Don’t Forget, Stay Faithful, and Watch God Move | Reset: The Power of Prayer & Fasting (Part 04)

Good morning and welcome. We're glad you joined us. Welcome to Church Houses Online. Would you stand? Let's sing His praises this morning. Come on. Sing praise, we're surrounded. His praise is the water. My enemies surrounded. As long as I'm breathing, I've got a reason to praise the Lord. Oh my soul. Sing praise. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul. I'll praise when I feel it. And I'll praise when I don't. I'll praise because I know that you're still in control. My praise is a weapon. Oh, it's more than a sound. My praise is the shout. My praise is the shout. And I'll bring Jericho down. And as long, as long as I'm breathing, I've got a reason to praise the Lord. Oh my soul. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul. No, I won't be quiet. My body is alive. How could I keep it inside? I'll praise the Lord.

Oh my soul. Oh my soul. Come on, we break His praise loud today. We praise because He's good. We praise because He reigns. Let's flip this up. Sing I'll praise. I'll praise because you're sovereign. Praise cause you reign. I'll praise because you're faithful. Praise cause you're true. Praise because there's nobody greater than you. I'll praise cause you're sovereign. And you reign! And I'll praise cause you're faithful. Praise cause you're true. Praise cause there's nobody greater. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. My soul will praise. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. I'll praise the Lord, oh my soul. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. No, I won't. No, I won't be quiet, my God is alive. I won't, I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I? No, I won't be quiet. I won't be quiet, my God is alive. I praise the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul.

Oh, I praise the Lord, I praise the Lord, yeah. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh my soul, oh my soul. Come on, we praise God for all He's done, amen? The truth is, He does exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask, think, or imagine. The breath in our lungs is more than we deserve. Jesus, we thank you for being so good. We just declare this morning, you've done so much more and you're worthy of our worship, our praise. We sing. I wouldn't have a beginning if you didn't breathe in my lungs. And I would have no rhyme or reason if you didn't give me a song. And I would be dead in my sinning, wandering around in the dust, but you wrapped me up. Imperfect love and it would have been enough But you did more, so much more And I can't deny, I'm still asking Why my King left His throne for me But you did more, so much more I can't comprehend, it doesn't make sense Why you saved a wretch like me But you did more, so much more And I wouldn't know where I'm going If you didn't guide every step And I would have no hope for heaven If you didn't call me your friend And I would have no foundation

And I'd build upon the same But you set my feet upon a rock And it would have been enough But you did more, thank you God For so much And I can't deny, I can't deny I'm still asking why my King left His throne for me But you did more, so much more I can't comprehend, it doesn't make sense Why you saved a wretch like me But you did more, so much more And I wouldn't know where I'm going If you didn't guide every step And I would have no hope for heaven If you didn't call me your friend And I wouldn't know where I'm going But you did more, so much more If you gave your life, what a sacrifice It would have been enough, but you did more If you rose again, conquered death and sin It would have been enough, but you did more If you saved my soul, made my heart your home It would have been enough, but you did more If you set me free, won my victory It would have been enough, but you did more If you gave your life, what a sacrifice It would have been enough, but you did more If you rose again, conquered death and sin It would have been enough, but you did more If you saved my soul, made my heart your home

It would have been enough, but you did more If you set me free, won my victory It would have been enough, but you did more So much more And I can't deny, oh I can't deny I'm still asking why my life is over me But you did more, so much more I can't comprehend, it doesn't make sense Why you saved the rest like me But you did more So much, you did more So much, we thank you for more So much, more than we deserve More So much more God, You're so worthy, You're so good, so faithful You are worthy of it all Come on, tell them today You are worthy of it all All You've done, all You're gonna do For from You are all things And to You are all things You deserve Just for being who You are, God, You're worthy Come on, sing You are worthy of it all Oh, we sing our song You are worthy of it all For from You are all things And to You are all things You deserve The glory, come on, we sing it again

Tell them He's worthy You are worthy of it all Yes, You are You are worthy of it all For from You are all things And to You are all things You deserve The glory, You deserve our worship Because You are worthy of it all You are worthy of it all For from You are all things And to You are all things You deserve The glory, come on, lift your voices one more time and sing You are worthy of it all Oh, You are worthy of it all Yes, You are For from You are all things And to You are all things You deserve the glory Come on, if you believe He deserves the glory Give Him glory this morning, give Him praise Thank you, God He's worthy, He's worthy, He's worthy of our worship He's just getting started this morning So before we move on, before we take a seat Why don't you greet those around you today Welcome them to this place Prayer is the active, living relationship of being intimately connected with the God of the universe It is the cornerstone of relationship It's communication, it's actually talking and hearing from Him

When you pray, you are communicating with God And you are letting Him know how much you love Him Open your mouth, have that conversation with God Hello Jesus, You are my rock of ages You're the words on living pages You're my deliverer in times of fear You're my hope in times of fear Church, give Jesus the glory today, would you please He is so worthy, isn't He? He is so worthy There's so much expectation, so much celebration of days ahead of what God is doing I want to celebrate several things with you First of all, in this month of prayer and fasting 9,000 of you opted in to get the prayer prompts every day 9,000 people praying in the same way, on the same day I'm so excited to see what God is doing What that tells me is this church is hungry for a move of God That's what happens when we pray This month of prayer and fasting, leading up to this week of Revive It's going to be a very special week I want to celebrate this also with you Last week was tip your city Guys, I'm telling you, what I love about our church today is your generosity, you are a living proof of a loving God I'm telling you, I get emails every year when we do this of the way you have blessed your servers on that day especially I just want to say thank you for repping Jesus really, really well The last thing I want to celebrate is

as soon as I get done with this service right here, right now I'm jetting up 435 North for the launch of our Northland Campus today Today is the day And so by the time most of you hear this sermon, even those of you in Lee's Summit, you'll be watching me on the screen today because I'm preaching live today at the Northland Campus lunch. What an exciting, exciting day. This is show and tell. Anybody remember show and tell? Okay, consider this today. Show and tell in Sunday school, okay? This brick. You say, Phil, why did you bring a brick? Well, I'm gonna show it to you and I'm gonna tell you why. It's show and tell. If you were to go to my office that I have spent a lot of my life in for the last 20 plus years, in the admin building, you would see a random brick, this brick, sitting on my desk. And to the average person, it just looks like an old brick. It's worthless. Why does Phil have a brick on his desk?

Here's why I keep this brick on my desk. This brick is a brick that I salvaged off our very first worship space, an old broken down brick building, a former kingdom hall, where our church began 26 years ago. And as we were turned down that old broken down kingdom hall that we began, and we were never Jehovah's Witness, by the way, it was just a building. Okay, just a building. I salvaged this brick because I never wanna forget what God has done. I never wanna forget where we have come from. I never wanna forget that we're still just that little church and that little broken down brick building, desperate for a move of God, just trying to keep the doors open another Sunday. I never wanna forget that this church was born out of adversity and desperation, and the Holy Spirit came and moved, and a desperate people who prayed a desperate prayer. God, would you move? That's why I keep this brick, because I never wanna forget. And you quit being faithful when you stop being, when you become forgetful. And that is why,

as I drive up 435 today, Northland Campus, I'm just gonna tell you, it's like I'm living a dream. I never could have dreamed in those early days the opportunities God would open to us. I never could have dreamed in those early days in that little brick building, the opportunities and the open doors that God would give our church to take the gospel from our neighbors to the nations. A year ago, I was at the Johnson County Campus, shout out to Johnson County, a year ago, at 119th and Flum, and one year later, only God knows how many lives have been changed, how many people found the gospel, because of what God let us do in Johnson County, Kansas a year ago. And today, I'm living the dream once again, driving up 435, never could have imagined in those early days, in this little broken down building in Lee's Summit, that God would let us advance the gospel, north of the river, not just north of the river, but through our church house movement, all over North America, a multiplying movement. See, that is the great commission to take the gospel to the nations.

And when I say I'm living a dream, that's kind of like the dream the ancient Hebrews felt, as they would sing Psalm 126, open your Bible, if you would, to Psalm 126, because in some way, they were expressing a dream come true in those ancient days. And we've traced the ancient journey out of captivity, back to the promised land that God promised would flow with milk and honey. As part of this month of prayer and fasting, we've actually traced the journey from those Babylonian captives, and for generation after generation, they were in Babylonian captivity, but God's people made a promise that they would return to him, and God would make them return then to the land. And we saw in Ezra chapter eight, how in fact, Ezra leads a wave of these captives back into the promised land. And then we saw how Nehemiah did the same thing 13 years later, leading another wave of captives back to freedom and liberty in Jerusalem and Judah. Then last week, Chad preached out of Nehemiah chapter eight, and we saw how revival broke out in Jerusalem,

how they had a standing only crowd in the streets of Jerusalem, and Ezra was reading and preaching the word of God, and 50,000 people stood there all day in the hot sun, because God was moving among them. Revival had broken out, and it's possible. One of the songs they were singing in Nehemiah chapter eight as they were in fact having revival, and the ancient people of God were praising and singing, it's possible they were singing this psalm right here, Psalm 126. Psalm 126 is an ancient song about revival. It's what theologians call a psalm of ascent. This is one of the psalms the ancient Hebrews would have sang as they would ascend the hill, Mount Zion, going into the ancient temple of God to worship, and it was common that even if you lived hundreds of miles away, that if you were an ancient worshiper of God, a Hebrew. Once or twice a year, you'd make a journey to Jerusalem where you would then go personally worship in the temple. And it's possible, like, you know, when we go on a long journey as a kid, these were the days before, you know, you had phones with games on them and, you know, instant access to Netflix. No, these were the days, long trips, and it was so boring, you had two options. You remember the Etch-A-Sketch? Yeah, the early days of video games,

it was the Etch-A-Sketch. You know, that would go, in about 10 minutes, I'm bored. And then my mom would say, hey, guys, let's sing. Let's sing a song. And so we'd start singing as a family going down the road, probably because, you know, she got tired of hearing a bunch of kids fuss and fight. So, you know, we'll just all sing. And, you know, one of the family songs was, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I. Okay, we weren't the only family that sang road trip songs, all right? Here's what I want you to see. This was probably a road trip song for these ancient Hebrews. Psalm 126 is a song that they would sing on that journey, where then they would ascend Mount Zion, and Jerusalem is built on that mountain, Mount Zion, where they would then ascend the Temple Mount, and they'd be seeing this as a congregation, celebrating revival, celebrating and remembering that God delivered them out of Babylonian captivity, brought them back into their holy city, and God rebuilt their society. And I want you to see that it shows us three things about how to prepare for revival. Guys, we're having Revive this week. I'm praying it's real revival. Revive is just what we call it. I'm praying the Holy Spirit would actually

do a work of true revival, indescribable, undeniable. That's what we're praying for. That's what we've been fasting for all month long. I want you to see three things this psalm teaches, how to prepare for what God wants to do in your life, what God wants to do in the life of our church. Number one, never become forgetful. Never become forgetful. They begin celebrating and singing about what God did, bringing them back out of captivity. And you understand, that's what this two-year discipleship journey is about, the A life, the abundant life. Jesus said in John 10, verse 10, I've come to give you life. You can have it more abundantly, but you understand many are living in captivity, mediocrity, complacency. Why, because Jesus said there's a thief that comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And for many of us, though Jesus said it's free by the blood of Calvary, we've gone into some form of captivity, just like God's people of antiquity. But God wants to set you free. He wants to bring you back into that land, that promised land, life abundantly. And it begins with not forgetting that God is able, that God has done it before, that he's able to do it again. It begins this way, Psalm 126, in verse one. When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion,

we were like those who dream. I mean, this was a moment they had dreamed about for generations. They're living in captivity in this Babylonian city, this Babylonian society, generation after generation. They couldn't fathom or imagine ever being allowed to go back into the ancestral land of their forefathers. And then finally, they're back in their land. They're back in their homes. They're back in their place after generations. The first wave by Zerubbabel leads that first wave of captives. And then another wave of captives in the days of Ezra. And then another wave of captives in the days of Nehemiah. And now they're gathering in that city. And they're expressing here, this is like a dream come true. I can't even believe this is real. I mean, has something ever happened in your life where it's like, is this a dream? I must be dreaming. Like I never could have seen this coming. This is too good to be true. I mean, that's what they're saying, guys. I'm telling you. I mean, I sometimes will worship here in this Leeson Auditorium. I'll stand up here somewhere in the terrace and I'll just worship with you guys. And I'm literally saying, God, thank you. I mean, I'm living the dream.

This is the dream 26 years ago. A church that had a vision for the Great Commission, a church that's truly living sin, not just come, sing, sit, and listen. And that's what I love about our church today. I've loved our church from the early days, but I love our church now today for what it's becoming. No, we're not the perfect church. Listen, I know about our dysfunction, our faults and our flaws. There aren't many. Let's be clear. Part of the reason's because you're here. The other reason is because I'm here. Let's be awesome. I mean, really, seriously. I mean, it's not perfect, because we're not perfect. But I want you to see, but God has used us in spite of ourselves, not because of us, but in spite of us to take the gospel, to expand the footprint of the gospel in ways I never could have imagined. I'm like, God, I'm living the dream. This is the dream. This is what we prayed for. This is what we've longed for. We've dreamed for this. And as I'm telling you,

as I make that drive today at 435, I can't even believe this is happening. I mean, impossibilities become realities. We trust God completely, unconditionally, and now they're living this dream. I can't even believe this is real. And they're not forgetting what God has done, that God has moved miraculously so that they could come back. I'm telling you, it was a miracle. This doesn't happen historically. A pagan Persian king by the name of Artaxerxes allows a people that is job subjugated to go back into their homeland and rebuild their city, rebuild the walls around their city. Made no sense politically. Could have only happened miraculously and supernaturally. And that's what they're now expressing, says this. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue was singing. This is what happens in times of revival, guys. I mean, their mouths are filled with laughter and singing. I mean, honestly, times of revival, I'm telling you, some of you are almost gonna get your hands out of your pockets while we sing. We'll know when God really begins to move because some of you are standing like this and when we start, some of you are actually gonna get to here. I'm teasing you. You can worship with your hands in your pocket.

I'm just teasing. But this is what, you can't help but to sing. I mean, when God has moved in your life, you can't help but to worship. You can't help but to sing. You can't help but to praise him. And this is what is happening. Again, this may have been Nehemiah chapter eight where Chad preached a week ago, this 50,000-person church service in the streets of Jerusalem. And all of a sudden, there's this spontaneous laughter, this spontaneous singing. Then they said, among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. Even the pagan nations around them saw what had happened to the Hebrews and went, wow. Man, their God actually, look what their God did. I mean, we can't explain this any other way. How'd the Jews get back in Jerusalem? How'd the Jews get back in Judah? I mean, even the pagan nations took notice. In the same way, down through history, during times of true revival and true awakening, even secular historians have taken note. Even secular historians that do not believe in our God have taken note and recorded what was happening because something indescribable but undeniable took place. The first great awakening, the second great awakening, the 1857 prayer revival in New York City

where a million Americans out of 30 million Americans come to faith in Jesus, it's still remembered today by secular historians. The Jesus Movement of the 1970s, Time Magazine, people continue today to talk about that time and simply say, we can't explain it, but their God moved. Their God did something unique. Now look at what they say. The Lord has done great things for us. And we're glad. Others were saying the Lord has done great things for them, but now they're saying the Lord has done great things for us, and church, the Lord has done great things for us. He's done great things for all of us, for all of us. Now listen, some of us are forgetful because you think God hadn't moved for you, that God hadn't done anything for you. Once in a while, I hear somebody say, well, Pastor Phil, when will God give me what I deserve? You better hope he don't. Because what we deserve is to die and go into a Christless eternity. That's what we deserve, separated from God forever and ever, dead in our sin, forever and ever, in hell, forever and ever, yes, hell is a real place. It's everlasting like heaven. Jesus said it's where the worm does not die and the fire does not quench. No, he was not talking about a metaphor. He was talking about a God that's alive.

No, he was not talking about a metaphor. He was talking about real separation from God forever and ever and ever. God has done great things for us, for all of us, because I don't deserve to go to heaven. I deserve to die and go to hell. I'm a wretch apart from Jesus. I'm wicked apart from Jesus. There's nothing good in me at all. The best Christian who ever lived, in my opinion, the Apostle Paul, wrote these words, Romans 7, 18, and all that is in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing, or nothing good in any of us, except sin and wickedness. Yet God in his goodness and mercy, what did he do? 2,000 years ago, the sinless Son of God came like the sons of men. He died for our sin, and three days later, he rose again. He's alive forevermore. He is alive today, and we have a living hope. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in him, though he may die, yet shall he live. I'm watching all the articles today about all the AI creators, and you know what? They actually believe most of them are atheists. Their worldview does not include God. What they believe is that AI can create for us immortality. It's the quest for immortality. I just listened to a podcast this week.

by a man who's making himself up, basically an experiment of trying to live forever, gain immortality. Of course, he may extend his life by five or 10, maybe 12 years, but eventually he's going to die because the wage of sin is death. We're all under sin's penalty, which is death. And while AI creators are in a quest for immortality, what they believe, check this out, they can upload your human consciousness to an AI agent so that when your body dies, the AI agent lives forever. It's called artificial intelligence. It's not you. I want you to know though, Jesus did give us a way to live forever. Everlasting life, everlasting life. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Let's never become forgetful that of all, that's all that God ever does for us, he's still given us more than any of us deserve, but that's not all God has done for us like the song we sang this morning. And what the psalmist now says is don't be forgetful. God has moved already on your behalf, but while you're waiting on him to move again,

just stay faithful, stay faithful. Always stay faithful, never be forgetful, now always stay faithful. He goes on, he says this, they say bring back our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. See, God's miracles happens in waves. You can be in the middle of a miracle and it happens so slowly, so subtly, you don't even know you're in the middle of a miracle until you get to the other side. And what these former captives are now saying is bring back the rest of them. There are still our brothers and sisters in captivity in that Babylonian city. God, would you finish what you've started? Lord, would you continue what you're doing? Would you do it again? Would you do it again? As you've done in times past, would you do it again? Lord, as you brought revival in other times, would you bring revival in our day, in our generation, in our nation, as you've done it in other generations, God, that you would do it again. God, that you would restore our families, that you would restore our fortunes, that you'd restore our society, that you would bring back the prodigals, that you'd heal the brokenhearted.

See, we live in a time where we manage the tension. We've been saved, yet we still need to be saved. We've been healed, yet I still need to be healed. I have been redeemed, yet I still need to be redeemed. See, the salvation of God in our life happens in stages and it's not complete until I stand before him face-to-face in heaven, which means we live in this tension right now of here but not yet. We're there, but we're still here. And this is what they're saying now. They're saying, stay faithful while you're in the in-between stage. Bring back the other captives. Bring back the prodigal. Restore my marriage. Restore my family. That's what happens in times of revival, oh Lord. As the streams in the south, now the streams in the south, it is a reference to the Negev Desert. Jerusalem sits on the south side or the southern part of Israel. The north is mountainous, it's lush, it's green, it's beautiful, it's fertile. The south is deserty. And so we're talking here about the streams of the Negev Desert that are normally completely barren. They're completely dry. The riverbeds have no water in them.

Most of the year, except twice a year, the former rain and the latter rain, the spring rain and the fall rains come. And when the fall rains come and the spring rains come in a day, those dried up riverbeds, just like that overnight, is a rushing torrent of water overnight. We're talking whitewater where there was no water. Now we're talking flash floods. And that's what happens in times of revival. When God moves, it's like all at once where there was no life, now there's life. And in the Negev Desert, if you go to the Holy Land tour with us, we'll be there. You'll see, it's like barren. It's dusty, it's rocky. Nothing can seem to live there. But after the rains come and those riverbeds fill up, all of a sudden, life is everywhere. Things are blooming. It's green, it's lush, where there was no life. Now there's life. That's what revival is all about. That's what happens. That part of your life that is barren and nothing but a dry, dusty desert, all of a sudden, bam, life. Because God brings the rain on your life. When I think of this verse, I think about another desert,

not the Negev or the Judean Desert, but rather another desert. Actually, a desert in chilly South America that sits in between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes. It is the driest place on earth. that literally never rains here, never. For five or six years at a time, not a drop of rain. It's drier here than Death Valley. And you can see nothing can live there. It's dry, it's deserty, it's dormant, it's dead. And then once every five or six years, it finally gets a little bit of rain. And then instantly overnight, in less than a 24-hour period, it transforms literally into something like this. Same dry, dusty desert. Gets a little bit of rain, and all of a sudden the desert begins to bloom. That's a picture of revival, where your marriage has died and it's decayed. God breathes life on it, where your family is dying and in decay. God brings life on it. That part of your life that's desert and dormant, God breathes life on it. He brings the rain to bring life. Listen carefully. This is how God often gives you an image of himself. Hosea was talking in Hosea 6.3 about a future revival, end-time revival,

that will spread throughout the whole world, beginning with Israel. And he said it this way. He said, he, God, will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth. And that's what he's saying. God rains on those dry, deserty places in your life. And all of a sudden, that which had no life is resurrected. It has life. And he does it in a moment. We're not talking about the southern Negev riverbeds at just a trickle of water. No, we're talking about whitewater. We're talking about a rush of water, a flood of water. That's what happens in times of revival. Listen, God can do more in five minutes than we can do in five years of trying. He can do more in 10 minutes than we can do in 10 years of striving and straining and trying. That's what I'm praying for this week. Five minutes and the presence of God can change everything. And when God moves in this way, it's not a slow trickle of water, just a little drop of water. I'm talking a torrential move of God upon our life to bring life to the dead and dying places. That's what happens, you see, in times of revival. But if you want the rain, what do you have to do?

You gotta follow the cloud. If you want it to rain on your life, you gotta stand under the cloud. How has God revealed himself in Scripture multiple times is a cloud. The story of the Exodus, God led the children of Israel as a pillar of fire by day, I'm sorry, by night, and a cloud by day, right? Jesus says he ascended with the clouds. It tells us he's coming back with the clouds. I'm not talking about a rain cloud here. No, I'm talking about God reveals himself, he veils himself as with a cloud. The presence of God. Here's the point I'm making, now I'm using a metaphor. If you want the rain of God, you gotta stand where the cloud is. You gotta spend time in the presence of God. That's what we've been doing. How do you spend time in the presence of God? So when it begins to rain, you're positioned for a move of God. You're postured for a move of God. Listen, God's always moving. Why does he move on one person, not on another person? I'll tell you why, because one person is positioned under the cloud and the other person isn't. Two people can hear the same sermon. It's always amazed me how two people heard the same sermon,

something completely different. Often not at all what I said. I'll tell you why. Because one person's positioned under the cloud, they're ready for the rain, and the other person ain't. God's gonna rain this week. He's gonna rain on a lot of people's lives. It's up to you if he rains on yours. He's gonna bring the rain, will you be ready? Will you position yourself ahead of time? That's what this month of prayer and fasting is about. When you spend time in prayer and fasting, seeking God's face, you're positioning yourself under the cloud. You're staying in God's presence. When you are spending time in prayer and fasting, when you are spending time in God's word, that's how you spend time in God's presence, you're positioning yourself under the cloud. Hey, when you come to church and spend time with God's people, you're positioning yourself under the cloud. We live at a time, I hear this all the time, where you know, I am the church, I don't need to go to church. Okay, that makes for a great TikTok video. Yeah, okay, it's a great 20-second short. It's just not true. All right, listen carefully. You are the church, we are the church.

It's not a building, it's a body. It's not stained glass and steeple, it's people. It's not about a location. That's why the church is a. multi-site church as it was in the early days. We are one church spread all over the city in multiple locations, all over this country in multiple locations. That's the early church, you understand. It was a multi-site church, but listen carefully. Just because I am the church doesn't mean I don't need to go to church. Yeah, God can move in your life individually, privately, all by yourself. But listen carefully, something supernatural happens when the body of Christ comes together. I told you in week one, there's value in the volume of prayer, 9,000 people all praying on the same day in the same way. There's value in the volume of faith, the collective faith of God's people, something happens. Sometimes when you lack faith, it's somebody else's faith that gives you the breakthrough. It's the start for the breakthrough. Faith is contagious. And there's something about the collective faith of God's people where God begins to move supernaturally, miraculously, indescribably, but undeniably. So let me ask you, will you come this week?

Will you give God five days of your life, really, five days of your undivided attention? I've said before, God might bring revival if he could just get our attention for more than an hour and 10 minutes on a Sunday morning. Will you position yourself under the cloud? Wednesday night, my friend is coming in, Ed Newton, from Central Bible Church in San Antonio. The man has got the anointing of God upon his life. They have seen true revival at CBC in San Antonio this year. I've asked him to come, open up for us. I promise you, people are gonna be set free Wednesday night from those life-controlling issues, those things that have held you and kept you from living the abundant life in Christ. Brian Loritz is coming Thursday night, teaching pastor of Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Man, I heard him preach two years ago. I thought, I gotta have that guy come to Abundant Life. You'll be so blessed to listen to this man. The word of God ooze out of him, pour out of him like rain. And then, of course, Clayton King's coming Friday night. He's been here several times. And I'm telling you, people are gonna get saved Friday night is what happens when Clayton preaches. Bring your one, do whatever it takes to get your one. Don't care if you gotta drag him in, push him in, pick him up and carry him in, get him here.

Because people are gonna get saved Friday night. I've got a message next Sunday. We're gonna launch a month of spontaneous baptisms. I'm preaching a new series, a short series next week. I'm telling you, bring your one next week, Sunday morning. People are gonna be saved. God is gonna bring the rain. He's gonna rain on those dry places. Now listen carefully, look at what it says in verse five. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Look at what he says, verse six. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for the sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. What's the psalmist saying? Listen, the psalmist is telling us we live in a world of tears and trials. If you will be faithful to sow the seeds, if you will be faithful to sow the seeds, even in times of tribulation and tears and trials, God's gonna bring the rain. And you need to know, listen, the church is purchased in blood, it's been baptized in tears. And sometimes you baptize your prayers with your tears. And the psalmist is recognizing we live it in difficult, dark days, but we live in days of unprecedented opportunity, days to take new ground for God,

new ground for the king, new ground for the kingdom. Hundreds and hundreds of prayer cards up here at every other campus and every other church house around the nation. We've all planted our seeds, our prayers. We prayed, we fasted. I'm telling you, as you plant your seeds of faith and obedience to the word of God, you may say God's not moving. God, would you send the rain? But he's trying to promise, even through your tears, through those difficult, dark days. Man, every single Sunday, somebody walks up to me and says, Pastor Phil, will you pray for me? I've got cancer. And I'm praying this week, God, we heal people of cancer. That God would heal them as he did the leper, as he made the lame to walk again. God still does miracles. We can pray for miracles. Let's pray, believing for miracles. Thank you. And I just have to be honest. You know, you always hear about the good old days. Whatever the good old days were, it's whatever generation you came of age in. That was the good old days. Let me tell you about the good old days. I don't care what the good old days were. or what generation, what decade,

those were difficult days too. Listen, I'm not complaining. I'm a blessed man. I've told you I'm living the dream, but I cannot remember an easy day in my life in the last 26 years. They've all been hard days. And I'm pretty sure some of you are going through some really hard times right now too. And what the devil wants to use in your life to ruin your faith is what God wants to use in your life to refine your faith. And what the psalmist says is you just keep sowing through those tears. You keep taking your seed and that life-giving seed, obedience to the word of God, taking your next step to follow the son of God. Keep baptizing those prayers in your tears and what God is promising here, listen carefully, God will make you fruitful. If you will stay faithful and never become forgetful, keep planting your seed and God's gonna bring the rain someday. And I'll promise it will be worth it all when we see Jesus. I want you to take a prayer card again this week. Once you take a prayer card, and this week I want you to write down what you're expecting God to do this week at Revive. I want you to take one, just write this down.

As we get prepared to sing, we're gonna stand in just a moment. At every single campus, your campus pastor will be coming to the platform to give you instruction in just a moment, your church house leader. But our staff has been praying over all these prayer cards at every campus, every single week. This isn't just an empty religious motion that we do once a year, no, listen carefully, God is moving, he's answering prayer. I was talking with Daryl Robinson, who's a campus pastor at Crossroads, shout out to Crossroads. He said, we were praying over prayer cards this week, one of the staff at the Crossroads been down, picked one up, read it, it said, God's already answered my prayer. God's already answered a prayer. All these prayer requests, somebody said, God's already answered mine. That's what God does. What are you expecting God to do? I'll tell you what I'm expecting. I'm expecting God to do miracles this week. That's what I'm writing down. I'm expecting Jesus to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to bring the prodigals back home, to restore broken families, to restore broken marriages.

Yes, we have re-engage. If your marriage is stressed or strained, you need to go to re-engage, but I'm telling you, five minutes together on your knees before God can heal a broken marriage. You need the Holy Spirit of God to move. And I'm telling you, if you would get on your knees together and pray and fast and say, God, we are not getting up until you heal our marriage, I'm telling you, God would move on your behalf. I promise you. Will you humble yourself enough to pray and petition God through those tears and keep sowing that seed, wait on God to reign. I'm asking you to fill this out. What are you expecting? I've told you what I'm expecting. I want you to stand with me right now at every campus and we're gonna worship the living God. I want you to come put your card at this altar, wherever you are today, and just hit your knees and pray for a move of God. Jesus, hear our prayer. We position ourselves under the cloud. We posture our hearts in humility, confessing our desperate need. Our desperate need is for the Holy Spirit to move in our lives, the Holy Spirit to move in our church. Indescribable but undeniable.

I pray for thousands in the days ahead, for the eyes of many to be open to the gospel. I pray against the God of this age, who blinds the mind of them that believe not. Lest the light of the glorious gospel should shine upon the hearts of the people. Lest the light of the glorious gospel should shine unto them. I pray, God, for each of our ones, that someone who needs Jesus, that God, they would know the joy and the love of God upon their life in the days ahead. And we wouldn't grow weary in well-doing for you promised in due season, Lord, we shall reap if we faint not. The Lord, we see many saved in the days ahead. Many hearts healed in the days ahead. Many homes restored in the days ahead. Many set free from addiction and that prison to negative emotion. That they would know the joy of the abundant life. In their life. In Jesus name, amen. Amen, amen, amen. What are we expecting God for? What are we believing for him to do? And I just want to tell you right now, we got plenty of time. All right, we're actually way ahead of schedule. So this is a beautiful thing because we are believing God for revival. And it starts with us bringing expectation and faith. And we've already been doing that this month. I mean, what are you believing him for still?

And so even just to take a few moments right now, even if you want to just reflect and take a minute to write on that card or just pray, God, would you reveal the thing to me that I need to really bring faith to you for and believe that you're going to break through for. And then as we sing, just to lift it up to him as just an offering, the thing that you wrote on that card today. God, I just, I want to trust you and believe you for this thing. I just want to trust you and believe you for this person, for this situation, for this relationship. And that you are still the God who can. You can still do miracles. And when you're ready to bring that forward, but let's just sit in a posture right now of expectation for what God wants to do this week as a church to not that this moment passes by, but to lift up a faith declaration in this moment. God, we come before you. I pray with hearts full of faith. God, would you stir us to believe for more, to have the boldness to believe for more. God, would you bring us to a place of humility, a posture of desperation and hunger and a desire not to be content with the status quo and going through the motions, but to desperately recognize how much we need you. You still do miracles. We believe for breakthrough. Would you bring strongholds in this moment as we sing,

as we reflect, as we worship you, God. I will lift my hands to the God who can. Kings and their kingdoms fall, but you are unshakable. I will lift my hands to the God who can. Let's sing it again. When all things are possible, you still do miracles. I will lift my hands to the God who can. Kings and their kingdoms fall, but you are unshakable. I will lift my hands to the God who can. I will lift my hands to the God who can. We believe for more. We come in prayer and faith. I can't make a mountain move, but I know who can. You can. I can't make an old thing new, but I know who can. You can. I can't make an ocean part, but I know who can. You can. I can't mend a broken heart, but I know who can. You can. You can do anything. You can do anything. Oh, we believe it. Oh, we sing it again. Come on. I can't make a mountain move, but I know who can. You can. I can't make an old thing new, but I know who can. You can. I can't make an ocean part, but I know who can.

You can. I can't mend a broken heart, but I know who can. You can. I can't wash away my sin, but I know who did. You did. I can't make a dead thing live, but I know who did. You did. Yes, you did. So you can. Oh, I know who can, you can Oh, we declare today Oh, all things are possible Come on You still do me I will lift my hands To the God who can Kings and their kingdoms fall But you are unshakable I will lift my hands To the God I will lift my hands I will lift my hands To the God who can I can't make a mountain move But I know who can You can I can't make an old thing move But I know You can I can't wash away my sin

But I know who did You did I can't make a dead thing live But I know who did You did You did So I know who can You can You can Oh, I know who can You can Come on, let's sing that chorus one more time. Lift your hands and sing. That all things are possible You still do me I will lift my hands To the God who can Kings and their kingdoms fall But you are unshakable I will lift my hands To the God who can Oh, I will lift my hands Because I trust in Him Who can Yes, I will lift my hands To the God who can So I will lift my hands Even when I don't see it, you're working Even when I don't feel it, you're working You never stop, you never stop working

Even when I don't feel it, you're working Even when I don't see it, you're working You never stop, you never stop working Even when I don't see it, you're working Even when I don't feel it, you're working You never stop, you never stop working Even when I don't see it, you're working Even when I don't feel it, you're working You never stop, you never stop working Even when I don't see it, you're working Even when I don't feel it, you're working You never stop, you never stop working You never stop, you never stop working Even when I don't see it, you're working Even when I don't feel it, you're working You never stop, you never stop working You never stop, you never stop working Way maker, miracle worker Promise keeper, light in the darkness Look at it, that is who you are Way maker, miracle worker Promise keeper, light in the darkness Look at it, that is who you are Sing that is who That is who you are And that is who you are Yes, that is who you are And that is who you are Oh, that is who you are And that is who you are

And that is who you are And that is who you are Come on, in this place today Who do you believe our God to be? Would you shout out who He is right now? Come on, keep going Who is He in this place? Say what's true in this space Are you aware of God? face while we sing Waymaker one more time. Oh, you are, you are. We sing in faith, sing Waymaker. He's the Waymaker. The Waymaker. Miracle Work. Promise keep light in the darkness. My God, that is who you are. Sing Waymaker, Waymaker, Waymaker, Miracle Worker. My God, that is who you are, who really is who you are. The Waymaker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. We believe that is who you are. And that is who you are. Yes, that is who you are. And that is who you are and that is who you are. And that is who you are. Oh, that's who you are.