Mike Bickle emphasizes the significance of perseverance in fulfilling our divine calling as intercessory missionaries. He encourages believers to remain steadfast in their small, often mundane tasks, reminding them that every assignment, no matter how small, is holy and valued by God. Bickle highlights that true perseverance is rooted in the love of God, which empowers us to stay diligent and faithful, even amidst challenges and discouragement. He urges the congregation to focus on their commitment to God rather than seeking recognition or ease, as the ultimate goal is to finish the work He has given us. The sermon concludes with a call to reaffirm our dedication to God's calling, regardless of the circumstances we face.

Okay, if you didn't get the notes and want them, go ahead and raise your hand up real high, and we'll get them right to you. Keep your hand up if you would. I want to talk about our calling. The Lord invited us to be intercessory missionaries, and we said yes to Him. Most of you in this room, we said yes. And as the years unfold, we figure out more that's involved in that yes. But it's a holy calling, it's a holy commission. Just keep your hand up high. I'll just kind of wait here for a moment. The Lord has graciously given us, particularly the last three or four years, actually before that, but particularly the last three or four years, dynamic relationships with ministries and streams all over the body of Christ, from the mainline churches to the Pentecostal churches to the non-denominational churches to the missions movement. And it's been the Lord's graciousness. The word that He gave us years ago was international family of affection, where men and women of God from many streams are getting connected. And in the last three or four years, that has accelerated in our midst. And it is glorious to have so many new friendships and connections all over the body of Christ. And it's just getting stronger and deeper. And it's not only spiritually safe, it's also spiritually invigorating. And there's a multiplication that happens when people are joined at the heart level. Father, we thank you in the name of Jesus for your word. Lord, I ask you just in this next few moments to stir us again, to remind us why we're here, why you pluck us up from places all around this nation and the nations and put us in this room together for this season. And I thank you for that in Jesus name. Amen. I want to give you one of the most significant prayers of your life. Whether you know it or not, this is really one of the most significant prayers of your life. And I'd like you to, I mean, my reason of saying it is that you would take hold of this. So the prayer from 2 Thessalonians 3 verse 5, may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God. That's the dynamic revelation of all revelations. But not only encountering the fellowship of the burning heart, encountering God's burning heart. That's the first part of the prayer, but look where it goes. And that burning heart encounter, that's not a one-time deal, it's progressively over the years, it would lead us into the perseverance of Jesus. The revelation of the love of God, when properly received, it produces steadfastness in our spirit. When somebody says, you know, I'm really into the bride of Christ revelation or the heart of God, but they don't have steadfastness growing in their life, they still haven't connected with it yet. Because the love of God always produces a zeal, and again it's little by little, it grows progressively, it produces a zeal to be steady in our diligence and our faithfulness to the man Christ Jesus. Now notice it's called Christ's perseverance or the patience of Christ, the New King James says. It's Jesus's patience. Now patience and perseverance in the New Testament is often used interchangeably. And so when you're, when you're talking about the patience of Jesus, we're not talking about that he's patient with us, though that's a biblical truth. We're talking about his steadiness, his steadfastness, his diligence as a man. And Paul said supernaturally we can enter into the love of God, but it doesn't end there. When we enter into the love of God and touch it, it makes us more zealous to follow through in our relationship with the Lord. Paragraph B. Perseverance speaks of being diligent to press into God, number one, but it doesn't stop with the relationship with God. It's to press into his will the work that he gives us. Now the work that God gives us, 99.999% of the body of Christ, the work is small. Now collectively it's big, but individually it's small. There's only a few Billy Grahams in history and Reinhard Bonnke's that touch millions. 99.999% of all of church history, as an individual, they touch twos and threes, tens and twenties here and there over their life. And the work is small, the task is small. The reason I say that, because people sign up for the big vision and then when they find out their assignment, their individual part is small, they lose heart in it. They go, oh this is hard and it's mundane. There's a dimension of the routine. It's not that exciting. I signed up to change the world and the Lord says that's it. Collectively you do change the world and collectively the impact is is massive. But individually he wants us diligent when nobody's looking in the small things, because almost all of our life, that's all it is, is small. But it's that way in the will of God. That's not the devil, that's the will of God. And so a lot of folks, when they think of perseverance, they think of when I finally get a big calling, then I will really lock in. And I've watched people in 30 plus years of ministry wait 10 years, 20 years, 30 years for that hour when something big happens that they're going to lock in. And they've wasted two three decades of their life waiting to be diligent for a future day. Beloved, today is the day for steadfastness and diligence. Now this grace of perseverance, just like the grace of encountering the love of God, it empowers us to be faithful under pressure. Now the pressure I'm talking about is many types of pressure. Number one, the resistance from people. Now all of us have resistance from people, and I'm talking about from godly people, people who love Jesus. I mean the whole body of Christ is being resisted by somebody else in the body of Christ, somewhere along the line. Most of the resistance is actually within the church, troubling the church in all kinds of different dimensions. And my point isn't to talk about how bad that is. My point is don't lose heart when believers aren't treating you right. Don't. Big deal. Lock into the big vision and stay steady. They're not giving me the honor I deserve. They're not giving me the position I deserve. They're not giving me the deference I deserve. They're not giving me what I deserve. You can lose literally 30 years of your life in that argument and go nowhere. Just settle it. Believers are going to mistreat you. Now I'm not talking about throwing you in prison, if you might do that one day, but that's not my point. I'm talking about the low grade. They just trouble you in a low grade way, and a lot of people lose their perseverance on that point right there. Others more lose their perseverance when they face the pressure of the mundane and the routine, because they can't see the glory of God in the mundane. They only see the glory of God in the testimony of the great man of God in the biography. Beloved, the glory of God is in the mundane, in the routine. Being faithful in our families, being faithful in the neighborhood, being faithful in your assignment, your ministry assignment, in the home, outside the home, in the missions base, in the church, in the marketplace, that is where faithfulness, the pressure to not be faithful comes in, and people back down under the routine and mundaneness of life, because they have a romantic notion of how awesome and powerful it's going to be, and there are those moments that are unusually powerful. But one of the great revelations the Lord has given me over my years, I have two or three that really stand out in my life over the years. One of them is God loves me in my weakness. That's a profound revelation. Even a little bit of that will change your life. But another one that is equally as important, not just that He loves me in my weakness, that He values what I do in smallness. And I would say when I look back over 30 years, that is one of the areas the Lord has helped me in that one point. The reason I'm highlighting that, I was just with Billy Humphrey, just coming back on the last day of our vacation, and we stopped in Atlanta. I guess there's two, three, four hundred leaders. I don't remember the number. I didn't catch the number. Alan, how many were there? Just for fun, just so I get it right. Four hundred leaders, okay. And so from House of Prayer leaders from all around America and different nations, and they asked me a question. In a question and answer time, they go, what is one of the most important things God's ever told you? And again, God loves me in my weakness. But right off the bat, I told them, I said, I have this awareness, and I need more of it, of course, of God values the smallness of what I do. The eight-member unanointed prayer meeting that I've been going to for these years, because, I mean, they've only been big the last few years. For 25 years, they were six and eight and ten and fifteen people, and they were very uninspiring. But the Lord looked down. Do you know the Lord is as moved by a little uninspiring prayer ministry as He is by a big one. He doesn't feel more just because we feel more. When we feel it, it doesn't mean God says, wow, I felt that one. Do you guys get that? No. He feels it all the time. Our work isn't only important when it's notable in the eyes of men, because again, 99.999% of our work isn't. But it moves His heart, even though it doesn't move our heart. Our work doesn't move us many times, but it moves Him. I'm talking about every single assignment in the kingdom, and in our particular place here, I'm talking about whether you're doing the shuttles, whether you're organizing people, whether you're helping with the trash and the cleanup, whether you're counting the money, fixing the website, getting the microphones working, singing on a team, getting the water for the people singing on the team. The Lord is moved, and He values the work we do. The mundane and routine is what throws off a lot of people. Another thing that throws off people is opportunity. How could opportunity? There's more folks get off the right path because they have a good opportunity. They think, well, every good open door must be from God. Beloved, I'm just talking personally now. I'm not trying to make a big point about it, but I have so many open doors the last 20 years. I don't walk through one out of a hundred open doors that I have. My point being, and that's a made-up number. I don't really count them, but my point is an open door is not always something you go through. An open door could be the very thing that gets you out of the will of God and out of the place of diligence. I want to be diligent on my assignment. My goal isn't to be famous. My goal is to be faithful because I stand before the Lord. He's not going to say, wow, you were famous or wow, you were not famous. He's going to say you were faithful or you were not, period. And so a lot of folks, when a door opens big, they just think it must be good and it must be God because it's big. I must go through it. And some doors you need to go through and some doors you don't. But here's my point. I want us to get a vision for being faithful, not a vision for something that's just bigger and better and easier. Because bigger, better, and easier can get us off the path, just like difficult and small and mundane can get us off the path. Well, another thing that gets us off the path of perseverance is lack. There's many arenas of lack. When we lack being appreciated, when we lack people cooperating, people resisting us instead of cooperating, when we lack impact, our ministry is so little, forget it, I'm going to quit. I lack impact. It's not even worth it anymore. When we lack finances, when our health is lacking, I think I'll just draw back and just quit. And when I finally get money and finally feel good and I finally feel anointed, then I'll get into ministry. Beloved, that may be a long time if never in this age. I've had people waiting literally for decades until they felt good, felt honored, had money, and ready to go. And decades will pass you by. Day by day, by day, by day, by day, it will pass you by. And you'll wake up one day and it's 20, 30, 40 years later. Let's look at paragraph C. Perseverance is bearing under these pressures, the positive pressures, the negative pressures, the pressures of bigness, the pressures of smallness, the pressures of opportunity, the pressures of no opportunity, the pressure of being bypassed, the pressure of being swamped, you know, that everybody wants you. All of those are pressures that we need to bear up under, meaning stay steady to Jesus under those pressures. Now, here's this phrase that it moves me. This phrase does. This idea of from the lips of Jesus first, but the apostles took hold of it too, finishing the work. Do you know every one of you have an assignment from the Lord? And I don't mean some assignment that's going to individually be known by others that some grandiose thing that's going to be written up by somebody. Now again, collectively together, we have that kind of assignment. But individually, our assignment in the Lord starts in our families, touches our neighborhoods, touches the ministry the Lord put you part of in the marketplace, wherever He's put you. When you meet the Lord on the last day, He's going to ask you, did you finish the work? And this, this is a revelation that the work that He gives us, it's a holy commissioning. It matters to Him. Even if it doesn't matter to anybody else, even if it doesn't matter to you, it still matters to Him. Every one of us are commissioned, and I'm using that word in a soft way because apostles are commissioned in another sense. I'm talking about the work is real, meaning a lot of folks that I know in ministry, they have this, this spiritual stronghold negative. It's in their thinking. It's that their ministry is volunteer. There isn't volunteer ministry. Now we talk volunteer verse paid and that kind of context. There's, you know, the pastor gets up and says, who will volunteer in that sense? But there's a bigger way to look at the kingdom of God. We have assignments. And though you might be called a volunteer in the church bulletin, if the Lord has called you to do it, beloved, it's not volunteer. He takes it seriously. But a lot of believers, they, they, their ministry and what they do is volunteer-ish. So when it's hard, when they don't feel good, they don't do it. And when it opens doors, they do it a little bit more. But I want to urge you, and I don't want to be a spiritual hot shot, but in my own life, this is a really important point to me personally. And I don't mean in the last five or 10 years, but some, some many years, I want to take my assignment from the Lord in little things, because most of what I've done is little, lock into God's eyes and try to feel a little bit of the value he feels. And if nobody else shows up, nobody's happy about it. There is no great feeling about it. It's still important to do. You get a hold of that in your life, your life will change radically on the inside if you don't have a hold of that right now. The revelation is this. There is an assignment that God has given you. It's small, but it's holy to him, and it's not something you kind of do and undo when you're in a good mood and in a bad mood. And as long as you get treated right, you do it. And when they don't treat you right, you don't do it. The Lord says, wait a second, you're working for me. You're not working for her or for him. Get your eyes off of him or her. You're working for me. I'm the one that told you to do that. I'm the one that inspired you. Well, they're not giving me what I deserve. Well, I will. I'll give you way more than you deserve. Stay locked in. The Lord will give us far more than we deserve for what we do. Paul the apostle had this revelation as well. Acts 20, he wanted to finish the race. Meaning he had a course he wanted to finish. And the course wasn't just that he would be a famous man who wrote the Bible and preached where nobody else preached. He did do that. His entire course was not just that. His course involved serving the saints. His course involved discipling people one-on-one, which is often hard. There's moments of enjoyment and glory in there. There's moments when it's just hard work. Look what Paul prayed for the church at Thessalonica here in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. He goes, here's my prayer. Now notice the word always. Now this is another one of those prayers that it's kind of easy just to skip. He says, I would, I'm praying that God would count you worthy of the calling. Now he doesn't mean that you would deserve it. He doesn't mean it that way. Paul didn't lose his doctrine here and kind of get into a little bit of legalism here. That's not what he's doing. He, instead of the word worthy, put the word here that God's grace would make you responsive. Put the word responsive in the place of worthy or put the word that God would see that you're prepared, that you're responsive to him. Now here's the net result of being responsive, having the grace of God of responsiveness to God, that you fulfill all of the good pleasure of his goodness, meaning you do the thing he told you to do. Beloved, the greatest thing that could happen to my life in your life, when I stand before the Lord, if he says to me, you did what I wanted you to do, that is unbelievably awesome. You only get one moment, I mean one time you stand before the Lord for that evaluation. And beloved, the only thing that matters is what he says to you on that day. And if he says you did it all and he's so kind through the, I call it the editing process of grace, he, through his kindness, is so generous in the way he evaluates our responsiveness. I'm not talking about a non-human responsiveness. This responsiveness is human friendly. It works for guys like us. But here's the reason Paul's praying, because in my path, you know, one decade turns to five, that turns to six, turns to seven, I can get offended, I can get bored, I can get mad, I can get covetous, I can get my mind on other things, and that's how you don't fulfill this. Paul said, I'm praying that there would be a grace that makes you responsive through the years, so on the last day you get the ultimate statement. Look what it says, you did all the good pleasure of God in your life. And again, this is human friendly. God, he understands our weakness. But we didn't quit because of routine and mundane. We didn't quit because of, we didn't get the honor. We didn't, people didn't cooperate with us. We didn't get the crowd. We didn't get the good sets. We didn't, we didn't quit for any of those reasons. We stayed steady. And it takes prayer to keep that going in your soul one year for five, for ten, turns to 20, turns to 30. I mean, Billy Graham's 95 years old. The guy's still doing it. I mean, I love Billy Graham. I mean, even more than Billy Graham is Vanette Bright, Bill Bright's wife. She was here a couple years ago, 85 years old, this lady, for real. She was there in the back room talking to me, and she was saying, I'm trying to figure out new ways to reach the unreached people groups, and I got this idea. She took a half hour to explain some things to me. She goes, I'm just nervous about this. I want the young people not to back away from this. She's burdened at 85 that the gospel's not going to go to a heathered new place. I looked at her, I said, I just got a crush on you. I had to break down and tell her that. She said, that's okay. I said, I have permission from my wife, but I got a crush on you right now. I loved her so much. I said, where did she get that? Well, that's, that's this prayer operating on her when she's 20, 22, 26, 31, 39, 41, 47, 52, 62, 72, 82, still on her. This is a massive prayer right here. Some of you have used my acronym fellowship. It's 10 letters, and the acronym of fellowship, where for my personal prayer life, and the W is this one, worthy, and it's the fact that I would have sustaining grace. So I'm not taken out by boredom, offense. I'm not taken out by opportunities, good opportunities. I'm not taken out by fatigue. I'm not taking, because when you get fatigued, you get in a funny mood. When you get in a funny mood, you do funny things. But I mean, depression is related to some of that. I mean, I don't want to be taken out by any of those 10 things. And every one of them are subtle. And every one of them sneak up on the human heart little by little. This is the prayer, Paul said, I pray this one always for you. And that's why again in my, that 10 item prayer list, again I call the acronym of fellowship the W. The reason Paul said always, he's praying for sustaining grace. They won't be taken out of the race because of offense, and boredom, and lust, and just selfishness. They won't be taken out of the race, because they're not getting the things they want men to give them. Well, I want to, when I stand before the Lord, I can say, well Lord, they were not as nice to me. The doors were not as open. I didn't get as much money. It didn't work there. The crowds didn't show up. I mean, the one company, they ripped me off, and they stole my stuff. And the other company did this. I'm talking about in the publishing world, you know, because people in the music, and books, and there's so many things. And so many people are stuck because of that. The Lord's going to say, you want me to tell you what I went through? Oh Lord. He's going to say, I loved you to the end. I would that you would have stayed steady with me. None of that stuff will matter back then. None of those excuses will stick. None of them will be acceptable on that day. Beloved, I want to give you this prayer. Take a look at it. Your work is a holy commission. God has made an investment in your life. You are not a volunteer. It doesn't matter whether you're here, there, or wherever, no matter what they call you in the church bulletin. You're not a volunteer. You are a servant of God in the kingdom, and your work's not optional. You don't get a sign up and unsign up when you're in a good mood and a bad mood, or when you like how you're treated. We serve because He serves, and we love Him. Now again, that's not just here. That's everywhere. This is the way we live. Paragraph D. Paul's staying on the same theme. He says, he says, not that I've already attained. I'm pressing on, that I may lay hold of that for which Jesus laid hold of me. I press towards the goal of the prize of the upward call. This is the same theme as he prayed in that prayer I just gave you, where he said, I pray always that you would be found worthy to fulfill all the good pleasure of God's calling on your life. Here's Paul. He's about 60. He says, I've not attained. You think, how could it be possible? You know, he wrote 13 books of the New Testament. He's not attained. He's not talking about, I'm not born again. He knows he's born again. That's all he means. Well, what is it you haven't attained to? If you're, I mean, you've been in this thing, you know, some decades, and what is it you haven't attained? He goes, I haven't finished to my last breath, having stayed diligent to my last breath. That's what I haven't finished. If I've got one year or 10 years, I have to finish with my last breath being diligent and faithful. That's when it's finished. Until then, I haven't. Because what he wants to attain is the statement from the Father or the Son, whatever, just a statement from God that says, you were faithful to the end. That's what he wants to attain to, is that statement. Or you can look at it in the human sense. He wants to fulfill the whole will of God in his life. And if you have one year left, or you have 50 years left, you haven't attained to your last breath. And the Lord says, you stayed faithful to the end. Doesn't mean we don't have gaps where we don't, where we stumble. We all stumble in gaps. But when we call it what it is, and we declare war on it, the Lord forgives it. We jump back in the race, and you can still receive the testimony. You stayed steady to the end. I want to fulfill the whole will of God. That doesn't mean I want to preach in more cities. That's not what fulfilling the will of God means. I get more notable. I get more well known. That's not, I mean, to some people, God wants them to be more well known. That's just God's will in their life. But that's not what he's talking about. Or I want to take more ministry trips. But if God's called you on him, you better get on the bus and go. But it's not about here or there. It's about going hard, doing the will of God, till your last breath, according to your strength. Now a 70-year-old, an 80-year-old, a 90-year-old person has less strength, but they can still give their all till their last breath. I tell you that, Vanette Bride, man, 85, she would, she'd leave us, you know, she'd make Corey Russell cower, man. I mean, she had some energy for God. Look at this, verse 14. I'm pressing towards the goal. I hear people talk about the grace of God, just kind of, you know, kick back and chill out, you know, like Jesus was a hippie or something. They're just gonna hang and chill together. Like, what are you talking about? Do you know who this man is? You put all of your energy into this relationship and you pour yourself into it because he's worthy. And I tell you, you won't regret anything you've poured into that relationship or to doing the will of God. Verse 14, I'll press towards the goal of the prize. The prize is that we finish the whole will of God, which Jesus called it, I finish my work. Or the prize, the other side, you look at it either side, I hear the testimony from the Lord, I did it. I stayed faithful to the end. Faithful doesn't mean we just avoided scandalous sin. That's not what faithful means. Faithful is much more than that. It means I stayed diligent, obeying Him in small things till my last breath. So some folks think faithful means they don't have a scandal on their record and they're living spiritually passive and that's none of my business for somebody else. But I'm telling you, faithful means much more than that. You can even have a scandal, God forgives you and you be faithful for some decades afterwards and the Lord will forgive that. My point is, is to see the glory of this reality here. Paragraph E, perseverance is the greatest virtue. It is love. It's the expression of love from the first verse we started in, 2 Thessalonians 3, 5. It is love. This is the expression of being touched by what I call this Sunday, the fellowship of the burning heart. That God loves God with all of His heart. God loves you and me with all of His heart. Therefore, it's only natural we love Him with all of our heart. That's that fellowship that we enter into that started before the foundation of the world. That fellowship of God loving with all of His heart. Beloved, perseverance is the greatest issue. It's rare. It is so beautiful when you find a man or a woman that will stay steady 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, 50 years. Again, that bride, I'm just going to keep talking about her, Leonard Ravenhill. Some of you know Leonard Ravenhill, wrote all the books on prayer. I had the great privilege to get to know him. I'm thinking he died in his upper 80s. 88 is what I'm thinking. I could be mixing it up with but I'll tell you that guy, I mean he was late 70s, early 80s when we were together in prayer meetings. He'd come up to Kansas City for 10 days at a time and he would be in our prayer meetings. This guy was on fire for God. And what I mean by on fire, I mean he was weak in his frame. On fire meaning he is, he was engaged. When I mean on fire, I mean engaged at the heart level. I'm not talking about a certain style in a worship service. I mean he was pretty frail, but he was engaged. And the daydream of his heart was how to get deeper. Moreover, that's a man on fire. He wants to go deeper. That's his daydream. He's working out how can I go deeper? How can every word be brought into submission? Every thought. How can I be more consumed? How can I convince you young guys? I was in my 30s in those early 30s in those days. How can I convince you guys to go hard? I looked at this guy, oh my goodness where did this guy come from? Beloved, that's how you can be one day. And I'm not even talking about your anointed preacher, anointed singer, or your famous writer. Let's say no one ever hears of you ever. You can have that heart. I'm talking about that's what life is about if nobody ever hears of you. I'm signing up for this regardless what IHOP does. If IHOP gets real big or IHOP gets real little, my life vision isn't impacted at all. I'm going after this thing. This is what I'm going for. The reason I do IHOP, I appreciate IHOP. But I do IHOP because he told me to. That's why I do IHOP. And sometimes I like IHOP. Don't you like IHOP sometimes? Sometimes I don't like IHOP. Sometimes I don't want to come to IHOP. Sometimes I don't want to be the leader of IHOP. All that stuff just like you. On and on and on. When a guy tells me I can interrupt him, finish the sentence. How do you know? I didn't read the book on it. I have the same problem. I show up whatever that means show up because his eyes are on me. I'm doing it for him and I love doing impacting people. But that's not mostly in first one doing it. I'm doing it his eyes are on me and I do want to impact people for five reasons. But if his eyes are on me and I go oh he goes Lord you're looking I'm going. I'm going to engage. I'm going to do it because you're looking. Beloved that's where that's a powerful way to live. If you could sustain that. But that's what that prayer a minute ago was about. That second Thessalonians chapter one. Being prayed always Paul said that you'd be found worthy. You would have that sustaining influence on your soul. That you wouldn't be taken out by offense and boredom and smallness and and just being overlooked. And all of those things that take so many men out. Top of let's go paragraph F. On the last day when I meet Jesus eye to eye. He's not going to ask me how big my ministry was. He's not going to ask me how happy I was. A lot of people here's why I'm saying that. A lot of people make ministry choices based on they'll be happier. Beloved I could think of some happier choices I could make in ministry. You don't want to make choices on if you're going to be happier. Like what? I don't even understand that concept. I do understand it because I'm selfish enough to get it. I come by it naturally. But I tell you we I've just decided long ago I'm not even making. I'm not even entertaining that way of thinking. He's not going to ask me how easy my life was. This door opened my life was easier. That's why I chose it because it things are easier. Like the Lord said what? Because you got bigger you're happier and easier. That's the will of God. That's how you figure the will of God out. When we talk is that what I'm going to ask you about? Bigger? Easier? Happier? I'm going to talk to you about engaging with me and being faithful. And some of the assignment God gives you you won't like in the natural. And some of it you will. And some of it will kind of go back and forth. But once you decide that's not where the conversation is you become a free man or a free woman. Once you break that stronghold that you're a volunteer and you get to come and go at your own bidding. Once you're done with that you actually are a liberated person then. You get set free from the tyranny of so many petty emotions and thought processes. When you break that alliance to being big happy and easy and being appreciated and loved and wanted. Break your alliance with that. Be faithful. You'll end up having people love you and things good things will happen. But that's not how you're evaluating anything. You're locking in to the man himself. Fully God fully man. Let's let's go down paragraph H. Look at this lay aside Hebrew paragraph H. Hebrews 12. Lay aside every weight. Every weight and every sin. Now sin that's that's bad stuff. The weights or one translation says an encumbrance. The weights are not in themselves sinful. He says lay down the things that are diminishing your strength that are not in themselves sinful. But they're getting in the way of your endurance. They're occupying your strength and your energy in a way that's minimizing our relationship. Get rid of it. Well I know but this is you know it's nothing. We're in the Bible against it and the Lord says just get rid of it. It's minimizing who we are together in our dialogue and our communication together. And he presses the issue of endurance. And it's the same idea. Run the race which means finish the work. Finish the assignment. Again he's not talking about if you're rich and famous. He's talking about the whole body of Christ. 99.9999 percent their assignment is so little. Nobody even cares what they do mostly. But Jesus does. He goes that's the race I want you to stay locked into. Now let's look at paragraph I. I am just our assignment in this place. Yeah most of you had a moment or more where the Lord sent you to this place. He had a moment where he sent you here or a series of moments. And I know how this works over the years. The moments are kind of scary. Kind of exciting. Kind of neat. A lot of anticipation. But once you say yes to it we find out the doing of the assignment has a lot of mundane routine, resistance, difficulty, people hassling you. I mean people who love Jesus and you're going oh did I hear God? He says yeah that's how the kingdom works. We don't re-evaluate if we heard God if it's easy and fun. That's the western, American western gospel which is no gospel at all. The gospel we bought into is that there is a Lord and we are a bondservant and some of what we do we don't like. But he says you do it because I'm invested in you and I'm invested in my kingdom and I have been building in you for this and you don't have to understand it. I want you to do it. The revelation of the lordship of Jesus. The glory and the liberty of the revelation of being a bondservant. Well we were called here. The Lord told me I'm here till the ends so it made it easy because I don't even have to wrestle with that. You know when I feel it that way I go oh boy Lord I just I want something easier in my flesh. My flesh always wants something easier but I don't have to mess with it because now everybody doesn't have that and I'm not putting that on anybody but I'm saying it's easy for me in the one sense because I ended the conversation. There is no fantasy about an easier way. Fantasy is worthless. I would get in such big trouble I don't even want to go there. A lot of people they lose their life energy fantasizing over finding something easy that's suitable that's not even in the will of God. Something that they feel like they won't get in trouble if they do that is the complete wrong way to think of the kingdom of God. Well he tells Cornelius here the shock of his life because we're called to the prayer movement. Now the thing about the prayer we're called to keep a sanctuary. We're called to keep this sanctuary that 24-7 thing. I mean I've stopped and thought on that for a while. It is wonderful, terrible, awesome, burdensome, glorious. It's just everything positive and negative to the to our flesh. The Lord spoke it audibly from heaven said do it. Okay now he called most of you here not necessarily your whole life. Some of you he called you your whole life to the prayer movement but not necessarily in Kansas City. If he's called you to the prayer movement your whole life you can't negotiate it. Don't even get into fantasy about easier and softer and less demanding. Just throw that away and you will stay a free person because you'll get in bondage when fantasy becomes a potential reality. Now you're in bondage. So a number of you are called to the prayer movement the rest of your life. Some of you are called here long term, short term here. I don't know. I have no opinion about that about other people and my point isn't to figure that out but my point is that if you're here engage. Don't hear God pack up your bags and come and then coast. Don't hear God and then be passive and lack diligence. If you're here go for it and when you're there go for it and when you're in the next place go for it because his eyes are on you. Cornelius, I mean this guy we're talking about a Roman centurion, a soldier, a Gentile soldier. This guy doesn't have the Holy Spirit okay. Not born again. No anointing on his life at all. Here's this Roman, this crusty Roman soldier guy and he's having prayer meetings with a few soldiers. There's no Tim Rimer, no John Thurlow, no music, no good coffee, nothing. Three guys, no Bible. They have no Bible, no Holy Spirit, no music. Three guys, soldiers, got 12 hour work days, no air condition, they're sweating, it's hot. They're having a prayer meeting. That would be a horrible prayer meeting. No Holy Spirit, no Bible, no music, no anointing, no air condition, no coffee, no nothing, no Bible. They do this for years. This Cornelius is amazing. An angel steps out of heaven right there in Acts 10. Cornelius, I got the shock of your life. These three member prayer meetings you've been doing 10 or 20 years, they have moved God. God is establishing a memorial in the age to come based on your dedication. He goes, I don't even have the Holy Spirit or a Bible or music or even, I don't even have air condition. I mean we're hot, we're grouchy, we're everything. There's no anointing here and he says, it's moved me Cornelius. I love it. That one passage has moved me for so many years. This one right here, right here. You know, I've told the story, I'll give you the 60 second version of a five minute story, but it was back in the summer of 88 when I went to the early morning prayer meeting on Saturday morning. When I was walking to the building, which we had 10 people on Saturday mornings in the 80s, 88, and I hear the angelic like the Handel Messiah, super loud volume. I'm outside of the building, like just right outside. Oh no, the sound guys are blowing. It is so loud. You know, it's like, run and open the door to tell them, stop you guys. You know, you're going to blow everything. The guys are down in front praying. There's nobody there. There's just those two and me. I'm going, what was that? You know? Oh my goodness. It hit me. I heard the angelic choirs. It was so powerful. I was dull enough. I didn't even know what it was when I heard it. So there you have it. So I sit in the prayer room and I go, this is going to be the most incredible prayer meeting I've ever been in. This is the indicator of this is the day we're waiting for. Bob Jones has been talking about all these years. So I get there, you know, eight guys, nine guys, 10, whatever. We're there Saturday morning. First guy gets up. It's pretty flat like always. Second guy, pretty flat like always. I get up, pretty flat like always. They all leave. It's an hour and a half later and I just sit in there for a half hour. I go, I am so perplexed what this was. I can't figure it out. And the Spirit speaks to me. He says, this is what happens every time when a small number of you gather together and do what you did. I said, oh my goodness, the angels do this every time five of you come together in an unanointed Saturday morning in a little building like this. I went, I'm in for life, man. I'm going all the way. Beloved, what you do mumbling in that chair on row 10 and I'm telling you, it's like, oh Jesus, I'm tired. In the name of Jesus, it works. It's real. I'm going to talk about awesome and eloquent and fiery in the human sense. I'm just talking about it. Here I am. I was doing my best. I wish I was home, but it was my sacred trust and I'm going to do it because I've committed. Lord says, I'm still, I'm hearing you actually. I'm actually hearing you. And that divine magnet, that's just an analogy, not a spiritual reality, that divine magnet of the Spirit gets dropped. Here we are 20 years later with Lou in Pasadena, Mott Auditorium, that auditorium about twice the size of this, prayed with two and three people. One person, they went night and day for a couple of years, whatever. I'm telling you though, that magnet is there. Oh, Alan Hood gets the microphone. He's in a swoosh of God. Whoa, what was that all about? You know, best sermon he ever gave. He stepped into the labors of a bunch of unanointed prayer meetings that went on for years. Well, but we're about to step into some labors here of, we're at the 14 year mark. I mean, in a minute, it's going to be 20 years. In another minute, it's going to be 30. And I tell you, our sons and daughters are going to step into something that's going to surpass what Alan Hood did in Pasadena. I'm serious because there's a magnet. I mean, all this connection around the world, these leaders are connecting all over in these dynamic, I mean, trust relationships with, you know, where's this happening? And the whisper of the Lord is the divine magnets working with, obviously, it's not a magnet. It's the Holy Spirit's called the grace of God. But it's related to night and day of weak, broken prayers. Well, I'm going to end with this and I'm going to have Alan just come up and give anything that's on his heart as well. But I want you to remember this. God spoke audibly. God spoke to a prophetic man, Bob Jones, in the 70s and 80s, mostly, he said 100 times about a young adult prayer movement that would start and happen in Grandview. He saw it 20 and 30 years ahead of time. How did you get here? That's not the real question. My question is, what are you doing now that you're here? Well, I'm here, but you know, it ends up, it's kind of hard and it wasn't what I thought. But that's how it is. It works though. It works. If he called you, take hold of that sacred trust. This thing matters to God. I asked, now, I'm going to say something that's going to be kind of, it's awkward to say this right, but I'm saying it for another reason because it's going to sound really proud and I don't mean it that way. I'm trying to stir this up. I asked Jono. I go, Jono, he's a historian on prayer ministries. And I want you to catch this in the right way. I go, Jono, because I haven't, I've studied the prayer ministry through history a little bit. I go, how many prayer ministries in history had 24-7 worship with instruments? Well, you know, I've studied a bit. As far as I know, I don't know, it could be wrong. You know, it's Jono's answer. This is the first one in history. I never thought about that. I thought, really? I mean, what about in Bangor with the Irish guys? Well, they did choirs through the night, chanting choirs. It was music, but not instruments. First one in history. Like, what? Now, again, my point is that aren't we something? That's not my point. My point is, how did you and I get involved in this? How did this happen? And what are we doing now that we are? I mean, that moved me. I went, I mean, moved me and I wanted to bow down and say, Lord, you put an investment in this, and how did a weak person like me and a group like this get sent here? And I mean that in sweetness, and what are we doing now that we're here? Are we dodging our commitments? Or, beloved, this might be, I don't know if it is or isn't, I don't even care, this might be the first one in human history. David's was night and day, not 24-7. I know that in Isaiah, it's night and day with music all around the earth. I know that God spoke audibly and said to a prophetic man for 10 years, it's going to happen, it's going to happen, many signs and wonders. Here we are. This is what it feels like. It really feels like this. I thought I would have felt more powerful. Lord says, it might surprise you, because you don't measure prayer by weeks and months. You measure prayer and fasting by decades. You wait to 2030 and 50 and look back and see if it wasn't worthy, and if I wasn't paying attention every single prayer meeting. Well, I'm in Atlanta. Alan, come on up here. I'm going to have Tim Reimer's team come up too, because we're going to respond to the Lord. And he sang a song yesterday that I love so much. I just said, Tim, just get a couple of your team guys in. Just, even if you can't get the whole team, let's just respond for five or 10 minutes on this. But anyway, I'm in Atlanta. Alan's there, a handful of us. Dave's there. And they said, hey, will you meet with the mission-based guys? I go, okay. Who are the mission-based guys? They go, well, the guys around America doing mission-based. I go, okay. I don't know any of them, hardly. I've heard one of them, you know. I go, okay. So there's 10 of them in the room, you know, and I'm getting their names, and most of them I've never seen. So I go, okay, hey, well, just tell me a little bit. Like, what are you doing? Well, these are just guys that, now, these numbers aren't exactly accurate. I'm making it brief. Most of the people here have about 100 hours of week, some a little bit less, 70, 80, some 120, 100 hours a week of worship-led prayer meetings in their mission space. 100 hours a week with musicians? Yeah. Wow. Most of them have 80 to 100 staff members. 10 of them? 10 groups have 100, or even one group has 200. One group has 70. And I went, and they, I said, tell me about it. And they said, well, we, they all have a sacred trust. Where'd you guys get that idea? They all are intercessory missionaries, full-time occupation. Where'd you guys get that idea? Here's my point. I was blown away. I didn't even know this existed. I mean, there's this groundswell in the earth. And beloved, we're connected to it. Here's the point I want to say. The faithfulness, not just the guys on the platform. I'm talking about the guys in the chair, and particularly the guys in the sound booth, and the guys in the platform, and all the support systems, and the accounting office, and the maintenance team, and the shuttles all make this, they make this work. Those guys all on the earth are taking the, what's happening here. We're resourcing them, but more than anything, we're giving them courage. I mean, they said, we are doing it because you guys don't quit. I thought, ah, if you knew how fragile and weak we were at the home front. I didn't have the heart to tell them. But I just said, well, they go, we are so emboldened by the courage that we turn on the web stream, 300 people in there. You know, I don't tell them, you know, 30 of them are playing video games. I don't even want to say that to them. I don't, you know, I don't want to, I'm just going. They go, I mean, they were awestruck. They go, if you guys can do it, we're going to do it. And I said, Lord, from Jono today, are we the first ones? I mean, again, I don't know. I don't care, really. I don't care if I'm one of the first hundred. And there's a reality that Isaiah's talking about that's breaking out in the earth. And how did you get called here? But the bigger question is, what are you doing now that you're here? Are you on the edges? Are you in leadership and you don't really do the prayer room? Say, well, you know, they're not going to catch me. And so, you know, beloved, what about the work he gave us? What about the assignment he gave us that we stand before his eyes on that day? I just have three quick responses in my own heart. As I'm hearing this, this is always good. Thank you, Lord. I'm, I'm reminded of Julie Meyer's dream. Number one, that she just gave to us this last month about being yoked to the Lord as a bond servant in the prayer room. It was the most beautiful dream. It just so touched me dearly. Come up here. You got to say this a little bit. Yeah, that's amazing. I got that on vacation. But her dream was we were in the prayer room. We were yoked to the Lord in the place of prayer. Just real quick. Yeah, I had a dream where I walked into the prayer room and I saw, I saw Alan, I saw Wes, I saw Corey, I saw different leaders and different people. I mean, a lot of people actually. It looked like to the natural eye that they were in bondage because they were tied up. And in my dream, I went, oh no, IHOP is in bondage. And in the dream, the, the Lord was suddenly standing right beside me and, and he was looking at the, the people in the room. I mean, just with the most pleasurable look on his face. I mean, it was like he was breathing in people. I mean, and, and he said, isn't it beautiful? And, and in my natural mind, I, I didn't get it. And, and I was thinking, are you going to set them free? And he, he turned and he looked at me and he said, have you ever heard of a bond servant? And I actually went on a Bible study throughout the gospels and the word slave and the word servant, when he talks about in the gospel, that word, it actually means to be tied up with someone as if you're in bondage to someone who is the servant of all. And it was so beautiful. I'll, I'll never get his face out of my mind. I see it when I sat there because he's so pleased. I mean, he is so pleased that there's a group of people who want to join him and serve and we are yoked with him as we serve and we show up and we pray. Alan, you have, I know you're moved by that. You've studied Isaiah more than anybody around here. Isaiah says more about the music movement at the end of the age. What is Isaiah going to think when this thing comes to a head, this global movement? I don't know, but if Jesus calls it beautiful, that's, that's enough for me. Just the thought of Jesus smiling and looking at our labors as beautiful before him. I'm just undone by that because I've been meditating on the last, I'm vitally aware that as I grow older, you know, the strength of my youth in my twenties, you know, that first John 2, 14 says that I write to you young men because you are strong. The word of God abides in you and you've overcome the evil one. There's things in my twenties where my strength, I felt like I could through the grace of God, not in myself, but in the grace of God, I could take, you know, subdued nations. You know, you just feel that in my thirties, I began to get in touch with who I am as a person and what my giftings are and what my limitations are and begin to get some self-awareness about who I am. And then in my forties, I realized in spite of all that understanding, I could do nothing. That's true. And in my forties, I realized just how much I needed the grace of God in every arena of my life. And, um, I've been reading song of songs, eight, five through seven over and over for the last months because there she is. She's gone through the twofold testing or heart. You know, she says, uh, your wine flows gently over lips and teeth. In other words, I'd like to do your will kind of like David said, I saw written in your book. So God, I delight to do your will. And, and her, her, she's leaning on her beloved. And yet the Lord takes that time in her maturity because he knows she's going to be prosperous. She knows that he knows that her labors had paid off and she's going to be prosperous. And there's going to be another testing to come in her prosperity. And so he goes, I remember when I awakened you under the apple tree of chapter two, and then he hones in on the key issue. You need to set me like a fiery seal of love upon your heart and your arm. Don't you forget how this thing started. It all started under the shade tree. And I've just been meditating this last January under, I want first love. I want first love. I don't want the success of all the years to, to make me imagine that I, that I'm something more than what I am in the grace of God. Number one. And number two, I want, I want to feel at 40, that fresh wave of love. I remember coming in the prayer room at 6 AM. When, when I didn't have a inkling that I would be doing anything, but sitting in the prayer room at 6 AM and contending for revival. And this last month I've been going, you know, my sacred trust is Monday to Friday, eight to 12. I'm just going to do 6 AM for love. I'm not even going to think about, I've got to do 24 hours. I, if you would have told me at 24 or 29, you've got to do 24. I remember when we had the sacred trust thing, I was like, what? 24 hours? I thought we were in this for love. I thought we were in this to see who could do the most in love. And how far would, how far would you let us go? How bad will you let us be? And now you've got to talk me into 24. I'm backslidden if you've got to talk me into 24. So this last January, the 6 AMs have just been life to me. So I've been asking God, I want a fiery seal of love on my heart and my arm. I want to fall in love with this calling at 40. And then the last thing is, is what Corey and I say to each other all the time. It's Simeon. I want to be Simeon. I want to do it. I want to hold up my sons like the consolation of Israel. I stayed the course until I saw the consolation of Israel. I want to stay the course all my days until revival hits in my sons and your daughters and your sons lead the revivals in the stadiums. And I'm still in the prayer room because I'm too dang old to actually be able to endure six hours a night. You know what I mean? I just feel that invitation to first love, to fresh, uh, trust in the grace of God and, uh, to sign up as Simeon. So I just want that message even today, I'm just yes in my heart and that whole thing. If we, if Jesus, I really hope he does because we're not guaranteed. I hope on the day I stand before him, he goes, that was beautiful. Oh, that's true. Oh God. Yeah. Let's stand. Here's what I want you to do. Just the next, we're going to take 10 minutes. We're going to just go a little bit longer than we normally do, but we won't go real long here. I want you just to re-say to the Lord. Remember he called you to this prayer room. I mean for now, others of you, the prayer movement and other nations, others, it's not even the prayer movement. It's other's assignment, but that's cool. If it's the Lord, you better do it. But I want you to commit to the will of God, unrelated to honor, ease, comfort, money, doors open. It's the will of God. That's what I'm committing to. Why are we in this prayer room? I heard Tim sing this yesterday morning. I said, Tim, this is why I'm here. Come and let your presence fill our praise, fill our praise. Come and let your presence fill this place. Come and let your presence fill our praise, fill our praise. Come and let your presence fill this place. Come and let your presence fill our praise, fill our praise. Come and let your presence fill this place. Come and let your presence fill Fill our praise, fill our praise Come and let your presence fill this place For you are the one we want to meet And Jesus shine through All the praises that we sing For you are the one we want to meet And Jesus shine through All the praises that we sing For you are the one, for you are the one we want to meet Jesus you're the one we're here for Jesus shine through All the praises that we sing For you Lord, for you All the one we want to meet Jesus shine through I just tell the Lord yes, I say yes again to the commitment I say yes again to the calling to the prayer room Whatever measure that is, I say yes I'm in it for you Jesus Here we are, here we are We love you in this place We love you, we love you for We love you Lord You're the one we came here for We love you Lord This is what we came here for This is what we came here for This is what you made us for To partner with you, to partner with you This is what you came here for This is what you made us for To partner with you, to partner with you And this is what we came here for, and this is what you made us for To partner with you, to partner with you And this is what we came here for, and this is what you made us for To partner with you, it's all, it's all for you Here we are, here we are, it's all for you Here we are, here we are, Jesus, it's all for you Here we are, here we are, it's all for you Here we are, here we are, we love you in this place We love you, and for, we love you, we love you We love you, and for, we love you, we love you We're giving courage to the nations in a way that, does it make sense to me? Your part's essential Everyone in the chairs, we're all a part of it together It moves His heart, and it touches the nations We'll take the next 10 seconds, just say yes, I will do my synchrotrism Just in your own words, I really will, I really will I'm gonna do it as long as I'm here As long as I'm here, I'm gonna do it Amen, and amen, and amen, thank you Thank you, Tim