Prevailing Prayer : Kairos – 2

And we kind of went here and there, but I believe we need to nail it down, so that's what we'll do today.

So some of it you might have heard last time, the rest of it is kind of new.

So let's start with what we, quickly go over what we already kind of talked about.

So we said that Kairos is the fullness of time, as in, in God's mind, before creation began,

there were things that he had planned, that he had designed.

And so he often uses the word fullness of time, in the fullness of time.

Titus 1.3 talks about it, and there was another scripture reference I gave you in Corinthians.

So Kairos is the fullness of time when what God has designed in heaven

finds fluid movement on earth because of the immediate obedience by people of what they see or hear.

So Kairos is God's idea of, now is the fullness of time for this thing to occur.

So it's the fullness of time when what God has designed in heaven finds fluid movement on earth

because of the immediate obedience of people to what they see or hear.

And then we said that in Kronos, as in, time as we measure it here on earth, in Kronos we wrestle with time.

We're always against time. Time is rarely our ally, though we have to learn how to make time our ally.

We wrestle with time so that we can secure things before deadlines.

So we're constantly against the clock. I've got to get this done.

Father, you have to answer by now. Oh God, how come you haven't answered?

Time, instead of becoming an ally, becomes something we wrestle with,

and therefore even judge God, the creator of time, by him not being on time, which is just nuts.

Instead, in Kairos, what happens is, in Kairos, what God designed and secured before the foundations of the earth

breaks upon us in appointed timeframes, as in, God has decided things in heaven.

There's no wrestling with time. Instead, there are things that he's designed and he's secured for me,

for Acts 29, for Vancouver, for the nation of Canada. He's designed and secured things.

And if we are able to grasp it and obey immediately, then what happens is, it breaks upon us in appointed timeframes.

The strange thing is, God always finds someone who will be immediately obedient.

He always finds someone. He always finds someone.

He will find a Mary when Jesus needs to be born. He will find a David when Saul goes crazy.

He will find an Elijah when Ahab is ruling. He always finds people.

The book of Judges is the story of God finding people who stood up at the time of deliverance.

God always finds them.

The fourth thing we said is, perhaps the hardest thing to get right is timing.

The hardest thing to get right is timing. It's something we struggle with.

The hardest thing to get right is God's timing. And why is that? Because of our impatience,

because of circumstances and pressures brought in by circumstances, circumstantial pressures,

and because of our need to control things. Therefore, it's very hard to wait for God's timing.

And it's not just your problem or my problem. It's been around for ages.

Abraham could not resist the pressure of circumstances. The pressure of Sarah saying,

The pressure of Sarah saying, go sleep with Hagar.

The pressure of circumstances prevented him from waiting for God's time.

And we still bear the consequences of that.

Jacob could not wait for God's time. Even though right at his birth it was prophesied

that the younger shall, the older shall, the elder shall serve the younger, Jacob could not wait.

So he had to take things into his own hands. He was a control freak.

Deception was used by him to control his environment.

And so he would take over and deceive his father to get the blessing that was his anyways.

The same goes for Moses. Moses, who was later known as a very meek man,

was a man who killed somebody because he wanted to be deliverer and could not wait for God to deliver,

but took upon himself the act of deliverance.

And so you'll find that waiting for God's timing is one of the hardest things to do.

Saul did the same thing. King Saul, the first king of Israel, head and shoulders above the rest,

a man who was chosen by God would not wait for the sacrifice,

would not wait for Samuel to come to offer the sacrifice.

And so this timing thing applies to everything. It's not that God does not want to give it to you.

But if you eat a fruit before it ripens, before its time,

you will be left dissatisfied and you will also perhaps have a stomach ache if it's really raw.

And so yearn to get the timing of God right.

It is not sufficient for me to hear that God is saying, do this.

I then have to ask when.

It's a sign of maturity when you begin to understand the timing of God.

It's a sign of maturity when you begin to understand the timing of God.

Of the tribe of Issachar, it was spoken that here was a tribe who knew the times of God,

who knew the times and seasons of God. They knew when to and when not to.

And this is critical.

So then learn to know the times and seasons of life.

And we said this last time through hearing clearly.

So the first thing is hearing clearly.

Have I heard it clearly? And then asking the question, now that I've heard clearly, when, oh God?

When, oh God?

It's the hardest thing to do, guys.

I hear clearly in terms of what God wants me to do.

My struggle is I want to do it now.

And then there's the thing of, but Jacob, wait for the right time.

And in your mind, waiting three days seems ridiculous.

Why wait three days?

But those three days can change circumstances so drastically, so radically,

because he's not interested just in you.

He's interested in what will happen to the people around you because of your obedience.

One of the lines I love in Psalm 40 is many will see and many will fear and put their trust in the Lord.

But Psalm 40 starts off like this.

I waited patiently for the Lord.

He turned and heard my cry.

So hear clearly.

Learn through experience, through your own experience and through the experience of others.

Learn. Very often you've seen in your own life, and almost everybody here can testify to it,

how you heard God and you did something, but the results were not exactly what you expected.

And sometimes it tasted like gravel or broccoli, whichever is better.

So the point is that you have to be able to see God.

So learn from experience and learn from the experience of others.

And take this to heart. It is important.

The third thing is to drop everything obedience.

Drop everything obedience.

Drop everything obedience.

Which is to say that once you know what God has done for you,

you have to learn to respect God.

Obedience.

Which is to say that once you know what God has said and you know that he's saying,

wait for, till I give you a sign, or wait for the next two weeks,

once he says that, then it's like drop dead obedience.

Oh God, I'll do this exactly as you want.

It does not matter that all the conditions haven't lined up.

It doesn't matter that the wind is blowing the wrong way.

It doesn't matter that the fig tree has not blossomed.

I will do it on time.

And one of the hardest things for a pastor or a leader to do

is try to restrain you from doing something good when God has already asked you to.

You don't know how difficult it is if you come to me and say,

God has told me this, for me now to tell you,

but I don't think it's a good idea to do it now.

Because God has said it to you. You have the money for it.

All the circumstances are right. Everything is lined up.

But in your heart, you know, it's not a question of things lining up.

It is a time of God.

Then to come and say to you, not a good idea, very few listen to it.

And those that listen prosper.

And then the last one is step by step navigation.

As in, now that you have told me and I will start this process,

it doesn't mean that, all right, I don't need you anymore.

You told me when, where, why, now I'm going on my own.

No, it's always step by step by step.

This is how God took them through the wilderness.

When the pillar of cloud moves, you move.

When the pillar of cloud stops, you stop.

And they would sometimes just travel a few miles and then they would have to settle down.

Then another few miles and they'd have to settle down. Why?

Because God had his own plan at work.

Plus, he's teaching you this crazy amazing thing called the losing of control and the exertion of dependence.

The opposite of control is not self-control.

The opposite of controlling things is not letting go of things.

The opposite of controlling things is reliance on God.

That is the opposite of controlling things.

And all of us are born with that.

We are born with a desire to control and dominate.

Our circumstances may add to it and so heighten it, but trust me, it ain't nobody's fault.

It is your innate sin nature that was put on the cross, so stop carrying that cadaver.

I have to constantly remind myself of areas where I control life.

Because they keep coming up.

The only... go ahead.

I can't hear you.

Yeah. There's a time for things, guys.

And Ecclesiastes talks about it.

A time for everything.

A time to be born, a time to die.

I mean, we should read it. I don't think we've read it for very long.

Where is it in Ecclesiastes' what?

Sorry?

There is a time for everything and a season for everything under heaven.

This is from one of the wisest men who later on became one of the foolishest men.

There is a time for everything.

When he wrote this, he was wise.

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to uproot.

A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to build.

A time to weep and a time to laugh.

A time to mourn and a time to dance.

A time to scatter stones, a time to gather them.

A time to embrace and a time to refrain,

A time to search and a time to give up.

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

A time to tear and a time to mend.

A time to be silent, a time to speak,

A time to love and a time to hurt.

A time for war and a time for peace.

Brilliant words, man.

Critical that we figure this out, hey?

No, no, not your pastor says, anybody says.

I'm not trying to take the responsibility on myself.

If your husband says, that's even tougher.

Yeah, go ahead.

Yeah.

Yeah, and that is critical.

You can only take advice from ones you have a relationship with,

ones you trust, ones who have experience in that area.

You can only do that.

It's not wise to take advice from people you have.

You can't take advice from experts on CNN.

Because they might be experts, but you don't have a relationship with them.

You don't know their biases.

So that's one.

Two, you have to be able to have developed through relationship a degree of bias.

Three, have they walked this before and do they know how to do this?

You can only take advice from someone who's done something in that area before

and has a proven track record.

Otherwise, no.

He does.

But because he is relational, he loves using relationship.

He does.

I mean, why anybody, anything, like a donkey?

So he does.

So he does.

But more and more you will see that the stories of the Bible are usually relational

simply because God is relational.

That's just the nature of it.

So even though Anna and Simeon were sent to speak into Jesus' life,

most of the things Jesus would have learned would have come from Joseph and Mary,

because there's a relationship there.

Same with the disciples.

Paul heard, strangely enough, directly from Jesus.

Relationship.

All the disciples learned from him.

So I'm not saying that others who do not know you cannot speak into your life.

But let it happen through relationship.

At least you can question.

It's easier.

And sometimes it's harder to, because I know, suppose Sue comes and asks me something.

I know Sue, so I might be biased or prejudiced against it, depending on how I feel about it today.

So that also has to be separated.

So it is not easy.

It is not easy.

This doesn't mean for a second, guys, and let me make this clear.

This doesn't mean for a second that when things happen to you, you have to come and ask the pastor.

No, it doesn't mean that.

It just means that it's a good thing to check with each other.

That's all I'm saying.

Yeah.

Any questions? Any other questions?

This is what we covered last time.

Because there are churches where you can't do anything without checking with the pastor.

And this church ain't like that.

I mean, I know one church where the guy couldn't buy a car until he checked with the pastor,

and he went and bought a red Hyundai, and the pastor said,

red is not a color that suits you as an assistant pastor.

So he had to return it.

So if we create that culture here, know that there's a control freak called Jacob in your midst,

not in the Bible.

So make sure that...

But if you do it, if you come and check, you must do it out of relationship

and out of a recognition of something in my life.

If you come and ask me about cars, I won't be able to help you.

It'll be the hand of God.

Yeah.

Okay, so when Dano came to Vancouver,

he wanted to buy a car.

And so he had the money to buy a car, and he was gung-ho about buying a car.

He even knew what kind of car he's supposed to go and buy.

And so he talked to me about it, and there's no reason to stop him from buying a car.

He's got a huge family.

So he had to buy a car.

But somehow, one of the things I sensed the Lord saying to me,

and I wrote to him and his wife saying,

this is what I sensed the Lord saying, that when you come in, do not go for something new.

Wait, because there is a time period.

And there were reasons God gave for that time period.

So I explained it to him.

He still has it on his phone.

And his wife was immediately agreeable, and it didn't take long for him to say,

okay, this is the way we go.

And so for the last two months, he kept driving what he was driving.

And then while I was in Mongolia, he started sensing that it was now time to go ahead.

And he wasn't asking permission, because he's never asked permission.

But it was like, Jacob, I think now is the time.

And I'm in Mongolia, and I'm saying, Dano, you've been so patient about this.

You must go, and God will bless you.

And God blessed him with what he has right now, with a phenomenal deal.

So why does two months make a difference?

I am not sure.

All I know is there are timings to things.

You will find out further down the line.

Sometimes it is just to make me walk with humility.

That is all it is.

Sometimes it is to teach me patience.

Sometimes it is to teach me dependence.

Sometimes it is to break something off me, like control, or like envy, or like pride.

It doesn't matter what he uses.

Timing of God changes the person.

The timing of God changes the person.

Did Moses change because he got the time wrong?

Yes.

Then he had to wait 40 years in the wilderness before he was made the meekest man on earth.

Did Joseph change?

Yes.

He saw dreams when he was 16.

But there was a process that happened during which he was changed.

The timing of God is a process that changes you.

The timing of God is a process that changes you.

It changes this.

It changes this.

And it prepares this.

I mean, I love the guys under 30 in this church.

But every time I get really enthused about them, I think to myself,

there are only 28.

Give them some time.

Because there is something called time that changes you.

I have been very impressed by most of you.

Except you.

I don't know who I was looking at.

Any questions?

Any questions, guys?

Any disagreements?

Any minor disagreements?

So, the last statement I made, which is a very powerful statement,

is God designs hold their shape when the timing of obedience is perfect.

God designs things that God has designed,

hold their shape when the timing of God is obeyed.

When the timing of obedience is perfect, sorry.

God designs hold their shape when the timing of obedience is perfect.

Long for it, guys. Long for it.

You don't want your baby to come a day earlier or a day late.

So, here are the conditions for prevailing prayer from the Kairos of God.

Prevailing prayer, as in the prayer that engages, overcomes, and is victorious,

that comes from the fullness of time of God.

Here are the conditions that have to be met.

First, ascertain the plan of God.

As in, find out, Father,

what is it that you want to release into Acts 29 at this present time?

What is it that you want to release into me and my family's life at this present time?

What is it that you want to release into Vancouver at this present time?

What do you want to release into this nation or into Myanmar or wherever?

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth.

What is it that you want to release?

Ascertain the plan of God.

Churches that are gateway churches, and by gateway churches I don't mean mega churches,

I don't mean churches with a great worship band or a media profile.

I mean churches that are a pathway or a channel for God to flow through into the earth.

That's what I call gateway churches.

Any church that is a gateway church must be able to ascertain the plan of God for that present time.

How do you get there?

You get there by also using the same method for your life.

This is what allows us to change on the fly, guys,

where you may be doing a certain thing,

and it may be important to finish that certain thing,

but what if God wants to interrupt your plans?

Show me a guy in the Bible who did things for God,

whose life was not interrupted by God, and whose plans were not changed by God.

Take Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Gideon was happy making wine.

Guy ended up being a leader.

Moses was happy at one point being the prince of Egypt,

and at another point being a shepherd, God interrupted.

Joseph was just happy dreaming.

The boy didn't have any other purpose in life, interrupted his life.

Jesus was a carpenter's son, interrupted his life.

Ananias was sitting at home devoting himself to God when he says,

go and now meet Paul who is blind and waiting for you on a street called Strait.

There is nobody in the Bible whose carefully laid plans

and lives was not interrupted by God.

It is almost, it's almost a cue that our shucks, God is up to something,

because he's undoing my carefully laid plans.

Just check guys, go through the Bible.

You'll rarely find a guy whose life and whose pathway that he had really chiseled out

and his parents had prepared for him was not interrupted.

I know you might find a couple of guys, but I'm saying most cases that's not the case.

So ascertain the plan of God.

So here's something that you need to do.

Man, these teachings like this are so full of life guys, so full of life.

Simply because it's coming from the mouth of God.

Half the things I say aren't in my notes and I just thrill at the fact

that God wants to bless us with these things.

They are full of life.

Take them, embrace them because they are not complicated.

Words like Kairos are complicated,

but what is being taught is ridiculously simple and practical.

Find the plan of God for you.

It takes time.

It takes time to go stand up on the, like Habakkuk was told,

go stand up on the watchtower.

Look for me, look for what I'm going to write.

It takes time, but it's so worth it.

And here's the thing, time will be your enemy.

When you can't get it in one hour or two hours,

when you can't get it in one day or two days,

when you can't get it in one week or two weeks, you will say,

this doesn't work.

But what if you waited for two weeks and one day and God came through?

You are set for the rest of your life.

What if you knew how long you're going to live?

And then when you get there,

God will tell you whether you live longer or not.

What if you knew you had another 13 years, 14 years, two years?

You can claim 120, it ain't going to happen to most of us except Wayne.

But what if you knew the things that God desires to tell you are just so amazing,

so amazing.

I plead with you, find time to find out.

Ascertain the plan of God.

Apply it to yourself, apply it to Acts 29, apply it to the city,

apply it to cities, apply it to nations.

Second,

the plan of God is to make you a better person.

You are a better person.

You are a better person.

Once you ascertain the plan of God, obey its urgency,

obey its urgency without amendment.

Obey its urgency without amendment.

As in now that I know Father, everything goes towards obeying you.

And obey its urgency without amendment, as in without changing anything.

Without changing anything in content and without changing anything in the world.

Without changing anything in content and without changing anything in terms of timing.

O God, I've heard you.

I understand what you've said.

I set out now.

There will be no change in the content of what you've shown me because I cannot amend it.

And apostolic people are ascent people.

Ascent people are sent by ascender.

Ascender who has a certain way he wants you to behave.

There is a term in Hebrew called Shaliyah.

It means an exact copy of the original.

When God sends you to do something, he wants to be a Shaliyah.

As in I want you to represent me fully.

You cannot amend what I tell you to.

If you're an emissary or an ambassador, you do not speak your own opinion.

You may have an opinion, but it doesn't count.

What a marvelous God we serve who makes such strong demands on a people that he is raising.

And he is making us strong so we can meet these strong demands.

Obey its urgency without amendment.

Without amendment of content or timing.

Third, this is a very important point.

Without amendment of content or timing.

Third, this is perhaps as difficult as any of the others.

Become the womb through which God births what he wants.

The only important word in all this is this.

Become the womb.

It's one thing to hear God, it's another thing to say, alright, I'll obey and I won't change the content.

And that is great. Those two things are important.

But this is the most difficult because now you have to become the womb through which God births what he wants.

Becoming the womb means being stretched so that everything inside you begins to shift.

All the organs are pushed. Your body changes shape.

Your cycles change. Everything changes.

And it is so difficult to become the womb.

Many people can get this.

In a church like this, like Acts 29, many can get this because we've been talking about hearing God, hearing God, hearing God for long.

Many can even step out because we like obeying.

But this is the hardest.

Because God's dreams you cannot contain.

God's plans you cannot contain.

The movement of God on earth you cannot contain.

Nor are you ready. Nor am I ready.

So unless I become the womb, unless I begin to stretch, this is impossible.

And stretch beyond belief.

And this then requires the help of doctors, nurses, mother-in-laws, sisters, sisterhoods.

It requires everybody to get here.

You see, why prevailing prayer is not easy.

Step by step by step.

Any questions on these three before I go on to the next four?

Any questions?

See guys, the option is, and it's not a bad option, the other option is that we just keep praying our prayers for the things in our lives.

And occasionally prayer requests that come by email.

It's a good life.

It's a really good life.

And see prayers answered.

And be happy with it.

Rejoice over it.

Sing songs of praise over it.

It is a good option.

But there is another place that we are being asked to live in.

Which is, hey Jacob, what if your church became a church that begins to understand how to do this?

And Jacob, not just a few leaders, not just you, but the entire church begins to grow this way.

You cannot even imagine what I will do with you then.

Fourth one.

Transpose the urgency to the earth.

Transpose the urgency of what God wants to do to the earth.

Transpose the urgency of what God wants to do.

Of what God wants to do to the earth.

As in, now that I have become what you want me to become, this is not going to stay some spiritual flaky thing in prayer.

There will be feet to it.

There will be a go to it.

Like I've said many times, you cannot follow God without going.

So now that, oh God, I've followed you in these three, now comes the transposing the urgency to the earth.

Through the words that I speak, through the actions of my life, through the feet that I have that take me to places.

This is the hands part of it.

The heart and the head have been changed.

Now comes the hand.

The heart is the part that runs after God.

The head tries to process it.

The hands put feet to it, for the lack of a better way of saying it.

Transpose the urgency of what God wants to do to the earth.

So Gideon meets the angel of the Lord in the winepress.

And he understands what God's plan is.

Because God says, I'm going to deliver Israel through you.

He then obeys its urgency without amendment.

He wants to amend it.

He says, can I go out in the middle of the night?

Because I'm scared.

And God allows him that.

But he refuses to really amend what God wants him to do.

The next thing he does is he says, but I am the least of the tribe of Benjamin.

What can I do?

And now begins the process of becoming.

Where the man is changed into a mighty warrior.

From a guy who's hiding and treading grapes where wheat should be threshed.

He's now treading wheat where wine should be trodden.

He now emerges as someone who has become a judge in Israel.

And then he has now to transpose that urgency upon the earth.

And so what does he do?

He's still a little scared.

And that's okay with God.

He goes in the middle of the night and does what?

Imagine doing this.

Imagine going into a country where there are some other gods being worshiped.

And God turns up to you, Aaron, a meek, mild, wonderful, gentle husband.

Wonderful guy you are.

And he turns up to you and he says, hey Aaron, tonight I want you to go into this particular place of worship.

And I want you to tear down all their idols.

And you say, please, oh God, can I do it in the middle of the night?

And God says, okay, you can do it in the middle of the night.

And in the middle of the night at two o'clock you wake up and you go and start tearing down all the idols.

The next morning everybody knows who did it.

I mean, when we read stories in the Bible, we think, ah, big deal.

God was with them.

Hey, God was only with them.

Now he's in us.

And we still don't have the guts.

This is the whole idea of transposing the urgency of what God wants to do here on earth.

The more I teach this, the more I realize how unprepared we are.

I think the first option is really good.

Prayer requests.

Fifth one.

Have faith for the unprecedented.

Have faith for the unprecedented.

Have faith for the unprecedented.

So once you get as far as this, you still have to have faith that tonight when I go and tear down those idol altars, that God will take care.

Have faith for the unprecedented to happen.

And then the last one.

Steward its effect to completion.

Steward it to completion.

Steward it to completion.

As in, it's not now the time to celebrate just because God has poured fire down on Mount Carmel and he has proven who he is.

Elijah could have stopped there, but Elijah takes it a step further.

He says, slaughter the 450 prophets of Asherah and the 400 prophets of Jezebel.

He stewards the end of the apostasy to its completion.

He doesn't say, all right, now that we've shown who God is, it's enough.

No, no, no, no, no.

Now he goes to erase from Israel every last iota of what has corrupted Israel.

Jezebel and her priests and the prophets of Baal.

He destroys them.

This is what we're being called to, guys.

Noah did this.

I mean, I don't know if there was a flood before the earth began.

All I know is the earth was chaotic and it was surrounded by water.

The different theories on whether there was one flood or two floods.

Was there a pre-earth flood?

We won't go there today.

But all I know is God divided the waters, put them up and put them down, and the earth was created.

And then suddenly there's this volcanic break and water spews again.

But till then, people on earth did not know what rain was like.

The weather was like spring.

The earth was watered by the firmament above and the rivers below.

And then one day, because of the wickedness of man, it's like volcanic eruptions that cause humongous rain to come.

They've never seen rain in their life.

Yet there was one man who ascertained the plan of God, who obeyed its urgency without amendment.

This was a foolish thing to do.

For a world that had not seen rain, here is a man talking about something called rain.

It didn't happen over 40 days.

It was not like people were saying, one day it's up to my ankle, I can manage.

No, it was immediate.

It was immediate.

It was destruction immediately.

It is just that it continued for 40 days.

Because we hear songs like,

The floods went, the rains came down and the floods went up.

We think it took forever for 40 days.

No, it was immediate.

Everything was destroyed.

And here is a man who's supposed to tell them.

He obeys its urgency without amendment.

He becomes the womb through which it will be birthed.

He's announcing it.

He's talking about it.

He's trying to convince his family.

He's building a contraption that is supposed to float.

He's bringing the animals in.

And then it goes on to, he begins to let people know what is happening just through what he's constructing.

He has a faith for the unprecedented.

The door is shut.

The man is locked inside his own contraption.

And now he's hoping that he was right.

And then he stewards it to completion.

Because a new earth begins.

A new day comes.

A new earth begins.

Any questions?

Guys, this kind of prayer, if we begin to and we will begin,

is going to break indifference.

You cannot be indifferent when this starts.

It is impossible to be indifferent.

You may not know how to pray, but with grunts and monosyllables you will pray.

You cannot be indifferent when this begins.

You cannot be complacent when this begins.

You cannot be rebellious when this begins.

Because these kind of prayers, these things have no room.

You cannot squeeze in rebellion, complacency or indifference between any of these lines.

It's not possible.

Instead, it will bring us to a place of a new day.

A place of reformation.

A place of Gilgal.

Gilgal was a place where Israel started afresh.

Where there will be a thrust forward.

Where you begin to possess things that God is giving you.

You become responsible for it.

Matt and Rachel are responsible for Shiloh.

They possess him.

They hold him.

They take care of him.

They steward him right to the end.

It becomes important to you.

It becomes important to you.

When was the last time prayer was in...

someone else's request was as important to you as your own request?

Doesn't happen too often.

But now suddenly a church begins to hold, like a baby,

what has been birthed through tears and with judgment and with kindness and with anger

and a whole lot of emotions that God feels.

You birth it and you hold it preciously.

When I pray for Acts 29, I pray for Acts 29,

then nobody here can pray for Acts 29.

Because I know what it took to birth what has been raised.

I'm talking about Acts 29 as not as church but as a people.

But we will begin to hold these things like this because it has come out of us.

Because it was put in us.

Because we were stretched.

Because everything changed.

Because we did not amend.

This kind of prayer is a ridiculous prayer that we are going to enter into.

Like Eddie would say, thank you for your excitement.

The other thing that happens guys is that it routes the devil.

It routes the devil because as a finite being,

the devil is bound in measurable time.

As a finite being, the devil is bound in measurable time.

And therefore he is confounded when divine plans crafted in the fullness of time by God

suddenly intersects history.

So what happens is he is bound in measurable time.

He can only be one place at a time.

And then suddenly he has been landscaping demonic structures,

sculpting demonic structures on earth.

In cities, in families, in generations, in nations, in churches.

For years he has been sculpting and landscaping.

I've landscaped mammon into this church.

I've sculpted pride and exclusivity into this church.

I have chiseled out, what's that word?

Cessationism into this church.

And I've taken time to do this.

Centuries have gone into making these churches, these cities, these nations what they are.

And then, in the fullness of time, because a few people are obedient,

a divine plan of God from Kairos intersects history.

And it confounds him because he is bound in measurable time

and cannot understand how there is something called

God created designs that can break into the earth regardless of what he does.

He does not even see it coming because he is not omniscient.

Every time God has sent something on the earth, the devil was taken by surprise.

400 years of silence between Malachi and John the Baptist.

And John the Baptist is even saying it.

There's one coming, there's one coming and Satan doesn't know what to expect.

Why? 400 years.

Go back 2000 years before that.

When in the Garden of Eden, Satan was, the serpent was cursed.

Even then he doesn't recognize what this seed is.

He recognizes it only after the seed is born.

He is not omniscient. He does not understand. It confounds him.

But what then happens is when Satan is confounded and he finds out

that God has suddenly unleashed something through a people that follow this,

then what he does is he begins to rage against what is being birthed.

He begins to rage against what is being birthed.

After Moses was born, babies were slaughtered.

Babies were slaughtered.

After Jesus was born, Rama was weeping.

Because now that he has realized what is afoot, he comes against it.

Why is it important to say this?

Because if we go down this way, then it brings confrontation with enemy powers, princes and principalities.

It brings confrontation with enemy powers, princes and principalities.

Princes with one S.

It brings confrontation with enemy powers, princes and principalities,

as with Moses and the Pharaoh and his magicians, as with Herod's soldiers,

as with the priests of Artemis, as with the 850 prophets of Jezebel and Asherah.

It brings you into confrontation.

We talked about this last week.

We said that the powers of darkness can be routed quickly if your hands are trained for war

and you know how to wield the sword of the spirit.

The strange thing is you wield the sword of the spirit with your mouth.

Out of his mouth there comes a double-edged sword.

The strange thing is Christians wield the sword of the spirit with their mouth

because out of your mouth shall come the double-edged sword.

Therefore, people that have learned to be silent are poor wielders of the sword.

Do you realize how difficult this is going to be?

Because we enjoy the climate, the blanket of silence in this church and in this nation.

I've tried hard, guys. You know that.

I haven't seen signs that are terribly exciting.

But you cannot wield the sword of the spirit if it does not come out of your mouth.

Amazing, eh?

Lot of work, man.

Let's just return to prerequisites.

How else will I impose confusion and execute sentence on the enemy?

As it says in Psalm 149.

Psalm 149 says that this is the privilege of the saints.

That they shall lie on their beds and shall have the high praises of God in their mouth

and a two-edged sword in their hands to do what?

To execute upon the nobles and the kings the sentence written by God

and to execute vengeance upon them, to bind them in fetters.

Psalm 2 verse 8 or Psalm 8 verse 2, I'm not too sure. I think it's 8-2.

Psalms 2:8 Psalms 8:2

Out of the mouth of babes I have ordained strength for the silencing of the avenger.

And somehow the avenger has been able to silence the church.

So to impose confusion, to execute sentence on the enemy

while releasing light and zest and space from God upon the earth,

one has to use the sword of the spirit.

One has to train his hands for war.

One has to use the sword of the spirit.

And it can only be done through the mouth.

Through the mouth.

Any questions?

Any questions, guys?

The other great thing if you go down this route of prayer

is that you decide the time and the place and the pace of encounter with the enemy.

You decide the time, you decide the place, and you decide the pace of the encounter with the enemy.

Jesus would not be drawn into battles.

He would set the time, place and pace.

Even when he went into the wilderness, the Bible says,

and the Holy Spirit led him to be tempted by the devil.

You set the time, you set the pace, you set the place for encounters

to undo what Satan has sculpted for ages.

Because why is it that you are capable to do that?

Because you know what timing is right.

One of the things I thrill at is to go into a particular nation at a particular time.

I'll wait, I'll wait.

I remember going to a certain nation where there is a party and a leader

that is troubling the nation, that is bringing great harm to Christianity.

And I know I'm supposed to go there.

I also know that I'm supposed to call a pastor from the east of the nation

and a pastor from the south of the nation and bring them to the capital city of the nation.

I also know that I need to have them come there

and tell them what's going to happen in the nation for the next little while,

ascertaining the plan of God.

But here's my problem, I need to know when.

And so I'm waiting and waiting and then I realize

I have to go during a certain festival that this nation celebrates.

So at that particular time, during that time of the festival,

I land up in this capital city and those other pastors join me.

And what we prayed there transpired within three days.

Three days. Why?

Jeevan knows about it. Some of you know about it.

Three days. The point is guys, when you get the timing right,

you get to set the pace, the place, and the time of encounter with the enemy.

And he is defeated because God knows when he needs to be undone.

Sometimes God undoes the enemy just after he's planned everything

and he's going to leave.

Other times God undoes the enemy by destroying the bud so that it never flowers.

It depends.

God could have taken out the Egyptian army anytime.

He goes through ten plagues and brings them to the Red Sea

and in one shot undoes them all.

And who gets the glory? The God of Israel, who from then on is known as the dread of Jacob

and the nation's fear, because Israel was known for one thing.

They belonged to Jehovah who drowned Egypt in the Red Sea.

That's what he was known as.

Joshua was like that. He would decide the time, pace, and place of encounter in Jericho.

Gideon was like that. David was like that. David was brilliant.

Oh God, what do you want me to do? Stay. All right, I'll stay.

Now what do you want me to do? Go out. When, oh God?

When you hear the sound of army's martyrs,

when you hear the sound of the battle, when you hear the sound of the battle,

you hear the sound of the battle.

Okay, now what do you want me to do? Go out. When, oh God?

When you hear the sound of army's marching amongst the trees.

Really? Yes.

And so most others are sharpening their knives and swords.

All David is doing is clearing his ear using a cotton bud to take out wax. Why?

Because all he has to do is listen to the sound of soldiers marching on top of the trees.

If you say this to anybody, they would think you're crazy.

And that's what he does. And then when he hears the sound of the marching in the trees,

he goes out and then God tells him, oh by the way,

go around the mulberry bushes because ambush them. All right?

Time, place, pace of the encounter with the enemy is planned by you

when you begin to pray out of the kairos of God.

The struggle and the striving is far less.

These steps are precious. Go through them. Try practicing them.

You won't find them in any book. This is for you from the Lord.

See, the full scope of praying like this is taught and caught.

So it is taught as in taught like this, but it is also caught as in go and go and learn it.

Or may I be so audacious as to say, come and learn it.

Come and learn it. Learn how to pray like this.

It is both taught and caught. Joshua learned from Moses and then God took him to a new level.

Elisha learned from Elijah and God took him to a new level.

My first introduction to this was from a guy called Mike Hyman.

I have tried Googling him. Can't find him.

I had been a Christian for three and a half months.

I see this guy and he has got ridiculous faith and knows how to pray a certain way.

He knows what to say and what to bring into a nation.

I am thinking to myself, how does this work man?

It is both caught and taught. You can't just learn it through teaching. It has to be caught too.

Every time you catch it and learn it, God then sends you into an orbit out of which you can operate.

That isn't the orbit that you were operating out of.

I highly recommend this to the leaders at Acts 29 and to everybody in Acts 29 that we go down this route.

I think I should stop here because that is heavy enough.

I have got much more to say. This is going to take another week it looks like.

Let me end with this thought.

Before all this can happen, it is required that we ascend the holy hill.

Before all this can happen, it is required that we ascend the holy hill.

What do you mean ascend the holy hill? Psalm 24.

Psalm 24 verse 3 to 5 says, who shall ascend to the holy hill?

Psalms 24:3–5

If you want to ascertain the plans of God,

Matthew chapter 5 verse 4 says, I think it is verse 4 or 6,

Matthew 5:4

Blessed are the pure, for they shall see God.

One of the easiest ways to catch God or to see his footsteps

or to know his presence and power and goodness

and laughter is to press towards purity.

Psalm 24 says, who shall ascend the holy hill of the Lord?

It says, he who has a pure heart and clean hands, he who does not give his tongue to deceit,

nor cheats, nor craves for things,

he will ascend the holy hill of God. This is critical to understand this.

And so a church and its leaders must have pure hands and hearts

to prosecute this kind of prayer because a call to holiness

precedes a call to war. A call to holiness precedes a call to war.

A call to holiness precedes a call to war.

Very often in the Bible you'll see before God turns up

or before God would even send people out to war,

he would say to the leader saying, tell your men to set themselves aside

for the next three days for I'm going to turn up.

Or tell your men to set themselves aside.

I mean David when he turns up at Shiloh, I think he turns up,

where Goliath's sword is kept and there is the bread of presence before God.

And the priest asks him, hey, before you eat this bread, have your men been holy?

And David says, yes, since we started out on this war, we have kept ourselves pure.

In those days purity meant something completely different from these days.

It was more external and ritualistic than moral.

But this is how people went out for war because there was a call to holiness

before there was a call to war. So to even go here,

the first thing that must be prosecuted in Acts 29 is an ability to express into greater holiness.

Let him who steals, steal no more. Let him who drinks, stop drinking.

Let him who watches pornography, stop watching pornography.

By the way, if you ever want to talk to your kids about pornography,

let me know because there's an article I'll give you.

Because the first time children are exposed to pornography are between the ages of 8 and 11 now.

And it's not that they watch it at home, they're exposed to it at school.

So just be aware that even though your home may be an insulated place where things are wholesome,

it's not the case in school. It doesn't matter whether it's Christian or non-Christian schools.

Sin is the same in both schools.

So let him who watches porn or watches anything that is sexual or full of lust, seize from it.

Let him who is proud, humble himself.

This is what needs to be done. Let him who is angry, become a man of temperate demeanor.

Let him who is lazy, begin to step up and work for God.

Let him who is dull and sluggish and lethargic about spiritual things, rise up, wake up or sleep.

This is what it means to ascend the holy hill.

And herein lies the problem we talked about last time.

When I said one can't self-circumcise, one has to be circumcised.

If I am proud, I am the last one who is going to see it, admit it, because it's my blind spot.

This is where I need someone to say, hey, you got an issue, Jacob, and your issue is pride.

And now begins the work.

I was talking to the Lord today and I was saying, Father, give me the courage to go to each person at Acts 29

and at least invite them into holiness by saying, here, here and here.

First, a general invitation saying, come, let us become this that God wants us to become, the womb.

And the second is, in the process, could you begin in these two or three areas where there's a deficiency?

And Jacob, what about you? Oh, man, I am exposed to this every week where people correct me.

And severely, not like I do you. I'm kind to you.

And if you think there is an issue in my life that you must point out, then come and sit with me and point it out to me.

One on one, gently. Giving me the honor that is due me, just as I give you the honor that is due you.

Not to tear me down or destroy me, but to build me up. And I will do the same for you.

Because if I don't do this as a leader, what am I good for, man? Preaching? Anybody can do that.

This was the responsibility of leaders. I'm sorry I'm stuck with the word prosecute today, but let's pick another word.

This was the responsibility of leaders. Bring to me a holy people.

Moses, go down. Tell your people to shape up because I'm going to turn up on Mount Sinai.

Tell them not to come near. And they would do, Moses would go down.

And then he would come up again. He said, no, go down again. And he would have to make that trek all the way.

I'd say, Father, you know I don't like climbing mountains. No, go down, Jacob.

And again, go back, grouse grind.

I would have assistant leaders go up and down. Hey, Jeevan, you go, man. Get those two stone tablets and come back.

And then Jeevan would tell Dawn, and Dawn would come up with some brilliant excuse.

And then they would have Derek tell me that they wouldn't be going.

Like I said last time, you cannot give darkness, pride and rebellion place in your lives.

We must be circumcised and must have the flint knife used on us.

And you cannot self-circumcise. You'll bleed to death.

We must visit Gilgal. Joshua 5.9, they visited Gilgal where reproaches or conditions that were negative,

that were demonic, that were shameful were taken away. Gluttony must be removed.

Because the devil can't stand the nature of God's brilliant holiness,

he tries to color light with pockets of darkness and hidden rot,

for it is the only way to take down anointed Samson's.

I want you to look at the scripture, Revelations 2, 12-16.

Maybe I'll preach on Gilgal first next week before I preach on this.

I'll continue this. Revelations 2, 12-16.

To the angel of the church in Pergamum, write,

these are the words of him who has the sharp double-edged sword.

So these are the words of him who has a sharp double-edged sword.

We've been talking about that.

The ones who hold the teachings of the Nicolaitans, repent therefore, and look at this.

Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

What bothers me about this passage is that on one hand he's saying,

I am the one who has the sword of the spirit, which you are supposed to use to undo the enemy.

But if you don't drive out from your midst that which is corrupt and profane,

that which is not sacred and idolatrous, then I will use the same sword that I am going to give to you

to sever you or separate you or cleanse you from all that is unclean.

I would rather that we go and have it cleaned than him have to come with the very sword that he's supposed to give us to use.

He now has to use it on us before we can be what we need to be.

Why not say, hey, Jesus, before you come, let us circumcise ourselves,

rend our hearts before you so that you can use us the way you want to?

Because if we are able to ascend the holy hill, then look at what happens in the rest of Psalm 24.

Then you can stand and look at gates, look at doors, look at ancient doors that have been shut

and say, lift up your ancient doors, fling wide your gates so that the king of glory may come in.

Who is this king of glory? But he who is mighty in battle, he is the king of glory.

Now the movements of God on the earth get unleashed by these churches called gateway churches.

Some may be big, some may be small, but they have learned this.

So before we break bread, I want us to break into four groups.

And I want us to take 1 Peter 1, 13 to 19.

1 Peter 1, 13 to 19.

1 Peter 1, 13 to 19.

And I want us to read that before we partake in Communions.

1 Peter 1, 13 to 19.

And here's what it says.

And once you read it, pray into it.

Take some time to pray.

And remember to open your mouth.

Pray into it.

Say whatever you can.

Two clumsy words, so be it.

But pray into it.

We must begin this process.

What are we asking God to do today?

How do we respond to a message like this?

Not by immediately launching into prevailing prayer and learning how to become this.

This takes time.

But the one thing we can say to God today as a church, as a church is,

Oh God, today as we take part in the Lord's Supper, here's what we are saying to you.

We are asking God to give you a life that is holier than it has been thus far.

We may be walking pure, but I desire and shall press into a greater level of purity,

lived out practically.

I know I'm righteous.

I know I'm as holy as you.

I know I'm as pure as your son Jesus.

But here on earth, you shall see that purity displayed.

You're not asking me to become holy, for I am holy.

You're asking me to be holy because I am holy.

That is what you're asking me to.

And this communion will speak that.

It'll speak that, Oh God, you laid down your life for me, holy son of God.

And now here we come as children that are set apart who will be holy because they're father in heaven

and the son of God is holy.

This is what you can give him.

Guys, please, I plead with you, respond with a few words.

It's very difficult, guys, sometimes when you don't respond.

Do not respond to satisfy me, but respond every time something happens in your womb.

Do not respond to satisfy me.

I don't need it.

I know you guys well.

But whenever something touches you in your spirit, then express it in words.

And know that every time you are stifled from doing it, it is because of the culture that has crept in.

Break that culture.

Break that culture.

You cannot be false by saying amen and hallelujah.

That sounds corny sometimes, but you can say things when something touches you.

Do not hold back from that.

And if you're a leader in this house, it's demanded of you.

It's not even a choice.

So let's read 1 Peter 1, 13 to 19.

Therefore prepare your minds for action.

Be self-controlled.

Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Verse 14.

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.

For it is written, be holy because I am holy.

Since you call on a father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.

For you know that it was not with perishable things, such as silver or gold, that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers,

but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

So just break up into groups.

Just four groups.

One, two, three, four.

And just pray into the...