Mike Signorelli - Why You Aren't Praying As Much As You Should
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Summary:
In this fiery sermon on the parable of the ten virgins from Matthew 25, the preacher stresses that while salvation is a free gift, having enough «oil"—representing a deep, personal relationship with the Holy Spirit—costs personal sacrifice, discipline, and pursuit. He warns that all Christians may look similar on the surface, but the wise ones have «more oil» through practices like extended prayer, speaking in tongues, and prioritizing God over worldly distractions, especially as darker times approach. The urgent conclusion is to «buy your own oil» now—through repentance, boundaries, and continually being filled with the Spirit—because delayed obedience could mean missing the bridegroom’s return.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
«Then shall the kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise and five were foolish. The foolish said, 'They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry made: Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet him.' Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Can you give us some of your oil? For our lamps have gone out.' Turn to the neighbor next to you and just say, 'You gotta buy your own oil.' Come on, turn to the person on the other side that you ignored and tell them, 'Yeah, you too. You gotta buy your oil too.' Go ahead, don’t… Come on, now you know who the favorite is. Okay, we’ll work on cleaning that up later.
Some of you just realized your mom doesn’t love you as much as your sibling in that moment. That’s all good. Or maybe she thinks you need it more. You gotta learn how to buy your own oil.
Salvation Is Free, But Oil Costs You
Now this is gonna be confusing to some of you because you were raised in other church experiences, certainly not this one. This church is different. I love this church. I’m home here. For so many, the only reason why I put this address on blast was to get you here so you’d stop being an orphan. That’s a whole 'nother conversation. They only gave me till six o’clock for this service. All the visitors are like, 'I hate this place.'
Okay, listen, listen. The thing that’s hard to understand about what’s happening right now is that if you were raised in certain church experiences, there was this hyper-grace kind of over-emphasis on receiving salvation. You did these thirty-second sinner’s prayers, and really what you got good at was confessing but not repenting. And so you just really became an honest, wicked person. You know, there’s a difference between confessing and really repenting. And so what happens in this place is there’s such an emphasis on you can’t earn it. There’s nothing, and that is all true because Christ has secured it through all of his work. He died on the cross. And so because he died on the cross, you have confidence to know that it’s the gift of salvation, not the reward. But we all understand that. What we haven’t been discipled into is the next level, which needs to deepen your understanding that beyond this free exchange of salvation, the next level is the wisdom of buying oil, which means salvation is free, but oil costs you. Oil costs you.
What am I talking about? Here’s the thing: they were all virgins. There are ten virgins. They all had lampstands, and they all had oil. The difference is the wise virgins had more oil. Everybody say more. And so the difference between wise and fool is how much you have.
They All Look the Same on the Surface
Let me break it down for you. They all listened to Maverick City Music, Hillsong, and Bethel Worship and memorized the lyrics and sang them as loud as they could. They all had the Christian merch on, went to all the conferences, and did the Bible app reading plan. Oh, I’m coming for you today. See, it’s very difficult in certain seasons to tell the difference between a fool and a wise person because on the surface they look the same. But if you were looking closely, you could see that one has more oil. Oh, okay. I’m gonna go there. The question I’m asking you is how much oil do you have?
'While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept, and at midnight…' Everybody say midnight. I know things have been dark. What if I told you it’s gonna get darker? What if I told you that I believe we are heading into a future that’s darker? But let me give you hope. The world is looking for a wise virgin that will hold up the lampstand. And the light is more noticeable. It’s more distinct. It shines brighter. They wanna know the truth about their sexuality. They wanna know the truth about their… come on, somebody. They are looking for it. They are desperate for it. You can’t tell me that in New York City I’m leading drag queens to Christ, and within two years they’re leading worship. We got Hindus, agnostics, and atheists coming to Christ because we are a lampstand ministry. And I know that I found a wise virgin here in California that says, 'I will not hide my light. I know the truth is Jesus. I know it’s Jesus.'
I’ll tell you this: Muhammad died, and he stayed dead. Buddha died, and he stayed dead. But there is one who died and rose again, and his name is Jesus. So let your light shine. I want more oil. Somebody yell 'buy your oil! ' You can’t borrow Isaiah Saldivar’s prayer life anymore. I know he prays, and you’re hoping that he prays enough so that when he prays for you, you receive something. But you can’t borrow… Listen, I’ll tell you this. We’ve been on our phones, and there’s a grace where in some seasons of our life and our infantile Christian experience we get enough from those fifty-seven-second clips on Instagram to feed us. But I’m telling you in 2023, you can’t be fed by your feed. You’ve gotta be fed by Him. You’ve gotta open up the Bible. You gotta get a word for you. Come on, I love posting videos, but I would love to see you posting up in prayer, posting up in the Word. You can’t get fed from your feed and live off of that diet of fifty-seven-second morsels. It’s time to chew on some meat. It’s time to step into what God called you to. And it’s time to buy some… buy some… Come on. Stop texting me, Mom.
Learning to Say No
Verse nine: „But the wise answered, 'Not so; lest there not be enough for us and you. But go you rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves.'“ Come on, MST, the Mike Sigs translation: buy for yourself. I love that it says 'not so.' Everybody say that: 'not so.'
See, in the previous season of your walk with Christ, he was demanding a yes, but I believe in this next season, he’s demanding you get used to saying no. Let me just tell you, not everybody who’s with you is for you. God will change your circles to change your levels. God will remove some people from your life, and you better be okay with that. And you better be so secure in who he is in you that you stop trying to hold onto some people that God Almighty is sovereignly trying to take from you. Come on, you’re holding the scissors in your hand. Why don’t you just go ahead and finish it? God’s trying to help somebody in this place. There are two different forms of deliverance. You learned about demons coming out of you. Now you’re gonna learn about God removing people and the demons that are in them. It’s okay to not be codependent in 2023. You hear me? Some of you are helping somebody, but you’re hurting somebody. Sometimes you’re trying to lift them up, and God’s trying to send them down low. Let them bottom out. Let them hit every branch of the tree on the way down.
Come on. Isn’t it funny that you had to suffer and you learned from your suffering, but you’re gonna keep them from suffering? No. Come on. What if you stop trying to be the Holy Ghost for them and let the Holy Ghost be the Holy Ghost for them? What if I told you you’re not tired; you are ministering to people who don’t know how to minister to Him? Let them go. You sowed the seeds into your kids. Just let them go. The father never ran after the prodigal son. He just waited for him to come back. What are you running for? Who are you going after? What if I told you that God will do it if you stop trying to do it?
Signs You’re Buying Oil
Listen, now here’s what we’re talking аbout: wise versus unwise. And I wanna bring you into wisdom today. And here’s how you know that you’re stepping into wisdom. Here’s how you know that you’re starting to buy oil: You’re gonna hear things from people who call themselves Christians, and this is what they’re gonna say. 'Oh, you’ve gone too far. Oh, you’re crazy. That’s radical. That’s too much.' Oh, and that church that you’re giving to, serving, attending, and inviting us to? That’s a cult. So I’m telling you now: when you start to hear things like that, start celebrating because that’s how you know that you are buying oil. People are gonna look at you and say you’ve lost your mind. And you’re gonna say, 'I have lost my mind for the sake of Christ. When I was in my mind, I was full of anxiety and depression; but I lost my mind, and I’ve got the mind of Christ, and I don’t want my mind back. I have lost my mind. I lost it, and I never wanna find it. I want to think what He wants me to think. I wanna say what He wants. I don’t want my mind back. I’ve got the mind of Christ.'
Somebody shout! Yeah, I have gone crazy. But when I was the world’s form of crazy, I was heavily medicated and full of depression. And this form of crazy has got me waking up full of the joy of the Lord, with long suffering, peace, patience, kindness. I love this form of crazy. Let me dance like she did. It doesn’t make sense; I like this. I like buying oil. Come on. What if you took your weed budget and spent it on oil instead? What if you took your cigarette budget and bought oil instead? What if you bought oil like you used to buy Miller Light? What if you started buying oil—just some…? I’m speaking in the spirit. God’s trying to wake you up. God’s trying to rattle your cage. Come on, kick that door open and come back outta the cage. I’m buying oil.
Some of you are obsessing over buying houses. You need to buy oil. Some of you are worried about buying cars. You need to buy oil. If you got oil, you got everything. My mom raised five kids on welfare in a trailer park. We didn’t even know we were poor because we had Jesus. And if you got Jesus, you got everything. Give me Jesus. You keep your new furniture; I want Jesus. You keep your new car; I want Jesus. I want Jesus. If you got Him, you got everything. You better realign your purpose. If you seek first the kingdom, all these things will be added unto you. I wanna know if I got some wise virgins here. Come on. Come on. Now you’re getting it. I’m just irritating religious spirits. I’m just irritating religious spirits. Oh Lord Jesus, we gotta be done. I’m getting all excited.
Delayed Obedience Is Disobedience
It says this, verse 11 through 13: „Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open unto us.' But he answered and said, 'Verily, I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for you don’t know the time, the day, or the hour that the Son of Man comes.' And all had lamps, all had oil, all were virgins. But even when they went to buy oil, they obeyed too late.“ How many of you know that delayed obedience is disobedience? If you wait to act, you might even say, 'Oh, I remember this sermon I heard, and I wanna respond to this sermon.' And the Lord will say, 'I don’t know how much time you got. Maybe it’s too late.' And you know the old-time preachers used to say things like that, and some of you need to hear it again because you’re acting like it’s always gonna be available. You’re acting like it’s always gonna be here. Some of you are destined for greatness, and you’re about to miss your moment because you’re focused on the wrong thing. And the Lord’s trying to get your focus realigned with what He’s doing in this hour.
It’s okay to forsake all others, cut off some relationships, stop feeding those things, and say, 'God, it’s me and You now. What do you want from me? '
Be Filled with the Spirit Instead
Okay, I got a few more for you, and then we’re almost done. Ephesians 5:18 will help you understand the paradoxical nature of this word. It says, 'Do not get drunk on wine or Mad Dog or Corona with a lime. Praise God. Lord, give me discernment. What is it? Michelob. Craft beer.' There’s a lot of hipsters up in here; I feel it in the spirit. 'Do not get drunk on any of those things, which leads to debauchery; instead be filled with the Spirit.' Everybody say, 'instead.' See, religion removes and never replaces. So when you were in the world, you got drunk, you had fun, maybe you didn’t, but you don’t do it anymore.
But see, relationship removes and replaces. Ah, it’s so much better. Listen, God isn’t trying to take anything away from you without giving you something better. Oh, come on, somebody. If you got high, I dare you to get high with the Most High. If you got drunk, I dare you to drink the new wine of His Holy Spirit. He says, „Don’t get drunk on those physical things. But if you receive the Spirit, be drunk with the Spirit instead.' And I wanna know in California, if there’s a church full of people who wanna turn up and drink with me today. Come on, somebody shout hallelujah.
It’s time to turn up. But look what it says: it says, 'instead be filled with the Spirit.’ But just wait a second; when I accepted Christ as Messiah, there was the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, yes. But now I have this scripture that’s saying be filled with the Spirit. So how can I be filled with something I already have? Oh, let me talk to the party animals. Oh man, I’m so drunk. Let’s drink more. You know, there’s buzzed, there’s drunk, there’s trashed, there’s blackout. Oh, I’m talking to somebody. Come on, y’all act like you don’t drink in California. Come on. I smelled your breath on the way in. Let me tell you, I’m just trying to make you laugh enough so when I cut, you don’t realize he just stabbed me.
But let me help you understand, it’s remove and replace. What he’s actually saying is you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I’m not trying to take away your physical alcohol, but I’m trying to help you understand I have so much better. There are degrees and levels and depths by which you can be filled that you have not experienced yet. And God wants to take your mortal being and expand it. He wants to come in. I serve an infinite God. If your relationship with God is boring, it’s because you are boring. There’s more to Him. There’s more to know. There’s more to experience. I keep falling in love with Him over and over and over and over again. Oh, what I thought I knew about Him twenty years ago; there’s a new revelation. It never gets old.
I read from Genesis to Revelation, all sixty-six books, and there’s more revelation, there’s more insight. Oh baby, it doesn’t get boring when you learn how to drink more.
Revival in Everyday Places
And I think what it looks like, I’m talking to the blue-collar man. I’m talking to the tradesmen. I’m talking to the carpenters and the electricians and the plumbers, and I’m talking to the guy driving trucks. What if you told your guys, 'Let’s turn up after work, ' and what you meant is, 'Let’s drink the new wine of the Holy Spirit.' What if you stopped being so ashamed of the gospel that you looked them in their eyes?
Come on. Some of you are covered head to toe in tattoos. Some of you have been arrested multiple times, but you don’t have the courage to look at your own coworkers and say you were abused by your father. But I know the heavenly Father, and I wanna introduce you to Him right now because after this life is over, there are no tradesmen. You are either a son of God or a son of Satan, and you work for God. You work for God no matter what you do. And what California needs is a revival that breaks out in a Target, in a Walmart, on the job, at school. We got some young people here; you wanna get a detention? Get a detention for doing deliverance. You wanna be a resistance? Resist the devil and see him flee. I think it’s time to get to work. I’m gonna buy my oil.
It’s gonna cost you.
Speak in Tongues More
I got two more scriptures. Is that all right? 1 Corinthians 14:18. Let the band come up because that’ll force me to stop. 1 Corinthians 14:18—this is Paul the Apostle that the Secessionists quote. This is Paul the Chief Apostle; this is the guy you know wrote much of the New Testament. You know what he said? I thank God—now imagine he’s addressing this audience—and he says, 'I thank God I speak with tongues more than all y’all.' Wait, I got the King James: 'than ye all.' That’s actually what it says. So he looked—now think about this—we’re all virgins; we all have lamps and we all have oil. Watch this: we all speak in tongues. But Paul says, 'I thank God I speak in tongues more.'
When are you gonna realize that there’s a dimension beyond English, and your English words are not getting it done? Your Spanglish is not getting it done. But if you begin to speak in tongues more, you’ll begin to utter mysteries and deal with things in the spiritual realm that your English is not getting done. You’ll begin to edify yourself. Come on, Mama. What if you woke up and instead of hitting that Keurig button, you begin to lift your hands towards heaven and speak in tongues and begin to build yourself up? And you say, 'I got something better than caffeine. I got the power of the Holy Ghost.' The Bible says tongues are assigned to unbelievers. What would happen if you stopped being so ashamed of the gift that was promised to you? Your kids need to hear their parent walking the floor. They need to hear you in the living room.
What would happen if you said like Paul, 'I speak in tongues more; I have more oil than you? ' You come from a heritage. My wife is like a fifth-generation Pentecostal, and we found this video from her great-grandfather that was filmed in the eighties, and he was telling this story about how a hundred years ago now the Holy Spirit wove himself into my wife’s family story. And this is what he said: 'You can’t even make this up.' He said a hundred years from 1923, he said, 'There’s gonna be a group of people that need a revelation of the power of the Holy Spirit again.' I was weeping watching this, knowing that that DNA is in my own children through my wife’s life.
See, some of you have a heritage, and you may have spoken in tongues in another season, but I wanna provoke you to speak in tongues more now. We’re going into a dark, dark night, and if you don’t have enough oil, you will not make it through this night. You’ll be credited unwise. I’m speaking to somebody right now. It’s not another conference; it’s not another worship night; it’s about the oil now. It’s not just binging another sermon; it’s about the oil now. The Lord is coming, and he’s saying, 'Who has more oil? ' You’re gonna have to speak in tongues in your car. You’re gonna have to speak in tongues on the job. You’re gonna have to be credited a fool by the world to be wise according to God.
Buy Gold Tried in the Fire
I just wanna read this last verse to seal it up. Everybody else can stand to your feet. It says this: 'Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire.' See, this is the Lord rebuking the church. And what He’s saying is you say that you’ve increased in wealth; you say that you’re doing better; but in the spiritual realm, I see you naked, I see you wretched. I see you. There’s something; you’re not seeing it the way God, but this is His solution: I counsel you to buy of me gold.
See, it’s buy, tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed—that the shame of your nakedness do not appear. And I’ll anoint your eyes that you may see. And as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. It’s time to buy your oil.
Altar Call and Prayer
Oh, I feel it. I feel it in the spirit right now. Let’s have the prayer team come up. We’re only gonna utilize the prayer team for deliverance and for healing. So if you don’t specifically need deliverance or healing, I want you to keep the front clear because we are way over capacity, okay?
But I want to do this right now. I believe that there are many of you under the sound of my voice who have made up their minds: 'God, I hear you. I hear you, Lord. I’m here.' There are backsliders who want to come home. There are those who are far off that are like, 'I’m ready, God.' I’ve heard everything I need to hear. If that’s you, would you just lift both your hands towards heaven right now? If you’re like, 'God, I’m ready to buy oil. I’m ready to step in, God. I want to be a revivalist. I want to be what You called me to be.' Just lift your hands as a sign of surrender. Just lift your hands to say, 'Lord, I’m ready.'
This moment right now, we’re gonna buy some oil, and it just takes a little bit of time. I want you to forget about the people around you. Forget about what’s happening right now. And right now I’m gonna begin to pray for you. And I wanna pray that the Holy Spirit would fill you and that you would experience what I read, where it says, 'instead be filled.' One, two, three. Now Holy Spirit, fill, fill, fill, from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet. There’s an encounter that many of you are having with the Father right now. Some of you are being drawn back to that place of His love right now. The Lord is a jealous God, and He desires you, and He desires to hear your voice. I hear the Lord saying to somebody right now, 'I just want to hear your voice so desperately. Will you call out to me? Will you say my name? Will you draw close to me? '
The Lord knows your need. He knows the things that you’ve been struggling with, but He wants you to call out to His name right now. All across this place, let’s just begin to call out to Jesus. Let’s just begin to worship Him in this place. Come on, buy some oil. Come on, this is your moment right now. Come on, there it is. There it is. There’s a fresh anointing. Some of you are operating off of an anointing from 2004. Some of you have been… it’s been a long time. And right now there’s a fresh outpouring of His Spirit. More God, from the top of their head all the way down.
More. Wave at me right now if you need a healing in your body. There’s been waves and waves of healing. Okay. Just continue to wave at me so I can see you if you need a physical healing in your body. The Lord told me today that we’re gonna see more healings. Right now in the name of Jesus, I speak to every spirit of infirmity and sickness. I bind you now and I command you to go right now to the abyss. Every spirit of sickness, disease, passivity, every lethargic spirit—I bind you now and command you to come out of their bodies right now. Out in the name of Jesus. Go, go, go, in the name of Jesus. Out. Some of you have been feeling sluggish; you’ve been feeling tired; you’ve been feeling like you’re walking in water.
But the Lord told me this morning that there was a demonic assignment of passivity. There are lethargic spirits assigned to you. Some of you have been like, 'I need to change my diet. I need to change my discipline.' And that may be so. But also there could be a demonic assignment to slow down and hinder you from stepping in. Wave at me if you’ve been feeling tired, lethargic, wore out. Okay, come on. Right now I break the power of every demonic spirit trying to hinder them now. Loose them now, go in Jesus' name. Out. Some of you are like, 'God, how could I even step into this next season? How could I step into my purpose? I’m so tired, I’m so wore out.' If that’s you, lift your hands.
The Bible says they that wait upon the Lord, He will renew their strength. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. There’s a supernatural strength being released to you now because you will travel through a dark night carrying more oil. Be refreshed, be renewed. You’re here on a divine appointment to be renewed, to be refreshed in your body. More Lord, more, more, more, more, more. Chronic illness, lupus, I command every virus to die under the sound of my voice. Every cancerous cell, tumors dissolve now in the name of Jesus. Tumors dissolve now in the name of Jesus. Lupus, chronic illness, chronic pain, go now.
I just release the healing power of God, the virtue of God into every cell of your body, every fiber, every tendon in your bones right now. The Bible says He gives strength to the feeble knees and the hands that give way. The Lord is strengthening knees right now. He’s healing knees right now. He’s healing knees right now. The Lord is healing. Come on, there’s a wave of His glory all the way out into the lobby. If you’re in the lobby and you can hear me, there’s a wave of healing that’s moving, moving, moving right now. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy, joy, joy. Some of you have been grieving. I declare the end of that grieving season, and I release peace now.
Receive it. Come on, drink up. Drink, drink, drink. Instead, be filled. Come on. There it is. There it is. There it is. Wow. Come on, take however much you want from the Lord right now. Come on, draw from Him right now. Come on, you don’t have to go anywhere. We got two more minutes. Draw, draw, draw, draw. Draw from Him. Draw from Him. Draw from the Lord. Come on, drink, drink. Come on, drink more. Thank you, Father for healing, touching, restoring. Right now I break the power of every spirit of confusion and torment, every spirit of terror, the terror of the night, restlessness, sleeplessness, I bind you now. I command you to come out of their mind in the name of Jesus. Come out now in Jesus' name. Every tormenting spirit, every vexing spirit of the night. Come on, incubus, succubus, come on spirit spouse, I bind you now and command you out in the name of Jesus, out, go to the abyss, every single one of you foul spirits.
The people of God will sleep and be refreshed, and they will wake and see the faithfulness of God. No more, no more. Come on, the palmer worm, the canker worm, the enemy that tries to eat and take away and destroy. We rebuke you now. The Lord lifts up a standard against you. Come on, this is the sound of freedom. This is the sound of freedom. Some of you have seasons and seasons of guilt and shame. And the Lord says, forgive yourself because I have forgiven you. I don’t know who that was for, but I felt it in my belly. The Lord is saying, forgive yourself because I have forgiven you. There’s shame and guilt and condemnation being broken and coming out of you right now.
The Lord says, do not regret. Do not regret. Do not live with that. Release it. I have forgiven you. Now release yourself. Woo. More oil, Lord, more oil. Come on, God can do it all the way. I see people even through this door into that lobby. The Lord’s touching you right now. Come on. The Lord’s touching you right now. That gentleman with a hat on, I just released the power of God right now. I just released the power of God. Breakthrough anointing be released to you right now to break through every barrier, every obstacle. Come on, the Lord will put a diamond in your forehead so that you break through every hard thing. Come on, we’ve got some people in this place that are about to break through this year. This is the time to break through. This is the time to step over. You’re gonna build momentum.
I don’t know why. Come on. As we get ready to close right now, I wanna release the oil of momentum. Some of you are inconsistent. Some of you start, stop, start, stop. And I believe the Lord wants to give you a grace for momentum. If you want to be consistent and that was for you, just come on, lift your hands and let me see you in this place. Father, right now, I thank you for diligence being released over them, consistency being released over them now, momentum building God in Jesus' name.
Activation of Tongues
Alright, right now, last thing I want to do. If you wanna receive the gift of the Spirit, some of you have been desiring to speak in tongues. If you wanna receive that or if you wanna receive more of the Holy Spirit, just lift your hands and let me pray for you briefly, and then we’re gonna close this service and make room for the next group of people that come in.
Every hand that’s lifted right now is a heart that’s desiring the gifts of God. And the Lord knows that it’s a holy desire. But I would be remiss if I talked about speaking in tongues and you left without an activation of that gift in your life. So I’m gonna count to three, and all across this place, we’re gonna pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We’re gonna pray for the gift of tongues, and we’re gonna just exercise that gift for a few moments. Are you ready? One, two, three.
Now, fresh wind, fresh fire, Holy Spirit baptize, Holy Spirit activate the gift of tongues. Come on, some of you just begin to speak it out right now as the Holy Spirit’s giving you utterance. Come on, just begin to release it right now. Come on, all over this place. Come on, let’s just celebrate what the Lord’s doing on the inside of you. Come on, just exercise that gift. It’s all right. Just take the next thirty seconds right now. Some of you are speaking in tongues for the very first time. Come on, be bold, be bold, be bold, be bold, bold, bold, bold, bold. Come on. Bold, bold. Come on. There is a river of living water that flows.“