Matt Hagee - The Keys That Unlock Unseen Doors

Today, I want to show you the keys that God has given us that unlock unseen doors. How many of you have ever felt like you were being kept from something: that there was more out there but you couldn't find a way to get through the problem that you were faced with? That's a supernatural door, if you would, that needs to be unlocked and opened up so that you have access to the promises and the power and the Word of God in your life.

Today, I'm going to show you how to use spiritual keys that will enable you to unlock every unseen door in your life and allow you to have access to what God wants you to have. We find more about this in 2 Corinthians 10:3. If you found that passage, say, amen. 2 Corinthians 10:3: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ".

Heavenly Father, thank you for your presence that has been felt so powerfully in this place. Now I pray that you would anoint your word: that it would move mountains, it would lift burdens, it would break yokes, and it would see every enemy that the adversary has placed against us, defeated, in the mighty name of Jesus, today. It's in your name that we pray and ask these things. And all of God's children said, praise the Lord.

You may be seated. Once again, Paul begins the conversation by reminding us that what you see is not all there is to see. We looked at Ephesians 6 that said, "We do not wrestle with flesh and blood but against powers and principalities and the heavenly hosts of wickedness". We talked about the way that the demonic forces are organized against us. Today, he begins the conversation by reminding us we do not walk in the flesh and we do not war according to the flesh. You may think people are your problem, but people are not your problem. There's an unseen thing that is causing people to be the problem. This should give you some freedom to love people a little more than you do right now. He says, "We don't war according to the flesh". And then, he makes this statement, "But the weapons". Say that word with me. "The weapons".

Now you need to understand there are no non-combatants in spiritual warfare. There are just those who are doing what God wants and those who are not. And if you really want to know what is wrong with the world today, it's that the church is not using the weapons that God has given us, in Jesus' name. He says, "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal," meaning that they're not manmade, "But they are mighty in God". Why are these weapons mighty in God? They're mighty in God, because he wants you to use them. How many people have ever served in the military here in this congregation? Were you ever trained to use a weapon that they didn't want you to use? No! When they issued it, they instructed you how to use it, so that when you face the enemy, you wouldn't give him a greeting card.

You would utilize the weapon that you were given. God has given us these weapons for the very same reason. And he says that they're authorized to do several things. One, they're authorized to pull down strongholds. Now here's what you need to know about a stronghold. A stronghold, by definition, is a fortified position. A stronghold is a place where your adversary has set up camp. And as long as he's in that stronghold, he dominates that area of your life. People say all the time, "Oh, the enemy's got a stronghold on me". Well, why did you let him stay that long? Strongholds develop over time. But the weapons that God has given us are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.

Not only do they pull down strongholds, but they pull down every high thing. And many times, people want to make this conversation about high things. They're like, "Well, what are we talking about? Are we talking about geographically high? Are we talking about, you know, Colorado high? I don't know. What are we talking about"? We have to identify the battleground where the enemy wants to engage us. Look at what Paul says. He says, "For pulling down every stronghold, casting down arguments", say arguments, "Every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge", somebody say, knowledge, "The knowledge of God, bringing every thought", somebody say, thought, "Into captivity to the obedience of Christ".

Arguments, high things, knowledge, thought. The battleground where the enemy is going to come after you the most is in your mind. That's where he wants to rob, kill, and destroy. He wants your thought life to be so possessed with fear, to be so consumed by worry, to be so drenched in doubt that you don't have any room to believe anything that God has promised you. And so you start to see very quickly how the enemy wants you to use doubt. And when you start to doubt, you have to realize that you are going to receive nothing! Now that's not my guarantee: that's God's. Go read the book of James. In the book of James 1, it says, "He who doubts shall receive nothing".

Now I've looked up every word that means "Nothing". And what it means is nothing. And oftentimes, what we do is we read God's word, and we understand that, that promise is there, but we doubt. Is that for me? You're his child. Why isn't it for you? "Oh, well I know that God does that for other people, but he wouldn't do that for me". The enemy has a stronghold, a fortified position, in your mind that if you'll kick him out of that real estate, you'll start to see God move in. In Matthew 16, he said to his disciples, "Upon this rock". And what he was calling "The rock" was not Peter, for those of you who say Peter was the father of the church. ECK.

As a matter of fact, he looked at him and said, "You're the pebble". He said, "But upon this rock". What rock was he talking about? He was talking about the foundational profession of the church. And what is that profession? What is that statement? "You are the son of the living God". Peter said, "You are the son of the living God". And Jesus said, that statement is the foundation of my church. Understand this: if you are a part of anything that does not hold fast to that confession, then you are not a part of the church that Jesus Christ is talking about. There are places that gather on Sunday, and they might be social clubs, and they might have all kinds of things that they want to be a part of. But the place where God's presence shows up is the place that says, "Jesus Christ is the son of the living God and none other".

So Jesus said, "Upon this statement, I will build my church". And then he said, "The gates of hell", say that with me, "The gates of hell shall not from prevail against it". He, too, gives us instruction and insight that there is a spiritual battle, and the demonic forces are organized. They have gates, which means they have authority. They have gates, which means they have a kingdom. But he's already promised us that when we engage in the appropriate way, they lose, we win. He said, "The gates of hell shall not prevail... And I will give you the keys". The what? Whoever has the keys is in charge. "I will give you the keys... And whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven".

There are so many people who sit around wondering what God is going to do. God, what are you going to do about the evil agenda that's loose in the world today? God, what are you going to do about the political problems that we face? God, what are you going to do? God, what are you going to do? God, what are you going to do? I believe God is sitting in heaven, looking at his church, saying, "When are you going to do what I created you to do? When are you going to be my people who humble yourself and pray, turn from your wicked ways, and allow me to heal your land? When are you going to start binding powers and principalities on earth, so that I can start binding powers and principalities in heaven? When are you going to start loosing the miracle-working power of the anointing of the living God to go forward on your behalf and defeat the enemies that you face? When are you going to put your faith in me, because I promised you that all things are possible to those who believe"?

Church, it is time for us to let God arise and let his enemies be scattered! So what are these keys? The first key is prayer. In Ephesians 6, Paul tells the church, "Praying always". Say that with me. "Praying always". Now if Paul says that we are to be praying always, he didn't just say it in Ephesians. It's throughout the New Testament. How many of you would see those words and recognize that you need to pray more than just every now and again? Now the book of James also Carries another verse that says, "To him who knows to do right and does it not, to him it is sin". So if you understand what the Bible says, "Praying always," how many of you would come to the conclusion that if you know you should be praying and you aren't praying, your prayerlessness is rebellion against God?

God does not want you to treat him like Uber. Here's where I'm at. Here's what I want. When can you pick me up? And I'm only going to go as far as I want to go. God wants you to surrender your life to him. That's why this verse that Paul writes in 2 Corinthians tells us, "Every thought". It says you take every thought to Jesus, and you ask him, "Is this you? Is this me? Or is this something else"? Because if the devil can't defeat you with doubt, he'll do everything he can to distract you with what you think God wants you to do. How many people are not fulfilling their mission in the kingdom, because rather than do what God created them to do, they're doing what they think they should do? And what they should do ain't bad, but it's not what God put them here for. Sometimes the enemy gives you opportunity just so he can put you on the sideline instead of seeing you be used of God in the position that God created you for.

"Every thought," you take it to the Lord in prayer. You ask God, "Show me, give me, help me". Because the Bible says, "Whatever you ask in faith believing, God will do it". Child of God, I'm here to tell you that the greatest supernatural adventure that you'll ever go on begins when you have a committed prayer life. Look at what happened in the New Testament church when they prayed. The Bible says, "When they prayed, the doors of the very place where they were gathered began to shake". They didn't shake until they prayed. Psalm 18, David says, "I cried unto the Lord. I prayed to God and he heard me". And the earth shook. And the foundations quaked.

If you want God to start shaking things up in your life, start praying about the place where you want to see him move. If you want God to shake things up in your marriage, start praying with your wife. If you want God to shake things up with your children, start laying your hands on them and praying, in faith believing, over their life. If you want God to start shaking things up in your business, start praying down at the office. Start praying that God remove every hindrance. Start praying that God brings every blessing. Start praying that every power and principality and weapon formed against you and words spoken against you would be destroyed, in the mighty name of Jesus, because these things happen when you pray! Consider the power of prayer in the early church. Constant prayer was offered for Peter.

What happened? The Bible says that Peter was asleep in prison. He was chained to two guards. But Peter had so much peace that chained between two guards, he was like, "Fellas, I'm going to check out for a bit: okay". And an angel of the Lord walked into the jail cell. Why? Because constant prayer started moving stuff up here in the heavenly realms. And the angel was sent to get Peter out of prison. When he showed up, he said, "Hey, put on your shoes". And Peter didn't go, "What? Why? Now? Are you sure"? Sometimes we start questioning God when we should just start following orders. The angel woke Peter up and said, "Hey, put on your shoes". He said, "Good idea, dude. Let's go".

And Peter walked all the way from the prison to the house where the church was gathered, praying. And he knocked on the door. And I can just see the prayer meeting as it's going on. The elders are sitting there and they're praying and they're swaying and they're sweating, and they're doing what people do when they pray. And they say to this little girl: they go, "Hey, who, who's at the door"? She looks out the window and she goes, "Huh, it's Peter". And they go, "No, Peter's in jail. Be quiet. Quit playing games and keep praying". And Peter's down there going, "Hey, let me in"! And the Bible says, "They were amazed at what God did".

I want to be a church that is amazed at what God does. I want to be a church that sees things that we didn't think were possible, because that's the kind of God that we serve. I want to be the kind of church that functions in all that God has for us. Because the Bible says that when we live and breathe like that, that we cannot be defeated, because we are more than conquerors through Christ. We may be pressed, but we will not be crushed. We may be persecuted, but we will not be abandoned. We may be struck down, but we will not be destroyed, because the weapons of our warfare are mighty in God. And when we use them, in Jesus' name, we win! Give the Lord a handclap of praise!

The second key is praise. Prayer is key one. Praise is key two. The most potent weapon in the New Testament is a two-edged sword. And the Bible says that prayer and praise is a two-edged sword that comes out of your mouth. Remember, the battlefield is in the mind. And the mouth is where you express what's in your mind. Have you ever said to somebody, "I'm going to give you a piece of my mind"? And what did you use? A scalpel or your tongue? Because in order to give them a piece of your mind, you had to share with them what you were thinking. And when you're praying and when you're praising, what you're doing is you're telling the enemy, "You don't have a stronghold up here. You don't have an argument up here. You don't have anything in here that belongs to you, because this mind is submitted to the things of God".

So whenever I see a world that's in economic decline, I start praising God, because he is my provider. He said that he could supply all of my needs according to his riches in glory. Whenever I see a pandemic that's coming into the world, I'm not worried about what the expert says, because my mind said that he would keep them in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon thee. He'd give his angels charge over thee. And no plague would come near my dwelling. When I hear individuals talking about doom and gloom, my mind says that the joy of the Lord is my strength and that he'll pour that joy out without measure. It's joy that the world didn't give and the world can't take it away. Fake news can't talk me out of my mindset. Politicians can't convince me that God will not take care of me. The world that we're living in may be going sideways, but church, in the twinkling of an eye, I'm going to be caught up to meet the Lord, and forever will I be with him in the air! I cannot be defeated! I will not quit, because God is on my side! Give the Lord a shout of praise in this house today!

Psalm 149, it says, "Let the high praises of God be in your mouth and a two-edged sword in your hand". "The high praises of God," that doesn't mean that you give him just a minor amount of appreciation. Wow God, you did good. That means that you go after it in such a way that the world does not wonder what you're celebrating. Have you ever seen a fanatic? I'm talking about a sports fanatic, a Nascar fanatic, a college football fanatic. Now how many of you know what I'm talking about, "Fanatics"? They do all kinds of crazy things. I know people who have even gotten tattoos for universities they never attended. What you don't have to wonder about a fanatic is what they're supporting, because they go after it in such an overtly, obnoxious, insane way that you look at them and go, "Oh, yeah, that's a fan".

But what this verse right here is saying, "Let the high praises of God be in your mouth and a two-edged sword in your hand" is that you should live your life in such a way that the world knows that you are a fanatical person when it comes to Jesus Christ. You believe in him more than you believe in anything else. You celebrate his victory. You celebrate his goodness. You celebrate his mercy. You celebrate his faithfulness. You celebrate him for his mighty acts. You celebrate his excellent greatness. You celebrate every redemptive work that he's done in your life. You're so excited about it: you can't help but shout when the world wants to be silent. You're so excited about it, whenever you see the sun come up, you say, "He did it again". You're so excited about it, whenever the enemy comes at you in one way, you say, "This is a day for victory, because the battle longs to the Lord, but the victory is mine in Christ Jesus"!

Is there anybody in this house that's excited about what Jesus can do? Prayer and praise, they go together. They're a two-edged sword that come out of your mouth, which means that you cannot watch other people do it for you: you've got to do it yourself. And as mighty and as powerful as these weapons are, they are worthless if you don't use them. So today, we're going to experience what prayer and praise do when they come together. And this is what we used to call in the church, "Warfare prayer".

Warfare prayer is when you identify the target and you send spiritual weapons into heavenly places, because you want to strategically strike that target. For some of you, the target is going to be in your marriage. For some of you, the target is going to be in your physical body. For some of you, the target is going to be in your business. For some of you, the target is going to be in your heart, it's going to be in your mind. But I know that you know what you need in this conversation that you're about to have.

So I'm going to start praying here that God would prove himself faithful to you. But what I want you to do right where you are is, I want you to lift your hands, and I want you to start using praise as a weapon of warfare, thanking God for what he has done. And then I want you, in faith believing, to start asking God to help you pull down that stronghold, pull down that argument, pull down every doubt and every form of fear that in any way would keep you from receiving what God has already promised you through Jesus Christ, his son, and the power of his word. So right now, I want us to go into heavenly places.

Father, in Jesus' name, your church filled with your people is coming before your throne. And today, we are declaring that this is the day that the Lord has made, and we will rejoice and be made glad in it. We will rejoice, because every answer is in you. We will rejoice, because every need, you can supply. We will rejoice, because every burden, you can lift: and every mountain, you can move: and every giant, you can defeat. We rejoice today because the weapons of our warfare, they're not carnal, but they're mighty in God. So we go into heavenly places, and we announce to powers and principalities, in the name of Jesus, you're defeated. By the blood of the lamb, you have been destroyed.

Every person standing in this place, who is sick in their body, the power of the mighty name of Jesus can heal you today. Every person that's in this room struggling in their marriage, what God has brought together, let no man put asunder. Every demonic force of hell that's attacking your home is destroyed, in the mighty name of Jesus. Every businessman, every businesswoman, every child of God, who's looking for sufficiency, we declare that El Shaddai is an all-sufficient God!

He is our everything! All the gold is his! All of the silver is his! All of the wealth is his! And he is moving it into the hands of his children, who will put their trust in him. So the enemy that's attacking your business is defeated. And the enemy that's attacking your storehouse is destroyed. And the enemy that's trying to keep you from sowing your seed, they're cut off, in the mighty name of Jesus. Because you, as a child of God, have a promise in his word. "No good thing will he withhold from you". Now give him a shout of praise!