Pastor Dustin…
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to morning prayer. My name is Dustin. I’m a pastor here at Living Word. Thank you for joining us, being in this place.
Honoring God in all our ways…
I had on my heart this morning to start with an emphasis on honoring God. I’ve been thinking about that a little bit lately. There are a number of ways that we can honor Him. We can honor Him with our thoughts. We can honor Him in our hearts. We can honor Him in our actions. We know that all true honor originates in our hearts. I’m a youth pastor and I was talking to some students about worship. I was asking them if they like worship. And I know it’s kind of a setup when you ask something like that. I said, “What do you think about worship.” And worship, obviously, we know in Romans 12:1 says our life is worship. We should take the new life that God has given to us and continually return it back to Him. That’s our reasonable, rational act of spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 talks about how in light of everything that God did for us, Jesus did for us the rational, reasonable response to that is for us to give Him everything that we are.
Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship…
But we know that even within that, like singing corporately together in church is an important element of worship. And so that’s what I was referring to when I was talking to them. And so I asked them, “What do you think about worship in church?” I appreciated their honesty. They said, “I don’t really like it. I don’t like singing. I don’t like lifting my hands because my hands get tired.” And they said, “Why can’t I just sit there and just feel good feelings towards God?” And I said, “Well, it’s a great question.” I’ve certainly had thoughts like that myself. And I said, “Well, you can do that.” But here’s the thing, we say that Christianity isn’t a religion. It’s a relationship, right? Oftentimes when people say that I get the feeling that, that connotes there’s no accountability. They can do whatever they want whenever they feel like it because it’s a relationship.
Think of your earthly relationships and how they work…
And it makes me wonder if a lot of people don’t really understand how relationships work. Because you think of a relationship with like a spouse. I mean, it requires all of you… all of your heart… all of your will… all of your soul… all of your strength. And that’s not even enough. You need the Lord’s help. So I told them, “You know, with my wife, I’m certainly not perfect. When I met my wife, I wanted to know what she liked. I wanted to know who she was. And so I got to know her and I wanted to find out how does she like to receive love? What makes her feel loved?” And then I endeavored to do those things for her.
God is a person and He has preferences…
And I said, “God is a person. And He has preferences. And He wrote about His preferences in the Bible.” And so I said, “In the Bible, it tells us that God likes it when we lift our hands to Him. He likes that.” I said, “In the Bible, it says that He likes it when we bow down before Him. It says that He likes when we give Him our attention and our focus and our thoughts. It says to offer Him a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of your lips, meaning you got to open up your mouth and say something sometimes. He wants to hear what you have to say.” And so I said, “Because I’m in relationship with God and I love God, I want to love Him the way that He wants to be loved.”
So as we worship this morning, keep all those things about relationship in mind…
And so I say all of that to say this morning, as we worship, just keep these things in mind. Obviously, you can sit there in stillness and know that He’s God and allow Him to minister to your heart and interact with Him on that level. But there’s a lot of things that He really enjoys and likes.
Worship isn’t for us, it’s for Him…
My response to them at the beginning of this conversation, when I asked them if they enjoyed worship or what they thought about worship, when they said “I don’t like it. And I don’t like standing. And I don’t like all of that.” My first response after I gave them this beautiful long answer was, “Well, you know, worship isn’t for you, right?” They were like, “I don’t like standing. I don’t like lifting my hands.” I was like, “Well, you know that it’s not for you, right? You know that.” They’re like, “That doesn’t sound right. Isn’t everything for me, isn’t everything about me. Isn’t everything about what I like and about me?” They were like, “Yeah, actually, you know what, that sounds right. I think you’re right. I think worship is for God.” And then that’s when I started going into like the lifting of hands and all that kind of stuff.
The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever…
And Jesus loves us. God loves us. But at the end of the day, like that old catechism says “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” That’s our highest priority is to glorify God, to worship God, to honor God and then enjoy Him forever. And so let’s do that this morning. Let’s glorify God. If you would close your eyes with me for a moment and just put your thoughts and attention on Him… Certainly if you’re here in this room or joining us online, just put your thoughts and your attention on the Lord. Remember His goodness and faithfulness. It’s such an awesome place to start. Just remembering all of the good things that He’s done. All of the things that He’s brought you through. All of the times where you cried out to Him and He heard you and He answered you and He helped you. And the times that you didn’t deserve His help and He helped you anyways. He demonstrated mercy and grace to you.
Prayed…
Father, we thank you for your goodness for your faithfulness that you’ve demonstrated to us over and over again. We thank you, Jesus.
Now let’s just give Him this time and just honor and worship Him. Noah’s going to lead us in worship, and we’ll just flow with what the Spirit of God wants us to do today. We’ll endeavor to be quick to listen and quick to respond. But I would just encourage you just take this time and just let it be between you and Him and just worship Him, honor Him in your heart. Magnify Him.
We are the ones who need to worship God…
One of the amazing things about worship is that God enjoys our worship, but He would still be God if we didn’t worship Him. He doesn’t need it in that sense. He loves it. It blesses Him. But He doesn’t need it. The funny thing about it is we do it for God, but He doesn’t need it. But we do. We do actually need it. As you worship the God of peace, peace will begin to fill you. As you worship Him, you’ll begin to receive strength, receive peace, receive joy, receive hope. There’s this exchange that takes place as you magnify Him. Those problems, those circumstances around you get smaller and smaller in your mind and in your heart. As you worship Him, as you sing to Him, as you offer yourself to Him, He begins to minister things to your heart and speak to you.
Worship begins…
So we worship you this morning because you’re worthy. We give this time to you. We give our attention to you. We know that as we honor you, by giving you our time, you honor us with manifesting your presence in a greater way. And that’s what we want. That’s what we need. Your presence.
Pastor Dustin…
I used to struggle with the question, what does that mean to exalt God? How can you exalt Him? He’s God. I’m me. Exalt Him in your thoughts. Put things in the proper priority in your mind and in your heart. That’s how you can exalt Him. Put Him first in your heart. Yes, let Him have the final say in your life. Submit to the authority of the Word of God. Take His Word and His promises as the final word in your life and over your situation. Believe His Word over your circumstances. Believe His promises over what you can see and how you feel. Your feelings might be strong, but your feelings could be wrong. You can feel strong about something and still be wrong about it. So submit that to Him, submit those feelings to His words, submit your will, your thoughts, your dreams, your desires to Him because He’s worthy of it all. Every part of your life, every part of your heart… He’s worthy of your time. He’s worthy of your attention. He’s worthy of your focus. He’s worthy of your trust.
The Bible says that the just shall live by faith. Live by faith, not have faith moments, live by faith. Oh, what a beautiful way to live, where you trust your Heavenly Father. You’re dependent on Him. The world raises you to be independent, but as you mature in the Lord, you realize that’s a deeper dependence on Him. You become aware of how desperate you are for Him in every way, how much you need Him for everything. The worst thing you could imagine is being apart from His presence. You have to have Him. And thank God we always do. He’s always there.
Sister Barb…
Lift your voice. Sometimes it’s just a sound. Sometimes it’s just a sound that comes from your spirit. It’s a sound that shakes things, that breaks things, that anointed sound that comes from heaven. Yes, for that breaking, for that breaking and breaking forth. That sound in Jesus’ name on the day of Pentecost, there was a sound that came as a rushing, mighty wind and it filled the place. The Holy Ghost in you is bringing sounds. Sounds through your spirit to overcome the sounds of the world, to overcome the sounds of your circumstance. Let those sounds come out of your spirit. Come out of your tongue in Jesus’ name… release them into the earth, release them into your family, release them into your situation. They would praise Him with the harp. Those sounds that the Holy Ghost, that anointing would come upon to break even evil spirits to drive them out.
Oh, sounds from heaven. There’s a voice. There’s a voice in the earth coming through you. This is the day for your voice to be heard… don’t hold back… release, release… There might even be a shout. There’s a distinction between your utterance and the utterance of one of this earth of this world. There’s a distinction. There’s an anointing upon your words. There’s an anointing upon your voice. Just as John came forth declaring “prepare the way of the Lord.” So we yield our voices. We yield our songs. We yield our sounds to you, Lord. It’s not by might or by power. It’s by the Holy Spirit. Sounds, sounds, sounds… sounds of deliverance.
Pastor Dustin…
So open up your mouth and declare it. Say it out loud. Like Dr. Billye Brim said when she was here. You can pray in the spirit, that’s good. But at the end of the day, like you just got to say the thing. You got to just declare it. You just got to say it. In the name of Jesus, we hold the blood up against any demonic assignment or maneuver formed or spoken against the senior pastors of Living Word Christian Center, the congregation of Living Word Christian Center. We hold the blood of Jesus up over Minneapolis, over the Twin Cities, over this state… in Jesus’ name. And what the enemy intended for evil, you’re going to turn for good in Jesus’ name… open up your mouth, take your authority, declare over yourself, over your families, over the things that God gave you authority over.
Oh, it’s time for the church to open up her mouth… and to speak and to speak and to speak … like Jesus, when He spoke to the storm. He didn’t sit there and just hope. Hope is good. You’ve got to hope. But at some point, He stood up and said, “Stop, stop it.” And it obeyed what He said. You’ve got to speak over your circumstances. You’ve got to speak over your family. You’ve got to speak over your kids. Speak over this church… speak it out. Say it, declare it.
Revival breaking out… revival breaking out … moves of the Spirit, the gifts of the spirit in operation, healings, signs wonders, unusual miracles taking place in the lives of this church, this body of believers. And if it’s happening in their lives, of course, it’s going to happen in the services.
We speak over the finances of the members of Living Word Christian Center in the name of Jesus. We rebuke any demonic assignment sent to rob the children of God from what they’ve been put on this earth to do… we rebuke it. In the name of Jesus. And we ask you for wisdom in how to navigate the financial decisions that we’re walking through …
Sister Barb…
That poison that has tried to come into this next generation, Father. The enemy has tried to poison their minds against the church and against religion. And I thank you today in Jesus’ name, that poison is removed. That darkness, that deception is removed by the anointing by the power of the Holy Spirit. That poison is driven out, that poison is driven out from their minds in the name of Jesus. They will no longer be turned away from the Gospel, Father, but they will be drawn to the Gospel, drawn to salvation. Drawn to their purpose and their calling in you. Today is the day of salvation for them. Their eyes are open to the truth now. This next generation and the generations coming up, Father. Eyes are opened. They see the truth. They see the light … light comes to them. They’re walking in the light and all those lies of the enemy, they fall away. They disappear. They’re removed and dispelled and Jesus’ name…
