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Watch 2022-2023 online sermons » Creflo Dollar » Creflo Dollar - How to Wait for God

Creflo Dollar - How to Wait for God



In Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31, let's read verse 31 out loud together first of all in the King James, and then we'll look at some other versions. Let's read verse 31 out loud together. Ready, read, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint". Now, look at this. "But they that wait upon the Lord". Of course, we went ahead and say it, "Wait on him," okay? But that's not what he said here. "They that wait upon the Lord".

Now, the reason why I say it's not "on the Lord," but "upon him" or "for him," he says, "Look at the results". This is what happens when you wait for the Lord. You renew your strength. You mount up with wings as eagles. You run and you won't get weary. You walk and you won't faint. In other words, there's tremendous impact and results that takes place in every life that understands how to wait for God and that will understand that there's never a waste of time to wait for God. But it's going to be a courageous act to wait for God as we begin to look at this.

I look back at the beginning parts of this ministry where I didn't know what to do. I didn't know you called it "Waiting for God". I just chose him first 'cause I didn't know enough to do anything else. But you know, sometimes that's the best place to be, the blessing of "I don't know". Sometimes you think you know more than what you know, you know? But there's a blessing that comes from what you don't know. So now, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength". Renew your strength. They're gonna mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They're gonna walk and not faint.

These are notable acts. This is the same as, you know, those who will know their God and do exploits, but then it takes us a level deeper here. He says, "You wanna see the exploits? You wanna see those noticeable, notable things happening in your life"? He said, "Here's the key, understanding how to wait for God". Understanding how to wait for God.

Now, let's look at this in the Amplified first. Now, watch this. "But those who wait for," see there? That's the translation of what we're doing. So, I need you to get this in your thinking. It is not waiting on, it is waiting for, and there is a difference there. Those who wait for the Lord, watch this, I love this, he's gonna describe it and give us a hint. Those who wait for the Lord, what do you mean? Who expect, who look for him, who hope in him. Another word you can put there is "trust".

So, he's talking about anybody that will look to God, anybody who will hope for God, anybody who will rely on him, okay? He says, "Shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up close to God as eagles mount up to the sun; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired," because they look to God. You know, when things have gone on in your life, who do you look to? They rely upon God. When things are happening in your life, who do you rely on? Who do you trust? Glory be to God, calm down. I feel it coming. Who do you trust?

All right, now go to Isaiah 64:4. Isaiah 64:4, this is really gonna challenge you in your personal time with the Lord. It's gonna challenge you, nobody's gonna be able to see this but you. Nobody's gonna be able to know this but you. This is one of these private, intimate adjustments that you will make that will yield tremendous, tremendous, tremendous harvest. Now, verse 4, King James, let's read it out loud together. Ready, read, "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him".

I don't know about you, but it kinda blew my mind when it says, you know, you ain't seen it, you don't understand it, what he has prepared for him that waiteth for him. Now I don't know if it does this to you, but if he's prepared some things for those who wait for him, I wanna know how to wait for him so I can experience some of those prepared things. Oh hallelujah, praise God. So, y'all better get ready. There's some prepared things that you don't know about that have only been prepared for those who will wait for him. That might have been the problem. You've been waiting on him and not waiting for him.

All right, now look at this in the Amplified. Let's amplify it a little bit more. Oh, praise God. You don't know how it feels when you already know where you're going and you're trying to stay cool so y'all won't think something wrong with me and I start shouting before I tell you what I'm shouting for. See, you see what I'm saying? I can shout 'cause I know where I'm going, but y'all like, "What's the matter with him? What? I didn't read that".

Look at this. All right, "For from of old no one has heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides you," whoo, watch this, ha ha, "who works and shows himself active on behalf of him who earnestly waits for him". I don't know if you heard that. He said, "But the guy that'll wait for me, I'm gonna go to work for him". He says, "I'm gonna work for the guy that knows how to wait for me". How many of you want God working for you? He says, "I'm gonna go to work for the guy who".

Oh thank you Jesus. I was thinking about that. Lord is working for me right now. And the book of Isaiah is interesting because when you talk about waiting on the Lord, you automatically assume that there's some trouble. And if you read it in context, there's stuff going on, which is the reason why here it begins to talk about waiting on the Lord. Now, let's move into this just a little bit. What does it mean to wait on the Lord? Now, I wanna mention what I just said here about trouble. In Isaiah, waiting for God implies that the people of God are in trouble.

You see that contextually throughout the book. To wait for God implies that the people who are waiting are in trouble. They are in danger from enemies and the temptation is very great to hastily seek the help of men instead of waiting for God to act. And so, what you see here in this book is that they were hastily seeking help from men. They were looking to men. They were looking to human aid hastily in the middle of trouble, but not looking for God. Now, that happens right now today, especially in this humanistic world. When things pop off, a lot of people are not looking to God first. They're looking to human aid first.

Humanism is the conviction that we have whatever we need to get ourselves out of whatever we're in, all right? And he says there's something real, real wrong with this, and so I want you to look at this Scripture, Isaiah 31:1. I wanna look at it in the King James, the Amplified, and the Message. Isaiah 31:1, King James and the Message. So, here's the guy who says, "I'm not looking to God. I'm in trouble, but I'm not looking to God. I'm gonna solicit human assistance," all right?

So, check this out now. "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many". They trust in them because there's many. "And in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, and neither do they seek the Lord"! All right, look at the next verse 2, same thing here. I'm gonna read down to verse 3. Isaiah 31, verse 3, verse 2 and then 3, "Yet he also is wise, and he will bring evil, and he will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity". Verse 3, "Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together".

So, here's this deal about you who don't go to God but go to human assistance. He said you who chose human assistance instead of him, you gonna fall along with what you chose, all right? Now, go back and let's look at this in the Amplified. I'm gonna look at in three ways. We're gonna read it three times in different translations. "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses and trust in chariots". What do you rely on and where did you go for help? What do you rely on and where do you go for help? There are a plethora of paths that you take when you in trouble. Unfortunately a lot of times God is not one of them.

So, what are we missing out when we choose those other paths and we don't choose him? "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many and in horseman because they are very strong, but they look not to the Holy One of Israel, they don't seek him, they don't consult the Lord"! When you are in situations, do you trust him? Do you consult him? Most of the time, God's not consulted until the end, until what you chose first didn't work and then you say, "Well then, there's always God". He says, "And yet God's wise, he brings calamity and does not retract his words; he will arise against the house, the whole race of evildoers, and against the helpers of those who work iniquity".

Verse 3, "Now the Egyptians are men and not God, and their horses are flesh and not spirit; and when the Lord stretches out his hand, both Egypt who helps will stumble, and Judah who is helped will fall, and they will all perish and be consumed together," 'cause ain't nobody talking to me. All right, last one in the Message translation. In the Message. If nothing happens tonight as a result is message except you go home with this in mind, "I ain't doing nothing," like Colonel Klink on "Hogan's Heroes," nothing, nothing, "until I consult God".

Some of you who were with me when this church started, you know that was my thing. "Let's do this". I need to pray about it first. Now, hold up, I need the pray about that. Well, if you don't hurry up, then they gonna go ahead. Maybe it ain't for me. I need to pray about it first. And the blessing would always come because he was the one consulted first before any human aid. All right, look at this. "Doom to those who go off to Egypt thinking that horses can help them, impressed by military mathematics, awed by sheer numbers of chariots and riders and to the Holy of Israel, not even a glance, not so much as our prayer to God. Still, he must be reckoned with, a most wise God who knows what he's doing".

Turn to your neighbor and say, "God knows what he's doing. He can call down catastrophe. He's a God who does what he says. He intervenes in the work of those who do wrong, stands up against interfering evildoers". Verse 3, "Egyptians are mortal, not God, and their horses are flesh, not spirit. When God gives the signal, helpers and helped alike will fall in a heap and share the same dirt grave". I think you know what to get out of this one, right? God first. Turn to your neighbor and say, "I choose him".

All right, now let's work on that definition of what it means to wait for God, not on God. I need you to eliminate that out of your thinking. I told you there was an error that we made in the church, waiting on God when it didn't say that. It always talked about waiting for God, and then we took it and made songs, "Wait, I say, on the Lord". "Wait for God" is the right translation there. All right now, let's look at the definition. Waiting for the Lord means... let's work on it now. It means, like, first of all, it means they're looking for the Lord. You're looking for God.

Who do you look to in a time of trouble? Who do you look to in a time of lack? Who do you look to in a time of sickness, in a time of pain, in the time of stress? Who do you look to? And it is the devil's purpose to try to impact your focus, where you're so focused on the things that are going on around you. You know who you should be looking to, but your focus has been stolen and you're focusing on all other kind of things. Don't allow your focus to be impacted by the things that are around you. Eliminate the clutter so you'll know who to look to, 'cause sometimes you just get paralyzed. You don't do nothing. You're just like, "Oh Jesus, I don't know what to do". But you have to, on purpose, who do you look to? That's the same thing as saying trust.

So, waiting on the Lord is this issue of looking to the Lord. It's consulting him. Looking to the Lord, consulting the Lord. Watch this, it's seeking him, seeking after God, looking to the Lord, consulting the Lord, seeking his will before any human aid is pursued. Before you pursue any human aid, pursue him. Make this a number one rule to your life, if you will. I wish had another word to use, but a number one objective, something you wanna achieve, that when life happens, I have decided that I am gonna look to him first before I pursue any human aid. What does he have to say? I'm gonna pray to him. I'm gonna talk to him. I'm gonna say to him, "Lord, I need you. What do you want me to do"?

Please understand something. Nothing happens in your life without you saying something. Please understand something. Nothing happens. If you haven't said it, why you looking for it? You do not look for what you have not said. And this is unfortunate, what we do is we don't look for what we have said negatively. And you don't look for what you say negatively, and consequently you don't look for what you say at all. But as a born-again Christian, that is a part of your authority. If you have said it and if you are saying it, then you need to be looking for it. But if you haven't said it and you're not saying it, don't look for it. Don't look for it.

If you decide, "Father, I thank you that all my provisions are met," you need to be looking for all of your provisions met. But if you hadn't said that, don't look for your provisions to be met. Continue to go around and complain about how you ain't never got nothing. And by the way, you are having what you say in the negative, but you don't believe you can have what you say, so that's why you keep saying what you have and you keep having what you say, amen? And so, to define, look, waiting for God, it means I'm looking to him. I'm consulting him. I'm trusting him. My hope is in him. I'm going after him. And I am going after him before any human aid is pursued.

Think about that. Think about that adjustment in your life. I am going after him before any human aid is pursued. You are putting everything concerning this natural on hold to consult God. Good grace is alive. Everything from this point on is on hold until I consult God. Make that a part of your life and watch how much he does for those who consult him first, who put human aid on hold, and say, "I'm gonna go see what Jesus gotta say about this first," amen. Whole life changes. Whole life, 'cause something happens when God is first. Remember the Scripture, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things that you see will be added unto you". What is he saying? You don't need to be seeking the other things. If you'll seek the priority, if you seek the priority, that's waiting for God. It's when he becomes priority, you're going after him to get the consultation.

Now, look at this. Go to Psalms 106, verses 7 through 13 in the King James. Psalms 106:7-13, "The first act of waiting is to seek God's counsel before any attempt is made to solve the problem ourselves". Before any attempt. You know what you do. You think I'm talking about calling somebody. I'm talking mostly about self-preservation. I'm talking about you trying to attempt to solve the problem on your own, especially when, you know, somebody says, "Well, I'm experienced". I don't care about your experience. I have seen instant results.

As soon as I got this revelation a couple of weeks ago and I saw this, I have seen instant results. I can't... I just don't... it's like I consult him, all right, and then the next day I see answers before I begin any type of human employment of any human aid. In fact, there are things I cannot even figure out how he did it, but that's the stuff I couldn't see. The things that he prepared, I couldn't see, for those who will wait on the Lord. It is an honor or something in heaven that when you choose him above everything else...

See, religion puts God on hold while self continues the process. But what God is saying is, "I want you to put everything else on hold and let me continue to process". And I'm telling you, I don't care what... listen, relationships, finances, trying to figure out what you're supposed to do here, da da da da, all of that, all of that, you know, it used to... it probably didn't have to take me a year or two to see things happen, but you talk about acceleration. Somebody say, "Speed it up".

You talk about acceleration, somebody say, "Speed it up". And this is a because I lack a better way to articulate this. He is anxious to bring to pass the faith that you have in him to do a thing. He is anxious for somebody who will trust him, somebody who will actually say, "I rely on a God who I cannot see. I am trusting you because I'm trusting my Word". And I am telling you, if you will do that, you'll go to sleep one night and wake up in your answer. Most people, when they hear that, they're thinking about, "Well, wake up in your car". This is so way beyond that. I'm talking about things in your personal life you can't even figure out, and you go to God and say, "I'm bringing this to you. I don't know how to do this".

You know, you can handle it emotionally and then mess it up worse, but you're taking him, say, "I'm consulting you, Lord". And sometimes you don't even have enough words to even really talk to him about it long 'cause you just don't know what to do, so you just say, "God, here's the situation. I'm consulting you. I'm trusting you. Help me, Lord. Show me what I need to know. Do something supernatural. I don't know what to do, but I trust you". And then leave it alone.

Glory to God, I'm about to run. And then go to bed. He never sleeps or slumbers, and you gotta learn how to rest in a God that's working for you because you have chosen to wait on him. Whoo, y'all hear me? I wanna wreck up something right now because I know he able. You know, like the song said, "I done tried him and I know him". All right, listen to me now. And it's mind-boggling to me that God will be concerned about the very personal issues of your life. God'll work on other people that you didn't even know how to talk to, and rearrange and change their heart, and you didn't even know how to do that.
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