John Gray - Desperate Worship
I wanna talk to anybody who's ever been walked past in the natural or in the spirit. People see you but they don't see you. People they acknowledge you but they don't understand you. They smile but they don't respect you. They somehow interact with you but have never engaged you. I'm talking to you tonight and if you're at home, I'm talking to you as well. And I got all premium fake suede to help you understand what I'm talking about. You can tell the character of a person by the way they treat people they don't think they need. There are times in life when people see you based on what they can consume from you as opposed to who you are as an individual. And when people can no longer consume you or take from you, you are thrown to the side.
I think I'm talking to somebody tonight. And I want you to know 'cause God is doing some great things and I want to make sure you are aware. Next week, I'm having a friend stop by. Maybe you've heard of the group Mary Mary. Well, Erica Campbell is gonna be here next week in Wednesday night's service. So you might wanna bring 46 people with you. And my wife and I were listening to her CD in the car. And my wife, who always has the God ideas is like, "Babe, you need to talk to pastor Lisa, see what we need to do to get her here".
And so thank God, she's gonna be here next week and we're gonna continue what I start tonight next week 'cause I got a feeling where I'm going is not gonna be able to be finished in the time we have. But I wanna honor your time and I want you to go to John 4 very quickly. There are two scriptures that we're going to read and John 4 is the first.
There are times when people assume they know all there is to know about you, but they don't know that you've got a secret storehouse. They don't know that even though life has stripped you, attacks have come, tears have been shed, pain still exists, you still press through to get to the house of God. You still press through and wake up every morning, somehow, some way you still lift your hands. Somehow, some way, you still lift your voice. Somehow, some way, you still give offering and tithes. Somehow, some way, in spite of everything that you're going through, you find a way to honor God in the middle of it.
And I want you to know that even if no one sees it, God sees it and God is a rewarder of the things that you do in secret. He is gonna reward you openly. I'm talking to somebody to encourage you tonight that I know what it cost for you to get here tonight. I know what it cost for you to log in tonight. I know what it cost for you to be in that seat and God is getting ready to make good on every sacrifice that you've ever sown.
Now, I know y'all know me and you know I like to have fun, but I don't feel like that. I feel prophetic tonight. I feel something in my spirit to unlock. I cannot leave here 20 minutes from now the same way that I came in. I don't want God to manage my pain anymore. I need him to free me completely. I don't need more medicine, I need to be free from the thing so I can throw the medicine away. I don't need God to just manage my marriage, I need him to restore my marriage. I don't need him to just help me with my kids, I need a vision for my family. I need God to show up tonight. No more up and down. I want the breakthrough, I want it now. I don't wanna wait till the end of the year. I don't wanna wait till August or October or November. I want it now. And I don't know if I'm in the right church, but if I am, would you please signify? Glory!
Every shout matters. Every clap of your hands matters. Every penny you've ever sown matters because whether you see it or not, God's been watching. And he's not watching the thing you do. He's watching the heart behind the thing you do because God's never been about the things. He's about the thing behind the thing. He wants to know what's in your heart. He wants to know what motivates you. He wants to know do you trust me even when you can't see me. Will you praise me even when it doesn't make sense? That's maturity. I feel the Holy Ghost on a Wednesday night.
Strange scripture in John chapter four, Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman. A conversation he was not really supposed to have. But they get into the subject of worship and he says the 23rd verse, but the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will in Spirit and Truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship him. God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and Truth. Spirit and Truth. Not Spirit and perfection. Not Spirit and religion. Not Spirit and redundancy. Not Spirit and song. Spirit and Truth. This word is for the ones who wanna worship in Truth because the reality is everything that's true about you and I is not good. But it should not stop us from worshiping.
There are people here that needed to get free. You're like, I can't worship 'cause I'm still stuck in this or I'm still doing that and I don't need to worship because God knows what I'm doing. Yeah, he knows what you're doing and that Jesus already paid for it. So why don't you go ahead and worship him through it? I double dog dare you to give God a perfect praise from an imperfect vessel. Nobody in here deserves to lift their hands. Nobody in here deserves the blood of Jesus, but we have been made worthy by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
And so when I lift my hands, I lift them up in the righteousness of Christ, not in my own righteousness. I have nothing of value to give in my flesh. But in faith, I lift my hands knowing my God receives my worship in spite of what I'm walking through, in spite of the sins I've committed, in in spite of my brokenness, in spite of my mistakes, in spite of my doubt. I'm trying to help somebody in here. Don't let anything stop your worship. Funny how an all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful God who has everything is looking for anything.
Jesus said the Father is seeking. Here's the deep thing. The Greek definition of that word is seeking. Trying to help y'all. It means, it's kind of like you're looking for your keys. You can't find them, they're in the house but you gotta pull up some couch cushions or move the chair out of the way or search under the kitchen table or maybe somebody accidentally threw them in the garbage and you gotta go through the garbage. God is saying I'm seeking worshipers.
Strange, churches are open all over the world but a crowd does not necessarily mean it's filled with worshipers. You think God can't see behind the Psalm? He knows your motive. He's looking for a pure heart, a broken heart. That's the thing that draws the breakthrough. That's the thing that unlocks the miracle. Even if you can't sing, the fact that you got your hands up and you're trying, God sees it. God is seeking worshipers. And sometimes we assume that God's probably looking for somebody more qualified than me. He doesn't want my worship. He doesn't want my praise. Heck, there are better people. I'm gonna just go ahead and let the choir and Cindy and the worship team, I'm gonna let them sing for me.
You can't borrow anybody else's worship. You gotta buy your own. And until your worship cost something, it can't break nothing. I feel the Holy Spirit tonight. But sometimes, you don't have anything left. You ever been at the end of your proverbial rope? Anybody ever come in here and was like, God, for real, if you don't show up tonight, I don't even really feel like standing. I'm just... I'm gonna stand, but I'm mad. I just... Nothing is going right, but I'm here. I can't stand the person next to me but I'm here. We gotta drive home in the same car and we gotta act right in here 'cause I don't want nobody to know what's going on. But I'm here. I'm gonna choke one of these children, but I'm here. I'm gonna tear that office up if he says one more thing to me smart. I promise you, he gonna see fifth ward come out of me. You better help me. I'm here.
You ever gave so much you felt like you had nothing left to give? You ever worshiped to the point that you had nothing left and nothing still changed? You're like, God, I gave you what I had. Well, tonight I wanna encourage you 'cause I got a feeling heaven's been keeping count, keeping tabs on you and i. And I'm prophetically declaring. I'm not here to encourage you tonight. I'm here to declare a breakthrough over your life that this night for some reason is the night that everything breaks in your favor. Why? Because I'm gonna encourage you if you're at the end of your rope to give God, and this is my title, one last worship.
It's supposed to wait till the end, but somebody's all ready. They're saying they don't wanna wait 15 minutes to get to the end. If you can just give God one last worship. I need you to understand what happens when you have nothing left but one more bullet in your worship gun. When you've spent all your faith, spent all your tears, spent all your prayers, but you still showed up on a Wednesday night. You still showed up on a weekend service. You still showed up on the computer, logged in, right there tears streaming down your face waving your hand in your kitchen, stomping your feet and the people that live up under you don't understand what's going on.
They don't understand that while you're stomping, God is packing your boxes. You're not gonna be in that apartment much longer. I don't know who I'm speaking to. A mother with a couple of kids, you need to know God has his eye on you. And even if you're not in this building, you're still a part of this church. One last worship. Now, there are people that are gonna think you're strange tonight. Trust me, bro. Some of them already do. Tonight, you're gonna give them a reason... To really believe she crazy, he is out of his mind.
Let me tell you something. You don't have anything else to lose. You've already been attacked. They've already called you what they're gonna call you. There's nothing else they can do to you. They've said everything they're going to say, they've done everything they're going to do. But I want you to know there is a king that's been looking for a worshiper just like you. There's a king that's been searching the earth looking for someone that will praise him in spite of their past, in spite of their shame, in spite of their guilt, in spite of their doubt. There is a king that's coming just for you. And if I were you, I would not disappoint him. I'd give him the best praise that I could. I'd lift up the greatest sound that I could. If you're at home, bless him where you are. Keep worshiping.
Some of you may not understand but these are tears of saying God I only got a little bit left. The devil's attacked my wife, my kids, my health. I don't even know which way is up half the time. But I get in the car and I come to church and I give what I have because I believe. This has to be real because I have nothing else. I need Jesus tonight. Does anybody else need Jesus tonight? Oh, get his name on your lips. Jesus, king of kings, Lord of Lords, Jesus! Hallelujah. I'm sorry to all of our visitors. Pastor Joel doesn't act like this. But I need Jesus. And every now and then, I just can't give a casual sound. Sometimes I'm in a mayday moment where I need a breakthrough right now and I need Jesus to show up.
Does anybody else have one last worship? I want you to know there's a sound that gets heaven's attention, that'll cause God to lean up off of his throne and say hold on, angels. I hear something I've never heard before. I hear a desperation. Where is that coming from? It's coming from Houston, father. Where at? Off southwest freeway. Oh yeah? Yeah, but there are other people that are logged on, too. Saddle up my chariot. I've got blessings to give to my children because they've been believing in faith, they've been praising in faith, they've been sowing in faith and faith activates the miracle. Faith activates the blessing. One last worship.
In Mark 5, it says in the first verse, "They came to the other side of the sea to the country of the Gadarenes". The word Gadarenes means reward at the end. Everybody say reward at the end. Now, I need y'all to hear me and I need y'all to focus right here. Somebody say it one more time, reward at the end. Sometimes we assume that when we worship there is an immediate response from heaven that moves on our behalf. Sometimes it takes God some time because there's a process that he's working out in you. God needs you to understand the difference between God and Santa. Ho, ho, ho, welcome my children. Come on up to my throne room and tell me what you want.
Well, I need all my bills paid, I need you to heal my body and I need a man, 6'3" and blond hair, blue eye, Tim Tebow, Jesus, if you want to. I'm just saying. Okay, my child. That's not how God moves. The Bible says sometimes we don't get what we ask because we ask amiss. Some things we pray but they're not according to his will. And so God says no, can't give you that. My time is moving quick and I need you to get to Mark chapter five. I need you to hear the word of the Lord because I just want you to know that sometimes when you fill out a request, you need to go ahead and put a deposit with the request.
Now, I'm not talking about money. I know you've probably seen different things in Christendom that says if you don't give a certain thing, you won't be blessed. I don't believe that. I believe the Word of God and we're just gonna stay there with it. That's not disrespecting anybody, but I believe that what God is looking for is a pure heart in worship. 'cause there was a widow with two mites and Jesus said she gave more than all these rich people 'cause I'd rather have two mites from a broken worshiper than a million dollars from a prideful giver. Your money doesn't impress God. Heaven doesn't need money. You need God to have your money.
They came to the other side of the sea to the country of the Gadarenes. And when he had come out of the boat immediately, there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit who had his dwelling among the tombs and no one could bind him, not even with chains because he had often been bound with shackles and chains and the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces. Neither could anyone tame him. I'm talking to the untamable ones. Sometimes, life comes to domesticate you. Sometimes, people wanna make you less than to conform to something that makes them feel better. Don't you ever dumb it down to make insecure people feel better about themselves.