The Power of Prayer & Fasting

Pray in the Spirit at all times. Sometimes? Okay. And on every occasion. On special occasions? Thanksgiving? Every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. I didn't get the healing. I didn't feel anything. Keep praying. Stay persistent. Stay persistent for all believers everywhere. Verse 19, and pray for me too. I need it. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God's mysterious plan that the good news is for Jews and Gentiles alike. I am in chains now still preaching this message as God's ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him as I should. I want to talk for the few moments that I have. I want to talk to you from this thought. The power of prayer and fasting. The power of prayer and fasting. We pray one more time then you can sit down. Holy Spirit, we thank you. Thank you for being real. Thank you for the ability to communicate with the real living God that wants to do extraordinary things in our lives. Let today be one of those moments. Speak through an imperfect person a beautiful, powerful word from your word, from your mouth, from your heart, for your sons and daughters. Do it in such a way that the skeptic and the sinner can leave here a saint. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. Before you sit down, can we welcome everybody on our online campus, everybody in the overflow room, everybody in their living rooms. We love you. Thank you. Thank you for being with us. You can take a seat. Thank you worship team. Our worship team is phenomenal. They've been going in Friday all three days. Come on, thank God for people that will use their gifts for his glory. So if you're new here, I want to just try to catch you up to speed as quickly and efficiently as possible. We've been in a series titled Spiritual Warfare all based out of Ephesians chapter 6. So I'd encourage you to read the entire chapter of Ephesians 6. Specifically though where Paul outlines the armor of God. So Paul is in a prison cell looking at a Roman soldier and he just starts correlating the outfit, the armor that the Roman soldier is wearing to what followers of Christ should be wearing. And he starts off with the belt of truth. And he teaches us that that

truth is not a belt that we take off just to beat other people with. Truth is something that we need to protect ourselves. And it protects us. It doesn't punish us. And and truth is not relative or subjective. It is it is subjective to the holder of truth which is God. Meaning that the the way we view our reality has to be objective according to his standard. Not societies, not social medias, not cultures, not our feelings. Like like God alone is the standard for truth. And his Word is the standard for truth. But not only do we need truth, we need the breastplate of righteousness. And the breastplate of righteousness is what guards our heart. It's what prevents us from becoming self-righteous. And it allows us to stay rooted in the Word of God. To stay planted in godly community. And to allow the Word to prune us so that we end up looking more like Jesus and less like us. And so that's the breastplate of righteousness. Then then it goes on to the shoes of peace. The shoes of peace. I don't know if they're Gucci, Louis, Nike or what. But the shoes of peace are what allow us to walk out the gospel. Both with our actions and our words. Meaning it should be the worst kept secret of your life and who you believe in. And the good news of Jesus. That's how we walk out with the shoes of peace. Then not only do we need the shoes of peace, we need the shield of faith. And we learn that faith is not just ethereal. Faith is not a coping mechanism. Faith is something that allows us to be be with God. It allows us to fight the way God has called us to for the things God has called us to. It allows us to stand to stay stable and loyal because he's been faithful. It allows us to hold up our shield. Meaning that even when we don't know how he's gonna do it, we know that he is the one who can do it. So we're just gonna trust him. We hold up because we hold on. But not only do we need the shield of faith, we need the helmet of salvation. And the helmet is important because we recognize that most wars are waged in our mind. And so not only with salvation available for your eternal spirit, but even for your temporary mind for what you deal with on earth. And then lastly he said we need the sword of Spirit. And the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. It's the logos. It's the entire Word, but it's also the rhema, the specific, in-season, for-the-moment Word

that allows us to fight back the lies, the attacks, and the strategies of the devil. But then after Paul goes through listing all those pieces of armor, in the same breath, he says in verse 18, pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere, as if to insinuate that prayer is just as much a needed weapon as everything else. Prayer is not passive. It is very aggressive. But oftentimes in Scripture, we see that prayer is partnered with fasting, and that results in what we call a spiritual discipline. Everybody say spiritual discipline. Spiritual disciplines are important because they allow us to to experience consistency in moments that may feel chaotic or uncontrollable. But the reason it's called a spiritual discipline is because it's obviously hard. You don't need discipline to do things you want to do, most of the time. Have you ever heard somebody say to you, hey, you just got to trust. You just got to fully trust God. Anybody ever said that to you? Or you said that to someone else? What about this one? Just give it to God. You just got to give it to God. That sounds so sweet. And my thought is like, how, Sway? I'm trying. I got all these bills. I don't want to pay them. I'm trying to give them to God. I got plenty of things. I'm like, oh, I throw the law to God. I don't want to deal with that. I was thinking, oh, still got my Achilles. What's your name, brother? Gerardo? Strong name. You got a trusting face, bro. I don't know if it's the starry eyes or what, but you got a trusting face. How long you been coming to Legacy? A little over six months. That's awesome. Well, I'm glad, I'm glad you've been here. You've been six? Okay. Well, I got a four-year-old son named Justice. And you look like you've been here for six months. You've been listening to me. You've been passing. So would you mind keeping Justice for a week? So me and his wife, I mean, my wife, his mother can. You have a son too? He's five? You want another one? I've known him six months. He's been, I mean, I mean, I haven't even really known him, but he's known me for six months, essentially. He seems trusting. All right, we'll set that up. That sounds fun. This is an anointed row. I feel it. What's your name, brother? Nick. Nice to meet you, Nick. How long you been coming to Legacy? First time. That's awkward. That's like every fear, like a thousand ways to die. The first time I come to a church,

the pastor just. Who invited you? This whole row? You know, they all knew I was going to do this. They just didn't tell you. That's messed. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Question. This is an amazing, the whole row. So you're. Okay. It stops it up. You said the whole row. Okay. Exactly. Okay. It's okay. Okay. Lying is the same. So you like Legacy so far? It's only been 40 minutes. It's been pretty good. Would you, would you like to switch roles? Would you like to finish the rest of this experience, pastor this moment? And do you want to take the church? Because honestly, he'll give me a week, but if you'll give me 11 months, I could come back really refreshed if you want a year. He didn't say no. I'm going to say that. How many of you guys feel? I don't know how much I trust this guy. Ever since he got his braces off, he's been kind of on the decline. He just start. How many of you feel comfortable with me as a parent? Not many hands. You're just entrusting your four-year-old to do that. Hasn't even, you just never learned. And the reason you should at least, if you're a responsible adult, feel a little apprehensive about these interactions is because you understand this principle. You can't fully trust someone that you don't fully know. And may I propose to you that you also can't fully depend on someone when you're always in control. So that means that trust is a discipline because I would have to have some consistency with Gerardo, some consistency with Nick, some, some, some measure of trust would have to grow. It'd have to be disciplined. And in order to grow to a where the most valuable things that I have I can entrust to them. Maybe that's exactly why you don't fully trust God even though you know the verses and the songs because if you're honest with yourself you lack the discipline the spiritual disciplines to develop a full trust because that's why it always feels like a trust fall with you because you don't know if he'll catch you because you haven't spent the time in the in the moments and the consistency that's why you have no problem going to God occasionally when he wants you to remain with him consistently and since we've allowed we've allowed it to become normal to just go to God why would I go to God that insinuates that I've left him at some point when Jesus said if you would abide in me and my word abide in you you could ask what you want and you could trust the response Jesus is not trying to be your go-to he's trying to be a present consistent ABBA abide

with the father so I want to teach us today how to develop some spiritual disciplines that will allow us to fully trust our Heavenly Father whether we're on the mountain or the valley whether it feels peaceful or warful we're the same because we know he's the same amen so let's start off by defining something I need you to write this down spiritual disciplines affect physical realities spiritual disciplines affect physical realities the spiritual discipline is something that that stretches your faith and so what it does is once you've developed the discipline of depending on the one you can't see you're less thrown off by the things that you can now I referenced dr. Caroline leaf last week she's a neuroscientist and expert in neuroplasticity and she's she frequently points to research that shows that 12 minutes of focus daily prayer over an eight-week period measurably alters brain chemistry and repairs damage caused by toxic stress everybody say 12 minutes this is science this isn't this is science catching up to scripture and one thing that's powerful about that is it says it'll it'll it'll over consistency eight weeks two months it repairs damage caused by toxic stress but notice she says toxic stress not all stress because stress is also needed if you ever go to the gym and it hurts that's good that's cuz it's stretching it's stressing it's adding stress to your muscles but you need to stress your muscles out in order to grow here's the problem with Christians we carry boundaries around anything that stresses us out that's why we never grow we grow older we don't grow up because we don't know how to get stressed out and actually grow the muscle and the faith needed to stretch our enhance our capacity and we think everything is toxic just because we don't like how it makes us feel talk to me overflow so so dr. Caroline leaf is saying if you would start off with 12 minutes it would change your whole life now let's talk about the spiritual discipline of prayer and fasting first of all let's define fasting fasting is not dieting it is denying your flesh in order to depend on your father you can go on a fast and shrink your waistline and you'd like praise God that was not the glory he was looking for fasting insinuates that I actually made an

exchange and it's every time I thought about I'm so hungry I remind myself God fill me up God what are you trying to speak to me God I miss you God thank you like there's this exchange of communication of communion instead of constantly just eating the bread and wine of calories and what's convenient I'm learning to actually metaphorically depend on the bread and wine of my Savior so so here's the types of fastest a fast that there are first you have a normal fast and that's what we saw Jesus do in Matthew chapter 4 where there was no food only water that's a normal fast that's typically what we refer to it fasting but we also if we're gonna go for an extended period of time you know everybody ain't built for 40 days yet so you can do a partial fast and that's what we see Daniel do in the book of Daniel where he does 21 days of a very specific restricted diet and you can you can chat the the Daniel fast if you if you want information about that but then there's something called the absolute fast and that's what we saw Esther do when she was about to intercede with the king for her people leave it to a woman to outdo everybody else that's no food no water daughter. And she did it for three days. And that's probably the extent of what you should do if you expect to see what the fast resulted in and not just end up with your Creator. Okay? So those are the types of fasts that we see in Scripture. But I want to also speak to someone that maybe have a health condition or certain restrictions and you're like, well am I not as spiritual? Am I not going to experience God the same because I got you know blood sugars that I got to maintain or something like that? Let me encourage you with this. Fast from anything that you spend significant time on that can be exchanged for intentionality with God. Fast from the Real Housewives of Everywhere. Fast from SportsCenter. Fast from social media. Anything that normally would capture your attention or or you would use to decompress, allow the Father to fulfill you. But it takes discipline. In the early church, fasting was tied to almsgiving, meaning that the money they saved from from buying meals instead went to feeding the poor. And in the early centuries, John Calvin, one of

the great theologians, he said there's three legitimate purposes of fasting. To weaken the flesh, to prepare for prayer and meditation, and as a testimony of humility before God in times of calamity. Here's one of my favorite quotes. Fasting reveals what controls us. Food is only the surface. Anger, pride, and anxiety surface when the comfort is removed. Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline. What does that mean? It means that when you're fasting and you find yourself getting short with your spouse or kids, like, I'm just really irritable right now because I'm fasting. No. You're irritable because your emotions drive you. The fasting is just revealing what's already in you. Sorry, I snapped. I'm just, I'm fasting right now. Don't demonize the spiritual discipline. Don't make other people have to rock on eggshells as you're supposed to be growing and looking and maturing the fruit of the Spirit. So I want to, I want to encourage you with this. Make sure that your motives are right when you're praying and fasting. We don't pray and fast to move the heart of God towards our will we pray and fast to move our heart towards God's. I say it like this. The form is greater than the outcome. Everybody say that. The form is greater than the outcome. I was, I remember watching the the 2022 NBA Finals where God's team, the Golden State Warriors, were playing. It's always Christians at Legacy and and they're playing against the Boston Celtics and God's other begotten son Stephen Curry was warming up and in during warm-ups he's shooting and he's missing more than he's used to. And most players if they're if they're missing shots they're gonna say okay if it was short I'm gonna shoot it higher or if it was I might need to shoot it harder like I'm just gonna adjust my form to make sure that the next shot goes in. But Stephen Curry, he not like us. Rather than changing his form he went and had the facility, the guy over the facilities come out and checked the height of the rim and he had to bring out a ladder and everything. And they checked the rim and the rim was two inches off the rim on the opposite court. Conspiracy? I think not. Cheating Celtics but no weapon. And here's what fascinates me about that situation. The average athlete, the great athlete, the professional athlete would have saw his

shot go up and the outcome not be what he wanted and he would have adjusted his form. But the GOAT said mm-hmm I've been keeping my form consistent for so long that if the outcome is not what I expect I'm not changing my form. I'm keeping my form. Y'all better go check the rim. That's why I wish I had a B3 organ right now. That's why I wish I was a little more Baptist or Pentecostal where we could just because I'm trying to talk to somebody that you're not seeing the outcome that you prayed for. You're not seeing the outcome that you gave for. You're not seeing the outcome you were believing for. And the enemy is telling y'all you might need to compromise. You're too hard on the kids. Everybody else kids don't have to do all that. You got them doing all these things. Maybe you just need to keep your form. Because if you understood that my form was formed by my Creator I can keep my form and trust the process and if the outcome isn't what I was believing for I'm gonna just stay consistent with my... I'll prove it to you. In Matthew chapter 4 Jesus is in the wilderness, he fasted and prayed for 40 days and I always pointed out how he was hungry and then the enemy came and that wasn't fair because he was vulnerable because that's how I would have thought. I'm like I've been fasting for 40 days and I'm over here saying turn the rock into a cinder but I'm like yes Lord in Jesus name but Jesus said it is written may I should not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. He was keeping the form and Holy Spirit told me last night the problem is you saw him as vulnerable. I saw him as formidable. I saw that he had just spent 40 days being formed by his father in the wilderness so that when the enemy showed up he actually caught him at his best not at his worst. He actually caught him at his strongest not at his weakest. Even though the flesh was dying the spirit was like I've been waiting my whole life for this. I wish you would tempt me right now. I wish you would come for my family right now. I just finished fasting and praying and getting my form right. Let me get center. Me getting my form right. Getting my form right. Getting my form right. Getting my form right. Getting my form right. Getting my form right. It's just my form is good. The outcome is no longer my concern because I've already laid all my concerns with the one who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all I could ask think or imagine. So if it's not matching the word you better check the rim because I'm not changing my form. I wanted to encourage somebody that you're tempted to

compromise. You're tempted to quit. You're tempted to change. You're like oh maybe I should maybe maybe you need to shut up and keep the form. I'm just tired of fighting with the kids about this. They don't even have their frontal lobes formed yet. Don't talk to someone who's deformed. Keep your form. Well he's gonna leave me. Keep the form. Oh man because the beauty of this is if I keep my form then no weapon that is formed against me can prosper. Bring the band out. They're not preaching loud enough with me. Overflow. No weapon formed against you can prosper because you kept your form. Yay though I'll walk through the valley of the shadow of death. And the beauty of Matthew 4 is that we witnessed Jesus go through that in the wilderness. Let me brain dump to you. You don't live in the wilderness. You live in the valley. And so even though you walk through the valley it's the same as the wilderness. You can keep the form. Tell the person next to you keep the form. Keep the form. Keep the form. Tell the other person you ignore it. Keep the form. Keep the form. Keep the form. Why? Because disciplines always form you before they change anything else. And some of us we have a selective discipline meaning if it works I'll keep doing it. You know the worst thing to happen is I hate seeing dudes who can't shoot make a three. Ain't that the worst? When you go hoop with a dude who can't shoot they'd be like let him shoot. And he shoots and he go you like this dude gonna think he that wasn't you bro. And how many times the enemy's saying let him shoot and so you change your form and it went in and so you keep doing it you don't know that thing is broken. You need to let me show you what this looks like practically in scripture. Let me show you what this looks like practically in scripture. In second chronicles chapter 20 this is old testament. We're going to see somebody in the middle of a warfare and I want you to see what they do with their form. The bible says this after this the armies of the moabites, amanites, some of the cellulites, mayonites declared war on Jehoshaphat. Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat a vast army from Edom is marching against you from beyond the dead sea. They are already at Hazazon Temar. This is another name for Enigeti. Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting. So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord's help. You know what I found in my life? There's three things that always caused me to refocus. Failure, fear, and fights. There's nothing like oh I got this great idea and dream

for this business plan and then you lost the business and then it fails. You got to go back to the job. We got to refocus. It's nothing like feeling like oh this is such a miracle we're going to be good and then you get a diagnosis that you can't control and then fear grips your body. I got my dream job. You get laid off six months later. Fear. There's nothing like off 2026 with a dream board and a vision board with you and your family and your friends like oh my gosh and you're cutting out the magazines and you got a five-year plan and then like the prophet uh mike tyson said everybody got a plan till they get punched in the mouth it's not in the old testament new testament but it's a testament it's a testament anybody ever been punched in the mouth not just physically i'm talking about your dream got punched in the mouth you're playing got punched in the mouth you but i find that those are the moments where i have to refocus you go from double vision like oh wait wait wait what but here's the thing about spiritual discipline spiritual disciplines stop you from having to refocus they just keep you focused because if i'm consistent with my spiritual disciplines then even if i get hit with a hit i didn't see coming i've already developed a chin where i'm not folding and what's interesting about the passage of scripture in second chronicles chapter 20 is that your host of that is facing uh failure fear and a fight all at the same time and it was all avoidable because what happened was a couple chapters earlier he had aligned himself even though he was a righteous king he was a man after uh doing doing the things that of his forefather david and and trying to lead righteously the bible says that he made an alliance with ahab ahab was a wicked king ahab did not follow Yahweh ahab was married to a horrible individual named jezebel and y'all ain't saved and and and the bible says that even though everything like god was protecting and covering and providing for jehoshaphat ahab said hey but if he really wants to moralize come pardon with me and he made a marital alliance then he made a military alliance and then all of a sudden he finds himself fighting in a war that was meant for ahab ahab was the one who had waged that war jehoshaphat finds himself standing next to him he's wearing his kingly garments ahab's wearing a costume and disguising himself there's an arrow that gets shot for the king and the bible the bible says they're standing next to each other and somehow the arrow misses jehoshaphat and it hits ahab here's what i think is profound about that that means that there are arrows that are flying at you that were not meant for you but because you're connected to someone

that is outside of the will of god you're getting i don't know why the enemy is attacking me and all these arrows are coming at me they weren't even for you but because you got in a relationship or a partnership or a situation with someone that was outside of the will of god all of a sudden you catch in smoke that you did not sign up for so now in 28 verse chapter 20 we're seeing that jehoshaphat is terrified verse 3 he's terrified because he's about to get surrounded and he begged the lord for guidance and he also ordered everyone in judah to begin fasting so people from all the towns of judah came to jerusalem to seek the lord's help i want to show you the four things that prayer and fasting lead to when you're in a war or in peacetime you need them all the time here's the things number one it leads to discernment everybody say discernment it said in verse 3 that he was terrified so he turned to the lord for guidance some of you are leading families and businesses and have roles in organizations where they do not need your opinion they need discernment from god coming through you and out of you but because you don't depend on god for guidance you depend on spreadsheets and previous numbers and claude and chat for guidance you are not tapping into the supernatural source that could actually prepare you or protect you when you find yourself in a situation that really is your fault but the mercy and grace of god is available if you would tap into it so you need discernment through your spiritual disciplines not only doing discernment but i love the fact that the king said i need everybody to come on no i got us into this but we all gonna have to do this together i think that's a safe space i think that's a beautiful analogy of what men should be doing because the arrows are not just coming for you you're like i got this i'll figure it out no no we don't want you figuring it out bro we want god figuring it out we need you to just stand there because if they're all comes you could get hit first but we we need god figuring this out but we need you to allow the family to learn how to go to god which is what we call development did you see he said all the people gathered to get together and they all went to the lord for help what was happening they were being developed i know i love it all of a sudden god was turning a crisis into a classroom and he said i can develop all of you that's when all things work together for the good of those who love god and are called according to his purpose you got to first walk in his purpose so we see that discernment comes and then development comes but let's jump down to verse five it says jehoshaphat stood before the community of judah and jerusalem

in front of the new courtyard at the temple of the lord tell the person next to you was good during the temple. Things happen when you're connected to the temple of God. Like the presence of God can change things. He prayed, oh Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty. No one can stand against you. Notice this tension. The Bible said in verse 3, he was terrified. The Bible says in verse 5, he's speaking like, you alone are eternal. He's hyping himself up. Know why? Because sometimes faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. Meaning you can be full of fear, but have a little bit more faith and the faith is enough. Sometimes you got to remind yourself not just who you are, but whose you are. And sometimes we spend so much time focusing on our trauma, not the one who has triumphed over everything. And so he's trying to remind himself and the people around him who's really in charge. Jump down to verse 12. He says, oh our God, won't you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help. Write this down. Not only did he get discernment, not only did he get developed, not only he got dependence. He said, we don't know what to do, but we are looking to you for help. Some of us have to actually learn how to depend on God. Not on our finances, not on our LinkedIn connections, not on our gifts, talents. No, no, no. You need to learn how to depend on God. Why? How? Good question. Prayer helps me learn the voice of my father. Fasting helps me to learn how to depend on his hand. Verse 13, it says this. As all the men of Judah stood before him, as all the men of Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, wives and children. Do you see the whole family's getting developed now? Because the men made a decision to go to the advance and to walk in authority. All of a sudden, everybody else connected to them is being blessed. It says the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men standing there. His name was Jehaziel, son of Zechariah, son of Ben-Ananiah, son of Jeiel, son of Madaniah, a Levite who was a descendant of Esau. He said, listen all you people of Judah and Jerusalem. Listen, King Jehoshaphat. Even kings need to be encouraged by people. Even kings need to be surrounded by Spirit-filled believers who can pour courage into them when they're weak. This is what the Lord says. Do not be afraid. Don't be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the Ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel,

but you will not even need to fight. Take your positions, then stand still and watch the Lord's victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you. Here's the last thing I need you to know. Prayer and fasting, it also leads to discovery. Somebody say discovery. I love that. The fact that God is so vast, God is so big, God is so wide, that it takes certain situations just for you to discover deeper aspects of His nature. You'll never fully understand Him on this side of eternity, and that's okay. That's why He's God and you're an I or not, but there is this beauty of discovering Him more and more through intimacy, through commitment, through spiritual disciplines, and through failure, fights, and fear. It can open a deeper level of discovery. So here's what I want to encourage you with before we shift gears. I need you to know that prayer and fasting allow you to discover the peace and the power of the Holy Spirit. Not only do you need the peace of God when you're feeling like it's chaotic, you need the power of God when you're feeling overwhelmed. You need to know who is with you, and this is what I love, who is fighting for you if you would discover how to stand still, to trust. Sometimes discipline isn't for you to fight better, it's for you to just be. It takes discipline to just be in position. So here's a question I have for you this morning. What issue in my life do I need a greater dependence on or discernment from God? Where is He inviting you to discover that you can depend on Him right now? What opportunity, what are you facing right now? You know what happens when we don't allow God to lead us? We'll treat blessings like burdens. I just don't know what to do. I'm just really struggling with this decision. You're afraid to fail? How can you be afraid to fail when God is with you? I just don't want to make the wrong decision. You are. You're going to make wrong decisions. You can still have discernment to navigate them, to recover from them, or to avoid repeating them. But it takes dependence, it takes the Holy Spirit, it takes the spiritual discipline. So here's what I want to invite you to do. I want you to commit to praying for 12 minutes each day and fasting for one day this week. For the next seven days, I want you to give 12 minutes to Jesus.

Really the first 12 minutes, wake up 12 minutes earlier than you used to. And here's what I believe. I think sometimes I've even been guilty of saying this, God's always speaking, we're just not always listening. I don't fully agree with that. Because the Bible says God is a father. And now that I'm a father, at least partially, Gerardo's trying to take my son. But I'm a father who sometimes I just want to go to the movies with my kids and I don't want to talk. I just want them to lay there. How beautiful, how wonderful of God to just want you to be in His presence without having to give you instructions. Without telling you what to do, just be with me. And so sometimes those 12 minutes need to be spent just learning to be still with God. So you'll commit to doing that show of hands saying, I'll give God 12 minutes, okay, okay, okay. Prove it. Because here's what happens. I've been to church a lot more than most of you. And anytime I go to church, and it's a good word, I'm like, man, that's a good word. I take some notes, I take some pictures. But then I go to the Cheesecake Factory, and I never look at those notes again. And I never look at those pictures again. And I can tell some of you have never looked at those pictures again. So here's what, what about this? What if you prove it right now? What if, can we give God 12 minutes right now? I want us to give God 12 minutes, and I'm going to lead us in community prayer. We're going to just do what we saw in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. We're going to pray together.

And I'm going to give you four prayer points. And I just want you to spend three minutes on each prayer point. And here's what I want to challenge you. I want you to pray out loud. And some of you are like, but that's personal, I'm just not really. There's going to come a moment where your child is going to hear your prayers, and you thinking the prayer isn't going to change their life or strengthen their faith. Your spouse is going to need to verbally need faith, and you thinking it isn't going to change their faith. So we need to get comfortable being uncomfortable. We need to stretch so we can keep our form. So I want us to pray out loud. And here's what I want us to start with, a prayer of gratitude. What has God done in your life that you're thankful for? Can we just thank him for three minutes? God, I thank you for waking me up this morning. God, I thank you for breath in my lungs. God, I thank you for getting me here. God, I thank you for your word. I thank you for speaking to me today. I thank you for seeing me. I thank you for knowing what I was going through and loving me enough that you would, you would send a word for me. Not only that, God, but I thank you for the things I've neglected. I thank you for the prayers that you've answered that I never came back and said thank you for. I thank you for the prayers that I had given up on, and you answered them anyway. God, I thank you. I thank you for my marriage. I thank you for my children.

I thank you. I thank you for the opportunity of growing close to you in this single season. I thank you for the opportunity to be a mentor to the next generation. I thank you that you have not wasted a moment of my life, that you've never wasted a season. I thank you. I thank you for my job. I'm sorry for complaining about it. I thank you. God, I thank you for food on my table. I thank you for clothes on my back. I thank you. God, I thank you. You've been better to me than I deserve. God, I thank you for your house. I thank you for the church. God, I thank you for the believers who have lifted me up. I thank you for the prayers of saints. I thank you for a praying grandmother. I thank you for a praying mother. I thank you for covering me. I thank you for protecting me when I tried to jeopardize, when I tried to sabotage, when I went against your will. I thank you for your mercy. I thank you for yesterday. I thank you for developing me in the secret place. Thank you for covering me even after I made a mistake. God, I thank you. Thank you. I thank you for never rejecting me. Thank you for never giving up on me, even when I would have given up on you, even when

I gave up on you, you were still there. Here's the next question. What is going on in the lives of others that is compelling you to pray for them? Who's the person that needs your prayers? Who's the person that's being shot by arrows because there's no one standing in the gap holding up a shield of faith over them? Who's the person that you love that is far from God and you quit praying and God saying, I needed you to keep interceding. I needed you to keep contending. I need you to keep believing. Who's the son or the daughter that seems so far? It's not how you raised them. That's not a reflection of your parenting. They just made a decision. Pray for them. Shield of faith has to be, has to be carried. It has to be held up. God forgive me for being apathetic towards the needs of others. Give me for being selfish. Give me for being casual. Forgive me for not being bold with my faith, not preaching the gospel at all times with my words and my actions. Forgive me for giving up too soon when you weren't done yet and you never gave up on me. Forgive me for creating boundaries where I was supposed to be a bridge and bridges get walked on. God, give me a conviction. Give me a righteous conviction. Help me to see souls not sin. Help me not to wage war against brothers and sisters.

Let me fight the enemies that are unseen. God, I pray for those that are struggling with the diagnosis. I pray for those that are struggling financially. I pray for those that you would provide for them. I've seen you provide for me. I know you can do it for them. God, I pray for those that are struggling financially. I pray for those that you would provide for them. God, I pray for those that are tired. I pray for those whose faith is failing. Those who are distant, those who are disengaged, those who are disappointed by the church, by God. God, I pray that you use me to restore the beauty of your bride. Cover their eyes. What is the next question? What in your own life do you need to fight for? What is the thing that you've given up on? What is the thing that you've gotten tired in? What is the thing that you've stopped believing for that God's saying, hey, I need you to fight. I need you to fight again. I need you to fight for that relationship where they gave up. They're not fighting for me. I keep your form. Keep your form. That wasn't the outcome. I tried. Keep your form. A righteous man falls down seven times, gets back up. Keep your form.

Keep your form. Keep your form for your family. Keep your form for your friends. Keep your form for your, keep your form for your faith. Do not grow weary in doing good, because in due season, you will reap a harvest. What does that mean? Keep your form. He'll fix the rim. Thank you for courage in this place. I thank you for renewal of joy in this place, renewal of passion in this place. Thank you for the mother, the father, the sister, the brother, the son, the daughter that's been praying, that's going to begin. Spiritual discipline of praying and fasting and when the enemy meets them in the wilderness, that's when they're at their best Because it is written you were for them not against them Here's the next question I have for you what opportunity has God placed before you that requires supernatural wisdom or discernment God didn't place you in that position to overwhelm you that's an opportunity He just needs you to lean into him How many Faculty members instructors teachers anybody in education in this room. Would you would you stand up anyone? That's involved in education at a leadership level. I Want you to meet me at this altar. I want to pray for you Any students if you're a student Any grade level collegiate doesn't matter if you're a student. I want you to meet me at this level I mean meet you meet me at this altar Squeeze in squeeze in Come on come on Wow Praise God come in closer. There's This half the church we got the smartest church in the world look at us Here's what here's what I need to love that shirt Here's what I need you to understand

You are on assignment by God The school you're at the role you have The grades you're in is an assignment meaning Anxiety does not have the final word over your assignment depression does not have the final word over your assignment fear does not have Confusion no, no, no. No, you're on assignment. You are a soldier in the army of the Lord And that is your field. But that is where God has called you to stand for him And so we're just want to cover you in prayer Wow squeeze in more You could be in the overflow. We'll wait for you. Come on. I Need the rest of the church to stand up And we're gonna partner in faith And we're gonna partner in faith over these mighty men and women these sons and daughters That are going into environments that may at times feel hostile But that doesn't mean that God hasn't called them there So would you just lift your hands with me if you're at this altar just lift your hands We just want to pray over you God I pray a fresh outpouring of your grace a fresh outpouring of your spirit a fresh Outpouring of your anointing God, I pray that you wash them God fill them up till they overflow God I pray that when they walk into those classrooms when they walk into those boardrooms when they walk into those meetings God that there is a Supernatural discernment that comes over them that there is a knowledge that is supernatural There is wisdom that is supernatural that they do not go in there with uncertainty with timidity But with power love and a sound mind power love and self-discipline Knowing that no weapon formed against them can prosper because they are formed by the hands of a father who loves them I thank you God that these students will be a light in a hill that they will not hide They will not be timid. They will not be ashamed But this is a generation that is unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ that they will walk boldly that teachers will find Salvation through the students that students will find covering through godly teachers through godly administrators I thank you right now that you are causing decision-makers to shift the tide that we will no longer They will no longer fold into confusion. They will no longer fold into godlessness God But you are putting righteous leaders in positions of authority with influence that will speak a word in season to those who are weary

You will give them the tongue of the learned knowing how to speak which does say of the Lord a rhema word I thank you God for your sons and daughters. I thank you for protection protect their minds protect their purity protect their identity I pray that these boys will walk in confidence in masculinity that these girls will walk in confidence in femininity I thank you God that there is no cultural confusion. There is no gender confusion. There is no sexual confusion God I thank you that even when they go into those Environments where the demons have to make strongholds that they are ripping them down by the power of God in the power of the Holy Spirit I thank you right now that they will see revival on their campuses God. I thank you God right now They will see moves of God. They will feel like they're at church Monday through Friday They will go into new levels of authority new levels of confidence new levels of bravery new levels of faith God And and and this will be what you said that those Who wait upon the Lord? They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not go weary. They will walk and not faint I thank you that they are not fainting God. They are fighting So I pray for every soldier every son every daughter God and I pray the prayer of Abraham Aaron, the Lord bless you, the Lord keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up his countenance, his favor upon you and give you peace. Peace is your inheritance. Salvation is your inheritance. You are walking into school, into those rooms, not with fear or timidity, but with power, with love and with a sound mind. In Jesus' name, amen, amen, amen, amen. We're with you, we're for you, you're not alone. You got an army with you. Hey, if you're still watching at this point, I believe that it's not an accident. I believe that if you're feeling something in your spirit,

that is God trying to get your attention and invite you into a deeper relationship with him. And so if you're ready to take that step, I wanna walk you through what that looks like. It's simple, we're gonna say a prayer together and it's just you acknowledging that you believe that Jesus is who he says he is and that you're willing to commit your life to following him and learning what it means to be a son or daughter of God. So repeat after me if you can. Jesus, here I am. I believe that you love me, that you died for me and that you want a relationship with me. I acknowledge that I'm a sinner and I need a savior. And I'm committing to learning what it means to be a follower of Jesus. If I mess up, I will not quit because you've never quit on me. I invite your Holy Spirit to lead me and guide me in your truth from today on. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, we're proud of you. That's a huge decision and we don't want you to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own from this point. We have a value, a legacy that says we follow Jesus for ourselves but not by ourselves. So I would invite you to text the number below, follow the instructions and we're gonna send you resources

so you can learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus and be on this journey of faith. Congratulations, your life will never be the same. Thank you for watching. Hope you enjoyed the online experience. Hey, if this message impacted you, make sure you like, comment, subscribe and share it with a friend so we can continue to share the gospel. Hey, here at Legacy, prayer is our priority. You have any prayer needs, you can send them to prayer at legacyaz.church. If you'd like to financially partner with Legacy, you can text any dollar amount to 84321. You can also download the Church Center app, visit our website at legacyaz.church, click on Ways to Give. You'll find links to support Legacy Church. You can find us on social media. Otherwise, God love, live, be like Jesus. We'll see you next week.