Annie led group in worship…
Pastor Ray…
Annie, while you were singing, you mentioned “the high tower.” I woke up with that this morning. Getting in and under the protection of the High Tower. The Tower of Protection. It took me back to Habakkuk. There is one thing he did when he was up in the presence of God, his High Tower, the name of the Lord. He didn’t just throw out some things and then leave. He said, “I’m going to wait and see what the Lord says. I’m going to hear it.” I think that’s a message for all of us. When we ask and by faith, we ask, we’ve got to wait on Him and expect the answer to come. Then walk that out. We could use a hypothetical thing. Let’s say we go in and we pray but we leave and He could be in heaven saying, “Why should I answer him? He’s not waiting to get the answer.”
You know what I’m saying? I’m just saying it could be like that. I know it’s not that way. Many times, we not only don’t wait but are not so much really expectant that it will happen. That’s called “doubt.” Or it could be fear. What if that doesn’t happen?
But our expectation must be in the words we speak to Him. The prayers we speak over the earth, we’re not religiously going down through Psalm 91 for protection and then after we pray it go out and walk around in fear.
Yesterday, I was at the dentist for two hours. The hygienist is a Christian, awesome young lady. Sandy and I know her pretty well. While she is working on me, you know how that is… you can’t speak. She said, “At our church, we’re not shaking hands anymore. We end worship and not shake hands.” I said, “What we’re doing every day is pray Psalm 91. We pray it over our families, everything around us, our church, our pastors, and the whole earth! We pray Psalm 91 over everything.” She looked at me and went, “thank you.” It just kind of went over her head, but I knew she didn’t really believe she shouldn’t shake hands because when I came in, she gave me a hug. Okay, so I was done. You know how they take you to the front desk and give you your bill. There was five women working the front desk. They’re all looking at us because, I guess, she hugged me goodbye. I don’t know. So we’re going to leave and she hugged me again and I go out the door and they were all like… I could feel their fear.
No fear! No! We cannot pray and believe the Word and be in fear. It’s faith. Faith in the Word. I saw this is Isaiah 25:7 –9. It’s the NLT version. It’s a great picture of the cross, what was done there.
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There he will remove the cloud of gloom…
It seems like there might be one. But He’s removing it! He “had” removed it. It was included on the cross at Calvary when the blood was shed.
He’s remove the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. 8 He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The Lord has spoken! 9 In that day the people will proclaim,…
What day will that be? When they walk in that… when they believe it and receive it.
The people will say, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”
I like that. It’s all-inclusive! We’re saved. Protected. Healed. Prosperous. Right? So to go along with that, in 2nd Peter 1:3–11 (MSG.), it says:
3-4 Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.
It’s been passed onto us. We have a ticket! We’ve been invited.
5-9 So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.
No day will pass without its reward!
Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.
10-11 So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you.
He’s personal. He gets real personal.
Don’t put it off; do it now.
We confirm it. We’re invited and what do we say to that? Yes, we receive it. We confirm it for us.
Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.
There are a lot more good things in that chapter. Let me read these to you, talking about fear.
Deut. 31:8, “He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Psalm 18:2, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.”
Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Isaiah 43:1, “Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine.”
“Fear not” is mentioned at least maybe 80 times in the Bible. I think most fear is based on the Devil’s lies. What if? What if? What if? No, there are no “what if’s” except for what the Word says. God is our hiding place. The just shall live by faith.
Annie, can we sing about the song about a strong tower?
Annie led group in song and then shared…
There is no fear in love, so there is no fear in our God. So there is no fear in His Word. Because He and His Word are one. So we take His Word; it’s our high tower and we run into Him. And we’re free from fear! Hallelujah! No fear here!
Pastor Ray…
To be in His presence, He makes a way for us to translate suddenly. We’re here in the natural. We come in and then suddenly there’s a place and it’s filled with His light and it’s a clear way to run into Him. We’re in His presence and protected, directed. We hear His voice.
Prayed…
There are some things that need to be prayed out that we do not know about, so we’re going to pray in other tongues for a little while. (Group prayed in the Spirit)
Annie led group singing in the spirit…
Prayed…
While you were singing, I went to Israel, in my heart. I just saw Israel. We bless Israel. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We lift up the positions of authority there and we pray over the land, the borders. We pray in Jesus’ name for safety and protection and direction of the Prime Minister. For all the people… the places we call holy… but the land and the people are holy and they’ll come into the place of holiness… I hear this word for us and the whole world—a turnaround… I declare that this morning: we agree on an absolute turnaround. Like a paradigm shift. Today, a shifting… not just in the things that we know about but things we do not know about… a shifting… in Jesus’ name… we declare it. We pray over America and our President… we plead the blood over all the positions of authority in the United States… the United States are united… a sudden turn, a change… we take authority over the division and lies and inaccuracies and say, “No!” … Your plans and will and purpose for America… a turnaround in the markets… a sudden turn about… change… as the fear goes, the change comes and things that need to rise will rise… things that need to go will go… we pray over the church worldwide, the body of Christ… they’ll rise up and take their place of faith and begin to declare the rest of this race… days and weeks and months… changes, changes… for the church to rise up and receive… thank You for it, Lord…
Pastor Ray prayed Psalm 91 from the Passion Translation…
1 When you sit enthroned under the shadow of Shaddai,
you are hidden in the strength of God Most High.
2 He’s the hope that holds me and the Stronghold to shelter me,
the only God for me, and my great confidence.
3 He will rescue you from every hidden trap of the enemy,
and he will protect you from false accusation
and any deadly curse.
4 His massive arms are wrapped around you, protecting you.
You can run under his covering of majesty and hide.
His arms of faithfulness are a shield keeping you from harm.
5 You will never worry about an attack of demonic forces at night
nor have to fear a spirit of darkness coming against you.
6 Don’t fear a thing!
Whether by night or by day, demonic danger will not trouble you,
nor will the powers of evil launched against you.
7 Even in a time of disaster, with thousands and thousands being killed,
you will remain unscathed and unharmed.
8 you will be a spectator as the wicked perish in judgment,
for they will be paid back for what they have done!
9–10 When we live our lives within the shadow of God Most High,
our secret hiding place, we will always be shielded from harm.
How then could evil prevail against us or disease infect us?
11 God sends angels with special orders to protect you wherever you go,
defending you from all harm.
12 If you walk into a trap, they’ll be there for you
and keep you from stumbling.
13 You’ll even walk unharmed among the fiercest powers of darkness,
trampling every one of them beneath your feet!
14 For here is what the Lord has spoken to me:
“Because you have delighted in me as my great lover,
I will greatly protect you.
I will set you in a high place, safe and secure before my face.
15 I will answer your cry for help every time you pray,
and you will find and feel my presence
even in your time of pressure and trouble.
I will be your glorious hero and give you a feast.
16 You will be satisfied with a full life and with all that I do for you.
For you will enjoy the fullness of my salvation!”
Annie led group in worship…
Pastor Ray…
Before we go, Kenneth Copeland was on last night and he was speaking about the virus and he had some things that we should be doing. One, is take communion every day. Just take it in our homes; receive the elements as a reminder of what He did. Pray Psalm 91. Declare it and believe it. Just keep out of fear. He said fear is really a sin. And fear is in that virus. It’s like a spirit of fear. That’s why so many things are being shut down. We want to hear the right things. I’m not going to listen to the fear and doubt. We need to stay near to Him.
