Matt Hagee - Words That Work And Sayings That Don't
If you would, please stand for the reading of God's word. And if you brought your Bibles, turn them to Isaiah 55:11, as this morning we begin the first of three messages on the topic of "Words that work and sayings that don't". How many of you could say that you've ever gotten bad advice? Many of you got bad advice during the 70's concerning your wardrobe, but it's okay: we forgive you. This morning, we're going to look at "Words that work and sayings that don't". Next Sunday morning, we're going to look at "Words that work for fathers". And on the final Sunday morning, we're going to consider "Words that are too good to forget".
How many of you've ever faced a problem, and you were searching for the right answer for the problem, and then when the answer became known to you, you suddenly remembered that you knew the answer all along: but you were overwhelmed so much by the problem: you forgot you knew the answer? Those words are too good to forget. Whenever it comes to the topic of "Words," people might want to know, why did you choose this subject? And the reason is very simple, because whether you know it or not, your words are very powerful. According to the Word of God, Proverbs 18:21, it says, "The power of life and death are in the tongue".
Notice how extreme those two positions are. God didn't say that there's a little bit of good in your speech and there's a little bit of bad in your speech. He didn't say there's a little sweet, sour, sassy and sincere. He said you've got one of two things that are coming out of your mouth. One is life and the other is extremely different, and that's death, and both are in the power of the tongue. How many dreams have been birthed by words of inspiration and hope? And likewise, how many have been abandoned because of statements that have destroyed the things that you desire in your heart?
Words like, "I believe in you" and "You can do it" reminders that "All things are possible through Christ:" statements like, "God is able to give you exceedingly and abundantly, above all you could ask, think or imagine". These are words that give life to your dreams. And likewise, we can assassinate a dream and destroy a destiny with simple statements like, "I don't think so" and "You'll never" or "I doubt it". Not only are words powerful, but words are where faith comes from. And today we have to ask ourselves: what faith are we building?
If you listen to the Word of God, you are building faith in God. If you listen to the words of man, you can build faith in a lot of things, but none of them are guaranteed to work like God's word does. Today I believe that through the power of his word and with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I'll prayerfully get you to focus on words that work and forget the statements that don't. If you found Isaiah 55:11, say, amen. Let's read together. God says, "So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void. But it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it".
Heavenly Father, let your word come alive in us today. Let it build faith in your promises, and those promises be performed that we might know that the hand of the living God is on our lives. In Jesus' name, we pray. And all of God's children said, praise the Lord.
You may be seated. Words are powerful. Words build faith. When you read the Word of God, you find this written in Romans 10:17. It says, "Faith cometh by hearing". Say that with me, faith cometh by hearing. And then it goes on to make it very clear that hearing comes from the Word of God. So if what you want to build is faith in God, then you must hear the Word of God. Now when you don't hear the Word of God, those words are still building faith. But the question is, in what? If you listen to the words and the statements of men, you often times are building faith in fear, faith in doubt, faith in despair. When's the last time you stayed up to watch the news, and after you saw the lead-in story, you told yourself, "Wow, it's a wonderful world"?
Whether you know it or not the words that you're hearing are building something, the question is: what will be the outcome of what they build? It's not whether or not words are having an affect on you. It's a matter of the result of the affect that they have. When you hear God's word, it builds faith in God. That's what Jesus said, "Have faith in God". God's word builds faith that gives life to your dreams. God's word builds faith that gives strength to your body. God's word builds a hedge of protection that brings you peace of mind. God's word gives you faith that will allow you to carry on when others are thinking about quitting. God's word gives you strength to take the next step when you think the hill is too hard to climb.
God's word gives you the faith that, as you walk through life and you look at mountains of impossibility, regardless of whether it's a financial impossibility or a spiritual impossibility or a physical impossibility, you have the proper faith to say to that mountain, "Be thou removed and cast into the midst of the sea". God's word builds the kind of faith that sees storm clouds on the horizon and knows that my God rides on the wings of the storm and he brings me an answer in my hour of need. He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies he promises me the best of things in the worst of times. God's word builds the kind of faith that says, I can be pressed on every side: and yet, filled with confidence that if God be for me, who can be against me? That kind of faith comes when you hear the Word of God. And hearing the Word of God gives you the kind of faith to look at the world and the flesh and the devil, and declare that you are more than a conqueror through Christ.
But what happens to your life when you're saturated by the statements of men? What happens when you put more faith and dependency in their wisdom than you do God's word? You see there's a word that works and there's statements that don't. I don't care how wise the individual you're talking to truly is. He's not wiser than God. Now there are a lot of truisms that we've learned and a lot of statements that we've memorized. And sometimes we actually confuse the statements of men with the Word of God, because we start saying things like, "Doesn't the Bible say that a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush"? No. And by the way, that statement might be true sometimes, but it's not true all the time. If the bird in your hand is a buzzard and the two in the bush are chickens, get rid of the buzzard and go get the chickens.
The problem with our life is that we don't recognize the difference between the power of God's word and the emptiness of man's statements. But what you need to know is that God's word is always working. God's word is working. Say that with me, God's word is working. Turn to somebody and tell them, "God's word is working". Now what do I mean by "It's working"? On wall street, they have a statement that "Money never sleeps". And the reason that they don't want money to ever sleep: they want it to constantly be earning something. The work day at wall street might be from sunup to sundown, but when night time comes, they invest their money in another market in the world because they don't want all of that wealth just sitting there: they want it producing something. Their objective is to constantly make money. They want value to be added to everything that they have. And in like fashion, those principles are true when it comes to God's word working in your life.
You might have a day that starts at sunup and ends at sundown, but God's word never sleeps. It's constantly working in your life. Why? Because just like the guys on wall street see something that they want to invest in, God wants to invest in you. He wants to invest in you so much: he sent his only begotten son that you might have everlasting life. His word is working. And there's a lot of things that add value to an investment. First, you have to invest in the right place. You just can't invest in anything. You have to invest in something that's worth something. The second thing that has to happen is those that you've invested in have to have responsibility with that investment. They can't just sit idle. They actually have to put effort with the investment so that it gains value. Because sooner or later, the investors on wall street are going to go to the companies that they've invested in, and they want a return on the investment.
In like fashion, God looks at your life, and he says, you are worth something to me. "You are bought with a price" is the way that the Bible says it. In Isaiah 55, God said, if I invest my word in you, it's not going to return void. I'm putting something in you that is going to gain value. But we also read in the Bible that faith without works is what? So when God puts his word in you, you have a responsibility. You just can't take that word and sit idle. You've got to put the word to work. You've got to take action based on what you've heard, because sooner or later, God is going to come check on what he's invested in you. And he expects a return on investment. He wants to see growth in your life.
You see the problem is not getting God's word to work. Us to believe that it's working. Often times, we go to church and we get to hear the Word of God. And we get to hear it and know that it is alive and powerful. But then we walk out and we wonder, what can God's word do for me. Why? Because we've taken God's word, and rather than hold it as the standard of all truth, we've compared it with other truisms and the statements of men. And most of the time, we're trying to survive on man's statements than we are stand on God's word. Most of the time we would rather put our hope in the wisdom of man rather than build on the solid rock that is certain in all times. We listen to the Word of God, and we leave wondering: what can God do with the situation that I walked in with? And that's because we either don't know or we don't believe. But it doesn't change the fact: God's word is working.
Why is God's word working? God's word is working, and not your word, and he promised it would. Listen to the text, "My me accomplish that thing for which I sent it". That means that God knows exactly what he's doing when he invests in you. And he says, what I invest in, I expect it to prosper. He says, I have a purpose for you, I have a promise for you, I have a solution for the need that you're facing. He wants you to know that your life is not being lived without value. If you woke up to see the sunrise this morning, then God's got something good in store for your life! He promised that if you'd acknowledge him first that he'd add all of these things to you, because he said, child of God, when it comes to you, my word is working! His word is working on your mind, according to Isaiah 26:3. It says, "I will keep them in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee".
His word is working on your thoughts, according to Romans 12:2. It says, "Do not be conformed to the things of this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind". If you allow your mind to be weighed down with the statements of men on this earth, then you are going to live a life that is filled with doubt, a life that is filled with despair, a life that looks forward to worry and fear. But when you allow your mind to be transformed by the Word of God, you can look at all of your doubts and all of your fears, and declare with confidence, "The Lord is on my side: what can man do to me"?
Men want to live by statements, but man's statements don't work. Men think they sound wise when they tell people, "Follow your heart". You ever heard that? "Follow your heart. Just follow your heart". Sometimes when we whisper it, it sounds better. "Follow your heart" sounds good but it doesn't work. Why? Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is death". If you follow your heart and your heart is not filled with the Word of God, you'll destroy yourself. King David said it this way, "Thy word is a lamp feet path". David was saying, if I don't stay in close contact with your truth, then I don't know which step to take next. And if I don't follow your light, then I'm going to go in the wrong direction. If I make it my way, I'll destroy myself. But I stay in your way and it's the paths of righteousness. You can't follow your heart unless God's word is your heart. People say, "Well I just don't know what to do". Flip to the book of James. It says, "If any man lacks knowledge, he can ask the Lord, and the Lord will give wisdom freely to all who ask".
Men have statements that give you advice, but that advice doesn't always work out. Men often say things like "Live and" what? Learn. "Live and learn". If experience was an adequate teacher, then men would never repeat their mistakes. If you could truly live and learn, and life was its own classroom, then you would never see anybody go and repeat a mistake from the past. But the Bible's very clear that experience is not an adequate teacher. The Bible says in Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom". You can't live and learn. If you want to learn, you must reverence God, because without him, you have no wisdom. Just consider for a few moments one section of Israel's history. Go look at the book of judges, and ask yourself if you can live and learn.
You see in the book of judges, the children of Israel walked away from God's word. And when they did, they went into bondage. And when they went into bondage, they started to cry out. And when they started to cry out, God raised up a deliverer. And then they got restored. And then they walked away from God's word. And then they went into bondage. And then they cried out. And then God raised up a deliverer. And this guy was named, let's call him Samson. And this one here's Deborah. And this one here is Gideon. And around and around and around we go. The Midianites, and the Philistines, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the ites ites, they were all taking over Israel during the book of judges. Why? Because Israel could not live and learn. Experience wasn't an adequate teacher. They didn't have a right reverence for God. And therefore, because they did not properly fear the Lord, there wasn't wisdom in the nation.
Now if we could live and learn, all it would take for America to turn around in the direction that we're going is to open up the book of judges and says that anybody who walks away from God's word, they're headed into bondage. But we haven't done that in the United States. We've kicked God out and we think we've made ourselves better. You can't live and learn. There's another statement that men make that I often wonder about. This one's popular with kids and it's probably already outdated. I heard it for the first time last week, but it's probably old already. This one comes and you know now they have hashtags. How many of y'all know what hashtags are? If you don't know what hashtags are, you've got a four year old in the nursery who's probably hashtaging right now. Acronyms, just letters that create new statements. We used to have sentences. And now, we communicate with just nonsense.
But anyway, this statement is "YOLO". How many of y'all heard "YOLO"? YOLO! A young lady saw me on campus and said, "YOLO, pastor Matt". I said, "Hello, yo". I felt so old: I listened to am radio all the way home. But this statement means, "You only live once". "You only live once," that's a statement of man. And they give that statement because often times, they're trying to build a reasonable excuse to go do what they want rather than have the responsibility to do what they should. Why are you doing what you do? Wrong. It's true: there's nothing wrong with enjoying the wonderful things that God has created for you to live in this life. But you don't get to shirk your responsibility. Greatness comes when you take responsibility. You don't get to ignore what you should do. It's going to be there until you decide it's time to do it.
And by the way, you don't only live once. Listen to the words of Jesus Christ. He said, "He who believes in me shall never die". You have to make this life count. But what you do in this life must get you ready for the one that is to come. As for me, I'm going to make this life count. I'm going to do all that I can every day that I can to do everything that needs to be done to let my family know that there is a God in heaven, who created the heavens and the earth, get my church ready to meet the Lord when the trumpet of the God shall sound, to tell the lost that there is a Savior, to call to those who are in darkness until they walk into light, to lay hands on the sick and see them recover, to see those who are bound in chains set free, to do all that I can until I see him face to face, and he says, "Well done thou good and faithful servant".
You see God's got a word that works, and men have statements that don't. Why? Because man's statements are based on man's experience, and man's perspective, and man's way of thinking. You can go speak to the brightest minds in any field and they'll qualify what they say with things like "See it, experience, point of view". And there's nothing wrong with getting perspective from people who have wisdom. But understand that when it comes to God's word, he's told us, "My ways are not like your ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways," says the Lord, "Above yours". God's knowledge is so much greater than the greatest here on earth. God's strength is so much better than anyone you can work with here today. God is awesome. He is majestic. And his word is working in your life!
When you allow God's word to work in your life, you suddenly discover that you have the ability to do the impossible. You suddenly recognize that one of us can put a thousand to flight, but two of us can put ten thousand to flight. You begin to believe that my God is not a man that he should lie. And whatever he has promised, God will do it! God's word is working. He said it will not return void. How many of you've ever written a check, and you looked at something on the check like the balance in your checkbook, and you went, "There ain't enough there to cover that one. Void". Ever done that?
The second you write "Void" across that check, whatever value you wanted it to have, it now haw no value because it cannot be utilized. What God is saying about the word that he invests in your life is that no experience, no individual, no situation, will ever be able to come to your life, and in a place that he has invested, take the value out of what he has put in you. No one can void God's promise in your life. No one can take God's goodness out of you. No one can take God's hand off of you. He says, I am here to make sure that my word is protecting. It's providing. It's leading. It's guiding. It's pushing. It's dragging. It's pulling. It's moving. It's making a way where there seems to be no way. Because I have placed it in you, it will come to pass!
God may put something in you today that doesn't show up until this time next year. It might take two years. It might take five years. It might take decades. But child of God, if he said it, that settles it! God will do it! Paul said it this way, "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus". It's working. What has God promised you? It's working. Did God promise you health and strength? Doesn't the Bible say in the book of Exodus that he sent his word and he healed them? Didn't God promise you that his word would be strength to your navel and marrow to your bones? Child of God, because he said it, it's working.
You say, "Well pastor, you just don't know: this week I went to the doctor's office". I don't care: it's working. You say, "Well pastor, you don't know: six months ago the doctor said these will be my symptoms and they are my symptoms". I don't care: it's working. You say, "Well pastor, I just don't feel like it's working". "I don't feel like I'm getting better". "I feel like I'm losing ground". God didn't consult your feelings when he stated the facts, "The word will not return void". It's working! You say, "Well preacher, what if this sickness is unto death"? It may be, but it's working. You say, "What"? Listen. I've been in the ministry now 20 years. And I've stood in this sanctuary and all over this campus, and I have seen precious people memorialized because they left this life. But that word is working.
I believe what Romans 8 says, "If the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then it shall quicken mortal body, you by the Holy Spirit who dwells in him". It's still working. In 1988, we lost my grandfather to cancer. The doctor sat down with the family, and said, "He will not recover from this disease". According to the doctor's words, he was right. In 1988 in Houston, Texas, we went and we had his memorial service. You know what? It's working. In 2012, we brought my grandmother to the same plot of ground. And right next to grandpa, we put grandma. She was 98, 30 days from 99. The sad thing is she wanted to go a long time ago. But there we laid them together. And even now, it's working.
There are people in this sanctuary who've said good-bye to mom and dad, to brother and to sister, to friend and to family member, to son and to daughter. And the only thing that I know to tell you is, according to God's promise, his word is still working. We look at it from man's perspective: we say, "They're gone," "They're lost," "They're out". But God looks at it and says, they're alive and they're waiting on the other side. They're celebrating the victory that my son Jesus Christ won over the grave. They're shouting for joy because death has been defeated and the grave has been swallowed up. His word is still working! And child of God, when the trumpet sounds, the graves where we laid them are going to erupt with new life, and I'll get to see them again! I'll get to hold them again! I'll get to celebrate with them again! And cancer will be defeated! And disease will be destroyed! And sickness will be gone! And there will be no more parting! And there will be no more good-bye's! And there will be no more sorrow!
For the former things have passed away and all things have been made new! Hallelujah! His word is working! You'll get to see mom and dad again. You'll get to see brother and sister again. You'll get to walk down streets of gold with them, and declare, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory"? Jesus Christ said, "I am he who was dead, and I am alive forever more, and I have the keys to death, hell and the grave". Child of God, the victory is ours, because the Word of God is working! Not only is God's word working, but God's word is living. What do you mean "It's living"? I've heard pastor say this for years, and it's a wonderful statement, "God's word is not something you read. When you open it, it reads you".
Have you ever gone and opened up the Bible, and you read a scripture, and you went, "Oh, I love that promise: I just love it"? The day goes by. You pick up the Bible, you look at the same promise, and you go, "Whew! Oh, no, no, not today, yolo, yolo". What happened? God's word didn't change: you changed. And because you changed, when you picked up this timeless truth, you didn't read it: it read you. Now here's the good news about God's word. The Bible says in Isaiah and also in the New Testament, Peter speaking. He says, "The grass withers, and the flower may fade, but the word of the Lord endures forever". That means this: that your problem may change but your promise will not. You can use this in all seasons of your life.
I'll give you a case and point in my own life. Those who know me well, familiar with me from my childhood, you know that when I was a kid, I was scared of the dark. You put me in a dark room, I'd light that thing up like swat team rolled in. And I had a good reason to be scared of the dark. I was the kid that used to love to play outside. And the reason I like to play outside is because we didn't have 486,000 television channels to watch. And there was only one room in the house that had a TV. It was called "The family room". How many of y'all grew up in houses with family rooms? Now you just cohabitate, but there used to be a place where everybody gathered. And in that room was chair. How many of y'all knew what dad's chair was? And you might be able to rest there for a bit. But if dad walked in the room, what did you do? Get out of the chair.
Now often times we would have to do that, because back then we were the remote control. And for a few years, we'd change the channel like this... And you'd get to 13, and then you'd come down here and you'd start Messing with rabbit ears, and sometimes you'd have to stand there with your hand on the box just so the picture would come through clear. And on one particular night after dinner, the sun had gone down. In our house, at the time, there was a kitchen that had a small hallway with a table that led into the family room. And dad was in the family room and I was headed for the back door. And he said, "Matt", by the way, this is a newspaper for those of you who forgot what they look like. He said, "Where are you going"? I said, "I'm going to go outside and play". He said, "No". He said, "The sun's gone down". I said, "Yeah, I know". I said, "But I'm going to be in the backyard". He said, "You don't want to go outside after the sun's gone down".
Now looking back, I recognize that it probably had to do with the fact chair. But he was going to use other persuasive tactics to keep me from causing him to have to get up and go outside. And on this particular night, here's what he said. He said, "Bad people come out when the sun goes down". And I was reaching for the doorknob. "Bad people"? "Don't go outside". So several weeks went by, and I made an appointment with my pastor, based on the conversation I had with my father. And the appointment was about 1:30 in the morning when I went down and knocked on pastor hagee's bedroom door. "It's dark. There's bad people outside. I need to sleep in there with you". And he said, "No, you don't". He looked down at me and said, "Son, God has not given you a spirit of fear but of power, and of love, and of sound mind. Go back down that hallway and lay there, and say that scripture until you fall asleep".
Now, again, looking back I interpret that to basically mean this: don't come back down here and knock on this door. But what he did give me was a promise that was alive. I'd lay there in that bed as a child, and hear something outside, and I'd say, "God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind". Ribbit. "God hasn't given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind". I'd repeat it, and repeat it, and repeat it, and repeat it, and repeat it, until I'd fall asleep. And I can honestly testify that I hadn't been afraid of the dark in weeks now. It's been wonderful. I've got night vision and a handgun, but it's all good. But the truth is, as a child, I committed to memory a living promise concerning fear. And as I've gotten older, fears have changed. My problem has changed but my promise has not.
As a 38-year-old father of four, I'm no longer afraid of the dark. But I am looking at the world that my children are being raised in. And I'm saying, "God, you haven't given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind". I'm looking at the culture that the world is turning to, and I'm saying, "God, you haven't given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind". I'm listening to the speculators forecast what the future is, and I'm saying, "God, you haven't given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind". You promised me with the power of your word we could overcome all things. You've told me that you would lead me and guide me, and whatever I do, it would prosper. You've said that you'd never leave me nor forsake me, father.
So no matter what I'm going through, no matter what I'm walking to, no matter what lies ahead, I'm going to stand on the fact that my God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind! Church, the word is alive! Not only is the word working and the word living, but the word is fighting. It's fighting. It's fighting for you. It's defending you. It's protecting you. It's bringing you closer to victory. Hebrews 4 says, "The word is alive and the word is powerful. The word is sharper than any two-edged sword".
Now for the language of the day, a two-edged sword was about the most effective weapon you could have in your hand. And what the Bible is telling us is that God's word in your mouth is a weapon that brings you victory. Whether you know it or not, whether you want to admit it or not, whether you like it or not, you are engaged in warfare. Those of you who have signed up with Jesus Christ, who have professed him as your Savior, you are enrolled in the army of the living God, and you are considered a soldier of salt and light. You may not be effectively in the fight, but you are considered someone who should be in the combat. Those of you who have not professed him, you are simply prisoners of war bound by the chains of sin, waiting to be set free. And whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
But whether you know it or not, you do not get to opt out of the fight. And whenever you begin to live this life of spiritual warfare, you need a weapon that is highly effective, and the statements of men are not. You can't go to the devil and say, "YOLO". But you can go to him with the Word of God. And when you begin to speak it, he begins to release the things that he's withholding from you. It's alive. It's powerful. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. Consider Jesus Christ, the author and the finisher of our faith. When he was on the earth, the Bible says that he was in temptation, and the devil came to him at the end of his fast. And what he did was he caused the Son of God to question the Word of God. If Satan did that with Jesus, that's exactly what he'll do with you. He's doing it with some of you right now, asking you, "Is that preacher telling the truth or not"?
Here's how it went with Jesus. He fasted for 40 days. And he walked up to him, and he said, "If". Say that with me: if. "If you are the Son of God", if you really think you are that good, I know you're hungry, "Turn those stones into bread". Jesus didn't begin to debate with him that he was there in Genesis when creation began. He didn't debate with him that he was the one that God had used throughout all of creation until he came to Bethlehem. He didn't debate with him. He just looked at him and said, "It is written". He spoke the Word of God. The next temptation came. "If you are the Son of God", he spoke the word, "If you are the Son of God", he spoke the word. And finally, he said, "Away with you Satan". And Satan was driven out of his life.
If that's how it went for Jesus, that's what you're going to have to learn to do. Whenever the enemy comes against you like a flood, the Bible says that the Lord will raise a standard against it. This is that standard. You have got to start driving the enemy out of your life by speaking the word. When he tries to come into your finances, you drive him out by saying, "My needs according to his riches in glory". "I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor their seed begging bread". When he comes against your household, you say, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". When he comes against your marriage, you declare, "What God has brought together, let no man put asunder".
When he comes against your physical body, you say that by his stripes, I am healed. When he comes against your children, you declare, "No weapon formed will prosper". "The angels of God go before them". "The angels of God are a rear guard". "Goodness and mercy shall follow them". "And whatever they put their hands to, it shall prosper". You have power to drive the enemy out of your life, in Jesus' name! Not only is the word working, and living, and fighting, but as powerful as the Word of God is, it will not have any impact on your life until in faith you receive it, and then you allow it to work in you.
Can we stand to our feet? How many of you in this place, you say, "Pastor, I know exactly where I need God's word to go to work in my life. I know exactly the need that I need God's living word to start to move in". It's a physical need. It's a spiritual need. It's an emotional need. It's a family need. It's a financial need. Whatever it happens to be, if you know what it is, I want you to lift your hand high before the Lord in this sanctuary today. Hands all over this room. We're going to give God's word a chance to go to work today. And we're going to walk out of here believing that that word is working, not placing our trust in the statements of men but standing on the promises of God. I want everyone in this sanctuary to raise their hands and repeat this prayer with me.
Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you for the power of your living word. And I ask you, in Jesus' name, to let that word come alive in me. Father, the place where I need your promise today...
Now I want you to take a moment and just tell the Lord. If it's a promise in your finances, tell the Lord. If it's in your physical body, tell the Lord. If it's in your heart, if you need strength where there's weakness, if you need joy where there's sorrow, if you need hope where there's despair, take a moment and tell the Lord right here in this sanctuary, because God knows your need, and he can do exceedingly and abundantly, above all that you would ask, you would think, or you can imagine.
Father, I thank you today that there are lives that are being touched by your word: that there are businesses that are being blessed by your word: that there are families that are being mended by your word: that there are hearts that are being made whole by your word: that there are transgressions, and sins, and bondages, and yokes, that are being broken by your word.
Now I want you to continue in this prayer with me.
Lord Jesus, I thank you that you have heard me. And I believe, because I have asked in faith, that your word is working. And I will stand on it and remain faithful until your promise comes to pass, in Jesus' name. Amen.