Revival Night 5 Pastor Stephanie Payne

And there is nothing more powerful than speaking the name of Jesus, the great I am, who is worthy of it all. I'm going to pray over us and teens, you can go back to your seat as I pray. Father God, I just thank you for tonight. God, I thank you for how you're already moving Jesus, how you're softening our hearts, God. We're turning our eyes to look at you, God, we may have had a crazy day, God, but we're in the house tonight to hear from you. We need a fresh word. We need our hearts to be squeezed a little more. We need the icy edges to be thought out a little bit more. God, we just come in humble reverence of who you are, Jesus. You are so good and God without you, we can do nothing. So God, we just thank you for these next few moments. God, we just thank you for these next minutes as we can lift your name up, God, as we are in your presence already, but as your word is open and as your word is being spoken, God, I pray that it will not fall on deaf ears, Jesus, or a hard stony heart, God, but it'll fall on a soft, fertile heart, a heart that can receive the word of the Lord, a heart where the roots can go deep so we can start seeing fruit and there can be start being a movement in our city because our hearts are on fire for you and we are burning so bright that people want to know what is the hope inside of us. So we just dedicate these next few moments to you, Jesus, and everybody said in the name of Jesus, amen, man, what a week, what a week it has been. You guys can go ahead and be seated, man, I don't know about you, but I'm like, woo, it's been a week, it's been an incredible week. We have felt God's presence and last night, I know, um, I think the live stream may have cut out on Facebook. So go to YouTube, do yourself a favor, those of you online who are watching, if you miss it, go to YouTube. I'm telling you, pastor Tim Seidler gave a word. Everybody has given a word.

I'm telling you. I'm like, thanks a lot, Tim, for putting me last. I'm like getting ready to close this out, but it's not just a close. This isn't the end of something. I want us to know in here tonight. It's the beginning of something that's right, because when my Bible start and the fire is lit, it just doesn't stop in this place. It doesn't just contain right here. It goes out into our community and people's lives have changed, families have changed. People are different because of what has started in here. So don't think this is the end. Just think this is the beginning and we're just getting started. I love the, um, we were talking about revival, you know, and what does revival mean? Revival means to bring back to life again. Revival isn't an event. It's when something has been fading, weakening, going to sleep. Something that's coming alive again, a fresh breath of the Holy Spirit. Can you feel it? Can you feel him moving in our midst? Revival is when God brings life on what has grown dry. Any dry places that you felt awakens what has grown numb when your heart is calloused towards things that break his heart. He restores what has been broken. Anybody ever been in a broken season or feel broken? I've been there. He is a restorer. Revival rekindles what has been burning low. And it's like going out there, you know, when you're cooking on the gas grill or we have a gas, you know, stovetop, and sometimes you light a little too much and all of a sudden it's like, boom.

You're like, whew. Think about singed my eyebrows on that one. That's what God wants to do in revival. He wants to light that fire, ignite that fire to burn bright. Revival is not just a hype. It's a holy hunger for Jesus because we want more of him and less of us. Can you feel it? Because he's doing something new. He's awakening the hearts of his sons. He's awakening the hearts of his daughters. And he says, I want to pour out a new fresh anointing on you. You will let me, I'll go over what we've learned. So if you missed it, maybe tonight's your first night you've been here. It's okay. I'll give you some cliff notes. It'll probably intrigue you and you'll probably want to go back and just do a marathon instead of binging on Netflix. I'm going to challenge you binge on revival nights. I promise you it's 10 times better. Okay. And it'll fill your soul and you won't have to go to sleep in fear that. going to come break in your house. Okay. I'm just talking about me watching 48 hour mystery. So this is for revival. So these are the different things that were spoken over the week and it's just, I don't know. It's incredible. See how none of us knew what the other one was speaking about, but God put in our hearts what he wanted you to hear, what he wanted us to hear and the action steps that he wanted us to take. Last night, pastor Tim brought a word. He launched us off. He already said, he goes, I don't know if y'all were here. He said, I want to do this so I can sit back and enjoy and just soak it in. I love that. He spoke on, if my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and what turn repentance, turn from their wicked ways, turn from the

hurts, the habits and hangups that are tripping us up. Then we will hear a fresh word from him and he will move in our midst. He launched us off pretty good. Night number two, pastor Danny, remember he talked about it. That's right. He said, are you locked in? And he talked about the woman, the prostitute who Jesus had forgiven, had a lot to be able. We would consider in our days a lot to be needing forgiveness for, but she came before Jesus and poured out what she had, the, the ointment, the perfume on his feet and used her tears to wash his feet. And we learned that there was the self-righteous that looked at her and criticized her, but she knew what Jesus had done for her. And he asked us the question, where were we between the woman who was giving her all wiping Jesus feet with her tears or the self-righteous judge who forgot how they had been forgiven from all their sins. And he said, where are you? I love the phrase. He said, deep love is a response to deep grace. Who in your circle needs to feel deep love because of the deep grace that we have received past night three pastor LB, man, I couldn't even write it all down. I'm like, I can't, I couldn't do this quick enough. I couldn't do this. I tried both ways. I'm like, I'm just gonna have to go back. I'm trying to do cliff notes. Pastor LB said, all in, he said, it's time to get off the shore and get in the boat, get in the boat with Jesus because Jesus wants you to take you to the other side because on the other side of trusting, going out in the deep with Jesus, there's other people that need to know your story. There's other people that need to know how Jesus has brought you through. So get in, get in the boat and go all the way to the other side. And last night, pastor Tim Seidler, holy cow, talking about the altar. That's right. Telling you what life will change. Baptisms were happening. I was able to lead two teens to Christ out here right afterwards to baptize them. And I'm like, it doesn't get much better than that. Thank you, Jesus. He said, the altar is a place of surrender. And he asks us, what did we need to bring to the altar to surrender to him? I love this. He said, the altar is where God takes you from broken to burning. I'm like, yes, Jesus light us on fire so we can burn bright from, for you. And I have a question for you tonight. What would it take or what is it going to take to stop you from burning? What would it take to stop you from serving him? What would it take to, you'd put the brakes on and be like, I can't do this anymore for the light to go out for you. Not even having a heart to serve him anymore.

We're going to read in Acts 16. I love Acts. I love these stories. And I know I told Tim, he was right a couple months ago. I was like, I said, man, I said, I just feel this story burning in my heart at the midnight hour when it's dark, when you feel like you've been dealt an un, like I don't deserve this. How did I get here? But Jesus is still using that dark hour for his glory because he doesn't want anyone to share his glory. He wants maximum glory from your circumstance. So we're going to learn about two missionaries tonight. This is Paul and Silas. Now, if you know about Paul, you've, we've heard of him in many times. Now, Paul, we're referring to as you remember, um, Saul, he was the one who needed God's grace and forgiveness, right? He was the one who went from persecuting and killing Christians to all of a sudden God giving a burden, God radically changed his life. And he says, send me Jesus. I'm going to take the gospel out and. let people know that hope has a name and his name is Jesus. So that's who Paul is. And then his sidekick, his buddy is Silas. And Silas, you may not know as much, I wrote a fun few facts about Silas. Silas was a Roman citizen. He was one of the first career missionaries, which means he had a career path before, but he said, it's not my will, Jesus, but it's yours. And I want you to use me to take the gospel to people who've never heard. He told people about the gospel around the world. Three, he carried a letter prepared by the Jerusalem Council that accepted the Gentile believers in Antioch, where Jesus says, not just for the Jews, it's for the Gentiles to receive salvation. Some of his close friends you may recognize, he ran with a good group of people. Paul, Timothy, if you're gonna pick friends,

these are the friends you want, okay? They're gonna probably call you out, you know what I'm saying? They're not gonna be like, you good, they're gonna be like, Jesus knows what you're doing, you better wrap it up, okay? We're getting shipwrecked, all this bad stuff is happening, you better be following Jesus, right? Paul, his close friends were Paul, Timothy, Peter, Mark, Barnabas. He was a writing secretary for Paul and Peter. How incredible would that be to be able to write and pen the words for so many words that we hold dear to our hearts, right? He helped co-author 1 Peter, according to the scriptures in 1 Peter, so that's Silas. So imagine, so he's not just somebody who's just like, oh, here we go, how did I get caught in this? He is somebody who has dedicated his life to following Jesus, he is a servant of Jesus, he sacrificed to serve Jesus, and this is what happens to them, so this is the story. I'm gonna read here in Acts 16. One day, as they were going down to the place of prayer, one day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a demon-possessed slave girl. She was a fortune teller who earned a lot of money for her masters. She followed Paul, and the rest of us shouting, these men are servants of the most high God,

and they have come to tell you how to be saved. Now, you know you're walking with Jesus when people from the other side are telling others, hey, these people are Jesus followers, there's something about them. I'm not even on their side, but there's something about them. They have a different spirit, they're servants of the most high God. This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated, he's like, girl, what are you doing? I'm like, he didn't say that. Exasperated, he turned and said to the demon within her, we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, remember that. Remember when you're in the marketplace, remember the coworkers, the coworkers are not your enemy. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities. So he recognized it wasn't this woman, it was the spirit inside of her. He commanded in the name of Jesus Christ, come out of her, and instantly it left her. Her master's hopes of wealth were shattered. What in the world have you done? They grabbed Paul and Silas, dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews. It gets a little messy when people are coming to Christ. Things are happening. You're like, I can't make sense of all this,

but God moments, right? They shouted to the city officials. They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice. So a mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten. Humiliation, here they were serving God, they've dedicated their lives, they've given everything for the cause of Christ. Talking about having a victim mentality. Here you are stripped, humiliated, and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, severely, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure that they didn't escape. So they were locked up extra deep into like the innermost part of the prison, into the inner dungeon, and clamped their feet in the stocks. Put them, so he's like, you're not going anywhere. You're not gonna tell anybody about the gospel of Jesus. I'm gonna stop you. But around midnight, around midnight, the darkest times in our life, when it feels like, where are you, God? The darkest times in our life when we're going through a divorce, the darkest times in our life when we've gotten a health diagnosis, the darkest times in our life

when we've had relational splits, we've lost a business, we've got fired or let go from our job for no good reason. At midnight, when it feels like the dark, God, I've. Dedicated my whole life to serve you here. I am at midnight in the darkest of the dungeons My feet are locked up. I'm beaten. It didn't say they clothed them again. They could have been still laying there naked Where are you Jesus? But they weren't victims Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God And guess who is listening? The other prisoners around them It's easy to follow Jesus when everything is going our way It's easy to follow Jesus when we're walking around like blessed and highly favored watch me watch me You know when everything is going good people like yeah, i'd be following Jesus too if I had all that If I was living in that house if I was married to that person if I was driving that if I was working there I could praise him The world takes notice the people around us take notice when things aren't going so well in our circumstances But we're still praising him Because we know who we are in him and we know if it's not good god's not done with it yet And we're gonna praise him through the pain. We're gonna praise him through the darkness Because in just a little bit The darkness is always the darkest before the dawn So as the prisoners were listening People are listening to you What is she gonna do? What is he gonna do with this information? And suddenly Who's ready for a but god suddenly moment?

When jesus comes it's always suddenly it's never on our time. I have noticed that okay Because i'm like I need suddenly moments all the time. Okay? I need that microwave. Jesus like one minute. Boom. We're done. Let's go He's like that's not how I work He's like more of like, you know, doug with the green egg fest. He's like it's like smoking It may take a little bit time, but it's gonna take a lot better. It's gonna taste a lot better The flavor is gonna be a lot better. It's gonna be a lot more tender when you eat it It's gonna be a lot more flavorful to those around you Yeah As they were praying and singing hymns to god the other prisoners were listening and suddenly there was a massive earthquake the foundation started to rumble That interesting the foundation. What is your foundation on? If you're in a midnight hour What's your foundation? Is it in your 401k? Is it on your status of what people think about you? Is it on your um status of like ma'am on this relationship makes me look good If I hit this if I had this job if I had this career if I do this What is your foundation on sometimes god has to shift our foundation? Sometimes god has to have an earthquake time come to shake us up to get our eyes off of our circumstances And get them back onto him There was a massive earthquake and the prison was shaken to its foundation Have you ever been shaken to your foundation And all of the doors immediately flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell off When I praise jesus and i'm walking with jesus it doesn't just affect me It affects those around me. It affects those in my household. It affects those in my cubicle It affects those in my my cul-de-sac. It affects those in my long distance family It affects everyone around me All the doors flew open and the chains of every prisoner escaped

The the chains of every prisoner fell off When my freedom comes It helps me set other people free The jailer woke up now. That's not a good day. Okay If that is your job Now i'm not sure what everyone else was in there for they might not have been spreading the gospel to everyone Okay, they might have been up to some shenanigans. Okay, they might have deserved to be in prison. Okay The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open He assumed the prisoners had escaped so he drew his sword to take his life because he was like I can't face my boss says How did this happen on my watch? As he drew the sword to kill himself paul shouted stop Don't kill yourselves. We are all here Because they were still a mission Paul still had a mission to do And he couldn't let the jailer take his life because he had some good news. He needed to share with him The jailer called for the lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before paul and silas then he brought Help them out and ask, sir, what must I do to be saved? Is that not incredible? All of a sudden, he goes from fear and panic to be like, holy cow, this is something bigger than me. He realized he was in the presence of the Holy One. What must I do to be saved? They replied, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved along with everyone in your household. And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. And even at that hour of night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. He brought them into his house. He's like something has changed. This wasn't just an ordinary day at work.

Jesus showed up. Jesus wants to show up at your work too in an ordinary — in an unordinary way. He set a mill before them and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God. God inhabits our praise. What has been stopping you from praising him? What has gotten — what has the enemy allowed in your life to silence your voice? To keep you silent? To keep you from lifting up the name that is above all names, and that is Jesus Christ? He inhabits our praise. No matter what our circumstances, we should always praise him. I want to read to you some interesting facts. I was doing a little study and I thought, man, this is so good. Not only is it scriptural, but also it is scientific of praise. This is why in Proverbs, and anytime I speak, I swear this verse comes up because it is like a life anthem for me. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Jesus is. It says here, scientifically, the praise. Five points, just quick five points. Praise rewires your brain for breakthrough. When we praise Jesus, we're not just saying this, but scientifically it has been proven that our brain is being rewired for breakthrough. Praise activates the cortex, hope, clarity, decision-making. It reduces the activity and the amygdala, our fear and our panic. Does anybody need that area to kind of soften a little bit? Anybody have any fear, anxiety, or panic that the enemy wants to give you? When we praise, our brain is getting rewired and that starts shrinking. Praise shifts you from fear thinking to faith thinking. Before he changes things, he needs to shake your mind into alignment.

Praise releases healing chemicals into your body. As you praise him, things are shifting on the inside. You can't see it, but scientifically. Worship releases dopamine, joy, serotonin, peace, endorphins, strength, oxytocin, connection to the great I am that we sang about earlier. Your body responds to worship. When you lift your voice, heaven and your biological body, your strength is rising. Number three, praise regulates your nervous system and calms the storm, calming you from the inside out. I can get a little anxious sometimes. I can get let all the sudden worry starts creeping in. Science says that praise lowers the cortisol levels, your stress hormones in your body. And it moves you from the fight or flight into resting in him and letting him restore your body. In Psalms 23, he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. When we're praising him, things scientifically, our cortisol levels are shifting. We're going from fight or flight into resting in him. Praise brings your inner world into peace so that God can move in your outer world. Praise changes the atmosphere through sound and spirit. His voice creates sound waves that alter air pressure, emotion, and actually collective renaissance in a room. Funny story. Tim came in. This is like on a side note. You'll laugh because it's a plant story. Again, I know Tim gives me a hard time for all my plants, okay, but plant mom too. And so he came in and he was like, what are you doing? I was like, I was talking to my plants and he's like, are you joking with me? I'm like, no, because I read that if you talk to your plants.

and tell them how pretty they are, that they actually grow and actually bloom even more. And now he's like, you're joking. I said, this one was almost dead and look at her. She's pretty. And so I said, imagine if me going over to the plant and telling her how amazing she is, how great she looks and leaves are starting to form, leaves are starting to grow again. If God wants to do that for the plants that he created, imagine how much more that he wants to do that for your circumstance, that he wants to do that in your life. Our words are changing and shifting the atmosphere. It is scientifically proven. If I'm on plant forums who don't even believe in Jesus and they're telling me to speak life over my plants, I think we as believers need to get in line with God's word and start speaking life over our situations. I know some of you plant moms, maybe dads too, are gonna go home tonight and be like, you got this girl. You can make it. One more day. I always give, I gave my friend a plant. She's like, you're putting too much pressure on me. I said, this is our love fern. And if you kill it, our friendship's over. And she's like, please don't do that to me. I'm like, okay. I'm gonna keep an eye on that plant though.

Every time I come over, I'm gonna check on it. Praise, last thing, praise positions you to receive God's power. Science says when the mind calms and the body regulates, your focus aligns and you become more receptive. What are we becoming more receptive to? His word. His word of I hid in my heart that I might not sin against him. Your brain literally enters into a state of openness. Praise prepares your vessel to hear from the Lord so he can move in your life in a mighty way. Isn't that incredible? That science can say all that about praise. God inhabits our praise. Well, what is the meaning of praise? So glad you asked. Because I'm gonna tell you. I love it. Praise seeing Jesus means responding to who he is and what he's done with my words, with my heart, with my posture, and my life. I'm not just saying this. God, I'm praising him with what I'm doing. I'm praising him with how my actions are in the workplace. I can't, I'm not, but he is. Praise is recognizing God's character. It means acknowledging his character. Jesus, you are faithful. Jesus, you are good.

My circumstances may not be good, but you are good, Jesus. Jesus, you are powerful. You are more powerful than anything I'm facing. And Jesus, you are savior. When you say, Jesus, you are worthy, you are agreeing with heaven and acknowledging. Remember the Lord's prayer says your kingdom come, your world be done on earth as it is in heaven. We're aligning our hearts with the sounds of heaven. Two, praise is releasing the truth. Man, my feelings are not facts. Tim and I always remind each other of this every so often. So when I'm in my feels, he's like, now remember, feelings are not facts. I'm like, hate it when you use those words against me, right? And then when he's like, I'm feeling this, and I'm like, oh, remember, feelings are not facts, right? Praise is releasing the truth. How will you know the truth? This is the truth and it never changes. God says you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. So how do I know the truth? The world is changing around us, but something that will never change is the power of God's word and the truth of God's word. Praise is releasing the truth. If you don't know what to praise, flip open your Bible to Psalms

and find something to praise him for. Thank you for the breath in my lungs, Jesus. I'm still breathing. I've got another ounce of breath in my lungs, so I'm gonna praise you. Praise isn't just emotional. It's a declaration. You know, so many times I remember a time in my life where I'd see people worshiping. I'm like, my gosh, what is happening on stage up there? She needs to tone it down just a little bit. And I had judgment in my heart. I hadn't walked in her shoes. I didn't know what she had been through. I didn't know what storms God had brought her out of. But I remember the day when I was praising and singing all of a sudden, I was like, get down there. I was like, hold on. She's singing all of a sudden, I was like, oh, that's not for me. That's not Christ-like. And then all of a sudden I'm like. Woo, he is worthy, he is worthy, he is worthy. I'm telling you what, when God has set you free, when God has freed you, he gives you something and it is not about show, but it is in a, it is in a posture of God, I'm not, but you are. I remember what I was before you, Jesus. I remember how you freed me from addiction, Jesus. I remember the chains that held me back where I wasn't free to tell others what freedom was it like experiencing it, because I wasn't free.

Woo, okay. Praise is not just emotional. So when you see people worshiping in hands, it's not just emotion, it's just an outpour of like, God, you've done so much. I want more of you, Jesus. You're speaking to what is true, even if your situation doesn't look like it. My circumstance won't define me. Your circumstance won't define you. Jesus will define your circumstance because Jesus has the final word. Praise is a weapon. I wore my boots tonight, just as a reminder, if anybody didn't know that the enemy is underneath your feet. The enemy has been defeated in Jesus' name and you need to be reminded, I know we've probably heard the song, if I could sing, I've given my all to Jesus as we're singing, but remember that song, it's like lace up your boots, right? It's time to ride. I know y'all know it, but y'all don't want to sing out loud. You know what song I'm talking about? It's like, come on, Jesus. I'm ready to lace up my boots for you, Jesus, because my praise is a weapon. My circumstances aren't good, but I'm putting on my boots because I'm ready to praise you and I'm not fighting this battle alone. I just want you to know you're not fighting this battle alone because if you do, you're going to get defeated. We can't do this on our own. I'm not, but he is. Remind yourself that. Praise is a weapon. Praise pushes back the darkness. Hell hates it.

Chains break underneath it. I'm telling you, has anybody had chains broken off of them? I'm telling you, I have had chains broken off of me and I'm telling you there is freedom in Jesus Christ, and if you have not had the chains broken off you yet, let me tell you about my Jesus. He can break off chains, he can cut off generational curses, he can set you free, and it stops with your family. You're like, my family will not walk in addiction. They were all alcoholics, but I'm not. My family was addicted to this, but I'm not. Granddaddy, granddad, daddy, they may all have done that, but I got a new spirit and I got the spirit of the most high living in me, he has set me free, and as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord and walk in freedom. Atmospheres shift because of praise. Lift your eyes off the problem and realign your heart with the word of God. It invites the presence and the power of God, and it disarms the enemy's lies, for praise is surrender. I can't remember which pastor it was we talked about, surrender is hard for us because that means we release control. Anybody else hate the C word, or like the C word too much? Maybe it's that. It's the opposite. I like the C word too much, and God's always reminding me, Stephanie, you're not in control. Really? I like to be in control. Anybody else have control issues? Y'all better not be lying up in the house of the Lord, he sees you. Praise is surrender. It's saying, Jesus, I trust you, even in fill-in-the-blank. I won't let fear or heaviness have my voice.

I'm surrendering this to you, Jesus. You're bigger than what I see with my physical eyes. When you praise, you are placing Jesus back on the throne of your heart. Jesus, I'm not, but you are. Jesus, I don't know what to do, but you do. Jesus, I'm surrendering all, every ounce of control to you. Praise is intentional. It just doesn't happen. You just don't wake up one morning and be like, woo, put on my praise shoes. I'm going to do a little praise through the whole house today. Our kids will be like, what was in your coffee, OK? You've had seven shots of espresso and it's 6 a.m., right? Praise is intentional. We have to get the Word of God inside of us. We have to reflect on who He is and be intentional with our praise. Be intentional. Intentional with speaking the truth of God's Word. It just doesn't happen. We have to be intentional. No one else can do it for you I'm married to a pastor. He's an incredible man. He's a man of God He can't pray for I'd say I'd be standing up to bed He is a man of God But he can't praise for me He can show me what it's like to praise he can go through our house praising God But he can't praise for me. I Have to praise for myself. I have to be intentional and we have to teach our children how to praise the in their own personal walk Praise is personal. It can be loud. It can be quiet man Thank you Jesus for this parking spot right in front of Target. You're good guy. Wait wait Just joking those internal praises. You're like I can't say that out loud I sound a little carnal but God, you know how grateful I am for this. I know that I'm blessed and highly favored

It could be internal it could be external Jesus. I love you Thank you Jesus for saving me Thank you Jesus for loving me when sometimes I don't even love myself Do you ever find yourself that way? Sometimes you look out and you're like God How do you even love me? Because I don't even love myself right now I'm messing up I'm messing up time and time again Thank you Jesus for staying with me He said he will never leave us or forsake us When you are a child of God when you are a daughter of God a son of God He will never leave you nor forsake you your earthly family your earthly father your earthly mother They may leave you turn their backs on you. But let me tell you about a father who never will He will never leave you nor forsake you and maybe you need to just let that rise up inside of you Thank you for staying with me Thank you God for working even when I can't see it He's always working. He doesn't take a nap. He doesn't take a break He isn't off when it's Veterans Day. He's not off when it's 4th of July When we're taking breaks, he's always working. Thank you for working even when I can't see it Praise brings you close Number seven praise is powerful because Jesus is present Jesus inhabits our praise he inhabits the praise of his people That means when you praise he shows up in power. That means when you praise Shackles are falling off Foundations are shaking people are coming to Christ as you're praising because they're not seeing your circumstance They're seeing what Jesus come can do Where praise and where Jesus is freedom happens healing happens? Deliverance happens peace comes and darkness must flee when we are praising Jesus And scripture commands us to I'm gonna read a few verses so buckle up These are some praise scriptures

Do yourself a favor in the morning when you wake up when you're having your quiet time if you don't have quiet time That's the first place to start Get up read a verse of the day Tim always says this read what a Proverbs the day it'll keep stupidity away, right? I'm like, I need some wisdom Lord. Help me keep my mouth shut so you can flow through me today Jesus If you don't know where to start start in Psalm start in Proverbs get you version the word of the day Do a search on praise? Psalms 34 1 I will praise the Lord at all times. I will Constantly speak of his praises Psalms 156 let everything that breath breathe sing praises to the Lord praise the Lord Psalms 100 verse 4 enter his gates with Thanksgiving go into his courts with praise give thanks to him and praise his name Psalms 147 praise the Lord how good to sing praises to our God how delightful and how fitting Psalms 149 verse 6 let the praises of God be in their mouths not in my mouth in your mouth Let the praises of God be in their mouths and a sharp sword in their hands Hebrews 13 15 let us offer through Jesus a continual it doesn't stop a continual sacrifice of praise to God proclaiming our Allegiance to his name there is no other name, but Jesus Ephesians 5 19 and 20 sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves We were doing that a little bit earlier and we're going to keep doing it a little bit, too Making music to the Lord in your hearts and give thanks for everything to God the father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ first Thessalonians 5 16 and 18 Always be joyful. Never stop praying be thankful in all Circumstances in other words praise him praise him praise in Isaiah 61 3 He will give them a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair Let me tell you today there is no other name but Jesus and he wants to replace that despair that depression that Despondency with praise in your mouth. God is not giving you a spirit of fear But he has given you a spirit of power love and of a sound mind. There is no one like our Jesus

He will give them a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair Psalm 63 your unfailing love is better than life itself We heard about love this week didn't we how I will praise you. I will praise you as long as I live Praise him praise him. You hear the theme happening here There's more verses, but I can't read them all we'd be here till midnight Psalms 103 let all that I am praise the Lord. May I never forget The good things he has done for me if you're in a place of forgetfulness And maybe you've forgotten the things that he's brought you through Maybe you've forgotten the things that he's done for you. I'd encourage you were in a season of Thanksgiving Thanksgiving's around the corner Oh My gosh, I remember when I prayed for that and you met me there God, I remember when I needed transportation and God you gave me a car God, I remember when I needed a job and you gave me that job you provided for me God I remember when I was praying for my wayward child when they were running fast and far from you Jesus But then they came back to you father God I remember when I was praying for my marriage that was broken and Jesus You're a store of all things and you have rebuilt my marriage Remind yourself remind yourself. I will praise you as long as I live. Let all that I am praise him May I never forget the good things he has done Maybe there's someone in here that's forgotten how good God's been to you Just for him saving us Just for him taking the burden and the punishment of our sins That's good enough to praise him It's time to raise our praise Church It's time to take our eyes off ourself It's time to take our eyes off our circumstance and say Jesus you are holy you are worthy I don't know how you're gonna change my circumstances I don't know what the outcome may be but God you are good. You are worthy of my praise There is no one like Jehovah We're gonna sing a song in a minute

Couple songs and these songs were chosen for tonight for a purpose I called the worship team earlier and I was like, I'm not a vocalist, but how hard would it be to sing these songs? They're like we love it. We're in I speak Jesus so when we sing these songs in the next few minutes, I Want you to sing them like you've never sang them before I Want you to all the sudden be like, oh, I'm not one that raises my hand I'm not one that does a little praise dance, but tonight I got a little pep in my steps I feel like my hand needs to go up a little bit higher. I feel like there's something stirring in my spirit I feel like there's a praise rising up in me Because I'm not but Jesus is and I will speak the name over my family I will speak the name of Jesus over my addiction. I will speak the name of Jesus over my depression I will speak the name of Jesus over my anxiety. I will speak the name of Jesus over my circumstance I will speak the name of Jesus over my lack because he is Faithful to a fill every good thing for you, and I'm telling you we're gonna sing these praises We're gonna declare who our Jesus is because he is worthy Worthy worthy to be praised and when we praise him, it's not just us that changes It's other prisoners who've been set free and I'm telling you there's something different when I talk to People like who are struggling who are working out of addiction I always look him in the eye and I say I see you Because I was right where you are and I'm here to tell you that you can do this if Jesus did it for me He can do it for you My freedom isn't just for me. It's to help set other captives free Jesus said, who he has set free is free indeed. And it is time, I'm telling you, to raise our praise. Let's go just keep it in here. This is a move of what God wants to do. He wants to take this all the way out of our seats and to the streets and to our community because there's a lost world that needs the hope of Jesus.

They are dying and going to hell and they need the light that is within sight of you and the freedom that you've experienced. And they need the hope verses. They need to know that Jesus has come to set them free. And as believers, we can't stay bound in chains anymore. It is time to shake those chains off. It is time to shake off addiction. In Jesus' name, the hurts, the habits, the hangups that have held us back living for self. We were sitting around a table with the pastors, with L.B. and Pastor Kevin Cooley, who's on our board, who's a missionary. He's praying for God to use him to reach 1 billion people in India. Does that blow your mind? He's like, I'm asking God in my lifetime to reach 1 billion for him. He started over 700 churches. And we were talking and the common theme around the table was, God didn't say, let's make your life easy. He said, pick up your cross and follow me. I'm telling you, it is not about you. It is not about you. It is what Jesus wants to do through you. So pick up your cross and follow him. If there's things you need to lay at the altar, lay them here at the altar. If you need to come up here and be like,

man, God, I give this to you. Again, I've been there. I'm like, God, take this from me. And he goes, you know the truth, start walking in it. Leave it here at the altar, but get up and start fighting for your freedom. Change your thoughts, change your actions, change what you're doing that has led you in to despair and to bondage and the chains holding you back. He said, I've come to set you free. So if there is things that are holding you back, I'm telling you, this altar is open. And you know who it's for? People who are breathing, people who are desperate for Jesus, people who want another touch from Jesus, people who want to be free and to walk in freedom and not be limited and to help others find their freedom. We're going to sing these songs together.