Joseph Prince - Turn Your Frustrations Into Breakthroughs

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. How're y'all doing? Praise the name of Jesus. We get to hear God's Word once again, and one word from God can change your life forever, amen? When we hear the words of man, you know, we can hear it, and then we forget it, but God's Word, even when you forget it, it will work in you because you have received it, amen? What is the purpose for us receiving God's Word? Is it so that we can sort of, like, boast against each other, saying that, "Hey, I know this. I know that. Do you know this? Do you know that"?

You know, you know about the signs of the end, and "This is gonna happen, and, you know, Bible says, the Bible says", is it Bible knowledge? The Bible says, "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies". The objective for us receiving revelation from God, Jesus says, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free". So the end of our Bible study is that we know the Lord by revelation. Can I have a good, "Amen"? Amen. And that's so precious, people.

I pray that that happens to you and I. You know, above everything else, of all the branches of knowledge there is in this world, the Bible says that the first thing Paul prays for the church of Ephesus, which is considered as a very spiritual church, all right, among the churches in the New Testament, and also Paul's letter of Ephesians is regarded as one of the most spiritual letter, all right, and the first thing Paul prayed for them is that God give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. You just see it. You just know him in your heart. You see, once you see it, you cannot unsee, and many of you have been there before, amen?

If your revelation that you receive, if you receive that revelation of Christ and it humbles you, it makes you feel like, you know, "Without God, I'm really nothing. All that I have, my position, my job, my family, the love I enjoy, amen, whatever blessings in my life is all by the grace of God". Sometimes, you know, we say "grace", but we don't really understand what it means. We say grace over our food. Once a while, I do this, okay? I stop. I look at food, whether it's nasi lemak, or whatever, and it looks really good... You know what I do? I bow my head, and I say, "Lord, without your grace, I won't be able to even eat this".

You know, there are people who look at good food, and they remember what it used to be when they had a good appetite, but now they have a condition in their body. They cannot eat, and they wish they can eat. There are people who avoid spices, and I'm here to tell you that God wants you well because there is a serious disease. Serious disease, you know? You can eat chili and spices. Man, you need deliverance, big time, okay? I feel for you. I have compassion for you, amen? So, but there are people, you see, we don't, sometimes we just stop and look at the food and think to yourself there are people who don't have food to eat.

Once in a while, I remind Justin, okay, that there are people who don't have iPads. There are people who don't have these privileges. Doesn't look like he understands, still, at five years old, all right? He would just look at me, then look down again. Anyway, I'll stop, and I'll just think to myself, "Without God's grace, there won't even be this food to eat". For me, that's grace. It's not just saying grace, amen, people? And it's good for you to remember that your family and all that are around you, all right, they are there because of his grace, amen. We have forgotten where we came from, so we do not know exactly where we are going.

The Lord loves you, people, and there are times that we don't realize that all of us have different levels of pride, and above all the sins, you know, the worst kind of sin in the Bible that I see is the sin of pride, love of preeminence, self-importance. It makes the highest and the loveliest of angels into a devil. Pride makes something of man, who is nothing without God, and in Christ, who is everything, came and emptied himself and became nothing. We act like we don't need God. Well, actually, prayer is nothing but an expression: "I don't trust my will. God, I trust in you. Unless you give, I can't have nothing. Unless you impart, I can possess nothing".

Prayer is dependence on God. We who understand grace, we who say we don't trust in our self-effort, do we pray for our children? Do we pray for our relatives, our friends, our parents? Do we pray for our colleagues? Do we pray for our church? Do we pray for our nation? If we depend on God, if we know only God can bless, when God blesses, no one can curse, amen. We know, if God imparts, you've got it, amen. Do we depend on him? And when you pray, use simple words, people. Use words that your heart brings up.

You know, the words of Daniel are good for Daniel. The words of Abraham are good for Abraham. The words of Jacob, because you can copy their words in the Bible, but you don't have the spirit and the feeling, all right, the emotions that they express it with. So God don't want you to pray prayers that are technical. I know there are books out there, prayers for this, prayers for that. I used to read those books and pray those prayers, all right? But it's not the same as only you can pray the prayers that God puts in your heart. And be direct with God. You want God to bless your child with something. You're concerned about your child going to a certain area or certain interest. Pray especially for that area. Pray with simple words.

In fact, if you understand grace and you see the futility of human effort, of self-effort, you'll be praying all the time. You don't need an environment. You can be driving and be praying. By the way, when you're driving, watch and pray, okay? Praise the Lord. Are you with me so far? I wanna talk to you about some things that, you know, when you are in that place in your life where you are always knocking into a wall? It sounds like, and it just feels like you're not getting what you want, and here you are, you are asking God to bless you. You are confessing favor with God, all right, confessing blessings over your life, and, yet you don't see it happening.

Are there experiences that we go through that makes us feel like, you know, this particular area, there's no favor? Nothing is happening. Perhaps God is giving you more favor than you realize. He's bringing you to a higher level, amen, and the closed door is actually a blessing from God.

I remember before I met Wendy, I actually dated another girl. Now, I wanna say this in case she's watching, all right, I loved this girl with all my heart, okay? I really loved her, and I thought there'd be nobody else. I really loved her, and I really thought that no one else would be good enough, all right? I found the one that I love, okay, and I really wanna spend my entire life with her, but she's not good for me. She's perfect for somebody else. And, most likely, she has found somebody else, okay? But when I was dating her, I really was willing to do anything for her, but she didn't like my public ministry. She didn't like my public life.

In fact, I'll be preaching sometime, I just became a pastor at the time, and I'll preaching, and I'll be pointing at that direction, for example. Later on, she'll ask me, "Why do you point at that direction? Is it because that girl is there"? You know, very difficult, and I would have to explain to her, "No, no, when I preach, I'm really not conscious", so I try to explain to her, and I'm always explaining to her. I'm always, she doesn't like being in public, doesn't like to speak to people in public, and so she's wonderful, but she's not the one for me. You understand?

Nothing's wrong with her, okay. "Nothing wrong with you", in case you are watching. But let me tell you this: I was willing, I was willing, because of my love for her, to actually tender in my resignation and embark on a "normal career", so to speak, all right, just for her. In fact, I told her that. I said, "I'm gonna resign as a pastor 'cause I love you". So you can say that I loved her more than I loved the Lord at that point in time, okay? And I was prepared, and she didn't dispute that either. In fact, I felt that there'd be more peace if I'm not a pastor. Can you imagine if I resigned, and I was not a pastor, just, you know? I didn't see the impact of what God has for my ministry, but nonetheless, I was willing.

I came almost to that point, and then, one day we had our usual quarrels, you know, and one of the things that really I couldn't, you know, get my hands around or my mind around is that, "Why are we quarreling so much"? You know, every relation has its quarrel, but "Why are we quarreling so much"? And it was God's way of putting up a wall, but instead, I was trying to break down the wall and trying to get my way, but we were always quarreling. So, one day, I asked the Lord, I had enough grace to ask the Lord this: "Lord, is she the one"? All right, "If she is not the one, I can't do it. You have to break it". 'Cause that's how much I love her.

Then, one day, it happened. We quarreled. She walked away, and I walked away. We've done that many times before. We always come back, all right? But this time, when I walked away, I never came back. She tried to ask me why and all that. I just found that there was a grace to stay away, and I still loved her. I can't explain it. Just the grace was there not to come back. And then we broke off. Of course, I found Wendy later on, all right? Then, when I met Wendy, my goodness, like some of you right now, you can't imagine a better deal. She is perfect for me. "She is the one". Amen, hey, baby. She's watching right now, live. Love you, baby.

And I was really blown away. I was overwhelmed. There were no words to describe how I felt. Like, I thought I found the perfect one last time, but God answered exceeding, abundantly above all I could ask or think, and today I'm so grateful I'm married to Wendy. Nothing wrong with that girl, okay? She's perfect for somebody else, but not for me, amen, and I met Wendy. And I'm telling you, right now you're probably in that place that you can't imagine, you know, that God has something better for you.

So God is dealing with you, and maybe that's the reason why there is a wall in front of you. Maybe that's why, you know, you try to break it down. You confess favor, you take Communion, that kind of thing, and there's still that wall in front of you. Maybe you have some symptoms in your body that's stubborn, and you've been taking Communion and taking Communion, and nothing seems to happen, you know, and you're wondering what's happening, okay? And you go to Pastor Lawrence. You ask for prayer and all, and nothing is happening, but one area of blindness is that maybe, God doesn't use sickness, okay? God does not send sickness. You gotta know that.

Jesus went about healing, never going about sickness-izing, disease-izing. He went about healing. He never goes about giving disease. Are you listening, people? He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. But when you are not having the breakthrough that you want, and you're asking yourself, "What's going on, Lord"? All right, ask the Lord because the Lord wants you to learn something from that experience, amen. Don't just try to, you know, ramrod yourself into that, "I'm taking Communion, you know, and instead one time, I'm taking five times". Yeah, but, at the same time, ask the Lord, "What's going on"? And God says, "It's the late-night watching Korean dramas".

And God loves you too much to let you waste away your youth, waste away your time, waste away your energy, waste away your day, and all because of the cliff-hangers, all right? Whether it's watching "CSI", American drama, Japanese drama, English drama, Chinese drama... my ministry is international, you understand? So whatever it is, sometimes as simple as that, and you say, "Well, no, Pastor Prince, God is not concerned about it". He is. But you never dreamed that, you know, your health condition is tied up with that. But God loves us so much that he will not let us pass with things like this.

When something controls you instead of you controlling it, when something dominates you instead of you dominating it, God is jealous because he loves you. God wants you to look fresh, young, vibrant, strong, healthy. He wants you to be healthy. "Beloved, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your souls prosper". And then God sees that you're not able to discipline yourself, amen, you're not able to... he will help you. Are you listening, people? Amen, Job for example, Job didn't know that his problems are from the devil. Now, here is where I'll try to explain carefully in case you misunderstand, all right? God does not use the devil. God and the devil are polar opposites, okay? And God does not use the devil, but let me tell you this: Many a times, the devil knows when there are things in your life that he can mess up with. Are you listening?

For example, if you look at Job, you look at Job in the Bible, I used to think the book of Job, J-O-B, was a place where you look up for jobs, you know? If people are looking for jobs, they look at the book of Job. Job is the oldest book in the Bible, and in chapter 1, we see that God says that Job is a moral man, an upright man, amen? And Satan himself was there, all right, to actually start the ball rolling in afflicting Job.

Now, God will make use of situations whereby he wants his children to go to a higher place. Let me show you the end purpose of every dealing of God in our life, and God does not deal with sickness. God does not send accidents to teach you a lesson, but God will deal with you, amen, not with disease, not with sickness, not with accidents, but God will deal with you, many a times with disappointment, sometimes with frustration. Sometimes you ask yourself, if you're always frustrated, it could be God dealing with you. God may be calling you full time, and you're always ending up in the vomit environment of the whale, you know, in the summer, and you're always thinking, smelling, you know, all kind of, I don't know why I'm getting all, because you refuse to respond to God.

Hey, I don't know what it is, but let me tell you this: God will deal because he loves you. Look at the end result of Job in James. It says this: "Indeed, we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord", what is the end result intended by the Lord? I love this, "that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful". The end result that God has for every one of you, listen, is that the Lord is gonna be very compassionate and merciful, amen?

If you look at Job's story, you'll find that the Lord restored to Job double all he lost, but Job was an upright man, right? He was a morally fine man. I mean, in society, he'd be looked upon as a respected elder in his society. In fact, when Job was told by his friends that perhaps he has sinned and all that, he responded by saying, "I was eyes to the blind", literally those words. "I was eyes to the blind. I've clothed the poor. I did this. I did that. I did this. I did that". All of a sudden, you find Job having pride. Is he then, so even in the most morally upright person, there's hidden pride, and that's what God was going after because God knew that Job cannot be blessed beyond that level of pride. God wants to give him more as we know from the end story. End result intended by the Lord is that Job got double all that he lost, okay?

Now, Job started boasting about his person, his deeds, and all that, and then, finally, God answered him. Out of a whirlwind, God answered him, and God says, "Job, where were you"? And he was telling, he was literally saying, "God is not right, you know, to treat me that way. God is not right to treat me like this. God is not right to treat", and God says, "Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? when all the morning stars, the angels, sang aloud? When the stars were put in their place", the morning stars, they sang, you know, and now science has proven that stars emit a sound, all right, like radio frequency, all sounds, all right, that are in sync with music, amen.

So the morning stars sang together when God created, when Creation was established, amen, but God reserved the highest praise for when his Son, the Creator, came in the flesh, and there's been glory to God in the highest heaven. Can I have a good "amen"? So God say, "Where were you when I bound the Orion"? You know, at night, you'll look up in the night sky. You'll see the three stars together, all right, in a straight alignment, amen? You know, before those days of navigation, modern navigation and all that, you know, seafaring people, they would just look up when they are lost, and their house, they know, is on the north. They look up, and they stand and look up to God, right? They look up in the heavens at night, and they'll see Orion. They know how to cut a line in the center of that star and find north. If you find north, you can find south, east, and west, amen? You can find your way home, amen.

The flag of Australia has the Southern Cross, literally Southern Cross. I can show you both Orion and the Southern Cross at night on a clear sky. I can show you a Southern Cross. When you find the Southern Cross, you know where your south is. You know where north is. You can find your way home through the cross, amen? So God said to Job, "Where were you when I did all this"? And this is how Job respond. The last chapter of Job, "I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear", he said, "God, I've heard about you from the preaching of Enoch. I've heard of you".

By the way, the book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible. "And I've head of you. My understanding of you has been more or less from what other people say about you. I've heard about you. I've heard this, heard that, but now my eye sees you". He has a personal revelation. And I pray in Jesus's name that whatever I share, whatever I teach, you won't just receive it as a, "Now I got more Bible knowledge", but I pray that you'll allow it to melt your heart. I pray that you'll allow it to become a part of your being just like the food that you eat becomes a part of you, amen? He says that, "I've heard of you, but now my eye sees you". And it says, "Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes".

Now you see a broken Job. When I say, "broken", or later on, I'm gonna use the word "brokenness", please understand, God doesn't want you broken in your body. God doesn't want you broken in your heart. In fact, Jesus says he heals the broken heart, amen, and God has anointed him to heal the broken heart. But where God wants you broken is to make you more beautiful. When people are with you, they won't say it, but they admire you. The respect you. They feel good about being around you, people who are broken in their will. A child that is broken in his will, we don't want a child broken in his spirit. You know a child is abused when a child is broken in his spirit. The words are spoken in such a way there's overhanded discipline, and the child feels broken.

When I look at Justin, for example, and I tell Justin, "Okay, enough, all right? Enough time on the iPad. Put it down". And I see an attitude, for example, I say that I don't expect him just to obey. I expect him to obey with a good attitude. So the mom and I will say, "What happened"? Then he start crying, okay? I said it. Okay, I allow him to cry because he's five years old, but he can only cry for so long. They cry too long, I will say, "Do you want me to bring Mr., you know, Mr. Cane"? Mr. Cane is a special individual in our family. "You want me to bring Mr. Cane"? All right, and you see, if I don't love him, then I won't discipline him.

You look at the people of the world, and you say, "Well, they look like they're happy, and, you know, like, they got no troubles". You don't know. You only see superficially. For me, I try to do something, and then God comes in. I can feel like, you know, God is... no, God loves you. You know, let me tell you this. The Bible says, "Whom he loves, he corrects. Whom he loves, he corrects". You ought to feel love. You ought to feel like God cares about your health, God cares about you going to a higher place. God cares about the success of your life, then God will not allow you to be deceived by pride or anything else. God wants you to go to a higher place, a greater place.

So, God deals with us because he loves us. For him the Lord loves, he chastens, amen? And in Hebrews 12 it says this, let's drop down to verse 5. "And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons". When God corrects, it's only for a special lot of people, it's only for the privileged people, and the privileged people are called sons, sons of God. In fact, the word here is huios in the Greek, which is mature sons. When God deals with you, God does with you like sons. "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord". The word "chastening" is from the Greek word paideia, the noun, paideuo is the verb. Pai is where you get the word "pediatrician", pedia, all right, child doctor. So, deia, paideia is child training.

So, when you think of chastening, always think of, child training, amen? So, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord". Now, the word "despise" in the Greek again, don't make light when God trains you, amen? Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him. You know, some of you get this attitude, "I got rebuked, man, I got rebuked. I got scolded and all that". Now, people can rebuke you for all kinds of reasons. People can rebuke you because they are selfish. They can rebuke you because they are jealous of you, but God can never rebuke you unless you need to be rebuked because he loves you.

And you know something? You learn another thing. Sometimes my wife would tell me things, it's a blind spot for me. It's not hard for me to, I mean, it's hard for me to accept, but I have to step back and tell myself I can respond defensively or I can learn from what, because nobody will love me the way she loves me, isn't it? My friends won't tell me about it. And some people they, you know, they're your friends, but someone is cheating you or someone is messing up and you're in business relationship with the person. And then later on, you find out about it and you say, "You know this guy, I didn't know he was doing this and all that now. I'm in a relationship with him and all that".

Then your friend, your good friend says, "Yeah, I knew about it for some time ago". What a friend you are, amen? You know people like that? I'm sure you do. "No, I didn't want to say anything, all right"? No, no, no, no, you know, you don't love me enough to tell me. You don't love me enough to warn me. But your wife, your spouse, will always tell you, isn't it? They tell you too much, lah, I understand, but they will tell you right, amen. So, you step back and, you know, you don't listen enough, or you don't do this, you're not patient.

Have you realized that you, you know, you gotta stop and think that God, one of the loudest megaphones of heaven is your wife. Men will pay, all right, men will go to success seminars and all that, they will pay large amounts of money to hear the same advice from their wives' mouth for free. But when it comes from the wife it's a bit, "I can't, my wife and all that". But it's the same thing, the same thing, amen? I want to tell you this, the Bible says, For whom the Lord loves, he chastens. It's because he loves you.

When you are correct that God is saying you're spending too much time watching "CSI", all right, drama, you're watching too much time late at night, you're not sleeping well. You know what? Feel loved. When the next day you are groggy and things don't happen, you make a mistake, you lose a deal or whatever, don't start blaming God. Blame yourself and start saying, "Lord, thank you for shaking this all up. Thank you, Lord, that you want me to have a new lifestyle. Thank you, Lord, you love me". Feel loved, amen, amen?

You know something? God chastens and trains people that he loves, people with a high calling especially. Have you noticed, I noticed something. This my personal observation that King Saul, who was never God's choice, God never dealt with him, you know? He never wandered in the wilderness, lived in caves, like cave Adullam. You don't find that. He's straightaway into the throne. There's no dealing because he wasn't God's choice. But David, it wasn't smooth sailing. He wasn't straightaway anointed by Prophet Samuel straightaway to the throne. Man, he went through the wilderness, right, amen? Are you listening?

Even Joseph, when he had the dreams, and the dreams are from God. You know, God had called him, maybe some of, you know, God gave your dreams and all that, you see the future and all that, but then all of a sudden you find that I'm going through all these difficult circumstances. Where is God? No, Joseph went through that. He was thrown into the pit. He thought he was straightaway to the throne, but he was thrown into the pit. You know, pit is P-I-T, prophet in training.

Some of you are right now in training. God wants you saved. By the time you are on the throne, David had this attitude that people will say, "Well, those who go to war are the ones who get the spoils". David says, "No, everybody will get equal, those who stayed back and those who went". His attitude, his character became lovely, it became kingly, it became heavenly. When people was with David, they felt he doesn't need a crown. They felt the kindliness, they felt his character, the self-control, the restraint, all that comes about because he has gone through dealings with God in the wilderness. Imagine when he was in the cave Adullam, and you, let's say you travel in time, okay? You all watch dramas, you all know nowadays, got a lot of time travel, time travel.

Okay, so we travel in time right now with the microphone, and we go to Adullam cave. And Dave is hiding from King Saul, all right? He's been ordained, amen, of one, two years ago, he was ordained. He was ordained. In the presence of his brothers by Prophet Samuel, the oil came on him. He heard the words of the man of God saying God has anointed him, and yet he's running away, running away like an animal hunted down. And you interview him, "David, you're the next year, ah"? And David says, "Yeah, I think so". "David, Samuel came to your house and anointed you, right"? "Oh, yeah".

And then excitement, you're gonna be king. He looked around his surroundings say, "Yeah". And all sudden you hear a shout from one of his men, all right, Benaiah is shouting, "Hey, guys, take cover, they're here again, Saul and his men". And David say, right? And you're hiding down there, you're thinking to yourself, doesn't look like God anointing this man, doesn't look like a palace, doesn't look like... perhaps some of you are going through that right now. You're asking where is God's promises, where's God's favor? Where are all those things? It's because of God's favor you are where you are right now. God will not leave you alone. God is preparing you for greater things. We actually have this mentality that God is obliged.

"God, you know, I have favor with God, things will go smoothly and all that", but there's a dealing going on. There's a love relationship going on. God is preparing you for greater things. If God gave you $5 million, $10 million, all right, all of a sudden, your lifestyle change. We don't see you in church. And God has no problem giving you the money. But God prepares you before the money. God prepares you before the promotion. So, it becomes safe to yourself so you have the character to carry that position so that you don't become proud and say, "Look at what I am today".

So, God is preparing David, do you understand? God's preparing Joseph, so much so that with all the power he had when his brothers were at his mercy, and they betrayed him, they sold him off. They threw him into the pit. They ignored his cries, and the brothers were right in front of him. He told them all with all the power he had, how did he use it? "Come, guys, come near me. Don't be angry with yourself that you sold me here. God sent me here. Come near. I forgive you. I forgive you". They all cried. God prepared Joseph for greater things, but then God prepare your character first, you understand?

Some people, the money they have overnight, they divorce their wives. We see so many of this like instantaneous, you know, those lucky lottery winners and all that. Around the world, we read again and again, how it always ends up in a bad way. Doesn't stop you from claiming, I know, but it's a lesson for us to learn, people. Can I have a good amen? Now, whom the Lord loves, he chastened. Drop down. "If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live"?

So, I want to say this, God does not chasten you with sickness and disease. The result of Gods chastening, the end result is that you live. So, those who say, "Well, God, you know, God disciplined the person that cancer and all that". And the person dies, he didn't live. That's not chastening. Chastening is that there is a end result of, and you live. And this word "live" Z-A-O in the Greek Vine's expository, Vine is a great scholar, he says the word "zao" means, not just spiritual life. It means maintenance of physical life. It's using Matthew 4:4 when Jesus said, answered the devil by saying, "Man does zao, live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God".

It is used for enjoyment of physical life. It is used for, zao is used for the recovery of physical life from the power of disease. Zao is used for the recovery of physical life from the power of death. In fact, remember Jairus's daughter? When Jairus came to Jesus, his daughter was dying at home in Capernaum and this is what he told Jesus, asked Jesus. "He begged Jesus earnestly, saying, 'My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will zao, zao, live'".

So obviously, even before this, her heart was beating already, but he wants her to live, zao, which means recover from disease, recover from death. The end result, back to the verse again. And live. God wants us at the end to be subjection to the training. Know that it's gonna be good and know that the end result is that you if you are sick, you will recover from your sickness, amen. You stop watching all those dramas late at night, and all of a sudden, you look younger, people realize that, and you look fresher. You feel better, amen. "Pastor Prince, why are you picking on dramas all the time"? Because many of you are there.

Someone asked me the other day, "Why, why are you talking about, you know, these dramas and all that"? I said because they are living there. They're in bondage there, many of them. Can be little things like this, little bad habits. But God cares for you too much to let you get by with it. Even when you don't care about yourself, God cares. I'm sorry, he loves you, and God loves you enough to be misunderstood by you. Doesn't matter you are angry at that time, he will still love you and deal with you. David learned a lesson.

And by the way, God doesn't always correct. So, what I said just now is that God doesn't correct. Know this in your heart, God doesn't correct with sickness and disease, with accidents and tragedies. All right, we can't imagine a father trying to teach his son, all right, about the dangers of playing with fire with matchstick, telling the son, "Since you're always playing with matchstick, come over here". All right, the stove is on, put the son's hand on the stove, ah, sizzling, burning flesh fills the air. And he tell the son, "Now you know what burn is like, and I did that because I love you". Sick.

All right, there's an institution we put fathers like this, and we blame, we put God in that picture. You know, Christians don't realize this, but they say things like, "Well, God allow chastening to happen, like sickness and disease and all that". Well, if it's God training you, why are you going to the doctor trying to get out of it? If you really believe it, you gotta be consistent. No friend, God doesn't chasten with sickness. Jesus went about healing. He never go about sickness-izing, and there is no such thing, okay? If you are watching this, do not learn this word, sickness-izing or disease-izing. He doesn't go about giving disease, he heals, goes about healing. He's always healing. Can I have a good amen? So, if that is so, how does God train us? How does God train us?

Now, when I was growing up as a believer, I was told that, especially in the Word of faith circle, you know, we learn that God doesn't train with sickness and disease, we learned that well, but we were told that God trains only with this Word, okay. Now, I got a problem with the word, "only". God trains you only with this Word because many a times, let me tell you this, I concur that God's Word is the number one, the highest and the best way he trains us, amen? Am I right?

But many a times, the child of God that needs training is not into the Word. They're not listening to the Word. Many of them are not attending church anymore. They're living a lifestyle of sin or they're out there in the world. They are playing around, partying around and all that, and they need they need the discipline of God. How will God get the Word to them? I submit and I agree that there are times God will cause them to encounter the Word. They switch on the television and they watch me, for example, all right, in America, in different parts of the world. In fact, right now, I want to share a testimony which is gonna bless you. All right, it's a testimony that came from a lady called Lisa from Arkansas, US. She says:

When I was a teen, I was baptized and wanted to be a missionary. However, I lost sight of God along the way. I bore a child at the age of 21, but my marriage became abusive and I used drugs to escape my troubles. Eventually, I was addicted to drugs and became lost in that lifestyle. As my daughter grew older, I began to see that she was following my reckless lifestyle. I knew I had to change my ways and I quit doing drugs, but it was too late. My daughter miscarried the day she found out that she was pregnant, and was told she could never conceive again. Pain and sorrow drove her to heroin and suicide, but she survived by the Grace of God. I felt very guilty because of her ordeal, and the burden of the guilt became too much to bear. One night, I came across Pastor Prince's broadcast while watching television.

So you see, God can still correct with his Word, he can still send his Word, right? And that's the reason for the TV ministry, nothing more and nothing less. My TV ministry goes into places that I cannot go physically. You know, in Israel, it goes into the houses of ultra Orthodox Jews, and they are being touched. It goes into Palestinian homes in Israel. It goes into places all over the world where I cannot go, amen? And she said that:

His preaching grabbed my heart and undivided attention as I learned that God is my rescuer, and I could cause my burdens upon him. I decided to give myself to God in prayer and rest in his faithfulness. Barely a year later, my daughter experienced a turnaround in her life, she managed to conceive and gave birth to a beautiful, healthy daughter. She is also free from drug addiction, and now shares about God and his blessings in her life. On top of that, she is filled with a kind, gentle love, something I had never seen in her before. My faith in God continues to grow as I listen to Pastor Prince's sermons. Today, I'm no longer burdened by guilt. My sister, who used to struggle in life, has also become a believer after hearing about God's grace and blessings in my life. She now prays every day. Thank you, Pastor Prince, for preaching the gospel to many who have lost their way. It has helped people like me discover, discover our worth and value in Christ.

Amen, praise God. So, like I said, I submit to you that God's highest way is through his Word, but many a times, those who need discipline, all right, when I talk about discipline, also in God's people. God deals with us like sons. People of the world, there's no discipline. In fact, if you know God, you read in the Old Testament, you don't want God to leave you alone. When God leaves you alone, that's it. You know what I'm saying? There are people who have no more conviction, God left them alone. There are people who say things like, true story, people who come to gospel meetings and sit down there, and then they can tell you things.

"I used to be there, I used to weep when I hear the gospel preaching, but I come short of receiving Christ. I listened to many gospel preaching down through the years and I said, no, no, no, and today, I can't feel anything anymore. But you're doing a good thing. Keep on preaching the gospel, but it's not for me", and walk back into the darkness. It's almost like they're left alone. There is a place, it's a sin unto death. All right, that's another message altogether but let me tell you, this majority of people are not there. Okay, don't worry, okay. You don't want God to leave you alone. So, when it comes to his children, God deals with them as with sons. Can I have a good amen?

All right, so how does God deal with us if we're not there to receive his Word, we're not reading the Bible, we're not attending church to hear the preaching of God's Word, how does God, what about the wayward daughter who is living in sin? What about that son that has left church many years ago? These are real things, right? And I'm not casting doubt or aspersions on their salvation. I'm saying that they are saved, that's why God will not leave them alone. How will God deal with them? I submit to you, it's by circumstances. Doesn't use sickness, doesn't use disease but like my case just now, there's a blank wall in my relationship, right? God doesn't want me to continue that relationship, he put a blank wall and I feel like I'm hitting my head. I'm bleeding, but I don't realize it's God who put up the wall. Are you listening, people, amen?

So, God uses circumstances. Let me submit to you, this is what it says here, drop down. "For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit". When God disciplines you, it's always for your profit. Notice, it's not even for his glory. We want him to have all the glory, right? But it's for your profit. Singaporeans, profit. We all like benefits. We forget not all his benefits. We like Bob Fitz. And here we have profit, amen. God does it for whose profit? Our profit, amen, that we may be partakers of his Holiness. Because of the dealing that you're going through, all of a sudden you start confessing more, "The Lord Jesus is my righteousness. The Lord Jesus is my righteousness". And you become a partaker of his holiness.

Note carefully, partakers of his holiness is not saying that you by your effort become holy, but you become partakers of his holiness. You will learn to receive because of the child training you're going through. You learn to appropriate the fullness there is in him. Can I have a good amen, people? So, how does God chastise us in a main way today? I think the best way is the word, but many of times, those who need chastisement is not under the word. So, the next verse tells you, "Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful". Now, the word "painful" is unfortunate.

In the old King James they say heaviness, alright, or one of the translations say heaviness, alright? In other words, you are going through a heavy season, and you do not know why. It could be a chastening. It can involve frustration, amen? If you are in a wrong relationship, if you are in a wrong career or whatever, there's constant frustration, frustration, frustration. You know how I know that I was called to the ministry? Mine was quite supernatural, although it's quite not supernatural, but there was a lot of frustration. And I was doing well, I was doing very well, I was bringing a lot of money into the company, and one day, you know, the Lord said to me, "If you don't leave, I'll freeze everything in the company", alright. And it's never happened before that there's a complete freeze.

I said, in my heart, I didn't say out loud, but I said, "God, if that is you, do it". And it happened the following week. Monday, Tuesday, everything freezed, so my boss called a few of us executives into the office and said, "What happened"? And by then, I got my boss saved already, he received Christ, and I said, "God said to me that if I don't leave, he will freeze everything in the company". "I think you better go". So, it's never happened before. At least something comes in the following week, but nothing came in, and we were a very successful company at the time. But it was very supernatural, but there was a lot of frustration before that, and I thought that I can make money out there in the world, be successful for God, you know, all the young men's vision and all that, the dream and all that, but God wanted me full time, okay?

So, at the time, our church was about only 100 plus people, nearly 100 at the time, so there wasn't anything in the natural for me to go full time, you know? But the Lord wanted me there, and I saw for myself the constant frustration. By the way, if you are in a marriage relationship, and there's a lot of quarreling and all that, stay. You think I don't know what you're thinking? The days of finding the right one is over. Don't talk about it any more. Don't even dream or think of it. Start thinking on being the right one. Are you listening? On being the right one, amen?

So, let's use this verse 11. "Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but heavy", or painful, okay? Now, if you have the thinking that God will only chasten with the Word, with the Word of God, then let's replace the word "chastening" with Bible reading, okay? "Now, no Bible reading seems to be joyful for the present, but painful". Doesn't make sense. It doesn't fit, so I submit to you he's not talking about God chastening us with his word, the context here, alright, is very clear, it was a heavy season for some of these Hebrews, they're going through something, and God is dealing with them. Are you listening, people?

So, God can deal with use based on circumstances. Do you know that Jacob is under the Abrahamic covenant? The covenant of grace. In other words, Jacob lived 400 over years before the law was given, the Ten Commandments, so you cannot say that Jacob was under the law. He wasn't under the law, right, right?

Now, some of you say, "Well, Pastor Prince, God chastened us, for example, David lost his son", the one he committed adultery with Bathsheba. The boy died. Well, my friend, you cannot use David as an example of chastening. Let me explain to you. Even though God can, a lot of mercy, David was under the law. You must compare apple with apple, okay? You must talk about people under grace. Abraham is a good example. Isaac, Jacob, David was under law, so the punishment of the law was involved. Albeit God can, a lot of mercy.

And for those of you who have lost a child, or stillborn, or no heartbeat or whatever, let me tell you this. Your child is growing up in heaven. David said of his son that he lost, he says this, "I shall go to him. I shall go to him, but he will not return to me". One day, if your child is in heaven, you will go to him. Be it the Rapture or whatever, you will go to him. They continue growing in heaven. In fact, they are spared of all the vicissitudes of this life. They are growing in heaven, okay? Look up here people, so when God deals, God doesn't use disease or sickness and all that, but God deals with us in his mercy and loving kindness. He will use circumstances and even frustrations.

What about people whose character refused to be? People who believe in God, they are using scheming ways, you know, they cheat, they lie, they scheme, well, we have an example of this in Jacob. Jacob deceived his father who was blind at the time, or he couldn't see well, and his brother, Jacob's brother, Esau, was hairy, so what happened is that the mother put on for him... by the way, when I say his mother, know that he wasn't a young boy, okay? He was quite grown. He could say no and all that, so he decided to deceive his father, put on a kit of a goat's, which is a goat skin, they tied it, wrapped it around, and the father was blind. The father touched him thinking he was Esau, and the father gave him the blessing.

Now, how many of you know that Jacob was under the Abrahamic covenant, the covenant of grace. In fact, you don't find God rebuking him, but did God deal with him? Yes, immediately God says to Jacob, when he left the house, he ran away from the brother, God says I'll be with you, I'll bless you, and I'll keep you wherever you go. It's almost like God didn't say anything about what he did. But some years after, not some years after, the very same year, he met his future father-in-law, Laban, alright, who was a master deceiver.

So, when you are deceiving, deceiving, one day, you get deceived. And you say, "God, you favor, what happened to your favor"? Yeah, you know people who deceive and finally get deceived, and if you look in the future of Jacob's life, Jacob deceived his father with the goat skin. His own sons sold off Joseph, his favorite son, and then took his coat of many colors, killed a goat, and sprinkled the blood on Joseph's coat, and told the father, "We are sorry, I think a ferocious animal or beast got a hold of Joseph, and now his coat of many colors has blood". And he was deceived by the blood of goats. He deceived his father, now his sons deceived him.

Listen to what I'm saying, alright. God will deal with you. He knows how to train you, but God never left Jacob, you understand? Did he see Joseph again? Yes, was his future bright, how bright, amen, but God would deal. See, the thing is that you don't have to judge people, leave them to their Father in heaven. Can I have a good amen? God will deal, God will, you know, and it's not your part to try to enforce discipline on someone. Your own family, you see, my own child I can enforce, but I can't go to your house and enforce discipline on your child. Are you with me so far?

Okay, now I wanna tell you something else. God doesn't always correct with negative circumstances. In fact, I think sometimes negative circumstances is when we refuse, obstinately and persistently in not listening to the still, small voice of his word, then he uses negative circumstances, but I think also that many of the times we don't realize God uses good things to teach us. Do you know David did something that he shouldn't have done? The Ark of the Covenant. He brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel. You know how he did it? The Philistines put the Ark of the Covenant on an oxcart, okay? The oxcart carried the Ark all the way back.

Now, God allowed the Philistines to do it, but David should know better how the Ark should be carried. But you know what David did? David continued the trend. Twenty years after the Ark came back, David built another wooden oxcart, and what happened? The ox stumbled, okay, and a guy called Uzza, who's name is very interesting, he strained, he put forth, he's the one that trusted by your strength. Enough strength can get the job done. He put forth his hand, touched the Ark, he tied. Read what the Bible says in 1 Chronicles 13. "David became angry because of the Lord's outbreak against Uzza". The word "outbreak" in your King James, "bridge", it's the word "broken" or "breakthrough". Like, you know, like a judgement breakthrough. There was a break, singular word, break, singular in Hebrew, against Uzza. "Therefore, that place is called Perez Uzza to this day". The word "outbreak" is "perez".

You know Shimon Perez? I met him, by the way, the year that he passed away. He gave me a special something, but, you know, the thing is that Shimon Perez's name, Perez is taken from this word, "breakthrough", or "break", okay? The Lord's outbreak, so the place is called Perez Uzza, the bridge of Uzza, singular word. This is 1 Chronicles 13, so David became angry, you see. It was his fault, am I right? Is it possible for a man after God's heart to get angry with the Lord? And all the while, it was your fault. You never studied how to carry the Ark, and then you blame the Lord, oaky. Don't forget these things were under the law at that time.

The next chapter, something happened. David left the Ark, he didn't wanna carry it back to Jerusalem. He left it in the house of Obed-edom who was blessed in all his household because of the Ark. But the next chapter, God taught David with a victory. The enemies, the Philistines who manufactured the oxcart, they came to the Valley of Rephaim, alright? They were spread out there. There's a little revelation here I want to give to you, so you can take your notes. The word "Rephaim" can mean giants, but it's also from the word "rapha". Rapha is what? Healing, "rephaim" is plural, healings.

So, when the enemy comes and squats, they become squatters on your property. When God has health and healing for you, and they are sitting down there, God is going to give you a victory. And you know how David got the victory? He inquired of God. And that's why, in everything we do, inquire of God. Ask God, pray, amen? And saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hand"? God says, "Go, I'll deliver them into your hand". Next verse, "So they went up to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there". Now, watch this, "Then David said, 'God has broken'", and the word there is "perez", "Through my enemies by my hand like a breakthrough of water.' Therefore they called the name of that place Baal Perazim", mater of breakthroughs, okay?

They called the name of the place Baal Perazim, mater of breakthroughs. In other words, same word, perez uzza. When God deals with his people, you see the mercy even back then. There is only one break, singular. When it comes to the enemies, it is breakings all over, plural, and God becomes the master of breakthrough. And Got taught David, you are following their style of doing things. You are following their philosophy of ministry. You are building an oxcart that the Philistines built, and here I am, I'm giving you victory over the Philistines.

God can convict you by giving you a victory. God can convict you and correct you, alright, the way he did with Peter by giving him a net-breaking, boat-sinking load of fishes, amen? And David says, "I'm so foolish. Here I am copying the Philistines, and God just defeats them like that". And this chapter 14, the next chapter, the Bible says, "David said, 'No one may carry the Ark of God but the Levites". Look at that, David learned his lesson. No more oxcart. It is now on the shoulders of the Levites. God can teach you with victory. Can I have a good amen?

Now, there are some things, and this is too, how shall I say, too much for me to share, but suffice to say that this world is falling, that's why we need to pray. If I can tell you this, God is not fully in charge of this earth. Real quick, God gave the earth has he given to the sons of men, alright, to Adam. The sons of men gave it to the devil, the story of Genesis. Another Adam, the last Adam came, and took the authority back, but then this authority, it doesn't just govern from heaven, he says all authority is given unto me, "Go ye, therefore". We must work with him, and that comes with prayer. When we pray, God intervenes. That's why it seems like some things never happens until we pray. Are you with me so far?

The devil is a lawyer. Your Jesus is an advocate, also, for 2,000 years, think about it. So, if you are a lawyer, can you be like Jesus or the devil. So, the devil knows when you have crossed the line, and this is what the devil did. Do you know something? On the night of the Last Supper, when Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, Communion, you know what the disciples were doing? They were disputing who was the greatest among them. Can you believe it? On the same night. The Lord is about to be betrayed, in fact, he was in the process of being betrayed, and they were disputing who was the greatest.

And I know that Simon Peter was probably the one leading the whole thing, alright. He had a problem, because the Lord turned to him in the Last Supper, and the Lord said to him, "The Lord said, 'Simon, Simon'". Now, when the Lord uses your old name, it's because he's reminding you you are walking in the flesh. Peter is his new name. Peter means stone. Simon is his name after the flesh, and Jesus repeatedly used it to catch his attention. "Simon, Simon", he was walking according to the flesh. And we all know he was trusting his effort. Before the day was done, before the night was done, he was saying, "I'll follow you to prison, Lord. I will do what all the rest of the disciples cannot do. I will follow you even to death", he said.

He was confident in his own efforts, and the Lord gently reminded him, "Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you". And in the Greek, "demanded" is a strong word. "Satan has demanded", ask is demanded, "To have all of you handed over". Now, I want to say something to you. Why is that so? How come Satan can go to God and demand for Peter? Can I tell you this? He didn't demand for the rest of the disciples. He didn't demand for John, for example, right? Why Peter? Because Peter had a problem with ego, with his pride, his love for preeminence.

Can I submit to you this? I think we can go through less discipline when we humble ourselves, amen? When we learn quickly. Do you know God doesn't want you to go through testings? That's why in the Lord's Prayer, there is a part where you pray, "Lead us not into temptation". Now, we think of temptation as solicitation to sin, but the word "temptation", peirasmos, is also testing. Lead us not into testing. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said, "Hey, guys, stay awake. Pray that you enter not into testing".

So, if Jesus taught us to pray that we'll not enter into testing, I'm going to pray every day that my family and I do not enter into testing. Even though I'm teaching when you go through a testing, God is dealing with you like sons and all that, Jesus taught us to pray that you don't go into testing. There's no need for testing. Oh, you missed it. Or else, why teach us in the Lord's Prayer, "Lead us not into peirasmos", testings. And then, he told Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Pray, stay away. Pray that you enter not into testing". Are you with me so far?

So, we can pray that we don't enter into testing. Can I have a good amen, amen? But unfortunately, many of us, we still have areas in our life where we need training, amen? But at the same time I'm praying every day that the Lord lead me not into testing. I'm praying for my family, the Lord lead us not into testing. I'm praying for you the Lord lead you not into testing. At the end of this service, I'm gonna pray for all of you, the Lord lead you not into testing, okay? Are you with me so far? I'm bringing this to a close. Listen carefully, Satan demanded to have Simon, "That he may sift you as wheat".

Now, when I was a young boy, my mom used to make chapati, which is the round bread, delicious, very good with dal, right Valentino? You know the one with dal? Number one, brother, power. It's really good. And I would help her because she has a sift, it's a round sift with wire gauze, alright, tiny little holes and all that. And she would pour the atta, which is the flour, onto it, amen. The flour is very course, alright, you can see a lot of, you know, chaff on it, still. And then we'll sift. I liked to sift for her. And what dropped is just pure, white flour, and all the chaff is there. So, Satan in that picture is actually saying I wanna sift him, okay? So, what was the chaff? It was the pride, the love for preeminence, amen.

Now, there's something here very beautiful. Job said I wish there was between God and me. I wish there was a mediator between God and me. You know what he wished for, Job, it's our reality. We have a go-between, a mediator between God and us, his name is? And this is a snapshot of how he prays. When Satan tried to lay hold on you, and Satan might think he has a right, okay, this is what Jesus says. Jesus says, "I have prayed for you". "But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail". He didn't pray that he did not fail, because we know that, unfortunately, we know that Peter did, and how? Big time, he denied knowing Jesus, right?

So, Jesus didn't pray that you would not fail, but in the midst of your failure, your faith will not fail. In fact, why didn't Jesus just pray that Peter will not fail? Because if Peter didn't fail, he would say, "Hey, man, I was tempted, and I didn't fail, y'all". You failed, you failed, but you see, it would only strengthen his flesh. He's got a problem, and God will allow him to go through the problem, but he prayed that you might fail, but I pray that his faith will not fail, and his faith did not fail. And not only did Lot prophesy his restoration, "When you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren", amen? Not only he sees your failure, amen, he sees your restoration.

So, Peter failed, yes, but when the Lord rose from the dead, the first name he mentioned to the angel telling the women, "Go tell my brethren and Peter", and Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost, preached, and 3,000 people were saved. Another time, he stood up, he preached, 5,000 people were saved. It's the same Peter and yet, he did not touch the glory. There is a Jacob's thigh about him. Let me just say this to all of us, all right, I want to say this to you. You know, you are afraid of your weakness, but actually your weakness is your strength to the extent that your weakness, your problem are those areas you are strong.

Some people look at me and say, "Pastor Prince, you are strong in communication, in preaching", and that's where you're wrong. This is my greatest weakness. If you know my story in, not just primary school, secondary school, pre-U, amen, my teenage years, I was a stutterer, I was a stammerer. I could hardly string a sentence together. I renew in the Lord, and I will always be ashamed to, you know, stand up, read, be in a co-ed class, you know, the girls down there would just laugh, my ears turned red and the more nervous I am, the more I can't read, the more I stutter. But I began to tell the Lord, "Lord, whatever you can use me for, I give you my stammering, my stuttering, I give you my life", amen? And it seems like the very area, God's grace cannot flow where you are strong.

His strength is made perfect in your weakness. Where you are weak, his strength takes over. God conquers us with his love. We conquer God, I say that reverently, we conquer God with our weakness. When we are weak, God cannot leave us alone. He's attracted to weakness. Let me tell you this, when Jacob was strong, the same Jacob I told you about, always scheming, always devising, his name Yacov means supplanter, you know? He's always, by the way, God changed his name to Israel.

When Joseph sent all the caravans filled with the good things of Egypt to fetch his father Jacob, the sons run into the, ran into the tent and said, "Father, father, father, father, Jacob, Joseph is alive". And the Bible says that he said to them, "Jacob said", all right, Jacob's heart fainted because he believed them not. God used the old name, Jacob, Jacob believed them not. And then he stepped out of the tent, and he saw the caravan full of the good things of Egypt that Joseph sent for him. And then he says in the Bible, "Israel said". Same person, "Israel said". "it's enough, my son is alive".

When he was unbelieving, he was Jacob. When he was believing, he was Israel. When Peter trusted his own strength, he was Simon. Are you listening, people, amen? So, when Jason was struggling one night with an angel, we know it's not an angel, it's a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. He was struggling, and the Lord seems to be trying to run away. All right, he was holding on to the Lord. I mean, this is really, what do you call that? Okay, he's wrestling. The Bible used the word wrestling, so it's not boxing, okay? So, he was holding on to him, and he refused to let go. And the Lord touched the right thigh, and he fell down, okay, the strongest part of our body, the strongest bone he fell down and he was weak. And then the Lord cannot leave him.

And the Lord says, "What is your name? From now on, you'll be Israel". Israel is what? Remember God asked him, "What is your name"? Why did God ask, what is your name? Because many years ago, his father says, "Who are you"? He says, "I'm Esau" in deception. Now, God says, "Who are you? What is your name"? And he says, "I am Jacob". God says, "No. Jacob means I'm a cheat. I'm a deceiver. I'm a supplanter. I'm a schemer". God says, "No, you are prince. You are Israel".

Notice when he was weak. Imagine looking at someone, the last thing we'll think of a person trembling down there in pain, all right, weak, flat on your back and you say you're a prince. And God was captured by him. God is captured by human weakness. When he was strong, struggling, the Lord wanted to lift. But when he was weak, he captured God. Let me tell you this, don't be ashamed to tell the Lord in your private time, if you have a problem with anxiety or worry, it's always troubling you, tell the Lord, "I'm a very anxious person, Lord, this is who I am. Lord Jesus, transform me in this area. You are my peace. That's why you are my peace. I have no peace of my own, Lord. You are my peace, amen". And you'll be surprised how he transforms you. Are you listening, people? Are you with me so far?

If you're a person worried about your health, and you're always worried about your health, tell the Lord, "Lord, I'm a hypochondriac. That's who I am, Lord, I'm a hypochondriac. Lord, change me, Lord, because you are my righteousness. You are my righteous. I have no righteousness of my own, Lord". And God is attracted to that, amen? He's never turned off. You know, we don't want to show our weakness to our friends because we think that they are turned off. We don't want to show our weakness to people around us because we think that, and it's rightly so, you know? Everything in Hollywood is always about putting your best foot forward, right? Everything about the business world is about putting your best foot forward. But in the kingdom of God when you are real, God loves it.

"Pastor Prince, I wish I was young again". I know the feeling, I had it last week. "I wish I was a teenager again. I wish I was in my 20's again". But you know something? Listen to the Word of God. Listen to the Word of God. And I close with this, Isaiah 40, "Has thou not known, has thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary". There is no searching of his understanding. He gives power to the faint and to them that have no might, he increases strength.

Now listen, those who like to be young again, those want to be a teenager again, listen, even the youths shall faint and be weary. And the young men shall utterly fall. 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. Amen, do you hear that? Shall renew their strength in the Hebrew, exchange their human strength for divine strength and they will have supernatural wings as if, doesn't matter your age, you will run and not be weary. You will walk and not faint. Moses learned that, Caleb learned that. And friend, in and of ourselves, come on, let's own it. It's nothing to be proud. It's nothing to be proud.

I told my wife last week, you know, I hope when they celebrate my birthday, they don't make too much of me. This is always my concern. I'm not comfortable with making too much of me, all right? My wife says, "Okay, don't worry. It's a surprise". Say, "Pastor Prince, Pastor Prince". Let me just tell you this, who is Pastor Prince? Look at this. "Who then is Paul"? Who is Pastor Prince, and who is Pastor Mark? "But ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one"? I planted, Pastor Mark watered, but it's God that gives the increase. If God doesn't give the increase, we won't even have this building, amen.

People, listen, it's God. All that you have right now is God, but yet God is so gracious that God says neither he who plant is anything nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase, yet he will say, next verse, "Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his labor". Even though what we do is actually miniscule because it's he who gives the increase, yet God says, "I'll give you a reward".

People, isn't God good? I know that this is a message that you don't shout about and say, "Hallelujah, amen, favor, favor", you know? But let me tell you this, the end result of what you're going through, I know many of you are struggling to, you know, some areas in your life. Perhaps you have a son that's wayward. And I'll close with these two testimonies real quick. We had a boy in our church many years ago. Matthew Kong, Deacon Matthew, his son, Isaac Kong, I saw him, you know, he was born literally in the house of God, you know, in the family of God, grew up in the environment of God, you know?

As he grew up as a teenager, I noticed that he became a bit rebellious. In church, he'll be like down there sleeping, chewing gum, or whatever. I don't know what he's chewing, Singapore got no gum. And before Wendy and I, he was very rude, you know, at the way he talks, the way he, you know? But Matthew would be praying for him, June will praying for him. And, you know, he just come because his parents are here, they are leaders, and all that, and he just comes, but attitude, and all that. Parents, if you have a child like that, listen, you never know when you pray for them how God would deal with them 'cause I don't know when it happened. They don't know when it happened. Isaac himself doesn't know when it happened. But one day, a revelation dropped from here, here. Isaac was turned around in such a way, he loves the Lord with a passion. He started being very polite, very gentlemanly.

I never seen a guy come that close in every area, almost perfect that he's the very first person that I told my wife this, and I was shocked to hear myself say that, "If ever I want someone to marry Jessica, this is the guy". So much so that he followed me to Israel as my security guy, you know, when I was doing my tour... sorry, not Israel, America. He was there, and he knows when to talk, he knows when to back away. That sense of propriety cannot be taught. I mean that amazing that wisdom that he has, he loves Jesus, very successful today, all right, in his career. But I don't know when it happened that such a rebellious person.

So I want to warn you if your child is like that, you're praying for your boy, your girl, when the revolution drops, not only they turn around, they become a strengthen of the brethren. It's 120 degrees, amen. One last person is Pastor Joe's wife, Joscelin Yeo, Singapore's favorite darling athlete, won more games, medal than anyone. When the mother came to me years ago, and the mother says, "Pray for Josce". I'll be praying for Josce because Josce is never in church. She comes... not never in church. She comes in church like special occasions, and once in a while sit down there and always sleep.

I can see her, Singapore's favorite swimmer, winning gold medals, but the mom wants to know Jesus. The greatest prosperity, people, is to pray your child comes to know Jesus. So, I'll pray with her family, sometimes we'll pray together, you know, and she'll be studying overseas in America and all that, still winning her games and all that and living a life of wild partying, wild. And one day she came back and the mother invited her to church.

And I remember she herself told me that she slept through most of the service, okay? Somewhere towards the end, in those days we invite people to come up to receive Christ. Somehow she said God spoke to her, and she came up. And she's one of the few. I remember that day we only had a few people in front, and she's one of the few and she received Christ. Her life was turned around completely. So, you look around you and there are people who are sleeping, stop putting papers in their mouth and start whispering in their ear saying, "God has a high calling for your life", amen. Give Jesus the praise. Come on, church, hallelujah. Praise the Lord, amen.

Can I pray for you at the end of the service, all right, about now, that the Lord will not lead you into testings? Listen, some testings are necessary, and the Bible says all sons will have child training, amen, all sons. If we are without child training, we are illegitimate, not real sons. Okay, so all of us will go through that, yet Jesus taught us to pray, "Lead us not into testings", amen. And I believe that we can ask the Lord, and there'll be a lot of testings we won't have to go through, amen. Praise the Lord.

So friend, if you are here today and you say, "Pastor, pray for me, Pastor. I don't understand everything that you're saying, but I can sense God's love. I can sense that I'm a sinner, God is a Savior and he wants to save me. Pray for me, Pastor". If that is you wherever you are right now, you can say these words out loud softly or softly in your heart. We'll all be saying it with you, okay, but say this to the Lord because he loves you and that's the reason why he brought you here today, amen. If you're watching this by way of television wherever you are, you can pray this prayer as well and the greatest miracle will happen in your life, the miracle of transference from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's dear Son, the kingdom of light. Say this after me:

Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of your Son, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You promised whoever calls on your name shall be saved. Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins on the cross. And you rose from the dead because I was justified by what you have done. Your blood washes me. Your blood justifies me. Lord Jesus, you are my Lord and Savior. And Almighty God, you are my Father. I'm greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved. In Jesus's name, and all the people said, amen.

Stand to your feet. Praise the Lord, hallelujah. I want to pray for you right now, and the Lord just spoke to me and said that he wants me to pray for you to receive wisdom. So, the first thing I'm gonna pray for is that God gives you the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Remember that Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses laid his hands on him. Wisdom comes by prayer. Solomon's wisdom came by asking God, amen. I'm not talking about knowledge, I'm talking about wisdom. The wisdom from above is first pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated. So, when God's wisdom comes, it doesn't make you proud, in fact, it humbles you, amen, gentle, easy to be entreated.

I'm gonna pray that for you, and God's wisdom will bring you to the place of knowing what you need to do for the next part of your life. Whatever you're faced with right now, whether it's a testing, pray for God's wisdom. James says when you're encountering many, many trials, ask God for wisdom and ask in faith, amen. If it's of the devil, we bind the devil, he's trying to put symptoms in your body, don't accept it as God's testing. Bind the devil, amen. Declare healing over your life in Jesus's name. It's bought and paid for, but sometimes there is a dealing going on that is not sickness and disease but it's frustration and all that, I pray that God will give you wisdom. Lift your hands all across this place.

Father in heaven, we thank you for your Word today. We thank you, Father God, your Word will not return to you empty. I pray, Father, that everyone who has heard your Word today, Father, that Word will transfer itself from the head right into the heart, right into the nucleus of our being, Lord, where everything, Lord, recites. Father, we pray you will transform us and not just inform us, Lord. Father, we pray in Jesus's name that as your people leave this place, Lord, this week, there'll be a revelation. Grant them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the name of Jesus pertaining to the testing, or the nature of the tests they're going through, that they will not view it with despite, they'll not view it, Lord, and take it lightly, but they will learn from you what is it you want them to learn, or that wall that they are, they're faced with, Lord? Is that from you? Is that a perseverance thing, Lord?

Father, we pray that you grant them the wisdom to know the difference or when it's an attack of the enemy. Father, in Jesus's name, grant to each and every one of us your wisdom, I pray, and your Spirit of revelation in the knowledge of you. And now Father, we also pray in Jesus's name as the Lord has taught us, lead us all, this coming week, not into testings, not into testings. And Father, we humble ourself. We know, Lord, when you humble us, we don't want that to happen, Lord. So, we humble ourselves, Lord, we humble ourselves.

Listen, humble yourself, and God will exalt you. God will exalt you. I hear the Father saying he wants to exalt many of you, but you're not humbling yourself. So, God is saying just humble yourself and humbling yourself means looking away from self to Christ and say that, "All that I have is in you, Lord Jesus", amen, and he will exalt you in due time. In Jesus's name I ask and in Jesus's name I thank you it's done. And all the people said amen.