Pastor Ray…
Let me read from Ephesians 1:17, “I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!”
Who wants that? Hallelujah!
20-23 “All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.” (Message)
I felt led to read that again this morning. That’s a prayer we can pray all the time, every day.
Annie, let’s worship the Lord for a while.
Annie led group in worship…
Pastor Ray…
Just to go along with that, Psalm 62, “For God alone my soul waits in silence. We wait on the Lord. From Him comes our salvation. He only is our Rock, our salvation, our defense, and our fortress. We shall not be greatly moved.” We’re moved in His presence. We’re not moved by the things that have surrounded us in the earth. We will not be moved. Verse 5, “My soul, wait!” It’s a declaration to ourselves. “Wait only upon God and silently submit to Him for our hope and our expectation are from Him. He only is our Rock, our salvation, our defense, and our fortress. We shall not be moved. Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in Him at all times.”
All the time! Trusting in Him. No fear. No anxiety. No questions about how it’s going to turn out. It’s turning out right and things are changing in God’s way and in God’s timing and in God’s perfect plans. We will not be moved, in Jesus’ name. We trust and rely on Him. “You people pour out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us, a fortress and a high tower.” Let’s get in and stay in that tower. Let’s stay in that high place that He’s called us to continually live in. Hallelujah! For the Lord is good. Every morning, His mercies are new.
I’m not sure if I ever went through this before.
Every time I read the Bible where Jesus said, “It’s finished,” I take that literally. It’s finished! I want to share a couple scriptures concerning that. The Bible says in John 19:30, “When He received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished” and with that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” Mark 15:37 we read, “With a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last.” According to Bible scholars this loud cry may have been those very last words that John recorded: “It is finished!” He spoke it out loud. He declared it for everyone to hear. He uttered a loud cry to His Father in heaven. For the whole world to know and for every evil force to have to flee for Jesus’ work on the cross was finished. Then we could say, “It’s done. It’s completed. It’s accomplished. It’s paid in full.” Have you ever paid off a loan, paid in full!
Last words have power. The last words. If you think about it, I know it’s that way for me and I’m sure it’s that way for you. If you’ve ever been with a loved one when they said their last words before they exited earth to their heavenly home, you will never, ever forget those last words. We will never, ever forget Jesus’ last words: It is finished!
There is no question that Jesus knew what He was saying. He knew why He was saying it. He knew it needed to be said. He knew His final words had great power. So I wanted to go down this one part. It is finished were His final words, but it was the ultimate sacrifice for all of our sins. But the word in this verse “finished” is actually from the Greek word tetelestai which is the same word that means “Paid in full.” That’s why we can say “Paid in full, accomplished, and done.” Often it was used an accounting term. Which indicates a debt was paid. The uniqueness about the way it was written is that the tense of the word indicates both a point in time when it was complete and that it would also continue to be complete or finished. And this is the essence of what Christ came to do. He came to “finish” God’s work of salvation in us. He came to “pay it in full,” the entire penalty, or debt, for our sins. He’s at work in our world still today in powerful ways.
You know when we pray His Word, we are speaking His words. There are prayers that were prayed for us by someone else before we were born, and those prayers are still working today. I don’t believe words just sizzle out. Especially if it the Word of God. Yesterday we declared His Word and talked about and received it, believed it… His healing power working in us and online, wherever that word went. It’s working. We sang about it. He’s working today, whether we know it, feel it, sense it or not. It’s by faith.
So I wanted to just touch on about doing this together for a financial need. I want to ask you to repeat this after me.
I declare that I am out of debt forever.
All of my needs are met right now, and I have plenty more to put in store.
I have preferential treatment with others, and I walk in the favor of God and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.
I expect unexpected income, because I am a money magnet.
I am blessed to be a blessing, until all the families of the earth have been blessed.
And I will say continually, “Let the Lord be magnified Who takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servants.”
I am your servant Lord, and I will not deny you the pleasure you take in seeing me prosper.
In the name of Jesus, I am the head and not the tail.
I declare that I am above only, and not beneath.
Your Word says that I inherit the world as part of my covenant.
I declare promotion in my life, and on my job.
I declare promotion in my mind, my will, my emotions, and in my spirit.
Promotion is in my finances, and divine health in my body.
I declare increase and promotion, and it shall surely come to pass for me.
Annie led group in worship…
♪ Holy Spirit, you are welcome here… come flood this place and fill the atmosphere… ♪
Pastor Ray…
There are many things we just don’t know how they’ll unfold but we know things are working out right if we continually stay with Him and keep believing His Word, keep declaring it, speaking it. Stirring ourselves up in our most holy faith. There are things necessary to prayed out. But we can’t pray out things we don’t know unless we pray in the spirit. There are so many things that are unknown territories, but they still have to be changed to align with God’s way. So the only way that we have to cover these things in prayer is praying in the spirit. We have a part to play in all of this… using our mouths. Our hearts. The Bible makes it clear the “heartfelt prayer” availeth much. It’s so necessary to stay in our hearts while in prayer. That’s why I love to keep welcoming the Holy Spirit and being expectant, praying over things that need to prayed out. So come with me and let’s begin to pray in the spirit. If you’re tuning in, just pray out of your spirit. If you’ve never been baptized in the Holy Spirit, just ask Him to fill you to overflowing and He’ll do it. And by faith, believe and He’ll give you another tongue to pray with. He’ll give you words to speak, and it could be just a couple of words… there is nothing like the ability to pray in the spirit, to pray about things we don’t know about. But we pray about those things in tongues. So just see it like this… we’re marching and praying out things in the future.
Pastor led group to pray in the spirit…
It will be illuminated… the Master’s ways for these days… uncover and rearrange… today… we push out those boundaries… Mr. Leader… all the leaders… commanding things to be right… standing on solid ground… restored… promoted… lifted up… numbers… I see a multiplication… it fits… it’s right… turning and changing… new places… open… policies to declare… even the very atmosphere… it’s changing… restored… renewed… revived… a fresh infusion… everything whole… fixed… working right…
Annie led group singing in the spirit…
Pastor Ray…
The Holy Spirit says concerning what the Son said on the cross, those words that were last words can be the first words that you speak in these days that you’re living in. First, let that word, His last words, be spoken first. It Is Finished.
Hallelujah! It’s finished. It’s finished and we’ll let it ring all across America. It’s finished! And the power of God and His presence, revivals breaking out and coming forth and turning into an awakening. Waking up the church and waking up those that have been asleep… until they say, “It is finished.” And we’ll begin to see the puzzle put back together again, orchestrated from heaven. Heaven’s ways on this earth. Put back together the way it should be… compacted together as one body, acting, declaring, believing.
Before we leave, we pray that for our President, Vice President, for all positions of authority in America… we apply the blood and declare like Jesus declared, “It’s finished.” This nation is one nation under God, indivisible. The past is over and we’re moving into the future and we can say, “It is finished.” We pray over every elected office, that right decisions will be made. We cover our leaders… in Jesus’ name… We look forward to the former and latter rain coming together. We thank You for it today.
