Trust What You See - Sarah Jakes Roberts

2:07 God's been speaking to me about identity. And I knew last week when God gave me the word that there was going to be some things that I would be unpacking with you all for a few weeks as it relates to identity. And I think part of the reason why God has me focusing on identity is because many of us have gone through circumstances, changes, transitions, and we're having to ask ourselves, who am I again? Who am I now? Who do I have the potential to become? So if you didn't hear last week's message, it's called Take Another Look, and I would encourage you to listen to it in some of your spare time because the message really, in my estimation, was foundational about how our identity was formed and why our identity was necessary in the earth.

3:03 And if you would allow me to, I want to spend some time talking about some of the barriers that keep us from reflecting God's image. I am in 2 Kings chapter 6, verses 16 through 22. This is, for those of you who like to take notes, I've titled this, Trust What You See. Trust What You See. but I'll be honest God has shown me so much in this text that I'm going to have to trust what I see and hopefully I can translate it into truths that meet you where you are in this season of your life. Can you do me a favor and turn to your person because I would just say you look good you smell good I'm glad you're here in the house of the Lord and then it's a little old school, but just say, God bless you. Not like one of those Texas God bless yous, but like really, I don't know what you're going through, but I pray that God blesses you, that God gives you strength and wisdom and courage, that you feel the love of God and peace of God in everything that you do.

4:13 If I can give you a little bit of context, in 2 Kings 6, there's a prophet named Elisha. And Elisha has proven to be a bit of a problem. Elisha is a prophet for Israel. And Israel has an opponent that they are trying to defeat. and every time the opponent comes up with a strategy the Lord gives Elisha wisdom and insight into what the strategy is going to be and so they can't even wage the attack that they want to wage because Elisha keeps getting downloads from heaven. And the only thing about getting downloads from heaven that make the plans of the enemy become exposed is that it makes you a target.

5:11 And so the king of the opposition is having a little huddle, and he's trying to figure out why is it every time we get ready to strike Israel, it's like they're one or two or ten steps ahead of us. And they say, it's that boy Elisha over there. He thinks it's a snitch in the camp. And a snitch ain't in the Bible, but when I write my Ebonics version of the Bible, that's what I'm going to put in it. And so they decide that the best way for them to win the battle is to get rid of Elisha. So they decide that they are going to plan an attack against Elisha in the middle of the night. So Elisha goes to bed and things are one way. And he wakes up and things are completely different. And he's got a young servant with him at the same time. So when we enter the text in verse 16, the servant has awakened to them being surrounded by chariots and an army.

6:09 And he's nervous and he's afraid. And he asked Elisha, what shall we do? And so Elisha answers and he says, do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

6:30 And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, Strike this people, I pray, with blindness. And he struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. Now Elisha said to them, he's saying to those who came to attack him, he says, this is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. They don't even realize that they're talking to the man that they seek. because the Lord made him supernaturally blind to his enemies.

7:31 but he led them to Samaria. So it was when they had come to Samaria that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes and they saw, and they were inside Samaria. Now, wait a minute. We came to get Elisha, and now we're right in the heart of the enemy. Now, the king of Israel says, we got him right where we want him. And he says to Elisha, my father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them? But Elisha says, no, you shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? He says, set food and water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their master. Elisha shows the king there's another way to win this battle. Then he prepared a great feast for them, and after they ate and drank, he sent them away, and they went to their master.

8:33 So the bands of Syrian raiders came no more into the land of Israel. Holy Spirit, you show me this word. God, let it be yours. May I decrease that you would increase inside of me. God, I ask for a fresh outpouring of your spirit, that there would be no weariness, no tiredness, no anxiety, no nerves in my body, that it would simply be you on display. And God, I thank you that as this word goes forth, that it will reach the heart of those who need it the most, that it would open their eyes, that it would position them properly, that it would solidify their identities, that they may take their position and protect the kingdom of heaven and establish it in all that they do. I thank you, God, because in heaven this is already done. So just bring us into alignment with who we need to be in order for heaven to be the gateway that touches earth through us.

9:35 In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen, family. Let's go to work. there are certain parts of scripture that I really feel like are highlighted but I feel like some of the parts that are highlighted aren't necessarily the best parts it's almost like having peach cobbler there are some people who believe that peaches are the best part because it's called peach cobbler but those who are well versed in peach cobblery huh they know that the crust ah there's an oil on the crust and when I say crust for the record I do mean dough crust and not that cake box Crumbling. All right. Okay. I know I just needed to get that off real quick because I've seen a lot of things happening in the peach cobbler world and God has called me to bring order.

10:50 I feel very similarly when I look at John 8. John 8 is a text that we see people quoting all of the time. And they're not necessarily even Christians who quote them. Sometimes people who aren't Christians quote this against other Christians. And John 8 is the verse in which the woman is caught in the act of adultery. And the Pharisees bring her to Jesus. and they throw this woman who was caught in the very act in front of Jesus. And they say to Jesus, stone her as it is written in the Old Testament. It shouldn't she be stoned as it says in the law. And Jesus says, you can stone her, but he who's without sin cast the first stone. And we quote that scripture as if it is the best part of this whole narrative. but I would like to submit to you that the best part of the narrative is not necessarily what happens when the stones fall it's what happens when Jesus is alone with the woman it starts in John 8 verse 10 and he says to this woman who was caught in the act of adultery this is what I love about Jesus what I love about the heart of the God that we serve is that he doesn't just push adversity off of us.

12:17 He doesn't just keep trauma or furthering dangerous situations away from us. He takes the time to help us process how what we have experienced impacts us. Ooh, wish I could say that real good. That the role of the Holy Spirit in dwelling inside of us is not just to help us navigate certain situations. It's also meant to help us see how certain situations have had the potential to change us. And Jesus is standing in this moment with the woman who was caught in the act of adultery, and he realizes that this is an identity-altering moment. Oh, I feel that for somebody. You have to realize that there are some battles that you face that are not you just going through the motions, that there are some things that you have experienced, that you are experiencing, that are identity-altering, that it changes you, changes how you see the world, changes how you see yourself, changes how you see God.

13:27 And if you just focus on survival and never how it changes you, then you cannot have the type of identity required for you to step into what God has for you. Oh, I wish I could say that. If you listen to last week's message, then you'll realize that our identity in God is everything. And if we don't know who we are in God, then we don't know who we are in the world. And if we don't know who we are in the world, then the world will define us at a time when we're supposed to be representing who we are in God.

13:58 And so he takes the time in verse 10 and he asked this woman a question. in 8 10 he says he looks around and he says to the woman woman where are those accusers of yours oh that's good look at what he does and this is going to be a little bit different than what some of us grew up experiencing where things happen to us and we just kind of sweep them under the rug Jesus makes her sit in what just happened to her he makes her sit in it and look at it he says take this moment in when this thing first started there were people coming after you but I want you to take a minute and look for the people who were coming after you woman where are those accusers of yours and has no one condemned you this started off one way but it has transitioned to something else this is important because some of us are so used to surviving that we don't see when the scene has changed oh I wish I could say that real good Some of us don't even realize when we're no longer standing in a threat anymore.

15:18 And so he takes the time with this woman to help her look at what's happening in her world. He says, you're no longer under that threat anymore. She has to take this moment. And why does Jesus do this? Because it is important for what Jesus says next for the woman to realize that her identity is still intact. to, oh, God, help me to say this. He makes the woman take a look, and then he doesn't ask her a rhetorical question. He actually waits on an answer because she has to come into agreement with what's happening in the atmosphere now. Oh, I feel God saying something to me prophetically about someone who's standing in a situation you've been so hypervigilant for so long that all you know how to do is survive, and all you know how to do is stand up to it, and all you know how to do is be strong, but you're stepped into a new moment, and sometimes you need God to help you see when you've stepped into a new moment.

16:21 I hear God saying, open your eyes and take a look around you. You're not in the same community anymore. You're not that same person anymore. You're thinking differently than you thought before. I know you got caught up, but look at what I've done in your life. I brought you out of something. I delivered you from what you could have been caught up in take a look what the enemy meant for evil I turned it for good they thought that they were setting you up to be condemned and I've set you up to be owned I've set you up to adoption I

16:51 Hear God saying take a look around take a look around take a look around and the woman has to confess with her mouth Her new reality where are they who condemns you no one Lord something happens when she comes into agreement see you have to realize that for her to say no one Lord it means that she realizes that what Jesus said worked I'm gonna take my time if you don't mind he said he who was this without sin cast the first stone when When he tells the woman to look around, he's helping her to see that the thing that shame made you believe was only you, was not just you. He didn't just get them off of her. He showed her that she wasn't any different from them.

17:49 Oh. this is a moment where if she weren't careful she would have walked away from the situation thinking God saved me but I still ought to be ashamed that I was in it in the first place but Jesus gets ahead of what shame is deciding to do in her life and says I want you to understand that when I saved you it It wasn't on accident. I saved you because there are many people like you. And because there are many people like you, I came for everyone, not just for you. I wish I could say this real good, the way that I feel it in my spirit, because there is something to be said about when Jesus stops what the enemy meant. The enemy was on a mission to let something take root in that moment. And had it taken root in that moment it would have produced fruit that changed her identity But Jesus blocked what the enemy planted by giving her perspective that only he could understand I'm going to say this.

19:01 I'm going to go back to it. Genesis 3 and 15. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Genesis 3 and 15. God is in the garden with the serpent. And God tells the serpent that I'm going to put enmity between you and the woman. Between your seed and her seed. Why did I go back to that? Because I need you to understand that the enemy has seed that's in the Bible the enemy has he plants things why does he plant them because you are wired to be fruitful and multiply so if he can plant it you'll do the rest to make sure that it's fruitful and multiplying so when he blocks that moment of shame in the woman's life he's trying to make sure that what happened in that moment doesn't take fruit and multiply in her life.

19:57 See, that's really, I hate when preachers say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. Y'all ready? That's better than y'all clapping. because what I just told you is that you serve a Jesus who can uproot the seeds that the enemy plants in your family's line and keeps them from being fruitful and multiplying God says in order for you to be who I've called you to be there are some things that I need to uproot out of your life some things that the enemy has planted but I love you too much to let you keep the seed of the enemy you think God has exposed you to embarrass you no he has exposed you to uproot what the enemy planted so that you can be all of who God has called you to be I

20:56 Don't know who you are But I hear God saying I've been exposing some things to you and it's been making you uncomfortable And it's been making you feel vulnerable and you've been wondering God are you trying to make me embarrassed? Are you trying to shrink me? I don't know what this is And I hear God saying the only way I could get it out of your bloodline is if I Exposed it in you so that I could uproot it for the generations coming after you And I'm not just talking about your children. I'm talking about the communities you're planted in. I'm talking about the industries you've been called to change. God says, I'm going to uproot mentalities. I'm going to uproot belief systems. I'm going to uproot ways of being.

21:38 So he uproots. In this moment, it is a beautiful depiction of Genesis 3 and 15. It is the seed of the serpent going head to head with the seed of the woman. so she speaks it out loud they're not here and then he says the next thing to her in John 10 verse 11 when she realizes that there's no one there to condemn her he gives her an assignment he says not only do they not condemn you I don't condemn you this is the key to how we get to a place where we're able to forgive ourselves He says not only should you be able to come to a place where you can forgive yourself because other people have found themselves in other situations the very people judging you if I put what they did on the screen they would be asking for mercy too.

22:44 So you're not a whole lot different than other people. All of us are carrying around some type of brokenness, some type of ailment that needed my grace and my forgiveness. So not only do they not condemn you, I who am holy and perfect, I who have not known any sin, I who called me holy, I say to you either that I don't condemn you. And if he who is seated on the right hand of the Father looks at my mess and says, I don't condemn you, then who are you with your messy past and your broken self to look at me and think you're better than me? The man who had no sin at all said that he didn't condemn me. So who must I be? If he is willing to look at me when other people look away

23:32 He says I don't condemn you and then he says so because I don't condemn you and Because they don't have the right to condemn you Your only role in this moment is to go and sin no more go and sin no more that That going means that she's going to have to learn to live again. She's going to have to learn to live after this. Go like it never happened. Go like you received grace. Go like you know better. Go like you learned your lesson. Go like there's someone else out there who could hear and will witness to what Jesus can do in your life. Go and sin no more. That means not only just go. When he says sin no more, he's commanding her, don't do this again. But he's also giving her insight into what's possible for her.

24:27 When he says sin no more he's not setting the bar at something she cannot reach There are some things you go through. This is why you got to be able to forgive yourself There are some things you go through that once you go through them You have the potential to not go through them again because you sat in it long enough to learn your lessons And to hear from god and to receive affirmation that i've got the potential to go again I don't know who you are in this room I don't know what you've done, but from one person who then got caught up to another person who's gotten caught up. I want to tell you about a man named Jesus who can meet you in the middle of what you have been caught up in and who can clean you up and change your mind and then release you in a way that other people won't release you. If you're waiting for someone else to give you permission to go, you may never step into your destiny. But if you trust what God says about you when God says go you'll take off running when God says go You'll start moving in the direction of your purpose It's Go time as good times as good times as good times as good times as good times as good times You gotta step out of what you got caught up in and step into what God has saved you for Go time it's time for you to stop penalizing Yourself for something God has already redeemed them restored its goal time It's time for you to stop thinking that you got to pay crime for what you did in the past when he who the son has set free is free.

26:04 Indeed, it's go time. I know you don't feel worthy, but it's go time. I know you don't feel ready, but it's go time. I know you waiting on somebody else to come with you, but it's go time. I'll go by myself if I have to. I'll go because he gave me the word. And if he gave me the word, I don't step out on opinions. I don't step out on feelings. I step out on the go word. I'm ready ready ready ready ready ready I'm ready ready ready let the whistle blow I'm ready ready ready ready whenever you say I can go again You got to know There's going to be a moment in your journey Where God says it's time for you to go again Oh Oh That's somebody's word Somebody just got to release in their spirit Somebody Cola to just keep us where he met us.

27:26 I saved you to release you to go get somebody else. I saved you so that your life can be a representation of what I can do when I meet somebody in their lowest. And I don't know what the enemy has planted in your life that has made you believe that because you messed up, you can never get back up again. If was Little葉 mellan

28:03 holiness xi autobiographical with it. You got to confront it. You got to let God bring things to the surface so that what you go through can transform you. And you may need help to do that.

28:50 You may have to go to therapy to do that. The woman couldn't get to that place by herself. But in relationship with Jesus, he took what could have been an identity crisis and gave her an identity of power and transformation. He empowered her to go. He empowered her to sin no more.

29:18 Because the alternative is allowing her to become blinded by herself. because that is what happens when the enemy plants a seed in our life that he wants to be fruitful and to multiply. It makes us self-conscious, super consumed with ourselves.

29:50 I can prove it to you. when we go to Genesis 3 and 5 he promised them that if you eat from this tree that you're going to have eyes like God he convinces them that you're not going to die but God knows that in the day you eat it your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil this is a seed that the enemy plants and he plants this seed that makes it seem like God's withholding something from them and because they think that God is withholding something from them they take action and let's see what happens when they eat from the fruit it says that their eyes were open both of them that's Genesis 3 verse 7 it says then the eyes of both of them were open and they knew that they were naked. Now, wait a minute. Before they ate from the fruit, they had no idea what they looked like.

30:59 They weren't concerned about themselves at all. There is something that happens when they eat from the fruit that now makes them more conscious about themselves. That means that when God gave them eyesight, the eyesight wasn't meant to be centered on them. He made them blind to who they are because for what he's called them to do, they don't even really matter. He called them to have dominion. He called them to be fruitful and to multiply. He called them to subdue. He never called them to be worried about themselves. So the enemy opens their eyes to them. And now at a time where their vision should be focused on what's happening outside of them, all they see is what's wrong with them.

34:07 All I see is what I need to cover. so I take fig leaves, because all I see is me. All I see is where I'm naked and where I'm vulnerable, where other people can make fun of me, so all of my decisions are based off of me protecting me, not me doing what God has created me to do. I'm so worried about me that I've got to change the way I speak, and I've got to change the way I think, just in case people look at me differently. I'm not showing up the way that I could show up, because I'm worried that people won't think I'm smart enough. They won't think I'm good enough. I'm afraid that they'll reject me. I'm afraid that I'll be abandoned. All I think about is me. And the enemy sits back, and he watches that seed take fruit, take root and produce fruit.

35:02 And we know that it takes root and produce fruit, not just because we live in a generation and a culture right now that is self-consumed, but we see it in Genesis 4. When Cain looks at Abel's offering and makes it about himself. Because when all you are worried about is you, nobody can even be them around you. because you make them being them about you. Now, why would somebody being happy make you mad? Oh, they're just too happy. Just vexes my spirit. Everything I do is about you because you aren't settled in who you are. And because you aren't settled in who you are, you want me to feel uncomfortable about who I am. But I'm going to be me regardless of how you and God got to figure that out.

36:01 And just in case you think I'm preaching from the choir, I can remember when I was a young girl dealing with all of the shame and remorse from a teen pregnancy. And anytime I'd see another woman winning, I was too embarrassed to admit that she reminded me of what I couldn't do. So I hated on her instead of celebrating her and asking God is there anything you can do with me? I made her offering about me See because it's easy to clap like you're on the other side and everybody's hating on you But I want to talk to the five people in this room who know what it's like to not be able to celebrate somebody else Because you're trying to figure out God where are you in my life? And God could you do anything? I hate what you've done in someone else's life because it's a reminder of what can't happen in my life and God says That's the problem. You think that what I did for them means I can't do it for you When you ought to see it is as did it for them Which means I have the potential to do it for you to help me Holy Ghost in this place I came to tear down walls. I came to uproot seed spirit of the living God I asked you right now to fall in this place as only you can do you are the perfect gardener You know every weed that's been planted.

37:23 You know every curse that has been planted. And I came to uproot it right now in the name of Jesus. I plead the blood of Jesus over every bloodline. I plead the blood of Jesus over every thought process. I plead the blood of Jesus over every identity right now. Father God, I'm asking for a fresh outpouring of your spirit. I'm asking for a fresh revelation of who you are and who they have the potential to be. Excuse me. I had to intercede on my own behalf for a minute because I feel the enemy trying to distract me And that's what happens when you know who you are in God. You don't ever have to be in a battle on yourself I may not have it in the physical But I got back up in the spirit and I believe that God has come to uproot some things that the enemy planted Somebody in this room is nursing fruit, forbidden fruit, that has been multiplying in your family for generations.

38:33 Ah. there's generational fruit that multiplies that didn't even start with you but I hear God saying it can end with you I hear God saying that if you notice it in your bloodline and you know what's not supposed to be there that I dare you to start pleading a greater blood over the bloodline that is passing down generational torment passing down generational rejection issues passing down doubt passing down fear I believe that that's why I plead the blood of Jesus over you because I know there's other blood that's been permeating through your veins but when the blood of Jesus steps in it doesn't matter what was there before it doesn't matter how long it's been in your family when the blood of Jesus comes in it raises up a standard now all of a sudden what used to hold my generation back has to lose the next generation it has to lose the next daughter it has to lose the next son loose that man and let him go it's in the bloodline baby it's in the blood I plead the blood of Jesus so sorry sorry sorry so hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah holy spirit exposed everything the enemy has planted holy spirit exposed every person in this room who cannot see beyond themselves so that they can finally see you. I'm trying to get back to what God initially intended. This life was never about you checking for you. This life was about you establishing the kingdom of heaven. And as long as you make it about you, when we are in a time where we need real kingdom ambassadors, you will talk yourself out of your position. But I hear God saying, now is not the time for you to make it

40:40 about you. I hear God saying that is a curse of the enemy. Making you think that it's about you when it is really about what God has called you to do. I knew you was messed up. I knew you didn't have it all together. But I also knew that I'd be with you. And if I'd be with you, I'm more than the world against you. If I'd be with you, we'll walk it out as we go. If I'd be with you, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. SHAывают that the enemy has planted seeds successfully in our bloodline.

41:44 The work of the Holy Spirit is to expose what the enemy has planted. so that he can uproot it, so that you can resume what God originally intended. Oh, God, help me to say it.

42:09 So you have to get to a place where your identity is so settled that you don't make everything about you. This is not the same thing as ignoring yourself This is not the same thing as pretending you don't have issues This is the acceptance that I have see that the enemy has planted and My work is to go through my life and to say search me Lord Because there may be some perspectives and mentalities that didn't even start with me. That I was perhaps born with a filter of someone else's pain, someone else's trauma. And I've called it right, but you want to call me righteous.

43:07 And I don't want it to multiply anymore. When the Lord exposes something, we have the opportunity to allow it to make us feel ashamed. Or to have a perspective of gratitude. That you love me too much. To let that stay inside of me. The Lord told me that we need to have our identities settled. And I think that he showed me Elisha.

43:48 Because Elisha went through a process that leads to this moment in the text. And what happens in this process is the Lord begins to shape his identity as prophet. Lord help me. he's just a few chapters back in the field minding his business when a mantle falls on him there's nothing in scripture that makes us believe that he was praying for it or waiting for it but it just falls on him and the moment it falls on him he says goodbye to his friends in his family and he begins to follow the prophet Elijah.

44:41 He assumes a new, by saying yes, he's saying yes to stepping into a new identity. And in order to step into a new identity, he has to leave some things behind. But he doesn't step out of that identity and into certainty. And that is the problem with many of us. I don't mind stepping into the new thing. I just want to step into it with certainty and if I can't step into it with certainty I don't step into it at all

45:14 But Elisha is bold enough to step into it without being completely sure and the Lord teaches him along the way He shows him different things along the way and he is wise enough to collect the data of what God shows him this is what we could get better at. And sometimes God moves on our behalf. He opens doors for us. He allows us into new spaces and opportunity. But we don't collect the data on what that means about our identity. So when Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah's anointing, he's asking for something that he's not sure that he'll get.

46:11 And Elijah tells him, if you see it, you will receive it. So when he sees it, he realizes that God has given me not just the thing that I've prayed for, but that I have an identity because God gave it to me. Oh, I wish I could say this real good. God is not just moving on your behalf randomly. God is moving on our behalf because the move is a mirror about how he sees us. And if we aren't careful, Elisha could have been in the field and the mantle fell on him. And he could have said, well, he could have chosen anybody to do that. I'm not special. That was just random. This is what we do. We talk ourselves out of the things that God does for us. but he collected it as a sign that I must be I must be something I may not know what I am yet but I must be something I may not know the fullness of what God's gonna do in my life but I must be something it didn't just fall on anybody it fell on me I must be something oh I feel that for somebody I hear God saying that the enemy has made you believe that you were randomly blessed and randomly saved but I hear God saying it was not random that I did it on purpose that you didn't just get a miracle on accident you got a miracle because I know who you are I have favored you I set you aside I think I put you in that business for a reason I gave you that idea for it wasn't on accident.

47:55 I favored you. I trust you. I see you. And you got to come to a place where you let that change your mind about you. That's what God has been trying to tell me. He's trying to get you to change your mind about you. Because if you can think about yourself the way that God thinks about you, you will step into situations differently. so when Elisha has collected the data by time we get to second king six he knows he's favored he knows God didn't choose him on accident he knows that God is with him because he allowed what he saw to change what he believed so when he's standing in a season where it looks like all hell is breaking out around him. He doesn't fall for that because hell doesn't make him have to go back and revisit whether or not God is with me. Because I learned from the previous season who I am with God. I know that he doesn't leave me just because I'm in a situation.

49:04 In 2 Kings 6, y'all done got me excited. 2 Kings 6, the servant looks at the same situation is afraid, but Elisha who has a history and whose identity is settled never shows any signs of fear why is it because he knows that God is with him so he doesn't see this moment about an attack against him if I could say this real good we're gonna get out of here he's standing in a moment where even the enemies think that it's about him. but he knows it's not about him he knows that he's just bait god help me to explain it he knows that the armies and the chariots are nothing for him to be afraid of because he's got backup that cannot be seen so he's not afraid like they're afraid he's strategizing at a time when they're afraid oh that's a good word Thank you.

50:11 I can't say it the way I feel it in my spirit. He's strategizing about how to not just keep himself protected in the moment, but how to protect the generation he's connected to. he's looking at this moment and he says if I make this about me I'll think that I have something to be afraid of he'll make one or two mistakes he'll think that he has something to be afraid of but he can't afford to think that way because chariots and fire they don't do the same thing to Elisha that they do to the young servant this is why we need a multi-generational church because for the young servant he sees the chariots in the army and he said we in trouble but Elisha who's had a history of walking with God sees the chariots in the fire and it reminds him of the last time he saw chariots and fires the last time he saw chariots and fire is when Elijah was being taken up and when he saw chariots and fire the last time it was a sign that God was with him. So when he sees chariots and fire on the outside, it is a reminder to him of the last time where God's protection showed up and allowed him to have access and wisdom to things he would have never had access to. See, your chariots don't scare me because I've gone through some things a few times. And I know that where you see chariots and fire, I see God doubling down on his protection.

51:48 There are more with us than there are against us. I'm not worried about what I see. I'm worried about the opportunity this can create. So he prays, he prays a powerful prayer. He says, Lord, open his eyes. His identity is so settled that he doesn't have to be the only one who can see. there's room for more than one person to see what God is doing in the earth. See, sometimes when God gives you insight, you think you have to be a gatekeeper because somebody else is going to steal your idea or somebody else is going to steal your perspective. But when you really know who you are in God, when somebody comes to you and they're not seeing things properly, You're able to ask God to open their eyes so that they can see on the level that you see You know why because this kingdom is too big for only one person to be able to see it properly My God is too big for me to be the only one who sees him properly I need God to open up your eyes so that you can see what I see Because if you can see and I can see then no devil in hell can run up on all of us I don't know about you, but you better check your pew.

53:09 Air your eyes open. Check your pew. Check your circle. Check your phone call. I want to make sure everybody with me is seeing on the level of what I can see. I don't have time for you to be afraid right now. This is a season where we got to see on God's level. We got to see what God is doing in the spirit realm. No, we got to see it right. We got to see it right. And I know we live in a culture where when people don't see it right, we abandon them. But may I suggest before you walk away that you take a minute and pray. Because sometimes the only thing keeping somebody from seeing is you keeping your mouth shut. And I hear God saying that if you would open up your mouth, they may open up their eyes. And if you open up your mouth and they open up their eyes, then you won't be the only one who knows what God is doing in the earth. And if you're not the only one who knows what God is doing in the earth, then we got more people to wage war against the enemy. So yes, I prayed before I came into this room that God would open up your eyes because I can't stand where you stand.

54:12 But if you can see what God sees, you can do what God has called you to do. I don't want to be the only one at the top. I want to change where the top is. I don't want to be the only one who makes it. I want to make sure everyone can make it with me. What good is it if I'm the only one who made it? I came here for a generation to be saved. This is not just about me. It's about everything connected. how dare you make it about you you gotta leave something in the earth and if you're going to leave anything teach me how to see teach me how to pray teach me how to worship teach me how to overcome fear teach me how to step into the room I can't be the only one who sees. Lord open their eyes.

55:21 Lord open their eyes. Lord open their eyes. The vision is too big for me. Lord open their eyes. He's teaching a younger generation how to look at what's happening not just in the earthly realm, but what's happening in the spirit realm. He's teaching him that there's two worlds taking place. There's what you can see on earth. and then there's only what you can see if you have learned to abide in him because if you abide in him if you do it long enough you'll start to see like him see some of us pray and our prayers are about us and what we want God to do but then you step into a level of spiritual maturity where you stop praying that God will do something for you and you start praying to see things the way that God sees them. Because if I see things the way that God sees them, I may not need God to answer my prayer the way that I think I need it.

56:23 So he's teaching the young servant how to see. and he prays for him, and God answers his prayers right there on the spot. And then he prays something else. He prays as the enemies get closer. See, now because he's not worried about protecting himself, because he's not worried about how he's going to survive the moment, He can ask God, how can I use this moment to not just protect myself? I'm already protected. But there's a people who are unprotected. And I want to make sure that they are protected too. And so the Lord gives him strategy.

57:19 Actually, I'm going to fix that. Because there's nothing in the text that suggests that God gave him strategy. doesn't say that the Lord told him to make them blind and come here he is so aligned in his identity that his strategy has already been qualified by his ability to abide if you abide in me give me John 15 John 15 7 says if you abide in me and my words abide in you you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you the doing is connected to the abiding he knows exactly what to ask because he spent enough time abiding and the Lord answers everything that he asked him to do not because God is his genie doing whatever he wants but because Elisha has spent enough time in the secret place that he is proven to God that I don't just abide in you when I need something I abide in you as my way of being and because I abide in you as my way of being when something happens in my life I have strategy and you trust my strategy

1:00:14 Because abiding with you qualifies what's in your heart. When I abide in Jesus, it qualifies what I ask for. And that's why the desires can be answered. Because I did the abiding part.

1:00:35 And so what he does when he asks the Lord to open the eyes of the young servant. He then says something peculiar that lets us know that the Lord is really aligned with what he's doing. Because then he asked for spiritual blindness for his enemies. And the Lord answers that too.

1:00:57 And when the Lord answers that prayer, he's allowed to execute a strategy that would have otherwise been threatened. Had he not asked God to make sure that his enemies were blind. he knew what to ask my prayer for you I'm closing is that you would get to a place and your walk with the Lord that your identity is so settled that when you're standing in a moment of crisis that you see it as an opportunity for establishing that you see it as an opportunity for the Lord to reveal to himself reveal himself to you in such a way that it helps you to save all of those connected to you I'm going to give it to you the way that I wrote it in my text because there was something that stood out into my mind every time that I read it it was what Elisha prayed each time.

1:02:14 I believe that Elisha moved from a place of being self-conscious, and let me tell you why. Because we see him when he has the mantle at the Jordan River, and he says, where is the God of Elijah? He had questions about whether God would show up for him the way that he showed up for Elijah. It's not that he was never worried about himself. It's that he got to a place where he really trusted what God had done and how God had shown up. so much so that every time he was in a crisis, he didn't have to question whether or not God was there. And because he didn't have to question it, he was free enough to execute God's strategy in the situation.

1:02:51 That is our role as believers. This is us being made in the image of God. It is our responsibility to be willing to establish and execute what God wants to see happen in the earth. And God could trust Elisha with his power because he was not trying to hoard his power for himself. His power was aligned with what God wanted to do in the earth. And he knew what God wanted to do in the earth because he spent time with him. And sometimes we're asking God to leverage his power without spending time in his presence. and we're praying things that don't align with what God wants to see happen in the earth but our job is to get to a place where prayer is not the place where we test to see whether or not God will answer us we allow prayer to be the place where God forms our desires where he changes the way that we see where he changes our identity This is why stand with me we're closing we need

1:04:08 To be settled in our identities before we step into some of the real battles that are taking place in this world. And getting settled in your identity, it takes time and it takes work and it takes vulnerability and it takes courage.

1:04:30 And there will be some seasons where you felt settled and then life happens and the Lord has to resettle you. And I believe that we're in a moment much like that for many people, where the Lord is resettling you in your identity.

1:04:52 But you cannot let it stop with you. You got to take inventory in this season where you're trying to figure out who you are again, to watch the way that God shows up. and as God shows up to collect it as data about what he's saying about you that I can trust you that I'm with you that you're favored As I was preparing for this message, I wasn't exactly sure what the grace would fall on.

1:05:36 But as I was speaking, I felt like it was very clear that the enemy has planted seed that has become fruitful and multiplied. and that that struck a chord with individuals in this room.

1:05:57 And I know that it struck a chord with me because I know about the things that I've had to uproot and things that are still being exposed that I have to uproot that the enemy has planted. But there is something powerful about knowing that the enemy has planted something. Even if you don't know exactly what he's planted in your life, to know that he has the ability to plant seed and makes you diligent about taking inventory of your soul. And it keeps your eyes open for where he may be working, plotting and planning. If it's okay, I want us to pray.

1:06:41 But we're going to pray an Elisha type of prayer. that isn't about us. I almost titled this message Unselfish Prayers. Because nowhere in this text do we see Elisha praying for himself. In a moment where maybe he needed wisdom, maybe he needed strategy, we see him praying for the person beside him. that their eyes would be opened,

1:07:17 that they would come to a place of revelation similar to where Elisha was so that they could know how to respond to the moment they're standing in. I hear this for somebody. The moment that you're standing in is bigger than you. So don't make it about you.

1:07:45 Ask God to open your eyes. Can you grab hands with a person beside you? in a minute I'm going to pray and if you're in this room and you don't know Jesus I'm going to invite you to come down here so our ministers and elders can pray with you but right now I just want to have a moment of unselfish prayer where we're not asking God to pray to answer prayers that have to do with ourselves. but to pray for the person beside us who was blind at a time that their eyes need to be open. someone in this room who can't see how or if God is working or moving.

1:08:48 We're going to pray that God would open their eyes. I'm going to pray in a second, but if you could just take five seconds, ten seconds to pray in your own way. You don't have to be a prayer warrior if you don't know what to pray.

1:09:10 Lord, open their eyes. Open their eyes. Open their eyes. You're holding the hand of somebody surrounded. someone who may feel like the odds are against them. generational trauma, dreams bigger than them, purposes bigger than them, disease that seems greater than them, but you are praying that the Lord would open their eyes.

1:09:49 Lord, open their eyes that they may see that there is more with them than against them, that the Lord of hosts is surrounding them, that angels are encamped around them. Holy Spirit, I thank you for the hand of the person that hold them right now, that you have perfect theology about their life. God, I thank you that you know everything that they're up against and everything that will ever come their way. I thank you God that you have qualified them not because they have it all together and not because they know anything But because you know what's possible when they partner with you And so God I am asking that you would bring them into a fresh revelation of who you are I thank you God that the old revelation is passing away So that a fresh revelation can come through now God, I'm asking right now that you would reveal the plots and plans of the enemy.

1:10:55 Everywhere the enemy has planted seeds of doubt, planted seeds of fear, planted seeds of anxiety. I rebuke it right now in the name of Jesus. God, I ask that you would break up the soil, that you would uproot every lie, that you would uproot every negative thought, that you would uproot every generational curse, every addiction, every brokenness. I thank you, God, that what has been multiplying in their lives will stop with them.