Sarah Jakes Roberts - Power Moves (01/16/2026)
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In this sermon titled «Power Moves,» the preacher explores 2 Kings 2, focusing on King Ahaziah’s inquiry to a false god after injury and Elijah’s prophetic confrontation, where fire from heaven consumes two groups of fifty soldiers sent against him, while the third captain humbly submits. The key message is that God-empowered «power moves"—bold, faith-driven actions that disrupt systems and structures—lead to confrontation with opposition, revelation of one’s potential and authority, and confrontation of personal fears. The conclusion urges believers to embrace their identity as men and women of God, trusting His voice for unstoppable Kingdom advances that exalt Him, even amid insecurity or vulnerability.
Introduction to Power Moves
One church is such an incredible community that I don’t take it lightly, even though I’m honored to be a member here. I thank you for trusting me with this platform, and I honor you, the priest of this house. My topic for tonight is going to be power moves because I believe that we’re ready to start making moves—moves that don’t always make sense to those around us; moves that shake up systems and shake up structures. Because of that power I was talking about earlier, we’re ready to get ahead of the curve.
We’ve been prophetically speaking about God equipping us to go into rooms and to go into meetings and places where we really shouldn’t have any business. We don’t have the degrees, we don’t have the experience, but for some reason, God has aligned us in this season to start making power moves. As I was preparing for my message, I found something in 2 Kings 2 that I think, if you would allow me, I submit for your consideration; God may have a word.
Ahaziah’s Injury and False God
Now Isaiah fell through the ice of his upper room in Samaria and was injured. So he sent messengers and said to them, «Go inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.» Before we move to verse three, I want to tell you how odd it is that the king of Israel would be inquiring of a false god about his healing. You see, he already knows who God is, but for some reason, his brokenness had him looking at other gods. I wanted to judge; I really, really did, because judging is like my thing. I could find something wrong with anything. But then I realized the times in my life when my brokenness had me looking for false gods instead of going to the God who I knew could really fix me. You see, there are times in life when we become so broken that we want to find a god we can touch, as opposed to trusting a God we cannot see. These gods come in all different shapes and sizes; sometimes you find them at the club, and sometimes you find them at the workplace. But one way or another, we find false gods to help us cope with brokenness.
So now the king of Israel, in verse two of this text, is looking for a false god. Verse three continues, and it says, «But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah.» At the same time that one person was looking for a false god, another person was having an encounter with the real God. That’s important for you to recognize because you’ll think that everyone is moving at the same pace as you, but in reality, some people are moving but aren’t going anywhere. You can’t confuse busyness with productivity because some of us have full calendars, and it looks like we’re making power moves, but really…
Elijah’s Confrontation
But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, «Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? '» Something for you to recognize about power moves is that power moves are going to create confrontation. Elijah continues, and it says, «Now therefore thus says the Lord: you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.» So Elijah departed. Elijah has an encounter with the angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord says, «I want you to go down and meet a group of messengers, and when you meet them,» if you go back to verse three, because I want to say it verbatim, he says, «I want you to tell them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel? '» I want you to confront the fact that they’re searching for all the wrong things.
If your power moves don’t cause confrontation, there may not be power moves at all. You see, because God is going to put you in the types of positions where you begin to make moves that break up systems and structures, the good old boy clubs and networks—where you have to know someone to get in the room. He’s going to break all of that stuff up when He gives you the word that He’s given you. That’s why it’s important for you to know that you’ve got a word from God because, when that confrontation comes, you may be twisted into thinking that you should back up when really God is calling you to go forward.
In verse four, it continues: verse five rather says Elijah departed. And this is where things get really good because they go back to the king and they tell the king, «When the messengers returned to him, he said to them, ‘Why have you come back? ’» Because he had sent you to go do something, and he knew that what he sent them to do should have taken a bit longer than it did. In verse six, it continues, and they said, «Look, here, king. On the way to the road that you had told us to go, we ran into a man. A man came up to meet us and he said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you.’» How is it that Elijah had more authority in that moment than the king who had directed them to do something in the first place? I hear God saying that He’s going to give you the type of authority that changes the tide—a type of authority where people shouldn’t be listening to you, but for some reason, they’re sitting at your feet, soaking up wisdom.
You’ve got to make sure you’re ready when it’s time to make power moves because, when you have power moves, you have influence— influence over the way other people think. That’s why you’ve got to be careful who you give your power to because, when you recognize the power that’s working on the inside of you, there are going to be people drawn to your light who don’t know how to respect it. There are going to be people drawn to your light who don’t know how to honor it.
So they said to him, «A man came up to meet us and said to us, ‘Go return to the king who sent you and say to him, thus says the Lord: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore, you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.» His messengers are telling him, «I know you were wondering if you were going to make it out of this thing, and we got a word from the Lord that says, evidently, the way that fall was set up, it’s not looking good for you.»
In verse seven, it continues: «Then he said to them, ‘What kind of man was it who came up to meet you, who broke up my system and told you these words? What kind of man is it that broke up what I was trying to do? What kind of person is it that went into the audition for one extra role and came out with the starring role? What kind of man is it that went into a business meeting for one thing and came out ready to own the company? ’» You’ve got to start expanding your mind in such a way that people start asking, «What kind of man is it that you just had an encounter with? What kind of woman is it?» If you were in an atmosphere and people don’t leave talking about you, then you left nothing in the room.
This isn’t the kind of season where we can afford to just be flies on the wall; we’ve got to leave some type of impression in the room that makes people say, «What kind of person was that? I just had an encounter with? What was that I just experienced? What kind of man was it who came up to meet you and told you these words?» In verse eight, it continues, and says, «So they answered him, ‘A hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist.’» I tried to find something so deep and spiritual about this part, but I guess my antenna wasn’t working that well because I’m not sure what his fashion had to do with it. But I will say that he just had a little bit of information about who he was, but instantly he knew it was Elijah the Tishbite. Just a little bit of information— a hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist—but could it be that his reputation had preceded him? That so many people were talking about what he was doing that when he walked into a room, he needed no introduction?
I wonder if we could begin to start doing the type of work that when we walk into a room, we don’t even have to introduce ourselves because our work has gone ahead of us, our spirit has gone ahead of us, our connections have gone ahead of us. And so we get to come in, and they have to introduce themselves to us because you already know what it is.
The King’s Insecurity and Soldiers
In verse nine, it continues: «Then the king sent him a captain, then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men.» So the king was so insecure about the word he received that he started sending people after Elijah, the prophet.
It’s important for you to recognize this because I need you to understand that what you’re about to do—what God has for you—when you step into alignment, when you finally get into the proper position, it is going to create insecurities in other people. And out of their insecurity, they’re going to start sending rumors or distractions to chase you down because they’re trying to scare you out of alignment. They’re trying to make you feel that loneliness is not worth the cost of destiny. They’re going to make you feel that you can’t afford the cost of moving forward. They’re going to send a captain of fifty with his fifty men.
So he went up to him, and there he was, sitting on the top of a hill. I love that he was sitting on the top of a hill because you would think that if you see a captain with fifty men coming after you, you would not hide because you know we ain’t never scared. But like, find a tree big enough to just block the shade. For some reason, he was sitting on the top of a hill, ready. He spoke to him, «Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down! ’»
So Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, «If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.» And the verse tells us that fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. I think God wants somebody to know that you’ve been fighting the fifty men when you should have just been hanging onto the word that God gave you and just tapped into that man of God mentality or that woman of God mentality.
If I am who God says I am, then I don’t even have to deal with this; God is going to take care of it for me. I hear God saying that some of you have been fighting the wrong battle; that it’s not about the captains, it’s not about the systems, it’s not about the corporations; it’s about whether or not you’re the man or woman of God you’ve been saying you are. You come into one church, you worship, but do you worship when it’s time for confrontation? Do you worship when the warriors start coming up against you? Do you worship when all odds are against you, and it doesn’t look like you’re going to make it? Can you worship in the face of adversity?
If you are a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven. If you say, «I can’t have the job, ” then let fire come down from heaven and create a new way. If you say, „I’ve got to move out, ” then let God open up another door. If you say, „This is over, ” then God is going to open up another door. If you say, „This is the end, ” God said it’s the beginning. If you say, „I am a man of God, ” if you say, „I am a woman of God…“ That’s right! You’ve got to see in verse nine that it was like the captain was trying to be a little funny when he said, „Ah, man of God, the king has come.“
You’re not my king! He says, „Man of God, the king has said…“ I answered to one man and one man alone. And if I am a man of God, then your king doesn’t matter. If I am a man of God, then your corporations, your systems, your structures, your no’s, your negativity, your rumors, your opinions—they don’t matter. If I am a man of God, then no devil in hell has been formed yet; no weapon could ever prosper against me. If I am a man of God, then bring your best shot and watch fire rain down from heaven over that situation that’s stopping you. Watch fire rain down from heaven over that obstacle that you think is standing in your way.
Fire from Heaven Twice
Verse ten, then verse eleven says, „Then he sent to him another captain of fifty.“ I’m country where I’m from, they said you don’t believe fat meat is greasy. So the king said, „Okay, you burned up those, but I’m going to send another, because maybe that was just an off situation; maybe something was wrong.“ Because surely if I sent a captain and fifty men, they should have come back. But the king, so insecure, so afraid that his position could be easily taken from him, sent another captain of fifty with his fifty men.
He answered and said to him, „Man of God, thus has the king said, ‘Come down quickly.’“ So Elijah answered and said to them, „If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.“ And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men. Two times in a row! That means it doesn’t matter how many times the odds have been stacked against you; just because God got you through last time doesn’t mean that your grace is over. That’s another opportunity! That means you need to let your haters know, „Try me if you want to, but you better get a fire extinguisher because when my God gets finished with me, anything could happen to you. Touch not the anointed because I just stepped into something; I just tapped into my anointing. And you can tell me no, but you better learn to say it nicely because if I didn’t like what happened here, the God who was on my side will go into battle for me.“
Two times the fire of God came down. Yeah, just like that! Just like that! Send your best shot, just like that.
The Third Captain’s Humility
And verse thirteen continues, „Again, he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty.“ The third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and pleaded with him and said to him, „Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.“
Somebody’s going to have to change the way they’re talking to you; somebody who was talking to you like you were the tail is going to have to start speaking to you like you are the head. Somebody’s going to have to put some respect on your name. Somebody’s going to have to start talking to you like the child of God you are. People have been sleeping on you; they’ve been holding you down. But I came here tonight to tell you they’re about to recognize that you are a child of God. And because you are a child of God, there’s a certain protocol when you approach me; there’s a certain protocol when I go after something.
You can tell me no, but you better figure out how to say it! You’re going to have to tell people, „You must not know who I am.“ You’re going to have to forgive people in advance because some people are going to come up to you and they’re not going to recognize that they’re not just talking to you—they’re talking to the God in you. So you’re going to have to forgive them in advance for sleeping on you, for telling you that you weren’t going to make it, for telling you that you weren’t good enough, for telling you that you weren’t talented enough. You’re going to have to forgive them in advance because God needs you to recognize that the day is going to come when someone looks at you and sees you.
The day is going to come when you have relationships that reflect the God in you, not the insecurities around you. The day is going to come when your finances start reflecting your giving. The day is going to come when opportunities are so endless you have to turn them down, not chase them down. The day is going to come when your gift begins to make room for you among great people. The day is coming! The day is coming when you start making power moves—God moves.
Some of you have been in this thing on your own, trying to create your own strategies and your own plans, and I’m here to tell you it’s time for real power moves—not Instagram moves, not moves for likes, not moves for followers. I mean Kingdom moves. I mean light-chasing-darkness kind of moves. I mean the kind of moves where a captain comes up on you and says, „Spare my life! Let me be a part of what you’re doing. How can I serve your vision? What can I do to give to what God is doing inside of you?“
The captain says, „Please, let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. Please vouch for me.“ You’re going to have the power; some of you are looking for someone to vouch for you, and God isn’t going to send anyone because He wants you to vouch for someone who looks like you. Once you’re in the proper position, you’re going to look at someone who was just like you and say, „I got you, ” because I know what it’s like to need someone and no one show up.
But first, He’s got to put the need down on the inside of you; He’s got to put the pain down on the inside of you so that your purpose can be manifest. In verse fourteen, it continues; it says, „Look, this is what the captain said.“ I love it! He said, „Look, the fire has come down from heaven and burned up the first two captains.“ He said, „Listen, Linda! Fire is coming down from heaven, and it’s burned up the first two captains of fifty with their fifties! But let my life now be precious in your sight.“ He said, „I want to be on your side. I want to be on your team. I see what you’re doing; I see God is doing something in your life.“
God wants me to tell you that what’s happening in your life is going to be like a magnet; you’re going to begin attracting people to you. You’re going to be able to attract influence and opportunities to you, and people are going to be bowing at your feet, asking you how they can be precious in your sight. What can I do to be in your favor? What can I do to tap into what God is doing in your life?
But let my life now be precious in your sight.
Do Not Be Afraid
In verse fifteen, it continues: „And the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.’“ This was very interesting to me because up until that point, we had seen fire coming down from heaven. I didn’t understand why the angel of the Lord would say to Elijah, „Do not be afraid.“ I’m going to tell you right now, if I could get fire to come down from heaven, it’s not a whole lot I would be afraid of.
But for some reason, the next power move that Elijah would have to make would require vulnerability because God didn’t want him to start counting on the fire coming down from heaven. He wanted to know if you could still hear my voice, even in acceleration. Can you still hear my voice? Even when I show you your potential? Power moves manifest your potential. Power moves open up your eyes to things you didn’t even think were possible for you. Power moves show you that you came here to act, but you really are a producer—that you came here to be an assistant, but God really needed you to run the company. That you came here for one thing, that you’re not just a waitress; that you’re actually a director.
I need you to see how much it takes to bring things together, that God is going to use everything for your good. „Go down with him; do not be afraid.“ Why would he be afraid unless power moves confront your fears? If the power moves don’t make you begin to question your fears and anxiety, then you’re riding off the high of success when you need to be searching for the insecurities that come with power moves. You see, some of you have been thinking that you were going to make it to a certain level and it would be smooth sailing.
But in reality, God needs you to know that if you’re going to continue to go from glory to glory to glory, these power moves are going to make you afraid. They’re going to make you question yourself. They’re going to make you wonder if you really have what it takes. It’s going to make you ponder if your plan was too crazy and too far-fetched to begin with. Power moves confront your fears, and you can’t count on the success you had in the past. The only thing you can count on is the voice of God.
You see, because the angel of the Lord is what gave him the authority to go down with him and to not be afraid. So he arose and went down with him to the king, and then he said to the king, „Thus says the Lord: Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore, you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.“ It was the same message that he told the messengers on the road in the first place.
This is interesting because some of you have been wondering if you can lose your core when you make your power moves. You’re wondering if you’re still going to be sharp enough, good enough, and creative enough when you make it to the next level. If you were just good for one arena, but not actually good for the next arena. These power moves are making you wonder if your message is really special.
But Elijah had the same message for the king as he had for the messengers. His core remained the same even in the midst of trials and tribulations. What we do here from week to week is not about you getting Grammys or Oscars or bonuses or salaries; it’s about making sure you have the same core message when you’re with the messengers and when you’re with the king.
Altar Call: Inspecting Our Cores
If you stand with me as I prepare to close because I want to confront some cores in this room, I want to confront some misconceptions, issues, and insecurities that come with making power moves.
If you don’t have to leave, please stay. Could you put my list on the screen, please? Because I want you all to recognize the three things that power moves lead to. See, we’re often used to making power moves as decisions, but the type of power that I’m talking about moving inside of you is the power of God working down on the inside of you. And I need you to know that as His power moves, it’s going to move you to some confrontations, it’s going to move you to your potential, and it will also move you to your fears.
I just happen to believe that there are some people in this room who have been wondering if they have what it takes to really let power move through them. To finally come to a place where they take their hands off of their life and they stop trying to create strategies, and trying to create opportunities, but to trust God in such a way that He can move through you. What I love about this text is that one could say that Elijah should stay in his lane, that what was going on really didn’t have anything to do with him.
But he didn’t recognize that as long as God was telling him to do it, he was in his lane. That means that as long as God is your driving force, there is no such thing as your lane; there’s only what the voice of God told you to do. That means you don’t have to be relegated to only being one thing; you can do as many things as God says you can do. So you don’t have to answer your critics about why you’re doing this now or why you’re doing that now. Everybody’s not going to understand your power moves.
But if you don’t understand them, if you don’t understand your power moves, if you don’t understand what God is doing in your life and why He’s doing it, then you leave your life susceptible to other people’s influence, direction, and guidance. That’s why we’ve got to get your core right. And we want to have a moment at this altar where we take a moment to inspect our cores. It’s easy to say Amen in this room, but when you’re given the choice outside of this room to choose fear over faith, to choose toxic relationships over loneliness, to choose a higher paycheck in exchange for your integrity or your morality; to place yourself on auction when God has been trying to reserve you, when you have those opportunities outside of this room, I need to know that you’re going to make power moves.
And the beauty of this room is that the Amens echo, which is a sign that you’re not the only one who struggled with making power moves in the past. That you’re not the only one who’s had to take a moment to figure things out for yourself and to ask God to help you center yourself again. There are some of you in here who’ve known for quite a long time that there are certain things you need to be doing in your life, but you were afraid that it would take you out of your comfort zone, that it would isolate you, that you would lose friends, that you would lose relationships, that you would begin to look weird, that you would have to quit your job, that you would have to get a job.
I don’t know your life; I’m just saying that some of you have been holding back your progress, trying to negotiate with God. And I’m here to tell you that He hasn’t changed His mind about you, but He’s waiting to see if He can trust you with fire. Can I trust you with the type of fire that makes you untouchable to your enemies? Can I trust you with fire and then trust you to go into areas where people may not like you? Can I trust you with fire like Elijah and then trust you to follow a captain who could easily overtake you?
Can you trust the hedge of protection that I’ve had over you? Some of you need to recognize that that hedge of protection has been there your entire life. But I really do believe that as we step into 2017, which Pastor has told us over and over again is going to be the year of alignment, that alignment is going to be less about finding God and more about finding you. That it’s going to be more about you making the types of decisions that bring you into alignment, regardless of who you lose and what you lose in the process.
Some of you are going to have to start from ground zero because everything you’ve built up until this point was false and it’s shiny, and it looks good, and it gets lots of likes, but you’ve lost your soul in the process. Those are not power moves if it causes you to lose your own power, your own confidence, your own grace, wisdom, and strength. Those are not power moves. I’m here to offer you the kind of power that takes you from the back of the classroom to the front of the classroom; that takes you from being the tail and makes you the head; that makes you stand out a little bit.
But ultimately, it’s only so that God can be exalted. I want to offer you the kind of power that says you don’t need the degree; you don’t need the connections; you don’t need the experience. All you need is a word from me. You don’t have to hustle your way up on a blessing; I’ve got blessings stored up for you in heaven. I just need you to come into the kind of alignment where you truly begin to believe that all things are possible for you. If this message is speaking to you and you know that you’ve had some issues with your core, you don’t have to wait for us to invite you down.
As a matter of fact, I would dare say that if you would begin to step out of that comfort zone, that if you would begin to admit that you need God to help you, that as you’re walking this way, that He’s going to meet you. That as He sees your feet moving, that His voice is drawing out plans for you in heaven. God’s been waiting on a sign that you’re ready; that you heard Him and that you’re ready to move and that you don’t care what you lose in the process because you want to start going into rooms and saying, „If I am a man of God, if I am a woman of God, then let this opportunity be for me! If I am a woman of God, then let this relationship work out. If I am a woman of God, then strip away anything in me that’s not of you.
If I am a woman of God, then let your light shine through me in such a way that the world takes notice. If I am a man of God, then let weapons start dropping right now in the name of Jesus. If I am a man of God, then let fire breathe down from heaven on anyone that would dare come up against my destiny. If I am a man of God, pave the way; order my steps! I want to tap into my heavenly identity. I want to tap into who God has called me to be. I want to know—I want to know who I am. I want to know what I’m capable of. I want to know that there’s power down on the inside of me. I want to know that I’m more than my mistakes, that I’m more than what happened to me, that I’m more than these curses that I thought were around me.
I want to know that I am a man or woman of God. I want to know that there’s more to life than what’s hurt me. God, I want to know that there’s more to life than what’s in my bank account and what’s on my Instagram feed. I want to know that there’s something deeper waiting for me, and I’m ready to turn my life over like never before so that I can make the type of power moves that build monuments for God, not for people to look at. That’s right—not for people to approve of, not that make my flesh feel good, but make my spirit weak.
I want to make the kind of power moves that says when life is shaky, I know on the solid rock I stand. I’m going to ask Pastor to pray into this, and I don’t want you to think just because the altar is full that you don’t have to come, because surely the prayer is going to reach you there. But I’m telling you, there’s something about moving. There’s something about moving. There’s something about getting out of your seat. There’s something about a power move when you’ve been making life moves, when you’ve been making world moves, when you’ve been making flesh moves. There’s something about a power move that says, „Devil, you can’t hold me down no more!“ Negativity, you have no place in my life! Depression, you have no place in my life!
Right now, when you move into this altar, I hear you rebuking the devourer of the enemy. I hear you rebuking anything that would come up against you. When you came down to this altar, I heard chains breaking down in hell. I heard generational curses breaking. I heard destiny happening. I heard doors opening, opportunities being created for you. Some of you have been wondering how you’re going to fit into certain situations, and God wants you to know, „I’m going to create a situation just for you!“