Spiritual Warfare: The 3 Keys To Victory

Hey, we're Todd and Julie Mullins, Senior Pastors here at Christ Fellowship Church, and we're so glad that you're tuning in for service today. Yeah, Christ Fellowship is one church that meets in lots of different locations, including right here with you. Yeah, and our prayer for you today is that you would sense God's love for you. See, I don't personally know all that you're going through today and what you're up against, but God does. And He hears your prayers, and He knows your name, and He's right here for you today as you call out to Him. Yeah, thanks again for joining with us today. We love you, and we're praying for you. Welcome home. Welcome to Christ Fellowship. Hey, this is your invitation to look at the God who is mighty to save. Come on, let's stand together. Let's sing full of faith. Come on, He is mighty to save. Come on, full of faith. Yes, He does. No one, no one, no one. Come on, is there a church that believes that today? Come on, let's go. He's an almighty fortress, you go before Him. Nothing can stand against the power of our God You shine in the shadow, You win every battle Nothing can stand against the power of our God You're nobody's fortress, You go before us Nothing can stand against the power of our God You shine in the shadow, You win every battle Nothing can stand against the power of our God You're nobody's fortress, You go before us Nothing can stand against the power of our God You shine in the shadow, You win every battle Nothing can stand against the power of our God So when I fight, I fight on my knees With my head held high Oh God, that all belongs to You

Every knee that I lay at Your feet I'll sing through the night Oh God, that all belongs to You Oh God, that all belongs to You I know a name that can silence roaring waves I know a name of silence that can empty out a grave I know a name that's the only name that saves And is worthy of all praise I call You Jesus I call You, I call You healer Risen and reigning in power Something comes out of the grave Every time I call You Jesus I call You, I call You savior Worthy of glory forever Something comes out of the grave Every time I call Your name I have a key With dominion over death He holds the key in His hands In His holy death silent He is the healing That has crushed the serpent's head How resurrected great I am I call You Jesus I call You, I call You healer Risen and reigning in power Something comes out of the grave Every time I call You Jesus I call You, I call You savior Worthy of glory forever Something comes out of the grave Every time I call Your name Chains break, dry bones wake Every time I call Your name The gates of hell shake Every time I call Your name Chains break, dry bones wake Every time I call Your name The gates of hell shake Every time I call Your name Dead things come alive In the name of Jesus Dead things come alive I call You Jesus ♪ Jesus, I call You, I call You, Holy Healer ♪ ♪ Risen and reigning in power ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ ♪ Every time I call You, Jesus, I call You, I call You ♪ ♪ Holy Healer, living in glory forever ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave, every time I call You ♪

♪ Oh, the mighty name, the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ There's healing in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Freedom in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, we call on Your name, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ There's power in the name of Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ I call You, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ I call You, Jesus, I call You, I call You, Holy Healer ♪ ♪ Risen and reigning in power ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave, every time I call Your name ♪ ♪ The mighty name of Jesus ♪ And all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. Amen. The name of the Lord is not empty. When He calls Himself Jehovah Rapha, that is not just an empty name. He is the God who heals. He is the God who supplies all of our needs. He is the God who sees and hears today. I wanna invite our prayer time forward. I hope you feel the faith in the room today. We're gonna take time actually across every location where our church is meeting together to pray for one another. We are a house of worship and we are a house of prayer. And today, as we call on the name of the Lord, we believe that He is close, He is here, and nothing is too hard for Him. So today, maybe if you feel like you've been far from God, or maybe you feel like you've been far from the work of God,

today I want you to know that His heart is for you and He holds you. Nothing is hidden and also nothing is wasted. But today we wanna take a time to pray for you. If you need healing in your body, healing in your mind, healing in your family, today we'd love to pray for you. And I'm praying right now that God would give you courage to step from your seat and come and meet one of our prayer partners here. Even right now, under the sound of my voice, you're sitting all the way in the back. Today is your day. We wanna fill you with faith. We wanna encourage you today. Your church wants to pray for you. You may have come in and hid in some of the back. You're online. You didn't even get to make it into this place. We want you to know we've got prayer partners online right now ready to pray for you. This is why the church gathers. This is why we are here today. Father, we love you. We do not wage war as the natural does. You've given us spiritual authority and spiritual power to declare the name of Jesus in every situation and in every season. So right now we declare that the battle is yours for us who are in the middle.

The victory is yours. We hand you the weight. You said your weight was light and easy. So Father, today we give it to you in Jesus' mighty name, amen. Come forward now. Come forward, the rest of us. Come on, let's fill the room with worship and prayer today. Oh, in Jesus' name. So when I fight, I fight on my knees with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at your feet I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Come on, sing it again. So when I fight, I fight on my knees with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Every fear, every fear I lay at your feet I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. It belongs to You, Lord. Oh, it belongs to You. It's not by power, it's not by might, but by the Spirit of the living, Spirit of the living God. It's not my battle, it's not my fight, but by the Spirit of the living. Come on, not by power, not by might. It's not by power, it's not by might, but by the Spirit of the living, Spirit of the living God. It's not my battle, it's not my fight, but by the Spirit of the living, by the Spirit of the living, by the Spirit of the living, Spirit of

the living God. Oh, by the Spirit of the living. Oh, in heaven I worship You. Come on, let's speak His name. I just want to speak the name of Jesus over every heart and every mind, because I know there is peace within Your presence. I speak Jesus. Oh, yes, we do. I just want to speak the name of Jesus. Till every dark condition starts to break. Declaring there is hope and there is freedom. I speak Jesus. Oh, yes, I do. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. Break every struggle. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. I just want to speak the name of Jesus over every fear and all anxiety. Till every sore hand can't defy depression. I speak Jesus. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. Break every struggle. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. Break every struggle. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. Shout Jesus from the mountain. Jesus in the streets. Jesus in the darkness over every enemy. Jesus for my family. I speak the holy name of Jesus. Shout Jesus from the mountain. Jesus in the streets. Jesus in the darkness over every enemy. Jesus for my family. I speak the holy name of Jesus. ♪ Your name is power, Your name is healing, Your name is life. Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows, burn like a fire. Your name is power, Your name is healing, Your name is life. Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows, burn like a fire. Shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streets, Jesus in the darkness over every enemy. Jesus for my family, I speak Your holy name, Jesus. Come on, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. Amen. Come on, let's give it up for Jesus one more time in this house. He is our victorious banner. Amen, amen. Hey, before we move forward with our service today, would you just look at the people around you? Just say Jesus, Jesus. Say hi to a couple people and you can grab your seats. Good morning, church. So good to be with you today. Hey, would you do me a favor? Put your hands together. Help me welcome all the campuses that are joining with us right now. Hey, we want to welcome all of our Christ Fellowship locations, everybody here at Gardens, everybody joining us online and a shout out to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces joining with us every week. God bless you. Hey, before coach comes up and brings the word today, I just want to take a moment to share with you one of the things that Julie and I love about our church. There is a lot that we love about our church, but one of the things that we deeply value is our diversity.

We pray that our church would look like the communities that we live in, which is very diverse and look a lot like heaven with as many colors and ethnicities and backgrounds as possible, which has caused a lot of heartbreak in us when we've looked at what's been happening across our nation over the last couple of weeks. The chaos and the violence towards people has just caused us to pray more than we've ever prayed before for his peace and his his love and grace across our nation. And then with the post that came out this past week that was circulated, that was dehumanizing, devaluing and despicable, it only deepened our grief. And so I just wanted to pause in the service and say to all my African-American brother and sisters in our church family who have been hurt and maybe even share with me some wounds have been reopened by what was said or done. I want you to know I am so sorry we are grieving with you. We are saddened. And I know God is saddened by it as well. In fact, to anyone who has ever felt devalued because of the color of your skin or your ethnicity, I want to remind us what it says in Genesis chapter one, that we are all made in the image of God. We are image bearers of God. And so anyone or anything that says anything or implies anything opposite of that is coming against the word of God. Now, with all the noise that's going on in the world today, we as a church have the opportunity to have a different mandate on our lives. We bring healing to those that are hurting. We bring unity where there is division. And we bring courage for us to follow what Jesus says when he says to love your enemy, to pray for those that curse you and to actually forgive those that offend and hurt. And so we're going to be a church that loves, prays, and forgives in Jesus name. Amen. In fact, let's pray right now. Father God, I pray for your healing across our nation today. Where there is division, we speak unity of Jesus. Where there's been hurt, we speak healing. We pray today. And we thank you that you are our hope. We look to you with everything that we've got today. It's in Jesus name that we pray. And everybody said together, amen, amen. Okay, put your hands together. Welcome Coach to the platform for the word today. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Come on, give it up. Whoo! I love it when teams take the field under their banners, under their flags. It's their identity. It's who they are, and they're declaring, this is who we are, this is who we're fighting for. And listen, we have a tradition of victory around here, so when they come out under that banner, they are fired up, and they are also saying to their opponent,

we're gonna win, we're gonna defeat you, we're not intimidated by you. Matter of fact, everything we're doing is given so we can intimidate the enemy because of the banner we're under. We come charging the field with confidence. I love it. I love Super Bowl weekend. Come on. I love it. So listen, we kicked off a series last week, Pastor Todd did, a phenomenal series as we're studying the names of God. Now remember, we're not doing some theological study of God, we are just getting to know the person of God because the names of God reveal his nature, his character, his heart, his compassion for his people and for us. And it's amazing what we discover in the names of God that strengthen our faith and our relationship with our Heavenly Father, amen? So if you did not hear last week's message, go back and listen to that message. It was such a great message Pastor Todd brought to us. And he said the first name that God gave himself, which is found in Genesis chapter one, was Elohim, the all-powerful one, the one who spoke order into the chaos of the world. And we know that Elohim, when we submit our lives to him, will take the chaos of our lives

and bring them into order and balance in our lives. And then the first name that was given to God by man was Elroy. And that name simply means the one who sees. God sees me. God is with me. Isn't that wonderful to know that God is all-powerful and God sees everything and he is with us. And therefore, we do not have to fear about whatever challenges we face in life because we never face them alone. God is with us. Elroy is with us. And there's no challenge we face that's too great that Elohim cannot overcome. Elohim, Elroy. Now, today we get into another name of God given to God by Moses, the great leader of the children of Israel who led them out of captivity after 400 years of slavery and bondage. And then he finds himself in the desert and he gives God this name, Jehovah-Nissi. The Lord is my banner. My banner of victory. Jehovah-Nissi. We're gonna get the backstory of this so we understand why this name was even given and declared unto the Lord and how this is a name you need to declare

over your life every day. Jehovah-Nissi. Every time you're in a conflict, you need to say, well, Jehovah-Nissi. This is my banner. This is my flag that I'm flying today and I'm under the banner of God. Jehovah-Nissi. To pick up a story, I want you to, if you have your Bibles, turn with me in the book of Exodus chapter 17 and I'm gonna give you the backstory to why Moses gave this name to God, this attribute to God, Jehovah-Nissi. The story starts out in Exodus 17, verse eight. It says the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites. The Amalekites were a nomadic tribe living in the desert of the Sinai and here are the children of Israel. Now, think about this. They've just been liberated from their bondage. They had to flee from the Egyptian army. They had this encounter through the Red Sea that was parted. They went through, the Egyptian troops were consumed. Wow, now we can take a breath. And they're on a pretty direct path to the promised land. They're getting ready to meet with God at Sinai where God's gonna give Moses the Ten Commandments. He's gonna give the people their instruction.

And then they've got a pretty straight shot to the promised land. And here they are on their way to hear from God and they get attacked by the Amalekites. The Amalekites would swoop in at the back of the procession of all these million plus Jewish people who are trying to find their freedom now and walk in a newness of life in their relationship with God. And here comes someone attacking them. It doesn't seem no matter what we're trying to do when we pursue the Lord, I got some news for you today. You will come under attack. Don't just think because you've decided to follow Jesus that everything's gonna be sweet now. Oh, it's gonna be sweet. Well, it is gonna be sweet and wonderful in the heart, but I'm gonna tell you what, you will come under attack when you decide you're gonna follow Jesus. There is a battle out there and I'm here to call you to battle and to be how prepared for that battle. Wow, I'm just trying to live for Jesus. I know you are and the enemy hates it. Because if you live for Jesus, you're gonna be a light. You're gonna be salt. You're gonna be a person of transformation in the lives of others.

You're gonna be setting captives free. You're gonna be giving people the truth. You're gonna lead transformation. You're gonna drive back darkness and bring light. And the enemy of your soul hates that. And he hates you. So we're gonna find ourselves in battle. I don't care who you are or what you're dealing with, you're in battle. I heard one old guy one time say, listen, you're either in the middle of a battle, you're coming out of a battle, or you're getting ready to go into one. So you better buckle up. You better get taped up. You better get your tough skin on. You don't even know what tough skin is. Before pre-wrap, they had this spray that they would spray on your ankles where you were being taped. And it would kind of toughen the skin a little bit. So the tape would go on there. When you pull the tape off, it wouldn't rip the flesh off. But for we who played back in the tough skin days, it would rip your flesh off. As a matter of fact, we'd shave our ankles all the way up. We looked like chickens. If you saw us with nothing on, we looked like a chicken walking around because we'd shave the ankles

because the tape would pull that hair off every time. We had to put tough skin on. I wanna tell you what, we're gonna have to get taped up. Put the tough skin on, get taped up, get your helmets on, buckle up, because you're about to go into battle. That's what life is. Some of us are fighting kind of quiet battles, secret battles. We don't tell anybody about the battles, but we're in the battles. Could be our health. Could be our finances. Could be our relationships. Could be our families. It could be addictions. It could be anxiety. It could be discouragement. It could be deception. There is battle on every front we turn. We're in battles. And what I love about the Word of God, wherever you turn in the Word of God, whether you're in the Old Testament or New Testament, the Word of God is so relevant to exactly where we are today. And this story gives us the keys, the principles to how we can experience victory in the battles of life when we say under Jehovah Nissi,

the Lord is my banner, and we understand who we are and who we're fighting for and who we're fighting with. That will give us the key to victory. So here we go. We're in this battle. We all know that, by the way, Paul said you're in a spiritual battle every day. He made that comment in Ephesians 6 where he said, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against powers of this dark world, and against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms. That's why Paul told Timothy, son, fight the good fight of faith. Be ready. He tells us in Ephesians how we are to put on the armor of God every day and be ready to face the struggle, the battle that we face. Even Jesus said this. I have told you, he said, in these things so that in me you may have peace, for in this world you will have trouble and suffering, but take courage. I have conquered the world. So here we are. I'm gonna give you a little three-step coaching thing here

about how you can be equipped to be victorious. in the battles of life, you ready? Here we go, right from the word of God. In verse nine of chapter 17, Moses said to Joshua, by the way, this is the first time we see Joshua's name mentioned in holy scriptures. Right here, this young man who came out, but and he was a servant unto Moses. Moses selected him and said, all right, now Joshua, choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. And tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with a staff of God in my hands. Here's your first key. When you're under attack, choose who will fight with you. That matters, it matters who's fighting with you. Not everyone is equipped to go into battle alongside of you. Not everyone has the strength of faith to fight alongside of you. Not everyone has that experience of battle to fight alongside of you. Not everyone has a stamina that's needed for the battle you may be facing at that moment. It matters who you're fighting alongside. Here's the statement I wanna make. The team around you will determine your strength under pressure. I wanna go into battle with veterans. I love going into battle with people that have few scars on them.

They've been through some battles. You know what? I've told you this story many times. You've heard me tell this story when I went to college for the first time. I thought it was pretty hot stuff. I was an all-state running back and I went into college thinking, man, I'm gonna just tear this place up. Man, it tore me up. It's one thing for an 18-year-old boy when you're playing against 27-year-old men. And I played back in the air when guys were coming out of Vietnam on the GI Bill and these guys are 25, 26, 27-year-old men hardened in the jungles of Vietnam with strange looks in their eyes. And there was kind of an unwritten code on our team. Upperclassmen, kill every freshman you can. Destroy them and see how tough they are if they're gonna make it. And then the coaches were crazy when I played. They didn't give us water. They wouldn't give you water. We were dehydrated all the time. Water made you weak. You know what they would give you? A salt tablet. Like that's gonna transform your life and save you. In the August two-a-day hot practices.

Well, about three or four days in, half the freshmen are already quit and left. They were pounding them up on the side. They would pass out and they wouldn't even try to revive. They'd just grab them and drag them off and put them in a pile. They're just laying over there. And I remember at the end of one practice, I was delirious. I'd thrown up everything I'd eaten for days. I was so sick. I was so dehydrated. And the coach blows the whistle, we're running wind sprints at the end of the practice. And these were 40-yard wind sprints. And for the first time, I said, I can't do it. I can't make it. I was so exhausted. I couldn't even hold my head up. I got my hands on my knees and I'm actually having thoughts of quitting. I've never quit anything in my life. And I said, I don't know that I can go on. And that's when Charlie, the senior All-American running back, walked by me and said, hey, rookie. I didn't know he knew my name. They never talked to us. You know, we had a separate training table, separate locker rooms, everything.

And freshmen from the upperclassmen, they never talked to us. But he said, hey, rookie, run with me. When he said that, I got down beside him. I just kind of drafted off him through those wind sprints. When I got down to the wind sprints, I collapsed on the field. He walked by me and he said, you're gonna make it. Hang in there. Where do you think I lined up for every drill, every practice after that? Wherever Charlie was, I'm over here. Charlie's over, hey, I'm over there. And he taught me how to pace myself through practice. I learned from Charlie, and I made it through summer practices. I did not quit, I hung in there. I actually got stronger, got better. By the second game of the season, I earned a starting position on the team. I was ready to quit, except I found a veteran I could draft off of. Now, in the kingdom of God, this principle is so true for us too. We need veterans to draft off of. And veterans, you need to be looking for rookies and say, hey, run with me. We need each other. Listen, you're only as strong as those that are around you and fighting alongside of you.

Todd, come on. Come up here a minute with me, please. Come on up here. David, come up here a minute with me, please. Scott, come up here real quick with me, would you please? Come on, Robert, where are you? Robert, come on up here. Brandon, come up here, Brandon, come on up here. Go get up here real quick, let's go. Get up here with me, guys, get up here with me, come on. Come on, come on, come on, come here, come here. Come here, come on, get in here, come on, Brandon. Yeah, I like these big guys up here. See, here's all I know. I'm stronger when I got these guys with me. I'm vulnerable when I'm by myself. When I got them, you notice, I got my back covered back here by Spatial Agent Scott Austin. And he's packing, so don't mess with him, okay? He's sheriff, D-E-A-D-A, whatever he is, he has all those things. Here's a prayer warrior right here. I've known David, David's been with me forever. He loved us so much, he moved up here to move beside Todd just to pray for him and love on him. Isn't that great? You got people that will move in just to pray for you. Where's Raymond, where's Raymond? Where's Raymond, is he not even out here? He's running something.

Raymond's running something. Where's Raymond? Raymond, come here, Raymond, where are you? Where are you? Hey, they named a sitcom after him, Everybody Loves Raymond, so right here. I led Raymond to Jesus over 50 years ago, and he's been one of my warriors in my life ever since. And he makes me strong, all these men do, all these men do. You got it? You're not to be out here like this, uh-uh. You go through this way, this is life, this is what you need. That's why our life groups are so critical. That's why getting engaged in ministry and creating ministry partnerships is so critical. That's why when every time you're intentional, here's the key, you wanna have champions around you? Go hang with the champions, hang. Do what the champions do. They're engaged, they're involved, they're making a difference. You jump in right there, and then what happens, you build relationships, that relationship builds strength. And then you find out you got a team around you. I'm in a huddle, I'm covered. By the way, Raymond, get out here in front of me. I like running behind big guys. Hey, give it up, give it up for my huddle, thank you guys. I have a simple question for you.

Who is fighting beside you? And who are you fighting beside? Here's the second principle of the Bible. Who is fighting beside? Here's the second principle that's revealed in this passage of Scripture found in Exodus 17, verse 11. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning. But whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. So picture Moses up on the mountain holding the staff of God, and after a while his arms got weary, and as his arms get weary and his arms come down. By the way, the hands lifted in the air is a posture of prayer and praise. So if you come to church, you wonder, why are these people raising their hands in the air? It's just a biblical principle. It's a posture of prayer and praise. So here Moses on the mountain praying and praising God, interceding for Joshua in the valley when he's in the battle. And what's interesting, that when he would get tired, then Aaron was up there and Hur was up there. Hur was H-U-R, and they were up there and they got underneath and braced him, his arms. They set him on a big rock, got under his arms to hold his arms up in prayer. I don't care how strong you are.

There's no leader stronger than Moses was, yet he had to have Aaron and Hur with him. So I don't care how strong you think you are. You need people around you holding your arms up while you're praying and interceding for others as well as for yourself. So here's the second key. What is lifted up in prayer on the mountain is one in the valley, right? What's lifted up in prayer on the mountain is one in the valley. Now here's, I wrote this down. I don't know if I put it on screens or not. The battles are always won in the spirit before they are won in the natural. Right away, we want a natural fix to the problem we're facing when really most of the time it's a spiritual fix that needs to happen. It's a realignment of our lives in with God in his word and his spirit. And when we bring ourselves in alignment through prayer, suddenly we position ourself. for the victory God has for us. You always have to bring yourself in alignment with God. And I love this verse of scripture found in James. It says the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. I love that. One of my favorite stories in the New Testament is found in Acts chapter 13.

Peter is arrested, here's this great apostle of God, he's arrested, thrown in prison, chained up. He's got two men chained to him, he's got two guys guarding the door where he is. But it says in Acts 12, five, Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying for him. And if you know the rest of the story, and I love this, I preached the whole sermon many years ago on one word, suddenly. Because the Bible says, and suddenly, an angel appeared in that dark prison, woke Peter up, chains fell off, the guards were put in a stupor, they didn't even know what was going on, and he walked out free out of that prison. They were going to kill him, but God said, oh no, I got work for Peter to do. And he destroyed him. And what happened? What was the key to unlocking the prison door? The church was earnestly praying for him. For him. Intercession and prayer is critical to the victories we need in our lives. A year and a half ago, when Donna discovered that she had a cancerous tumor in her lung, a malignant tumor, the first thing we did, very first thing we did, is we rallied our prayer warriors. I started calling prayer warriors from California,

Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, our church family here in Florida, then I started reaching up and going up the East Coast. I went all around the US to everyone I knew that was a person of real prayer, and I said, we need intercession on the mountain for this valley we're walking through right now, and we believe God will hear our prayers and bring victory to us. Well, I want to tell you something. Praise be to God, one and a half years later, she's cancer-free, and I'm praising God for that, amen? And that's what gave us peace. Because as soon as you hear that word cancer, fear and anxiety comes over you. I don't care who you are, how tough you are, how strong you think you are, but boom! It hits you like that. Man, I went out, I was out every night praying long prayers out in my backyard, walking around my backyard, because I wanted to drive back that spirit of anxiety. I wanted it to be my focus on Jehovah Nisi, my banner of victory, he will be there, and I know Jehovah Jireh is gonna provide my needs. I know that he is my healer, he is her healer. We're striving to be in his purpose and in his will, and so we went to prayer first. It's essential, it's essential. But may I give you a tip here? Be proactive in your prayer life,

don't wait till crisis comes to pray. Don't wait till you're in the middle of the battle, you're about halfway dead, and you're like, oh, oh, Jesus, help me, Jesus. Well, you know what would be good is if you've got a little bit of prayer life before, so when the battle comes, you go into it strong, because you're already in an attitude of prayer. So it's important that you strengthen your personal prayer life. It's important that you become a prayer warrior for others. You know this whole principle of sowing and reaping works in every dimension of life? If you want people praying for you, be known as a person who's praying for them. You need champions to come alongside of you and help you in the battle. Be a champion for someone else, come alongside them in the battle. Sowing and reaping. I've always been blessed to have mature people of faith around me, and I've been intentional and proactive to build relationships with them so that I could learn from them and draft off them and grow in the Lord with them. But also, what was wonderful about that, I didn't do it just when I was in a time of need, but I found out when I was in need, they were there. They were there. Be there for others.

They will be there for you. There's no greater place to be there than to be here. All of you at all your campuses, and all of you that are watching online, all of you that are in your life groups and prayer groups, and listen, be there. Be there where people are meeting. in the name of Jesus, be there. Because when you're there, he will be there. And then when you're in need, hey, they will be there. Be there. So I love this fact that prayer is the key. Victory in the valley and life is tied to our intercession on the mountain. Well, the third key is simply this. Then the Lord said to Moses in verse 14 and 15, write this on a scroll, something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua, I think it's interesting the Lord said this to Moses, make sure Joshua hears it. So Moses built an altar and called it, the Lord is my banner. He called it Jehovah Nisi. Jehovah, the Lord, Jehovah is actually a translation out of the word Yahweh, which means as part as I am, the great I am, the great Lord of lords, the great king of kings, the great I am, the Lord, the Lord Jehovah, the Lord is my banner. The Lord is my banner of victory. He is my victory flag. He is my rallying point.

He is my identity. He is my symbol of victory in my life because God brought the victory. And Moses honored that and they wanted Joshua to be reminded of it. And you know why? Joshua didn't know it at the time. But many years later, he would be given the assignment to lead the children of Israel across the Jordan River and actually inherit the promised land. But to inherit the promised land, they had to fight off 31 kings. Listen, just because God got something promised for you, I wanna know that you're gonna have to fight for that. It's a fight to take the life God wants for us. To experience the exceedingly abundant life that God has for us, we have to fight for it in the spirit, the fight of faith. Because the enemy wants to distract us and to discourage us on every front. I don't know. We're not backing up from that. We're gonna go into battle for it. Make sure Joshua hears this. God said to Joshua in the book of Joshua chapter one, as he's getting ready to lead the children into the promised land, three times God says to him, Joshua, be strong and courageous. Joshua, be strong and courageous. Joshua, be strong and courageous.

And then here's what the Lord says to him. As I was with Moses, I will be with you. I could say as whoop whoop daddy is, whoop whoop daddy is. I mean, hey, that's a drop the mic moment. That's like, come on, what are you talking about? Woo! All right, coach. Palm Beach Gardens High School, when I coached there, our players came up with a cheer. And then it spread to the whole school. So we'd have our pep rallies. We'd have 1,200 students in the air doing this cheer. And the cheer went something like this. My back's aching, my pants too tight. My hips are shaking from left to right. Whoop, PBG, bad as they wanna be. Whoop, PBG, bad as they wanna be. Left, right, left, right, left. My back's aching, my pants too tight. My hips are shaking from left to right. Whoop, PBG, bad as they wanna be. All I gotta say is this. Yeah, come on. When we are under the banner of Jehovah Nisi, whoop whoop daddy is, that's all I got to say. The apostle Paul, he knew that. That's why he said, if God before me, who can be against me? I'm more than a conqueror through Christ has helped me. He knew he was under the banner of Jesus Christ.

I don't know if Paul was going whoop whoop daddy is, but I know that's what he's saying in the scriptures. I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me. Whoop whoop daddy is. Now, Donna will get on me for doing that, but I'm sorry, honey. It just came out of me, it came out of me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Our kids be going around today going whoop whoop daddy is. They go, what, what's that, what's that? Jehovah Nisi, that's what it is, yeah. I'm under the banner of God. I'm under the blessing of God. I'm under the protection of God. Elohim is with me, he is all strength. El Roy sees me. And Jehovah Nissi has a banner of victory over my life. He will be with me in the battle. Glory. I'm about to warm up and start preaching. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let me close with this verse. First Corinthians, 1557. Paul says, but thanks be to God. He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I want you to know, today, whoever wins the Super Bowl, they'll be out celebrating on the field. They'll be shooting confetti everywhere. They'll be waving their flags everywhere for their victory. They'll be celebrating. Followers of Christ, we need to celebrate every day as well. Celebrate that we are under the banner of Jehovah Nissi. We are under the banner of Jesus Christ. He is our victory. Jesus is our banner of victory. And every day we need to celebrate it. We need to declare it. And no matter how tough it gets, you stop and declare. Get your head up, get your heart up, get your faith up and say, Jehovah Nissi, Jesus is our banner of victory. Stand up on your feet, get up, let's go. Get up, get up, get up on all the campuses. Get up on your feet. I want you to declare this declaration and I want it to be with all your heart. Don't give me a little golf clap. Don't give me a little, oh Jesus. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're gonna make a shout because we want our enemy to know we're coming. We're coming and we're coming under the banner of God. So say it with me. Jesus is our banner of victory, whoo! Come on. Come on.

Come on. Come on. Come on. ♪ Break tribals way ♪ Every time I call your name ♪ The gates of hell stay ♪ Every time I call your name ♪ Change, break, tribals stay ♪ Every time I call your name ♪ The gates of hell stay ♪ Sing, every time I call you Jesus ♪ I call you, I call you Jesus ♪ Risen and reigning in power ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ Every time I call you Jesus ♪ I call you, I call you Savior ♪ With me in glory forever ♪ Something comes out of the grave ♪ Every time I call your name