Word Spirit Relationship

Thank you, Father, in the name of Jesus. You are God and there is none like You. We are here to worship You, Father. We are here to acknowledge that You are God. We thank You for this opportunity to come together in oneness, to hear Your voice, to declare the victory of our Lord Jesus, to strengthen one another, to be uplifted, to be bold, to be courageous and strong.

Thank You, Holy Spirit, that You are present here tonight. Thank You that You give life to every word, to every thought, to every action that flows from this. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the price You paid. Thank You for what You made possible. Thank You that You have made it possible for us to become one with our Father. Thank You, Father, for Your life in us. Thank You that You have sent us into this earth for a time such as this. Thank You, Father, that You are present. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Hi, everyone. It's really great to be together. Yes, we all know we would have preferred to be together in person, but I feel a bit like about a year and a half ago, more than a year ago, when for the first time we could not physically meet in person because of COVID – it feels as if we've gone a bit of a circle, and to some extent we're at a certain point again in terms of not being able to meet in person.

But for those of you who were part of that first meeting and the message of hope and encouragement that I sent out at that stage, I have in my heart again tonight a real boldness in my spirit that the Holy Spirit has placed there, and the message that God wants to give you tonight is definitely a word of encouragement. It is a word of hope. It is a word of perspective.

We need to encourage one another. So I think it's important for us to take a step back and have a bit of perspective in terms of what it is we are busy with and what is happening around us, and how we look at it. As I was praying just now, that's the amazing thing about the Holy Spirit – how He reveals things and speaks to us from a point of relationship, and it's a continuous thing. As I was praying, I felt in my spirit this conviction: Jesus Christ has won.

He has achieved the victory, the ultimate victory. He has attained that victory, and we are positioned in Him. And not only that – the thing that came up in my spirit, and this is to every one of us, so if you are listening to this message, this is to you – God is not confused. God is not surprised. God is not, quote, off guard. And God knew exactly what He did when He destined you to live in a time such as this.

So the thing you have to realise is that you were sent. When you were born, when you were sent into the earth, God knew that a time such as this was going to come. And who knows if this is the worst thing we'll experience in our lifetime? Maybe not. Maybe there are many things still coming. But God sent us, and He knew what He did when He sent us.

So it's important for us to take that step back, get a bit of perspective, and see where we are going, how we are getting there, and how it is sustainable. If we start right from the beginning – what is God's intention with this earth? God's intention is to fill this earth with His presence. And that hasn't changed. The solutions had to change; the way He wanted to achieve it had to change, because of sin. That separation took place between Adam and Eve and God.

And then He had to send Jesus Christ to make it possible again. Without that, it would not have been possible to become one with God, and in that oneness, to manifest His presence on this earth. It is still God's desire to fill this earth with His presence. Have things gone wrong? Most definitely, because of sin, because of the impact of Satan in this earth. We know things don't look the way they were intended to look, but there is an answer.

God sent Jesus Christ so that when we accept Him, the ministry of reconciliation, as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:17, makes us one with God again and enables us to manifest His presence. We are building, in the body of Christ, a dwelling place for God to manifest Himself in this earth. So God's purpose hasn't changed. His goal hasn't changed.

The amazing thing, as I just shared, that I got in my spirit regarding the fact that Jesus Christ paid the price – He attained the victory. So the great thing for us is that there is a guaranteed outcome. We don't live as people who do not have perspective. We don't live as people who do not have hope. We know what the outcome of this whole process is, because for us it is past tense. Jesus has attained that victory. He is seated at the right hand of God because His work is completed. That by itself gives us hope.

But when we take that step back, and I want to encourage you tonight to just – maybe there are things challenging you. Maybe this whole thing with COVID is really getting to you. Maybe there are other challenges in your life. Maybe you have more questions than answers. But I want you tonight to use the opportunity, firstly, to allow the Holy Spirit to come and touch you. It is only through Him. Allow the Holy Spirit to come and touch you, to open up your heart for truth, to be encouraged, to be strengthened, to have perspective.

And when we have that perspective, when we take that step back, we need to realise that what is important to us is that which has eternal value. When we understand that we are in this earth but we are not from this earth – this is not our end destination, this is not our end goal, this is only a temporary process that we are going through – even the Bible talks about seasons, about dispensations.

Even this dispensation we are in at the moment is not the final one. There are seasons to come. There are dispensations to come. When we step back and have that perspective, we realise that yes, some of the things we are going through are just shaping our character. Some of what we are going through, I have a conviction, is just preparing us for the next dispensation. Yes, and we don't always enjoy it. There are many things that happen that surely we would put up our hands and say, "Look, I would have preferred if this just passed me by."

But that is not the end destination where we are at. This is just the journey. It is just the process. We have the perspective that we are busy, and we should be busy with that which has eternal value. And if we have that perspective, it really gives us that conviction about the importance of being here.

So you who are listening to this message right now – you are valued. You are purposed. You have been purposefully created in Christ Jesus, and you have been sent to be the solution at a time such as this. You have been sent, not like the world, to focus on the challenges, but, like within Christ, to focus on the solution, the victory that has already been attained, and to manifest that victory in this earth.

So that is why we need to take that step back and say, "Look, despite what we see with our physical eyes, we understand there's a bigger picture." When we are in this earth for whatever – 80, 90 years – it is a drop in the ocean compared to what is really lying ahead for us. The next dispensation on its own is 1,000 years that we're going to rule and reign with Christ. So this time we spend is so short, and let's use every opportunity we have to come out stronger, to come out in victory.

But there's a way to do it. Maybe you say, "I've been trying it and I'm failing." Yes, we all fail. It's not about getting it right 100% of the time – I've said it so many times, it is whether you get up again. For me, it's about whether we have the perspective that what we are busy with has eternal value. And we can impact eternity. In this time, in this season, in this opportunity, we can impact eternity.

And with that, we must understand the Word is very clear: we are co-labourers in Christ. We are co-labourers with God. We can take that sigh of relief and realise that God is in control, He has a plan, and we are working towards something, and we are co-labourers with Him. We are not on our own. Jesus said He will never leave us nor forsake us, so we are not on our own.

We are not only just trying in our own physical ability – well, surely we shouldn't be, because God is glorified. The Word says to us that God is glorified in that we bear much fruit. So He has an expectation that we bear fruit, and that fruit is that which has eternal value. But we know we are in a broken world; we know we are in a certain dispensation where the impact we might see now as the body of Christ – we shouldn't think it's going to be like that always.

I certainly have an expectation that the body of Christ, and the impact we'll have, will grow more and more as we focus on God, as we die to ourselves, as we come into unity, as everything else loses its importance, and even barriers are broken down between religions and between ministries. The more we come to that place of oneness, I have an expectation that we'll see the results that Ephesians 4 talks about – until we come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

I want to read you something that just says what's happening at the moment is not a surprise.

“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

1 John 5:19-20 (NKJV)

Some translations say that people are under the control of Satan, under the sway of the wicked one. I mean, even now as I read it, this just speaks to me.

I'm going to read it again, and listen – there are two things stated here. If I can put it frankly: it states that the world is messed up. It states that there's a category of people under the control of Satan. There isn't a middle ground – you are either in Christ or you're under the control of Satan. Whether we want to acknowledge that or not, that's the reality the Word shows us. It says the world is messed up. It says there are a lot of people under the control of Satan.

Then it says, "But that is not us," and explains where we are positioned. So 1 John 5:19 again: "We know that we are of God." It's as if he's putting it in one short verse. He's creating perspective, saying our perspective is different, because "we know that we are of God." And "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one." So we know where we are positioned. We know the life form we have inside of us, but we know we live in a broken world. We don't have to argue about that – we see it every day around us.

And then, thirdly, there are people who are under the control of Satan, who will continue to function in the flesh, operate in the flesh, and continue in wickedness and unrighteousness. Verse 20 says, "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding" – gnóskein – "that we may know Him who is true." That is the Greek word alēthinos – that we may know Him who is true.

And we are in Him. He keeps saying it, as if he knows maybe we're not going to get it, maybe we're not going to believe it, so he wants to be sure. He says, "Him who is true," and "we are in Him who is true." Then he states it again: "in His Son, Jesus Christ." It should give us a different perspective. And then again: "This is the true God and eternal life." He is both God and He is eternal life. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the beginning and the end. He is God and eternal life.

In Him is the solution. He is the solution. He's the self-fulfilled solution. And because we are in Him, we embrace, we inherit, we become everything that He is. In Him we have access to everything that He is. So we have been sent for a time such as this, and what is going on is not a surprise. Even the Bible says that Jesus was sent.

“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

1 John 3:8 (NKJV)

So again, this is not a surprise to us, but we need to have perspective.

Jesus Himself said that the time is coming for us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. He says God is seeking such – God is seeking true worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. In spirit, which is life, and in truth, which is word, which is reality, which is that which exists. That's where faith comes in. That's where the Word comes in, to understand what reality looks like.

I continue to have this conviction tonight that we understand God is just far superior – far superior to this physical world. This physical world is just one dot of expression of God's creative ability. But He Himself, and where He functions, and His nature, His ability, is just far beyond that. That is why it says God is seeking people to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Spirit to give life, not to try to achieve through the flesh. It says it is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing.

We need to come to that place where we realise how many things we have tried in our own ability. How many things we have tried in the flesh. How many things we have tried because we thought it was a good idea, a good thing to do, and then it doesn't work – only to realise that the life of the Spirit was not in that.

I'm definitely becoming more and more aware of – if I can put it in context – doing less, but doing more: to do less through works, but to do more through intimacy with the Spirit, from a place of relationship, and from a place of functioning in His rest. In His rest, in that intimacy with Him, to function from that place and to manifest His desire, His ability, in every situation.

So God is seeking people to worship Him in spirit and in truth, in that reality. If we can just – you know, the combination I've shared recently, for me the perspective about the three things that remain for us that we can offer – I'm maybe going to repeat it, for many of you have maybe heard it already.

What are the three things that we have to offer? Number one is the Word of God, number two is the Spirit of God, and number three is relationship – relationship with God and relationship with one another. For me, those three things sum up our purpose, our existence, and the tools that we have access to. Everything is summed up in those three things: the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and relationship.

So it is important that we can't just have the Word on its own, because that becomes religion. We need to mix it with the life that comes from the Spirit. We need to activate the Spirit through relationship. The example I've used so many times: there's a requirement that at some stage, continuously, we turn away from the things of the world, like Moses had to look at the burning bush. We need to make that decision to look away, to focus on the Holy Spirit. If I can put it in physical terms, it's like the Holy Spirit is doing nothing until we turn our attention to Him and engage with Him from a place of intimate relationship, acknowledge His presence, and hear His voice – and then life starts flowing from us.

That's why that verse, John 7:38, says:

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

John 7:38 (NKJV)

And then it says Jesus spoke about the Holy Spirit – that is what He was speaking about. So we have the desire that from our innermost being will flow rivers of life-giving water: the solutions, whether it's healing, finances, restoring relationships, your business with your colleagues, wherever it is, when you go out on ministry – whatever it is, we have the desire that wherever we go, we bring life.

We bring life. We turn the wilderness, we turn the desert into a fruitful forest. We have that expectation. But it doesn't come through physical work. It doesn't come through manipulation. It comes through that intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, and in that intimate relationship He starts activating that life, that ability, that precision. That's why I really have this conviction that we must continuously check: are we busy manifesting the life of the Holy Spirit, or are we busy trying to do things in the physical through our own ability?

They just tend not to yield the same results as when the Holy Spirit is present, and that is why, when we talk about these three things – the Word – we need to spend time on the Word. I've said so many times, the Word is the material that the Holy Spirit can use in you and through you. So it matters how much Word you have inside of you. It matters how much you give the Holy Spirit to work with.

So yes, fill yourself with the Word of God. We need to continuously fill ourselves with the Word. The Word gives us the picture of what reality looks like – the reality that God is and is from. The Word keeps giving us that perspective, and when we start functioning in that perspective, based on that reality, that is really when we function in faith. It's easy to say we function in faith, but is it faith based on hoping that God will show up for me, or faith based on what the Word says God is?

Because that is faith. Faith is knowing what reality is and functioning based on that reality. That is why the Word is important – the Word gives us that perspective. And the Spirit, as I've already said, gives life to everything that is in the Word. You know that verse that says the word didn't benefit them because they didn't mix it with faith – in your spirit, that place that can actually generate life through receiving the Word and mixing it with the Spirit, mixing it with faith, and then it can give life to you.

I explained to you before, which was quite interesting, in Acts 10:44:

“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.”

Acts 10:44 (NKJV)

Now, if you just read that in English, you won't get the full impact and perspective of what he said. If I use the Greek words there, you will actually see that it says: while Peter was still speaking the rhema – that's the rhema word of God, the now word, the spoken word – the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the logos. Think about that. While Peter was speaking the rhema, the Holy Spirit fell upon those who heard the logos. Because what is that? The logos is the concept. It explains the concept, the reality – the reality of the realm of God's existence.

Although in a physical way Peter communicated it and spoke it, he spoke the rhema word, but the rhema word is the carrier of reality. And those that didn't just hear the rhema, but heard the logos – heard the concept, the reality – and said, "Oh okay, I've got the reality," when they embraced that reality, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. That is how the Word of God works.

You can't just read the letter and think that by itself is life. You need to embrace the reality, the concept, allow the Holy Spirit to give life to it, and then it produces in you. So again, perspective: what is it that we have to offer? The Word of God, the Spirit of God, and thirdly, relationship.

It is just so significant for us to realise that we are on a journey. Tonight we are taking this step back and saying, "Okay, God, just show us. Give us perspective. What's really going on? What should we think of this whole COVID thing? What should we think about the terrible things going on in the world?" There are many people dying of many things beyond just COVID. There are so many things wrong in this earth. And we are taking a step back tonight and saying, "God, just give us perspective. Give us hope. Give us encouragement. Give us the strength." And we realise that it doesn't matter what the challenge is, and I need you to hear that tonight.

It doesn't matter what the challenge is. Two things. Firstly, God is not caught by surprise. And secondly, the answer doesn't change. Just think about it: COVID pops up – we didn't know about COVID before, and now COVID is here, and all of a sudden it's like we're scrambling, saying, "God, what?" It's as if this is a new problem, as if it's complex, difficult, insurmountable, as if maybe God hasn't thought this one through, maybe God didn't expect this one. No – it's just us that are caught by surprise. God is not caught by surprise, and the answer doesn't change. No matter how we perceive the significance of the challenge, the answer doesn't change. The answer remains the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and our relationship.

Both the Word and the Spirit coming together get their fulfilment in our relationship with God and our relationship with one another. So when I talk about relationship, yes, there is no replacement. Watch teachings – you can rather watch teachings than watch sport or whatever else. Yes, watch as many teachings of Spirit-filled people sharing the truth as you need, to fill yourself with the Word.

But the majority of time that you should be spending is not on other people's material. It is between you and God. That should be the majority of your time. And yes, we can use other people's material – when I spend long hours praying, I use worship music, and I listen to a lot of worship music. That is somebody else functioning in their gift; it is tools that they made available.

For me, it stirs me in my spirit. It motivates me, because not every time I pray do I feel the same level of conviction, strength, hope and boldness. Sometimes you feel like you've been dealt a few shots and you feel more down than up. And I put on the worship music and start listening, and that physical thing becomes a spiritual thing in my spirit, for I embrace it. And then all of a sudden I can feel how it starts to encourage me from the inside, welling up inside of me.

Then I get to a point – and that's just me personally, I'm not trying to give you a recipe – where I switch off the worship music, and then it's between me and God. Then it's just the relationship, that time with the Holy Spirit. So I want to encourage you: when we talk about number three, relationship, it's firstly the priority that we make it, that we spend that time to really be with the Holy Spirit, to dwell with Him, to dwell in that secret place, to have that intimacy with Him.

Speak to Him. Don't feel distant. Come into that room, that place where you are alone, where you are quiet, and speak to Him like you would speak to a human being. Yes, obviously we speak with reverence, and you might go on your knees, you might go on your face, but speak to Him. Share with Him your heart, because the more you share, the more these distractions, these impurities, this fear that we have will start surfacing, and we can remove it, and we start seeing clearly.

We start hearing His voice, and then we start getting strengthened. Like Jesus said, when you drink of this water, you will not thirst again. Sometimes we feel we have more questions than answers. Sometimes I feel there are a lot of challenges. Sometimes I just cry for what the world looks like, and I say, "Lord, surely the body of Christ should have a bigger impact in this earth." If I look at all this pain, the destruction, the poverty, the sickness, the evil, the unrighteousness – if I look at that, I cry out, "Lord, the body of Christ must have a bigger impact in this earth." And I continue to have that conviction, and I believe that.

So I want to emphasise, I'm still on the component of relationship: make time, beyond anything else, to just spend with the Lord so that He can speak to you, because when He gives you that reality which cannot be shaken, that is the thing that will sustain you – not the hopeful, wishful thinking that God will show up and do something.

That is why, often when we counsel people and guide people who need to make big decisions, we say, "Let the Spirit, let God give you a word," because you need the Word of God to hold on to. There's a verse that says, "Hold on to the more sure word of prophecy." So when you receive that word, you embrace it. When the waves come and slap you and slap you, and you start doubting – "Am I still on the journey that God sent me on? Am I still doing the thing that God wanted me to do?" – you need to come back to this word and say, "Yes, I am," because this was the word that I received and that was confirmed, and you hold on to that word.

It's the same in that relationship, that time with the Holy Spirit. Those things the Holy Spirit gives you in that time become unshakable. When you go into the world, there are many things where you will doubt, you will be challenged, you will question yourself, but those things I see as gold nuggets that the Holy Spirit has given you – the things you know that you know that you know are from God – cannot be shaken. Those are the things we will hold on to. And if we don't have that intimate relationship with Him, we will doubt more than we will have certainty, and those waves will toss us to and fro. So that time with the Holy Spirit is critical.

Then the second component I spoke about in terms of relationship is relationship within the body of Christ, relationship within your faith community, relationship with other Christians.

We've created the perspective again about where we fit into this picture, but now we're on this journey, and it's a war. Yes, we desire that presence, we desire that peace, and we can function in that and get our strengthening, get filled and encouraged, and get recharged there. But when we go out into the earth, we face the brokenness, we face the challenges, and it's a war. The Bible is very clear about that. We're in a war, we're in a battle, we're in a race, we've signed up in the army, so there is a fight out there.

I've shared recently, many times, about 2 Corinthians 10, from verse 3:

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NKJV)

Mighty in God. In God. In God. Like I just shared about us being in Christ, that is where our solution is – something first needs to get through Christ before it gets to you. That is the amazing thing: the thing that comes against truth – truth will always prevail. Reality, alethinos, will always prevail. The question is, is that what we are holding on to? For as long as you hold onto truth, reality, alétheias, the knowledge of God, it will always be victorious. It has to. But we have to check whether, along the line, we haven't started holding onto something that is maybe not God, that is not truth, that is not reality, that has not been given life by the Spirit of God, that has not been born from our relationship and our intimacy with the Holy Spirit.

So we know, we've got the perspective. We're here to manifest God's presence. We need the Word, we need the Spirit, we need the relationship with God, and then we need the relationship with one another. Why is that relationship with one another so important? I'm going to read you one verse before I explain that, from Acts 2:42.

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

Acts 2:42 (NKJV)

Just quickly get that perspective: this was just after Jesus left, and this was when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit happened. So I want to say that the church at that stage was at its purest form. The church at that stage was the closest to the recipe that Jesus gave them. That's why this is so important in Acts 2. What is the recipe that Jesus showed them, immediately after they were overwhelmed, when for the first time the Holy Spirit was poured out on people and they started functioning from that place? They saw testimonies and healings. The apostles just walked down the streets, and when their shadow fell on somebody, the people got healed.

Why was that? Because they functioned from that place of the purest and most successful form of the church of God, the body of Christ and the manifestation of His presence. And how did they achieve that? It says four things: steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine; secondly, in fellowship; thirdly, in the breaking of bread; and fourth, in prayers.

Now, when it speaks about the apostles' doctrine, for me that actually refers to the now word. There are times, there are seasons, and you'll find, if you follow people that you deem spiritually mature and led by the Spirit, that people who don't even know each other will all of a sudden – and I've experienced this many times – you get the same word from many people, and then you know that is the now word.

So for me, when it talks about the apostle, it's not about the title of an individual. It is the purpose. It is the now word, the now season, that it's necessary for us to understand and function in. That's why we don't function in isolation. That's why it's important to be part of the body of Christ, to acknowledge every gift and the offices that Jesus gave us. That's the apostles' doctrine. Fellowship is the intimacy that we have with one another – I like to refer to it as doing life together.

It is to journey together. The people on your left, the people on your right – those are the people who will ensure that you complete what God has called you for. That is the reason I deviated onto this verse. Now that we have this complete answer, it doesn't mean we are going to get it right every day.

I really wish we would all just get it right every day – I think then Jesus would come next month. But it just doesn't work that way. We still fail. We get discouraged. We see challenges come against us that feel too much, and that is why fellowship is the key, why relationship is the key: because we cannot do it on our own. At the same time, it is not an option for any one of us to give up. It is not an option for any one of us not to complete the race.

That is why, even when we have all of this in terms of perspective, all of the answers, the playing field sorted out, I still need to get from this side of the field to the other side to score that try. And how am I going to get there? Not on my own. That is why it is critical to surround yourself with people who are Spirit-filled, who journey with God, who have intimacy with the Holy Spirit, who can take care of you, whom you can hook into, so that we can form a chain and say, "This chain will not be broken. When one falls, we will pick him up. We will make sure that every person entrusted to us will complete the journey."

Because otherwise, everything I have shared – this picture of the purpose of God, of our perspective, of the Word, the Spirit and the relationship – all of it amounts to nothing if you are not able to fulfil what God has sent you for. Nothing. Every one of us needs to survive. Every one of us needs to complete the journey and the purpose God has called us for, and that is why we need to function in fellowship.

It says, "in the breaking of bread" – that continuous acknowledgment of what Christ did for us. We will do that just now. We need to continuously remind ourselves that it is by grace, by grace, that it could be of faith. We could not deserve that Jesus Christ died for us. And I want to end off with that.

For me, this is really a message of encouragement, a message of hope. It is to tell you that you are significant, that you have been sent for a time such as this, that God has not been caught by surprise. God knew, long before this happened, and He sent you. He picked you, He prepared you, He sent you, and we are going to journey through this together. We are going to stand strong together.

You need to be willing. You need to be willing to stand up and say, "Here I am," like God asked in the Old Testament: "Who shall I send?" And one said, "Here I am, send me." You need to express that willingness to journey. Some people are not willing. Some want to do their own thing, their own way, their own time, their own place. They are just not willing to submit to the body of Christ, to a joint journeying as a component within the body of Christ.

Without exception, those people will be taken out by Satan. That is simply how it is. None of us can function on our own. None of us is the answer on our own. We need every single person. We need every gift embedded in and entrusted to every one of you. So you are precious. You are precious. You are precious. I pray to God tonight that, if you don't have that conviction yet, you will get it in your heart – that you are precious, special, significant, loved by God, and that you have been sent for a time such as this to be the solution.

I would like to pray for you. Thank you, Father, that You are an amazing God. It's all about You, Father – all about You and Your love for Your children. Thank you that You guide us through Your Word and through Your Spirit. You guide us in truth. You guide us in reality. Thank you, Father, that You stir up again inside of us the truth, the reality.

Let truth prevail in us, Father. Let every lie disappear. Let every attack from Satan, every fiery dart he has shot, fall to the ground and amount to nothing. We will embrace no lie. We will believe no lie. We will only believe truth and reality. We will only believe what You say about us – that You have created us in Your image, in Your likeness, and destined us for a time such as this.

We are victorious in Christ Jesus. Thank You, Lord Jesus, You have attained the victory. We cannot do that, but we can benefit from what You did. We were in You when You attained that victory. We are in You now. We function from that place, and we thank You for that, Lord Jesus. Thank You that we can function from that place of victory, that we can be encouraged and strengthened, Father, through Your Spirit. Holy Spirit, tonight it is my prayer: come and strengthen us. Come and uplift us. Come and encourage us.

Give us perspective about who God is, our Father who gave life to us. Through His seed He has given life and birth to us. We have been created in His image and likeness. He is the Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Nothing is impossible for Him, and we know He is aware of every one of us. He knows the intimate desires of our heart. He knows where we are at. He knows what we are struggling with. Thank You, Father, that You give Your Spirit to strengthen us, to enable us to overcome ourselves, to overcome the flesh and function in the Spirit, to manifest more of You, more of You, Lord, in everything, more of reality.

In our thoughts, in our words, in our actions, in our environment, in our relationships, we have an expectation of what it will look like in this earth when we manifest more of Your presence. Father, we will not accept, on our watch, on our shift, the things that go on in this earth. We have an expectation, and we cry out, Father, for every soul in this earth. You said You do not want one to go to hell, and we cry out, Father: send more labourers, send more labourers, Father – the harvest is ready.

Help us to stand up. Help us to function in truth and reality. Help us to lead people to Christ. Help us to focus on that which has eternal value. Help us to overcome our own weaknesses. Help us to overcome the onslaughts and distractions of Satan, and we rebuke that. Father, it is my prayer that the attacks of Satan are revealed tonight, that they come into the light.

Whatever we struggle with, Father, we repent of that tonight. Whatever sin we have committed and function in, we repent, and we say we are sorry, and we have a conviction that we will let go of that, that we will function in truth and reality. Because we repent, because we put that in front of You, because it comes into the light, it is destroyed – destroyed by Your presence, by Your light, by Your ability. Thank You, Father, we are victorious in You. We overcome because of You. Thank You that we are enabled, that we can continue to manifest Your presence.

We have an expectation, Father, that You strengthen us, that You encourage us, that You give us hope. Thank You that You give us the conviction that we can go out and heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers. We will heal the brokenhearted. We will set the captives free, because You have sent us to do it. We are functioning on Your mandate. We are functioning in the authority of Jesus Christ, not our own ability, not our own authority, not our own mandate. Father, we are here for You.

And Lord Jesus, You have attained the ultimate price. You are victorious, and we are seated in You. Thank You, Father, that we can manifest Your presence on this earth, that we can have an expectation of what it looks like when You show up, when Your presence is manifested. It will bring life. It will bring light. It will destroy the works of the devil. Thank You, Father, that many will receive salvation, many will turn to the Lord, will turn from their wicked ways.

We have an expectation, Father, for our family members, our environment, our colleagues, those we come into contact with – we have an expectation that their hearts are ready to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Thank You, Father, that You work through us to attain Your kingdom, to manifest Your kingdom in this earth, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Our God is amazing. He's a God of love. He's a God of love, and He is just amazing. He loves you so much. He loves you so much.