The Cost of Being First - Sarah Jakes Roberts

2:24 We are in Luke 22 at this point in the text, and you know, we're doing the best we can to make sure that, you know, the service feels as succinct and impactful as possible. But I want to give you a little bit of my philosophy when I am prepping and planning for a message. I'm thinking about those of you who may have gone through the Bible, you know it cover to cover, and it all makes sense to you. Then I'm thinking about people like me who were raised in church and didn't necessarily know how everything connected, and then people who weren't raised in church at all, this is their first time even being in a faith environment. We have a room that large and that many different experiences. Trying to cover everybody can be a little bit lengthy, but I'm doing the best that I can. I say that to say that I want to lay a little bit of foundation of what's taking place in this text, Jesus is with his 12 disciples. They are in Jerusalem for a feast, an annual feast called the Passover. And Jesus has been in ministry for three years, and he sits his 12 disciples, his 12 ride or dies, his 12 personal assistants, executive assistants. He pulls them into a room, and he begins to let them know that the hour has come in which he must go to the cross. He's told them this throughout his journey, but they are now standing in the moment in which he is preparing for crucifixion. And they have an elaborate supper, and if you're doing your own deep dive and getting closer to God, I want to encourage you. Thank you for turning me up in the monitors. I want to encourage you to go back through and look at this through context, because it's one thing to have something preached to you. It's another thing for you to see it for yourself. But at this moment in the text, he's pulled Peter, one of his more close disciples, close to him. He pulls him to the side, and Peter is, a lot of people know this, but for those of you who don't know, he would be like your friend who if you was going to go see somebody who you have a little bit of beef with and you don't know exactly how they're going to act when you see them

4:30 and you need somebody who wouldn't mind cutting an ear off to be with you that one that you don't take everywhere because every time is not the time to cut an ear off and they don't know when to put the sword up. That's who Peter is. And he pulls, Peter's like, I'm loyal. He walks on water. He has this idea of who he is as a disciple. And Jesus pulls him to the side and he says, Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. Peter hears this, and Peter says to him, Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death.

5:25 I'm in it with you. Wherever you go, I'm going. If you batted, that's what I'm on. If you knocking, I am indeed bucking. That was a test to see how saved y'all was. some of y'all. Uh-huh. Then Jesus says to him, who you think you are, you're not really who you think you are like that. He said, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny me three times. You're going to deny three times that you know me. Spirit of the living God, please breathe through this word make your presence tangible give me language give me wisdom God and I ask that as I pour that you would feel and God I thank you that you would remove any barriers any distractions any excuses that would keep someone from receiving this word whether they're in this room or watching online God I pray that this would be an intimate encounter with you, that you would whisper in their ear things only you and them know about. And I thank you, God, for the privilege of holding this word. Unworthy as I am, you are trusting me with this moment. And so I ask that you would decrease me and increase you, your spirit, your presence, your power in me, that it would overflow and touch and transform everybody in this room.

6:55 And I thank you, God, for wisdom, for prophecy, for revelation, that the fullness of the Spirit would be on display. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen, family. Let's go to work. There is an occurrence that takes place when there is an earthquake. and seismologists look at the study of earthquakes to determine if there were any signs that would indicate that it was happening and it doesn't happen with every earthquake but every now and then actually quite frequently there is a tremor that takes place before the earthquake. Now tremors are happening all of the time but there are some moments that tremors happen repeatedly in a specific area, and because it happens repeatedly in that specific area, the earthquake is not actually that surprising, but the only thing is they don't know until after the earthquake to look in that area for the tremors. Those tremors, they have a technical term, they're called a foreshock, and those foreshocks happen before the actual earthquake.

8:11 A tremor is what I would like to present to you as not just something that happens in the earth, but something that happens in the world as well when there's a shift that's going to take place. That there are foreshocks that happen before the initial shaking of things. And when we realize that there is a foreshock before the initial shaking, we look back in hindsight. you know this in your own life where you look back and you think, oh, the Lord was kind of preparing me for things before that actually happened. There were a few foreshocks that took place. In history, a foreshock would be, an example of a foreshock would be Claudette Colvin. Claudette Colvin was a 15-year-old girl who refused to give up her seat on a bus. Not only did she refuse to give up her seat on the bus, she was also arrested for not giving up her seat. She was the first person to ever do this, and she was 15 years old, and this happened before Rosa Parks refused to give a purse seat. Rosa Parks was the earthquake, but Claudette was the foreshock.

9:21 She was the first one. And see, sometimes the cost of being first is that you're ignored. Sometimes the cost of being first is that a way is paved. They don't just realize that you are the pavement that they're standing on. And she gets arrested and protests. And there's a whole discussion worth having about the respectability politics that made Rosa Parks a better candidate for the protest. But what I came here to tell you is that she wasn't the first in that instance. But she was the first to spark a protest because she refused to give a purse seat. Not the first to do it, but the first to spark a protest. And because she sparked a protest, there was a shaking in the Montgomery bus system that radically changed the attitudes on integration at the time. So she wasn't the first to do that, but she was the first to do this.

10:19 I think that's important for us to understand because I believe that each of us are called to be the first in some capacity. And when you realize that you are called to be the first in some capacity, you recognize that there is going to be a moment and your DNA is a sign that you are the first. Your unique DNA, there's nobody like you on the planet. When you realize that you are going to be the first to do something, I wanted to tell you that there's going to be a cost to being first regardless of when you get started. because though Rosa Parks wasn't ignored, the cost of her being first was that she experienced death threats. She made history, but shortly after the protest, she was living in economic instability because she didn't have the ability to just go out and get a job anymore. So she made history, but the cost of being first meant that she had a livelihood that was very fragile. yeah see because the cost of being first is that sometimes people celebrate you but they don't know that on the back end that I had to go through all kinds of things that you would have never imagined everyone is celebrating what I did but nobody knows the real cost that came with it that I had to ask some people to help me pay my rent that some people had to come in and serve and support me I was the first but I almost lost my mind in the process I was the first but I lost some things along the way, it calls to be first. And sometimes we are so inundated with the pursuit. We want to be the first. We want the honor of being first. We want the privilege of being the first one in our family to break a generational curse. We want to be the first one in our family to survive something, but nobody's talking about the horror that comes with the honor of being first.

12:01 I wish I had some people in this room who would be honest, that if you get a word from God, that you're going to be the first to do something. You get real excited when you get the word from God because you believe I got faith for it. And I know that if God said it, then I can do it. And I know that if God said it, then I can perform it. And I'm going to pave a new way for my family. And I'm going to be the first one to think differently and the first one to act differently. But nobody tells you that when you start setting out to be the first, that all hell starts breaking loose. Nobody tells you that when you start to step into what God has called you to do as first, that all of a sudden you start questioning yourself, that you start questioning your ability, that all of a sudden being first reveals where I have deficiency. It reveals where I have ignorance. It reveals the areas where I'm underdeveloped. And all of a sudden now I understand why no one else wanted to do this because it's hard to be first.

12:59 Ugh. It's lonely to be first. It can be confusing to be first. You got to be willing to walk some things out on your own if you're going to be first. You got to be willing to have confidence in yourself because nobody else is going to have confidence in you when you want to be first. You got to be willing to disrupt the system of what's been considered normal when you're going to be first. That's why you need God if you're going to be first. Because if you're going to be first in something God has called you to do, you're going to need the strength of God in order to accomplish it. When you decide, God, I'm going to do what you have called me to do and I don't care what stands in my way, you don't even realize that you may be the thing standing in your way. And God's going to have to disrupt what you know and disrupt what you think in order to be first. Yeah. I'm going to be the first to break the generational curse. And then you step into the moments that kind of produce the curse to begin with.

13:56 And you realize that if I'm really going to be the first, I'm going to need. See, sometimes we judge the choices that people made until we're standing in the situation that created them. And then when we're standing in the situation that we created them, we realize, I realize why you made the decisions you made. It's not so easy to say no. It's not so easy to keep stepping and to keep going and to keep your strength about you. Because when you're first, you come through some attacks that nobody else understands. I wish I had some people in this room who knows what it's like to be on the front lines, that I had to take some bullets that nobody else could take, that I had to take some beatings that no one else could withstand. I caused, it caused to be first. It hurt me. It broke me. It changed me. and yet I've been called to be a foreshock. God help me.

14:49 Because I got to shake things up and if I'm going to shake things up, I have to be willing to go first and to get in the shaking. Oh God help me, I'm trying to stay on track. I got to be willing to get on the front line and God doesn't grant everybody the capacity to be first at everything because not everyone can handle the cost of being first. Whatever God has called you to be first in, whether you're going to be the first in your generation, the first in your organization, the first at your school, whatever God has called you to be first in, He's also going to cultivate the capacity required for you to be first. So, you cannot insist that other people come with you because they may not have the capacity to be first. I cannot make you have my capacity, and I can't be sad that you don't have it, because God has graced me with the capacity to do this. Oh, there are some things that you have been able to accomplish that is not just because you had the skill set and had the intellect and that you did everything the right way.

16:06 It's that God gave you the capacity to do things that other people in your family could not do. He gave you the capacity to think on another level. He gave you the capacity to create on another level. And I don't want you to believe that just because it's hard that you're not called. Because it being hard is a part of the cause. It is supposed to be expensive for you to be first. Do not let the social media fool you. Anybody who's doing anything for the first time is doing it blind, doing it inadequate, not sure who they are, but they're doing it anyway. Oh, I had some people in my life who showed me how to do it anyway. You need some people who don't just teach you how to win. And you need some people who don't just show you how to gossip. You need some people in your life who show you how to do it anyway, because it's going to be hard. I thank you, daddy, because you taught me how to keep on showing up. I thank you, daddy, because you taught me how to show up when I had pain in my body. I thank you, daddy, that you went ahead of me and you took a few bullets and you took a few rumors and you took a few lies and slander because you taught me how to keep standing even when all hell is God I thank you for giving me somebody who could be a four shot God I thank you that you're still standing did you see him walk me down the steps he's still going ahead of me trying to make sure that I understand that I have what it takes Thank you.

17:25 Certain things don't scare me because I saw it. Certain things don't scare me because I know you can survive it. And you need people in your life who can show you what it's like to keep standing. Yeah. A foreshock. God, help me. Help me, Jesus.

17:53 What are we going to do? God told me that there are people in this room who he is positioning to be first. And it's been hard. And it's been expensive. And you're questioning whether or not you're still called to be first. And I heard God say it is supposed to be expensive to be you. it is supposed to be expensive for you to pave the way it calls something to be first and when we find Peter in this text Peter's not the first disciple he's not the first disciple who gets to serve Jesus he's a first of many things but he is the first one that Jesus pulls to the side to give insight into what's about to take place.

18:56 Peter is a foreshock, and Jesus pulls him to the side because there's a shaking coming. Oh, Holy Ghost. Oh, to be positioned so closely to Jesus that he trusts you with the shaking before it happens. He doesn't pull all of the disciples. He pulls Peter. And there are some people in this room who the Lord has given prophetic insight that a shaking is coming. Oh, Holy Ghost, I feel it. There's a shaking coming. There's a shaking coming. There's a shaking coming. There's a shaking coming. And you feel it in your spirit. There's a shaking coming in your household and you feel it in your spirit. There's a shaking coming in the world and you feel it in your spirit. I came to let somebody know you're not crazy. The Lord's been dropping it in your spirit because he's trying to prepare you. There's a shaking coming. There's a shaking. Not everybody can handle it, but you see it. There's a shaking coming. There's a shaking coming. There's a shaking coming. There's a revival coming, but it's going to get scary before it gets good. There's a shaking coming. There's a shaking coming and everyone else may hear this news and be afraid, but there are some people who can take this news and be prepared to be positioned properly so that when the shaking happens, it doesn't catch them by surprise. Oh, I feel a prophetic spirit in this room. I feel like God has been nudging somebody and trying to make sense of what's taking place in the world.

20:23 He says, Simon, Simon, that double, that Simon, Simon saying it twice means I'm trying to get your attention. There's something happening here. And he says something crazy. He says, Satan has asked for you. He's asked to sift you as wheat. Oh, can I teach this thing for a minute?

20:51 Simon, Simon, I need your attention. I know I'm talking about going to the cross. I know I'm talking about dying for sins. I know I'm talking about the new covenant, but I want you to know specifically, I got a secret for you that Satan has asked for you. And he wants to put you in a process called sifting. To understand what sifting is, you got to envision a round basket with almost like holes on the bottom, like a strainer or a colander. And they would take the wheat from the harvest and they would put it within the sieve. They call it a sieve. And they put it in the sieve and they shake it violently, shaking it because they're trying to get the chaff to break apart from the wheat. And the only way to get it to separate is to put it in a process where it's shaken violently. And Jesus says, Peter, Peter, Peter, Simon, Simon, Satan wants to put you in the sieve and he wants to shake you violently.

21:54 Oh, so you got to understand. Oh God, I feel it. I want you to understand what it's like to be a person in a shaking. To be a person being sifted means that the Lord is telling him that Satan is going to put you and your anointing and your insecurities and your strengths and your weaknesses that you're used to keeping all separated and neatly tucked apart. And he's going to put you in an environment he's going to put you in a situation where it all starts getting shaken up together where you don't know if I'm anointed anymore or if I'm going crazy he's going to put you in a situation where it start getting so shaken up that you don't even know who you are anymore oh but this is the cost of being first the cost of being first is that you got to go through some shaking the cost of being first is meaning my anointing is bumping up against my insecurities and my past is bumping up against my purpose and my pain is bumping up against my hope and I thought I had something but maybe I don't have nothing and I thought I was called but maybe I'm not called, I'm going through the sifting and I'm being shaken up so don't be surprised when the shaking happens anybody know what that's like to be in a situation where all of you starts running into all of you i said where all of you start sometimes i'm anointed sometimes i'm afraid sometimes i feel powerful sometimes i can't get out of bed sometimes i feel strong sometimes i feel depressed I think I might be being sifted.

23:41 Sometimes I feel like I got it. Sometimes I feel like I got nothing at all. I think I might be being sifted. Sometimes I believe what they say about me. Sometimes I ignore, but I feel like it's all. The system. That analogy is wheat. And it's not just the wheat and the chaff. It's the dirt and the debris. It's the rocks. It's the trauma. It's the anointing. It's all running together. And the point of the shifting is that Satan is hoping that if I shake you up well enough, you won't remember who you are. Thank you. If I shake you up well enough, if I can make you keep bumping into your past and bumping into your history, and one day I'm clean and one day I'm not, and one day I'm holy and one day I'm not, if I make you keep bumping up against yourself, maybe you'll quit altogether.

24:50 Oh, oh. Shaking up. Oh, God, I've been shaken up. And I'm starting to question everything. And Satan said, I got you right where I want you. Because now you won't trust who God says you are. And now you won't believe what God said about you. And now you won't know to call on Jesus or to call Tyrone. I've got you shaking. Y'all can play church with me if you want to. I know you know Tyrone's number. Tyresha, what you call her? Don't mean nothing to me. What's funny is that when I look at this text, when I look at it in the Greek, Jesus. Oh, Holy Ghost. I'm sorry, I just feel something in my spirit.

25:59 When you look at it in the Greek, it says, Satan has asked for you. That word you is actually plural. He's asked for all of you is what it means. But then when Jesus says, but I have prayed for you that prayed for you is singular because Peter is a foreshock. He's asked for all of you. All of you are going to go through the shaking. All of you are going to have to run into the debris of who you are and the weed of who you are. All of you are going to be shaken up, but there's one of you who I'm praying for in this process because one of you can make the difference for all of you. Oh God, I said one of you could make the difference for all of you. Whoo!

26:53 So what's the difference? What's the difference? First of all, Jesus, if this is me and I'm Peter and I'm talking to Jesus and Satan has asked for me, you know, well, Jesus, couldn't you have told him? You don't know me, you know what I mean? but what Jesus says to him is where the real power is. Oh, because when I hear Satan has asked for me, I get afraid. I get nervous because I don't know if I have what it takes to withstand the spiritual warfare connected with what he's asked for. But Jesus gives us insight into where our focus should be in the moments where we are experiencing a sifting.

27:41 He says, but I have prayed for you. That don't mean much to you all because we send thoughts and prayers all the time. But I want you to know that Jesus praying for you is different than me praying for you. When I pray for you, I have to say in the name of Jesus because he is the only way that I can approach the throne of grace. When I pray for you, my heart is in the right place. But I'm not any more worthy to pray for you than you are worthy to pray for yourself. And I'm going to do the best that I can. But when Jesus prays for me, he's the only one worthy enough to stand in front of our God with no sin and no shame and pray for me from a position of power and authority. that's why he doesn't have to rescue Peter from the saving because my prayer for you in the sifting is stronger than the sifting that you're going through oh I wish I could say that real good if you knew who was praying for you if I hopped on over into Hebrews I would tell you that he's making intercession on your behalf right now and if you didn't want to go to Hebrews I'd jump on over in the Romans and I'd let you know that he's seated on the right hand of the father making intercession on your behalf right now if you understood who's praying for you that he's got all power in his hands so when he says devil let her loose we don't have to wonder if this gonna happen when he tells death no death has to back up off of you you don't know who's praying for you Oh, okay.

29:32 you don't know who's praying for you you think it's just us you don't know who's praying for you that demons tremble at the very mention of his name you don't know who's praying for you that all hell is under his feet you don't know who's praying for you that he went down into hell and took the keys to death and said you know what i'm gonna take a few souls while i'm down here too you don't know who's praying for you. So, So, you mean to tell me that I don't have to be afraid that Satan has asked for me. I just have to believe in the power of who's praying for me.

30:28 Some of y'all give the devil too much credit. because if you really believed who was praying for you you would know that there is nothing that he can touch that God has not allowed him to touch and the only reason that God would allow him to touch it is because God can restore anything that he does touch you must not know who's praying for you but I bet if you look back over your life and looked at the things that should have taken you out

31:01 me. I'm talking about the things that nobody knows about, that you should have been overdosed, that you should have been in jail, but somebody must have been praying for you. I said, Jesus must have been praying for me. I should have been captured. I should have been wrapped up somewhere with nothing, not a thought in my head, but he must have been praying for me. Lord knows I wasn't praying for myself and nobody knew what I was going through. That molestation should have taken me out. I should have lost my mind, but somebody must have been praying for me, praying with power, praying with authority, praying that I wouldn't give up, praying that I wouldn't back down, praying that I'd keep, I was in the doctor's room and they was messing with my spine and I was knocked out cold, but baby, somebody must have been praying for me. I was up at night building in a business that nobody could see. No clue what I was doing, but somebody must have been praying for me. That child that I raised that you think looks all good, I didn't have a clue what I was doing, but...

32:09 Somebody. praying right now while you worrying he's praying while you trying to figure it out on your own he's praying seated on the right hand of the father make an intercession on your behalf he don't sleep and he don't slumber he don't need a nap he told us in good synony i don't need a nap i'm on my Prayer assignment he prayed for me, but listen listen

32:58 Listen do your work Holy Ghost do your work Holy Ghost do your work Holy Ghost cause somebody been going through warfare and they didn't realize that somebody been praying for you you crying yourself to sleep but he been praying for you listen, listen, listen Look at what Jesus prays. because Jesus prays with specificity.

33:37 It's not one of those I'm praying for you prayers. Oh, can I tell you I love this text? It says, Jesus has asked for you, but I have prayed for you. That's past tense. Not I will pray for you. I have prayed for you. You haven't even stepped into it yet, and I've already covered you in the thing that's gonna make you feel uncovered. I've prayed for you. Listen. That your faith should not fade. Now we know what the warfare is about.

34:23 It's about your faith. The warfare is about your faith. It's not about your stuff. It's not even about your kids. It's not about the business. It's about your faith. Jesus says, I know exactly what to pray for as you go through this. your faith is under attack.

34:50 Because when I look at you, I know what to pray. I know what you need. But listen, it's so important that we realize that he's praying for his faith to not fail. He's praying that his faith will survive. He's praying that his faith won't fail when he fails. Oh, you understand what I'm saying? Oh, this is the part we don't want to talk about. Peter is going to fail. he's going to be sifted and he's going to fail. And when he fails, Jesus is praying that his faith doesn't fail with him. will your faith survive when you fail?

35:48 And I look at this text, and Peter's response tells me everything I need to know about who we are as people. Because when Peter responds, Peter tells him, Lord, I am ready to go with you, both to prison and death. Now, Jesus has told him, Satan has asked for you to sift you as wheat. And I've prayed for you that your faith wouldn't fail and that when you return to me, you'll strengthen your brethren. And Peter goes, that's not going to happen. I'm going to go with you to the very end. Because Peter has more faith in himself than he does in what Jesus said.

36:34 Oh, God, help me to say it real good. Sometimes we have faith for something more than we have faith in God. And Peter has faith for who he's going to be. So when he fails, his faith that he has in who he's going to be has to fail too.

37:03 Because the faith was misplaced. It was not meant for you to have faith in yourself. If you have a faith that ends in you, you don't have faith at all. I know that's awkward and a little uncomfortable, but you don't have faith so that you can do what you're called to do. You have faith in God because I know I'm going to mess up and I know I'm going to fail. And if my faith ends with my limitations, when I fail, I won't be able to get back up again. but when I have faith in God even when I fail I know that he will pick me back up again

37:52 Can I tell you something? When he says, I pray that your faith won't cease, that word fail in the Greek, it means cease, that your faith won't stop. I want to talk to some people in this room who set out to be first, and it got hard. and you had faith for a certain version of who you would be faith for a kind of life that you thought you would live and if we're honest we're grieving the fact that that failed

40:09 and restrictions, visit ForHers.com. And it feels like you've lost all of your faith. oh god and because it feels like you've lost all of your faith you don't realize that your faith was maybe in the wrong thing to begin with oh i wish i could say i want to be tender with your heart because it's easy to let go of a version of ourselves that's got shame and addiction, that's easy to let go of. But what do you do when you have to let go of a version of yourself that you thought was going to be strong? What do you do when you have to let go of a version of yourself that doesn't have the type of integrity and loyalty and character that you thought you would have?

41:04 What do you have to do when you have to give up faith in yourself to lay hold of faith in Jesus? Ah, yeah. Jesus doesn't pray that his ego makes it. He doesn't pray that his reputation stays intact. He doesn't pray that he doesn't experience humiliation. He doesn't pray that he can just go through it in private and nobody knows. He doesn't pray any of those things because those are the types of things that we would pray. Lord, if I'm going to go through this sift and don't let it touch anybody, don't let it change the way people see me. God, just protect me. He doesn't pray any of those things. He prays that his faith won't fail in the shaking. not his faith in himself, but his faith in who Jesus is. Because if he can maintain faith in who Jesus is, he can let go of himself and the need to protect himself and the need to show his own strength and the need to come off as the best disciple.

42:09 Maybe the greatest gift you can give yourself is letting go of all of the faith that you put in yourself that should have been placed in him. Oh, I'm sorry. Because isn't that too much pressure for you anyway? for you to put all of the faith in yourself to break every curse, to show up for everybody, to know everything, to be ahead of the game. Isn't that too much pressure for you to put on yourself?

42:53 And no wonder you're tired. And no wonder you're scrambling, trying to figure out how are things going to come together. You place too much faith in yourself. When you get to a place where you realize that your faith is ultimately in God, you can say things like Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me because my faith is in him. And when your faith is in him, it changes the way you show up in warfare because I don't have to strategize my way out of this. I have a faith that says that Jesus is praying for me. And if Jesus is praying for me and I live in the consciousness that Jesus is praying for me, even when I'm going through all hell, I realize that there's a strategy. I stay close to Jesus in the middle of the trial because I have faith in Him. I have faith that He's going to see me through this. I have faith that He's going to show me how to walk. I have faith that He's going to show me how to navigate this situation and circumstance. I have faith in Him that He'll comfort me when I need comfort, that He'll give me strength when I need strength. I have faith in him and peter has to learn this lesson first i'm closing because if peter learns this lesson first oh there's a lot riding on this sifting and if peter gets this thing right he's going to be the rock that jesus uses to build this church if peter gets this thing it's a lot riding on this sifting i'm not just talking about peter's anymore i'm talking about yours there's a lot riding on this sifting. God says, you're going to just, you're not going to just be the first one to do it. You're going to be the bridge that helps everyone else get through it. See, because Jesus said in the Bible, he says that I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail. And when you return to me, oh, that word return means to convert. That means that when you get over who you thought you were supposed to be, that means when you let go of how you thought your life was going to look, That means when you finally submit to the fact that these are the cards you have been dealt and you trust me with them anyway.

45:00 When you return, when your faith makes a conversion. I don't know who you are, but I hear God saying it's time for your faith to make a conversion. Your faith was never supposed to be in the bank. Your faith was never supposed to be in the industry. Your faith was never supposed to be in the degree. Your faith was never supposed to be in the job. Your faith was never supposed to be in the opportunity. your help comes from the Lord I know they may sign the check but I know who at the end of the day is my provider I call him healer I call him way maker I call him Shira I call him my end and my beginning I call him my morning and my setting sun I call him my lawyer I call him my doctor and I know that if he before me he's more than the world against me let me tell you you're covered you're covered you're gonna be the first and it's gonna be hard and it's gonna be expensive but God says I'm gonna give you the road map and I know that God gave him a road map cause if I hopped on over into Acts and I saw all hell breaking loose against Peter in Acts I would show you that when they started coming up against him that Peter went to not just being the one who had intercession, being prayed over him, but Peter becomes the one who stands in the gap himself.

46:28 And he begins interceding. You know why you can intercede for others? Because I know somebody's interceding for me. And when I know that I'm covered, it changes what I pray for. When I know he's looking out for me, I pray different. Now all of a sudden, Peter, who was the one who was afraid to go into the shaking, is the one causing the shaking. How do I know he's causing the shaking? Because when I read my Bible and I see that he's been locked up in the prison cells. And they're trying to figure out how did you get out of here? He started praying and he started worshiping. And when he started praying, he must have told Paul how to do the same thing. Because when Paul, I guess maybe he was a force shot to show every disciple that when the going gets tough.

47:19 You When you get finished going through what you go through, you're going to be paving a way for everyone else connected to you. I'm going to show you how to stand when all hell breaks loose. I'm going to show you how to keep going after you fail. I want to talk to somebody who doesn't need life to go the way you planned because I'm here on an assignment. Peter is here on assignment and so are you and we got three minutes to get out of here but I'm going to give you 60 seconds to give God the kind of praise that shakes your pride off of you I'm going to give you 60 seconds to give God the kind of praise.

48:20 I dare you to get a little undignified Satan He's praying for me I'm coming out of this mess I may have to let a few things go But I won't let go of my faith He that began to work in me He's not a quitter I can't quit because he didn't quit on me and I may have to shake some things off I may have to shake it off I don't look like what I thought I was going to look like it's not moving the way I thought it was going to move but that's okay because I can't quit because it started with him So I gotta put my faith back in the hands of the author and the finisher of mine.

49:28 Okay. Yeah. Well, I'm finished. That's all I came to say. that's all I came to say it's expensive to do you it's gonna be hard to be you but it's not just you and you're not in it on your own and you have been called to be a foreshock because there is a shaking that's coming oh if I had about three more minutes I'd jump back over into Hebrew and I would tell that's what's happening in the world is not happening by coincidence.

50:22 Because in Hebrews, the author said, let everything that can be shaken, be shaken, so that that which cannot be shaken can remain. So when the shifting gets finished, the only thing standing is the only thing worth building. I feel like getting a little rowdy in here, so we got to go. I feel like getting a little rowdy in here, So I said we got to go. Grab your bag. Because you sit next to somebody that might push you into your breakthrough. You better get out of here. because you're sitting next to her foreshock. I said, you're sitting next to her foreshock. And the more you praise, the more they get a revelation that he meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, that the shaking's got to end.

51:20 And when the shaking is over, you're going to still be here. I dare you to grab them. You won't feel We finished. We're finished. I think we finished.

51:55 I guess. I said everything I have to say. But maybe you... Oh So my demons trembling Then I change being broken

52:17 So my stronghold coming down I Hear that then what you lift up in this house and go text your house I don't know where you watching But there is a Holy Ghost anointing taking place in this church. And if you stay locked on here, it might just overflow into your living room. Listen. Okay.

52:47 Y'all gotta stop, please. hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah when he prays it hits different when he prays it changes your posture when he tells hell no it has to move out of the way He doesn't tell Peter, turn your attention to Satan. Hold on to your faith. The sifting is happening. I see you, I'm sorry.

53:41 It's happening, you're not crazy. It's all bumping together. And it's violent. And I'm losing myself in the process. Maybe that's not so bad. maybe losing yourself in the process, maybe that's not so bad.

54:09 Jesus told the young ruler, if you want to come with me, you have to leave everything. I want to pray with you. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Actually, I hear you, Holy Spirit. I want you to just worship with the awareness that right now in this moment, Jesus is making intercession for you. I have prayed for you. I'm praying for you praying for your faith I'm praying for your strength you're covered I'm covering you I'm covering you I'm covering you I'm covering you I knew it was coming I went ahead of you I knew it was going to be hard I went ahead of you I prayed for you I prayed for you I prayed for you I prayed for you.

55:46 I knew it was going to be hard. I knew it was going to happen. But my prayer is making the difference. receive the love of Jesus praying with specificity for what you need the Holy Spirit making intercession right now on your behalf thank you Jesus

58:01 WeGovi clinical study information, and restrictions, visit ForHERS dot com. lost confused searching for direction I already knew that I'm praying for you I'm praying and pray.

58:34 Thank you, Jesus. You're in this room. and life didn't go the way you anticipated. And you've lost faith in the life that you thought you'd have. The kids didn't come.

58:57 The business didn't do what you thought it was. And your faith failed at the place where you feel like you were failed. I want to invite you to return to him. for your faith to return to the original sender. maybe you're in this room and you don't know Jesus you want to know him you got questions you're curious about him I just want you to wave at me if that's you you need to return to Jesus wave at me just throw your hands up come on no shame no condemnation if that's you just wave at me wave at me put your hand up so I can see it I see you I see you, I see you, I see you, I see you.

59:53 There's no shame. Peter was a disciple who walked with Jesus. And Jesus says, you're going to have to return to me. Sometimes we stray away. I want to pray with you too. That we will put our faith where it belongs. some of you have faith in yourself because faith in yourself is the only way that you can survive what you went through but that season of your life has shifted and you need to have faith in him so that you can be who he has faith in not who you have faith in. I'm going to pray, but I've already told you that my prayer is no different than yours. I have to say in Jesus' name. But even when my prayer concludes, his will continue.

1:00:48 Thank you, Jesus. thank you for going ahead of us. You are the first of many brethren. And Lord, many of us are now standing in a shaking. Our faith has been shaken. Our idea of what our lives would look like has been shaken. The economy and the world is unpredictable. And yet you have still given us a vision for who we are supposed to be in this moment. God, I'm asking right now that for every person who was touched by this message, whether they're in this room or watching online, that they would feel relief.

1:01:37 Relief. That they would stop focusing on the warfare long enough to receive that you are praying for them. God, I pray that you would take them into a deeper revelation of who you are so that they understand the advocate that they have. When you say that Jesus is seated on the right hand of the Father, make an intercession. Help them to understand the power of what that means, the authority and the position that Jesus has that equips him and empowers him to pray for them with specificity. And God, I pray that as they receive as truth that they have a savior that prays for them, that they would feel covered in ways that man could never do, that they would feel covered in ways that perhaps they have been failed in the past. God, I thank you that you're going to reveal your covering over their lives. And as you reveal their covering, God, I pray that it shifts them, that it changes the way that they show up, that they would walk with boldness, power, and authority that their faith would be converted, God, and that it would rest on you and you alone.

1:02:50 Repeat after me, Heavenly Father, Heavenly Father, thank you for this word. I needed it. Father, I'm going to be the first, but it's hard. It's an honor, and it's scary. I can't do it on my own. Fill me with your spirit. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for making him who had no sin all of mine. All of my weakness. All of my limitations.

1:03:31 All of my fears. You placed in his body and nailed them to the cross and put them to death. Help me remember that it's dead. That I don't have to be governed by fear, by pride, nor by ego. Because you put it to death in Jesus' body. And when he was raised up, free and victorious, I was raised up too. When the stone rolled away and the ground began to shake, a new dimension was available to me. Thank you for Jesus. I receive him as my Savior, my intercessor, and the one who makes a way.

1:04:31 Seal this word. Let it take root and produce fruit. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen, family. Listen, if you're here and you want a little more prayer, I want to encourage you to come down to the front. Our ministers and elders, they love to pray. And some of you may be trying to figure out how to pray. Maybe you're going through a season where you don't have the words at all. Intercession is very important. Jesus is the first one that shows us what intercession can look like. and our prayer, our ministers and elders, our intercessors waiting to pray with you. If you're here in this room and you're looking for a church home, maybe you visited a few times, maybe it's your first time, but you say, you know what? I could really rock with that. You can hit the QR code here on the screen, but if you're like, you know what? I need to meet somebody. I like to know people at my church. I want to invite you to come down here to the left.

1:05:31 Our pastors are here. We got some of the best pastors in the world. Can y'all help me vouch? we've got the world's absolute best pastors they're down here on the left if you see pastor Robinson ask him about the commanders in the Cowboys game last weekend uh-uh stay in the spirit now stay unified I want to pray with you as we close out real fast we thank God for cooler weather in Texas if you're still it's wetter weather in Texas it's 95 degrees whatever you face this week no matter how uncertain or daunting it is no matter how many successes or failures are connected with it if you don't remember anything else I want you to remember that Jesus is making intercession for you when you don't know what to pray when you don't even want to invite somebody into what you're going through know that he's praying for you and rest in his spirit in his presence in those moments may the Lord bless and keep you may make his face to shine upon you and be gracious towards you may he lift up his countenance over you and grant you shalom shalom in Jesus name I'll see you next week family