Anointing: Get under the Umbrella

And if you'll grab a seat. If you've been here for a worship in

prayer night where I've been on this stage, you know that we don't usually

actually share a message, but it's my privilege and in a lot of ways

it's my burden in a good way to share with you. I was informed

that I would be speaking tonight a few weeks ago. And the responsibility of

the burdens that you carry I can't carry, but the Lord can. And

I'm just so confident that He is here already and wants to carry your burdens

and wants to bring breakthrough. And if you will just allow hope, just

a little crack and let your hope rise, I am believing, on on

God's behalf that He will show up in your life. And I'm not the

only one. Many of us have been praying all week. There were some

that were here early praying for you that God would meet you. Or maybe

you're sitting here on behalf of someone else that God desperately needs to show up

in their life. And I believe that God will show up. If you

have a Bible, I'm going to ask you to turn to First Samuel.

If you don't the words will show up on the screen for you. You

can leave us for a while. Evan, you're the best. Thank you.

I'll just be distracted if you play behind me the whole time for Samuel.

Chapter sixteen, Verse one says, Now the Lord said to Samuel,

you've mourned long enough for Saul. I've rejected him as king of Israel.

So fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem and find a man

named Jesse who lives there, for I've selected one of his sons to be

my king. Context Samuel, Prophet of the Lord, Saul, first King

of Israel. Few questions come up immediately, I hope for you. First

of all, why was Saul rejected as king? Why did God say I

rejected this man as my king. We will suffice it to say, for

our purposes tonight, that Saul didn't just disobey because God's not looking for perfect

people to serve him. Okay, Saul didn't just disobey. Saul continued to

resist and continued to push God away, and continued to blame and make excuses

for his disobedience, and eventually God said, then you can go and do

it your own way. The second question that comes up is what does a

flask of oil have to do with a new king? Because it says it

right there. The Lord says to Samuel, hey, take take your flask.

I chose someone else, and you're going to go and anoint him as

king. This oil is not the point. The oil symbolizes the point,

and the oil symbolizes God's power and presence on the person that he chose,

which in this case is David to be king again. The oil is not

the point. It's what it symbolizes, which is the power and the presence

of the Lord that is going to rest on the person that he chose.

I don't know about you, but I could use that kind of power and

presence of the Lord on my life. So Samuel takes his flask of the

Lord's presence and power. Let's call it what it is. He takes his

little flask of the presence of God and the power of God, and he

goes to Bethlehem, and he goes to the home of Jesse. In verse

twelve tells us and the Lord said, this is the one annoints him.

So as David stood there among his brothers, Saul took out the flask of

the Lord's power and his presence that he had brought, and he anointed David

with the oil, and the spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from

that day on. So Samuel takes the presence and power of the Lord.

I hope the repetition is going to get inside of you. He takes this

symbolic thing that represents the power and the presence of God himself, and he

goes exactly where God tells him to go, and he pours it over the

person that God says, pour it over him. And then suddenly it is

no longer symbolic. Suddenly the spirit of the Lord comes rushing on to this

man. Scripture says, he pours it over the chosen one, over David.

Some translations say it fell upon David. Some say it came rushing onto

David. But there is a tangible, visible, sensible presence of God,

the presence and the power of God that now rests on this young man,

David. He is now marked, he's different, he's changed, he's transformed.

Something happened in that moment when that representative oil that represent what matters,

the power in the presence of God is poured out on that young man,

he's now anointed. Now, don't I don't want you to get tripped over

over the word anointed, because if you have a background in church, maybe

you've heard that word misused, Like maybe maybe you know people or maybe this

has been you where like people start seeking the anointing, the anointing, or

they're seeking someone who's anointed to do miracles, are anointed for healing, or

people get all caught up and like they forgot that it's God, it's the

presence of God, and they're all about this anointing that becomes its own entity

of some sort. So let's be clear here for our purposes when we say

anointing, when I use that phrase in the next few minutes, it is

when the spirit of God comes, powerfully comes, rushing, is poured out

and rests on somebody to bring transformation. They are marked. Dare I say

you are marked and I am marked? Because there's gonna come a point where

it's gonna go from a story a long time ago to a story today.

Getting ahead of myself. Okay, so David is empowered. So anointing isn't

empowering. It's the power in the presence of God. What what are they?

What are we? What are people empowered for? What's it? What's

the power for? Well, there's lots of examples in the Bible. For

our purposes tonight, we will just I'll just throw out a few things men

and women in the Bible and throughout history and maybe even know some today are

anointed to speak, to declare truth. Maybe they're anointed as a musician or

someone who sings. Maybe they're anointed to preach. Maybe they're anointed to prophesy.

Maybe they're anointed to cast out demons, break off strongholds. Maybe they're

anointed to speak the truth of God and it gets inside of somebody. They're

anointed to declare healing over somebody. Anointing is something that is all through God's

word and it still operates today. But let's look at what David is anointed

to do. David is anointed, he's empowered by the presence of God.

For Samuel sixteen, verse fourteen says, now the spirit of the Lord had

left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him depression and

fear. Other translations say an evil or a distressing or a terrorizing spirit.

Let let's do a little work to understand what sounds really complicated right here.

The first thing that we notice is that the spirit of the Lord left Saul,

which means the spirit of the Lord can depart, which is frankly a

frightening moment of realization. We know about Saul, and we're not doing a

lot of back teaching on Saul. So if you're not familiar with Saul,

I'm gonna summarize, and I apologize for that. But in the chapters leading

up to this moment, what we know about Saul is that he didn't just

disobey. And I mentioned this a minute ago. This is a man who

continually resisted and pushed against and did the opposite of what God directed him clearly

to do. He didn't accidentally mess up, and you know, he didn't

accidentally miss the mark. He was resisting the Lord. Again, God is

not expecting perfection, do not hear? Wow, If I'm struggling like Saul

is struggling, it's because I have disobeyed the Lord. Wait, I don't

want to build an incorrect theology here. However, Saul did continually disobey,

and even worse, he refused to take ownership of his disobedience. And when

he was confronted, he made excuses and he blamed other people. I brought

a visual with me, and Brandon has used an umbrella once before as an

example. I think he talked about grace. I don't want this to be

silly. I really and I think it's cool that it's a yellow umbrella because

I really want this to be seared into your minds as a picture. God

originally anointed Saul to be king. Okay, so when the spirit left Saul,

the spirit was originally on Saul. He was the first one that received

the anointing to be empowered the presence and the power of God. It's the

same anointing that David received. He was empowered, he was under an umbrella

of the presence of the Lord. So imagine like this, Saul did his

best to stay at first as close to God as possible, and when he

did that, he was underneath un anointing that almost for us, looks like

an umbrella. Now that doesn't mean that bad things don't happen. It doesn't

mean that difficulty and trials and sickness and illness don't come your way. But

there's this special anointing or protection cover that's Saul lived under that. You and

I can live under that. We're gonna see David lived underneath. But when

Saul continually chose to resist the Lord, it was as if he was saying

no, no, no, And you say no long enough, God is

not going to force you to stay under his covering and protection. And when

Saul said no enough times, God said, Okay, you're out there,

completely exposed. And what was Saul exposed to? Tormenting and terrorizing spirits that

wanted to do harm and destruction to him. He stepped out from under the

covering, and the spirit of God did not chase him. And I just

wonder maybe at first Saul didn't notice. Maybe he thought, you know,

life in the Kingdom, it's pretty good. I got a lot of servants,

I got a lot of money, I got good food, I got

good wine. I can go where I want and do what I want,

and everyone does my bidding, and I keep winning wars, and you know,

everyone around thinks I'm the greatest. But there came a point where that

departure from the spirit and presence of God that left him exposed, began to

be his ruin. And this is when I want you to see the Lord

sent a tormenting spirit. That's a anyone feel like that's a rough pill to

swallow. I mean, you don't have to be you don't have to do

a lot of reading in the Bible to come across things that are confusing,

But this one feels like a big stumbling walk right here. For the sake

of time, let me just bring a little bit of clarity to us.

Number one, God never performs evil. Never, It is not in his

character to orchestrate or perform evil. So what does it mean that God sent

an evil spirit, a spirit that meant harm. Well, that original word

for sen can go two ways. It can either be active, as in

God actually sent the spirit, or it can be taken passively, which is

the direction that most translators would go. Meaning God withdrew his hand of protection

and Saul was exposed to whatever was out there. Another way to say that

would be Saul stepped out from underneath the umbrella, and therefore all the evil

forces at work around him had free open season to take shots on him.

Remember when Saul stepped out from underneath that protection, God did not chase him

and force him to remain under it. And I think The third thing we

can notice just right in those couple of scriptures is the result of Saul choosing

Saul's ways and stepping away from the anointing and the covering of God. Is

what happens when you and I step away from the anointing and the covering of

God. We are open targets to the enemy of our lives, of our

marriages, of our families, and of our homes. Verse fourteen tells us

that Saul is tormented. Some translations say terrorize, and you heard me read

it filled with depression and fear. The original word translated in some places to

depression and fear means to be terrified, overwhelmed, or overtaken by sudden and

undescribable terror. It means to take your breath away. You're so afraid.

Saul is deeply disturbed. He's in a place of great darkness. He is

completely overcome. He is hopeless with fear. And you probably know every bit

of anxiety is rooted in fear, this kind of fear. Okay, I

gotta you, guys, don't know how intimidating it is to teach on this

subject. I could probably spend twenty minutes giving caveats. And I really don't

want to do that because I want to come back to the Bible, because

I want to give you hope. But I do have to just pause and

give you some caveats. We are not talking about normal anxiety here, okay.

I think in our world today, this is my opinion, we are

so aware of anxiety that all anxiety is terrible, and some anxiety is actually

really healthy. Like if you and I stand on the edge of a cliff,

or even the stage, which isn't that high. I'm always afraid I'm

gonna fall off the stage, and we walk right on the edge like you

might feel. You probably feel a little anxious watching me do it, but

I'll feel a little bit of anxious. What is that anxiousness or anxiety meant

to do. It's meant to make me alert. It's meant to make me

pay attention. It's meant for me to go hold up. I better pay

attention. I better be careful. Maybe my blood pressure rises a little bit,

maybe my palms start to sweat. If you're somewhere really high up,

like the Green Canyon, if you've ever been there, a lot of people

as soon as they even get close to the edge and there's a guardrail,

their hands starts sweating. Okay, so some anxiety is normal. Maybe you're

walking alone in a city at night to your car and suddenly you are very

aware that it's dark and you are alone and there are people around, and

you are helpless. That kind of anxiety where your blood pressure goes up,

maybe start to sweat a little bit, become hyper aware. That's not an

abnormal anxiety. Maybe you're at work and you find out that your boss is

gonna come observe you that day, and you feel super anxious because his eyes

are on you or her eyes are on you, and you're afraid you're gonna

mess it up. And maybe it's taking a test and you get test anxiety

and everything starts to tighten up and you get super tense and you can't focus

and your breathing gets shallowed. Like some of that is normal anxiety. The

plague of anxiety in our country, and I can't speak for the whole world,

so let's just stick with the country that we live in, and that

we know. The kind that is everywhere you look and is talked about by

everybody and is on social media. And there's one hundred thousand books on the

topic that plague of anxiety is base in unrestrained fear. Okay, so we're

still we're still building like caveats. And I'm not a I'm not a psychologist,

I'm not a counselor. I don't want to be that right now.

That's not my role. But Saul was overcome with this unrestrained fear that the

Bible translates to anxiety and depression, which in our modern culture feel like,

oh, just anxiety, not unrestrained fear. Like we're talking. He is

overcome debilitated by his anxiety, his unrestrained fear as he dreads what may unfold,

what may unfold. Some of you relate to this feeling, and I'm

I'm so sorry that you relate to this feeling. Some of you know this

darkness, you know this debilitation. And we haven't even gotten very far into

the story and the Bible yet, but you know this kind of My mind

goes and I am worst case scenario zero to one hundred, and then I

cannot control what comes. Some of you are here because you heard we were

going to pray, and we are going to pray for those who are battling

debilitating anxiety and depression. And those are just two of the things we will

pray for. But we have to build a good foundation first. So let

me say a few words about anxiety. Anxiety is not solely a spiritual thing.

If you've ever been taught well, you don't have enough faith. That's

why you're anxious. I am so sorry for the damage that has done to

you. That it's just it's just true. It's not solely a spiritual thing.

If you see a therapist, if you are in some sort of counseling,

if you take medication, if you are working on breathing exercises and grounding

exercises, those things are good. I am not saying those things are not

good. You are not lacking faith because you are struggling with debilitating anxiety or

depression. And yet the tools will only take you so far. Can I

be so bold as to say that the tools are good? They are good,

but they will only take you so far. Therapy and medication and breathing

and self talk are important, and they're good, but they're only part of

the equation. How do I know? Let me show you. For Samuel

sixteen, Verses fifteen and sixteen. Okay, remember what happened. The spirit

of the Lord left Saul in. A rising spirit is tormenting him. Verse

fifteen. Some of us All's servants said to him, a tormenting spirit from

God is troubling you. Let's find a good musician to play the harp.

Whenever the tormenting spirit troubles you, he will play soothing music and you will

soon be well again. Interesting note here when the servants say God the name

God in verse fifteen, So a tormenting spirit from God is troubling you.

That's the generic word for God, like a god, little g God like

the gods have decided to torment you. Kind of phrasing. But when the

servant describes David, he says, the Lord Yaweh Elohem like God Jehovah.

God is with that man. Now, we don't know who any of these

servants are, and we're are not described for us. We don't know if

they believe in Yahweh God or if they believe in lots of little g gods.

We don't know the situation. But can I tell you something they did

know. What they knew is that kid, the one who plays the harp,

the one Jesse's kid. That kid, the one who is you know,

good looking, and has all these skills and is talented, et cetera,

et cetera. That kid is anointed with the presence and the power of

God, and that is the guy that we need. So Saul sent messengers

to ask Jesse if he could have his son come and play for him.

I just think it's really cool that Saul accepted help. I con side note,

if you're someone who has struggled with debilitating depression, you you probably the

first one to admit it's really even hard to get any to even allow and

he want to help you. It just feels too hopeless. But here's Saul

saying, yes, I'll sign the letter for the kid to come. So

Saul sends messengers sug Jesse asking for his son, and David agrees to come.

And he went to Saul and he began to serve him. And Verse

twenty three tells us something that I want you to hear me say tonight.

And this is not me, this is the word of God, it says,

and whenever, say whenever again, say whenever one more time, whenever

and whenever. The tormenting or terrorizing spirit from God troubled Saul. David would

play the harp and Saul would feel better. Then NASB version, a new

American standard, says he would be refreshed. And well, that's even better

than I feel better. That is a soundness of mine, a peace that

came over him. The word for refreshed there is he could breathe. I

I fortunately have not struggled with anxiety. I don't know, but I have

heard people describe to me the weight on their chest that feels like they're crushing

them when anxiety sets in. And whenever that weight sat on Saul's chest,

whenever David played his harp, that thing left. Let's be clear about something.

This has literally nothing to do with the harp. It has nothing to

do with if David is good looking. It has nothing to do with his

age. It has nothing to do with what song he chose. It has

nothing to do with the location. Were they in Saul's palace or were they

in like some sort of a religion just room. It has nothing to do

with who is gathered there, with the exception of the guy who came and

brought the anointing into the room. See, you know what Saul needed,

He needed a worship leader, and I don't mean a worship leader by occupation.

He needed somebody who would worship the Lord and bring the spirit and the

presence of God who was anointed, empowered, covered filled with the spirit of

God, that would bring that into the room to change the entire circumstances of

the room. He brought it into I was reading a commentary this week and

it was talking about this spirit that was terrorizing Saul. And this is what

the commentator said. Quote. Today, Saul would probably be diagnosed as mentally

ill. Yet his problem was spiritual in nature, not mental, and not

psychological. There are many people in mental health hospitals today that are really suffering

from spiritual problems. Okay, hang in there. All the therapists in the

room are about to riot. It is certainly wrong to assume that every case

of mental distress is spiritual because chemical this is still the quote. Chemical imbalances

and physiological problems are also real in the fallen world. Even so, there

are certainly some that need liberation from a distressing spirit, and they may never

find it in our modern mental health system. Unquote. We need the tools,

we need the therapists. Sometimes you just you need medication to help you

get things back together. We need the breathing exercises and they're good and they're

healthy, and we need to talk, and we need support, and we

need all of the those things. But can I propose to you that is

not enough. It's not sufficient. We need the Lord, the presence of

God, the spirit of the Living God, the presence and power of God

to come rushing down on us, to come and rest on us. I

don't know are you out there today, because I'm working hard here and I

really, I really am gonna keep talking unless I know you get it.

I want to speak truth because I want the truth to liberate you. We

need to be in the presence of the Lord. A few things. Saul

was incredibly disobedient, and some of you in this room are struggling. And

you are not incredibly disobedient. You love the Lord, you want to serve

the Lord. You spend time in prayer, and I don't want to paint

a picture that you have done something wrong to bring the circumstances on yourself.

However, I want you to see this picture again, which is yes,

Lord, I love you, and I love you, but I just could

you just not get too in the business. Could you. I want to

be close to you, I want to serve you, but I'm afraid that

if I let you into that one spot inside of me where I've been hurt

before, you might hurt me too. I'm afraid God, because that's really

what it is. It's unrestrained fear. Then if I let down the last

little bit of resistance and I don't keep you here, I might get hurt.

Because we just saying that you never fail, that you might fail me.

And here's the thing. We think that God not failing us and God

being good is all our prayers being answered the way we prayed them. And

that's just we don't understand God's ways. And I'm not saying that as like

a band aid statement. But the Lord is good, and he loves you,

and he has good for you. He also allow things in your life.

And when the Lord allows things in your life, sometimes it's because we

are disobedient. And if you're in this place and you know I have just

fully held God, or maybe you've just like I mean, I've just walked

the other direction. You know who you are. Maybe you're somebody who is

like I mean, I let the Lord have all of it, except the

people that hurt me and the unforgiveness. Except you don't know what this person

did, et cetera, et cetera. Let me tell you. Here's what

happens when we're in the presence of the Lord. Are we okay? Like?

Can we turn towards hope? Now? Okay? In Luke, For

Jesus is in a synagogue and he picks up the scroll of Isaiah and he

reads Isaiah sixty one. Here's what he reads. The spirit of the Sovereign

Lord is upon me. For he has anointed me anointed. There's the word

to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that

captives will be released, that blind eyes will see, that the oppressed will

be set free, and that the time of the Lord's favor has come.

He then declared that what he just read is what he himself has been anointed

to do. He said, I came to set people free, I came

to open blind eyes. I came to heal broken bodies. That message of

hope, I think we understand, was a special anointing that Jesus carried.

However, that anointing is extended to us as well. If you belong to

Jesus. Here are some scriptures for you. Tewod Corinthians one twenty one says,

now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.

He anointed us, He set his seal upon us. He put his

spear it in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what's to come. First,

John chapter two, verse twenty seven, you've received the Holy Spirit.

If you believe in Jesus and he's your savior, you have received the Holy

Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the presence and the power of God, and

he lives inside of us two Corinthians three seventeen. Where the Spirit of the

Lord is, there is freedom. I mean, I could I could read,

I could read some scriptures. What do you do though? What do

you do if you're here right now and you're struggling with anxiety, depression,

fear, tormenting thoughts, suicidal thoughts, dark thoughts, violent thoughts, scary

thoughts, things you hope no one ever ever knows that you're thinking. What

if you're here and you're struggling with addiction and it is just the it's the

stranglehold on your life. Do you know what you do? You get underneath

the umbrella. You get under the umbrella, I just can someone bring me

my water? That's over there place. I want you every time you see

an umbrella from now until the end of time, to think about the anointing

of the Spirit of a living God. You get under the umbrella, and

you get around other people who are under the umbrella. You go to the

place where lots of people are under an umbrella, and it brings encouragement to

you and hope. Do you know that scripture says that kind of hope is

an anchor for your soul, strong and secure. You can't make that up

for yourself, but it is available to you. It's not the music,

although the music is great, it's not the song choices or the set list.

Gosh, I hope they play my favorite song. That's when the anointing

shows up. Although that last song they sang, whoo, it's not the

speech at best. At best without the anointing of the Lord on me,

not of my own making. I am a good speech giver. I mean,

you think your job is depressing. I don't want to be a good

speech giver. But under the anointing of the Spirit of the Living God,

under the presence and power that we no longer have to have someone carry around

a flask of and pour over us, because when we believe in Jesus,

we get his spirit inside of us, and it's that kind of presence we

are anointed. It's the spirit of the Lord, sorry that rests on an

instrument. It's the spirit of the Lord that rests on a pastor or a

preacher. It's the spirit of the Lord that rests on a parent, or

an employee or a spouse. It's the spirit of the Lord. Saul needed

a worship leader. He needed a young man carrying the anointing and the presence

and the power of the spirit of the Living God to walk into the room

where he was being terrorized by an evil spirit. And whenever David played an

instrument underneath that anointing, that spirit fled. I just I want hope to

rise inside of you. What does it mean to get under the umbrella?

What does that mean? The first thing it means is if you don't have

a relationship with Jesus, a saving relationship with Jesus, where you say I

admit I have disobeyed. I need you, Jesus, I need your forgiveness.

I need the work you did on the cross to cover me. If

you don't have a saving relationship with Jesus where you surrender control and give up

your way of doing things for God's way of doing things. That's where we

start right there. Whatever you're holding so tight in your fist, that one

area that you just don't want to let go of, that's what God is

saying tonight. I want that all. I want all of you. So

what does it mean to get under the umbrella? Number one, it means

to surrender your life that salvation experience. And salvation is not a one time

thing, because we wander off quite often, and by wander I'm being nice

to us because usually we distinctly choose to walk in the other direction. So

salvation. The second thing we need is the spirit. When we get under

the umbrella. What does that look like for us? It's us saying I

know there is more of God to have, and I want to have it.

As a young as a young woman, when I finally surrendered my life

to the Lord, and I had prayed the salvation prayer as a kid.

But when I was a young adult and I prayed the salvation prayer, the

one where I said, whatever you want, Lord, I will go where

you call, I will do what you call I will give up what you

call me to give up. When I prayed that prayer, the prayer that

followed it was God, if there is more of you to know, Oh,

I want to know it. I don't want to just have a just

a little glimpse of you. I want to know you in a deep way.

I want to know your presence. I want to know your power.

And that's not because I'm something special. It's because something inside of me was

birth a deep hunger. And some of you in this place need a hunger

to be stirred up inside of you so that you desire for the presence and

the power of God again or maybe for the first time ever. Even if

you haven't been full on disobedient, but you know you've just resisted as the

Spirit has been wooing you and inviting you, and you've just held at arm's

length. There is more for you. So to be under the umbrellas first

to surrender your life, and second to ask for more of the Spirit.

And what if I told you that God would pass by a hundred content people

to find the one hungry person to pour out it spirit on. I mean,

God is looking for people who are looking for him. He's he's got

this for you, but he's not gonna beat you over the head with it,

and he's not gonna run around the room and follow you. And he's

not gonna follow. Yes, he loves you, his love pursues pursues you,

but he's not gonna force you to be in his presence. That's you're

in my choice. So we need to surrender. We need more of his

spirit. And the third thing is we have to learn how to get in

God's presence. I'm gonna ask the band to go ahead and return, but

don't lose me because I still have quite a few verses to read. As

I did want to fill this chalk full with the truth. You and I

do not need another self help book. Can I just hear someone say amen

to that. What you need is not another podcast, It's not another formula,

it's not another prescription. It's not even another sermon. I heard someone

say a couple weeks ago, the last thing we need is another Ted talk.

They're great, but that's not what we need. We don't need good

music, we don't need flashy lights, we don't need a fog machine.

They're fun. We don't need a good show. This can't be a place

where we gather a crowd of mostly bound up people who are depressed and anxious

and pray anemic. I'm not sure if I believe them prayers, and then

you know, pat each other on the back and say, I hope you

figure this thing out, because I still live in total bondage and I don't

know how to get out of it. What we need is to gather a

group of people who understand that when we call on God, he answers.

We need his presence. If you've known me for any length of time,

I've I just this is the cry of my heart. I just want more

of His presence. And I'm not special. Remember, at best, without

the presence of the Lord, I'm just an okay communicator who likes people a

lot. And so you might feel loved by me, hopefully. But under

the presence of the Living God. When you're under the presence of the Living

God and you speak his truth, that truth just pierces the lies of the

enemy. When you speak on behalf of God and you're under that anointing and

you're walking around with an umbrella. Darkness has to go. I am so

fed up with the tormenting spirits that terrorize people that I love. I'm so

sick of people I love being bound up and incapable of leaving their houses and

not able to function, and they can't find any joy and they have no

peace, and they can't sleep, and all they do is cry. We

need the presence of the Living God, and we have to use the weapon

that we've been given. Okay, it's this. You can say it,

you can sing it, but this is your weapon. It is your primary

weapon. There are other weapons, but this is your prime it's my primary

weapon. So you know what we need. Verses like this, Isaiah forty

one to ten. Don't be afraid, says the Lord. I'm with you.

Don't be discouraged, because I am your God. I will strengthen you,

and I will help you, and I will hold you up with my

victorious right hand. Do you know us You need to hear Psalm ninety one.

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High God will rest in

the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord to you right

now tonight, wherever you are, whatever you're facing, He alone is your

refuge. He's your place of safety. He's your God, and you can

trust him. You can trust him. You can trust him. Two Timothy

one seven. God has not given you a spirit of fear that is not

from God. He's given you a spirit that brings power and love and a

sound or peaceful mind. Oh gosh, if you need that tonight, grab

onto these scriptures. They are your lifeline right now. Pastor Jared quoted earlier

really familiar verse, and I just I sat there and thought, do we

believe that he said, where the spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom.

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Do you

know that the spirit of the Lord is in this room right now? Do

you know that all around this room? In fact, if you are someone

who came here early for prayer or you're part of our staff, I hope

you've already been praying. But just right now, just be praying. You

don't have to pray loud, just be praying, because we're gonna fill this

room. I mean, I was praying that God would order his angels,

angels to surround our property, that they would not allow that the darkness of

the enemy could not come in this place with you. If you feel tormented.

Here's the thing. We are not promised healing. We're not. Some

people struggle with physical illness, and the Bible does not say you will be

healed until you're in the presence of the Lord in heaven. But it does

say where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, which means

your life is not a life of torment. It is not a life of

anxiety or depression, or violent thoughts or darkness or to acidal thoughts that is

from the devil himself, and you can be free of that in the presence

of the Lord, which tells me we need to be in the presence of

the Lord. If you struggle, we need to be in the presence of

the Lord. You're in the presence of the Lord right now, and there's

freedom for you. But here's the thing. I don't know if you noticed

it, but in that verse where I said every time David played his heart,

the tormenting spirit left, did you realize what's embedded in that? Did

he keept coming back? I want no, I because Saul would never in

his lifetime that we know of in scripture, ever get back under this.

You and I have to figure out how to live under the anointing, under

the presence and power of God. It's not a mystical, tricky, weird

thing. We got to figure out how do we live in the presence of

God. How do we put ourselves there when we are feeling the most stock

or the most hopeless. And I'm gonna end with this. We have to

figure out how do we get ourselves in the presence of God? And first

it comes with us surrendering our control. So I'm just gonna talk about control

again for one second. Not only do we have to surrender control to God,

but also we have to realize there are a lot of things we cannot

control. What you can control is your own choices. You can control whether

or not you put yourself in the presence of God. You can control whether

or not you read God's word. You can control whether or not you speak

the truth of God's Word over yourself and you choose to believe it. You

can control if you make a choice to trust God. You can control what

you play in your home to change the atmosphere inside of your home when it

feels dark and depressing. You can control your thoughts. You can say that

thought isn't from God. I refuse to dwell on that. You know what

God says. God says that he made me and loves me, He says

in Psalms on the apple of his eye. You can control that. You

can't control your past. You can't control the actions of other people. You

can't control how people respond to you. You can't control the weather. You

can't control all the things in the world around you. But you control you,

and you can worship, and you can pray even when you don't want

to. Oh man, there are children. We're gonna pray for kids here

tonight too. But there are kids in our kids ministry right now. There's

probably some in this room that are struggling with debilitating anxiety and depression at eight

and nine, and ten, and eleven and twelve. And I am here

to say that is not their life, that is not their future. That

is not what God has for you or for your children. God has life

for us. Remember, at one time Saul had the anointing of the Lord

on him, but he chose to walk away from that anointing, and he

probably didn't realize what it was gonna cost him, but he walked out from

that protective covering, and he made himself completely a free target to a distressing,

terrorizing spirit. Some of you, that's not you, but you're watching

that happen to your children. And I am here to say we have to

fight. We have to fight. Jared said it this morning too, We

have to fight. If you hear somebody tonight or tomorrow, or you hear

this, come out of your own mouth, I'm just depressed. That's just

me. That's my thing. I'm gonna struggle with my whole life lies where

the spirit of the Lord is. There is freedom. Figure out how to

get in the presence of the Lord. And I know it is not as

simple as a band aid solution. I know. I know you may need

therapy still, and you may need medication for a while or maybe a long

time. I know you may need grounding exercises and breathing exercises, but not

just those things you need what is beyond all of that. You need the

power of the risen God. So we said it a couple weeks ago,

we said we're gonna pray for people who struggle with anxiety and depression. I

want to start though, in fact, I'm gonna ask everyone to stand to

your feet. I want to start with those who need to surrender their lives

to the Lord. And we're not playing around here. You guys agree,

this is a topic that we're not playing around. If you're somebody in this

place and you would say, I have been resisting or disobeying the Lord,

and I want to surrender my life to him, hands up, thank you,

thank you, thank you. I'm gonna ask you to be super bold.

I'm gonna ask you to come and make your way to the front.

Nobody's judging you in this place. Every one of us has to make that

decision if you and you're not the only ones, you're just the first ones

who raise your hands, keep coming, keep coming. Would you bow your

heads because this is not it? Oh no, no, no, God,

Right now, I pray the conviction of your spirit that has already been

at work. It's already pressing, is already saying, but what about this

but this area? But what about this area? But what about this area?

God? As you bring conviction, I pray people will respond, because

if we resist and we walk out from underneath that protective covering, we make

ourselves free targets to whatever the enemy has for us. And I not speaking

death. I truly am not, but we want to be people who are

pressing in close to you. If you're somebody that needs to press in,

step out of your seat and come and join us, Keep coming, keep

coming. If you're in this place and you would say, I think I

can say with all humility, I'm right with the Lord. Did you just

raise a hand all across this room, I'm right with the Lord. I've

surrendered. Oh, there are a lot of you in the middle. Okay,

you put your hands down. Will you pray with me? And if

you're standing at your seat right now and you're struggling to come and join us

up here, you can still pray this prayer and you mean it. It's

not the words, it's the heart. It's all over this room. Let's

just make sure we're all right with the Lord. Would you pray with me?

Jesus, I ask you to forgive me. I ask you to help

me surrender. I choose to let go of control, and I ask you

to lead and guide me. Thank you for yours, Thank you for your

salvation. I receive that. Amen. Amen. I'm going to ask our

prayer team, if you're not already up here, if you'll start making your

way up here. If you are up here and you just responded because you

just needed to surrender your life to the Lord, I would love for you

to stay here. But now I'm going to invite a lot of people to

join you, and that is every person in this room that is struggling with

anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, addiction, strongholds in your life, or

your family. You want to stand in for somebody. If you have a

child in our Kids ministry right now that is declaring over themselves any of these

things, invite you to go and get your child and bring your child in

here because we're gonna lay hands on them and pray. Now here's the thing.

This team is going to sing, and your job is to not be

spectators. So you have two jobs. One of two jobs, at least

if you're not responding. Number one, you help us build an atmosphere in

this place. And I will probably come back a few times and give more

direction. But you're helping us build an atmosphere if that means you're praying,

you're filling the room with worship, you're singing, you're helping us build that

atmosphere of faith, or you are helping pray for people. Okay, so

if you're somebody you feel like I can pray for people, come find somebody

to lay a hand on. Now here's the thing. Sometimes we pray through

Sometimes it's like a ten minute prayer and we're really praying. I just truly

believe that the Lord is going to snap off strongholds. We have asked the

Lord and sought the Lord, and he is here and he is going to

respond. So I'm gonna pray a blanket prayer, and then if you're a

prayer person, you're gonna get a vial of anointing oil. They're in the

little pockets across the front of the stage. Just put a little bit on

your fingers. Remember it's not what it is. It represents the presence and

the power of God. And you're just gonna touch people and move through the

crowd. If you want more of God, let's add that call to it.

Step out into an aisle. I want to encourage our prayer people.

If you see people in the room that have not responded to the front,

but God puts them on your heart, they're free game, even if they're

in the back row. Everybody in this room, I want every person in

this room to experience the presence and power of God. So let's pray a

corporate prayer, and then I'll turn you guys loose. You're already loose.

Keep going, Lord, right now, you see it's by your power and

your presence that we are set free. It's by your power and your presence.

And never, never, never do we want to raise up hopes and

have them dashed because people walk out if you're the same. So God,

we are asking that you would break off strongholds. And I believe this work

was being done as people entered this building. For some it took all the

faith they could muster to even just come. So God, meet them right

where they're at. And I don't have to yell and scream when I pray

that, just pleading that you would meet people right where they're at, that

your presence would come rushing onto them, that it would be poured out,

that they would be saturated. God, we're asking that you would break off

strongholds, break off If there are demonic spirits at work in the lives of

people in this room, we come against them with all the authority we've been

given by the power of Jesus. Christ who defeated death, hell and the

grave. And we say every spirit that is not of God must flee in

your presence, God, evil spirits must flee.