This sermon emphasizes the importance of deepening our relationship with God and running the race of faith with determination and truth. It calls for a commitment to seek God's will, to go deeper into the Word, and to be willing to follow wherever God leads, even into the depths of faith and obedience. The message challenges believers to be prepared to stand firm, to be courageous, and to be willing to sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel, echoing the call to finish the race faithfully.

Praise God. I'm going to begin to preach a series this morning called Finishing the Race. Now, it is my personal viewpoint, so you take that how you will, that we are potentially the last group of people on this earth as we know it that are going to be handed the baton in this race. It's been 2,000 years of people who have known Christ have run this race and they're coming around the corner and we're being handed the baton for the last leg of the race. It's been a long time coming. In some measure, I suppose some are kind of enamored with the crowd, others are just enjoying the sunshine of the day, and the Lord is going to help us to understand how we have to run this to finish the race. First Corinthians 9.24, just let me read it to you. Paul said, Do you not know that they which run in a race run all, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain. Now, Paul is saying that you've got to run this race with determination. And then to Timothy, he says in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 5, he said, If a man also strives for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully. In other words, you can't just run with determination, you have to run this race truthfully. Truth has to be at the core of who we are. Truth has to be the banner. Truth is in a sense the baton that is handed to us. And it is what we're taking with others across this finish line of time as we know it today. Matthew chapter 14, please, if you will. This will be the first in the series of messages on finishing the race. And the title of this one is, If it be thou, bid me come. If it be thou, bid me come. Now, Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you for strength. I thank you, Lord, for your presence. I thank you that you always come and you confirm your word. Thank you, Lord, that you're taking us all on the journey. You'll give me the strength to speak it this morning and all of us the strength to hear it. Put these truths deep in our heart. Help us not, Lord, to cast away our strength. God Almighty, I pray one more time for a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit in New York City. Lord Jesus Christ, you are welcome. Holy Spirit, you are welcome. Not only in this church, but in this city. We welcome you. We stand at the gate and we welcome you to the city. We ask you, O God, to help us run our portion of this race in a manner that would truly bring honor to your name. Thank you for this day. Thank you for this word in Jesus' name. Matthew chapter 14, beginning at verse 22, If it be thou, bid me come. And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him to the other side while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray, and when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit, and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered them and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus' hand, Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? You know, beloved, there's great depth in the Word of God. There's incredible depth in this book. Places where, just like with Daniel, mysteries are solved, the future is unfolded, doubts are overcome, strength is given, and the direction of our lives is unfolded. Many, many great truths lay deep within the pages, places that the casual seeker will never go to and never find. You can't dwell lightly with this book and ever become a man or woman of God with any authority, any power, any weight in this or any other generation. You cannot deal casually with this Word and get away with it. Remember, the Lord Himself said, God, be not deceived. He said, God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that is exactly what he's going to reap. You sow a light, casual journey as it is through the Word of God, you will reap a very light and a very casual and a life with no weight, no substance, no ability to see truth in tragedy, no ability to see Christ in the storm, no ability to walk where ordinary men can't walk. Paul said in Romans 11, 33, O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways are past finding out. Psalm 104 verses 1 and 3, the psalmist says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, O Lord, my God, Thou art very great. Thou art clothed with honor and majesty. And verse 3 says, Who lays the beams of His chambers in the waters. In other words, you exist in the depth where casual, carnal or natural men cannot go. You live in the place that the casual seeker will never find you, will never understand you. The casual seeker of God is like a man in a rowboat, rowing in the vicinity of where the Titanic went down in 1912 and has remained and had remained a mystery for many years. The theological focus of the casual seekers, I think that the treasure is somewhere in this area. I believe that it may look like this today. I imagine that it still speaks thus and thus to us today. And this is what believers, preachers, churches that live on the surface of the scripture are like. They're like people in a rowboat, rowing as it is on the surface of the pages of scripture, unable to see the depth, unable to know the treasure that is down there, unable to really truly learn from the lessons that it teaches, the warnings that it gives, the history that it's willing to speak into the heart, the strength that it's willing to impart to those who take the time to seek God. The truth lies deep beneath this type of person and speaks in a manner that he cannot hear. It was in the year 1985 that the Ballard expedition at great expense and personal effort discovered the resting place of the Titanic, one of the great luxury liners of the modern world of that time. Really, it was a symbol of the pride of the industrial revolution that was beginning and the pride of man, thinking in a sense he could charge his own course, outrace even death itself and get to the destination before him. It was after 73 years of being lost to human sight, it was again seen at a depth of about somewhere between 12,400 and 13,000 feet down. One of the accounts of those who discovered the Titanic reads this way, it says, following much cheering and clapping, reverential silence came over the crew of the ship. It was called the NORR, K-N-O-R-R, that was the discovery ship. In other words, cheering and clapping that after 73 years of searching and the numbers of expeditions, the numbers of passing over the same vicinity, that suddenly the pool cleared as it is. And I don't know if any of you have ever seen the documentary, I think National Geographic has it, it's certainly worth it. When that first camera finally hits and focuses on the bow of that great ship that was once the pride of the Western world, and suddenly there was cheering and clapping followed by a strange and an eerie silence. And Job says it this way, let me just read it to you from chapter 42, then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do everything and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I've uttered things that I didn't understand and things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Here I beseech thee and I will speak and I will demand of thee and declare thou unto me. I've heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Wherefore, I abhor myself and I repent in dust and ashes. And Job was saying, God, I've had so many theories about why circumstances come into the world and come into life. And he and his three friends, the three principal friends and the young man had basically been sitting there with almost endless discussion about spiritual things with very little depth or knowledge. There was a whole realm going on that none of them knew anything about. And Job said, oh God, oh God, forgive me. I've spoken things that I didn't understand. They were too deep for me and I could not know them. But God, now I'm going to ask questions of you and you're going to give me the answers because I have seen you with my own eye and I abhor myself. He said, I abhor my own reasonings. I abhor how I presented you even to these men in my own suffering. I did not present you clearly. I didn't understand the depth of who you are, the depth of the battle that's been going on all around me. And this is a type of really what happened on this particular discovery ship where suddenly those who were there can testify that it's if they could hear suddenly the voices of the past, there was a hauntingness about it. And the one captain said, I don't know if I'll ever get over it. All these years of searching to finally find this incredible lesson, this treasure almost three miles down in the bottom of the ocean. And he was describing something that God has been trying to speak to this generation for almost a hundred years. It was the haunting cry of pride. He said, we could hear the cries in the ocean suddenly. It's as if it was there and we were reliving it. The haunting cry of those who feel that they can chart their own course through this life and somehow get to a successful destination only to find out that they've been deceived by the error of their own heart. And sometimes the assistance of theological reasoning that falls far short of the glory of God. The pleas of the perishing, those who had only perhaps minutes somewhere, perhaps from five to 15 to 20 minutes in freezing cold water, pleading for mercy. And also the courage of those who gave their all for others. There are stories on the Titanic of men who simply gave their place to somebody else. And they reasoned among themselves that many of these men were prepared. The character of God was already in them. Folks, you don't develop character in crisis. In crisis, we'll show what your character really is. There were those who went to church, but they were just sniveling cowards. And they would push widows and orphans aside to procure safety for themselves. And there is also a story of a man who was in the water with a life jacket, swimming from person to person, lifting their heads and saying, do you know the savior? Those who gave their all in the last moments of that time as they knew it. And suddenly these things all come to the surface as we begin to study the word of God. We begin to realize that those who have run before us, they have heard these things. There have been those who have had the courage to give their all for the purpose of Jesus Christ. While much of what we profess today is simply rose around the surface, talking about the weather, courses on how to keep dry on a rainy day, courses on improving your rowing technique, theories, speculations about God, but having so missed his heart. And we live in such a generation, beloved. We live in a generation of light, touching of the word of God, the light is steaming and understanding of what has gone on in the kingdom of God. And yet in his mercy, the Lord is about to put the baton of truth in our hands. And God forbid that we should run this race without truth or without determination. God forbid that you and I should not be prepared to give our all as the Lord calls us to give our all for not just our own sakes, but for the sake of the perishing around us. At the bottom of the ocean, the ship lay in two pieces, and it was a testimony to the ultimate destruction of humanity as it defies God and charts its own course and destination. I believe this was a prophetic moment. This ship, there have been other ships that have sunk through history, but this one has haunted the Western world, folks. There's something about this disaster. I believe the hand of God was in it, warning this Western world, warning this society, this present generation in the last hundred years, that you cannot in the ingenuity of man, you cannot become your own God. You cannot solve your own problems. You cannot get out of your own dilemmas. You cannot make it to the other side in your own strength. You simply cannot be God. There is only one God, and he does not share his glory with another. This ship also speaks to me personally of the broken body of Jesus Christ. It speaks to me about the humility of God. It speaks to me about the last supper when Jesus Christ took the bread and broke it. It was about himself. It was about the brokenness of God. It was about the willingness of God to come down into the world. God, in a human body, walk among us and make a way for us that we might be made right again, reconciled for time and for eternity. I think of the weight of glory that rests upon that divine moment, that anyone trying to approach it in his own strength would be crushed. At the depth that the Titanic rests today, the weight, if you tried to go down there in your own strength without adequate covering, the weight of it is equal to a vehicle, a full-sized automobile pressing on every square inch of your body. That's the way no man, no woman, nobody in their own strength can approach this. It's just like you and I. We cannot approach the holy things of God in our own strength. We cannot fulfill the mandate of God in our own strength. We can't deal casually with the things of God in our own strength. 2 Chronicles 5 13, talking about Solomon's temple, it says, it came to pass as the trumpeters and singers were as one to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord. When they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, they praised the Lord saying, for he is good and for his mercy endures forever. For then the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God. There's a weight where God is, there's a weight of glory, there's a weight that causes that which is unlike him to bend its knee in his presence. There's a weight of God that brings us into the realization, folks, that we will never fulfill this course in our own strength. But when they began to sing, when the realization hits that we have nothing to add to the kingdom of God, that all we can bring to him is a heart that says, I would sure love to see the I would love to walk in these steps. I would love to have you flow through me, Lord Jesus Christ. I would love to be a person of weight in my generation, not a light person. I don't want to be like Lot who actually discovered the truth near the time of destruction and went to his family and nobody would listen to him because he was a light man. He had no weight in his character. He'd never cultivated any kind of a deep or intimate relationship with God. So his own family, it says, they looked upon him and they laughed and they thought it was just simply a joke, but he knew he'd had a visitation of God, but nobody would listen. I don't want to be a light man in my generation. I don't want to have a voice that you can't listen to this morning. The priest could not stand to minister by reason of the glory of the Lord, and they were singing a song. He is good and his mercy endures forever. Now somehow those who are in this house understood a truth that we are ambassadors in the earth of the goodness and mercy of God to all men. In spite of the fact that we don't deserve it, we haven't earned it, we could never get there in our own strength. He remains good and his mercy endures forever. And the awareness of that, I'm not called to present myself, I'm called to walk with Christ and let him present himself through me because he is good and his mercy endures forever. And when they began to sing that song with an understanding of who they were supposed to be in the earth, the glory of the Lord came down, the weight of God. The word of God calls us to weigh the majesty of the cross, to weigh the majesty of the cross, to not deal lightly with what happened on Calvary 2,000 years ago as if we get the gold star for being able to repeat the story. We're not to treat it lightly, we're not to deal with it casually, but to say, Lord, would you take me to the depths of what that means? Would you draw me down to the depths of what it means for me personally? What is it requiring of me? What is the cross calling me to? Didn't you say in your word that I was to take up my cross daily and follow you as well? The word of God calls us to weigh this majesty of the cross and in Christ to follow him to the depths of his commitment and love for a fallen world. That's what the cross speaks to my heart, to be willing, to be willing, to make the determination now before the crisis hits that I'm not going to abandon people to save my own skin. I'm not going to abandon the cross. I'm not going to be a light person in a rowboat, in a sense, rowing away from the crisis to save myself. And there were light people. There were people on that particular ship that literally rowed away from the disaster to save themselves. Cowards. They had been on the boat and perhaps they had made boasts of, some of them were crew members, perhaps they'd made boasts of their knowledge of the sea and their fearlessness of waves and winds and perhaps they were sitting on the deck and making boasts of past exploits and storms they'd come through only to find themselves at the helm. Cowards. Running. One story particularly touches me of a woman who just literally shamed the crew in her boat, said, here we are, we've got, I forget how many, they had maybe just six or eight people in the boat that could have held many more than that. She said, we must go back. We must go back. We have to go back. And folks, there's a time if we refuse to, we have to live with the conscience of the fact that we dropped the baton in the moment that it came to us to show courage for the cause of Jesus Christ. She finally shamed the crewman in the boat. They turned it around. They went back and they only, in the dark, they were only able to pull one person out of the water. One man. They saved him. And they didn't know who it was. They pulled him in the bottom of the boat. They helped him to get warm. And when the sun came up in the morning, she realized, and they all realized that she had gone back and pulled her own husband out of the water. Oh, you don't know what it will mean if you and I have the courage, if you and I have the courage to just form the intent in our heart to say, I'm not going to run no matter what happens, no matter how difficult it gets. I'm not in this world for my own comfort. Yes, we live in comfort today. Many of us. I know that I'm talking about a season that is coming. There's something coming our way folks. It's not, it's not debatable in my heart anymore. There's something coming our way and you and I have to be prepared for it. There's going to be a fear in this society. They're going to be a fear perhaps in our own city and we have to be prepared not to run, but to be here and be given no matter the personal cost. Psalm 102 verse 19 and 20 it says, for he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary from heaven did the Lord behold the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner and to loose those that are appointed to death. He looked down, he looked down from an incalculable height. He looked down into the depths of our despair and he saw our need and he heard our groaning and he came down to the earth and he was given and because he was given you and I have the hope we have today. We can sing the way we sing. We can clap our hands. I know there's a lot of heartache going on here today and a lot of difficulty, but we still can lift our hands. We still can give God glory because he came down to us and as his church he has handed us the baton of that testimony. As my father has sent me Jesus said even so now I send you and so the choice that you and I have is we can live on the surface of an ocean. On the surface we can we can read our five to ten verses every day never go any deeper than memorizing a few scriptures never never letting it search us never crying out like Job and saying God I'm going to ask the questions and I expect you to give me an answer. I want to know the depths of this book and I want to know how it applies to my life. We can live on the surface of this book. I say it with a broken heart but that's where much of today's Christianity has lived. With all of our theories and all of our steps to everything we simply lived on the surface of an ocean. What we can do as Jonah did in the midst of the storm and just say throw me God into the midst of these depths of struggle throw me into the depths of the power of God and his purpose for my life. He was cast as it is into the depths of the storm that was going on in his generation and you and I know the great good that came from his life. They were in a storm. Jesus seemed to be apart from them. It is a type I suppose you could look at it that way of Christ descending back into heaven again. The church being sent to the to cross over to the other side and it's the fourth watch now perhaps it means the last the last perhaps hours of darkness before the coming of the morning and they were toiling and rolling and there was a storm and Jesus came walking to them on the water and the disciples are all in the boat and they they see Christ. He has the power over what threatens them. He has an ability to walk in the midst of the storm that they don't have and Peter looks out and he says Lord if it is you bid me come to thee on the water and he said come. When he began to walk on the water the scripture says he became afraid and he began to sink and there's a there's people here this morning they said pastor I'm afraid to go deep in the bible. I'm afraid of what God will ask of me. Can't I just live on the surface and still get to heaven? I suppose so but why would you be afraid of the depths of Christ? I'm afraid that he's going to call me to Africa. Everybody's always afraid they're going to get called to Africa. Have you ever noticed that? I'm afraid he's going to ask me to do something I can't do. I'm afraid if I go into the depth so so why can't I just stay on the surface? Why can't I just buy books that tell me how I can use this to make myself a better person? To have an easier life, a better testimony, nicer family. Why can't I stay on the surface? Why do I have to go into the depths and Jesus is standing on the water and Peter is looking and I think there are people today that are that are looking and saying God I realize what it could mean for me if I step out. If I ask you to actually take me to the depths of what your plan is for my life. It may mean a lot of change for me. It may mean different things. It may mean that I'm led into the impossible and Peter stepped out and as he began to walk on the water of course he started to sink and he cried out he said Lord save me and immediately the scripture says Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and what it speaks to me is that the call of God will never take you and I where the hand of God cannot sustain us. Never, never take us where God's hand will not sustain us and he said to him oh he said thou of little faith why did you doubt? Why did you doubt that I could keep you? Where did this come from? If I've called you I will keep you. What I've asked you to do you will be able to do. You will be given supernatural power to do things that are not available to the casual seeker of God. There were 11 other people in that boat and only one got out. I don't know if that's the the norm. I don't know if that's the standard but every once in a while in history somebody gets up and gets out. Somebody says Lord if you're calling me I'm going to go. If it's you and it was a clear voice. It's not a supposition. It's not some mystical thing. It was actually the voice of Jesus calling and he knew it was the voice of Jesus calling. All the tremendous good that comes from believers who are willing to go into the of this book and not run from it and let God give us the power to become everything that this book calls us to be and to do what it calls us to do and I don't know what it is for you. It's not always the mission field. I don't know what it is but God knows. You were born for a purpose my friend. There's there is there is a destiny that God put on your life the moment you breathed your first breath wherever it was. It was at home in the hospital right wherever you were born there was a purpose for your life and the Lord drew you to himself and you're here today and now he says my son my daughter I have something more for you than what you've known. I have something deeper for you. I have something more profound more powerful. I have understanding that I want to give you but you have to be willing to go beneath the surface of the book. You have to have a willingness to go deep into the pages of scripture and at the bottom there's an incredible treasure. There's a treasure of learning. There's a treasure of knowledge. Your ears will hear things that ordinary men don't hear. Your eyes will learn what ordinary men don't learn. It will be amazing what you begin to see as you go into the depths of this book and you won't come out with fear you'll come out with faith. Praise God. I can't tell you what that is in your life. I don't know what it is. I could tell you what God was doing in my life. I can tell you that he's he's stirring my heart about this very thing that I'm preaching to you because he knows the future in this city. I don't but I can't tell you as much as I know is a willingness this might be the end of my journey but I pray God that I can run across that finish line with you and we can have that baton of truth in our hand and we will not vacate our time our season when we are called not to be cowards but to stand and run this race with determination and to run it truthfully in our generation. I do see a time when people are going to be running for fear in the streets again and you and I are called there has to be a testimony in the city now I know it will not be possible for everybody I understand that but there will be some of us here and we have to be prepared. Settle the issue in your heart now go deep you you will not get deaf that's why in Matthew I believe it's 25 we talked about at the coming of Christ there are there are wise people and there are foolish people the foolish didn't take any oil there's no there's no depth there's no light there's nothing of substance there that can give light in the dark in time get into the book folks get into this bible read it prayerfully and let it read you and stop and meditate on verses and say Lord is is this a word to me is this what you would have me to do and to move on I pray with an open bible many times I just I'll stop and I'll meditate and go back and read it again and read it again and read it again and read it again until it becomes part of me until it's lodged in my spirit until it becomes part of my thinking there's incredible depth there's incredible strength in the word of God when the children of Israel were called by Moses to prepare for the Passover when they were about to be released from Egypt and on that journey to the place of promise they were called to get inside of their homes to get a lamb to begin to eat that lamb and they would eat all of the lamb and they were to eat the bitter with the sweet they were consumed because that was a type of Christ in our generation we're called to eat everything the things we like and the things we don't like the things that make us comfortable and the things that make us cringe and folks I'm telling you I feel in my heart we're going to run this race I just do I feel I'm not talking to a church full of cowards we're going to run this race folks we're going to do it right we're going to do it God's way we're going to finish it God's way we're going to go out of this world untriumphed over and unashamed thanks be to God thanks be to God thanks be to God thanks be to God praise the Lord if it be thou bid me come those are phenomenal words we we we know that Peter had cowardice in him because even later in the New Testament he had a fear of the Jews that would cause him to do things that he would later have to be reproved for there was a measure in him as there is in all of us but the Spirit of God because he was a man of truth ultimately who would make these steps came upon him and carried him through to the end I mean could you imagine if he had stepped out of the boat and Jesus had reached out his hand said well done it's a great first few steps now you're going to be crucified upside down you know that don't you he had no idea where that was going to take him those first few steps and you don't know and I don't know where those first few steps are going to take us but I can say this if Christ is calling I want to go if it be thou bid me come every time I get an invitation somewhere I don't go very many places to speak and I don't care if it's 50,000 or five people it doesn't the numbers don't matter to me anymore but every time I get an invitation I put my hand out on my desk and I say if it be thou bid me come Lord I don't want to be anywhere you don't want me to be and I want to be everywhere you want me to be if it be thou bid me come if it be thou oh God if it be thou and folks that's where it all begins that's where it all starts and it has to start today it's sometimes tomorrow is too late you train for a race and you have to train now you have to you can't just pick up a baton out of the crowd and run in the olympics it doesn't work that way you have to train for the race you have to have a determination to run the race you have to run it like you're the only one that's going to get the prize and you have to run it lawfully according to the word of God praise be to God I want to give an altar call this morning and it's very simple Lord if it be thou bid me come if you are calling me Lord now he can be calling you out of something or he can be calling you into something but I know that we're never standing still as the church of Jesus Christ if it be thou let me not be afraid of the depths of this book let me not be afraid of its pages I'm coming Lord to dwell in the depth of the pages of this book I'm not going to live on the surface any longer folks there's no life there anyway there's no strength there's no power there and it won't get you through the crisis of life that all have to face eventually if it be thou Lord if it be thou bid me come that moment when God calls your name says come to me I have something for you there's a way that your life is going to glorify me if you'd like to just make that profession today now I know in some cases it's a calling out of something because you have to come out before you come in and in other cases it's a willingness to say Lord I don't really know what you have for my life but I'm going to go deep into this book and as you speak to me I'm going to go with you if that's simply your heart I'm going to ask you to just join me at the front of the sanctuary as we stand together today please let's stand balcony you can go to either exit main sanctuary just slip out of where you are annex if you would stand between the screens please if you will and we'll pray Lord if it be thou if it be thou bid me come some of you already know what he's been calling you to do it's been there for years bid me come Lord Jesus bid me come so character is not formed in crisis it's formed before crisis and this is the issue of depth there has to be a depth in our character and so the Lord at this point in your life might be calling to honesty telling the truth dealing in honesty if you're in business might be calling you to as a husband be given as Christ was for the church to be given for your wife and for your children might be calling you to live a holy life in front of your family according to the word of God you might be calling you to see the this word character begins that's where this message I preach today starts because this is where you and I will have the strength to stand in the coming days and so the initial bidding of the Holy Spirit can be to just small issues of character and when difficulty does come that's where you'll find out that you're stronger than you have thought you were there'll be something deeper formed in you and then ultimately it's to be able to put others before yourself and I think of the churchgoers and how there was an immediate split when that became evident the ship was going down some running for lifeboats and others saying after you after you please this way and realistically that kind of character was formed before the disaster and so I encourage I've asked pastor Patrick to come and whatever the Lord is speaking to you whatever he's calling you to do do that start at the beginning train for this race run it diligently run it lawfully you'd be amazed the strength God will give you be amazed at how you'll be able to stand in the coming days hands to God today all over this house in the annex as well and God wants to hear your voice you begin to talk to him you know what he's dealing with you about today just begin to pour out your heart to him just take two three minutes just begin to pour out your heart to God in response to him open your mouth just open your mouth just begin to talk to him father we call out to you today we thank you for the invitation Lord the invitation into the fullness of Christ but it's a high calling that you've placed on all our lives we don't take it lightly we lift our voices to you today we lift our hearts to you today we yield to you today oh God with all our hearts with all our hearts holding nothing back holding nothing back God we cry out to you today God we cry out to you today God we yield to you today we ask that you would touch every area of our lives we want no part dark no part dark nothing hidden oh God in the light everything in the light God nothing of shame Lord nothing to be ashamed about Lord nothing done in the dark we want to deal in truth we thank you for the spirit of truth let him reign in every area of our lives we give you permission God to touch everything to take everything oh God take everything but give us Jesus give us Jesus more of you we ask that you would increase and that we would decrease Lord we ask that you would be glorified wherever you are Lord wherever you send us wherever you've planted us cause us to blossom cause us to bear fruit Holy Spirit cause us to bear fruit to the glory of God to the furtherance of your kingdom we cast the devil out today we take authority over every work of darkness over every power of hell we serve notice on the enemy you have no place here you have no place here no room there's no room for you in our lives we're living for Jesus we're going with God Lord let your will be done in our lives let your plan be accomplished God let your calling be fulfilled God I pray for the grace of my son I pray for the grace to be the husband that you've called me to be oh God God I pray for the grace to be the son you've called me to be to my parents Lord the sibling you've called me to be to my brother oh God the light you've called me to be in my community Jesus be magnified be glorified I pray for our sensitivity in this last hour of time oh God Lord to minister to those round about me oh God I thank you that we're all called to be ministers Jesus oh God flow through us Holy Spirit flow through us flow through us to this generation give us souls God give us souls give us souls God we want to see you exalted we want to see you glorified oh God deliver us Lord I pray for deliverance from selfishness I pray for deliverance oh God from fear deliverance oh God today Lord from being self-abdorbed oh God help help Lord I pray for help Lord to be in the fields with my father to be in the fields with our heavenly father oh God laboring with you God let your life flow through us touch this generation touch this generation touch this generation oh God we thank you for the power to heal we thank you for the power to bring deliverance we thank you for the power to bring hope we thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit Lord to cast out the devil Lord in the lives of those that you put in our pads we thank you for the anointing that still breaks every oak oh God thank you for the anointing that still sets the captives free we receive an anointing today we receive a fresh touch today We receive a fresh touch from your presence today. Oh God a fresh touch Oh God today a renewed calling a renewed passion. Oh God Lord, we pray for a renewed hunger for the Word of God a renewed hunger for your word a thirst for your presence That we would not be able to get enough. Oh God I pray for the grace to turn off the radio to turn off the Television the grace to turn off every voice to get off the phone God a grace to get off the internet to get off our computers our cell phones God in an ability to spend time with you like never before That we would be found sitting at your feet deliver us from that Martha syndrome. We don't want to be covered about Oh God Lord deliver us from being covered about Oh God Help us to sit at your feet like Mary Oh God to receive that which will not be taken from us that which is eternal That which is of lasting value Lord in the economy of God in the economy of God We honor you today God, and we believe you and we receive you today. We say yes to you Lord Yes to your will yes to your way God our children Lord our children are going with us We plead Oh God even for our children that we might be the parents the examples You've called us to be to this generation. Oh God Lord we ask that you would give them to us. Oh God, let them follow us Lord into the fullness of Christ God We want to be able to say follow us as we follow Christ God we thank you that you will fulfill this calling on our lives You will do with us what we cannot do in ourselves Lord as we lean on you as we look to you as we depend on you every day God it will be careful to give you the glory and the honor and the praise in the strong name of Jesus Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah Would you just grab the hand of the person beside you please Lord God Father in Jesus name We lift each other up before you Lord Not only do we ask strength for ourselves, but for our brothers and sisters in Christ God give us strength or give us strength Give us courage Lord Give us the power of God and the heart that you have for the lost Give us the ability to reach them Lord put words in their mouths. Oh God compassion in our heart Look through our eyes. Oh Jesus Speak through our mouths. Oh God touch through our hands Lord, we lift up our brothers and sisters. We're not willing to run this race alone We're running it together to the end Lord God Almighty help us to be mindful of each other and to pick each other up along the way Oh God to give each other words of strength the father. We thank you for this God. We praise you Lord We praise you and bless you that we're going to finish this in victory Lord. It's going to be a victory race God Hallelujah, we'll do a victory lap around the throne of Almighty God. We bless you for this Jesus We thank you for strength and power and might hallelujah to the Lamb of God Thank you, Lord. Jesus. Thank you mighty God. Thank you mighty God. Thank you Lord. Thank you, Jesus Hallelujah Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord, thank you God, thank you God for being our strength hallelujah Hallelujah hallelujah Praise be to God praise be to God praise be to God Praise be to God. Bless the holy name of Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for strength and power. Thank you, God. Thank you, Lord. Thank you that they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Thank you, Jesus.