GO LOOK AGAIN | 1 Kings 18:41–44 | Chris Durso

Now, I'm going to strongly encourage you to take notes today. I always do, but today this message is as much of a sermon as it is a prophetic warning. And I want you to lean all the way in so that you could receive what the Holy Spirit would be saying to you through this word. Now, I'm going to be reading from First Kings chapter 18, verses 41 through 44. But the translation I'm reading is called the message. So it will most likely read differently than yours. Unless you have the Bible app, then you could go on ahead and select it. But this is what the Bible says starting at verse 41. It says, Elijah said to Ahab up on your feet. Let's just pause right there. Elijah is a prophet. Ahab is a king. Ahab is married to a woman named Jezebel. How many of you heard of Jezebel before? You're like, heard of her. It's my mother-in-law, you know? Like, it wasn't a joke. No, it was a joke. It was a joke. Jezebel was a self-consumed evil woman. She was not for our God. The reason why this is important to note is because she's the queen of Israel, Ahab's the king of Israel, and Israel was supposed to be consecrated to God, living their lives for God. But King Ahab and Jezebel allowed other gods into the nation. And so now what just finished happening is a pretty significant moment in the text. Elijah stood before 450 prophets, 450 false prophets of a false God named Baal. They had this contest, maybe you've heard of this before. They had this contest of whoever's the true God is going to show up in this moment. Well, the 450 prophets of Baal, they go first. They start calling out to their God.

They're cutting themselves. They're offering sacrifices. And nothing has happened. Elijah is so confident in the God that we serve, he's mocking them. He's standing there by himself. Then it's his turn and he calls down fire from heaven and fire comes down and burns up an altar. Because he was able to prove that God was true, he then commands that the 450 prophets be put to death. And he does this in the presence of the king that allowed it all. And the king is there with his army and they're observing and they're watching. The reason why this is so important to note is that because this was not a battle between two different nations, this was a contest between one nation that was divided. Those that were serving a false God and then those that were serving the one true God. Because of this moment, people then started to declare that our God was the one true God. Right after that moment within the same moment, Elijah then turns to Ahab and says, up on your feet, eat and drink, celebrate, rain is on the way. I hear it coming. Rain is on the way. I hear it coming. The reason why that's so important is because not only, not only is this a significant moment, but they're actually in the middle of a drought. They're in the middle of a drought because King Ahab and Jezebel allowed false gods into the nation. So they allowed these false gods into the nation and God punishes them by withholding the rain. Which is something also really important to note that a drought is happening because some people decided not to serve God. So now a bad thing is happening even though not everyone involved is bad. A bad thing is happening while good people continue to be faithful. But Elisha, because he's committed and because he's attentive to the spirit of God. The spirit of God begins to speak to him and he's not just saying this as some big audacious request.

He's saying this because he could hear it. And I'm putting my hand over my heart because when we talk about this type of hearing, it's not the kind of hearing that comes through your ears. It's the kind of hearing that comes through your spirit. It's the kind of hearing that comes through your heart. He says rain is on the way. I hear it coming. Can you imagine how powerful this moment is? I mean fire just came down from heaven. And now the prophet is prophesying in the middle of a drought. That rain is on its way. It goes on to say Ahab did it. God up and drink. Meanwhile, Elisha bowed deeply in prayer. Everybody say prayer. Say it again, say prayer. This is so important. He bowed deeply in prayer, his face between his knees. I don't even know how you do that by the way. I was reading this and I tried it and I couldn't even get down that far enough. I'm like, I'm old, I gotta stretch. Okay, his face bowed between his knees. Then he said to his young servant, on your feet now, look toward the sea, he went, looked, reported back. I don't see a thing. Keep looking, said Elijah, seven times if necessary. And sure enough, the seven time he said, "Oh yes, a cloud, a very small. "No bigger than someone's hand rising out of the sea."

Mm-hmm. I believe that there are people in this room. There's one group of people specifically that has been wanting and desiring to learn the voice of the Holy Spirit. It's been your prayer. God, I wanna know your voice. I hear people say statements. I hear people talk like this. I wanna be able to know you for myself. I wanna know you. I wanna hear of you. I wanna hear directly from you. Then there's another group of people. You heard from God. You have a promise that you're holding on to. You heard from God about your marriage. You heard from God about your future. You heard from God about your health. You heard from God about what's next, but simultaneously what you heard and what you see do not match up. You're holding on to it. You're looking, but you're waiting because you don't see what you heard. You don't see what you heard. Ironically enough, Thursday morning, it's the other day, I woke up around 4 a.m. And when I woke up at 4 a.m. The moment I woke up, I heard these three words.

Nothing, anything, something. Nothing, anything, something. If you're taking notes, write that down. Nothing, anything, something. Nothing, anything, something. And in that moment, when I woke up, I saw this whole sermon in my head. I gotta be honest with you, it doesn't always happen like that. I wish it did, by the way. But I got so excited for us because after I wrote it down, I was able to go back asleep. And then when I woke up a little while later, I then began to pray and I began to hear and I began to listen and the Holy Spirit just told me, He said, "You're gonna talk to them about nothing. "You're gonna talk to them about anything. "You're gonna talk to them about something. "I wanna take the next few moments "and I wanna preach to you from this idea. "Go look again." If you're taking notes, write that down. Go look again. I know you've been waiting. I know you've been searching, but go look again. Let's pray one more time. Holy Spirit, speak. Amen. Come on, can you shout amen?

Amen. Amen. I love that this story shows us a man who is so committed to God that he remains close to God even after a victory. I've learned that in life, victories will allow us to become overly confident in ourselves. When I'm victorious in something, when I'm successful in something, when I'm able to see the fruit of my labor or I'm able to see good things happen as a result of my own actions. If I'm not careful, I could allow myself to think that I know better. But what Elisha proves is that he is completely and solely dependent on God. He has this moment where he calls down fire and fire comes down. And as a result of the fire coming down, he's able to kill off the 450 prophets that represent a consecration to something evil and something demonic. And what that is an illustration of to us is that God is not going to allow that what is against him to remain. He's not going to necessarily ignore it, but he's going to deal with it. And in this moment, Elisha tells the king to go and eat so that he could pray.

He chose to pray instead of to celebrate. There are sometimes people make decisions Like if I'm being honest, there are a few of our friends, a few of our team members, people that are a part of our church. It's their birthday this weekend. For some of them, it's their birthday today. Jesse, who's sitting over here, turns 35. Two day, two day. You can make some noise for her. You're like, two day, Sabrina's birthday. It was just yesterday, I believe. She's somewhere over here. There she is. Yeah, you can make some noise for her. Ace, who plays in the band? It was his birthday yesterday as well. And when I think about them, I'm looking at three people, right, who chose on their birthday to celebrate in the house of God. You ever noticed that for people when it's their birthday, they choose to go a completely different direction? Like, I don't know why that is. Like when it's their birthday, all of a sudden, they just live a completely different life than the life they were living all week. They're like, it's my birthday, turn up. But they chose the better thing. It reminds me of that story in the Bible where Jesus is at the house of Mary Martha and Lazarus

and Martha is busy in the kitchen. And she's so consumed with the details, but Mary chooses to sit at his feet. And then when Martha goes to complain to Jesus, Jesus turns to Martha and says, hey, wait a minute. Don't pick on your sister, Mary. She's right. She chose the better thing. Why? Because life will present to us options. And the results are whatever it is that we do with it. Here, Elijah, after a victory, he chooses to pray. You know why? Because in the kingdom of God, you never graduate from prayer. In the kingdom of God, you never graduate from prayer. When life is going bad, pray. But when life is going good, pray. When you just for receive the promotion, pray. When she said yes to marrying you, pray. When you found out that you're gonna be pregnant with the child, pray. When the loan gets approved, pray. I wanna encourage you today that when you are winning in life, the best thing to keep on doing, let's pray, that we would be men and women that would pray, that we would seek the face of the Father, that we would say, Holy Spirit, what is it that you want me to say and what is it that you want me to do?

And I say all of that to say this. Notice that in one moment, he prays for fire, but in the next moment, he's able to pray for rain. Why? Because what worked yesterday is not gonna necessarily work today. And I find that so often, we will pray for the things that we desire when in actuality, prayer is not so much about your request. Prayer is actually about your response. What do I feel in my spirit? God, what is it that you are doing in this moment and I want to respond to that? He doesn't say, because you showed up with fire before, I want you to now show up with fire again. He knew when to pray for fire and he knew when to pray for rain. Whew, he knew when to pray for fire, he then went to pray for rain. He knew when to pray for fire, he knew then when to pray for rain. This is important because you know what I think? I think there are a lot of you that are praying for fire when you should actually be praying for rain. I think there are others of you that are praying for rain when you should actually be praying for fire. You ready? Because there are some of you that are in relationships that you're trying to end. There are scenarios that you're trying to walk away from. There are jobs that you want to quit

and you're like, God, would you send down your fire and would you destroy this? And he's going, nope, that's what you want, but that's not what I want. And if you consider what I want, the very thing that you're trying to end, I'm trying to add life to. And then there are others of you. The very thing that you're trying to add life to, he's like, she ain't for you. He ain't for you, I'm allowing it to come to an end. You want me to bless it and you can put my name all over it, but just because you put my name all over, it doesn't mean that I'm going to be in it. You should be praying for rain. You should be praying for fire. But the only way you know what to pray for is if you're listening before you're asking. Too often we talk about prayer from this very idea of ask and ye shall receive. I believe in that premise. I believe that we are to ask and I believe as a result of asking, we shall receive, but we will only receive and what we're asking aligns up with God's will. And the only way you will know God's will is when your spirit is connected to his. This is why he says, I will give you what the desires of your heart. When you are praying, you are not just treating God

like a genie to get from him, what you would hope for. You have aligned your spirit with his spirit. You are reading his word, you're in worship, you're in prayer, you're listening, you're being attentive. And as you're doing that, there's something called spiritual formation that's happening in your life. You're developing, you're growing, you are working out your salvation. And as a result of doing that, you become more and more like him. And when you become more like him, you begin. One moment, fire come down and false prophets are destroyed. Another moment, water come down so that a nation that has been in drought can be blessed. It's amazing because this man of God who does nothing wrong is in the drought just like everybody else is in the drought. But this same man of God calls down rain and even as he calls down rain, other people are being blessed even though they didn't do anything good at all. And this speaks to the grace and the mercy of God. Too many of us are caught up on the fact that too many bad things happen to good people. But what about the fact that there are so many good things that are happening to so many people that are undeserving of it? This speaks to the grace. This speaks to the mercy of our God and Elisha. He had the maturity and the spiritual understanding to know what was appropriate for the season he was in. And can I tell you that is my prayer for all of you? That's my prayer for us, that we wouldn't just make decisions but we would make appropriate decisions for the seasons that we're in. There's going to be a season in our life where we have to add more services. I want you to know as your pastor I'm praying is now the time that we add more services or do we wait to the end of our contract? Do we do it now or do we do it tomorrow? What is it that you want us to do? It would be so much easier if we could just create our own calendar and set it and forget it. Who wouldn't mind that about their own life? Set it and forget it in the name of Jesus. But life doesn't work that way because if it worked that way it would cancel out your dependency on God and your dependency on God is what brings him joy. It's your dependency on God

that he is able to grow with you and to have intimacy with you and talk to you and you hear from him and you talk back and he hears you and it allows you to understand that you worship and serve a God that is present. So with all of that said what is it that God is saying to you? Not what your boyfriend is saying to you? Not what your fiance is saying to you? Not what your boss is saying to you but what is the Holy Spirit saying to you? What is he saying to you about the season that you're in? What is he saying to you about the season that you're in? And here's the thing if he's saying nothing then keep praying. You ever heard that when God says nothing do nothing? I agree with that but I don't. When God says nothing keep praying and when he says something keep praying. But first let's deal with the fact that Elijah heard the sound of rain and he tells his servant go check and the servant comes back with a report. He comes back with a report and you know what he says? There's nothing and I love it because nothing does not seem to bother Elijah. Too many of you are bothered by nothing. You are bothered by nothing. You're you're getting mad because you see nothing. You're getting mad because you hear nothing. You're getting mad because you do not see the promises being fulfilled in real time like you hoped them for because someone told you that if you just spoke it out loud if you just respond to an altar call if you just gave three payments of 1995 then you would have the blessing that you then declared and as a result of it you're walking away because you don't see anything. You show you because you see nothing you're settling for nothing. And can I tell you that nothing isn't difficult for God? Do not mistake the absence of evidence for the absence of God. Do not mistake the absence of evidence for the absence of God. If God told you to marry her if God told you to marry him if God told you to start that business if God told you that he was going to heal your body whatever that promises if he told you if he told you if he told you then you are not allowed to give up because when you look you do not see the evidence that you believe that you should see you could see nothing but it doesn't mean that nothing is happening just because you see nothing it does not mean that nothing is happening first and foremost from the very beginning of time starting in Genesis chapter one the Bible informs us that God created something out of nothing the earth was formless the message translation says it was a deep abyss of nothingness and yet he was able to create everything out of it. Why? Because nothing is not difficult for the God of creativity. know why God is not scared of nothing? Because He's everything. And because

He's everything and He lacks no good thing, He does not need your materials. He does not need your actions. He could just pull from Himself and create what He wants to be. Because He decided that's how it should be. When He created the earth or when He created the sun or when He created the moon, it's not like He went down to Michael's and borrowed some material or bought some material so He could put together a project and then put these things into place. He created it from Himself. He spoke the earth into existence. He spoke the sun into existence. He spoke the moon into existence. He spoke humanity into existence. Why? Because God is not scared of nothing. Because He by Himself is everything. Which means, if you've been scared because you see nothing, you're missing it. You're missing it because what nothing means to you, you think means something to God. But Elisha is proof that humans do not have to be scared of nothing. Because He knows what He heard. I hear the sound and of an abundance of rain. I hear the sound of an abundance of rain. I hear the sound of an abundance of rain. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you about your future? I go back to that all the time. Holy Spirit, what are you saying about Good Company Church? What are you saying about New York City? What are you saying about what you want to do here? And because I know He's speaking and I know what He showed me about this city and what He has showed me about the future of this church, I'm telling you I have vision. But my vision does not come from my imagination. My vision comes from His. My vision comes from what He has said is going to happen in this city. And I just say, God, I believe that you're going to do it. And I don't believe you need me to do it. But I am asking you that if you're going to do it, please include Good Company to be a part of it. Because I know what I hear. And when you know what you hear, you don't get concerned or overwhelmed or even consider quitting because you see nothing. Elisha tells the prophet, go look toward the sea and the servant comes back and reports. I don't see anything. And then Elisha begins to pray again. And then he tells him, go look again. Do you know what it must feel like to ask somebody to do something seven times or six times and six times you get the

report that you're not hoping for? Which side note? That's not how it worked when he called down fire. He didn't have to pray seven times for fire. He prayed once and the fire came down. Which speaks to this idea. There are moments that God does it initially. And there are other moments where God makes you wait. There are moments when God decides I'm going to do this right here. And right now I'm going to heal that body. I'm going to heal that situation. I'm going to allow my presence to be shown right here and right now. And then there are other moments where he says I want you to declare it even though you're not going to see it because now your faith is going to be put on display. Some of you are upset because you looked and you didn't see but the Holy Spirit is saying go look again. Go check again. And this time when you look you may see nothing. But if you see nothing that doesn't mean you stop looking. Keep looking. You keep looking. Why? Because you know what God said. I want to encourage you that you get to the place where you understand God said what he said. And because he said what he said I do not have to worry. I do not have to live in fear. If he didn't do it now it just means he didn't do it now. But he will do it eventually. And his timing is perfect and mine is not. So instead of fretting I'm gonna keep on praying. And I'm gonna keep on praising. And I'm gonna keep on reading the Scripture. And I'm gonna keep being faithful. And I'm gonna keep showing up to church. And I'm gonna keep serving God. I know you don't see what you want to see. But the truth is nothing is impossible for God. God is not scared of nothing. We are. I know you see nothing. But you know what faithfulness is? Faithfulness keeps showing up even when there's nothing. Some of you are only faithful when you see results. That must be nice. We're only faithful because things are going our way. If you made a commitment, if you vowed to do something then you keep showing up. You keep giving your yes. You know what I love about the story? Elisha heard it, the servant did it, and yet he was faithful to listen. Sometimes you have to be faithful because who you're connected to hears what they heard and you didn't, but because you believe that God brought you together or God brought you

to this church, then you have to trust what it is that the head of the home is saying or the head of the church is saying even when it doesn't match up with what your own experience is. Now, I am not encouraging anyone to put themselves in a toxic situation or an unhealthy situation. I'm not talking about that at all. I'm telling you, let's just say in this case, your pastor is telling you there is more for us. There are buildings for us, there is land for us, there's salvation in front of us, there's music that's going to come from this house, there's a ministry that's going to be birthed from this house. We are going to reach this city, a city that people have considered godless, a city that people have called demonic, people have considered this city less than because it's not in the Bible belt, but we're going to rise up and say, we believe that God loves this city more than he loves any other city. We're going to believe the same way. He loves all the other cities. He loves this city and the same way he died for people. He died for the people of New York City, which means nothing is impossible for God, nothing is difficult for God. I know what people have to say about our city, but I believe that this city belongs to Jesus. And because this city belongs to Jesus, I'm going to be like that servant and I'm going to keep on checking and I'm going to go back and I'm going to share the proper report, which by the way, you could tell the truth and still have faith simultaneously. Some of you think that when you're giving a report, you have to add something to it so you don't discourage the reporter, the person that you're giving the report to. Here's what I mean. Notice the servant just came back and said, there's nothing. He didn't say, there's nothing, but maybe we do not need you to embellish what is. Be honest about what you see while not allowing what you see to get in the spirit of what you are hoping for.

I believe that we could be the servants that could be honest and say, it doesn't look how I wanted to look right now, but if you're saying, you hear the sound of a mighty rushing wind, or you hear the sound of rain, or you hear the sound of abundance, or you hear the sound of miracles, or you hear the sound of filling the blank, then I'm going to match my faith with yours. I'm going to be honest where we're at right now, it's not it, but I'm telling you it must be on its way and I'm going to keep on looking because I'm faithful to the call. You didn't have to embellish, you didn't have to lie, he just was honest and he did the right thing. He said, I see nothing, but seeing nothing does not mean that nothing is going to happen. I see nothing and the reason why I want to say this to you, the reason why I want to say this to you is because faithfulness is what you do when there's still nothing to report. Faithfulness is what you do when there's nothing to report. You remain faithful even if the terms don't get better. You remain faithful even if the conditions don't change. You remain faithful even if the job still is frustrating you. You remain faithful even if they continue to have an attitude. You remain faithful to God. And the reason why this is so important is because some of you, when you see nothing, you'll settle for anything. You see nothing. So you settle for anything. Now what I love about Elisha is that although he heard the sound of rain in his spirit, it is obvious that that's not the only thing he heard. Because if it was the only thing he heard, why else would he cover his ears? He was so protective of his spirit and he was so protective of what God was doing that he literally got down and he put himself in a position where he could put his head in between his knees, why? So that he could block his ears so that he could barricade all the competing sounds. Some of you have to learn how to block off the sounds, the competing sounds that are

coming for your soul. There is an enemy that knows that you're in a drought and there's an enemy that knows that God loves you so much that he's not going to allow you to remain in a drought. But there's an enemy that wants you to remain in despair in a drought. There is an enemy that wants you to be hopeless in a drought. He doesn't necessarily care that the drought is going to come to an end, but he does want to encourage you to misbehave so that when the drought comes to an end, you're now operating in shame. Stop settling for anything. I know you're tired of being single and I'm sorry that you're single. I want to pray that you have the life that God has for you, that you have a marriage, that you have a family. If that's what you desire, I'm going to pray with you that that's exactly what you see. In the morning That does not give you the permission to respond because you're tired tiredness is not an excuse to settle for anything You're tired. I get it and I'm sorry that you're tired I mean that with full empathy and you might say pass the Chris well You don't understand you've been married for 21 years. Absolutely. I'll be married 21 years next month And we dated for five years a hundred percent. I am the most blessed man on the face of the earth I married the greatest woman alive period We don't do that anymore my bad my bad I was showing my age And Your tiredness is not an excuse to settle for another option Because if you settle prematurely, what happens when they do show up? Now instead of walking up to them with both hands open you got baggage or body backs And now you got to carry them you know all that old thing It's not really that old it was last month and now you start to think man if I just put away to 30 more days This is not to bring shame But it is to bring awareness

Because I get the sense that you received the word But because you have not seen the word come to fruition yet You are settling for anything and mainly this is happening within your own purity If you want to hear a word from God good company church, I am very aware of the demographic of our church I'm aware that we have a few teenagers I'm aware that we have some people my age and older and Then we have a good amount of young adults And I'm proud of you and I think it's incredible that you're showing up to church I think it's incredible that you're living for Jesus and Just because you are doing better There may be some of your family is doing or you're the first one to be safe That does not give you the that does not give you permission to live a life where you lack consecration your words matter Your eyes matter What you are doing with your boyfriend matters what you are doing with your girlfriend matters I know it is cheaper financially For you to move in with one another But you are cheapening your love if you cannot wait till marriage I Am saying this to you in love because with all due respect to this desire to get married marriage is God's idea not yours and If it is God's idea We do not get to mishandle it or treat it how we want to simply because we cannot wait You have to learn to wait waiting is something that is a part of discipline Discipline is the fruit of the Holy Spirit you do not get fruit because you speak fruit you get fruit because you develop fruit You have to develop the patience you have to develop the mindset you have to develop the character that says I'm not gonna respond to any opportunity that comes my way I know you're seeing nothing right now, but seeing nothing is not an excuse to settle for anything It's not an excuse to to to go with somebody to take a job to to say yes To something that God does not have for you because you'll settle for anything you will ruin everything

God has a plan God has a purpose God has a plan God has a purpose and here's the thing about God He's redemptive he will forgive you and There are some decisions that you're vacillating making right now Some of you don't not like what I'm saying. You're thinking. I'm never coming back to this church again This man has all been my business Well, if I never see you again, I do not fear your attendance. I Fear the presence of God. I Fear the word of God and I love you too much to tell you something that only tickles your spirit I'm gonna speak to you in a way that somebody would love you say to you I know you don't feel like doing it, but feeling like doing it and doing it are two different things You may feel like quitting. You may feel like falling into that situation You may feel like sleeping with them duh Just because you feel it is not the permission to do it I do not do what I want I do not do what I do necessarily because I want to do it I do it because I know God is calling me too, and that is where we have to start this conversation Don't just tell me what you desire tell me what God desires and when you're able to tell me what God desires Then you're able to tell me destiny You're able to tell me where you're going and where you should be going because many of you are just going and you're you're treating life like a trend The same way you church hop So just live your life and what you don't realize about living your life is you're actually ruining the one that God gave you. The best thing you have from God is forgiveness and freedom. But there's a freedom that's attached to forgiveness and forgiving people do not want to live for themselves. They want to live for God. Nothing. Anything. Something. There's a word that you need. It's called discernment. Discernment is being able to decipher what God wants to do right now and what he doesn't want to do right now. I wrote it down this way so that you could write it down.

Discernment is recognizing God's voice when he speaks. Discernment is remaining faithful when he is silent. Discernment is refusing to confuse noise with direction. I'm going to say that again because those three items can be three points by themselves and that could be its own sermon. Discernment is recognizing God's voice when he speaks. Remaining faithful when he's silent. Refuse him to confuse noise with direction. See, the danger isn't hearing another voice. It's mistaking another voice for God's direction. What words do you have to cancel out? What behaviors do you have to end? What practices do you have to put in place? What time limit do you need to put on your phone? What podcast do you need to delete? What books do you need to start reading? What music do you need to stop listening to? What do you need to do so that you don't have all these opposing views? With where it is that God is directing you to. If a lysha who is a prophet can call down fire from heaven and still find a need to put his head between his knees to barricade all the noises from entering into his mind, how much more should we? What am I saying? I'm saying if we do not start praying, we're not going to see any of the things that God has planned come to pass. Not because if I ask it, he'll do it. If that is your lens of prayer, you're cheapening it. But it's because I pray, I learn what he already said. Big difference. I don't want the relationship where I just ask and he does.

I want the relationship that I do, what he asks. This is why the Bible says my sheep what? My sheep know my voice. My sheep know my voice. My sheep know my voice. Which also means there's other voices. There's other options. There's other people competing for your attention. We were going to do this illustration. And then we tried it out before service and I felt like it was super cheesy. I'm like, I'm not going to do that to you guys. I don't really use illustrations when I preach and then I had this idea and I'm like, this is why you don't do illustrations because they come out bad. But I had this idea of Marco Polo. You ever play Marco Polo? We're like, we're going to play Marco Polo. We're in New York. We don't have pools. Well, Marco Polo is a game that you would typically play in a pool. You need more than two people. You would have like three people, four people. And one person is in the pool and they scream out Marco and their eyes are closed. They're supposed to be closed. But as they're walking around, they're saying Marco and then someone else shouts out. And they say Marco and the idea, the person that's screaming out Marco, they're trying to find someone. But the person that screams out Polo is trying not to be found. So they're trying not to be found while saying something out loud. But because they don't want you to find them and they know that when you hear their voice, you're going to be able to look in their directions.

So what's the tactic in Marco Polo? It's to throw your voice. And it's to make you think that I'm somewhere where I'm not. So when I say Marco and then you say Polo, you're going to say Polo and then you're going to move to the side. And as you're walking through life and you're saying, God, what's next? What do you want to do with me? And you're looking for direction. You are settling for all these competing voices that sound like destiny to you. And they are leading you in a direction that they themselves aren't even at. The idea is not to get you from them. The idea is to get you away from where you need to be. And the enemy is throwing his voice and he's telling you to search over here and you get there. There's nothing there. And they tell you to go over here and you search over there and there's nothing there. And I'm telling you, if you do not start... of how God speaks and how He sounds, you will end up walking through life completely missing the life that God has for you. What's the point of living? If we're not gonna use the one that a good God already predestined. And here's the thing about the goodness of God. It can't be predicted. It's so good that it's better than you thought it would be. And most of the time, it shows up in a way that you would never think. This is why when Elisha gets the report that there's a cloud the size of a man's hand, which by the way, that servant had good eyes. Because he said a cloud the size of a man's hand

other translations say a fist. So imagine a fist, a small little fist seeing it in the distance. Seeing he says, man, I see something. I see something. And then the seven time, he reports it goes Elisha. This time I see something. It's the cloud, it's small. But Elisha said, ooh, that's enough because he's the God that could deal with nothing. Surely he's the God that could deal with something. Even if it's small, what's small to us is not insignificant to God. He says, you could give me faith the size of a mustard seed. I don't need much to work with. I could work with however it is. I choose to work. What I want you to understand is that when I decide to work and when I decide to put my hand on something, even if it's a cloud the size of a man's hand, you better get ready to run inland because you're about to get drenched. What I'm about to do, how I'm about to rain down, it is going to blow your mind. This is why the word of God says, do not despise the day of small beginnings.

There is nothing wrong with small. There is nothing wrong with little. God says I could do a whole lot with a whole little. The Bible then describes to us that Elisha gets up immediately. I love Elisha's faith, man. He's so committed to God. He says, you see a cloud? Well, yeah, I mean, it wasn't that big of a cloud, but you said that you saw a cloud. Yeah, yeah, well, that's enough for me. It's the cloud, the size of a man's hand. That means it's coming our way. He goes, hey, go get Ahab and go get the soldiers and tell them, tell them to get on their horses and chariots. We got to get inland. We have to go back. We have to go back. We have to get to safety because there's a sound of an abundance of rain and what I heard in my spirit, there was nothing small about it, which means what is happening is only developing over time. I'm not going to be discouraged. I'm not going to be bothered by the size of it because I know eventually I will see what I hear, but because I hear it and what I see is small, that doesn't mean it's time to complain. That means it's time to prepare.

That means it's time to get ready. The Bible then says that the power of God falls upon Elisha. He does not jump on a horse. He does not jump in the chariots, but because the power of God falls upon him, he starts to run. Now picture this Ahab and all the other men who were just worshiping the false prophet of Baal and saw the 450 prophets of Baal where see them destroyed in that moment are now in the horses and the chariots, and now they are listening and riding after a prophet. And the prophet is running while they're riding. Talk about lace up your boots. You know what he does? He leads who was against God straight into the blessings of God. My brothers and my sisters, if you only hear preaching about the blessing, but the blessing does not lead you back to the gospel, you missed it. What business does Ahab, a man that would allow false idols into this nation, what business does he have receiving that kind of blessing? I don't know what business do we have. Sinners, liars, deceivers, manipulators who show up to church every Sunday who manipulate, who want to give up? What business do we have receiving the grace of God and my brothers and my sisters?

That is why it's grace. It is unmerited, undeserved favor. The same way that what was bad did not allow Elisha to give up, but it led Elisha to pray so that something good could happen for somebody who does not deserve it. You do not get a clearer picture of the gospel than this moment right here. What I'm saying is God isn't gonna just He's gonna bless you for the greater good of what he wants to do on this earth. And you know what he wants to do? Save it. Love it. He wants his love on full display for people, which people, all of them. Those that look like you and those that don't look like you. Those that vote like you and those that don't vote like you. Those that believe like you and those that don't believe like you. I know. Which I know, can we just, can we just be careful with all the looking to argue with people about what we believe in? I think it's cool that everybody wants to be an apologist right now and I've been on the soapbox for a little bit, but an apologist is somebody that knows enough of the gospel to defend the gospel. And we're seeing people in Union Square

and Washington Square park arguing with other people of other religions and it makes a good TikTok video. But if those Hebrew Israelites and if those Jews or those atheists or those Muslims, do not then turn to follow Jesus. What was the point? Was the point to embarrass them? Because if you embarrass somebody with the truth, then you simply mishandled it. The point is to lead people to the loving arms of Jesus. Well, look how they're behaving. Look how you behaved. Look how I behave, but he met us and he loved us. But here's the thing, my brothers and my sisters, the rain is coming and when it comes, it's gonna fall on people, all people, all the people. And I just wanna be the one on the forefront leading the way. Not the one saying, you can't come and you shouldn't be with us. But the one that says, I feel that revival is coming. I feel like the rain is coming and I want you to come on and I want you to follow me. I don't wanna just leave you on that mountain. I don't wanna just leave you eating and drinking. I'm saying, come with me. Let's get to safety. Let's get to blessing. Let's get to everything it is that God has for us. You don't have to stay where you are. Oh, I could hear it.

I'm telling you, as surely as Elijah heard it, my brothers and my sisters, the same way I heard it Thursday morning at 4 a.m., I could hear it in my spirit. God is doing something beautiful and it is on its way. And what we're seeing is already beautiful, but it's not even gonna compare where we are a few months from now, a year from now. There is a shift on its way. I could hear the shift. I could hear the rain. I could already see the clouds lining up. I could feel the power. I could feel the love. I could feel all of them. And it's gonna make such a statement that we won't have to brand it. We'll just witness it. When we started this ministry and we started so whole Bible study, the first gathering had 250 people signed up for it. The whole idea was God, if this is you, the people will show up. And for a lot of people, that's a bad branding idea. I know, but I heard this quote a long time ago that said you don't have to advertise a fire. If people see a fire, they're gonna look towards it. So God, if you're a fire false and your presence is here, people are gonna come. Now, I'm all about telling people

and posting on social media. I'm all about it. But let's be very clear. There are a lot of things that get treated like revival that was really just good marketing. (gentle music) What I see happening is so mind-blowing that the only possible reasoning is because God showed up. Not because of a preacher, not because of a singer, not because of anything else, but because of the presence of God was there. People had to be a part of it. Now, is that a good word? We're gonna pray for revival. The Bible says, "If my people who are called by my name "will repent, ask for forgiveness. "I will then in turn heal their land." Notice, it doesn't say, "If my people who are called by my name, "call of my name, I'll heal their land." That's not what it says. It says, "If my people who are called by my name, "repent, I will heal their land." This is gonna be a moment of repentance. Repentance simply means turning from the wrong direction you are facing so that you could then turn in the right direction of Jesus. Some of you have been praying, rain prayers, and he says you need to call down fire over that thing.

It's over. It's coming to an end. There are others of you. You've been calling down fire prayers. He's like, "Nope, I want that thing to flow." Some of you know what God said, but you got tired of waiting. So you've been making decisions because you looked at third time and didn't see it. And you looked at fourth time and you didn't see it. But God says, "Son, daughter, I want you to look again." And because of my mercy and my forgiveness, I'm not gonna treat you as your sins deserve. I'm gonna allow you to look again. If you fall in any three of those categories, let me see your hands. Great, stand up. (gentle piano music) In the balcony, stand, it's okay. (gentle piano music) Did you lift up your hands? (gentle piano music) Man, I feel like there's somebody in the room that you should be sealing, standing, but you feel disqualified. Like you want to stand, but you feel like you did too much so you don't deserve to stand. Whoever you are, stand, where are you at? Come on. Perfect, thank you.

Yeah, thank you. That's just the mercy of God, he loves you that much. He says, "Point them out, get them." Come all of you that are standing, all of you that are standing lift up your hands, lift up both your hands, lift up both your hands, lift up both your hands, hallelujah God, hallelujah God, hallelujah God. Holy Spirit, I pray you fall on my brothers and my sisters down. I pray, O God, that you would give us wisdom. I pray, O God, that you would give us the servant. I pray right now for each and every one of them, O God, that they would feel the fullness of joy that comes from your mercy and that comes from your grace. I pray for the one that's been trying to keep something alive that you've been wanting to put an end, that you would give them the security, that what they've been trying to continue needs to end right now. And I pray for the other one that wanted to walk away, but you're telling them to endure, you're telling them to remain. Holy Spirit, I pray that you renew their mind right now and you give them new eyes, O Father God, and new ears to pay attention to what the Spirit is doing. And Father God, for the one that is tired of waiting, for the one that does not see the very thing that you've heard promised and they've made some decisions that they're not proud of.

Holy Spirit, I pray you fall upon them, I pray you cleanse them, I pray that you forgive them. I pray, Spirit of God, that you would fall on this place and you would fall on each and every one of us and you would allow our desires to match up with yours. That our prayers wouldn't simply be requests, but our prayers would be responses to what it is that you want to do. I pray you cover them now and be with them now and liberate them now in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. The rest of you, can you stand? With your eyes closed, if you've never given your life to Jesus, but you want to give your life to Jesus for the first time when I say three, lift up your hand. One, Jesus loves you and he died specifically for you. Two, tomorrow's not promised to any man or any woman. You want to give your life to Jesus, lift up your hand now. Three, lift it up. Yeah, keep it up. Yep, one, two, three. Can we get them cards? Yep, if there's more and I didn't count you, your hand still counts. All of you that lifted up your hands, I want you to repeat this with me. In fact, let's repeat it together. Say, Jesus, come on, loud and proud, Jesus.

You are King, you are Lord. Forgive me of my sins and all my wrongdoing. I love you, I give my life to you. In Jesus' name, amen. Come on, shout out, amen. [MUSIC PLAYING]