This sermon emphasizes the importance of moving beyond personal comfort zones to reach out to those in need, trusting in God's provision and being willing vessels for His work. It highlights the need for spiritual authority, compassion, and obedience to God's leading in confronting the darkness and bringing life to a dead generation.

The Holy Spirit has put on our heart tonight this format. He's given me a message for you this evening, which I believe to be prophetic. He gave it to me in prayer this morning. I'm going to be sharing this message and it'll be broken into three parts. At the end of the first part, we'll have somebody come and pray. At the end of the second, somebody will be praying. And the same at the third, then we may go to psalm at some point. We don't really have an agenda other than to let the Holy Spirit guide us in prayer. Would you pray with me, please, before we go to the scripture? Father, I thank you, God, with all my heart for your word. I thank you, Lord, that you are speaking to us if we want to hear you. And God Almighty, if ever I've wanted to hear you, Lord, in my life, I want to hear you now. I want to know what you're speaking, God. I want to know it for your namesake, for the testimony of Christ in the earth, for your church's sake, God. For my own heart's sake, Lord, I'm asking God for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Please, mighty God, take me beyond the frailty of this human body. Expand my heart and mind, Lord. Quicken me that I may bring this word in a manner, Lord, that truly honors your name. Thank you, God, for the anointing. Thank you for the thoughts, Lord. God, it has to be your thoughts from this passage of scripture, and I'm yielding my life as a vessel into your hands, that you can speak to this congregation tonight. I thank you for it, God, with all my heart. In Jesus' name. Now, if you go in the Old Testament to 1 Kings chapter 17, the title of this message is, When Wells Dry Up and Birds Fly Away. Strange title, I know. And some of you are saying right now, he's preaching my life. When Wells Dry Up and Birds Fly Away. Now, we're talking in this chapter about the prophet Elijah. The journey of Elijah from a man who knew God and was called by God at a specific point in history. The journey that the Lord took him on, or at least a portion of that journey that we have revealed in scripture, to the point where he can be used of God to confront an entire false system of religion that had gripped the heritage of Jesus Christ at that time. And the scripture, of course, says in the last days that that spirit of Elijah, which I believe will come upon many. I feel in my heart, I have for years now, that this will come upon the house of God and many in the house of God. And there will be this anointing to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children and the children back to the fathers. In other words, the compassion of Christ will come back in and the work of Christ will be made clear again in the last moments of time. And folks, you and I will begin to understand it's all about people. It's not about ourselves. Really, in reality, the Christian life is about others. Now, in chapter 17, verse 1, scripture says, Now, this was a confrontation with Baalism. Baalism was the Canaanite religion of that particular time. And Baalism was a religion that was very sensual because it was focused on itself. And any time a religion focuses on itself, it will become sensual. There was a huge root of immorality that traveled with this particular concept of God, just as has happened in our day. They believed that Baal caused the rain and that the rain caused the crops to grow and the crops filled their cupboards. So really, Baal was the God, in a sense, of prosperity. And in order for God to confront this, he had to stop the rain to prove that he is God. Baal is not God. Prosperity is not God. You must not worship prosperity. You and I must worship God. It was a confrontation with Baalism. Now, the word of the Lord came to him. Now, when the Lord said to Elijah, the rain is going to stop, it's a type of our generation when God says, I'm going to bankrupt the country. I'm going to take away your commerce. You have worshipped materialism. You have worshipped money. You have fallen into the trap of covetousness. And many, many, many of God's people are in this trap in our generation. Fallen prey to prophets of Baal who teach the people that godliness is a means to financial gain. Paul says in 1 Timothy 6 that they who teach these things are completely bankrupt of an understanding of God. It's right there. It's in plain writing. It doesn't even require an interpretation. It's clearly there. You'll also find it in 2 Peter 2. Very, very clearly defined that this is a reprobate approach to God. Now, when we seek God with all our heart, when we seek to do the work of God and the will of God, he says, I will provide everything you need. So, I'm not advocating poverty as holiness. Don't misunderstand me. It's not holy to be poor. And neither is it unholy, of course, to be poor. The rain. When God took away the rain, that meant Elijah had to go through the drought. Just like everybody else. And if God is going to get a hold of this generation that we're living in now, the one way he's going to do it is he's going to shut off the tap of financial supply. And when he shuts the tap of financial supply down, you and I have to go through the drought just like everybody else. But you and I are in a place where God will provide for us. He will provide your needs. He will provide my needs. There comes a point in our lives when we simply have to believe this. We simply have to say, God, your word is right. It is true. You did say, if I seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these things will be provided for me. You did say very clearly through the psalmist David, you said, I've been young and old, I've never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed baking bread. David will never have to retract that statement. It was penned by the Holy Ghost in the word of God. It is the truth. God will provide for his own people. Now, we may not be driving exactly the kind of car we think we should be driving, but we'll be moving with something under our feet anyway, for sure. The church will be secure in difficult times. You go on in these verses. Now, the drought has come. Now, and the word of the Lord came to him, just as I'm speaking to you tonight, in verse 2 and 3, it says, Get thee hence and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook, and I've commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening. And he drank of the brook. Now, you and I would say, well, that's not so bad. I mean, that's an awesome place to be. The land is in drought. God is going after the prophets of Baal and Baalism that's really fully infused itself into the theological thinking of the people of that time. And in order to get at it, he's got to bring this famine into the nation. And Elijah, like you and I, is the type of a person like us. You're laying beside this wonderful brook. David the Psalmist, remember, said, he leads me beside the still waters. You're opening the Bible every morning, and everyone around you is in distress. But you have this cool water. Anytime you want it, you open it, and there's just a verse for you. There's life for you, and the word of God is alive. And I thank God for those seasons. I've had seasons in my life where I just can't get enough of the word. And passages are just jumping at me off of the pages with understanding that I know is coming from the Holy Spirit that I don't naturally possess. And those are marvelous times. They're wonderful times. I've also had times where I've opened this book, and I might as well be reading the Yellow Pages as reading the Bible. Not getting anything. Nothing is coming out of the pages. The Psalms don't mean anything. Nothing is sparking my heart. I feel just as dead coming out of the word as when I went in. We all have seasons like that. They come into our lives. And the Lord said, I've commanded the ravens. Now imagine this prophet of God, he's laying beside this cool stream, and he can take a drink whenever he wants. Now everyone else is scurrying into the field. They're starving. There are no crops. There's calamity coming. People are losing their jobs as that would be at that time. There's fear everywhere. And this prophet of God, this is so good, devotions every morning. And supernatural provision is coming. And it's an awesome thing to see supernatural provision. I've lived to see this, folks. When I first went into ministry, we had 17 people in our house one winter. And my electric bill was more than my wage. And I remember the groceries just came. I remember a farmer knocking on the door one day and said, the Lord has spoken in my heart. He's a Christian farmer. He said, I'm to fill your freezer with beef. And the moment it starts getting, and he said, not ordinary beef. It's to be the fillet. It's to be the younger calf. And this was very specific. And he said, and when it gets down close to the bottom, you call me and I'll fill it again. I've lived there. I've had the ravens come to my door. I've known that. We've lived this. We've seen it. And it's an awesome place. Can you imagine Elijah lying by that river at the end of the day? Is it roast rabbit? Did they catch a fowl in the field? It certainly wouldn't be a cow or anything because they're not strong enough. But it'd be something that the ravens could carry. And it says they've got bread and they've got meat. And they're bringing this and they're probably landing and handing it to him. Thank you very much. And he's got another cool sip of water. This is not bad at all. Can you imagine for Elijah? And you and I, we can get to the place and say, well, this is not that bad. I mean, we are in a financial crisis, but I'm getting through. I'm not living in the lap of luxury, but I have cold water from the Scriptures. I have hope and I have provision coming. And I do acknowledge some of it is supernatural. It's just coming from the hand of God. And obviously there are vessels that bring it. I mean, you use birds to bring it, but I am getting fed by God. And so, you know, you and I would say, well, this is terrific. I mean, what a great place. I hope it works out well for the nation. I hope the people really end up turning to God. I wonder if at some point he thought, well, I'm just going to ride out the storm here. I'm going to stay here. If this thing lasts for three and a half years or whatever it lasts, I'm just going to be here. And this is my lot. And you and I can get to feel that way. And verse 7, though, comes along in everyone's life and it says, it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. And I've also added, and most likely the birds flew away. And suddenly you're in this place of saying, God, what are you doing? I thought you were going to feed me here. I thought you were going to comfort me. I'm opening the word and nothing is coming off the pages. I'm hungry. Lord, why is this happening to me? And I know I'm speaking to somebody today. I know this is a prophetic word. There's some people here tonight saying, I don't get it. Suddenly it's like the tap is turned off. Suddenly I put my cup in and I'm hitting dust. Suddenly birds are just flying by. They're not stopping. And it seems like the provision that I was enjoying is drying up. And why is this happening? And that thought, you know, folks, we're not prone to leaving where we are, spiritually speaking, unless God motivates us to go deeper. The Lord had to bring this situation. He had to shut the water supply. Most likely the birds stopped coming in measure. And finally, this man of God, because he's an honest man of God, like a true Christianist, says, Lord, what are you trying to speak to my heart? And the word of the Lord, verse 8, came to him saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman to sustain thee. Now, you and I know this widow didn't have anything. This widow, when Elijah arrives, she's got nothing. She doesn't even have faith. She's going out into the field. She said, I've got a handful of cereal, literally, left. And I'm going out to get two sticks to make a little fire. And my son and I are going to eat this and we're going to die. And this is the woman that's commanded to sustain him. And so, obviously, it's not anything she has that's going to sustain Elijah. I want to suggest to you that the sustenance, God is saying to Elijah, as he's saying to the church, I have opened the widow's heart to you. I've opened her heart. I've opened her home. I've commanded her to receive you. And as you reach out to the widow, you're going to be sustained. As you move out from where you are and you go to those who are going to be in extreme poverty and you come to them with the word of the Lord and you come to them with the kindness of God and you come to them with the commitment of God to their souls, it's not the widow that's going to sustain you, but you're going to be sustained as you reach out to the widow and her son. And I do believe that's the prophetic word that God has given me for his church at this moment in time. We're going into a famine. We're going into a drought. And things that once brought you comfort, the security you felt you may have had is going to start to, in measure, dissipate. And the Lord is saying, now I've opened the widow's heart. This famine has opened her heart. I've opened the homes of the poor. They're willing to receive you. I've commanded her to sustain you. But not that she gives it to you, but as you go to her, the provision of God will begin to flow. The word of God will come alive as you reach out to the widow, as you and I go to the poorest of the poor, and we find those that are fatherless and have no helper, and we become the extended hands of God to them. It's the reaching out to the widow that will sustain us. God says, I'll sustain you. I'll keep you, but you're not to lay by the river. You're not just to go to the mailbox every day and hope for supernatural provision. I have a deeper way to do this. I'm sending you to the poor. I'm sending you to those that have no helper. I'm sending you to those who are crying out, and nobody but me really hears them. And they've cried out and said, please, we're starving to death. Is there anybody out there that can help us? Our hearts are open. Our homes are open. The Lord says, I've commanded her. I've caused her heart to open, and you're going to find the door wide open to the poorest of the poor, the struggling, the afflicted, the addicted, the oppressed are going to open their hearts and homes to you. The village was called Yerphath, and he came to the gate of the city, verse 10, and behold, the widow woman was there gathering sticks. And he called her and said, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water and a vessel that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God lives, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal, and a barrel, and a little oil, and a vessel, or a cruise. And behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in to dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die." And Elijah said to her, Fear not, go and do as you have said, but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it to me, and after that make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruise of oil fail until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, and she and he and her house did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruise of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Elijah. Now he went to her and he taught her the true principles of provision. He taught this lady, If you want to know how to tap into the provision of God, you take the little you have, and you begin to give to somebody else. You start giving to somebody else, and as you give to others, even in your own time of need, God promises to be a never-ending source of supply. Praise be to God. That's the principle of God's provision. You take what you have, the little you have, and you give some to somebody else. You look out away from yourself, you look to others. And Elijah was able to teach her this principle, and because he obeyed it, and gave first to the stranger that came to her door, God Almighty came into that house, and supernatural provision came. And Elijah was taken to a deeper place in God. And I do believe the Lord wants to take his church to a deeper place in God. It's a more powerful place than just laying beside a river and drinking to ourselves and eating to ourselves, even if the supply is supernatural. It's going to these places and saying, I'm going to teach you now. I've learned that God is my supply. He has taught me that. It's deep in my heart, but let me now teach you how to get the provision of God. Let me come into your situation. Let me be part of your poverty. And as the word of God comes to you, you're going to see this incredible provision of God. Folks, we're going to live in miracles. We're going to live in New York City in times of the miraculous. We're going to live as people begin to take the little they have and the windows of heaven start opening. We're going to understand what true prosperity is all about. It's not to accumulate things to ourselves. It's though that we may have something, this never ending supply may be given to us so that it might be in turn channeled and measured to others and feed those that are hungry and clothe those that are naked. Then we may visit those that are in prison, give help to those that have no helper, that we may reach out in the power of God in this time. Folks, if ever there was a time not to draw back, it's now. If ever there was a time to reach out, it's now. The worse it gets, the more you and I should be moving into this mountain of poverty and human misery all around us. Glory to God. Oh, I tell you, we'll come to the house of the Lord and you talk about worship in this house. You talk about praise. You talk about testimonies. When people be able to turn to their neighbor and say, I've got to tell you what God did this week. I've got to tell you how he provided for me and my neighbor and my neighbor's friend and my neighbor's friend's family. I've got to tell you what God has done. Let's stand. Pastor Neil's going to lead us in prayer along these lines tonight. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Raise your hands towards heaven, folks. Remember every voice counts. You begin praying for neighbors. Begin praying for family members that are unsafe. Begin praying right now. Father, we thank you tonight that you are speaking a prophetic word to us. God, you're speaking and we're hearing. We're hearing by the Spirit of God. Lord, for so long we know that we have been fed supernaturally by the ravens. We know that we have been well-watered, Lord, by the Holy Spirit. We know that you have taken care of us. Lord, we have known this watering. We have known this feeding that has come to us. Lord, we are hearing a word tonight by the power of your Holy Spirit. And we pray, oh mighty God, let the scales begin to drop from our eyes. Lord, let us begin to see those that the word of God is speaking to us. You have made a command. And Lord, tonight I pray with all of my heart that scales begin to fall from our eyes. That we begin to see those that you are sending us to. Lord, I pray right now for every person in this house that we begin to see those neighbors that we have long disdained. We begin to see those that we've co-labored with, long disdained. Lord, it's those people that are after other things, but God, this night I pray that scales begin to fall from our eyes. Oh Holy Spirit, you said that when we give to the poor, we lend to the Lord. He that considers the ways of the poor, Lord, he himself will be absolutely enabled by God. You will bring him through victory after victory. Oh God, tonight I think of all the churches. I think of those pastors right now who have gone after the things of prosperity, who have gone after wrong doctrine. We are in the perfect storm. Lord, we are coming into such tumultuous times. God, I see such dark days ahead of us where pastors are so distraught, where these churches are so, Lord, distraught. They don't know where to go. They've come to the place that we're about to close the doors. We're about to die. The things that they've been lending to God have not been a provision, that have not been a provision for them at all. But God, the days are coming where they've been saying in their heart, we are closing the doors. We are dying. But Lord, there's a word. There's a word coming from heaven to them. Oh mighty God, I pray that there are going to be many, many who will just say, that's a word. They'll take this, Lord, from your hand. And as they begin to again give, give, give, and not take, Lord, I pray tonight that there will be many churches begin to know the resurrection power of Jesus. I pray for those pastors. I pray for those churches. I pray for those neighbors. I pray for those family members that God have been so, taken along the wrong path. But God, tonight, you're giving us a word, you're giving us a prophetic path to walk on. And I know, Lord, give us the wings of an eagle. Give us the wings of an eagle now. Send us, Lord. Send us into these places. Give us a heart of obedience. Oh mighty God, mighty God, mighty God, oh Jesus, in the dark days ahead, in the dark days that are coming upon us, Lord, I see miracles taking place. Oh beloved, tonight, see miracles begin happening. The blind are about to see, the deaf are about to hear, the lame are about to walk. Oh mighty God, mighty God. Hallelujah. Oh God, oh God, send us, send us. Lord, you said to David, David said, is there not a cause? There is a cause and I thank you tonight as a congregation. Lord, as a people, we are ready to go. We're ready to go to the poor. Give us eyes to see them. Show us the widow. Show us those, Lord, that are needing the touch of God. Hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. God, you're about to do miracles. Father, I pray, give us faith tonight. Let faith arise in our hearts. Let faith arise in our hearts. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. God, I thank you right now. Family members are going to get saved. Lord, there are going to be deliverances in our neighborhoods. They're happening. Lord, as we pray, they're happening right now by faith. Lord, that neighbor that is so hard is going to be so converted. They're going to be leaping and jumping and praising God. Hallelujah. Lord, I especially again pray for the pastors that you are going to reach to them, those that are about to die. But Lord, those churches, those doors will not shut. They will not shut. You will shut them to the wrong gospel, but you're going to do a supernatural work. Oh, beloved, I see an army of pastors rising up. I see an army of churches rising up with the true anointing of God one more time, with the true faith of God one more time, with the true power of God one more time, in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. If you believe God's going to do miracles for you, give God a shout of praise tonight. Give God a shout of praise. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Now, remember we're talking about a man, Elijah, as a church type, of how God takes a person from the moment they first heard his word to a place where your life is a confrontation against a system that is falsely representing Christ. Or let's put it this way, where you're actually standing and God can come down with glory and say, this is my church. Because his fire came on that altar eventually and bore witness to that which was his. And I don't know about you, but I want the fire of the Holy Ghost in my life more than I ever have at any time in history. And I recognize that without the Holy Spirit, we'll never win this battle. We'll never really fully affect our society the way that God wants it to be affected. Without the power of the Holy Spirit. So remember, dryness is not the devil attacking you. This dryness can come into your life because God says, I want to move you to something of my life that is deeper than where you are right now. You're comfortable and focused in a sense on your own provision, but I'm moving you from that. And I'm moving you into other people's lives. And I'm going to make you an ambassador of my goodness to them. And Elijah didn't have anything but the word of God. And it doesn't mean you have to have a wagon load of things when you visit. You have God's word. And you say, here's how you get the supply. You give your first little bit for others and you trust God to open the windows of heaven. And you become part of that person's situation. It doesn't mean you have to change countries, cities, or towns. It just means the person you need to minister to very well might be next door. And if it's not now, it won't be long. There will be people in your area that need help. We're talking about a man that's taken from place to place and given exceedingly the presence and the power of God to make a difference in his generation. And now, it came to pass, verse 17, after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick and his sickness was so sore there was no breath left in him. She said to Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance and to slay my son? And he said to her, Give me your son. And he took him out of her bosom and carried him up into a loft where he abode and laid him on his own bed. And he cried unto the Lord and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourned by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried unto the Lord and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah and the soul of the child came into him again and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth. She began to suspect he represented God when provision came into the house but when her son was raised from the dead she knew. And you remember in the book of Isaiah it says if you reach out to the afflicted soul if you do not hide from your own flesh he said, then you call to me and I will say here I am. And Elijah moving from this brook moving from this place of personal comfort into the necessity of other people becoming part of their situation is in this widow's house and her son dies. And folks, if you and I are going to have any influence in this generation of young people we've got to be involved now in people's lives. We've got to be moving into the poverty around us in the power of the Holy Ghost and in obedience to God and when we have this promise that we'll be given spiritual authority and when we cry God will hear. This kid was dead and we're living in a generation where young people are spiritually dead not all but many, as a matter of fact most. Not only dead angry, not only angry violent not only violent having lost all moral moorings completely darkened to the life of God like this widow's son. How many single mothers in New York City are crying out now? God are you out there? Do you have anybody that can help? My children are going in every direction and if they don't stop the ones that aren't in jail are going to end up in jail and my sons and daughters are turning violent I can hear the cry multiplied hundreds and hundreds of times throughout the city and it's as if we're in that situation where the scripture says in Ezekiel the Lord looked for a man to stand in the gap a man or woman to stand in that gap and stop the events of this death and stop this plague I want to suggest to you that it's a man or woman who's moved into this mountain of human misery and is bringing this life of God and is bringing a heartfelt commitment of God into fallen society that God says now you call up to me and I'll hear you you ask me for spiritual authority and I'll give it to you I'll put words in your mouth and when these kids come in contact with you they're going to live we need spiritual authority again we're not going to win the argument by throwing a tract in some kid's hand folks we need spiritual authority we need to be able to stand in the power of our God we need to be able to speak life into death I've told Pastor Patrick these young kids that are coming in at this altar there's no time to counsel now you're never going to counsel the kids out of the pain and hurt that they've experienced they need an encounter with the living God they need to meet with God there have to be men and women of authority spiritual authority to speak on them just the same way that God spoke into the darkness in the beginning and said let there be light we're at that time in history, there's no more time for games there's no sweet formulas that are going to change this situation we're in now, these kids are dead we have to have men and women of God who have moved away from this brook of ease moved away from the focus on self they're moving now into the mountain of human need and God says when you do, when you no longer hide from your own flesh when you call out to me I'll say here I am I'll be the glory behind you I'll be the path in front of you and I'll cause you to raise up another generation and you will be called the restorer, the repairer of the breach and the restorer of paths to dwell in I believe this with all my heart I believe it with everything in my being I believe the true church of Jesus Christ will be given the authority to speak into the mouth of hell itself and say let these people go let this generation go we are going to make a difference in this generation and it's not just going to be a few superstar preachers as God's going to raise up, it's going to be you that God's going to use, it's going to be you in your neighborhood it's going to be you on your job, it's going to be you and your family as you begin to simply just reach out to human need the Lord said you call and I'm going to say here I am I'm going to come and when I come there's life when I come prison doors open, when I come blinded I see when I come wounded hearts get healed when I come devils flee let's stand please Pastor Patrick is going to lead us in prayer hallelujah, hallelujah folks you know your voice counts tonight God is wanting to give this church age the young people of this generation he's wanting to give the church it's not just one person, this is not about the youth department this is about the church of Jesus Christ advancing and taking ground back from the enemy we're talking about the schools, we're talking about the youth prisons we're talking about communities, we're talking about drug dens we're talking about arcades, we're talking about movie theaters we're talking about God gaining ground through your life and mine through his church advancing and taking back the spoils from the enemy tonight, amen so let's lift our voices, lift your voices for your family members nieces, nephews, schools in your community schools around your job, just lift your voice tonight take 2-3 minutes, just lift your voice to God lift your voice to God tonight, hallelujah hallelujah, Father we come before you tonight we come before you, we lift our voices in faith Lord because we have heard your word you said faith comes by hearing hearing by the word of God Father tonight we lift our voices to you we cry out to you because we know that you are still the God of miracles a God who does the impossible Lord tonight we heard your word, we heard oh God, that Elijah Lord he laid down his life, he laid down upon the child Lord three times he laid down his life oh God he laid upon the child and the child lived oh God, tonight we lay our lives on the altar we lay our lives on the altar tonight and we say oh God would you use us would you flow through us as your church would you flow through us and take back the prisons, take back the schools take back our communities take back the arcades and the pizzerias and the movie theaters would you take back this MTV generation Lord this BET generation this hip hop generation would you take back the drug dealers in our communities would you take back, oh God, the youth bands the rock bands, Lord the hip hop groups would you take back these young people in our generation we pray for the musicians we pray oh God for the prostitutes for the young girls that are selling themselves tonight we pray would you use us we humble ourselves we repent we cry out deliver us from self-indulgence self-consumption a life of ease deliver us we want to be used by you fill us oh God, flow through us flow through us like an Ezekiel God these young people are without hope these bones seem very dry, they're dead but you are still the God who can breathe on the dead and cause them to live come oh God Holy Spirit come come from the far winds and breathe on our schools breathe on our youth prisons breathe on our communities breathe on our young people we pray tonight for every young person in the house of God that you would fill them with the Holy Ghost and power send them forth from this church with authority an authority that can only come from heaven as they go back to their schools God we believe in you that you will shake the foundations of hell that you will cause every stronghold God to give up and spoil tonight to give up and spoil in the coming days oh God we cry out we cry out tonight we cry out in faith we cry out believing we have heard your word and God we are laying hold of that word tonight God we are laying hold of that word tonight we are laying hold of that word tonight we are laying hold of the word we are laying hold of the authority you've given us we are rising oh God we are rising we are rising as your church oh God you've given us weapons of warfare that are not carnal but mighty through you to pulling down these strongholds you've given us everything we need Father we exercise the authority you've given us we exercise it over our families we exercise it over our nieces and our nephews we exercise it over our sons and our daughters we exercise it over our sons and our daughters Father in the name of Jesus we command hell we command the devil we command the strong man to give up his goods Father we pray for our young people we pray for every college student in this church and in the churches that have joined us to pray in your church at large we pray for every high schooler every junior high schooler God that you would fill them, fill them with the Holy Ghost breathe on them oh God breathe on them give them a boldness that can only come from you Father we thank you you said those that thirst and hunger would be filled oh God we hunger oh God we thirst I pray for those that feel dry tonight I pray for a fresh touch from heaven I pray that the river would flow you said if any man you said let him come unto me and drink Father we drink tonight we drink your promises we drink your word we receive the Holy Ghost we receive tonight we receive a fresh unfilling a fresh touch folks now give him praise tonight give him praise tonight we give you glory we give you honor you inhabit the praises of your people hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah Lord like they praised around Jericho we praise you we believe the walls are coming down we believe you tonight Father we do thank you that you are moving us Lord to this place we thank you Lord that you have are drawing up brooks of satisfaction or even wanting a spiritual high and Lord we look to you alone Lord to be able to move us to this place Lord of being disturbed in our beds of being disturbed our lives being disturbed and willing Lord to have our eyes open to see even one oh God that we could pray for and step out I thank you Lord that you promise Lord that there is a river of mercy and miracles flowing through this city and that Lord we are being moved by your spirit from beds a river of ease Lord and spiritual feasting and we thank you for it it was necessary for we found Lord that you meet the need of our soul when we turn to you but this dryness Lord and this unwillingness we stand against the enemy for we understand Lord that it is you taking us into places Lord to really take this dead generation and death wherever we may find it and know Lord that it will be you Lord that will stir our heart to care and you will cause us Lord to understand that our physical hearts and our spiritual hearts will be filled with oil it will not fail Elijah told the widow it will not fail till the rain comes and Lord you will fill us supernaturally with a caring and you'll begin to even show us tonight Lord in ways that we could begin to bless people secretly that we could Lord be stirred to pray that Lord that we will want to pray that we will believe a river of mercy and miracles is flowing and that Lord you are Lord if we will just stand up and say God I'm believing I move away from the burk Lord I'm moving into need and Lord you will strongly support me and Lord this river will carry me to those that I'm just supernaturally my paths are to cross and I thank you Lord there will be life Lord this river will carry us and we will be brought into a river of life Lord and the death Lord will not look too great for you there will be young people who will be hopeless and they are hopeless beyond any human touch but not beyond your touch and Lord I thank you that we're going to live to see oh God us being brought into our lives being crossed paths with those that are completely dead and without hope Lord but we will look at them and we will feel the hope of God and I thank you Lord that no matter what we feel tonight Lord we are hearing you and you are moving us into the place of need and our hearts will not drop back Lord no matter what we feel no matter how dry we feel you will be with us and you will take us there and life will come Lord from a commitment tonight that we ask you to visit us oh God and we trust you through the dryness we trust you when our flesh rises up and doesn't want to go these places for we know miracles of mercy are behind Lord our willingness to be made willing I thank you now for this river of mercy and miracles I thank you Lord that we will not shy back I thank you it doesn't matter how we feel tonight for Lord you are quickening us Lord you are quickening us Lord we thank you that our flesh will not lead us because we will have no word to a generation who are ruled by the flesh but you will fill us with the spirit every time we need to be filled you will give us a word if we would be willing to have our eyes opened I thank you darkness we speak to the death in the darkness over the young people of this city over the middle-aged people of this city we will not retreat in the face of darkness for he who is life itself lives within us I thank you when we feel the weakest we will be the strongest when we feel the most reluctant you will quicken us you're looking for a people who will believe you no matter what we feel and Lord tonight we believe you the river of mercy and life is flowing Lord and you're taking us to these places where we will see the dead raised to life by the mercy and the power of God and Lord I thank you we will never be more free more happy more alive than when we cooperate fully with you like Elijah tonight we will be moved Lord we will be moved Lord by your spirit and I thank you Lord you will do this for we ask it in the mighty name of Jesus amen and amen praise God bless the Lord you may be seated again as a congregation we've got to feed as many children as we can as the Lord enables us to at present we're feeding 4,400 children in 23 countries every day the Lord is going to enable us to do more we've got to we've got to reach as many who have no helper as God enables us to and it will bring us into this incredible life of Christ praise God now we come to the last part and it's where how does God get one man to a place where he can confront an entire system of religion 450 prophets of Baal almost the whole nation gripped with a false reasoning about God how does God do this he takes a man gives him his word teaches him that he provides takes him out of his comfort zone and takes him to human need and then says now I'm going to send you into I'm just going to make your life a contrast it's as simple as that and I'm going to come to you and so Elijah confronts this entire backslidden religious system and he builds he calls it to the top of Mount Carmel where ironically the first missionaries from this church have built a church on that spot you know that David and Karen Davis are the first missionaries from Times Square church and I don't think it's a coincidence that they built a church on top of Mount Carmel God always has little secrets in his heart little things he's about to do little whispers that if you and I can hear them he shows us clearly what he intends to do right on the very spot they say it's the highest peak of Mount Carmel it's a magnificent church with an altar of 12 stones and at a certain time of the day the light comes through the dome of that church and falls on that altar and God is doing marvelous things in that congregation and one of the most pivotal churches in all of Israel today bringing together both Arab and Jew together to worship together and it's a phenomenal thing to have been and continue to be part of that the whole land is in drought and this religious system that has gripped the people is bent on proving that it really does represent God and so they build their altar and they hoot and holler and shout and scream and cut from morning until night because their whole system has been built on noise they've never really heard from God they've not been representing the true God they've led the people astray and all they are is noise and they make noise all day and they take turns leaping upon the altar because every man really is ambitious and every man wants to be the one that was there when the glory of God came and they do this and they cut themselves superficially to prove their sincerity to the people and to God look how sincere we are surely God must be pleased with this but from morning to evening nothing happens and in the middle of all of this one man just very quietly builds another altar it's an altar of obedience it's an altar of unity with God with the purpose of God he has been walking in the purpose of God he has done what God asked him to do he recognizes that the purpose of God and the earth is all about meeting human need he knows that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes him should not perish but have everlasting life he's moving one in heart with God and I'm speaking in the context of the church through the life of Elijah he builds this altar of unity with God I'm one with God not a divided altar the nation is divided and because of the division in the nation they have come into captivity at several different levels this man builds another altar and he steps back from that altar because he knows that he's had nothing to do with this all he has done is obey God and God has done the miracles and he knows that there's nothing he's going to do that's going to create this and he steps back from the altar and says Lord I've done this at your request and only for one reason that the people's hearts may turn back to you again Elijah was not looking for the preeminence he was not looking to be recognized as God's man of the hour or God's church of the hour he just simply wanted the hearts of the people turned back to God and the heart of God satisfied and seeing the people come back where real life is and he stepped back from the altar and the fire of God came on that altar how will God use your life to make a difference? the fire of God will come upon that altar in your heart the glory of God will come upon you I believe this with all my heart in the last days that the church began at Pentecost and the church will finish at Pentecost the church began with the glory of God on her and the church will finish with the glory of God on her many believe the glory of the latter house will be greater than the former as was written of the temple it is certainly possible the glory of God the power of the Holy Ghost, the anointing of Christ this presence of God that just simply comes and consumes this human vessel and makes us into another person and we stand not in our own strength but in the strength of God we speak not in our own strength and not with our own words but with the wisdom of God we touch not with just human compassion but with the power of God we speak with the authority of God we stand because God has come to us the result was the people looked at this altar that had been built quietly by a man with confidence in God who had walked with God, had a history with God he knew God could feed the widow he knew God could raise kids from the dead he knew God could provide and God had the right to take that provision away for a season and for his purposes he trusted in God and in the midst of this whole system he built another altar and the glory of God came down on that altar and the end result was the people said the Lord, He is the God the Lord of Elijah as it is, He is God the God that you say is God, is God because we see upon you just as in the day of Pentecost the glory of the Lord has come to you that's why the Prophet Isaiah said, Arise, shine for your light has come for behold darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness shall be upon the people but the Lord will arise upon you and His glory will be seen upon you the Lord Christ will have a church in this generation the Lord Jesus Christ will have a people and these people will not go out of history with a whimper we will go out with the glory of God as Elijah was carried away in a chariot we will go with the glory of God we will not go out with a whimper, we are going to walk out in victory having been a living testimony of the living Christ in the earth praise be to God the only thing I desire and the only thing you should desire is that everybody that knows you should have this testimony in the coming days whoever God is that He is serving that is God, that has to be God we are not presenting an argument about God we are not presenting a theory about God we are presenting a living experience with God to this generation we can stand with authority and say the man I was I am not today the glory of God has come into my life He has changed me from image to image and glory to glory He is taking me, He is carrying me by the Spirit He has put into my heart things that were never part of my natural being He is walking in me, He is talking to me He is flowing through my hands and through my voice that is the only testimony that God has ever desired in this generation praise be to God that you and I become that kind of a testimony a quiet confident life in the midst of all the noise of New York City in all the religious clatter that is just everywhere the endless seminars of noise in the church world just somebody that has a sense to say hey I am going to do this God's way I am just going to quietly start reaching out to my neighbors I am going to quietly start helping people that need help I am going to start speaking into kids lives and believing that God is going to raise them from the dead I am going to trust God for my daily provision I am going to build an altar and I am going to worship at that altar He is going to be my God in everything and in all things and I am believing I am believing that God can take a single life and can turn a nation I believe it with all my heart folks I believe God can take one life and I really don't care whose it is He can take one life and He can turn a nation He can do that He has done it throughout history but how much more when He has a people how much more when He has a church how much more when thousands perhaps of God's people say Lord be glorified in me that's got to be the cry of my heart that's got to be the cry of yours now in this generation it has to be there is no other way that this generation will know the glory of God but that you and I build another altar and thank God for every well that has dried up and every bird that has flown away thank God that He is leading us into something deeper than ourselves praise be to God would you stand please praise God let's just worship Greg Greg would you lead us in prayer and then we will worship Jesus we thank you tonight Lord that you speak we thank you Lord that you are not a mute God you are not a deaf God you are a God who speaks and a God who hears and God tonight you have called your people to hear you have called us to hear we thank you Lord for positioning us to be in such a place to hear your voice God we want nothing more tonight but to hear what you are speaking to your church Jesus God we thank you that your word hasn't fallen on weak ground but on solid ground on good ground Lord that it will take root in the hearts of your people Jesus God that we will go out and we will do what you have called us to do for the poor God we will do what you have called us to do God in our families and in our jobs and in our communities God that the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ will be seen through us Jesus God we thank you for this time Lord Jesus we thank you God that your desire for us is to prosper us and again to keep us in good health even as our souls prosper but Lord more than that God your desire is to see us represent you in the earth Jesus in a very magnificent way and God we realize that we can't do that without your anointing God we can't do that without your touch Father we can't do that without your word being alive in us Jesus so God we thank you tonight God for your word that went forth tonight Jesus we thank you Lord for your word that has taken root in our hearts God and it's reminding us what you've called us to do and it's reminding us of what you promised to do in and through us Jesus and that you'll do that in spite of our failures and in spite of our faults and in spite of our weaknesses and in spite of this frail flesh Jesus you'll do that in spite of us God that you're looking for prepared hearts and willing hearts that will go forth into the land Jesus we thank you that even as we go forth God you're calling us to trust you more you're calling us to trust you that even when the brook dries up oh God that at the end of the day God you're going to send somebody along the way God that is going to pour into our bosom Jesus and we can truly say that this is manna from heaven God we thank you for the manna tonight in the name of Jesus the Christ God we thank you so much and God we thank you God calls us to handle this reverently Jesus to not walk out of here God the same way we came in to not leave here tonight God and handle this word Lord lightly to handle it we thank you God with great reverence God even as we go on the trains and subways oh God and the cabs and in their cars reiterated to our spirits over and over again Jesus we thank you tonight for the fresh oil oh God we thank you for the fresh oil Jesus hallelujah hallelujah God we thank you for the fresh oil hallelujah Father we thank you tonight we give you glory Lord for what you're going to do in Jesus name thank you now in the name of Jesus Christ I cancel every work of the devil over people's lives in this room tonight every lie of the evil one Satan everything that you've whispered and everything you've roared against the people of God we stand against you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ God I thank you that this is your church Lord these people are light and they are salt in this city God thank you for taking us out from under the voice of the condemner and bringing us into a place of faith bringing us into the compassion of our Christ bringing us into the life of our God we praise you for it Lord God we ask you now for spiritual authority in the city to speak to prison doors and command them to open to have words of knowledge God almighty to be able to deliver people from impossible situations God we thank you for compassion far beyond our natural ability we thank you for eyes far beyond our natural ability to see and ears beyond our ability to hear God we praise you we praise you Lord that we will be your light we'll be your salt a city set upon a hill in New York City and as your church God moves into the glory of God we ask you Lord to spread abroad throughout the streets of this city God transform this city in this last hour of time change New York City oh God change the city father change the tenure of the city oh God break hell and darkness break the bondage oh God break everything of hell and evil let it be noise throughout the world that you have visited this city that the world has come to believe is the greediest place on earth God almighty break this place break this image of New York City God let it be a place of compassion my God come and visit this city we ask you to do this Lord we call out to you Lord we call out to you God we call out to you Lord you said you would say here I am we call out to you Lord we call out to you God we call out to you Jesus Son of God Son of God Son of God come down on our city with power God break the darkness give every person in this city a chance to hear about eternal life through Jesus Christ come with your glory come with your power oh God we believe you for this Lord with all our hearts God we believe you Lord we believe you God we thank you Father now I ask you to keep everyone safe on the way home make us aware that the living Christ is in us God who created all the universe lives in us God help us to acknowledge this Father we thank you for it in Jesus mighty name Hallelujah