Tongues

Chinese or Indian, but it means that God gives us the ability to speak in a language that we really haven't been trained on.

So the function is that it builds you up. The content is prayer, praise and mysteries.

So people can pray in tongues, people can praise in tongues, people may say things that are mysteries that you and I cannot comprehend.

Because it says very clearly that the speaker does not understand. What's a medium?

The medium is an unknown language. It's an unknown language.

And by unknown it could mean that you do not know it, or unknown could mean that nobody in the church knows it, or unknown could mean that...

There are different versions of this. Some say it's a language not known to you.

Others say a language that might be angelic based on the Spiritist Church.

Others say a language that is present on earth, so an earthly language that you have no idea of.

So these are the three propositions with regards to the unknown language that we speak in.

I will examine that later, but know that it's an unknown language that we speak in.

An unknown language. All languages, it's not just one.

So when in the Book of Acts the Holy Spirit fell on the Apostles, they spoke in unknown languages.

But there were 13 people groups who heard and understood.

So we know that those were languages that were present on earth that people understood.

But it also well could be that 1 Corinthians 13 follows this inference that even if you spoke in the tongues of angels,

so we do not know whether this is the language that's beyond the earth or out of the earth.

We'll look at that later. And then it could be a language that is not known to you or anybody here.

So we do not understand. That is why when in some charismatic circles when people start speaking to each other in tongues,

it's fancy but it's not biblical.

The audience is God. The audience is God. We are speaking to Him. He is the audience.

And so, and then the last one, how do we define it? Based on the other main stuff that I mentioned on the questions we'll do in the future.

Here's how you define it. When I speak in tongues, it's an immediate communing with God.

When I speak in tongues, it's an immediate communing with God. Immediate communing or conversation with God.

It's an immediate communing with God.

In a language I don't understand.

In a language I don't understand.

You mean yourself to speak in tongues?

Yeah. In a language I don't understand. Why is that? Isn't that ridiculous then that God would give us a language we don't understand speaking?

It does sound ridiculous but here's the reason why.

It is my spirit that speaks it, empowered by the Holy Spirit, through my mouth.

So I have to open my mouth to speak it like any other language.

So it's my spirit that speaks it directly to God, empowered by the Holy Spirit, through my mouth.

In a language I don't understand. Why?

So that my mind is bypassed and there are no limitations.

When you pray, you always pray with limitations.

Oh God, how will this work out? What happened here? Who is going to help me?

How are you going to work it out? There's only so much I know you can do.

How am I going to trust you further than this? What awaits me in the future?

I know what awaits me tomorrow perhaps, but not two months from now, six months from now.

And God allows you in your spirit, by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, to speak to him directly in perfect praise, perfect prayer.

And saying things beyond your comprehension, bypassing your mind, which no longer limits you, both in how much and how far you can pray, and in the words you use.

This is the beauty of tongues. This is the beauty of tongues.

And doesn't it also increase my trust in God? Because I don't know everything.

And as we understand it, it increases our trust.

Let's say I pray for Aaron and Ray's house that was burgled two weeks ago, and now I'm praying for them.

So I pray, oh God, please return double of God. Let the thief be caught of God. Let there be justice done. Let things be returned. Let there not be trouble. Let it be at peace.

All these things come from my limited understanding of what all is possible.

Even as I pray like the thief, because it's been two weeks and I'm thinking, possibly not, but let me just pray just in case.

Or restore double, but even if he gets half back, that would be great, and we can still pray so long.

Praise you, Jesus. Praise you, Jesus. Worthy are you God. Worthy are you God.

I can't go beyond praise, worthiness, perhaps a hallelujah, and glory, depending on the tradition you come from.

And so your words are limited and your thoughts are limited. There's only so much you can do.

There is a ceiling on how much we can pray without minds.

And then arises a language that God gives you by His Spirit, empowering my spirit to use my mouth.

And now when I pray for them, I tell the Lord that, Father, I'd like to pray for their situation.

I do not know how to pray. I pray to the extent I can.

But now, as I pray for them, I'd like to pray in a language I do not understand, but a perfect prayer that comes out of my spirit,

empowered by your Holy Spirit, who knows everything, who knows exactly what you want, your will, and let me pray from that.

And then you'll be the prayer leader of our kind, you'll shoot an arrow, you'll shoot an arrow, and now you're praying from your spirit,

empowered by the Holy Spirit to God.

And so when we, on one hand Paul says, when you're in a public place, speak five intelligible words, then ten thousand in tongues.

In the same chapter he also says, do not forbid the speaking of tongues. So we look at that data, but this is all we need for tongues now.

And here are the other questions. Why was tongues given as initial evidence of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts?

Are there different kinds of tongues? Is it a prayer language? Is it a known language? Is it an unknown language? Is it angelic?

Is it ecstatic speaking that happens only under the anointing, or can I say that will? How do I use it in church? Is there an order?

What is not forbidden? What is forbidden? What is interpretation? How does it become prophecy? How can I obtain this gift?

How do I practice it? How do I use it? We'll talk about that.

Okay.

So now we go into the real thing.

Alright, so, just take a two minute break. I think I need a breather.

Say something nice to each other.

Thank you.

Hey, do you guys want to introduce your friend?

Now start to say it.

Do you want to introduce her?

People just take it for granted that everybody knows you because you won't be here.

This is Shannon, and she was one of our youth for a long time. We saw her from grade eight, or actually, we watched her grow up, but she was subjected to our leadership for many years.

Alrighty. Like we say to old people from Britain, you're not welcome.

They're so glad you're here.

Yeah. Okay. So we're talking, this teaching we have done about four years ago, and this felt, you know, just time to work on it a little more and bring it again.

So I read about this man who was being pursued by the police, and he was shot at, and the intent was to harm him.

And so he goes into hiding, and almost all his friends abandoned him.

And at some point, because of all that was happening, his wife began to despise him, and things got worse. His son raped his daughter, and then another son of his murdered his sibling, and then turned against him.

He lost two of his children, one at birth and the other in war. And at some point, he committed adultery and murder.

And at another time in his life, he had his entire family kidnapped by cruel terrorists while he was left facing over 400 men, ready to stone him.

And yet, David, through all these circumstances, would somehow end up infused with God's ways and courage.

That's just the things that happened in David's life.

Pursued by police, shot with the intent to harm, in hiding as a refugee, abandoned by friends, despised by his wife, his son raped his daughter, another son murders his sibling, turns against him.

He loses two of his children, one at birth and the other in war. Committed adultery and murder. Has his entire family kidnapped by cruel terrorists.

Is left facing 400 men who are ready to stone him. And yet, this man writes some of the most beautiful songs that we sing, have been singing for thousands of generations.

You see why he's called a man after God so much? Because we see David the king, David the Sabbath, David the guy who took out the lie, and we forget so many other things that happened in David's life.

And so, how is it that this man always ended up being infused with God's ways and the courage?

When you look at Psalm 77, written not by David but by one of his musicians, Asaq, there's this verse in Psalm 77, verse 6, which says,

Psalms 77:6

Let me remember my song in the night. Let me meditate in my heart. Then my spirit made a diligent search.

Then my spirit made a diligent search. I want to take those three things because David would continuously go through situations, but he would always keep these three things in mind.

Sing, meditate, search. This was David's constant way of operation. You'll see it in almost every song he writes.

At some point in his song, after he complains to God about all that he's going through, after he bids God to decimate his enemies, he comes back to this place where he says,

I will go to the altar of God by joy and by reward, and I will praise him with the heart, O Lord, you are my God. Why are you so sad, my soul, my soul distressed with you?

And so he had this ability to continuously go back to preaching, sing, and then meditate.

But if we talk about what meditate means from David's point of view, and then search, he would diligently search out the ways of God so that he knew where God was pointing.

Psalm 119 is this constant repeat of, O God, I've searched for you in your statutes. You have enlarged my heart and I've been run after them.

So sing, meditate, search. Want a short form for it? SMS, if it helps.

So Psalm 77 verse 6, let me remember my song, not in the day, in the night, the darkness creates it.

Psalms 77:6

Let me meditate in my heart, and then my spirit will diligently search.

And so, first guys, be aware of the enemy without. We often talk about the devil. I prefer not calling him enemy because enemy makes him sound friendly.

He's the devil, he is Lucifer, he's the ancient evil serpent. He is Satan.

Because one of the things, and I'm so glad these guys went for the worship conference, and strangely enough, sometimes when a genuine worship conference comes into a city, every church the next Sunday will be affected by the spirit of worshiping.

And we saw that here today. There'll be other churches where this happened today.

There is a genuine worship conference. I said, once you don't seek worship leaders or worship team but you seek God, it makes a big difference when that happens.

And so, there is an enemy and the enemy has his own worship team, guys. There is a shout in the enemy's camp. There is a shout in the enemy's camp.

Just as we make noise, he makes noise. It's a shout that announces their king. And it's very real. And we are affected by it every day.

Every day, situations and circumstances in your life shout out so loud. There's such a chorus that don't be surprised if you are overwhelmed by it.

There is a shout in the enemy's camp. So much depends on sin, meditate, search and how we set certain things up every day so that the shout in the enemy's camp does not overwhelm, paralyze or pull a rug from under your feet.

The more trouble you are in, guys, the more you need to sin, meditate and search.

David had this amazing ability to go into what was his stronghold. And he would go into his stronghold and he would encourage himself. The word used in this tells us that.

So that means to man up, to become strong, to pull himself up.

Sin, meditate, search.

No, no, he tries to overwhelm.

There's no way out. The Bible is full of stories like this. Still, suddenly, gone.

And Goliath is the guy that David has to be with. And Goliath, the Bible says in 1 Samuel 17, that Goliath is a man of war.

He's, please understand that, I know you know this, but it's necessary to hear this, that Satan comes to really destroy and kill and maim and do harm.

This is not an enemy that who is not warring. He's a man of war. Imagine a man of war.

A man of war. Dead, fully. I mean, he had six toes, six fingers. He carried armor that was 600 shekels heavy. He was six cubits tall.

Six in the Bible is often used as the number of man. As in all the wickedness of man and every floy man is symbolized as the number six.

And here was this Goliath who was a man of war whose intent was, guys, the word Goliath means to strip you down and to exile you.

To strip you down, another word which we don't use nowadays is denude. D-E-N-U-D-E. To denude, that's to strip you.

The intent is, can I strip Jacob of things? Of his dignity? Of his self worth? Of his ability to stay in connection with people?

Can I exile him? Can I exile him from his friends, his family, his church and eventually his God? Is this possible?

Is this possible? Because the very name Goliath means I have come to strip you and I have come to exile you.

And my God does this happen during the week. Now you understand the chorus out there in the world.

It's a Philistine chorus that is continuous. This is why Israel would wake up and give their morning sacrifice.

And as soon as their morning sacrifice was over and they had just finished praising Yahweh, Goliath would come out.

And Israel would go running back into their foxholes. And Goliath would stand there and challenge the Jesus chest.

And not a single Israelite would creep out of the foxhole. And then the time would come for the evening sacrifice.

And they would offer the evening sacrifice. And as the aroma is washed into God, out comes Goliath again.

And again these guys run back into the foxhole. And how many days did he do it for? 40 days.

It's a kind of chorus that paralyzes, overwhelms, strips, exiles, takes you captive. 40 days of relentless attempts to overcome.

This is why sin, meditate, search will become critical if and when we are in situations like that.

And you can't deal with this with human strength or counsel. Human strength and wisdom, you cannot deal with it.

The Bible says Saul was head and shoulders above his compatriots.

He seemed to be someone who was strong by his strength. Didn't matter at all.

But Saul wouldn't go and touch Goliath. He was sitting in his royal tent hoping for some kind of intervention which he did have a right to command.

No human wisdom or human strength could help him.

Because Goliath cannot be taken down by our human wisdom or strength or counsel.

And if it is not in our lives, then it's happening in the lives of one or three more.

Right? History makers, is it true today that when people pray, Goliath can be dropped down with a single stroke?

It's not for us then, for the sake of those around us, we must engage in these simple principles of sin, meditate, search.

It's an angel of principle. It's come from Genesis and goes on to the book of Revelation.

It's just that David visits with again and again and again.

A spirit that is after us in the midst of pain, in the midst of a breach, or in the midst of pain or breach or distress.

A spirit that is after us whenever there is pain, whenever there is distress, when something goes wrong.

Or whenever there is a breach or a break.

A spirit that is continuously after Christians in particular are these three things.

Depression, confusion, bitterness.

Every time there is pain in a person's life, every time there is distress in a person's life,

every time there is a breach or a break in a person's life, something gets broken or something gets breached,

there is a spirit that is waiting to bring in these three things.

And one of the three usually gains some ground.

It's either depression or heaviness or sadness that begins to exile you.

Or else it's confusion where it colors the face of God and things that have to do with God.

And you become confused about the goodness of the Father, the power of God.

It brings in confusion.

And the third thing is bitterness where now depression and confusion join together to create a bitter group

that cannot see God is good anymore.

This spirit is always waiting at the door.

If these are door openers, these are the entrance.

And it is common to all humans.

It's common to everybody sitting here.

Starting with me.

The trick is when this gains even a little fraction or a weeb comes in,

how soon do you want to get up and pull out that weeb and throw it out?

Throw it out before it.

That's the difference between us as Christians in this room.

The difference is not that we are not subject to this.

The difference is not that it doesn't gain access into our life.

The difference amongst us here is how long do you allow it to stay?

That is actually the measure of maturity.

How long do you allow it to stay?

You have no idea my situation and how difficult it is.

You are absolutely right that you have a father.

And he knows your name.

And he knows everything about you.

And he loves you more than...

No, he loves you just the same as he loves you.

He loves you a lot and he wants to rescue you.

His name is Yeshua. Yeshua means rescuer.

The one who rescues.

The one who saves.

The intrinsic to his character.

There are different reasons why we end up in situations that we won't go there today.

But there are trials, there are tests, there are temptations,

there is persecution,

there are attacks,

there is discipline,

there are consequences,

and there is the nature of the fallen world.

There are different reasons.

And then there are the mistakes of others that we sometimes have to suffer for.

Like when a husband leaves his wife, the children suffer for no fault of theirs.

There might be more reasons, but see the reasons we end up in situations are varied.

By attack I mean the attack of the enemy.

All these reasons exist.

And God is a God who rescues us from each other.

Who rescues us from each other.

Who rescues us from each other.

Who rescues us from each of them.

Who rescues us from each of them, regardless of whether you are the maker of the trap or not.

He is a snare breaker, a trap destroyer, a rescuer. That's his nature.

And he gives you instructions out of fear, sir.

Every trap he breaks, every bondage he is able to remove, that's all.

I don't think there is one of these things that I have not been through and haven't been rescued from.

And I'm sure that's the experience of many in this room.

What about tonight's events?

Reasons why things happen in our lives.

Why do bad things happen to good people? These are some of the reasons.

I haven't written a book on it because that book has already been written eight times by more famous people than me.

I won't sell much, other than a waxed very nice, which I hope.

But why do bad things happen to good people? These are the reasons.

God is a good God. Why do bad things happen to good people?

By good people I mean God people.

This is why I haven't necessarily thrown sin and condemnation in there.

Because that would be the tenth one, but that would apply to the rest of the world.

So, what are you supposed to do when certain senses are discouraging, when you are hamstrung, when you are unproductive, when you are badly not producing what you thought you would produce?

You are not able to make things work. What do you do?

And so that's when you start with SMS and the first one we are going to look at is SIN.

If you go to Isaiah 54, verse 1, Isaiah 54, verse 1, I'm just amazed that God says this.

Isaiah 54:1 Isaiah 54:1

I'm just amazed that God says this.

Isaiah 54, verse 1.

Isaiah 54:1

Verse 1.

If you are being unproductive, if you are not able to bear fruit the way you want to, if your fruit is being robbed, if it's being devoured,

one of the things God says to one who is not productive, look at what he says in Isaiah 54, to Israel, he's talking to Israel.

Israel has not been able to produce what it is supposed to produce.

And so here's what God says. He says, O barren woman, sin.

You who never bore a child, burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor,

because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.

Ridiculous! You haven't borne, you haven't produced fruit, and instead of lamenting as one should,

he's saying, hey, are you barren, are you unfruitful, are you not productive?

Well Jacob, sing! David got this, and he would do this continuously.

Every song would be sing, exult, my enemies have surrounded me, they tear at me like wolves,

if my bones are shrinking, my nose is running, and in the middle of that he would say, bust.

He didn't say the nose is running. In the middle of it he would say, bust.

I will take my heart and I will begin it, sing.

This is the whole idea of what Barry was talking about when he said,

worship ain't something that you do for, in our case, one hour, in some cases 20 minutes.

It's not something that you do, hooch, shot him.

So sing, O barren woman, look at what the words say.

Look at it, let it be singed in your memory, sing O barren woman, you who never bore a child.

Burst into song, shout for joy, just in case Sing wasn't strong enough, he just re-emphasizes.

Burst into song, I said, burst!

Sorry, Shiloh. Burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor. Why?

Because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.

Crazy.

Because it's singed, woman has more time for the Lord to work.

That's not the context here, though. Here the context is burst into song,

because the one who does not have or is not fruitful today will begin to bear fruit as one begins to sing, meditate, search.

That is the intent here, though what Jesus is saying is a person who's not married will have more time.

But there's nothing wrong with marriage because marriage is holy and the marriage bed is holy.

Guys, here's the thing, you consider the reality of your circumstances, but you deny the finality of your circumstances.

This is important. You consider the reality of your circumstances.

You look at how real your situation is, but you only consider the reality of your circumstances.

You do not consider the finality of your circumstances.

This is why Rachel can come up here and say, yes, I didn't get healed immediately.

Yes, this, this happened, but I know the finality of the outcome is not decided by doctors or by circumstances.

Come, rise up, church. It's time to stop looking at our situation as the final word. It is not.

Abraham was like this, Romans 4, 18, he looked at himself, saw himself unproductive, barren, not fertile, but he was fully persuaded.

Habakkuk 3, verse 19 says the same thing, even though the fictitious are not rotten, I know what's going to happen.

Habakkuk 3:19

Do not look at our circumstances and deny the reality, but look at them and deny the finality. Be denied it.

Live in denial. Live in denial. I didn't want to tackle the rest of the factors without soft hookah.

How do you do this? By speaking, singing, shouting the shameless truth.

How do you consider reality and deny finality? By singing, shouting and speaking the shameless truth.

Sing it. I mean, who was the guy at the worship conference, there's a song that I sing here in church,

he wrote that while he was praying for his wife who was pregnant and the baby had complications.

They are praying, different people are praying, it's from his song that I think, different people are praying and guess what happens?

The baby dies. And he in his commentary before the song says, guys, it's not us who come through this, many of you have come through this,

so I want you to know that this is not my song, this is our song, so let us sing it together.

And then he begins to sing this song, it's one of the songs we sing. He was there at the worship conference, I forgot his name.

So, sorry? J.D. From his song, right? Yeah. And so the baby dies, but out of it comes a song that is, I'm not saying good thing came out of that,

all I'm saying is there is a way to not look at circumstances and be overwhelmed by them. Start singing. You don't know how critical it is.

Start singing. Sing at home. If you're good, sing well, sing at home. When your roommate is not there. When your roommate is not there.

J.D. is saying the name is different. Okay, what's the name of the demon? Chris Killar. Chris Killar. Okay, what's the song? I forgot.

You are good. You are good. Yeah. Guys, so rejoice in Yeshua, your rescuer. When you face unproductivity, when things are overwhelming,

rejoice in Yeshua, your rescuer, because the trap or the snare you are in will give you up. It cannot hold off.

Once you start rejoicing or singing, a strange thing happens. You start building commitment and capacity for increase.

Hear me again. This is critical. It is so true. You'll see it again and again in the Bible. People who, through difficult times,

learned how to sing were people who began to build commitment and increase capacity, because it was only going to be a few days before every day.

Because it was only going to be a few days before everything would change. Everything would change. And then when it changes, they are ready.

They increase their capacity. They build their greenhouse. They build their silo where God brings in the plenty. Why would God do that?

You see it again and again in the book of Psalms in Isaiah. Mourning may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.

You may sow seeds or weeping, but you will come back with seeds of joy. This is the principle of God. It is inviolable.

I do not know a situation that I have gone through well that I have not collected spoils.

I have never been through a situation that was difficult when I didn't come out collecting souls, finances, favor, increase spiritually and physically.

Not once in my life has that happened. These are the truths of God. If it is not your experience yet, it is not because God is not true.

It is because at some point in the process we begin to focus on the outcome and decide that my condition is final.

Sin. Sin.

Your proclaimed truth must become practiced truth. It is one thing to proclaim truth. This is why it is easy to sing in church.

Tomorrow proclaimed truth must become practiced truth. Tomorrow I must sing. Tomorrow I must sing.

This is the old theory. Whenever things are going wrong, just put on worship music.

Now, Saul put on worship music. David actually played it and sang it. When Saul was in trouble, he said let's play worship music.

So he gets this little fellow called David and David starts playing. Saul would play, David would sing it. When David was in trouble, he wouldn't play worship music.

He would actually sing it and it's not worship that changes things for you. It is the joy and worship that changes things for you.

The Bible does not say the worship of the Lord is your strength. The Bible says the joy of the Lord is your strength. Worship that is joyless ain't worship.

The joy of the Lord is your strength.

That's when you recognize your father and king and like these guys are saying, you step up to kiss the father.

And is it possible to kiss the father joylessly? Yes. That's when it's a sloppy little step up and kiss the king.

Can you joyless people usually kiss your hand? In fear and trembling, the king would stretch out his ring and I once went to a church here in Vancouver where a bishop from India came.

I didn't know that when everything is done, the people leave the church and you've got to kiss the bishop's ring.

I'm thinking to myself, I'm not going to kiss his ring. But then I'm the only one in the line who's not kissing his ring. So I pushed my father and suddenly I quickly stretched out.

But, eh, moving on.

Guys, joy must be expressed and I know we did an elaborate write-up on this four years ago.

But there are so many different expressions of joy. There's this word called tada, which is basically Hebrew for sacrifice of praise.

There's another word called yada, which is demonstration of praise with outstretched hands.

Tada is sacrifice of praise. Yada is demonstrating praise with outstretched hands.

I'm just telling you this so you get the Hebrew word, but you'll find out how many different ways.

There's barak, which is to bow down and worship. Bow down and worship.

So when you engage in singing, engage in these actions because singing is rarely an inanimate exercise.

There's shabbach, a shout of praise. Shabbach, a shout of praise.

There's tehila. Don't get me wrong, it's not tehila, it's tehila.

Tehila means singing, shouting, clapping, dancing.

Singing, shouting, clapping, dancing. Singing, shouting, clapping, dancing.

There's zamar. Zamar is praising with an instrument. Zamar is singing with an instrument or praising with an instrument.

I love the next one. This is my favorite. Halil, which is boastful, loud, clamorous praise.

Which sometimes irritates people. Because you don't even have the outcome done yet.

But because you know the finality of the outcome, you now begin to boast about what's going to happen and it's loud and clamorous.

These are different expressions of singing, guys. Different expressions of singing.

What's SSCD? SSCD is shouting, singing, clapping, and dancing.

Or it could be singing, shouting, clapping, and dancing.

You can change it whichever way you want.

So these are the different ways, man. We did a long thing on this ages ago.

Let's look at the whole idea of meditation.

Any questions on singing?

I sing, guys. I sing not on Sundays. I sing at home. I sing in my car.

Sometimes people roll out the window if they are with me in the car because I start singing and shouting.

And people in the next car may think that I'm getting angry with someone in the car.

But there is...

A life is a certain way because of what you don't see that is happening in that life six days a week.

Your life will end up a certain way because of your habits from Monday to Saturday.

Sin.

God sins. Angels sin. Creation sins. Mountains bow down. Oceans roar. Birds sing.

But the only ones who are given a voice to actually adore their Creator, strangely enough, don't do that.

Don't do that. Us. Don't do that.

Sin.

Meditate. Meditate. In Psalm 77 it says, I will commune with my heart.

I will commune with my heart. Meaning I'll listen to my heart and I'll talk to my heart.

So when you're talking, what does the word meditate mean?

Meditate is to talk to your heart the things that God tells you.

And I remember saying this before. Meditation is God-directed self-talk.

God-directed self-talk. God-directed self-talk. That's what meditation is.

To converge with, to commune with yourself. What are you communing with yourself?

It is God-directed self-talk. I find out things that God has said today in the service.

I find out things that God says to me during the week through one of you or through the Bible.

And I begin to allow that to now become self-talk. God-directed self-talk.

One of the verses that I've been, not verses, one of the simple truths that I've been meditating on for this week is,

Jesus lives in you. You live in him. He is in the Father.

And so when I pray for people it's coming out, when I think it's coming out, when I talk to God it's coming out.

Jesus lives in me. Oh shucks, all of Jesus lives in me. I live in him. Oh shucks, I live in him.

But even better, he is in the Father. So whatever the world does that way, means,

try thinking about that for 14 days and wonder if something won't change.

To meditate is still, it's God-directed self-talk.

Guys, meditation will allow you, and meditation is not mmm meditation like Lotus Provision.

I've done that. My God, man, my mom had a friend whose husband was one of India's most famous yoga teachers.

And trust me, yoga ain't some healthy alternative.

It is steeped in Hinduism and it's got no compatibility with either Christian, God or Christian background.

And this guy, he had, I was kind of a rager, he'd have to do these stupid little things his daughter would be there to.

And then you would have to meditate. You would have to sit in the Lotus position and chant something for a little while.

And I would open my eyes to see whether she was doing it, and most of the time she wouldn't even.

And then at some point her mother would come and grab my teeth like,

but there's such a sweet little point, and that's when I decided yoga's not for me.

Because it would always hurt after yoga.

But the point is this, guys, we're not talking about meditation where we pointlessly go over a thing.

Meditation is God-directed self-talk. God is an active speaker.

God is always parting curtains.

Taking you one layer deeper, hoping you will press in so he can reveal some more.

Wrestling with you.

Engaging you in conversation by keeping quiet and not giving you immediate answers.

Wondering if you will go and read his words.

It has been my lifelong aim to be called Dr. Jeevan. Please do not call me pastor from now on.

Where is this video?

God-directed self-talk.

Guys, God-directed self-talk is not to go over one thing aimlessly, meaninglessly again and again.

God is an active speaker. He's an active speaker.

Meaning once he presents you something, he'll say, and so have you thought about it some more?

Active speaker, because I've got something else to offer.

Let me add one other word to it. And he adds another word.

Now he begins to part the curtains if you're interested.

Just to give you another glimpse. To say, hey, Marcus, you want to see a little more?

I'll show you that if you've seen Viggo. But don't phase off. Let me show you a little more.

And then he begins to part the curtain and he wants to take you one layer deeper. Why?

Because he wants to change the inside. My character is what he is after.

Because if he has my character, he has everything he needs to do, anything in the world.

So now he begins to take a little deeper. From there he wonders after, he shows me a layer.

He wonders, is this guy present or is he going to let me?

Because God will not teach an unbelieving student.

I will question. This is not because he's angry or cruel or unkind. He says because he's a good teacher.

When I could not understand math, my dad didn't realize how bad I was at math.

So he was trying to give me a knock and say, why can't you understand? And I didn't know what to say.

And so I'd start crying and then he would say, why are you crying? And I'd say, because you hit me.

But it didn't make sense to him because in math he wasn't a good teacher.

He was a good teacher in many other things but not math. I hated math for the rest of my life.

I still do. So you press it and then what happens here?

Yeah, if you press it, God begins to reveal something. If you press it, God begins to reveal something.

He says, okay, now that you pressed it, let me show you something. Why? Because what are you doing in pressing it?

There's only one other word that you can use for the word pressing. I am being faithful with the little he's shown me.

Now that God sees that you are faithful with the little truth he's shown you, he says, now let me reveal something to you.

And keys always come because of revelation, guys. This is not some high-funder statement.

Every time God wants to give you the keys to something, he first shows you the lock.

And he will show you how to open it. And then he will wonder whether you want to.

And if you want to, he'll say, okay, here's the key. All revelation leads to keys that will open under those.

This is why he said to Peter, Peter, this revelation that you received is not from the earth. It is from heaven.

And because you have received it from the Father, I am going to give to you now. The keys of the kingdom.

What you open, no one will shut. And what you shut, no one will open.

This is the process, guys. It all starts with God directs itself.

When we go over and over and over in our heads what God is saying during the week.

I can't tell you how critical this is, how life changing it is, how earth opening it is.

How earth opening it is.

From revealing some more we go through.

God will wrestle. Say, okay, now let me wrestle with you. Let me show you where you're really right.

He wrestles with you to show you where you're at.

Because wrestling, why does God wrestle? God wrestles because he wants to change you some more.

And God wrestles so he can show you that listen, this is your capability.

Now you've got to push more. You cannot stay here. God wrestles.

He wrestles with you.

He also will engage you in conversation. One of the ways God engages you in conversation is by not giving you direct answers.

When you ask for something, God will not give you a direct answer immediately. Why? Because he wants to have a conversation.

Sometimes you see parents doing that. You ask your dad, dad, I want this. And there will be no answer. Why?

Because now you want to hear why the kid wants it. And then he begins a conversation.

Now you have something. But every time someone says, dad, I want this, and you give it to him, that's the end of the conversation, man.

That's how most teenagers are.

God sometimes chooses not to answer so that he can engage you in a conversation so that you and him can have a dialogue.

And in the process you get more than your answer. You get understanding.

And then he will also see, this is terrible, man.

He will also see if you will read his word. Because at the end of the day, a man can do all this and not read the word.

And he lets you speak because you can't read the word.

So when you start, we've stopped meditating. We won't go researching. I'll take another five minutes and stop.

Because then we have this amazing surprise that you have not yet experienced. And it will be a treat you can look forward to.

Exciting, huh? I don't know what it is. I'm not involved in it.

I'm not involved in it. I'm not involved in it.

Guys, God-directed self-talk gives you clarity. God-directed self-talk gives you clarity.

Things become clearer in your mind because you and God are engaging in something that he has asked you to focus on.

God-directed self-talk gives you clarity.

When there is clarity, you can focus on the things that you are interested in.

You can focus on the things that you are interested in.

When you are with God, you are engaging in something that he has asked you to focus on.

God-directed self-talk gives you clarity.

When there is clarity, resistance is not a problem.

When there is clarity, resistance is not a problem.

I'm in Bristol three weeks ago.

This is what was given to me by different people in this church and one person in particular.

And I wrote it down and I put a tick mark on each one.

I went over this twice or three times a day because I was going to help a church that is much larger than ours, is much better than us.

And I don't have the courage or the wisdom or the ability to do it.

Think of it in a point of view. You are sent to build, not sent to help.

What will you build? Like Jeremiah, you will see gaps in the wall that are hidden from the enemy.

You go with great authority and therefore do what you must with great authority.

Like the king, resources, Jeremiah, so your resources.

Why couldn't God build this to someone in the UK?

Because you are being appointed and sent not just to build something in the UK, but through UK in Europe.

Great wisdom has been given to you for this.

Understand the appointed task at hand.

My hand is upon you. I will give you. I will shine forth. I will stir up my might.

The number of times I have read this in a day, why?

Because now I am going to sit with fifteen or twenty leaders and tell them how to do church from a small place like this which on a good day has less than the number of leaders they have.

I don't have the courage for it, nor the wisdom for it, nor the notes for it.

Self-directed, God-directed, self-taught gives you such clarity that with clarity you can overcome resistance.

Every obstacle course then becomes a steeplechase that you are waiting to win.

Every obstacle becomes a steeplechase that you are waiting to win.

And how do you get what you need to meditate on?

Every morning God is waiting to spread manna in your wilderness.

All you have to do is go and collect it.

Give us this day our daily bread.

It's much far more than breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Far more. Because what was manna? What is it?

The proceeding word of God.

Every morning there is manna. For every person sitting in this room there is manna every morning and it is waiting to be collected.

There is more than enough for your day.

Once we collect it we can go hungry the whole day and you will still feel full and you will say to Jesus, I have food that you know not of.

Guys, God will talk to you. Put in the time as a mark of respect.

God will talk to you. Put in the time as a mark of respect.

If Tim Hughes turns up at Don's house tomorrow, or he may have a radio to meet Don, we don't know which one, but let's assume he turns up at Don's house tomorrow.

As a mark of respect Don will cancel all his appointments and sit at home because one of a very good worship leader has decided that he wants to help Don.

Put God wants to talk, God will talk. Put in the time as a mark of respect.

Put in the time as a mark of respect.

Put in the time as a mark of respect.

Put in the time as a mark of respect.

Put in the time as a mark of respect.

Put in the time as a mark of respect.

Psalm 27, 8 says, When you said, Seek my face, my heart said to you, Your face, Lord, I will seek.

And here's the thing guys, Jesus said, These things I say to you so that your joy may be full.

Every time you hear God, your joy will be full.

There isn't a time I have heard that I don't sense in me such completion and satisfaction and joy because the God of the universe just spoke to me and it happens every day.

It happens every day.

These words that I speak to you, a light of spirit and they will make you full of joy.

You're not supposed to go after the crumbs that follow the table.

The bread belongs to them. Children, eat at the table.

Eat at the table.

Eat at the table.

Because see, the devil has no desire to necessarily beat you into power.

All he wants to do is deflect you to focus and meditate on other things.

That's all.

The devil isn't interested in beating me up.

All he wants to do is deflect my meditation.

For whatsoever a man thinks, so is he.

So can I be deflected to meditate on things that are not in Philippians 4a and that are not God-directed?

So brethren, Philippians 4a, meditate on these things.

Think about these things.

That's all the enemy wants to do.

Just deflect me of certain ways of thinking.

And if he can, then he doesn't have to beat me up.

Because at the end of the day, if he can deflect my focus on my things I meditate on and move it to low SP, my failure, my past, my parents, what my granddad did 40 years ago, my future, my problem, my age, my present condition, great!

He doesn't have to beat me up after that.

You can't be in the church life and say, bring up what your dad did 40 years ago.

It's not allowed.

It's wrong.

It's wrong.

There are the statute of limitations of things, guys.

If you've been a believer for 10 or 15 years, we should begin to account.

In a church like this, if the county hasn't happened, then you need to leave the church because the church ain't helping you.

Or find some means to get healed.

What we instead do is because of our loving kindness, we monocon those that should be able to get up and walk because their legs are healed.

I'll be a speaker of truth to all mankind.

I pray not that I do with a degree of gentleness.

I'll stop you guys, but meditate on the nature of the Father.

Look at everything with the eyes and the heart of a fasting child.

So hard, so hard.

I've preached this so many times.

I find it so difficult.

I've been through so much.

I've been through so much.

I've been through so much.

So hard, so hard.

I've preached this so many times.

I find it so difficult.

To look at everything with the eyes and the heart of a fasting child.

I cannot look at things with the eyes and the heart of a fasting child until I meditate on the nature of the Father.

The Father, you are so good.

You know, these guys are talking about worship, stepping in and kissing the face of the Father.

Look at how the prodigal thing works.

You know, the great thing about the prodigal son is after all that he did, after the shame he brought his family,

after wishing his dad was dead by taking away his inheritance, after all the things he had done,

the one thing the prodigal still had was he had this odd confidence that he could still go back to his father's house

and that the father would give him room, even if it be that of a servant.

This boy had some knowledge of the father's character in knowing that I can still go back there.

After all the things I've done, after all the wealth I've spent, after all the shame I've brought,

after the desire of the death of my father, I still can go back to my father and give him room, but I don't know of the servant.

So he prepared this speech. So the father undercuts all that.

So how should he have given room to say, confess his wrong?

Now what does the father do? Did you think he had put the discussion?

And he saw him at a long distance, when he was still far away, the father saw him.

And so here is a rich man running through the village. Imagine it, eh?

So here is a rich man running through the village. People are seeing him running.

He must be a little old by now. And so he falls upon his son. That's what the verse says.

He falls upon his son, falls on his neck, and starts kissing him and embracing him.

Every time you think that you are the one stepping up in worship and kissing the face of the father,

he sees you far away and he's waiting to do that? Same thing.

Sure, it was important for the son to confess that he was wrong,

but the father even takes away the need for confession by doing something that completely destroys the boy's plan.

See guys, as important as it is to reconcile and confess things to God,

always remember what the father is looking for is return.

Return is what he looks for before he looks for your confession.

Before he looks for, let's reconcile things. The first thing he's looking for is, is my boy, is my girl returning?

And when you show even the slightest desire to return, he starts running.

The guilt and the admission can be talked about later, but my God, you are returning.

Never let sin stop you from returning. Our usual MO is when we sin, we try to fix things

and come up with a speech before we go back to the Lord. No man, in the midst of your sin, get away from it, leave it, run.

He sees you returning and he falls on your neck and starts kissing you.

Many days of the nature of the father, this is the nature of the father.

Come on.

We pray for Jillian and Heidi and Jane after this.

Amen.