God understands.

Jesus sees you.

You have not been forgotten.

And he does not want to leave you like this.

Jesus would have never left.

I believe that.

He would have never said, I'm leaving, if he didn't have the Holy Spirit to come.

He loved them too much.

He loves us too much to leave us without a solution.

He brought us a solution, and the solution is the person of the Holy Spirit.

And he wants to infuse more of his power into you.

So I want you to think about which of these three do you need to start with?

Maybe all three.

For some of us, it may be just inviting the Holy Spirit in for the first time.

Others, it may be I need another infilling.

Whatever it is, I want you to remember this.

Whatever situation you are in that you came in with, it does not have to stay that way because you have power.

Don't you ever forget that you have power.

If you don't hear me say anything else today, you remember.

Sparkle reminded me, I have power.

And I have the ability to stay plugged into the source.

Holy Spirit, help me to do it.

And so I'm going to turn it back over to Pastor Adam because I believe God wants to do something powerful in our ministry time.

We already got a word of knowledge that was pretty powerful.

Someone saw a vision of basically a cloud of oppression being lifted off as like lightning bolts just came down from heaven.

And I believe he wants to do that and more.

And so I'm going to turn it back over to him and the Holy Spirit.