Shane Idleman emphasizes the urgent need for Christians to reclaim the nation through spiritual warfare, advocating for prayer, humility, and love as the true weapons against societal evils. He highlights America's foundation on God's Word and the importance of men stepping up as spiritual leaders in their families and communities. Idleman warns against spiritual apathy and encourages believers to be watchful and bold in their faith, especially in the face of rising moral challenges. He calls for a return to righteousness and the necessity of prayer and worship to combat the darkness in society. Ultimately, he stresses that true change begins with individuals trusting in God and actively engaging in spiritual battles.

The message this morning, many of you saw what we put out, the title is Taking Back Our Nation, Today We Fight. Taking Back Our Nation, Today We Fight. Now, what do I mean by that? I'm not talking about gun safes, I'm talking about prayer closets. I'm talking about spiritual weapons, things like humility and brokenness and love and gentleness and kindness, the spiritual weapons. We pull down heaven through prayer and fasting and worship. And God really redirected this message this week. I had a whole bunch of stuff I wanted to share with you, but He added some things in and I just finished a sermon at 6.30 this morning and wanted to just hopefully get into part two next week. But what do I mean by that? Take Back Our Nation. Well, you won't hear this from the news and secular revisionists who rewrite history, but America was founded on God's Word. You can look that up from the Mayflower Compact to the Constitutions to all the school district. The school was actually founded to teach kids the Word of God, Ten Commandment Monuments. They actually would make laws based on the Bible. The founding fathers quoted or referenced the four times more than any other source. So you have a good foundation, but then you see ungodly people and evil creeping in with slavery and different things that's a hot topic these days. And so we are throwing out the baby with the bathwater in America. We need to get back to righteousness and God's Word. And what I mean by today we fight, there has to come a time where we start to say, you know what? I'm going to fight this spiritual battle. I'm going to make a difference. I don't know if I'll just affect my family. I don't know if I'll just affect my personal life, but I want to make a difference. And as many of you know, today is what? We celebrate Father's Day. Father's Day is today. And man, I need to remind you that men fight. Uh-oh, not very many amens on that one. I'm in trouble today. Men are supposed to fight, to battle, spiritual battle for their families. They are to lead the way. They are to be that difference maker. And yes, it's hard. And the women actually want to sometimes take that role on, don't they? Because sometimes the men aren't doing it. Come on, the women, let's go. You got to do it. And the reason is I believe that it's our spiritual apathy and it's been our downfall for a long time. And the reason I want to talk about this morning is this is clearly a spiritual battle. I think we can all agree on that. Amen? We are seeing clear lines drawn in the sand. You are starting to see even churches, pastors, Christians that used to, like, well, I thought they were a Christian. And it's just this total other side. And now, I mean, there is a clear line being drawn in the sand of what is right, what is wrong, what is good, what is evil, what is capitulating, what is cowardliness, what is boldness. And it's just like the Red Sea is parting. And you see these differences that are arising in our nation. But before I get into the heat of the message here, I wanted to share something that I talked to the elders about this week. And I wanted to kind of publicly talk about this because we do get a lot of emails that come in. I wouldn't say a lot, but it's a frequently asked question. And it's been a frequently asked question sometimes for members here. And so, I want to briefly talk about that. And this is the question, or I guess the statement, Shane, why are you political? Why do you talk about political hot buttons? And so, I want to address that for a minute briefly. I feel that there are different callings out there that God calls somebody to be a pastor teacher. And he's just going to take you through the Bible verse by verse and spend 12 months in Leviticus. Okay? That's his calling. And that's what he does. That would be hard. I tell you that. But that's what he does. He's a pastor evangelist. And where I feel that God has given me a calling to speak to the issues in our nation, that voice crying in the wilderness. And people will say, they'll comment. Oh, thank you. You didn't have to clap for that. I was just sharing my heart, but thank you. And then on Facebook, people put like, hey, Shane, just stay in your lane. You don't need to go there. I'm like, you determine my lane? Doesn't God determine my lane? God tells me what lane to stay in. And because what's happening is I'm convicting armchair quarterbacks at home that don't like to hear God's word being proclaimed in every area of our lives. So, there's a different calling there. And I'm not using this time to vent. I'm using this time to explain to you, maybe clarify this issue of why I feel the need to speak on these issues. And I believe you might not agree with me here, but I believe I really don't talk. I don't personally feel I talk about politics. I talk about government and government is ordained by God. And God's word says a lot about government. If you want to get serious and technical, actually the word politics actually means governing or leading a group of people. And so, are you telling me that God's word doesn't have anything to say about that? Now, I got it about not promoting this candidate and always talking about politics. And that's true. Our main goal, our main calling is the gospel of Jesus Christ. But what pastors say, what we say or do not say actually affects politics. Does it not? But we are not political, I believe. We are biblical. And here's the thing I have found. This is interesting. Some of you remember me sharing this, but the more time I spend with God in the prayer meetings and broken before him and crying out to him, the more time I spend with God, the bolder I become. The less time I spend with God, the less bold I become. Become passive and wanting to tickle the ears, but not challenge the heart. Is that interesting? Why is that? Because boldness is a direct reflection of the Holy Spirit working in your life. See, that's what our nation actually needs is boldness with love. You can't just have bold and angry, but you can't just have love and no confrontation. We have to talk about what is going on and be bold. And I just wrote an article, on shaneidelman.com. The title is Post-Pandemic Pastors and the Sin of Silence. What's happening? You might not see this, but a lot of pastors are not saying anything. And even secular people or non-pastors are rebuking them. People like Marcus Rogers, Candace Owens, Graham Allen. You'll see Charlie Kirk. They're like, where are the pastors during this time? Because many of them are being, we're so worried about being politically correct. I can't say this. I don't want to say this. Look, we might offend someone. Yes, you might offend someone. The gospel of Jesus Christ and speaking the truth offends someone. Why is everyone, why are we apologizing for everything and we haven't done anything? I just found out, this breaks my heart. I just found out there was a family here from another church in Lancaster and the church is still not open. And that pastor actually apologized for being white. Because that's a liberal, secular media skewing everything. So we feel, I have to, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Your skin color doesn't matter. This America, this is not a skin problem. It's a sin problem. There's evil everywhere. And they're, they're fueling into this. They're fueling into this. Take down this statue, remove Aunt Jemima. I love Aunt Jemima. But I didn't even know there was anything wrong with that. You see, we're being so politically correct. Don't have that symbol. Don't say that. Don't do that. Now, if there's something legitimate, yes. Yes. I've upset, I've upset white people. I said things that have the Confederate flag on it. Probably not a good idea. That's not a good symbol. And people get mad. Oh, you don't know our history. Well, I just personally, you know, we can, we can make some changes. I got it. But you don't throw out the baby with the bathwater and capitulate and kneel and do things that are anti God and support movements that are anti God and against God. There has to be a voice saying, Hey, listen, this is not right. We love you enough to speak the truth. Because what much of what is happening in America is anti God. This is a battle for righteousness. I love what Jim Garlow said. The churches we know it will be functionally illegal very soon. With the Supreme Court decision three weeks ago, the First Amendment died. And with Monday's decision, churches will very soon be forced to hire those who practice homosexuality and will not be allowed to speak against the sinful practice. Now, if you want to see Shane Eidelman, the motivational speaker without the Spirit of God, I'd say, Oh, I don't want to say any of that. But the Spirit of God tells us, listen, we love you enough to tell you this is the sin. This is not right before Almighty God. I love you enough to tell you we don't have to capitulate. We don't have to compromise. We don't have to dumb it down. And you notice here how he said practice big difference in someone who struggles with sin. This is a blatant sinful lifestyle that rejects God. And what the Supreme Court said is now it can be discrimination if you discriminate against sexual preference. And so we're not supposed to say anything. It doesn't make any sense. We've been giving marching orders by our Lord to carry his gospel to the ends of the earth. What is happening will significantly curtail religious liberties and will make evangelism increasingly difficult. Think about this. If we're supposed to get the gospel out there and all these things are trying to prevent the gospel, why should we and we should not say anything that doesn't make any sense. And of course, just for saying that, I'll be charged with this. That's hate speech. No, it's love speech. You better check your definition. Hate speech comes from a hateful heart, a hateful heart. Love speech tells the truth and speaks the truth into the lives of others. So politics right now is boldly being used to transform this nation and more. And you can read that article post-pandemic pastors and the sin of silence from Dallas, Texas to Orange County, mega church pastors. They're not saying anything. And I truly believe, I truly believe that we have to be careful because we could be in rebellion against God. What do I mean by that? A true pastor, I'm talking about true shepherds. They are actually called by God. Did you know you can't just choose this? If you choose this, you will be destroyed. Well, I think I'll be a real estate agent. I think I'll be a doctor. No, I think I'll be a pastor. You're done right there. Because you have to know that God, you have called me into this. I've seen surveys and I didn't believe it at first, but it's true. Those in ministry like this will go through so much hurt from people in one year, more than you observe, more than you feel in a decade of being around people. Because you're in the ministry, you get hurt by a lot of people. You get attacked. Sometimes it's warranted. I'm not saying it's not. But the amount of pressure, the amount of demonic opposition, the amount of being careful and not saying, it's just that God has to call you. Because at the end of the day, I have to say, Lord, you built this church. Here comes COVID. You built it. You want to close it down here. That's up to you. You built this church. Finances. You called us. You built this. You did this. And then I walk in that calling. And so if you have been called of God, you have not been called to tickle ears. You've been called to challenge hearts. So if you ignore the calling of God, you're actually walking in rebellion to God as a pastor. They are not called to be motivational speakers, although we motivate. We are not called to be just encouragers, although we encourage. What have we been called to do? To preach the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. So hearts are changed and hearts are challenged. And what that looks like is different for every other, every person. My point is, what you're going to start to see is a lot of people who are maybe not called of God, leaving that calling, closing churches. And it's going to get harder and harder and harder to be a Christian. I think it was, I saw on Facebook or somebody told me about Marcus Rogers, that casual Christians are going to become casualties in this culture war. Isn't that true? That's why the title, Taking Back Our Nation, Today We Fight. And I'm planning to offer even a lot more help in this area tomorrow. That'd be nice. Let's meet on Monday. Next Sunday, I'm going to get into this, but let me just, I'm going to start where I left off and kind of tie in everything I just said. Isaiah 56, there's a warning, but don't worry, there's encouragement. All you beasts of the field, all you beasts of the field, come to devour all you beasts in the forest. In other words, a sign of judgment in the Old Testament was the beasts would come, the lions, the leopards, the, you know, whatever can it bear? Who knows? The beast. I'm glad, aren't you glad we don't live in the Old Testament anymore? I mean, these, and God would allow things to come in and devour the land. We talked about Joel a while back. I think it was last week, the locusts, the swarming locusts, the crawling locusts, the consuming locusts had devoured the land. And so we feel that in America, don't we? That something is devouring the land. So Isaiah said, through God, or God said through Isaiah, his watchmen are blind. His watchmen are blind. They're ignorant. They're all dumb dogs. They cannot bark. You think I'm hard? Look at those words. Basically he's saying, God is saying my watchmen are blind. And what they would do is they would put watchmen on top of these walls. They would watch the city. They would watch for any sign of attack. They would watch for the armies coming. They could see far off and they could warn the people. And they were watchmen. And God says, my watchmen, men, you're called to be watchmen. All of you in this room, men, you're called to be watchmen. Is that interesting? Watch men, men, you need to watch. Watch what's coming into our homes. Watch what we're allowing, what's coming into our country. And that's why I do speak about political issues because we are called to be watchmen. They're trying to take away parental rights in California. Did you know they're okay with your 12 year old going and getting abortion without you knowing? I don't know if that's the case right now. I know that's the direction they would like to go. And we should just say nothing. Here's why. They like Jesus as a dove, but not a lion. They like the lamb, but not the judge. They like the gentle Jesus, but not King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You have to have who Christ is in its totality. It's not a divided Christ. He is Lord and savior, and he is loving and merciful. We have to have the whole picture because when you paint only one side of Jesus, I think you are also hurting the gospel. He didn't say I'm coming back as a lamb. Did he? What's he coming back as? Come on, theologians. The lion from the tribe of Judah is coming back. That's why John being exiled on Patmos, he said, I saw heaven open. Come on, you know my favorite scripture. He said, I saw heaven open and behold the son of God, a gentle dove descending down. No, he said his eyes were like flames of fire and on his head were many crowns. And he came with the armies of heaven and out of his mouth goes a sword and he will strike the nations. He will rule the nations with the rod of iron. He will tread the wine press and the wrath and the fierceness of almighty God. You cannot get more graphic than that. That he is coming as a devourer. He is coming as an all-consuming fire. He is coming from a judge. Shane, why do you get all worked up? Because that's biblical truth and we have to be prepared and I have to be a watchman. Don't you understand? I have to warn just like Jesus did. Warn my people, wake them up. Oh Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem. If I could say, oh America, oh America, run back to the cross, run back to Christ. That is our only hope. Your hope is not in protest or in the economy. Your hope is in Christ alone. Watch, watch, watch. He said they are blind physically. No, of course not. Spiritually blind. Blind to the things that are going on. Blind to what is really going on. Many of us are being lulled to sleep, aren't we? Well, the World Health Organization, they are on my side. Bill Gates' vaccines sure are going to help me. Dr. Fauci and Burks, they are on my side. George Soros is my friend. I am serious. I want to start a hashtag if it is already out there. Hashtag stop drinking the Kool-Aid. Wake up, be a watchman. Not fearful, not fearful. Don't jump on every conspiracy theory, right? Everybody sends me videos all week long. Shane, did you know the earth is flat? No, I didn't know that. Watch this video. I don't need to watch that video. I have no time for that kind of stuff. Look at all these chemtrails. They are spraying us. Just eat good and fast and that will help you out. George Bush destroyed the Twin Towers. Where are you getting your information from? See, I am not talking about that stuff. I am talking about real stuff, real evil. Do you not see? Why do they take down a statue of Ulysses S. Grant? I just finished his biography. Led 250,000 men into battle, gave their lives for the end of slavery. But they will leave up a communist statue. Wake up. Blind, leading the blind out there. Defund the police. Oh, now that is a novel idea. That is the most ridiculous idea I think I have ever heard in the last decade. You think, well, hold on, hold on. This is how warped we have become. So I say, what are you going to do? We are going to send therapists to 911 domestic abuse calls. Have you ever been to domestic abuse? I have been there sometimes. That guy is ready to kill somebody. He is irate. You need the spirit of the living God to pray and to talk. You don't need somebody walking in who has no idea what they are doing. You think they are just going to bow down to a social worker and let me hear some therapy? No, no, no, no. This is demonic opposition at its worst. We are just going to govern ourselves. Really? Like I believe John Winthrop, I quoted last week, you are either governed by the word of God or you are governed by a bayonet. The heart of man is evil. It is deceptive. All kinds of evil and wickedness can prevail. If we are already okay, the majority of Americans are okay with killing a nine month old child. You think for one minute that they will not keep taking that a step further. That is already as low as you can go. And I will call it out every chance I get. That is murder. They have the blood of innocent children on their hands. Shane, you are going to upset somebody. Good, good. Fox News and CNN, if we don't have it, but we have $100,000, I would pay to get this kind of message on Joel Steen's audience and to CNN and to NBC, but they don't like it. They don't want to hear it. Shut up that watchman. Quiet down that watchman. We want those who lull us to sleep and tell us lullabies and tell us smooth things. We want to look for the false prophets who say, peace, peace, peace, peace. Don't worry, guys, there's safety. God loves us. Where God could be saying, no, this is my judgment hand of God on America to wake her up. Turn back to me with all your heart, with all your strength. But the false watchman will say, peace, peace, peace, peace. You don't believe me? Read Jeremiah 23 tonight. It's a short chapter, Jeremiah 23. God said, I have not even sent these prophets, yet they ran. I did not speak to them, yet they spoke. They give my people false dreams, false visions. I'm getting ready to bring the Assyrians or the Babylonians or the Egyptians to judge my people because of their sin. But these false prophets are saying, peace, peace, guys, don't worry. Continue in your drunken debauchery. Continue in your sexual immorality. Continue worshiping Baal on the mountaintops and under the cliffs of the rock and sacrificing. Don't worry. Don't worry. Peace, peace. God is just a winking and a doting grandfather up there in heaven. He loves you guys. Don't worry about it. And God says, I have not sent them. He said, but had these false prophets truly, truly stood in my word and preached my word and got my people to turn back to me, I would have changed the course of this judgment. Is not my word like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? Is not my word like a fire that devours? But these false prophets have perverted the words of the living God. How? By not warning my people. That's the number one call of a watchman. If you think for one second, I like preaching like this, you got another thing coming. I'd rather just be laying on a beach, relaxing. Nobody's upset at me. Can't wait to see all the emails coming in tomorrow. You narrow minded, right wing, bigoted, arrogant, whatever. Well, if that makes you feel better, the truth hurts, doesn't it? The truth hurts. Because, you know, when I go home, I never say, well, God, I hope people liked it. Never, ever. Not once in 10 years. Not once in 10 years have I ever asked that question. I say, God, did I do what you've called me to do? Did I say too much? Did I say too little? Help me, God, I need you. I misquoted that. I forgot that point. Oh, Lord, I know. I know. I backed off of that. I should have been more, but, Lord, what do you want me to say? And I believe when you empty yourself and you say, God, speak to me, that God will speak to you as you empty yourself. And so he says, they are watchmen. They are blind spiritually. They are ignorant, meaning they know nothing, nothing of the things of God, nothing of the things of God. And they are all dumb dogs. Boy, oh, boy. Isaiah, lighten up, man. No, they are dumb dogs that cannot bark. What's his point? What does a dog barking usually mean? Oh, see, he's warning. So they are lazy, self-centered, self-focused, ignorant, not concerned about the things of God, and they do not bark. They do not warn the people. Because what would happen? They would say, hey, listen, here comes a northern army. Here comes a northern army. The way it looks, they're about an hour and a half away. Men, get up. Rise up. Get the bows and arrow ready. Get the sword ready. Guard, close the gate. Get your families in. The watchmen are calling, and it should be the true voice of God saying, men, women, America is on a time clock that is ticking. Can't you see the perversion and the debauchery? Get your families into prayer and worship and seeking the heart of God. Throw out the ungodly media and get back to worshiping Almighty God. Throw out everything that is pulling you down spiritually. Prepare yourself for battle, because this is a time and a place where casual Christians will become a casualty. Listen, this is where the rubber finally meets the road. You see this everywhere you go other than America. In China, you only see real Christians going nine hours on a train, meeting at four in the morning, risking imprisonment. Same thing in Iraq. Same thing in Syria. Same thing in the Philippines. But in America, we're going to have to start seeing that dividing line. Those who are truly following Christ are going to be sold out. They have to be. You have to be to get through what is coming. And those not will fall away. They sleep. They sleep. They lie down. They love to slumber. Hasn't COVID, didn't that create some of that? Do you know how many people are going back to church? A friend of mine is a pastor in a mega church. I just talked to him yesterday. Thousands, thousands of people. He said they're under 500 people right now. Nobody wants to come back. Many churches right over the hill have not even opened. Sleeping and slumbering. When they should, this is the time to go to battle. See, the enemy is ramping up his attack. That's when Christians, true Bible-believing, blood-bought Christians have to fight. This is how we fight our battles. You will never see in the Bible unless you can show me a scripture where we're supposed to come to church for an hour and a half on Sunday, and then I'll see you again next week. It is a daily battle. We come to be built up and encouraged and strengthened. And then we continue in that battle. Listen, I understand. I wish it said all those who follow Jesus Christ can relax and he'll hold you. No one will hurt you. You can just go through life, no financial difficulties, no obstacles, no challenges. But it doesn't present that. It presents actually quite the opposite. And that's why I'm concerned too when the pulpit is silent, all hell breaks loose. Isn't that true? When the pulpit is silent, silent about sin, silent about judgment, silent about repentance, all hell breaks loose. We are seeing an incredibly hostile environment, are we not? There's still people running, overseeing nine blocks in Seattle. No police. How is that even possible? Because we've become very weak in our leadership in many areas. We've capitulated and we've allowed things that should not be allowed. So the first point I wanted to get across was watchmen. In other words, men watch. Real men watch. And sadly, what happens, at least I see, so many men are not watching. They're playing. They've got their big truck and their jet skis and their boat. If you have any of those things, I'm not saying that. I'm saying it's a lifestyle of partying and being busy with friends and vacationing and making money and sports and their, what do they call that, man cave. Why don't your man cave become your player closet? Why don't you get rid of the alcohol and the TV and start putting in God's Word and worship? Watchmen. Men watch, spiritually speaking. Yes, it's hard. You have to fight the flesh. I understand that. But our nation was not built on the back of cowards. I remember Fifth Division, I think, Fifth Division, Army Fifth Division signed in Iwo Jima. It said, when you go home, when you go home, tell them for us that for your tomorrows, we gave up our today. The men and women who fought for our nation did not fight for us to become one nation above God, but to be one nation under God. Yes, correct racism. Correct. But you have to understand that this, this is a sin problem. So let's avoid talking about sin. Let's avoid talking about repentance. And let's just fix the problem. That's impossible. Because you have to change the heart of the person, of the people. The heart has to change. The heart has to change. Our hearts, our hearts have to change too, right? Our hearts have to change too. I've seen so many people, like the post about Atifah or whatever coming. And then you have somebody on there, I've got my AR-15 ready. That's great. Why aren't you in your prayer closet praying for them? See, that's hard, isn't it? That's hard. My prayer is that some of these people come to know Jesus Christ. If he can do it in Muslim countries, why can't he do it here? And they come out of these terror organs. See, you're not going to win this battle with physical things. We're not going to be, we're not going to go old school and get all country on them and have all these guns out. Well, we'll take care of business. Yeah, you might. I'm not against, I'm not against the second amendment. But I am saying that God has to be on your side or you will not, we will not prevail. Our gun sakes are full, are they not? But our prayer closets are empty. That's where our hope comes from. Our strength comes from. Watchmen, 1 Thessalonians 5, 6. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. Wait a minute. So let us not sleep. I can't sleep. Is that good for you, Shane? Yes. By the way, you should get seven or eight hours. But I can't get that much sleep. You can if you get off the caffeine, but that's a whole another sermon. I threw that in there. Listen. Okay. Sorry. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. He's not talking about physical sleep. He's talking about spiritual sleep. Don't be like others who are drunk or the cares of this world, but let them be sober, be alert. That's how we're supposed to live our lives. 1 Thessalonians 5, 6. Be sober, be alert. What about Revelation 3, 2? This is Jesus talking to Christians. Wake up. What do you mean wake up? I'm not sleeping. Wake up. Spiritually speaking, wake up and strengthen what remains that is about to die. Wake up, get up, do something. Even if you don't feel like it, do something. See, to be honest with you, when we have prayer meetings, there should be as many people on Sunday as there is on Tuesday at the prayer meetings. Well, Shane, we have to work on certain things. Yes, I know certain people do, but how many of us don't? How many of us could be here? But it just shows, it just shows how bad do we really want something? How desperate are we? Or we don't truly believe God. We don't trust that he will really say what he means. So Jesus said, or really do what he means. Sorry. Wake up, wake up, strengthen what remains. And then 1 Corinthians, be watchful. That tells me they weren't being watchful. Stand firm in the faith. You're going to need to do this. Stand firm in the faith because your faith will be shaken. It will be rocked. It will be rocked by family members, by court decisions. You look around, you're going, what is going on? What is going on? Faith will be, your faith will be shaken. Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. And then he says, act like men. Praise God. Act like men. The Bible definition of a man is not a cowardly man. He's not a beer drinking, macho, I tell you what to do kind of man. He is a man submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, who dies to self, who humbles himself, and he leads his family spiritually. That's a biblical definition. Oh, Shane, this is hard. I know. Let me get to some encouragement. Verse 13, but he who puts his trust in God shall possess the land. In other words, there's a blessing. God will continue to bless this person. And they shall inherit my holy mountain. There's something about the holy presence of God. So the person who puts their trust in them. So this is where we have to start. Okay. This is where it has to start. I don't know how you came in here today, but here's how you need to leave trusting God, trusting God. And I'm going to look at Psalm 91 for this one. He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge. He is my fortress, my God, and him I will trust. Surely he will deliver me from the snare of the fowler. He will deliver me from pestilence, COVID. He will deliver me and cover me with his feathers. Under his wings I will take refuge. His truth shall be my shield. I will not be afraid at the terror by night, nor by the arrow that is flying by day. Nor I will not be afraid of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. In other words, I will fear nothing when I have God on my side. That word, that word almighty is interesting because he says, I will abide under just the shadow of the almighty. That word almighty in the Hebrew language. Remember the Old Testament Psalm was written in Hebrew. It is El Shaddai. El Shaddai. What does that mean? God's bad. Awesome. That kind of bad. We just sing those songs. What king can stand against him? What force can come against him? Almighty basically means El Shaddai means all powerful. Probably the most mentions of it is probably in the book of Job. When Job was, who is going to tell me? Are you going to tell me? And I'm the one who hung the earth. I set the sun in motion. I told the Pacific and the Atlantic here no more. I raised one king up and I bring another king down. I established kingdoms and I dethroned dominions. I am the God almighty. I am El Shaddai. I am from beginning to everlasting. Nobody will set my course off and nobody will overcome my sovereignty. I am the Lord thy God. I change not. I will build up and I will break down and I will imprison a man and there is no release. I will shelter those who look to me and I would devour those who fight me. I am the Lord thy God. That's who we need to, I just feel better now because I just did that for me. I feel better now. But if I put on the news, uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, I bet God didn't see that coming. But aren't we so worried about other things? All the time people are texting me saying, what about, what about the Illuminati and the one world government and the Kabbalah and the deep state? I don't know. I just know a God who's above all of that and that's who I trust in. That's who I look to. El Shaddai, my king, my conqueror. Jehovah Jehira, my provider. Jehovah Nisi, Jehovah Sikhanu. You look to all the names of God and he is your strength. He is your fortress. He is an all-consuming fire. He is a gentle and loving God. He is everything. You got to look to him and trust in him and him alone. I'm going to be tired today. This might be a day for a nap. Hey, it's Father's Day. I can do that. I'm probably not going to, but I just wanted to. I don't know why I said that. Luke, can we edit that out when we post this sermon? Oh, something I told the first service. I'm so glad I remembered this. How many of you came in here with the spirit of heaviness? Well, not everybody's being honest. Spirit of heaviness and maybe animosity or not animosity, anxiety, fear, there's a heaviness. Do you know that there's only one cure for that? The Bible says, put on the garment of praise. And what will it do for the spirit of heaviness? So once there's a spirit of heaviness, if you put on the garment of praise, you put on the garment of praise, what is that? A covering, a shelter, a praise and worship. That's why we're having this every day this week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 10 to 12. Shane, are you trying to convict me, make me feel guilty? Yes, I am. I absolutely am. Why? Because when prayer meetings are full, revival's coming because we're not desperate enough. Think about it. The housing market is great. 401ks are great. Many people are working and working overtime. Nothing's really touched me. Pray to God that it doesn't. But we have to get to a point of desperation. And if you're not, then tell God, God, I want to be desperate. I want to be desperate. I want to be desperate for more of you. Who wouldn't want more of God? And of course I get the, well, Shane, that's kind of boring. Of course it's boring when you're filling your mind with the things of the world all week. You bet the things of God are boring. You're not bored on Netflix. Oh, don't get me started. Why? Because here's why. Thank you. Here's why. You know, you've heard the fitness industry talk about this or medical professionals. You are what you eat, correct? You are what you eat spiritually as well. You are what you eat spiritually as well. If you're consuming the things of God, you want more of God. Yes, sometimes you don't feel like it. Do you think I feel like coming to everyone? Not not all the time. But that's when you say, you know what, flesh, get in this vehicle. I don't care how you feel. You're not the captain of this ship. You're not telling me where I'm going. I'm telling you where we're going. As a matter of fact, flesh, you can stop telling me about Krispy Kreme donuts. You can stop telling me about Starbucks. I don't want to watch that. I don't want to go there. I don't want to sleep in. I don't want to be lazy. I don't want to ignore God anymore. Flesh, you shut your mouth and you're coming with me to prayer meetings. You're coming with me to worship or you do it in your own home. I don't care. It doesn't matter the location as much as the heart. Oh, I'm excited about next week already. I've got so much to share with you about the power of prayer, the power of worship, and so many different things. But I'll close with this. Andrew Murray said, God's child can conquer anything by prayer. Is it any wonder that Satan does his utmost to snatch that weapon from the Christian? Here's what we forget about prayer. Prayer actually does move the hand of God. Because sometimes we think as Christians, at least I do too, if it's God's will, he'll fix it. God will take care of it. But then we forget about the scriptures you have not because you asked not. Huh. Then I start to wonder, well, how many blessings have skirted by? How many people have not been converted? Because I said, well, if it's God's will, it'll happen. No, there's a travailing, there's a praying, there's a digging in, there's a going deep. They used to, you know, I've told you before, I don't want to belabor this point, but real prayer meetings are not for the faint of heart. It's not just to sit there for... Isn't that a burger on the way home? No, real prayer meetings are often, and you don't just make stuff up. You don't get weird, but it's travailing. You feel the pain of our nation. You feel the pain of murder and of abortion and of race. You feel the pain that God feels. You feel, you see your loved one that is on the brink of being cast away from God eternally, and you feel that, and you're travailing. How would you, how do you pray? How does a parent pray when they know their child has rejected God, rejected God, and they're, let's say, involved in Satanism and worshiping, and they've rejected God? You think that parent's going to come in here and just say, well, let me just try this for a few minutes. No, they're going to be in deep agony. There might be there's been tears on every step in this building. Why? Because they're pulling down heaven. They're travailing. They're conquering darkness. The weapons, the weapons of, our weapons are not carnal, but they are mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. So you can come in here and say, oh God, unless you move, my child is destined to destruction. God, would you wake them up? Would you quicken their spirit? Bring someone into their lives? I'm going to shut my mouth all week. I'm not going to text scripture to them. I'm going to fast, and I'm going to give up these things. I'm going to call down heaven. God, I know you will answer. That's how God, he hears the prayers of his people. A Christian who is bored to prayer, if prayer is boring, that's an oxymoron. It really is. Love has to do with what we're feeding on.