This sermon emphasizes the importance of surrendering to God, trusting His leading even when situations seem impossible, and returning to a life of prayer and faith. It highlights the need to follow God's direction, even when it surpasses our understanding, and to seek His strength and guidance in the midst of challenges. The message encourages listeners to trust in God's supernatural power and promises, reminding them that victory comes through faith and obedience.

Praise the Lord. God is so good to us. I'm going to speak a message this morning that I would like you to red flag it and by that I mean take special note of it and then go back and listen to it maybe a year from today or less and I believe it will be a great encouragement to your heart as you and I begin to realize that God is in His mercy speaking to us. He's preparing us for a moment that we may not fully comprehend but we don't have to understand the moments of God. We simply walk with Him and trust Him and believe Him and He begins to do something that will bring glory to His name and gladness to our hearts. I know that for sure with all my heart. If you'll turn to Galatians chapter 3 please and then put a marker in 1st Samuel chapter 20. Galatians 3 and 1st Samuel 20 message title is when the arrow is beyond you. When the arrow is beyond you. Now Father I thank you God with all my heart. I praise you Lord from the depths of my soul for the anointing of your Holy Spirit. For God when you come you override our frailties and the limitations of our natural thinking. You take us into the realm of life. And Father I thank you Lord that you'll give me the power to speak life today to your people. The power to speak simply so that all men and women can understand. Oh Jesus you are coming soon and you are preparing a people for yourself. We ask you Lord God to give us the grace to understand the hour in which we're living. Help me today to deliver this. Help us to hear it. And I thank you for this in Jesus name. Galatians 3 when the arrow is beyond you. Oh foolish Galatians who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth. Before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth crucified among you. In other words Paul was talking to a specific group of believers in Jesus Christ who had an obvious understanding of what the cross was all about. How that Christ was the fulfillment of the law. That by faith salvation with God through Jesus Christ could be the portion of every heart. They understood this. This only verse 2 would I learn of you. Received you the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish having begun in the spirit? Are you now made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain if it be yet in vain? He therefore that ministers to you the spirit and works miracles among you. Doeth he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying in thee shall all nations be blessed. The prophet Isaiah chapter 55 verses 8 and 9 says these words. My thoughts are not your thoughts and neither are my ways your ways saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. It can be a spiritually perilous time when we find ourselves in a situation where nothing around us seems to be making sense. It's here that faith finds its deepest challenge. Do I continue to believe in spite of the impossibility before me or do I take things into my own hands and try to bring out about my own order and bring answers to my own questions? Remember every time Abraham tried to reason his own protection, every time he tried to govern his own future, every time he tried to bring about every promise that God had ever given him in his own strength and Abraham's strength it always ended up in heartache. Think about the moment when Sarah his wife was taken into a foreign king's harem and Abraham powerlessly standing outside the gate wringing his hands thinking about the terrible mistake he had made because essentially in telling this foreign king that Sarah was his sister the root of it was his own preservation. He wanted to save himself from physical harm and so he contrived the lie and operated in the flesh and brought great harm to himself. When you think about his son Ishmael, Abraham's attempt to bring about the promise that God was going to give him an inheritance of generations that were going to be as numerous as the stars in the sky and through him all the nations of the world were going to be blessed. Think about the fear coming into his heart about the future as he's getting older and there's not even a shred of this promise before him. Taking things into his own hands and listening to counsel and bearing a child by one of his wife's attendants and the heartache that came into his heart when Ishmael at 13 years of age had to be put away because the scripture tells us in the New Testament that the children of the flesh cannot be co-inheritors with that which comes by promise in God and from God alone. We see a classic example of this in the life of David in 1st Samuel chapter 20. Now if you'll go there with me please. And this is an amazing chapter. Let me read you verses 35 to 38 in 1st Samuel chapter 20. Now this is a difficult moment in the life of David. He's thinking about follow his journey just for a moment. He's sitting at home going out into the field to look after his father's sheep when suddenly a message comes to him. Samuel the prophet has come to your house and he's calling he's going to anoint the next king of Israel and David comes in and to see Samuel the greatly feared and revered prophet of God move towards him open the horn of oil and literally pour it on him. It wasn't just a dab on the forehead like we do. It was just literally pour it on his head down to the foot of his garments as the scripture says and David begins to realize that God has called him for a specific and a special purpose and somehow it's going to affect the future of the nation and the future of God's people. Just as when you and I came into the kingdom of God we were touched by the salvation of Christ first and then that promise of the Holy Spirit was poured upon us and in us and your life and mine we're destined to make a difference in our generation and so David heads out wins some marvelous victories in secret and then wins an incredible victory in public when he comes into the camp of Israel and sees this threat that's being raised up every morning against the testimony of God in the earth. This threat that's vocalizing itself through this giant called Goliath. David's heart begins to burn within him and he realizes that he must have known there's an anointing and the anointing produces something of faith and boldness and he had this this inner desire to see God glorified in the earth and there was something that rose up inside of him and says why is nobody fighting? Do you not see what's happening here? This this giant is standing and defying the God of the armies of Israel making a reproach of the people of God and David then says the words don't let anybody's heart fail them. I'll go and fight him. He's only a teenager he's got no military experience but he has experience with God and he has the anointing of God on his life. David takes the stone goes down into the valley and defeats the giant and there's an incredible victory given that day. Saul inquires and says whose whose son is this? Where did this kid with his faith come from? And shortly after that moment Saul takes David into his inner palace as it is it's the place of power of that generation and David's sole purpose is to be an attendant in measure to Saul. David is there worshiping he's writing songs of worship that are able to drive the darkness out of Saul's life as darkness is trying to encroach on him David would play and the darkness is driven away. David begins to grow in grace and in stature he heads out he's given a sword he begins to fight the battles of the Lord and he starts to see and feel the supernatural power of God in his life as there seemingly is no enemy that can stand against him. He's beginning to inspire them those that are following his leadership also into a form of of military courage. And then suddenly something happens suddenly his heart has been clean in this suddenly the heart of the king turns against him for no apparent reason other than envy. And David can't believe and neither can Jonathan that suddenly the king's heart is so turned against him that there's actually a murderous spirit now has gotten a hold of Saul and this whole regime as it is that he's over. And Jonathan says to David I'm going to go in and talk to my father and if harm is determined against you you hide out in the field and I'll come back in the field where we're meeting and talking and I'm going to throw an arrow and if I say the arrow is beyond you then that means that you've got to flee you've got to leave you've got to move because there's harm determined against you. Remember remember Isaiah said for as the heavens are higher than the earth my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. And here's I see this God was trying to speak to David but David was only partially listening he was trying to tell David I have a plan for you to fulfill the desires that I've placed in your heart but first you must follow through mountains and valleys that your own heart cannot understand that's what it to my heart it means when says the arrow is beyond you this is a sign from God my ways are higher I'm leading you somewhere David and you can't fully understand what I'm doing but you're now at the point where a transition is coming from an old religious system or a system that has failed under the leadership of Saul to glorify God to something that's going to be new there's going to be an absolute renewal in Israel you're going to lead it but until that day comes until the day that I call you into the place where you're going to dance before the ark of God you're going to go through some dark places these places are higher than you they're farther than you can see they're deeper than you can understand David heads out but I don't think he fully comprehended it he lost heart at that moment there's something in all of us that we want to be able to figure everything out we want to be able to see we want a virtual roadmap that tells us five years from now you'll be here seven years you'll be here ten years you'll be here we want it all outlined we really don't like God just throwing an arrow over our heads into the field and saying it's far beyond you just get up and follow follow where the arrow is leading don't question don't ask just do what God is telling you David begins to follow but he succumbs to his own reasoning and in chapter 27 in verse 1 is David said in his heart I shall now one day perish by the hand of Saul now this was faulty reasoning God had never told him that he was no longer listening to God he was now listening to his own reasoning there's nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines and Saul shall despair of me to seek me anymore in any coast of Israel and so I shall so shall I escape out of his hand and where David begins to go off track is when he begins to focus on his own preservation and it is really tragic in any Saul is focused on his own preservation and he's way off track he's going to end up consulting with witches now David is making the same mistake in measure he's focusing on preserving himself and folks when we do this this focus leads us and it leads those who follow us to a place where we're neither furthering the cause of God nor opposing the advance of the enemy in other words we're not doing anything you think about it for a moment David went into the land of the Philistines it's a long arduous journey in that land in the at the end of that journey he is standing among the enemies of God facing the other side of the valley now at one time in his life he was on the side that was facing the Philistines now he's on the side of the Philistines facing the nation of Israel I don't really understand what he was thinking I don't know if any of us will until we get to heaven I don't know what he was going to do I don't think he knew what he was going to do at this point other than there must have been some regret in his heart how did I get here and what am I doing I am neither furthering the cause of God and I'm not opposing the advance of the enemies of God and that's what happens when they when a church age begins to focus on itself when the theological focus of the house of God becomes about me when you and I are attending the house of God wanting to hear some new thing that will enhance my feeling about myself it will enhance my future it will enhance my career it will somehow prosper me the focus is now completely off of God and onto myself and now we live in an age folks if you don't realize how perilous this moment is then you need to be at the altar before I even give the altar call somebody's gonna have to pray for you if you don't understand the hour that we're living in how dangerous this moment in history really is especially in this country where we're living right now we're living in a church age where even if it is true that 22% of the population is considered evangelical today we're really realistically not moving forward the cause of God and certainly not opposing the advance of the enemy in our generation it's a place of indecision and powerlessness and in this place both he and the families that are and the men that are following him lose their families seemingly without much resistance and folks we've we are losing our children we are losing our families we are losing the concept of what is right and what is wrong I'm not talking just about the nation even in the house of God what a tragedy it is we're living in a generation where statisticians are telling us that young people are leaving in droves from the house of God they really don't want anything to do with this place of indecision that we're living in at the moment but I'll tell you there's a mercy moment David has left off this wholehearted seeking of God he left off this this life of winning victories and giving glory to the God of Israel but there's a in this place of indecision something is about to happen and I want you to hear this and if you can hear this it will help you in the days ahead and help you and I to understand what we're about to face and are facing today as a church age in a backsliding nation in 1st Samuel chapter 29 verses 3 to 5 it says then said the princes of the Philistines what do these Hebrews hear and Akish said to the princes of the Philistines is not this David the servant of Saul the king of Israel which has been with me these days or these years and I've found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day it's tragic isn't it when our enemies can speak well of us and the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him and the princes of the Philistines said to him make this fellow return that he may go again to his place which thou has appointed him and let him not go down with us to battle lest in the battle he be an adversary to us for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master should it not be with the heads of these men is not this David of whom they sang one to another in dances saying Saul slew his thousands and David his tens of thousands and here's the mercy moment in David's life and I believe it's the mercy moment in our generation the mercy of God is finally evidenced at a time when God causes the enemies of God's ways and God's people to reject the people of God it is that it is potentially the best thing that has ever happened to the church age that we're now living in is society is beginning to reject us and I thank God for it with all my heart I thank God that this society is finally saying away with Christ away with Christians away with churches away with tax-exempt statuses away with all of it thank God thank God thank God thank God finally finally God's own people are going to have to make a decision as David did in chapter 30 David came home and he realized just exactly how much he had surrendered to the enemy in verses 7 and 8 it says and David said to Abithai the priest Ahimelech son I pray they bring me the ephod that's the garment of prayer seeking God and Abithai brought there the ephod to David and David inquired at the Lord saying shall I pursue after this troop shall I overtake them and he answered him pursue for thou shalt surely overtake them and without fail recover all David thanked God realizing how much he had given away there's a moment there's a moment coming to the Church of America where we begin to realize how much we have actually surrendered to the enemy while we have ridden with the armies as it is we have embraced the strategies of a fallen society we've allowed corporate secular thinking to come in and begin to dominate and lead the Church of Jesus Christ we have filled stadiums with people are not converted yes they want to know how wonderful they are they want to know how much they're loved of God but folks they're not converted there's nothing in the heart that desires to fight for the glory of God there's nothing in the heart that causes them to stand up and begin to plead for those that are lost there's nothing that causes this church age in measure at least to live any different from the people of this world to be intermixed with the Philistines as it is and the Philistines looking and saying I found no fault with these people they've walked with us their value system is the same as ours they do what we do they travel where we travel they go where we go and look they're standing on the same side of this battle that we're on right now but the mercy of God I'm telling you folks the mercy of God is going to cause this society to spit out of its mouth the Church of Jesus Christ thank God for this moment we're living in right now David came home he saw how much he had surrendered to the enemy and he did one thing that brought his strength back he turned back to prayer he turned back to the prayer meeting he turned back to seeking God he turned back to the supernatural he had encouraged himself in the Lord and I think David remembered when he was young when Samuels touch from heaven came on his life and he was singled out among men to represent the kingdom of God I think David remembered when the bear and the lion came into the flock and the Spirit of God came upon him and gave him strength that he knew that natural men could never have I think he remembered when the indignation of how the name of God was being treated by the enemies of God came into his heart and he took what looks to be foolish in the sight of secular warriors and took these five stones and put them in a bag and headed down into a valley without armor to face a giant David encouraged himself and in his heart he must have thought what have I done what have I become look what I've done I'm leading these men I've brought their families into captivity I've all the guards are down everything we've built has been burnt with fire and taken away and suddenly he says to the son of Abithar bring me the ephod bring me the garment of prayer bring me bring me that which used to govern my life bring me that which brought me to a place where the people used to sing David slayed his tens of thousands bring me back to the place of strength and this is going to be the cry of this church age that you and I are living in and it's a cry of my heart Oh God in New York City let it be in churches throughout the city that there be a cry in the hearts of those who belong to Jesus Christ and say God we remember we remember Lord we remember we have the history we have the text we remember David we remember Samson we remember Abraham we remember the early church we remember spiritual awakenings in countries and cities and towns and churches God I even remember times in my own life where in desperation I went into the prayer closet and when I came out I was changed image to image and glory to glory I went in weak and I came out strong God Almighty take us back into the prayer closet again take us back into the promises of this book hallelujah behold I give you power to tread on serpents and and over all the power of the enemy and nothing nothing nothing nothing shall by any means hurt you take me back into the prayer closet take me back into the place of the realization that God does not choose men and women because we are royal of birth or because we are more intelligent than others or because we have access to power no no he chooses the weak and the foolish of this life those things that are nothing in the sight of a society that prides itself in its own knowledge in its own strength and he puts his Holy Spirit upon us and we become 10,000 times more than we could ever hope to be in our own strength David begins to pray again and when he begins to pray God begins to speak and he says should I over shall I pursue after this troop now he has 600 men at this time with him and I'm assuming that those that come in to burn his town with fire and we're literally pillaging the land we find out later on when he finally encounters this army they're spread abroad it says on upon all the earth that's in chapter 30 and verse 16 literally covering the earth covering the earth he has he is the equivalent almost of a section and a half downstairs here in the main sanctuary that's all he's got with him and he's fighting an army that's literally covering as far as you can see and even then 200 of those 600 words were so so weak that they could not go into the battle they couldn't even cross over the brook the scripture says to go into the battle so he left 200 there and enters the battle with just 400 but David remembered oh thank God he remembered it's not by might it's not by power it's by my spirit saith the Lord he remembered he he would have known he would have remembered the day when the Spirit of God came upon him and he would he would sing and evil would have to be dissipated even from the life of King Saul the demonic spirits would have to let their hold go as he began to worship suddenly he's back in the place where he knew the source of his strength was and this is what we're going to have to do in this generation as the church ages get back to the place of the source of our strength get back I don't care how big our budgets are it doesn't matter to me how many certificates we have on the wall and how fancy our preachers are it doesn't matter how many people we can pack in the church if we don't get back to the place of the source of our strength we are not going to make a difference in this generation but by God if we can get back into that prayer closet and begin to hear from God again and begin to move into everything he tells us to do he told David go and pursue this troop and you will recover all an incredible thing when we begin to come back to the promises of God David knows he has to know this is not possible in the natural but he's now left the natural following his own natural thinking let him into the camp of the Philistines let him into a powerless place but now he's following the leading of God for my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts he's he's back to that place of understanding what he should have understood in the beginning David the arrow is beyond you the leading of God is not something you can reason you only follow and he won't show you the whole plan he'll just take you one step at a time one step at a time though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me thou prepares the table for me in the presence of mine enemies and my cup overflows surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever he knew that after he had fought these battles he knew that after he had come back to himself and regained the sensibleness of walking with God the first thing that comes back when you and I begin to pray is a promise will come into your heart that is deeper it is farther than anything in your own natural ability you can ever hope to procure God begins to speak again and when God speaks it's supernatural when God speaks he rarely tells us something that we could do in our own strength even if it's starting with forgiving he takes us through realms that we can't go through these are valleys of the shadow of death these are places where we have to let go of what we think is going to preserve us and where we think our strength is going to be found and then when he begins to follow the promise of God and there would be everything there to stop him as they begin to cross this brook and 200 they they've been they've been on the go for a while now they've come back they've found their wives and children are gone they've lost their families their homes are in disarray the enemy has ravaged their their their lineages it is and the scripture says they they wept until they had no more strength to weep and as they're getting up David is now hearing from God and as they're getting up there are 200 of the 600 men who following him are so exhausted from the journey they're so exhausted from the weeping and the sorrow they can't even cross the river let alone get into the battle but David has a promise and I can I can see these 200 saying how are we going to do this was only 600 of us there's hundreds maybe tens if not a hundred thousand of them or more how are we going to fight this battle David look at the mess we couldn't even defend our families in our town but David has a promise again David's been in prayer now David's now leading in the spirit not in the flesh there would be some obviously among them in their minds would say we followed this man once and look at the mess he brought us into and now he claims to have another leading that's but this leading is from God there's a huge difference when God has spoken and as they begin to fall over with only 400 men the first thing they find is in an abandoned Egyptian in the field and that's the marks the signs of a supernatural leading of God the arrow is beyond you David Oh God they could have so easily missed that but that was the guide God had left a guide for them and folks when we're walking in the spirit and not but I if they were walking with their natural thinking they would think well there's a starving Egyptian somebody give him a loaf of bread let's keep going we got to catch our enemies no but David now has been given spiritual eyes and spiritual wisdom takes the time just to talk to this man and begins to realize this is the signpost of God this is the leading of God this is the guiding of God he doesn't miss what that which the Lord has laid before him the next thing that comes into his life and those following him is the incredible strength of God when you look at the battle it says in verse 16 they were the enemies of God were spread abroad upon all the earth eating and drinking and dancing because of the great spoil they'd taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land of Judah we're living in an hour folks were the enemies of God are drinking and dancing again rejoicing we've triumphed we've come into the sanctuaries we've taken the houses of God into our possession godlessness will be the future for this country there's very little hope that they'll ever rebound and survive but supernatural strength was given to David and those who followed him remember 200 or so weak they can't cross the river but the 400 who are with David it says and David smote them for 17 from the twilight even to the evening of the next day and there escaped not a man of them saved 400 young men which rode on camels and fled amazing isn't it coming into that battle with obviously weary they fought a 24-hour battle 24 hours can you just imagine with the sword 24 hours being in the in the midst of perhaps tens of thousands of warriors that are against you given this incredible strength that God gives to pursue and persevere the incredible ability that God gives to stand when all hell seems to have the upper hand the incredible ability to stand when everything around you is telling you to surrender this is what God gives when you begin to pray when the promise of God comes into your heart you go home today and everything around you and you're going to work on Monday and everything around you is telling you to surrender give it up that which is against you is too strong the Lord speaks to your heart says no that which is within you is greater than he that is in the world and he enters into a 24-hour battle I want you to see this and understand it he has to know after our five and six and seven and ten I can just see the men who are fighting with David our strength is not abating we're winning battle after battle match after match sometimes we're fighting ten against one and we're coming out victorious obviously God's hand is with us he's fighting with us he's fighting for us our enemies thought they had us they thought they thought they had our families they thought they had our future they thought they had swallowed the testimony of God and it all would have been true except one man went back into the prayer closet folks if you and I can understand that God will lead us to places where there is no more strength to go forward and that is the mercy of God where there's no more comfort to be found in this society remember the prodigal son the great famine came into the land and he turned to those who had been his friends and nobody would give him anything technically speaking what it means is the society which with which he had become familiar and spent all his effort and time and inheritance among those people spurned him and would have nothing more to do with him that's what caused him to get up and go home that's what caused God to meet him along that way all folks I thank God with all my heart that this society is rejecting the Church of Jesus Christ and the testimony of God I thank God because it's going to do something that you and I couldn't have ever dreamed would be possible if we were still intermixed with the powerless the incredible strength of God came into David's life and David received the fruit of faith it says in verse 19 there was nothing lacking to them neither small nor great neither sons nor daughters neither spoiled nor anything that they had taken to them David recovered all thank God all is not lost folks I want you to get that in your heart today all is not lost no matter what the devil is telling you no matter what you're seeing no matter what the news is saying all is not lost it's only beginning for you and I thank God it's so important now for you and I at this time in which we're living that we turn away from our own reasonings and return to prayer and faith it's so important it's paramount now turn away don't try to reason your way out of where you're finding yourself right now go back into that secret place of prayer by that I mean it's a secret place in your heart where you talk to God and he begins to talk to you remember Paul said to the Galatians Oh foolish Galatians who bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth crucified among you he was saying to this church have you forgotten the victory of the cross have you forgotten the history of the people of God have you suffered so many things in vain if it yet be in vain has the message of God has the message of the cross been brought to you through the blood of the martyrs in vain has it finally come to a place where this message and the power of it is going to be rejected and men and women are going to be determined to continue living by human reasoning and human effort Paul says look at where it's brought you look at what you become as you have abandoned this victory and abandon the strength that was given you and abandoned the Holy Spirit who was this inheritance of God given to those who had turned for their freedom from sin to the Son of God who died for them look at where it's brought you he said this only what would I learn tell me this in other words Paul saying in verse 2 did you was there something you did was there something of yourself was it your natural strength that brought the Holy Spirit into your life or was it because you heard that God wanted to give you power and you believed it and you open your heart to it which was it was a natural strength or because you believed even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness in the scripture for seeing that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before the gospel and Abraham saying in thee that means through those who walk with God by faith freedom will come nations will be blessed people will turn to Jesus Christ not by human effort but by faith in a faithful God the arrow is beyond us now hear me on this the arrow is beyond us the ways of God are not to be understood now by the natural mind in the natural we've lost in the natural we're being overpowered in the natural we're so intermingled now with the nation the nation has spewed out the testimony of Christ as worthless atheists are so emboldened they would put a picture of Christ on the cross in Times Square last Christmas and call it a myth I believe that was a tragic error on their part because there does come a point where you offend God and he reaches out to prove what a myth really is the arrow is beyond us but never beyond the ability of an all-powerful Savior you and I now must follow by faith if ever we prayed we must pray now we must pray above everything we've ever prayed the prayer meeting is not somewhere to come and just dump our bad feelings about the week but to lay hold of something of Christ in us for the future for the glory of God and for the souls of men you and I must pray now like we've never prayed before we must not fall into human reasoning and seek simply to preserve ourselves and that's what led David into powerlessness when he felt that he was going to perish and had to do something about it what he should have done is what he eventually did he should have gone into the prayer closet right away and God would have spoken to him and say the ways are beyond you David trust me you will not fall by the hand of Saul Saul's kingdom Saul and all of his fictitious religion is about to be put away and a new awareness of God is going to be ushered in to the nation of Israel through those who turn back to prayer again thank God for this with all my heart folks in this church we have been following the leading of God I don't want absolutely anything that God is not initiating I don't care how good it sounds and how much money comes with it I'm not interested if it isn't God there's nothing that could be arrived at Lord the Lord told me in prayer to gather people where the ball drops in Times Square several years ago beginning I forget what year it was but two few years back gather the people I was simply in prayer and I remember talking to several people about it and having to deal with the committees that are responsible for getting that piece of ground and we were told that it was impossible to get that piece of ground in Times Square unless you're Paul McCartney there's no way you're going to get that he did but there's no way anybody else is going to get it it's considered almost holy ground here in New York City but we proceeded with it put in all the applications and God did a miracle and I'm still thankful to Mayor Bloomberg to this day because he issued I still don't know why but he issued a decree three years in a row declaring the specific day prayer in the square day which meant the committees had to yield and I don't know why he did it but he did it and I thank God for it with all my heart the last year of prayer in the square there were 60,000 people 50,000 in the police cordoned off area and about 10,000 outside of that gathered to pray people said to me after the third year prayer in the square you're obviously going to do it for another year and I said no and they looked at me aghast and said why not there'd be a hundred thousand people here next year I said yes maybe so but then I'd be walking in disobedience to God the Lord told me do it three years in a row this is the third year we're not doing it for a fourth year at the end of the prayer meeting at the third year the end of the third year I was approached by a gentleman for a radio station who represented a connection to the radio station 1010 winds in New York City asking me if I'd be interested in going on the radio station and doing a series of devotions on prayer 13 times a week one minute each time and we negotiated that and that came to be and still is today and so I began going out on the radio I'm talking about the leading of God how God leads what God does not knowing where he's leading but just following knowing it was the hand of God it came out of the third year of prayer in the square folks going on the radio and just simply devotionals and saying it's time to pray from that devotional on the radio came NYCPrayer.org which is now about 250 approximately churches in the tri-state area and around the world that are listed on that website now that have prayer meetings where you can go and find a prayer meeting by zip code close to your house from NYCPrayer.org and from 1010 winds God one day spoke to my heart now everything is set up now choose a hundred churches in the inner city from this list that have prayer meetings and underwrite them to start feeding the poor and led me to Isaiah 58 where the scripture tells us conclusively if you do not hide from human need and also elsewhere where it tells us if we walk together in unity God commands the blessing of life and answers our prayer and today we're involved with our partners called Feed New York and I don't know fully where everything is leading to but I tell you one thing and I can tell it from my heart and sincerity we are following where God is leading us and watching God begin to open door after door after door after door even our farm partners in Pennsylvania folks that is an absolute miracle that God is doing we started out by with a thousand dollars a month for a church for a certain amount of food and that was wholesale now it's costing us probably what is it now five four three hundred dollars a month and twice as much food for three hundred dollars a month for church we've watched the hand of God just open door after door after door after door as we've simply been following him the Lord told me raise the profile of the church in New York City you're going to be hearing more of that on the radio talking about churches in the city that are feeding those that are hungry and I thank God as we just follow him we're not on the losing end of any battle when it seems like the Philistines must have thought man we've got this testimony we've got this people we're finally going to eradicate this people called Israel through whom who think that they're a blessing to the nations of the earth we're going to eradicate them but at that very moment there's another thread going through that the Philistines can't see because they can't walk in that realm it's a threat of those who are given to prayer who are following the leading of the Spirit of God or being given faith and weaponry to do something that only God himself can do now we're not the only ones folks there's churches praying all over the country there are people doing things we're hearing reports of it everywhere now and I thank God that he is taking us back to prayer again in this generation I thank God with all of my heart the arrow is beyond us but I don't have to figure it out I have to follow it that's all that God is asking of me and of you that we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit we don't have to figure it all out we don't have to have a 10-year plan I was asked at a minister's conference where I spoke a while back a young group of young ministers gathered around they said Pastor Carter what is your 10-year plan I said to get through tomorrow that's my 10-year plan and it never changes it never changes every day it's to get through tomorrow the next day it's to get through tomorrow I don't know where he's leading but I do know one thing he's leading and that's the important thing of all the arrow is beyond us but not beyond the ability of an all-powerful Savior and so I want to encourage you this morning for those that are going through circumstances that are causing you to try to take the reins of your own life into your own hands you're trying to figure it out some of you think you've got to flee from New York City to survive others you feel you have to do certain things a certain way but it's all coming out of this inner reasoning of the fallen nature God's saying no don't do that come back into the place of prayer and let me speak to you and even though it seems impossible follow where I lead you follow you see the Church of Jesus Christ is a supernatural church hallelujah thank you Jesus I want to give an older call this morning Roxbury here in the main sanctuary in the education annex for people that are facing an impossible situation and are willing to say God I don't know how I'm going to get through this I don't know how I'm going to get out of this I don't know how the I just don't know the Lord says to you the arrow is beyond you follow me God knows where he's leading you you are not going to be overcome by your enemies you are not going to go down under the weight of your situation you are not going to be overpowered by your enemies what you and I need to do is pray let God begin to speak to us and you'd be amazed what the Lord is going to do now we're going to stand in a moment and I want to ask as I do every week please do not block the aisles those that feel they need to leave for whatever reason please have the courtesy to let people are coming to this altar get here without being hindered by you leaving I'd appreciate that very very much this morning let's stand please if we will and those who want to come and pray we're going to believe God that you're going to get through an impossible place in the balcony go to either exit in the main sanctuary to be so kind make your way here we'll worship for about five minutes and we're going to pray together you are at a critical juncture in history as David was a deficient system of representing God was about to be put away Saul his false spirituality focused on himself his pretended devotion to God was about to be put away and God was preparing another generation to come in and bring his name back to honor again and this generation was being brought to the valley of the shadow of death David had to get to the place that you are at this morning of saying I give myself away all my dreams all my plans all my schemes all my the my ways of finding a way through this Lord that's what Saul was that's what he did and that's what led the people to defeat and the testimony of God into reproach but I'm coming back and I'm going to join those who have served God by faith they've gone into the prayer closet God has spoken they have believed it you go into the prayer closet whatever your situation might be God will speak to you he'll speak to you about freedom about victory he'll say to you if you're not little flock it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom he'll say I came to give sight to the blind give strength to the weary I came to give freedom to the oppressed I came to heal those bruised in heart he'll say seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all the things that you need will be added unto you he will say to you like Paul said to the Philippian jailer all is not lost do yourself no harm we're all still here everything God has promised you is still here nothing has been lost it might be dark and you can't see it but it's still there that's what he had to speak to David David it's not lost you got lost along the way but the promises of God are not lost will you seek me again and I will open them to your heart and he would have said to him David you're gonna dance before the ark of God one day even as hopeless as it looked he would have spoken that to his heart one day you're going to know an incredible victory that can only come from God hallelujah father I pray Lord for my brothers and sisters at this altar Oh Jesus in your precious name I ask you father God we are even in our seeming defeat we are your answer to a generation in our littleness with our houses burned down with our families in disarray Lord that's exactly where your choice servant was the leadings we thought were reasonable turned out to be defeat but Oh God this was your answer and this is our hope today we are your answer to this time that we're living in and so Lord we thank you for bringing us to this place where we can just say I give myself away and if you tell me to fight a hundred thousand with 400 that's what I will do God Almighty you will never fail us when you've spoken to us we thank you Lord for an awakening of this reality in America beginning at this and many other altars this morning throughout New York City and throughout this country where men and women are coming back to faith in Christ and father we thank you for it and bless you for it I believe God with all my heart I believe Lord because your word tells us that you don't take us because we're strong you take us when we're weak when we've failed when we're nothing and we're just empty vessels that you can pour life and promise into now Lord Jesus Christ grant a great victory to every person at this altar whatever it is that you're telling them to do give them the courage to do it to just go forward and just do it the things that you are speaking into their hearts Lord help us Lord not to draw back Abraham believed God and you said through him all the nations of the world would be blessed Lord there's no blessing comes because we live in our own reasoning we thank you for faith faith Lord that can move mountains we bless you for it and we praise you for it in Jesus mighty name hallelujah thank you Lord Jonathan said the arrow was beyond you make haste to go after it that was his word make haste go after it the plan of God is beyond you but follow it follow it with all your heart and you'd be amazed what God is going to do hallelujah we're living on the victory side you and I and I thank God for that with all my heart do me a favor this morning and give God a shout of glory before we go to this one more time give him a shout of glory