The first few minutes of Morning Prayer did not get recorded.
Dave shared…
…so it would be something like this. They’d hit the ball and I’d run to the ball and try to hit it to keep it from bounding twice. You can only let it bounce once. And then I’d hit the ball. They’d take two steps over here and just hit the ball. When I was done with the game, I was profusely sweating. When they were done with the game, they only had a couple beads of sweat on their foreheads, nothing big. I said, “I got to be like that.” What I found out is that they had learned that conditioned response and that is why they’re not sweating at the end of the day and I was sweating because I was a novice. I wasn’t working smarter. I was working harder.
In the life with God, that’s the way grace is. Grace makes your work easy. Keith Moore said, “If what you’re doing in prayer is difficult, then you’re not doing it right.” If you think about the Holy Spirit, He is the helper, right? Really, if the truth be known, He does more than help. He carries us most the time. We have nothing left in the tank and feel like the world is falling around our ears; He comes in and picks us up and lifts us high above the problems. That’s the Holy Spirit. Our responsibility is to get time with Him so that when life’s challenges happen, we just respond to them in a conditioned manner. Okay, this has happened, this is what you do. And you’re not nervous about it. You just do it, right?
Yesterday, we were driving around in the car and my daughter said, “Dad, this is frustrating.” I said, “You get to the point you’ve done this so many times you don’t even think about the stuff around you. You just automatically know what to do when it happens.” You’ve been presented with so many different circumstances, you’re calm, collected, and it relaxes you and you become a better driver.
That’s the way it is as a believer. We become better believers when we work with the Holy Spirit on a continual basis in whatever manner He desires. As we become more used to Him, the more relaxed, the more peace, the less frustrated, the less spinning we do. We just back off of our own situation and say, “Okay, You’re up!” He wants us to be in that place. We were designed not to carry the load. That’s not what our job is. We were created not to be separated from God. God created man so that we would have a symbiont relationship with Him, where the one needs the other. And life should be that way for us. Every day we get up, we should be looking for what we need from Him. Because I can guarantee you, you need Him. Sometimes we get really good at what we do and we tend to put Him on the shelf and say, “I’ve got this,” and you carry the load. After a while, you start realizing, “Man, this is really difficult.” When you get to a place like that, that means you’re carrying the load. Life should be easy. If it becomes difficult, you’re not doing it right. When it comes to the Holy Spirit, we should be letting Him carry the load.
In the old days, they used to have oxen to carry and pull loads. They had a yoke that went over the oxen… God says His yoke is easy and His burden is light. The idea is that you’re there and He’s helping you carry the load. But realistically, you are just there and He’s carrying the load. That’s really the way it is. Because we don’t want to carry any part of that load. When it comes to challenges of life, when it comes to faith, when it comes to physical ailments, when it comes to believing for your finances, or any kind of spiritual endeavor… When it starts to feel like it’s been a weary, long treacherous road, then you’re carrying the load. How many have ever been weary? We’ve all been in that place. If you’re a human being, you have been weary. And in whatever situation that has brought that weariness, it’s because we’ve gotten our eyes off of the Lord and put them on ourselves on our ability. “Did I do the right thing? Did I pray enough? Did I read enough? Am I quoting enough scripture?”
What is so cool about God is that He doesn’t need you to bless you. When I said that statement, you had to think about it for a moment. “Yeah, but wait…” No. I’m going to say it again. He doesn’t need you to bless you. Some religious people have a hard time with that because they think, “Okay, I have to do this in order for God to do this.” When you got saved while you were yet sinners, Christ died for you. Is that correct? Did He need you for that? While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Everything that you’ll ever receive from Christ is wrapped up in that statement. The blood of Jesus and what He paid on the cross paid for every problem you’ll ever have, any ailment you’ll ever have, any situation you’ll ever face. The blood of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross has paid the penalty. That’s it! It’s complete. And most people will say, “Yeah, that’s true.” But when I tell them God doesn’t need you to bless you, they have a hard time with it. Why is that? I’m saying that for this reason: we need to be light on the load, not heavy on the load. And in order for us to be light on the load instead of heavy on the load, we need to understand this principle.
You say, “Brother Dave, are you actually saying that we don’t do anything?” That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is “conditioned response.” When you follow the Holy Spirit, He will condition you to respond. And it’s responding to the Holy Spirit, not doing what you think you need to do. That is what brings life more abundantly in your life. Not just saying, “Okay, it says to do this and it says to do that” getting their ducks in a row. And that seems logical and it seems mentally right, but then two, three weeks down the road, all of a sudden you feel like you’re carrying everything. That’s because you’re not resting in the conditioned response that the Holy Spirit gives you. He will condition you to respond to your situation. Why is that important? Because that will take you from a place of carrying the load or receiving your promise. Walking in the manifested grace or having a theory of grace, an idea that God provides at whatever level in your mind and actually having tangibility in your body or in your finances.
I know about this subject because I’ve seen this happen in my life. I got born again at 11 years old and my mother would drag us to every prayer meeting, every church service and any time brother Hagin was in town, we were involved. It wasn’t until about six or seven years ago that I got this. And I was pushing very hard in a lot of areas in my life—“line upon line, precept upon precept, line upon line…”—until I got to the point where I couldn’t do it any longer. What I realized is that I was doing all the right things, but I was getting nothing out of it until I ran upon this thing I’m talking about, this conditioned response thing.
Why am I spending time on this? For this reason: this will change your life. This will change the way you see God. This will change the way you expect from God. This will get your mind off of your problems and get your mind on Him. And when you’ve got your mind on Him, He will bring all those things that you desire to your heart. The Bible says “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Right before that scripture, he’s talking about provision. I so want everybody to have this—manifested grace. Not theoretical grace. Instead of having a bill go unpaid, having the money to pay the bill. How would you like to instead of believe for the money, have the money? Anybody? How many instead of believing for healing, be healed?
I’ve had so many healings in my own personal experience. This isn’t somebody else I’m talking about. This is me. In my physical body, I’ve had so many healings with this principle. The reason why we sometimes stay ill for long periods of time is because we’re afraid of the outcome—“What if I don’t take that pill?” “What if I don’t do this?” I’m sharing with you the thing that will allow us to walk with that lightness of life, with the joy of the Holy Ghost, with the ability to have a smile on our faces all the time. And not only be filled with joy but have the power of the Holy Ghost in us and be able to share it with other people. If you’re carrying the load, I’m telling you this—other people don’t want what you have. They’re trying to get out from under the load. And you’re trying to help them carry their load. No! Let’s not be pack mules. Let’s let God deal with that.
Dave prayed…
We’re so grateful, Father, for the Word. We’re thankful for Your grace that is more than enough and sufficient for as long as we live every single day. We’re thankful for this conditioned response that we have that when the circumstances of life face us that we conditionally go through You every time. We don’t take it upon ourselves, so we reach out now, Father, with our hearts and say, “Lord, we look to You as the author and finisher of our faith. The beginning and the end.” You’re the one that came up with it and You are the one to complete it. You who begun a good work, You are able to complete the work. Not me. And I will respond to the Holy Spirit as He leads me into the paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake, that You may be glorified that the world may see You as you are—high and lifted up. You alone are worthy, Father, to bring life more abundantly in the hearts of the believers—not just “getting by,” but above and beyond, exceedingly abundantly above all we can imagine or think. To live in a place where you carry the burden and we just walk it out with ease in this life. Many woes come to men and women, Father, but You deliver them out of them all. Father, we lift up the body of Christ for this revelation that You are imparting to us today, where we learn how to walk in a place of conditioned response. We don’t take on the cares of the world or the challenges of life, but we walk with You in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Thank You, Father, for the Holy Ghost for He leads us to that place You desire us to be, a place where we have joy again, where we feel health in our bodies. We respond to You.
Prayed…
It’s time to let go
And we let go of our ways and our thoughts
We let go of our plans
In the name of Jesus, we let go and we lean entirely upon You, Lord
We put that complete and utter trust in you, Lord
We let go, we let go… this body here at Living Word
We let go of the finances, we let go of the pressure, we let go of the obligation
We put it all on You
We invite You to take complete control
For You remove every burden, every financial burden, and every burden of infirmity
You remove every burden and You destroy every yoke of bondage
Every yoke that has been holding back the plan of God
Every yoke, every burden in Jesus’ name
We say yes to You… You come in… we let go of all those things
We let them loose and set them free into Your hands, Father
You take control and turn this place
You turn every situation and brings us to the place that You’ve intended us to be in You
No more lack in any area
We receive abundance today in the name of Jesus
You’re moving and we’re moving with You
We’re not on our own but we’re following after You
Not in the lead, but following ever closely behind You, Lord
Help us, Lord, to lean more and more upon You daily
That we see You for who You are and we don’t limit ourselves to our own abilities
We respond according to the prompting of Your Spirit
You bring everything into order
As we lay it at Your feet, Lord, You pick it up and You carry the load
We just come along for the ride, and we get to enjoy and witness Your grace
Your manifested glory in this church and in your people in the body of Christ
It’s time, Father, it’s time
The time is short, Lord, we don’t have time to waste
We don’t have time to spin in circles, Father, getting nothing done
It’s time to step up and completely yield ourselves to You
Those things that aren’t working, Father, to just let them loose, let them go
If it’s of You, You will make it work and come to pass
It’s not on us to make it come to pass
You said You would bring it to completion—it’s all You!
Father, forgive us for even thinking that we could take it upon ourselves
We humble ourselves in Your sight
We are to labor but only to enter into Your rest—that is our place and our peace
Prosperity and peace on every side
Things being restored unto us
You’re bringing them back, adding to us, Lord, as we seek You
You cause all that we desire to come unto us and it is an easy way
Thank You, Jesus, for setting us free
Dave shared…
When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, they were led into the wilderness for 40 years before they went into the promised land. For 400 years, they had been in bondage. They were serving other gods. And God had to condition them, get them in a condition that they could take the greatness of God’s plan and bring it into fruition in this earth. He had to condition them to see bigger, to see greater, to see that they were not as mere men but they had a God that was greater than all. And it took them 40 years to get to a point where they could see Him big enough to march around the walls of Jericho and yield to the Holy Spirit’s direction to take the land. That’s all this is—conditioning you for greater things. Our time spent with Him and looking to Him and following His plan and laying down our ways and picking up His ways—that’s all about the greater thing. God’s got great things for us, awesome things! He’s just got to get you to believe that, that’s the case. He’s just got to get us to believe that. “If I could just get them to believe what I told them, they could take the nations. They could go into all the world and preach the Gospel, recover the sight of the blind, cause the lame to walk.” He said, “Greater things shall you do in My name.” Greater.
Brother Hagin wasn’t moved about anything. You could light the building on fire and it wouldn’t move him. Someone asked him about Rhema, “How does one man build a ministry like this? You’ve got schools all over the world, people from this school all over the world in every nation. What is the key to your success?” He said the most important thing was to be led by the Holy Spirit. That was it. People asked him about all the money it took to run the ministry every month. He said, “If God doesn’t pay His bills, I’m going to go do something else.” Does that sound like somebody who has taken on that care himself? No! He gave those cares to the Lord. “This is Your deal. This is Your ministry—You do it.” You just don’t care. Hello? That’s the whole point. He didn’t care. He didn’t take the cares on Himself. He didn’t carry the load. He wasn’t moved at all. That’s how we need to be.
