Sarah Jakes Roberts - Blood, Sweat, and Fears (01/16/2026)
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Drawing from Jesus' agony in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:39–46, the preacher explores the high cost of stepping into one’s next level of destiny—requiring blood (sacrifice), sweat (earnest effort), and fears (facing terror)—as Jesus withdrew to pray intensely, surrendering His will despite agony. The core message is that true breakthrough demands separation from comfortable circles, earnest prayer amid struggle, and trust in God’s full-circle plan, where the place of greatest pain becomes the site of elevation and victory. Ultimately, embracing this costly process leads to supernatural strength, freedom from old limitations, and manifestation of God’s promises.
Opening and Title: Blood, Sweat, and Fears
I’m going to be speaking today from Luke 22, verse 39. At this point in the text, Jesus is making his way to the cross, and in his effort to do so, he’s having to shake some things up in his world. So today, I want to talk about the cost of breaking into the next dimension. I want to discuss the things that we must sacrifice in order to reach the next level, and why it’s important that we make those sacrifices. My topic for today, if I could have one, is «Blood, Sweat, and Fears.»
Opening Prayer
I want to take a moment to pray, and then we’ll jump right into the word:
Heavenly Father, these are your people; this is your word. May destiny collide in this moment in such a way that lives must be changed. May destiny collide in this moment in such a way that chains are broken, creativity is restored, lives are renewed, and your presence begins to saturate. I just welcome you into this place; take control of my voice. I surrender to you like never before, and I say, have your way. You have a word; you’ve predestined this moment, so let it manifest in my surrendered heart as your vessel. Take control of my words. In Jesus' name, amen.
Jesus on the Mount of Olives
So the text begins, and Jesus is making his way to the Mount of Olives, as he was accustomed to doing, and his disciples also followed him. This text was intriguing to me because, though Jesus knew that something inside him was about to change, he was still going through the motions with his disciples. It’s almost like when we recognize that something has shifted and changed in our lives, but we still try to fit into the circles we used to belong to, knowing full well that we’ve matured or that we’ve gained too much knowledge and awareness to fit in where we used to be. Yet, we’re not exactly sure how to step into the next dimension.
So, when we find Jesus in this text, he’s trying to continue the way he has been for the years of his ministry, with his disciples following behind him. In verse 40, it says, «And when he came to the place, he said to them, 'Pray that you may not enter into temptation.'» He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw. He withdrew himself from the circle he was once so comfortable in. I wondered why he would withdraw himself, considering he was on his way to the cross. He was on his way to the next dimension. It seemed like there would be a part of him that wanted to soak up all of the old times before he stepped into the new times. I mean, there was certainly a level of comfort that came with being with the disciples, yet for some reason, he withdrew himself.
Withdrawing to Teach Independence
I recognize that he did that intentionally because sometimes you have to teach people how to live without you. You see, some people can become so dependent on you being their resource that they cease to be resourceful for themselves. So when he tells them to «pray that you may not enter into temptation,» he’s trying to teach them to no longer be dependent on the fact that the presence is walking beside them, but they’re going to have to search for it a little bit harder than they had to in the past.
One of the things to recognize about the next dimension—the next level of your destiny in this new phase of your life—is that you’re going to have to have a hunger for God like never before. God doesn’t play hide and seek, but sometimes he moves from the place where you always found him so that he can see just how desperately you’re going to search for him in the next dimension. You see, the disciples had become comfortable; I mean, the way that you would become comfortable if Jesus was walking around with you every day. At a certain point, you would just know that if the rapture came—okay, so you know how you would wake up in the middle of the night and you couldn’t get a hold of anyone, and you just wonder for a slight second if the rapture had come and you were left behind, just a little bit? You see, if you were walking with Jesus the way the disciples were, there would be this level of comfort that no matter what was going on, because you had this instant connection with him, you didn’t have to worry like other people worried.
But Jesus was moving, and the disciples were following him. So, he withdrew himself a stone’s throw away—still within reach, but not exactly where he once was. Isn’t that what happens when destiny takes us to the next level? We’re still familiar to the people who knew us way back when, but we’re just a little bit out of reach—not out of reach in an arrogant way, but out of reach in a way that says, «I’ve elevated and evolved too much to go back to the foolishness I used to indulge in with you.» I’m not judging you; I’m just a stone’s throw away. You see, the problem with being a stone’s throw away from someone, though, is that it magnifies where they are. The more you grow, the more they realize how much they stayed the same. When you’re a stone’s throw away from someone, sometimes they throw stones your way because they don’t understand how you moved past them when you all started off in the same place.
Loyalty to Person vs. Purpose
So, every now and then, you have to withdraw yourself from the place where people are used to seeing you, to see if they are loyal to where you are or loyal to your purpose. You see, when people are loyal to who you are, they’re only loyal to who you are in this moment. They’re only loyal to who you are dysfunctionally right now. They’re only loyal to who you are as long as you aren’t being successful. But when they’re loyal to your purpose, that means that you can evolve and they’ll still go with you; that means that you can grow and they’ll still follow. The problem with destiny is that it separates the people who are loyal to who you are—loyal to your position—from those who are loyal to your purpose. And what a lonely road it is when we find out that the people who we thought we could count on the most were only loyal to us as long as we were suffering. Or better yet, they were only loyal to us as long as we were winning. But the moment things began to shift and turn in our lives—when it seemed like trouble was on the horizon—we couldn’t find them anymore, even though we were just a stone’s throw away.
Have you ever had the people you love the most take their hands off of you? This is a dark week where we find Jesus because he’s hit with the reality that soon enough he’s going to be on the cross, and that those around him who were loving him when he was doing the miracles and cheering him when they were saying «Hosanna,» would have to love him on the cross. Are people loyal to your praise, and can they be loyal to your cross? Can they be loyal to the nails in your hands when life gets too tough? When the car is repossessed or it doesn’t look like you got the gig, or when the check is a little late coming in, can they be loyal even when you’re on the cross? Can they be loyal when you’re broken and hurt on the inside, or do you become the joke for them, the next gossip, the rumor? Can they be loyal to you on your high days and your low days, or are you just committed to having company but not genuine relationships?
You see, because when you’re committed to having company, it doesn’t matter what they’re loyal to as long as you don’t look lonely; as long as you look like you have the likes, as long as you look like you have the followers. It doesn’t matter why they’re connected to you as long as you look well-connected. But the reality is, what I love about this text is that Jesus doesn’t even have all 12 disciples with him; he has only a select few. So, all of those of you who are thinking that you’re going to have to be very well-connected to get to the next dimension, and those of you who think you’re going to need to have this agent, and this bank account, and this audition call in order to go to the next level, I just want you to know that it’s really in the select few where God is able to do miracles. It’s really in the moments where it feels like you’ve got nothing to work with that God gets excited, because he’s ready to take that nothing and turn it into something.
What you need to realize is that the true beauty of life is in the nothing moments. The beauty is easy to find when you have everything, but when you have nothing, and it seems like there are so many reasons to give up, it’s when you choose to keep pressing toward the mark anyway that the real beauty lies. He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and he knelt down and prayed. Sometimes it just has to be you and your purpose. He knelt down and prayed; it was just him and God. Sometimes your purpose requires quiet moments with the Lord—moments where he can download things into your spirit that you then manifest when you’re with other people. But if you’re constantly surrounded by noise, how can you ever hear God’s voice? You’ve got to stop falling in love with distractions and learn to appreciate solitude.
Jesus' Prayer and Surrender
He knelt down and prayed, saying, «Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me.» So Jesus, I imagine, is holding this cup—this cup of destiny, this cup of promise, this cup of potential, this cup of possibilities in his hands. But he’s recognizing now that everyone is born with a cup, but very few do what it takes to actually manifest the contents of that cup. He realizes in this moment that the cost of holding this cup means that he’s going to have opposition—opposition that convinces him to quit; opposition that makes him feel inadequate; opposition that makes you feel like a failure before it teaches you success. Your cup is full of all these beautiful ingredients, but chief among them is your willingness to push past your insecurities.
Immediately after he says, «Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me,» he continues, «Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.» I just feel like somebody’s going to need to get «nevertheless» in their spirit if they’re going to go to the next dimension. And «nevertheless» means that if the plan doesn’t come to fruition the way I envisioned it, that’s okay, because nevertheless, I’m trusting that your will is more perfect than what I desired. You’re going to have to get a «nevertheless» in your spirit that says, «I didn’t need the audition; I didn’t need the relationship. If you stripped it away from me, it’s because you have something better for me.» So, «nevertheless, not my will, not my desires, not my dreams—nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.»
You see, we say this all the time, but the reality is that we cannot do his will while resenting the fact that our will didn’t come to fruition. Yeah, everyone wants to surrender, but the true beauty of surrender is when we completely let go of what we thought had to happen so that we can let God make things happen in our lives—"not my will, but yours be done.»
Strengthening and Agony
Verse 43 continues and says, «Then an angel appeared to him from heaven, strengthening him.» Hold right there. I was so excited because it was just a reminder to me that God answers our prayers the moment we put them in the air—that he answers them in such a way that an angel appears out of nowhere; that late in the midnight hour kind of praise, an angel appears out of nowhere right when we feel like we’re going to give up, right when we feel like we don’t have the strength to go on—that an angel appears.
An angel we can’t even see, but an opportunity that came out of nowhere appears and it strengthens us. It reminds us that he heard us. And then the next verse says, «And being in agony,» which I must admit was very confusing to me because it says that an angel appeared strengthening him, but in the next verse, it says he was in agony. Agony! The Greek word, when you translate it, means struggle. How could he be strengthened and struggling at the same time? How is it that we ask God to strengthen us, but we feel like we have more struggle than we had before we even asked for the prayer? Leading up to this verse, it says nothing about Jesus being in agony, but the moment that he tapped into Heaven’s resources, struggle started coming.
The moment that he tapped into Heaven’s resources and began to have Heaven backing him up, he started recognizing all of this struggle and opposition. Maybe the struggle that you thought was trying to convince you to quit was really warfare, trying to let you know that you’re on the right path; that you’re being strengthened even in the midst of the struggle. But for some reason, you saw your agony as a sign that you should quit. You saw the agony as a sign that maybe Jesus didn’t hear you, and so instead of rising to the occasion that purpose demanded, you stopped, and now you’re stagnant, sitting in the seat of the scornful.
But Jesus did something that shocked me because he prayed more earnestly. When the struggle came, instead of giving up, he recognized that for some reason, the struggle must be connected to the Word of God that was inside of him. He tapped into Heaven’s resources even more because he recognized that the struggle was a sign that he was on the right path. So he continued to pray more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood.
Sweat Like Drops of Blood
Then his sweat—that means he wasn’t playing around; he started going after that destiny with such focus, such clarity, and such vision that it started shaking up the inside of his body to the extent that it put it into shock, and sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. The sweat fell down to the ground; the sweat fell down to the ground. That means he was watering the seeds of his destiny with the sweat of his struggle. So, he didn’t have to be afraid when opposition came his way because sweat was hitting the ground. If there is not blood, sweat, and fear involved, it’s not destiny. If there’s not blood, sweat, and fear involved, it’s not destiny.
It’s too easy for you when God has something for you; he wants you to tap into it with such strength and such power that it costs you something; that you can’t even function the way you used to, that you can’t breathe the way you used to. For some reason, though, there’s something happening on the inside of you that has taken everything to manifest it. It’s going to take everything inside to manifest. You thought you were just going to move here and that it was going to come easy, that you were going to write out the vision and make it plain and it was just going to manifest. But God wants to know just how much work you’re willing to put into it with your faith.
He wants to know if you’ve got the blood, sweat, and fear it takes to tap into destiny. God wants to know how badly you want this thing. Are you willing to stay up all night and work for it? Are you willing to run up on people for it? Are you willing to break away from circles that keep you from manifesting it? Are you willing to break out of some boxes? Are you willing to say, «I know what you said I couldn’t do, but I serve a God who could said I could do exceedingly abundantly above all that I may ask or think,» and I’ve asked him for some big things. I’ve asked him for some big things because I know he’s a big God. Blood, Sweat, and Fears. Blood, Sweat, and Fears. If you’re not afraid of this thing, it’s not for you. If you’re not afraid of it, it’s not for you.
I have to tell you, when I first began speaking, I used a handheld because my hands would shake so badly that I didn’t want anyone to be able to tell how nervous I was. But there was something down deep inside of me that said that God had something for me and that my voice needed to be heard. And because I trusted that, I had to face my fear and do it anyway. I want to know how badly you want the vision that you came out here for. I want to know how badly you want the thing that you’re believing God for. I want to know if you have the hustle required to manifest that thing.
Can you hustle for it? Are you willing to communicate for it? You’re going to have to stop pretending like you’re too shy to ask for it. No, you’re going to have to start declaring that you are the next big thing because your God said that you can do all things through him, and so the impossible is nothing for you. The impossible excites you because when you know you’re working in the impossible, God has room to do anything in your life. I want to know if you’re willing to put the blood in it. I want to know if you’re willing to give up your life for this thing. I want to know if you’re willing to give up every misconception that you had about destiny in order to manifest this thing because it’s not going to come easy.
This thing ain’t easy; whatever your thing is. And don’t become so distracted looking at someone else’s thing that you forget to look at your own thing. Oh yeah, there’s a promise on your life, and promises have been kept inside of you from the day you were born. But now it’s time to break into that next dimension and to manifest that promise. But you’re not going to be able to sit back idly while it happens; you’re going to have to get in the game. You’re going to have to admit that you still want it. You’re going to have to admit that your greatest days are still ahead of you and not behind you; that you haven’t achieved your greatest accomplishment yet, that you haven’t achieved all that God has for you yet, that everything you’ve done up to this point was just a preview for what God was really going to do.
So if you enjoyed that show, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride because I won’t quit until I die empty. I want to know where my die-empty saints are in here. I want to know where my die-empty saints are here—that you’re not complacent, just sitting in the garden. But when God gives a directive, you’re going to follow suit. I want to know where the die-empty people are—every morsel of potential that is inside of you must be manifest. All things, all things are working together for your good, so it doesn’t even matter what it seems like will stop you. Because the reality is that God’s going to use even that to bless you.
Blood, Sweat, and Fears. Could you put my text back up for me? I want to show them one more thing. «And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.» When he rose up from prayer and had come to his disciples, he tried to go back to the same circle he once fit in. He found them sleeping from sorrow. This is a testimony to somebody that you’ve got to be careful about the people who can sleep on you in destiny moments. You’ve got to be careful about people who will count you out in destiny moments—who say, «Don’t worry about them; they’ve always thought they were all that. This is just another scheme, another plan.»
You’ve got to be careful about being connected to people who can sleep on you when God is moving on the inside of you. And verse 46 continues and says, «Then he said to them, 'Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation'"—which is the very first thing he said to them before he went off to pray. And I wondered to myself why it is that God made this circle; Jesus, rather, made this circle in communication in this text. Before he left the disciples, he told them to pray, lest they enter into temptation, and then when this portion of the text is closing, he says again, «Pray, lest you enter into temptation.»
Full-Circle God
It was a full-circle communication, and I thought, «Why would he repeat himself to them over and over? They already knew.» I mean, if I were Jesus and I came back, and they were asleep on me when I’m about to go to the cross, I would be lightweight upset, honestly. I’m the one going to the cross, and you all are asleep! But no, Jesus, gracious as he is—I need to stay off Instagram—comes and he has this full-circle communication with them. And then I realize that really, God speaks in circles anyway—that the seasons—winter, spring, summer, and fall—they’re all a circle, a cycle. The sun comes up and the sun comes down, and that’s a cycle. God speaks in circles.
So I wondered what the significance of the circle in this text was, and to really understand its significance, we would have to go to Acts. But I realized that the place where Jesus was in agony at the Mount of Olives, if we read a little further along in Acts, we would see that it’s also the place in which he ascended to heaven. And I realized that that too is a circle. But this time, the circle begins with agony and ends with being lifted up. So I wondered what that means to my family at 1 LA. I recognize that really what God is trying to tell us is that the place of your struggle is going to be a full-circle moment because it’s also going to be the place where God lifts you up and reminds you that the very thing that you thought was going to break you is actually the thing that he needed to propel you to the next dimension; that the place where you’re crying right now will ultimately be the place of your praise.
So do not be weary in well-doing because he’s a full-circle kind of God. He’s a full-circle kind of God—he sees and he knows, and that you’re not going through anything in vain. The very fact that he has entrusted this struggle to you is a sign of the strength that he believes exists inside of you. So you don’t have to be afraid anymore because we serve a full-circle God. Full circle, full circle—from February 26, I don’t speak on Sundays, to being a regular speaker in churches all over the world on Sundays. The girl who thought she couldn’t come to church because she got pregnant at 13 years old ends up helping lead a church!
Maybe we serve a full-circle God. That means that the fact that they told you «no» today is going to be laughable three months from now because he’s a full-circle God. And you’re going to look back on the people who slept on you and say, «You should have really stayed woke because you would have seen that I was coming up on you like a lion; that I was from the tribe of Judah. And God had invested something inside of me that the world was going to have to take note of.» So, I’m not afraid of this agony; don’t sleep on my situation. It may look like I’m losing right now, but he’s only pulling me back so he could shoot me forward.
I’ve never fell off; I’ve never given up. The hustle continues even when you don’t see it. I don’t have to post it on Instagram; you don’t have to see it on Facebook. All you’ve got to do is sit back and watch, baby, because I’m coming for you because God has placed something down on the inside of me that’s going to demand all of your attention. I don’t need your likes; I don’t need your validation. All I need is a God fighting for me that says all things—all things—all things are possible for me. So even when it looks like the impossible is taking place in my life, I’m excited because I know that it’s really not impossible.
It may be impossible for you; it may have been impossible for them. But because God said it was possible for me, it’s within reach. So watch me stretch myself, watch me have some blood, sweat, and face my fears in order to manifest what God is doing in my life. I dare you to praise God like you’ve already come full circle. I dare you to praise God like somebody, somewhere is writing your name down. I dare you to praise God like your name is being talked about in rooms that you can’t even get into. I wish you would praise God like your destiny is ten steps ahead of you. I wish you would praise God like it’s already done; like the thing you’ve been praying about is already done. I wish you would praise God like relationships have been mended, like restoration is coming, like generational curses have been broken.
I wish you would praise God like no weapon, like no weapon formed against you shall prosper. I wish you would praise God until breakthrough happens—like your breakthrough depends on your praise, like your breakthrough depends on your worship, like your breakthrough depends on your surrender, like your breakthrough depends on your sacrifice. Breakthrough right now in the name of Jesus! I declare breakthrough over these, your sons and daughters. I see ceilings breaking right now; I see doors being opened right now. I see you climbing in the windows you had no business in. I see you building houses for your mothers; I see you getting your family out of debt. I see breakthrough happening right now in the name of Jesus! Right now in the name of Jesus! You’re right on the edge of a breakthrough! You’re right on the edge of a breakthrough! You’re right on the edge of a breakthrough!
Your praise is pushing back the doors right now! Your praise is pushing back the doors right now! Heaven’s resources are backing you up right now because you’ve learned how to open your mouth and say, «God, I need you like never before! God, I want you like never before!» Your resources right now are coming; opportunities are being aligned right now. You are not a failure! I rebuke the spirit of failure right now in the name of Jesus! Right now in the name of Jesus! Right now in the name of Jesus!
Can I hear you say Jesus? Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Chains are being broken at the mention of his name! Demons are bowing down at the mention of his name! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! The power of Jesus will help you pass that test. He is the name above all names! And when he had an opportunity to pass this cup, he held on to it and drank from it so that you could have the strength to do the same. Your brokenness has already been taken into account. He knows exactly who you are; he knows how imperfect you are; he knows how unworthy you think you are, yet he has still called you higher.
The name of Jesus will break the yoke; the name of Jesus will open the doors; the name of Jesus will light up the kingdom like never before! The name of Jesus—that’s what you need! I feel like you’ve been looking for agents, you’ve been looking for opportunities, you’ve been looking for your name to be on a VIP list. Your VIP list is in heaven! Your VIP list is in heaven, and the guy guarding the door, his name is Jesus! And he wants to know, do you know his name? He wants to know, do you trust his name? He wants to know, do you believe his name?
He’s a full-circle Jesus! He’s a full-circle Jesus! And something is about to shift in your life; something is about to shift in your life; something is about to shift in your life. Something is about to shift in your life! I wish I could say it better, but all I know is something is about to shift in your life. Transformation is about to happen in your life; evolution is about to happen in your life; revolution is about to happen in your life; chains are going to be broken in your life right now! You’re going to be lifted up; he’s going to pull you out of that depression; he’s going to pull you out of those dark places. Something is about to happen in your life, and all God wants to know is if you can praise him in the dark days so that he can trust you with the highlight days.
Can you praise him in the darkness? Can you praise him when you can’t see your way through? Can you praise him when it looks like the odds are against you? Can you be faithful over a few things? Can you be faithful when your car is repossessed? Can you be faithful when you’ve got the Bentley? Can you be faithful when you get the mansion? It all depends on now; it all depends on now; it all depends on now! My God, somebody in this room just realized that God is not finished with them! My God, somebody in this room just came running back to you! My God, somebody just woke from their slumber! My God, somebody’s praying that they may not enter into temptation! My God, somebody sees breakthrough happening over their lives! My God, somebody just broke through! Breakthrough was not coming; somebody just broke through to the next dimension! Somebody just pushed their way out of darkness! Somebody just pushed their way out of despair! Somebody just said, «Hell, let me go!»
Somebody just said, «Do you know who I am?» Somebody just said, «I am the righteousness of God!» Somebody said that he picked me up and placed my feet on solid ground. Somebody just woke up! Somebody just woke up! Hallelujah! Somebody just woke up and they came to themselves! And they came to themselves and they didn’t have to pretend any longer, and they didn’t need a facade any longer because they realized that in their authenticity, they are more than enough! You think you’re weird; you think you’re different; you think you’re strange. You are—and that’s why he’s been setting you aside for your entire life! You were never made to fit in; you were always meant to be set apart. So you don’t have to resent your struggle any longer, because in your struggle, God is strengthening you.
Altar Call and Declaration
I want to call down to the altar those who need to believe that God is a full-circle God. For those who have been struggling to believe that strength is taking place in their agony, and you may be thinking to yourself, «There are too many of us; I’m going to stay in my seat.» But when you walk away from the place of where you used to be and into the supernatural promise of who God has called you to be, it sends notice to the devil that you won’t be able to hold me down any longer! We move out of our seats as a sign to the enemy that I’m breaking through! So I just want to see people moving from all over this room, from all over this building, from the place where they used to be into the promise of who God has called them to be! Flood the aisles! Flood the lobby! Do whatever is necessary to walk away from who you used to be!
I declare freedom right now in the name of Jesus! Freedom right now in the name of Jesus! Liberty right now in the name of Jesus! You’re more than a conqueror; your best days are ahead of you! Your hey days are not behind you! Something different is taking place in your life! Something that’s going to shake up this nation! Something that’s going to shake up this world! You’re called to this city because you were meant to change the world, and now is your time to begin acting like the world changers you are! And you’re going to have to break off some friendships, and you’re going to have to break off some relationships, because they’re only loyal to you as long as you’re struggling, or as long as you’re handing them things! You need to get some people who are loyal to your destiny around you—people who understand that there is a call on your life, and part of their role in your life is to protect that mission.
That’s what I love about the pastor—that he’s called to protect the purpose that’s on the inside of us. And I just believe that we’re going to press into something when we pray, that all of heaven is going to back up, and because heaven is backing us up, you’re not going to walk out of here the same way; that you’re going to walk out of here knowing that there is an angel whose hand is on your shoulder—that it’s protected from car accidents, diseases, and all of these bullets, all of the violence, and all of the jail cells, and all of the addictions, and all of the drug uses—that some kind of way, when you should have been dead and in your grave, there was an angel!
Hold your head up high! Dream again! Create again! Believe that all things are possible for you again! I declare it right now in the name of Jesus! These are our visionaries! Open your eyes, sons and daughters! Open your eyes, sons and daughters! There’s a world out here for you to change, and you can’t do it with your head held down!