Let It Out - Sarah Jakes Roberts

2:05 And as they are moving into their apostolic grace and anointing, these disciples, these 12 men who walked with Jesus, Jesus has already ascended and the power of the Holy Spirit has fallen on them and they are yet in Jerusalem and they are beginning to become positioned to ultimately go into all of the earth. But at this point in the text, Peter and John are headed to the temple. They're headed to the temple, and this is kind of building off of what we did last week, in which we saw Peter experience disappointment after being sifted by Satan. And yet we see a different Peter in this text. He's gone through the sifting. He has returned to Jesus. His faith has survived. and we see him functioning in the aftermath of the sifting. Man, and I tried all that I could to structure this the best way possible, but ultimately I'm going to let God have his way.

3:02 Peter and John are headed towards the temple when they see a certain man laying from his mother's womb. And this man was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful. So they took this lame man day in and day out and they placed him outside of the temple where he would sit out there and he would ask for alms from those who entered the temple. Can anyone spare anything? Who's seeing Peter and John? He looks at Peter and John about to go into the temple and he asked them as he would ask anyone else for alms. And fixing his eyes on him with John, Peter looks at him and he says, look at us. So the lame man gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, silver and gold, what you're looking for, I do not have.

4:01 But what I do have, I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up. feet and ankle bones receive strength. Lord, I'm asking that the same grace, same anointing, same power that rose Jesus from the grave that resided in Peter himself when he reached for that lame man would become evident in this room today. And God, I thank you for the spirit of wisdom of prophecy of revelation that you would strengthen me and help me to see clearly the assignment that is at hand. I thank you for these, your sons and daughters, only you know what they need. And so God, I pray that you would fill me with your spirit, that you may minister to them intimately, that they would have an encounter with you that radically changes their focus, strengthens them where they are weak, and releases them to go do the same with another brethren.

5:14 for what you've already decided to do in this place. Have your way in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Can you do me a favor? Can you say something nice to the person as you're sitting down? Just tell them you look good. You don't look like what you've been through. Thank you for your praise. You got a mighty praise on the inside of you.

5:38 I am in a sandwich generation I've got one daughter one son's in New York one daughter's preparing to go to college and also my parents are you know at an age where their wisdom is becoming more and more on display and it's interesting you see how I did that can't get no whooping when you grown you know I mean you could potentially but you don't want one so you gotta toe the line appropriately amen what's interesting hey guys stay focused don't know talking while the preacher is talking

6:27 Okay, now listen. What's funny is as much as I am teaching my parents some different features and stuff and technology on their phones and devices, my daughter's doing the same for me. And so almost as soon as I learn something, I'm teaching them how to do something too. And oftentimes when we have these devices, there are features that we don't always know about, and it takes someone coming to help us understand those additional features so that we get the maximum use of our device. When I study Scripture and I look specifically at the New Testament and the 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament that were written by Paul, what I see is an apostle teaching these churches that he has established the additional features connected with their salvation. That's part of the reason why I enjoy reading the letters from Paul because I think it is an interesting template for anyone who's wondering, how do I deepen my relationship with God?

7:30 What does it mean? What have I received? Paul goes out of his way to write these letters to these different churches because he's trying to make sure that they have more than an encounter. Because some people have encounters with the spirit. They have encounters with Jesus, but they don't walk out relationship. and that's why we never grow when we never fully develop because we're we become addicts for encounters so I can say that real good we want a really good sermon we want to live off the high of a very interesting moment in the spirit or a very impactful moment in the spirit and so we find ourselves constantly chasing the next high in the spirit but when we move into a space where we realize that I have an opportunity to be in relationship with Jesus, that I'm not just chasing the next miracle. I'm not just chasing the next blessing. What I'm actually doing is beginning to cultivate a relationship in which I take on his image. I wish I could say that real good. Because if the only thing we do is search for the next high, then we're always going to be babes in the spirit. If the moment that our favorite person isn't preaching or the moment that we don't reach that high moment in the service, we think that nothing happened in the service. But those who have been trained to not just look for the high moment, but for the meat and the substance of a message, realize that you don't always have to have my favorite delivery.

9:00 You don't always have to be my favorite person. The meat of the word can show up in different packages. And so I'm searching for meat. I like personality. I like style. When you can give it to me the way I like it, I love that. But at the end of the day, I came here for meat. Why? Because I realized that I need to be developed. I don't need to just feel good. I've taken on the image of a family, of an environment, of a community. And for me to be in relationship with Jesus is to say, I want to take on your image. It's one thing for you to save me. It's another thing for you to transform me. Come on, somebody. I want to be transformed into the image of Jesus. I want to be changed. I don't want just to have an encounter. I want my likeness to take on his likeness. And because I want my likeness to take on his likeness, there are certain tools, certain principles, certain disciplines that I must adhere by because I'm on a mission. My spirit is on a mission.

10:03 Not just building a life, not just creating a perfect picture of who I think I should be. My spirit is on a mission that doesn't have anything to do with where I work. My spirit is on a mission that doesn't have anything to do with who I'm in relationship with. My spirit is on a mission that has nothing to do with whether you like me or dislike me. Spirit is on a mission to look like Jesus. Oh, I wish I could say that. I think maybe I said it real good, but because it's not the thing that we're always searching for, sometimes it can make us a little bit uncomfortable because they teach us so often to come in and ask God for what he can do. But really what we should be doing is who should I become as a result of who you are? Oh, if I am allowed to experience this spirit of adoption in which I now call you Abba, Father, I have an opportunity to take on the spiritual DNA of my maker, which means that I have to take inventory of my heart and my life and the places where I've taken on the spiritual inventory or DNA of my sphere, the spiritual DNA of my shame, the spiritual DNA of the traumas that have happened to me when I come into a relationship with Jesus. I want to be transformed. I want to be made new.

11:15 I want to take on the spiritual DNA of what it means to look like Jesus. You want to prophesy, but you don't have the spiritual DNA of the one who puts the word in your mouth. You got to do something that places you in alignment to where looking like Jesus is something that is the organic byproduct of what you do in your secret time. I don't just look like him on accident. I look like him on purpose. You're not going to stumble into looking like Jesus. It's going to take intentionality. It's going to take a pressing. It means that you may have to let go of some friends. It means you may have to let go of some environments. You may have to change your music. You may have to change what you watch on television. Why? Because I'm trying to look like something.

11:55 I'm trying to look like something. And sometimes I look like what I've gone through. So when Paul writes these letters, he's talking to these different churches. And some of the churches, each of them have their own cultural context. And in some, arts and entertainments were the cultural context. And in others, it was more Hellenistic in their culture, which means they served Greek gods and Greek philosophies. philosophies. And so he's trying to teach them how their minds can be transformed because he realizes that they have received something that is in competition in which the context and culture where it exists. God help me say it. He realizes that if I don't continue to edify what's been placed on the inside of you, the culture in which you live in will dilute it.

12:41 If you are not intentional about creating space for that relationship with Jesus to be and cultivated so that you can be transformed, you will automatically dissolve back into what you know. You're not just going to become someone different because you want to. If want was enough, everybody else would have been changed by now.

13:04 You have to roll up your sleeves and be willing to do the kind of work that alienates you, that isolates you, that makes you look a little weird to some people. Why would you be getting up in the rain on a Sunday morning when you could be in the bed? You don't think we wanted to be in the bed this morning when our alarm clock went off, but I've got a work to do and I've got to be in an environment that's going to cultivate the work that's taking place on the inside of me. Why would you be locked in there? People literally in other parts of the country right now where they could be at work, where they could be asleep, but they go out of their way because God's trying to do something on the inside of me. And you got to be in an environment that makes a demand on what God is doing on the inside of you. There are some people you cannot be in relationship with because it makes a demand on who I used to be.

13:53 When I get around you, I fall back into the very same habits I'm trying to break away from. This is not any shame on you. You do you. I'm just trying to do me differently. And when I'm trying to do me differently, I may not be able to do you because I got a default system when I get with you. So I need a minute to protect what's taking place on the inside of me because what God has for me to do in the earth requires my full focus.

14:20 oh it's gonna take all of me to do this it's gonna take the best of me to do this I'm gonna have to become someone I've never been to do this and so Paul writes these letters because he's trying to help them protect what's taking place on the inside of them and one of the things that I love about his teaching is that he teaches them how to come to the Lord in prayer

14:46 and in teaching how to come to the Lord in prayer he lets us know that many times people come to the Lord in prayer with a spirit of anxiety we can tell what he's addressing by the letters he writes so if you look at the letters of Paul you can tell by what he's addressing that he's addressing specific concerns and so one of the things that he says in Philippians 4 verses 6 through 7 is that be anxious for nothing. He's talking about prayer. But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known. So, God, let's take a look at that for a minute. He says, be anxious for nothing. When I come to the Lord in prayer, I'm not coming to the Lord in prayer from a place of anxiety. That's the goal. Now, that's not always where I am, but the goal is to not come to the Lord from a place of anxiety. And we come to the Lord from a place of anxiety because we take our fears, our concerns, our doubt, our pride, our ego, and we go into the presence of the Lord and we start begging, Lord, please, please, please, I need you to do it. We do it from a place of anxiety, almost as if we aren't sure whether or not he will do it. But he says, if you're going to master your prayer life, I want you to get to a place where you come into the presence of the Lord where you're not anxious for anything?

16:11 How do I get to a place where I'm not anxious for anything when I come to the Lord in prayer? Well, he says, with prayer and supplication, make your requests known. But then he says, with thanksgiving. Okay. The with thanksgiving part is how I get to a place where I can come to the Lord in prayer without anxiety. How is that possible? Because the thanksgiving requires for you to come to the Lord in prayer requires you to understand who God is and the privilege you have in coming to the Lord in prayer to begin with. You have to understand that technically speaking, our sin and our unholiness put us in a position where we couldn't even come to the Lord in prayer. Can I say that real good? I wish I could come up with an analogy. I tried to come up with an analogy for this. There are some people who you would not be able to have access to if it wasn't for the person who brought you into the room.

17:23 So, oh God, help me, because I had two analogies, and I don't think neither one of them makes sense. And if I start the analogy, and then you know how you start the analogy, and you're halfway through, and you're like, that didn't make no sense, let's move on. Okay, I used to work for the military. There were certain I had to get a secret clearance in order to work for the military, which means that there was some information that I could have access to, but there was some information that was above my security clearance. And in order for me to get access to some information, I needed someone with a higher security clearance to clear the path in order for me to have access to that information. And I couldn't get that information just because they cleared me once. I would have to have them every time in order for me to access that information. Now, I want to take that analogy, and I want to take it over into the spirit realm. And I want you to know that Jesus is your security clearance.

18:17 that I wouldn't, I could get close, but I couldn't get all the way into the holies of holies. I needed someone to help me tear the veil so that I could get in there. And Jesus is my security clearance. And when you realize that I would not have access at all, if it wasn't for somebody going ahead of me and making that crooked path straight, I would have no, I've got Thanksgiving when I pray because I realized I shouldn't even be able to let you know what's going on with me. With my small language, my concerns are so small in comparison to what God has going on. But because of Jesus, he stops what he's doing to hear my concerns because of Jesus. It doesn't matter how infantile it is. When he hears what's happening in my heart, he stops everything. And it's only because of Jesus that I have that level of access.

19:05 But you got to have Thanksgiving for that. and I am afraid that we have made access so common that we don't have the proper level of thanksgiving for being in the presence of God and in a position where we are in the presence of God when we could be throwing down our crowns like the elder he creates space to hear what's on our have you ever been in a meeting with a super a superior boss or someone who's of high level authority and they stop the meeting to hear from you. Oh, see y'all, see you got to go some places where you're just grateful to be a fly on the wall.

19:47 When you're just grateful to be a fly on the wall and then someone points their attention towards you and says, well, what do you think about it? That is what happens when we go into prayer, where you should just be grateful to be anywhere in the number of people who God would call his children. He stops what he's doing to say, I want to know what's on your heart. I want to know what's on your mind. And there ought to be a level of gratitude that comes with that, that doesn't walk into the presence of God with the sense of entitlement thinking, well, God, I got a laundry list of things for you to do. And why didn't you show up? And where could you have been? that will never put you in the posture for prayer.

20:31 Oh, I know. Can I say it? It's tight, but it's right. It just happened. Let me tell you something. We have to have this Thanksgiving. Otherwise, our prayer life and our relationship with God becomes transactional. And we operate with a sense of entitlement, where prayer is where I come to give God his marching orders.

21:00 Prayer is meant to be developmental, not the place for demand. Oh, I know. I'm sorry, we can still be friends after this. But if the only thing I'm coming to God in prayer for is for him to meet my need, then I have missed out on the brilliance of what can happen when I am in prayer. Yes, I have nerves. have anxiety. Yes, I have things that I want you to do. But when I remember who I am praying to, I remember that though I have my needs, it may not always align with what he wants to see happen in the earth. And so my prayer is, God, here's me making my requests known. Oh. My prayer is me making my requests known. This is not a demand. This is not me telling you what you should do. This is not me telling you how you should show up. But it would be disingenuine if I came in a any requests. So he asked me, I don't want you to be dishonest. I want you to come in and I want you to make your requests known. I want to know what's on your heart. I want to know what you're carrying.

22:05 I want to know what's burdening you. I want to know what you're dreaming about, but I don't want you to hold me hostage to the way you think your life should look. Make it known. Make it known to the one who holds all power in his hand. Make it known to the one who has given you access and authority and power and dominion. See, you have to trust that even if God doesn't answer your prayer, that an unanswered prayer can still work out for my good. See, that's why we don't do this. Because I think there's only one way to good. But when I trust that even if you don't answer my prayer, it doesn't mean that you changed the destination

22:50 And so I come to the Lord with thanksgiving because I'm thankful for the access. And I'm thankful that you care about me. And I'm thankful that the matters of my heart mean something to you. But I also realize that you have a great work that you're doing in the earth. And what I need, though it is important to me, you have all these other things that you're working out as well. And I've got a myopic view of what life should look like. And so I come into it with thanksgiving. It's when you come to the Lord and you are anxious for nothing and you make your request with thanksgiving. It says the peace of God.

23:26 This is the exchange in prayer. It doesn't say that and then he's going to answer your prayer when you come this way. He says, I'm going to give you the peace of God. Which surpasses all understanding. Oh, that's good to me. Because now I'm not necessarily coming to prayer trying to get my needs met. I'm coming to prayer because there's peace for me even if the need isn't met.

23:48 Oh, I know. I know you want that need, but sometimes the unanswered need helps to qualify what you really want. Do you really want God's presence or do you want God's power? Because if you really want my presence, even if I don't answer the need, you'll know that my presence is with you. And if my presence is with you, I can give you peace to survive whatever it is you're up against. And I give you peace that will surpass that mind. That means it will surpass that anxiety. It will surpass that worry. It will surpass that doubt. And it's the peace of God. Oh, put it back on the screen for me. It will surpass not just what happens in my mind, but it will surpass my heart too. It will, no, no. Oh, it's even better than I thought. Oh, the peace of God will surpasses all understanding. Will guard, guard. Oh, wait a minute. That's good to me. Because I'm making my requests known.

24:41 I'm letting you know what's in my heart. I've worked on the anxiety. now the peace of God is going to come in and it's going to guard your heart and mind because you got to go through a process and your heart and mind need to be protected in the process and when you're anxious for something sometimes you're not the best protector of your heart and mind and when you're anxious for something sometimes you start settling and start making decisions start making moves that you shouldn't be making because you're anxious for something but if you would come to me with your anxiety and come to me with your request I'm going to show you how to protect yourself while you wait for the answer. I'm going to show you how to protect yourself while you wait to see how I show up. I'm going to guard your heart and mind. You ain't going to make a fool out of yourself trying to be your own God. You ain't going to make a fool of yourself trying to take matters into your own hand because the peace of God is going to come and guard your heart and mind. That means I'm not going to go crazy waiting. That means I'm not going to lose my heart. That means it's not going to break my heart. See, there are some prayers that we feel right now, God, if you don't answer, it's going to break my heart. But the thing is, have made your request known to God, don't look for the answer. Look for the peace. Because if I can find the peace, I don't have to look for the... No, I'm telling you the truth. See, because if I sell you on this idea that you're going to make your request known and then God's going to answer it, I will be lying to you. And I will be teaching you something that makes your ears itch. But at the end of the day, it leaves your soul hungry. I'm here to tell you that you may not get everything you ask for, but you can get a peace that meets you in the unanswered prayer to help you survive what life looks like when he doesn't show up the way I wanted him to show up, but it doesn't mean that he's still not God. He's still God even if he doesn't show up the way that I anticipated.

26:24 Now my job is to wait to see how God's going to be God because I thought you would show up this way, but you decided to show up another way. So God, guard my heart and mind so I don't miss the way you show up guard my heart and mind so I can be sensitive to how you're going to answer this prayer guard my heart and mind because the enemy is going to come and plant thoughts in my heart and my mind

27:28 because the enemy is trying to hear what I'm praying for so he knows how to torment me yeah the enemy we know the enemy overhears conversation because we know we learned that in the garden he's trying to hear what's weighing on me so he knows how to torment me so he knows how to make me afraid but when I bring it to God I'm saying God me and you we got to have a talk this because I got some anxiety about something and that anxiety is showing up in my life but I need your peace God to help me kick back the enemy and rebuke the enemy see there's something about rebuking the enemy based off of who you know God is oh God help me translate it in my spirit here's the thing sometimes I rebuke the enemy not because I am insisting on my conclusion I rebuke the enemy because the enemy is after my mind and my heart. And if he gets my mind and my heart, I'll be too distracted.

28:25 And I will miss the way that God is showing up in my life. I will miss the way that God is delivering for me. And so I have to rebuke the enemy so that I can stay focused. Okay. Prayer is our place of development. And sometimes our prayer can be short-sighted.

28:48 okay sometimes our prayers become short-sighted because our prayers center primarily about what it takes to build a life this is not this is not no shame no shame no shade no tea amen because this this is me too when i'm searching the scripture and i'm looking for things that read me our prayer becomes short-sighted when it is exclusively about building our lives

29:17 Yes, the Lord wants to know what you need physically and practically. Make your requests known. But if that is the extent of your prayer life, it is a little short-sighted. Because prayer is the place of development. Prayer is the place where I come in and I realize that the ultimate goal is for me to have a conversation, a communication with God that transforms me on the inside. You ought to come out of prayer feeling convicted sometimes.

29:53 like I may need to change my language, like I may need to reconsider my actions. If we're going into prayer and we're saying, Lord, search me, not give me. search me what's in me that i can't see i feel justified in my own ways but lord did i miss something i don't just take for i don't call everybody haters can i tell y'all that everybody's not hating on you some people are trying to show you the way you show up in the world so that you can do better by someone even if you didn't do better by us So if you don't take what's happening in your relationships and take it to the Lord in prayer and say, Lord, now this happened. Did I do anything in this that did not reflect who you are? It may have reflected my anger. It may have reflected my hurt. But did it reflect who you are?

30:46 Because my first responsibility is to be a reflection of who you are in the earth. And if my anger, my frustration, my trauma, my bitterness showed up instead, God, I need to repent first to you. It's not going to be the most fun Sunday.

31:08 But that is my goal when I go into prayer is I realize that prayer is the place of formation. It is the place where the Lord challenges me. It is the place where I ask the Lord to show me who I am, show me how I'm showing up, because at the end of the day, I want to be developed and formed into someone who looks more like Jesus. Prayer is a place of formation. when I look at what happened in Luke, when Jesus tells Simon, Simon, Satan has asked for you, he's asked to sift you, I notice that most of us in our churchiness...

31:45 would have started rebuking it in the name of Jesus. But Jesus does not rebuke it. And Jesus does not say that it's going to go away. I looked at what Jesus prayed. He prayed for his faith. Faith is an inner man job.

32:06 Jesus' prayer focuses on Peter's inner man because he realizes that this sifting, enemy meant it for evil, that God can use it for good. The sifting is on assignment to strengthen his inner man if he lets it. Okay, I'm about to connect these dots. We're going home. Here's the thing. The enemy is going to use the sifting to try and shake him up. But the Lord says, if you survive the sifting, no, not you, if your faith survives the sifting, you're going to be stronger than you were before. I know we talked about it last week. I won't get too caught up in it, but if I could get caught up in it a little bit, I would say that your faith surviving the sifting comes down to your inner man being strengthened. Oh, if you survive the sifting, what your faith knows on the other side of the sifting is so powerful that it can bring, see, we about to get to let it out, that it can strengthen everything connected to you. I know I said it last week, feel like I need to spend a little time there. Your sifting is going to be what the Lord uses to strengthen your faith. I want to talk to some people in the room who have survived a season of sifting. Oh, I feel my Holy Ghost coming. Who are you? You in this room? You survived the season of sifting. I just recently survived a season of sifting myself. Something has taken place in me that I have not been able to give language to, but I can feel it in my inner man.

33:47 And when you go through the sifting, if you're looking for signs that you have survived outside of you, you will miss the point of what God, how God used the sifting. Because when you go through a sifting, what we look for is recovery of some of the things that we felt like we lost on the outside but the real vision of what happens after sifting has to happen first on who you became on the inside oh god help me to say it real good there are some things that peter knows see when we see him in acts see this is what says it's up for acts who peter is in acts is different than who we see in luke 22 this is a man who has been empowered by what he has survived survived. There are some things your faith survives that when your faith survives it, it changes the way that you show up. And this is why the enemy doesn't want you to look past the sifting. Because if you get so caught up in the sifting that you start living as if you're afraid that another sifting is happening, you start guarding yourself. And I'm not going to do that because I don't want that to get shaken up in the sifting. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to That is you're protecting what you have left But you don't really know what you have left yet because you haven't put yourself in a position Where it makes a demand on who you have become as a result of the sifting I'm about to preach in this place because there are some people in this room and the enemy is trying to convince you That the only way that you can recover from the sifting is to play it small

35:25 to not put yourself out there again, to not put yourself in a position where you could end up being embarrassed again, to not put yourself in a position where people may see a version of you that you are praying no longer exists. But what I see Peter do is something powerful. He is living in an answered prayer. Oh, no, no, no. I said that wrong. Peter has become an answered prayer some people live in answered prayers the house you in the car you in is an answer prayer no no some of us have become an answered prayer because Jesus prayed we can take you back to Luke Jesus prayed for Peter Jesus prayed that his faith would not fail and that when he returned to him that he would strengthen his brethren so when I see him I see a man whose faith has come back to him. Not only has his faith come back to him, but he is looking for an opportunity to take what he has left over from the sift.

36:30 Ooh, because what is left over from sifting? Hold on. Y'all gonna help me? See, in the harvest season when you sift, the wheat and the chaff are separated. And the only thing that's left when they get finished is the wheat, which is the substance that can be used to build and to make food. God help me. I rebuke you devil because you already know you on my nerves today. Listen, I'm sorry. That's between me and him. He just knows, let me tell you something, the devil, you got to talk back to the devil every now and then. When you start to see the enemy is trying to trip you up and trying to convince you because he's trying to make me get my head. Listen, he's down to nothing but wheat. And that's where the enemy messed up is he thought that it would and when you sift and you start shaking the wheat and the chaff are in there together but when God gets finished he kind of he kind of did Peter a little bit of a favor because now he's lost some of the pride and the ego that he would have had had he never gone through the sifting so now because he's down to nothing but wheat it means he's down to nothing but substance which is what Jesus wanted him to be down to anyway because now that he's down to nothing but substance there's nothing standing in the way when the Holy Spirit comes and When the Holy Spirit comes to fall on him, it's going to fall on nothing but substance.

37:48 See, I had to go through some things that shook some things off of me. Some things that I thought that I needed, but I didn't really need them. What I really needed was to get down to substance. Because when you get down to substance, that's when you become a threat to the enemy. And that's why Jesus prayed for him. Because you're going to go through something. But I'm going to use what you've gone through to take you down to nothing, baby. But that nothing is something because that something is all that God needs.

38:20 you meant it for evil but God meant it for good I went through the sifting but now I'm down to nothing but wheat and now when the Holy Ghost fall it doesn't have to get through my ego it doesn't have to get through my shame it doesn't have to get through my fear it can land right on the substance because what I have to do in the earth I cannot do with any extraversion of me I gotta be down to my substance. I gotta be down to my anointing. I gotta be down to my core because the earth needs something so potent that my pride can't get in the way of it, that my ego can't get in the way of it. I know you're going through this sifting and you're afraid, but I wanna talk to somebody who feels like their help is coming and I'm getting ready to walk out of this sifting. I want you to know that the devil is a liar. He will make you believe that everything you have you were but I hear God saying everything you have has survived the sifting and everything that I need is all that you got and all that you got is all that it's gonna take because when the fire of God falls it's gonna fall and it's gonna sweep the roof

39:46 Let it out. Let it out. Let it out. Let it out. What I love about this text, all it goes, Peter, is walking to the temple. but he walked into the temple different. He's not going to the temple like everyone else going to the temple. See, because something's happened on the inside of him, and he's looking for an excuse to release what God has placed on the inside of him. I wish I had some people in this room who were looking for a place to release what God— You think I preached for the last seven weeks because I wanted to. I have preached for the last seven weeks because I've been looking for a place to release what God has done on the inside of me. When God brings you through some things, if you keep it to yourself, you have done a disservice to who God is.

40:40 God says, I prayed for you. But when I prayed for you, I didn't pray for you to keep it to yourself. I prayed so that when the sifting was over and your faith remained, that you would dare to be bold enough to look for a place to throw your faith in the direction of what I'm doing in the earth. It is looking, looking, looking, looking, looking, looking, looking, looking. I'm looking for somebody who could have the overflow of my faith. I'm looking for somebody who could benefit from what I know about God. I'm looking for somebody who needs evidence that he still answers prayer. I'm looking for somebody who needs to know that he's a way maker. I'm looking for somebody who needs to know that he can take nothing and turn it into something. I'm looking.

41:36 Let it out. Let it out. Let it out. Let it out. You survived. Let it out. You got overgrowth. Let it out. You got something that can strengthen. Let it out. Let it out. Let it out. Let everything that has breath!

42:05 Good job. Too many people watching, not enough people looking, and that's why the world's not changing. But how dare you come out on the other side of your sifting and sit down like you don't know something about God that you didn't know before how dare you watch a generation fall away realizing that the faith that survived inside of you is needed to pick somebody else up there's so many lame men walking around Dallas Fort Worth Texas there's so many lame children walking around as if you know what it's like to have your own body be lame your own spirit be lame and if he picked you up, if he raised you up out of your grave, if he raised you up out of your pain, if he raised you up out of your shame, how dare you sit back and watch somebody else fall to the wayside? Who are my people of God who are looking for?

45:01 Let me tell you why your praise is powerful. Thank you, Jesus. Your praise is powerful because your praise is acknowledgement of what God has done in your life. Listen.

45:25 I don't mean just like the little church praise. Peter has stepped into the embodiment of Jesus' prayer. and sometimes we step into the embodiment of what Jesus prayed for us

45:46 that our faith wouldn't fail that we'd have wisdom and discernment that we would finally walk with discipline we step into those prayers but we don't acknowledge them and praise is how we acknowledge what he's done and when I begin to praise and acknowledge him for what he's done it changes my spirit oh help me God this it becomes ammunition

46:20 because sometimes the hardest person to see is yourself I wonder if Peter realized that he's standing in that answered prayer. I wonder if Peter realized it. Did you realize it? Or have you been so concerned about what else you need to do that you haven't realized how much the Lord has already done?

46:55 And I'm going to say this because everything that the Lord's going to do in our lives requires our participation. So he says, I prayed for you that your faith wouldn't fail. And when you have returned to me, there's participation connected to that. And I want to offer for you to consider that sometimes we think that we just stumbled into who we are.

47:28 That God, God did a lot of the work, perhaps most of the work, but it did require your yes and obedience. and if you lose out on the fact that it required your participation you will stop looking for ways to continue to participate

47:49 I wish I could say that so I'm not at all suggesting that you are the author of your own transformation but I'm saying that your obedience is participation that you making some choices, making some decisions, going out of your way, positions you for what the Lord said can happen to flow through you. It requires your participation. Praise is one of the ways that we participate because sometimes we look up and we have become someone different. We have stepped into an elevated version of who we are, a more divine version. I really am taking on the nature of Jesus, and I didn't even realize it. And so I am praising God for who I have become, who I would have never become had he not prayed for me, had he not set some things out for me to lay hold of.

48:43 And the reason why I bring that up is because when we begin to praise and we begin to own fully, that's what it is. When we begin to own fully what has happened and who we have become. And see, it's so easy for us to own the negative things. Some of you have been trying to forgive yourself for 20 years, and you don't even realize how much you've grown and developed since you made the mistake to begin with. when you truly begin to own who you have become in God. That is when we are able to function in a way that allows us to strengthen others. But because you don't trust who you are in God, you can't release what has happened on the inside of you. But you have to come to a place where you begin to trust who you have become in Jesus. And we see Peter functioning that way. When he says this, silver and gold, I have not. But what I do have.

49:38 What I do have, I'm going to let it out. what I do have, I'm going to let it out. I don't have all the answers. I'm not where I'm supposed to be yet, and I still got a lot of work to do. But what I do have, I should have called it work what you got.

50:00 Because, baby, I am telling you that we are at a time right now where we have to be willing to let out what God placed in us. I want to pray with you. Listen. Trying to do good. I want to pray with you. Listen. Stand with me.

50:22 Thank you. Praise the Lord. Some of the greatest things that God will ever do in your life will not always be the things that you can touch and hold.

50:42 some of the greatest things that God does in your life will be the things that only you and him truly know about. the ways that we used to think, the things that we used to long for, the things that used to hurt us and haunt us, but have no power anymore. I went back and forth about this message title, as I do most of the time. There was a part of me that wanted to use this analogy about getting to your fighting weight.

51:21 because the sifting was a conditioning for Peter, and it was conditioning him for the time in which Jesus would no longer be walking the earth with the disciples, and that's why I think the text says that Satan has asked for all of you, but I have prayed for you, because I'm going to put you on the front lines of what I'm building, and but I got to get you to your fighting weight, And I got to get you in your fighting weight by taking you through this, by allowing this sifting to take place. And this sifting is going to feel like it hurts you. And this sifting is going to feel like it harms you. And this sifting is going to make you feel like you're going backwards for a minute. But when the sifting is all said and done, the sifting is actually going to get you to your fighting weight. And that fighting weight is going to be what I use to help strengthen your brethren. I only bring that up now because I want you to know that you can tell how you have grown and developed by what no longer knocks you out. Thank you.

52:31 you're in this room and yeah you got things to do and ways that you need to grow but let's take a minute and thank god for the things that don't knock you out that used to take you out of here. The things that you used to not be able to say no to at all. The conversations, the opportunities, the check would make you compromise so quick, and yet you've come to a place of such maturity, development, and integrity that the things that used to take you out don't take you out anymore. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. The Holy Spirit has given me self-control. The Holy Spirit has made me forgiving. The Holy Spirit has made me kind. The people used to get on my nerves. They don't even get on my nerves the way they used to. I have grace for other people.

53:24 I don't have the same expectations. I don't need them to mother me, to parent me the way that I used to because the Holy Spirit has done a work on the inside of me. Wherever there is a work that has been done on the inside of you, let it out. Look for spaces and places and opportunity where you can release what God has done on the inside of you.

53:53 because you may be the only glimpse of God that somebody sees. And if you're waiting for a more finished product or someone who seemingly has it more together, how many people will be laying, laying, because you didn't trust what you have?

54:19 I want to pray with you. You're in this room and maybe you don't know Jesus. What I shared with you about that government analogy about him ultimately granting us access, that's just the beginning part of what happens when we're in relationship with Jesus. He saved us from sin for sure. He saved us from this thing of death without a shadow of a doubt. But part of the reason why he's seated on the right hand of the Father, make an intercession on our behalf, is because there's still a development work that can take place in us on earth. And he serves as a model and example of how to release what God has placed on the inside of us. Jesus, the character of Jesus, it challenges us in the areas of our inadequacy and deficiency. He shows us how we're supposed to show up, how we deal with purpose how we deal with friendships and relationships he shows us in his life how to do that when I study scripture that's what I'm looking at if you don't know him or maybe you didn't know him like that I thought I just said the prayer and that was it but I haven't embarked on the journey of trying to actually become like him I want you to just throw your hand up at me throw your hand up at me I see no shame in here no shame in here please I see you I see you I see you in the balcony I see you in the balcony thank you Jesus anybody else anybody else I want to take this deeper I want to be more intentional but I see you I see you you're in this room and maybe you've gone through a sifting too

56:04 and you're tired and everything in you is saying nothing's left but this word came and maybe this word has convinced you that there's substance left and that there's a plan for that substance I want to pray with you too

56:26 heavenly father I release what you gave me to say God only you can take these words and translate them into the hearts and minds of your people in a way that brings about meaningful change God it is my prayer that for everyone who needed this word that it would birth a thirst and a hunger inside of them and from that place of thirst and hunger that they would have not just encounter with you but a desire to have real relationship with you. God, I thank you so much that you refuse to leave us in the condition that you meet us in, that you continue to do a work inside of us that allows us to mature and develop into perfect reflections of who Jesus is until the days of Jesus Christ. And so God, I thank you for every hand lifted, every heart that is opened. These are your sons and daughters. You know the areas where life has misshaped them, broken them, convinced them that they'll always be marred.

57:30 Holy Ghost. Rest on them. Holy Ghost. Let the power of the Holy Ghost fall on them right now, Jesus. let it rest on every broken crack every crevice every doubt every fear god let the holy spirit rest as only it can do your word says that your strength is made perfect in our weakness god wherever there's an area of weakness of coming up short of sin of offense of debauchery god i pray right now that your spirit would rest and as your spirit rests god i thank you that it won't just comfort that it'll heal i thank you that it won't just heal but that it will transform And so, God, I thank you for the healing connected to this moment, God, for the birthing that'll come as a result of this moment. And, God, I thank you that the sifting isn't the final say.

58:26 I thank you, God, that what the enemy meant for evil, that you meant for good. And so, God, I praise you in advance for the testimonies connected to this moment. I praise you in advance for the deepening connected to this moment. I thank you in advance for the strength that is coming to your sons and daughters as a result of this surrender. that they would have deep deep encounters with you that you would heal little boy wounds and little girl wounds and that it would change and challenge them in ways that they never thought possible God and when I thank you that when it's all said and done that there will be overflow the same way that that Peter's faith overflowed and touched the lame man and strengthened his brethren God I thank you that what you're doing in the hearts of these your sons and daughters won't stay with them I thank you God that they're going to let it out I thank you that you're coming

59:16 on the inside of them. So God, I pray that you would keep their heart open, that you would keep their spirit open, that they would look for opportunities to release what you've placed on the inside of them. And I thank you that as they release it, that a generation will be strengthened, that people who have been given up on will be strengthened. I thank you for strength coming to communities, strength coming to marriages, strength coming to families as a result of what you've placed on the inside of them. And I thank you that they don't have to be anything other than who they are, that they don't have to make it up, that you've done enough on the inside of them that they can release it from where they are. And I thank you, God, in advance that that release will come with ease and not pressure. Can you repeat after me? Heavenly Father, thank you for this word. I needed it. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for making him who had no sin, no limitations, no weakness, all of mine. And when you nailed him to the cross, you put it to death. All of my weakness, all of my fear, all of my sins, dead and buried.

1:00:34 And when he was raised up, free and victorious, I was raised up too. Now fill me with your spirit. Heal me in deep places. help me to see what's left over from the sifting show me my substance

1:01:05 and allow your oil to saturate it so that it can overflow into everything I touch in Jesus name. Amen. Amen, family. Can you do me a favor before you leave? Can you just grab somebody by the hand real quick? Just touch them. Just touch them. Just squeeze them. Squeeze the hand like you're squeezing faith into them. What little bit you have, no matter how big or small it is, can you squeeze it into their hands? Because we don't know what they're facing this week,

1:01:45 what you carry into this week, they might just make it. Amen? If you're here and you're looking for a church home, we would love to be your church family. Our pastors are here to the left. If this is your church home, make some noise so they know they're welcome here. If you've been dating us for a long time, but you're ready to take things to the next level, our pastors are here. You can meet with them. We want to make sure that you have a personal touch. You say, I may not need that. That's okay. There are QR codes on the screen. You can scan those QR codes and we'll get you all plugged in.

1:02:20 This week, oh, traveling mercies as we prepare to leave. God, the weather's been bad. The roads could be bad. God, and we just pray traveling mercy over these, your sons and daughters. Thank you for allowing us to have encounter with you and to experience your presence. May the Lord bless and keep you. May he make his face to shine upon you and be gracious towards you. and it's over you and grant you shalom.