In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of walking in confidence and faith in God. He shares that God has been speaking to him about confronting unbelief in his own life and in the lives of others. The preacher then turns to Deuteronomy 8:1-3, where God commands His people to observe His commandments in order to live, multiply, and possess the promised land. He encourages the congregation to remember how God led them through the wilderness for 40 years. The preacher also highlights the need to rejoice and be glad in God's presence, as it pleases Him. He shares personal examples of faith, such as the provision of funds for Teen Challenge and the ministry's growth. The sermon concludes with a reminder from Isaiah 40:27-31, emphasizing that God, the everlasting Creator, does not grow weary and is always working on our behalf.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, PO Box 260, Lindell, Texas 75771, or calling 903-963-8626. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. I was asking the Lord this past week in prayer, Lord, what can I do to really please you more? Just give me a hint, tell me something that I can do to really bless you. One thing can I do that would make me more pleasing in your sight? And the Lord gave me one answer. He said, rejoice and be glad in my presence. Rejoice and be glad in my presence. And you can't do that unless you're walking in confidence and faith in him. And God's been speaking in my heart lately, a number of weeks now, about coming down in my life and against others who have unbelief in their hearts. And I'm going to deal with that again tonight. A way known only to God. A way known only to God. Please turn to Deuteronomy 8, verses 1 through 3. Deuteronomy 8, verses 1, 2, and 3. Come on, turn the leaves. I don't hear it. Well, that's part because I'm losing my hearing. What do you expect at 72? Forgive me, folks. I'm happy in the Lord. Why? Because I trust him. I believe his word. Verse 1, the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in the wilderness. Why? To humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest obey and keep his commandments or no. He humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with manna which thou knewest not. Neither did thy fathers know that he might make thee to know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Father, take the word now and use it to your glory. Anoint me, sanctify my lips. God, I stand in your righteousness and your holiness. Lord, speak to my heart about any unbelief, any root of unbelief, any kind of unbelief. And Lord, set us free. Let there be a release of faith tonight. Let us learn that this is what you want from us more than anything else, our confidence and full dependence upon you, confidence in your word. I thank you, Lord, for speaking to my heart. Speak to every heart now, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. The Bible said the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. God has no day planner. He doesn't get up in the morning, so to speak, and plan your day. He doesn't say, well, what are we going to do today with you? He doesn't go one day at a time. He doesn't go a week at a time. He has a plan for our lives. And the amazing thing is the moment you get saved, the moment you give your heart to the Lord and fully trust him, this plan goes into operation. Now, the problem with his plan, he only tells us the destination. He doesn't tell us the route we're going to go. We know we're going to heaven, and the Bible, Hebrews, talks about, we see Jesus bringing many sons to glory. We know that's what he's doing. He's bringing us to glory. He's bringing us to the Father. But, you know, he's never told me, and I don't think he's told you, how he's going to get you there. We've got this ultimate goal. We know we're going to heaven. We know we're going to be with the Lord. But the route, I've been in route now for 65 years. Well, see, I really gave my heart to the Lord when I understood salvation at eight, and it was called to preach when I was just eight years old, and really was preaching at 15 years of age, preaching little sermons. And so I've been in route for over 60 years. And in all those 60 years, he's never told me the path. He's never outlined it to me. Now, he's given me some goals and visions and some dreams and things like that, but he's never told me. And I come to this, verse 2, and the Lord says to Israel, Thou shall remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in the wilderness. These people are trying to forget. And the Lord says, remember all the way. Now, he's not only talking about the miracles, he's talking about all the difficult times they had, the incredible times of testing, and the Lord says, I want you to remember. He said, I want you not to miss the message of all that you've been through over these past years of mine, leading you in a path that only I know. And he alone knows the path that you're taking. He knows where you're headed. He knows the plan he has for your life and mine. It was Jacob who stood before Pharaoh. Joseph introduced his father, and Pharaoh said to him, How old are you? And Jacob said, 130 years old. And he said, I'm young compared to all of my ancestors. You know, they were living 600, 700, 800 years. But he said, my years, all my years of my pilgrimage have been few and evil. And that word in Hebrew means calamities, afflictions, sorrow, trouble, and adversity. I look back over my life. I really don't want to remember too much. I remember the blessings, and thank God I remember the miracles, and I build a major faith on that. But the Lord said, I want you to remember because there was a purpose in my taking you through all that you've been through. I think of the suffering of my wife, and I think of suffering of my daughters, and I think of the deep financial times that I had in my past life in ministry. I think of the miracles of deliverance and all of these things that he's done. But he says, I took you through that, and I want you to know that anything you're going to go through from this time on, I have a purpose and a reason for it. And he said, I want you to remember that. He said, it's to humble you and to prove you. And that word humble there means to chase it and to bring you down, to bring you down. Now, that doesn't mean that God's putting us down or trying to take away anything that he's given to us. But it's really trying to say, I'm taking you down in any trust of your flesh and confidence in your flesh. I'm bringing you to a place where you're going to have to be totally dependent upon me. You can't look to man, you can't look to yourself. I'm going to strip you down. And that's exactly what he did. He took them into facing the Red Sea, takes them to the waters of Mara, takes them to all of these testing places. And he said, I did that to humble you. In other words, I tried to bring you down where there is no other way but God. There's no person, humanly it's impossible to get out of these situations that God has allowed in our lives. And he said, I did this to test you and to humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thine heart, whether you would obey or keep my commandments or not. He said, you may know what is in your heart. God knows the heart. Who could know it but God? He knows our hearts. But he said, I want you to know it. I'm going to bring you into situations to expose what is in your heart. You see, we all start out just like Israel. We start out with this glow and rejoicing in God. Lord, I'll never turn away from you. I'll serve you all my days. I will trust you. I will never doubt you. Now, those were good words. In fact, the Lord makes it very clear. He said, you spoke well. Those words are very well, well-spoken words. Oh, that you had a heart in you to fulfill my commandments and obey. And what were those commandments that he gave to us, gave to Israel? He said, fear me. Don't fear the world. And trust me, because the great I am is with you. God tried to tell them and tried to get them to understand, you're going to keep going through these things until you get a lesson, until you understand what it's all about, until all the questions are gone. And, folks, I want to bring the word of God's hammer, I want to bring that sledgehammer down tonight on unbelief, that God will smash every iota, every remain of unbelief in my heart, in your heart, and do it tonight. That God will deal with it by his word and by his spirit, because this is why God took Israel in the wilderness in the first place. He was taking people who were not big people. They were not a large people. They were small people, peculiar unto himself. And he isolates them in the wilderness, because he's trying to bring forth a testimony in a people who can go through any hard time, go through any test, and say, God is with me. And God will bring me through. They failed. Every test that God brought them to, they miserably failed, and God ties it to their unbelief. He said, because of unbelief they could not enter into that which I brought them into the wilderness. I brought them into the school that they could graduate and be worshippers, and they could walk by faith before the whole world. And God is still looking for that people. And, folks, I don't see it anywhere I go on the face of the earth. I haven't seen it any nation that I've been for pastors' conferences or crusades. I've not seen it. I've not seen that people yet. I see a measure of that here at Times Square Church. I see the beginning of it. I see the beginning of it in my own life, the joy it brings, and the rest when you fully trust Him no matter what comes. And I'll tell you, folks, Job was tested severely, and we know the outcome of that. But Job said, I look to the right, and I look to the left, and I don't see Him. And he said, I don't see God's hand in this. I can't explain this biblically. I can't explain this because it doesn't measure up to what I believe God is as a loving Father. I'm going through something I don't understand. Everywhere I look, to the right and to the left, I don't see Him. I can't perceive His working in this. But he said, I know one thing. When He's tried me, I shall come forth as gold. And that's where some of you are tonight. You sit in this house tonight. You say, Pastor David, that's exactly where I'm at tonight. I'm in a situation. I don't know whether it's financial. I don't know whether it's a medical problem, a marriage problem. I don't know what it is on the job, whatever it may be, ministerial problem. You say, I'm face to face with something that's beyond me. I turn to the right, and I turn to the left, and I can't make sense of it. I don't perceive God being in this. I can't perceive it going on so long. I preached two weeks ago about the dark storm, how God creates worshippers, brings worshippers through dark stormy nights. But you say, I'm going through it, Pastor David, I'm going through it. And I want you to know now that God wants you tonight to deal with this issue of unbelief. He doesn't want you to come into his house dragging in a long face, sitting there before your brothers and sisters and your peers, whether it's on the job or wherever it may be. This is one thing God will not endure. And I say it with love. And I say it with every bit of Holy Ghost fire unction in my soul. God tells Israel, I love you. I've protected you. I've taken you in my hands, and I've carried you through a wilderness. But you still do not believe me. You still do not trust me. You worship me in the holy place. You worship me at the tabernacle. But when you're in your tents, you complain and you murmur. When you're home, you talk to your husband, your wife, your children. You murmur and you complain. And God says, I hear it. And the Bible says the same chapters in Isaiah, two or three chapters I can take you to, where God expounds his love, how much he loves his people Israel. And he said, yet because I have spoken so clearly, I have been so patient. And he's not dealing with idolatry as such, but he's dealing with this issue of faith and confidence in his promises. And yet he says, because of your unbelief. The Bible said God was wroth. He was angry. And the Bible said he abhorred Israel. And how God despises in us, in me and in you, when we come to this testing time, this so triggered, quick complaining and murmuring, and saying, God, I don't understand this. This does not measure up to your word. I fasted, I prayed, and I don't see the answer. Well, God, I don't want to doubt you, but this is a big one. Lord, this is bigger than anything you've ever had to deal with in my life before. Actually, it's not. Because you see, God doesn't know anything about bigness, because he's bigger than all of it. He's the universe. You don't have to tell God how big it is. The Lord said, I led you. He said, wherever you're going through, I want you to know, I've led you there. I'm with you. God does not only lead us. The scripture says that he takes us by the hand. And he said, if you're facing fire, I'm going to take your hand. I'm going to walk you through it. If you're going to go through waters and floods, I'm not going to send you through, and I'll be back here cheering for you. I'm going to be with you by the hand. I'm going with you. Throw it. You've got to understand that whatever you're in, God has led you. He said, I led you through all of the wilderness. So everything Israel went through, God led them. This is by his own word. Folks, the problem is, God, though he knows our hearts, he knows that he has to dig out this unbelief that's in us. Let me tell you, a probably majority of you here today, tonight, listening to me say, that's not me, Brother Dave. I believe. Oh, do I believe. The Lord said, I've heard the voice of your words. Well said what you've spoken, but all that the heart be in you that you would fear me and keep my commandments and might be well with you all your days. You see, God's after one thing. He's always been, and he's still after one thing, to find the people who stand before the whole world and trust him before the eyes of men. Those who are steady and strong in faith. You say, oh, I'm human. No, you're supernatural because you've got the Holy Ghost in you. You are supernatural when the Holy Ghost comes upon you and you can't beg off anymore. So, well, I'm just human. So was Israel. They were humans. And God said, enough is enough. He said, I suffered you or I allowed you to hunger. He said, I knew how hungry you were. I had all of this bread stored up here, all this angel's food. I had enough angel's food for 40 years stored up. I could have given it to you at any moment. He said, I allowed you to hunger. I allowed you to thirst. I allowed you, I brought you to the brink. And, folks, I'll tell you something. The greatest test of all is the Word of God. The Bible said, until the time, Joseph's time came, the Word of the Lord tried him. Now, folks, what he's saying, the Word of the Lord, the word there in Hebrew means to purge. He said, until his time, until the vision came to pass, the Word of the Lord purged him. He was not going around saying, God, why am I in prison? Why is the dream not coming to pass as I have seen it? Lord, what's happening? I'm in fetters, I'm in iron, and I've been tempted above anything I've been tempted before. The Bible says, the Word of the Lord tried him. He allowed the Word to purge him. He allowed the Word to melt his heart until Joseph came forward with a faith that was pure gold. That the trial of your faith would work the patience. And there was a patience in Job now. Oh, I love to meet people who've come through hard times and have trusted God. What a joy it is to be around them, to hear the victory. And then it brings my spirit up. It brings the spirit of everybody around them up because they've been through it. And they are veterans of their warfare, and they have not fainted because they have trusted God through it all. He said, I brought you to wit's end. I allowed you to be in these painful situations. And God would say to those, I said, wait a minute. He said, yes, I suffered them, but I want you to know not one of them starved. Not a baby died. There was everything that baby needed for nourishment. Everything was provided. I didn't fail. I was right on time. On my time. But God will let you go further and further to the brink. Instead of doubting and complaining, you run to his word. Every word. He said, man shall not live by bread alone. And what he is saying, yes, I'll tell you what. What he's saying to the people. I'm going to give you the bread. You're going to fill your bellies full. You're going to just rejoice. You're going to have a dance, a bread dance. Because you're going to be so full of bread. But that's not the issue. You can't live on bread promises. And that's primarily what the prosperity gospel is all about. Bread promises. You take your three scriptures. You know, my God shall supply all your needs. I've never seen the righteous beg for bread. You can take a few of those promises. And God said, that's fine. And you'll get the bread. But that's not what I want. I want more than that. I want you to live by every word, every promise, every commandment, every woe, every go. I want you to live on the full word of God. I don't want you to be emaciated Christians. Because you can stuff yourself with bread. That's a wonderful thing, God says. But you're not going to be satisfied with that. I want more than that. I can give you bread. God can solve your problem in a moment. He's almighty. There's nobody hearing me now going through a situation or problem that God can't solve immediately. But he's not going to do it. If you love him and if you want to come into the fullness of the blessing of the word of God. If you want the full blessing of the anointing of the Holy Spirit in your life. You want to be able to be a testimony before the whole world. Then when you're in the hardest time and it looks hopeless. You're going to race to this word of God. You're going to get on your knees before the Lord and say, God, live or die, I'm yours. I'm going to trust you through this. I preached a message years ago. Right song, wrong sign. Children of Israel, all they complained and murmured and God took them through the Red Sea nevertheless. And the Bible said they complained at the sea, even the Bible said, even at the Red Sea. In other words, God said of all places. When they see these great miracles, they still doubted me. They get on the other side. It's tambourine time. Oh, they dance and they praise the Lord. Right song, wrong side. I want to sing the right song on the right side, on the testing side. I want to say, my God is faithful. He's proved himself to me. Glory. Glory to God. I brought you to this place of hunger to make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Hallelujah. I like what Job said, Though the Lord try me, when he's tried me, I shall come forth as golden. Only he knows the way that I take. Folks, we don't know what's coming. There are dark clouds that are forming. There are storms out there, but you know, those things don't matter. Come what may, if you have this established, you rest. You've come into this rest. And I'm going to tell you something. That rest is really a time of rejoicing. God's made it very clear that evidence to me is the evidence of faith is rest, but that rest is a spirit of rejoicing. And God has been telling me over and over again, everything I hear from him, make your heart glad before me. Be glad and rejoice before me. No matter what happens, in the hardest time, the worst trial, even facing death itself, let your heart rejoice and rest in me because I'm king of the flood. Glory to Jesus. In all their affliction, he was afflicted. The angel of his presence saved them. In his love and his pity, he redeemed them. And he bared them and carried them all the days of old. He said in their affliction, he was afflicted. Now, the Bible said he's touched the feelings of our infirmities, but let me tell you what God's real affliction is. He said he was afflicted as they were afflicted. You see, he knows where he wants to bring us. He sees the good things ahead of us if we'll trust him. He sees the miracles. He sees the rest that's available. He sees all of these great things that he promised us if we would just trust him. And the affliction is, it's right there. If you'll just hold on, if you'll just believe me, don't give in to your fears and your doubts. There's something out there waiting for you. And how it hurts his heart, the affliction of his heart. Oh, God's been showing me his heart, the affliction of his heart, because he has all of these provisions and he has these blessings and the rejoicing to live. The church of Jesus Christ is full of angst. It's full of despair. Everywhere you go, people are downcast and worried. And, folks, the songs we sing, the dancing and the clapping and the rejoicing, that can't be something surface. That can't be just trying to scare the scarecrows away. It has to be more than has to be something that comes out of a heart that's fully developed in faith. And that joy is going to be there tomorrow on the job. Because tomorrow on the job you say, God has been leading me and God is with me now. I don't want to afflict his soul. Let me go into, I want you to go to Isaiah, the 40th chapter. Isaiah 40. Glory to God. The 40th chapter, verses 27 through 31, please. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest thou, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment, or my case, is passed over from my God? Church, listen to it again. Why are you saying, O church, and why do you speak, O my people, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment has been passed over. In other words, the Lord is not working on my case. Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary. There's no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint. To them that have no might, he increases strength. Even though you shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. Folks, God's trying to give you wings. And that's faith. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. God said, where do you get this, my children? Where do you get this? This doubt and this fear that I'm not working on your case. Well, you say, well, it's been so long. This thing drags on. And the Lord said, why would you think that I'm not going to judge your case? What would bring to your mind, you're my servant, I'm your father, and I love you, and I care about you, and I have you in my arms, and I take you by the hand, and all of these amazing promises, and then you step back, away from all those promises. Oh, God, you've forgotten all about me. I don't think you're working for me anymore. I see no evidence. I see no sign of you taking my case. And others think, well, God's tired of my case. I've complained so much. Folks, he's still so patient and so loving with his people, and he wants to bring you through that tonight. There's something I know God wants to bring you through to a place of victory, that even though there may come another time and a real test, and for a few moments there'll be some shaking, and you have that natural why, like Jesus asked at the cross, you know, Father, why? But that'll soon pass, because you'll bring into force now all those scriptures and that which you've learned, and that stand, that position. You'll get off the sand and step onto the rock and be unshakable. The winds can't shake you anymore. That's what I'm praying for. But, see, they believed not in God. They didn't trust in his salvation. They believed not for his wondrous works. They flattered him with their mouth, but they lied to him with their tongues, for their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in the covenant. These were people, he said, that have no faith in them. Have no faith in them. I'm going to wrap this up. But let me tell you how serious this is. Here's how serious God made it to me, because the Lord's been really impressing me that I have to take this to ministers around the world because of the unbelief that's crept in, because of a lack of evidence of God moving or God being with us all over the world, because we don't see things happening. But God made it clear to me that I had to understand something, how serious it is in the eyes of God. And God made it very, very clear to me that if I was not going to trust him fully and become wholly dependent upon him and his word, that every doubt that I have, all my fears, and all my unbelief is to totally rob God of every one of his attributes, a strip of attributes. That means his love, his patience, his faithfulness, his goodness, his mercy, all of his attributes, all of the things that God is and represented, all the things he said he is and wants to be to us. And the moment I have unbelief in my heart rising up, I am stripping God, I'm making him no better than the million gods of India. And what God said to me, and I'll tell you clearly, God said, David, if you're not going to trust me fully, I mean absolutely, I love you, but this is so serious in my sight, a whole nation, a whole people I called out, not one of them went in because of unbelief. Now I want you to know hundreds of thousands died. And the Bible says, God said himself, he said God destroyed them because of their unbelief. All of these promises were made to him, and here's what God told me, if you're not going to totally be dependent on my heart, if you're just going to pick out a few scriptures and run with those, and you're not going to accept my whole word, and if you're not going to be this example, and he says it lovingly, David, in my eyes, I want to show you the idolatry it is. The worst idolatry God can see. In God's eyes, the worst idolatry is unbelief. Because it robs him of all of his attributes and makes him no better than Buddha, makes him no stronger, because he has no power, he has no authority now in your sight. You don't believe he can do it? You've robbed him. And God spoke to me, go down to the east side village and go to a silversmith and have him give a little carving, a little design, and have him make a little silver statue, take it home, put it on your mantle, and kneel in front of that mantle and start praising your little silver God. Go down to your store and buy a Buddha. Put it on your kitchen table, pull up there, and start praising Buddha. God said that's how strong it is. That's how strong I want it said to the church. That's how strong I want you to see it, because you robbed me of all my attributes, because you are not trusting what I said I am and what I will do, and I have to have a people. In other words, the cross is in vain. That's how serious it is. Why is everything so quiet? Do you see the idolatry in it? How many see the idolatry? We bring God down to a stone with no power, no love, no faithfulness, no willingness to undertake, no loving arms, just a cold, dead idol. I see that. It has put the righteous fear of God in my heart. Now, let me get very practical before I close. I thought, Lord, tonight, before I close, I want you to give me some illustrations of faith. And I thought, you know, you read Hebrews 11. You read of shutting the mouths of lions and raising the dead and all those great things. I said, Lord, I've seen some great things. Forty years ago, the opening of Teen Challenge here, and how you gave us that mansion and how you've spread the ministry around the world, great things God did. The second year, when we were broke and needed $25,000 and fasted and prayed for three weeks. At the end of three weeks, we thought we'd have to close, but we believed and we trusted God. And then that third week, a letter from Manchuria. The missionary had been there for 40 years. His life savings, he was praying, and the second day we started praying, that letter was mailed with $25,000 in it, just what we needed. But you see, I could tell you all those stories. The wonderful story here, how God kept a multimillion-dollar corporation from building a 50-story building on top of this church. That's a great step of faith. This church had faith. That was faith. That was the evidence of faith. This church believed God with the pastors, and God did a work. But you see, we're talking about practical things, the little things. Don't try to build your faith on big miracles, but on the little things. God said, I'm not going to take Israel straight through the easy way. I'm going to take them in little by little. And the Bible speaks about certain ones. I was reading this afternoon, they took on the small towns and the villages. I want to speak practically about the way I think you should start building your faith, and same for me here, because we're always trusting God for nations, and we're trusting God for large sums of money, and all this. But I'm going to talk about the little things. How about asking the Lord and having faith for a broken heart and a contrite spirit? A continual broken heart and a continual broken spirit, so that sloth doesn't set in because we're all bent on backsliding. That's my daily prayer, oh God, wake me up. Oh God, stir my heart. You know, I was in a few weeks ago in one nation, and one of the bishops come up and he said, Brother Dave, we had received a call that before you came here, from the place that you've been, and he said, all Brother Dave can do is weep and mourn. But so it happens that that particular conference, I was dancing and preaching nothing but faith. And it hurt me at first, but then I got to thinking about it. God, keep me that way. Give me a weeping heart. Give me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I want to pray for that. Folks, to me that's faith. How about a total deliverance from bitterness and lying? Do you know God's people tell lies? Oh, you don't, do you? Do you know that God's people exaggerate? Do you know that requires faith? Because in these areas we have so much unbelief that we can be delivered. Let's talk about opportunities to witness. To say, God, bring to my attention open doors and give me opportunity to be the witness that you want me to be. How about some patience with associates at work? How about some patience for your husband? No, I'm not asking you to pray for patience, that God will give your husband patience for you. I'm asking God to give you patience for your mate. Let it start in you. Come on, folks. This may sound light. It's not. This is deep gospel now. These are deep waters. How about the little foxes spoiling the vine? Evil thoughts. Now, let me deal with one. And I said, God, are you sure you want me to say this? And the Lord said, yes. I want no snickering and I want no one looking around because this is an area that I believe faith has to be exercised and where unbelief can keep you in a despair. I want to talk about weight. No smile. I don't hear words because God has divinely told me to speak this. I'm talking about those who don't have enough weight on their body and those who have too much weight on their body. Because, you see, I was born skinny. And I wore, when I was a child, big horn-rimmed glasses and bad eyes. And I was so ashamed of my arms. They were so thin and the bones sticking out. You've heard me say this, I think, once before. So I grew up with this terrible feeling of being so inadequate in my body. And hottest days in July and August, I'd wear a jacket. And they called me Wilkie. They said, Wilkie, take your coat off. And I said, I'm cold. Because I couldn't gain weight. I had a weight problem. And I had to pray and believe God to take that thing that I grew up with in me. Even when I was preaching, I started preaching, and it was in my 20s, I was still, when I started Teen Challenge, I weighed 115 pounds, skin and bone. Sunken cheeks. And still had this terrible shame. And God had to deal with me on that. And I prayed, Lord, you're going to have to help me. And the Lord took that out of my heart. But, you see, there are people that are overweight. And they carry a burden in their heart. And let me explain this and why I'm bringing it to your attention. I do it as a loving pastor. I have workers in Colorado and I've got workers in Texas and various places that work with me on my newsletters and mailing lists and printing all the way from Minneapolis and Colorado. We have a young lady that's on our staff that's worked with me for years. And she called me this past year. And she was, by her own admission, many, many pounds overweight. I'm not going to tell you how much she weighed. But she was weeping. She said, Pastor Dave, I'm a reproach to your ministry. And I was shocked. I said, Honey, you're no reproach to me. She said, I am. I am so tired of all of these diets. I have lost, once I lost 150 pounds and put it back on. And I'm so sick of that. I have got to have a miracle. And see, I said, Pray and believe God to give you a word. I said, To me, I don't care how much you weigh. You're a sweet person. I see nothing but Jesus in you. And her root, the Lord, she prayed. And the Lord told her to get an operation. She's already had it. And she's lost many, many pounds. And that was the root that she took. Others that I've heard, God speaks to them. He gives a word. But I'm going to tell you, if you have this kind of problem, you see, God's interested in every detail of our life. He is interested even in the hairs of your head, your weight, and everything else, your finances. That's the kind of father he is. Now, folks, some of you may say, I have a weight problem. Well, let me tell you, nobody here, if they have the love of Jesus, no one looks down on you, no one, whether you're skinny and you look anorexic. Many of you are not too much overweight and you think you're very, very heavy. You think you're just monstrous, but you're not. And I'm not trying to flatter you, but I'm telling you this, if you make this a matter of prayer and faith, God can work a miracle. God can bring you to your goal, whatever it may be. If your goal is to say, this is how God made me, and I'm happy, I'm satisfied with it, you ask God to never let unbelief enter your heart, you'd be satisfied, and you walk in that. And you'd be satisfied, and don't envy anybody else's appearance. But God told me clearly, and I had to speak this, that he could show you that it's the little things, what we would consider little things, but they're big things. Because, you see, this young lady, to me, is a woman of faith. I think she took a great step of faith, and I'm so proud of her, and everybody's proud of her, not because of her increasing loss of weight, but because she trusted God, and because she put everything, all the details of her life, in the hands of the Lord, not to have to deal with a reproach or anything else, but because she knew that she could trust the Lord through this. She said, I went into it with no fear. I'm not suggesting that's your root, not at all. I'm suggesting that the whole point of this is that God wants you to trust him first, in the very, what we would call, little things. That he would trust you, that you could go to the job tomorrow and pray, Lord, give me one day of greatest peace I've ever known among my co-workers. Give me one day of peace, and let it go one day at a time. Trust him for the little things. If you're having a problem in your marriage, in your home, don't pray that God make you some great soul, until first you pray and believe God and exercise faith right now, that God will give you special patience and love with your husband, if you're in a hopeless situation or you're in a hard situation. Pray that if you're in a divorce situation, whatever it may be, that God will give you a special kind of peace and rest. Let him come in now and take care of these daily things, these issues that we think God's not concerned in. My faith is coming to this place now that I believe God is interested in everything involving my life. My stomach pains, my toothaches, everything in my life God is concerned. Do you believe God is that concerned? He's counted the very hair on our head? Thank God. If I can believe him in little things, he said, he'll trust me with the bigger things. He'll trust me. First, be faithful in these things. Oh, we have a loving Father. I would like to get, I wish I could make you shout. But you see, the shout comes not from a pastor working it up. The shout comes from you saying, I get the message. I get it. And you put it into practice and you practice it this next week. Next week you'll come and you'll shout with what you hear tonight because you put it into practice. Will you stand now, please? I'm overdue. Please don't come to me and say, Brother Dave, are you sure God told you to say that? Yes, he did. Hallelujah. Now, the point is this. And I want you to listen very closely at the annex and everyone in this house. God never brings a pastor to this pulpit to preach the message. If he's been praying, he's been walking with God. He never brings somebody up here just to preach a sermon. He's getting at something. And he never does let it fall to the ground. And he never lets us waste our time. I'm going to say it directly and lovingly. There are people here tonight that are going through a test. They're going through a difficult time, very difficult. The first thing I want you to know that you've got to believe that God is with you. That God's leading you. I'm not going to re-preach my message. But God wants to do something for you special tonight. He wants to pull out of your heart any bit of unbelief and release your heart into this rest. So you can walk out of here absolutely at rest in the Lord. And say, Lord Jesus, I can't trust you unless you send the Holy Spirit and give me a special touch of the Holy Ghost tonight to bring forth this confidence, this faith. Because he's given you a measure of faith. He expects you to water it. He expects you to give it nutrients. And that's just constantly voicing it and worshiping it and praising him. And rejoicing right in the face of your problem. Did you hear what I said? Rejoicing in the face of your problem. I'm going to open this altar right now. While they're singing, upstairs in the balcony, come down this side. Now also, if you're here tonight, you don't know the Lord, or you've backslidden. You have a Jesus problem of some kind. You have a temptation problem that's overwhelming you. You follow these that are coming now. And we'll believe the Lord that God will baptize you with a baptism of confidence. I want to read a little portion of Scripture. I'm not going to preach again. But I want you to listen to this. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. He said, again and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding. So keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. Be careful. Be anxious about nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. And with rejoicing and thanksgiving. Would you pray this prayer with me? Just set yourself in with the Lord Jesus for a moment. Lord Jesus, I believe your word. And I heard your word. And I receive your word. I want to trust your word. I want that to be my walk. And in the way you've chosen for me. That I can lean on your word. That it be my strength. Cleanse me Jesus. Fill my heart with confidence. And trust that you're my father. That you love me. You care about me. Everything in my life. So Jesus, I give you everything. Every detail. Every problem. And I cast it on you. Because I can say. You care for me. Now let me pray for you father in Jesus name. For those that are here tonight. That have a sin problem. Let them simply say Jesus. This is too big for me. And I come to you by faith. And I believe you now for your covenant promises. That you will give me power. Over the adversary. Lord we believe you for that power. We believe you for that strength. And Lord for those that have been drifting from you. Whatever it may be. And those Lord who are going through the trial of their life. God only you can pluck the unbelief out of our hearts. But Lord that's something. You told us we have to cooperate with you. We have to be willing. And Lord here we are open and we say take the unbelief. Forgive my unbelief. Can you say it Lord? Forgive my unbelief. Say it again. Forgive my unbelief. Now something else I want you to say. And I want you to say it by faith. Folks we don't do this very often. But it's very important that you take a stand verbally as well as in your heart. I want you to speak it out right now. I'm going to ask you to just say this. Jesus is with me. Say it again. Jesus is with me. Again. Jesus is with me. Now do you believe he's with you in your trial? Do you believe he's with you now whatever you're going through? If you raise your hands and thank him for it then. God bless you. Raise your hands and thank him. Lord we give you thanks. We give you praise for your faithfulness. Glory be to God. This is the conclusion of the message.