Hi. This is Dave Olson.
I'm the senior leader of Hartman church located in Ankeny Iowa.
I hope the following message, challenges and courage's and
ultimately changes you. Thanks for joining us when the
spirit of God Falls. There are suddenly no experts in
the room. We all become little children
novices and if you can sit in an environment where God is pouring
out and you still hold to your status as an expert, then you're
like Jacob who awoke at Bethel and said God was here and I knew
it not. You were immune to what was
going on in the room. I don't care how much you have
in God, how much history? I've had the great privilege,
the honor of being in revivals, for a number of revivals over
the years and have even had the privilege of leading a few Mama.
Tell you, when God shows up all of a sudden all that goes out
the window and it's just like Lord, Let's Get Low and Lord, we
just want to go with you and so here's been my concern.
I was talking to my 17 year old. We were driving after Wednesday.
Going home and we're talking about this and and I said, you
know, I said Nathaniel we this church has had a reputation of
being in some people's mind, the Revival Church, some people's
mind, a Revival Church in the region, and I know there's
others, there's others that are contending, don't don't
misunderstand me. There are different, callings on
different churches, but the calling of this house is we are
crying out for a break through the spirit of God, to fall on
this nation. I'm not Not saying that every
church should do that they're responsible for their calling
and I bless them to do it. But that's our calling.
The danger of having that reputation in the danger of
having tasted. Some things in the past is that
we can arrogantly assume that when God moves of horses going
to move here, And our history can actually produce in us and
apathy born of this assumption that.
Well God, surely God's going to do it here.
And that posture is the wrong posture.
We need to go low and say God I've just had this thing going
through my heart of blind Bartimaeus where he stood on the
sidelines. He said, Son of David do not
pass me by the Lord walked right by blind Bartimaeus and others
wanted a touch They were not willing to violate.
Decorum. They wanted to look proper.
But blind Bartimaeus. He was a desperate man.
And he screamed out, son of David do not pass me by and
people rebuked him said, calm down.
You're embarrassing yourself just calm down.
What did he do? He yelled all the louder and
Jesus turned back around and said what do you want from me?
He said, I want to see And we need to have this Harker
whenever we're here of God moving we need to do two things.
Rejoice and bless what God is doing, but then cry out.
God, if you're going to move, don't pass this by Lord.
Don't forget us. I don't want to have the
arrogance that just because we talked about Revival, we've had
Revival. We've prayed for Revival that we
assume, that will be the next place that God's going to break
up. I want to see God break out
everywhere. I'm not praying for church
Revival. I'm praying for National and Or
national Revival. And I was telling someone the
other day. I said men, the Lord challenge
me a number of years ago when I first became the pastor of this
church. We were fasting and praying and
contending for a move of God and the Lord asked me.
He said, what if I answer your prayer by visiting the church
across the street? What if I answer your prayer
about visiting a church that's criticized you in Des Moines?
Are we willing to Humble ourselves and go and drink from
a stream that we don't necessarily agree with and that
doesn't agree with us? There was named.
Am that that he Heard there was a prophet in Israel and he
needed a healing, and he went to the prophet and he said, you
know, would you pray for me said, go dip in the River.
Jordan and he felt there was this arrogance with and we said
we have cleaner streams and our own Nation, we have cleaner
Rivers. Sometimes God will take you to a
stream of Christianity. You don't fully Embrace
sometimes she'll take you to a river that you don't fully agree
with just to test your humility, many of you know who Randy Clark
Is by the way, we're going to be hosting Randy again next year
for a healing school and Randy is one of the heroes of the
faith and this this hour of human history really is he's
been tremendously used by the Lord but Randy used to have a
real prejudice against the word of faith movement.
But tell you there's a lot of prejudice against the word of
faith movement whenever you hear someone talking and they spit it
out, the Prosperity Gospel. They're usually talking about
those who believe that the kingdom of God also affects your
livelihood. There is an effect on wisdom,
it's not just we're going to get into a whole different thing.
Three manifestations of the spirit of God in your life are
wisdom, power, and love, most of us has Pentecostals.
We always want to talk about the power element and that's real.
And that's that's important. It's Acts chapter 2.
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
that's a real deal thing. Now that power is both internal
and external internally. It's the ability to live a holy
life, that's the Holiness stream.
That's the way they preach and it's right, and then there's the
Pentecostal stream external. Holiness for Ministry to give it
away. And you know what?
That's right, and it's scriptural.
They're just neither one of them are the whole picture and even
if you merge both streams together, it's not the whole
picture because there's also this love stream Romans chapter
5. The the love of God, is she'd
abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit, much of the
missions movement has been impacted by the love of God, the
last move of God some 25 years ago whether it was out of
Brownsville. Or out of Toronto was an
outpouring of the Father's Love. And we need that we need the
supernatural ability to love beyond our means.
I don't need that if I'm trying to live within my capacity to
love you, we're all in trouble. Anybody that's in the wake of my
relationships is in trouble. I need the Lord to make up the
difference. I need to walk in his love and
there is a supernatural impartation of love that's
available to us. But there's also a supernatural
accessing of the wisdom of God, a spirit of wisdom and
Revelation and make no mistake about it.
That wisdom helps you to be a better.
Dad, a better mom, a better employee and in better employer
and more financially, a depth because the wisdom of God can
fall upon you so that you can become a source of supply for
others. And when people begin to talk
about when they when they degrade someone because they
believe that God also operates supernaturally through Finance,
some of the people that have been criticized.
The most for their messages on Supernatural, Finance are some
of the most generous people in the Kingdom.
Let me step out on some thin ice for some of you this morning.
You know, Kenneth Copeland gave literally tens of millions of
dollars to Reinhard bonnke alone.
Reinhard bonnke would do Crusades in Africa.
They would have over a million people show up at one service,
they would literally have flatbed trucks for the altar
call. They would load people up on
trucks as far as the eye could see and drive them to the front.
Waves of healing would go out over the crowds.
You can't gather a million people with the sound systems in
the trucks and all the logistics without a lot of money.
And a lot of that money came through a man named Kenneth
Copeland. Now do I agree with everything
that Kenneth Copeland is Todd over.
There's no. But you know what?
I don't agree with everything. Dave Olson is taught over the
years. And so, we've got to be really
careful because that man operates in a wisdom from Heaven
people, people Point, let me just as long as I'm on this ice,
let me just say, people criticize, Joel Osteen.
Do you know that? He does not take a salary from
his church? Do you know that?
Furthermore, he is the largest Giver in his church and that
church gives millions and millions of dollars.
Way. Now, do I agree with everything.
Joel Osteen is taught. No, but again, there's a pastor
here, the lead Pastor, I don't agree with everything.
He's taught over the years either.
I've had to talk to him and have some.
Do I have to sit him down and correct them over the word at
times? And so we just, we just need to
be careful. I don't know how I got into
that, but the what was that? Randy, Clark.
Thank you, John reel it in. Okay, Randy.
Clark Randy had a real beef. Beef with the word of faith,
movement. And Randy was he was, he was a
southern baptist that became a Vineyard Pastor, he was
pastoring and st. Louis and he would get up in
front of his church, Sunday after Sunday, and he would
greet. The visitors will welcome to
church this morning. And by the way, if you're one of
those name, it claim it, blab, it grab it.
People were not the church for you.
There's the door. It's up the street and his wife
with you, Randy. You can't say that but Randy had
an issue in his heart. With those people, Randy has
become very dear friends with some of the leaders within the
word of faith movement. In recent years.
You know what, the Lord told him.
He heard about a move of God, through a man named rat.
Rodney. Howard Brown.
And the Lord said, if you want a fresh touch, you go to Rhema The
Citadel of the word of faith movement.
Amen. He said, you go and dip in that
stream and in Randy's mind that was a river.
Jordan, it was a muddy stream, but the Lord said you go there,
if you want a fresh touch. And so he went to Rhema and sat
on the service and every chance he got.
He would have ran Rodney. Howard-browne pray from Rodney.
I think prayed for him, three or maybe four times.
The last time he prayed, Paid for him.
Randy said his hands just like came like ice and Rodney said,
pray over everything that moves It broke out in his church.
Then regionally went to Toronto for a weekend meeting that lat,
that turned into, like, 10 years of Revival out of which came,
Heidi Baker, and life Headland and a bunch of lesser known
names. He received a fresh impartation
in a stream. He disagreed.
With I tell you what. We've got a, we've got to go
low, and if God is going to move in a church that I don't fully
agree with theologically, You know what?
That's God's business. He knows more than I do.
And we need to Humble ourselves and go low.
And just say, Lord we bless what you're doing.
God, wherever you want to move, but Lord and the process don't
pass Us by, let's not assume. But let's go low and let's stay
hungry and let's bless what God is doing.
Now I had planned on teaching on something else and what we've
been talking about we're going to jump back in this God willing
in a couple Couple more weeks. But this morning I woke up.
I always get up early on why don't get up, I wake up early,
pull the blanket over my mouth and start to pray.
Pull the blanket over my head and I woke up and the Lord began
to minister to me out of a passage that I'm very familiar
with but I haven't talked on and some time.
And so I was shocked when they when the words went up on this
last song, talking about sing O barren, woman Singh oberoi,
Broken Man. Man, I love that sing O, barren
woman, single Broken Man and the Lord began to talk to me about
barrenness. So I want you to turn with me to
First, Samuel chapter 1. First Samuel chapter 1, I
believe the Lord has something he wants to speak to us about.
We are living in a very, very unique time in human history.
Decades from now, we'll look back at this as one of the most
tumultuous transformative seasons in human history.
We are in an epic shift and on the other side of this thing,
the boundary lines in so many areas of life will have fallen
in new places, spiritually nationally internationally.
There's there's just a lot of things that the Lord is doing
and in those seasons of Epic shift, God.
God needs to position his people.
There are there's a need for people who hear real clearly.
In an hour of transition, God needs transition men and women
people who will Usher in what God is doing in those Seasons.
The prophetic gift becomes, especially important, The
famous, verse many of us are familiar with.
It says, The sons of Isaac are who understood the times and
therefore knew what they should do.
How many are familiar with that? Verse talk about the sons of ice
go. There was a tribe that the Isaac
are the sons of that tribe. They it says that they had a
unique sense of what God was doing and therefore knew what
they should do. So there's this prophetic
element to their their sensibilities and they knew
where their to throw their strength.
The context of that was that there was a shift from The Saul
regime, to the davidic regime. That it was a leadership change
and conventional wisdom National protocol would have dictated
that they get behind the son of Saul because he was the
inheritor of the throne, but they sensed what God was doing
and they threw themselves behind the house of David and they lent
their strength because why they had a sense of what God was
doing. And so there was an epic A chef,
there was something going on and we see this again, and again, to
the prophetic rising. In these times.
These these chapter turns these hinge moments of human history,
And Samuel was one such man. Samuel was a hinge, man.
He was a transition man in human history.
He was the man who oversaw the Epic shift from profits to
Kings. That was a big deal.
But not only from profits to King, he was the last of the
ruling judge prophets and he initiated the Royal lineage in
Israel, crowned Saul. And then also oversaw the even
bigger shift from the saw regime to the davidic regime and
literally ushered in the Royal lineage that you.
And I said, under that of King Jesus, the son of David.
And it was because saw was a man who heard the word of the Lord.
And when there are shifts in what God is doing, it's
essential that there are people that can hear clearly so that we
can throw our strength behind what God is doing.
One of the great fears of my life is that I get stuck backing
what God used to be doing. It's not a bad thing, it's just
not the now thing. I want to be in what God's doing
right now. I want to make sure that I'm
about my father's business that I am doing what I see the father
doing and I'm saying what I hear the father saying we don't want
to be yesterday's man. There's a great book called The
anointing written by RT Kendall he and Papa Jack were dear
friends. We need to have Artie come in
sometime but he was taught, he wrote this book on the anointing
and it was based on one verse he was reading one day and it was
something the Lord spoke to Samuel.
He said he said how long will You Weep For Saul because Saul
had been deposed he still occupied the throne on Earth but
he'd been Acted by heaven. So now he had the responsibility
of the king but the anointing of the king had left him.
That's a horrible place to be. He said fill your horn with oil
for. I have found a man after my own
heart, that man was a young teenage boy by the name of David
but God already saw something in him.
He could use. And so Artie, got a flash of
insight. And this is the way he framed
her, the Lord framed it to him, and he wrote a book on it that
yesterday's man. Today's man and tomorrow's man.
Yesterday's man was Saul the man who once was what God was doing,
but had forfeited and disqualified himself.
Then there's today's man the man who stands between and has to
hear the voice of the Lord and say, we're going to get behind
the next thing. This thing, this this space
between waves between the purposes of God.
God God does things in history and as one waived is cresting
and hitting the, shoreline God is mounting another wave at Sea
and we want to be those who understand what he's doing and
throw our strength behind it. And then you have the davidic
regime, tomorrow's, man. Saul had a throne, but no one
knowing David had anointing, but no Throne, that's very
frustrating as well. Not quite as frustrating as Saul
situation. And then there was Samuel who
had to go against protocol and even endanger his own life by
siding against a man, that what he considered a son in the
faith, Saul, who he had anointed as king but had drifted from the
Lord and turned his back on the things of God and he had to he
grieved it, but the Lord said your grieving is done.
It's time to get on into the future.
And he had to go find David and he anointed David.
Saw was a very key character and I believe this story is relevant
to this hour in human history because I really do believe,
we're in between seasons in the Lord, that there are things the
Lord did in the past. And now there's there's fresh
things emerging and I'm not even talking about just Revival and
on it. That's more of a microscale.
I'm talking on a macro scale in human history.
We are entering a new era Not the last time, but the time
before that life was with us, he brought a message that I
believe, was more prophetic than many of us realized it was a
teaching, and he talked about the difference between a
multipolar and a unipolar world. And he talked about the unipolar
world of pax, Americana, American peace.
And how we've enjoyed this season of Peace as a nation.
But now there's there is a battle for the Thrones of the
Earth right now. And we're entering into a
unibrow multipolar world, where there's there.
Several different nations that are vying for ascendancy and I
believe the intercessors will determine who ends up in that
place. These are very key times and the
prophetic is essential in those in those seasons.
I was how many of you did anybody catch Dean Briggs and
Lou Engel yesterday on there. I tell you what we're I'm going
to I'm going to reach out to Dean and I'm going to ask him to
when he comes here in a few weeks to bring that message on
communion it. Rocked my world it was so bad
that I was struggling keeping on track with what the Lord had
spoken because I started listening to it this morning and
I got pulled into it, it, but it was a powerful word.
One of the things they brought out in this conference.
It's was this that America that the church in America has had
the privilege, the, the luxury of living from a piece
perspective. Both missions and the
intercession movement, the prayer movement, the missions
movement, we've pretty much been able to go wherever we want it
as Americans, the door, swung wide and there's something
shifting in the Earth right now, and we're entering a wartime
mentality. Whether you realize it or not,
one of them said this. They said many thought that
abortion was the giant that David had to fight and that we
brought the giant down. I think was Matt Lily.
He said I truly believe that abortion was married merely the
lion or the bear and the real giant is China.
I believe he very well may be, right?
And we need to be like the sons of Isaac, are who understand the
signs of the times. And therefore, know what we
should do. The thing about the, the the
privilege of being a prophetic people is we begin to pray into
the crisis before it rises we begin to pray into the problems
before they emerge. It's like the New Testament
Church where was it agabus? Gave the prophecy of a coming
famine so that church was already able to take a cup
offerings before the famine head so they could provide an answer
before. The problem arose, they were
already positioned. And we need to be that people.
So, real quick here, I'm getting like, you're the one keeping me
from it. Come on.
Okay, that's read in chapter 1. There was a certain man of
ramoth am zopim. Just say it real fast and it'll
sound like, you know, Hebrew ramoth am zopim of the Hill
Country of Ephraim. Whose name was elkanah the son
of Jerome, son of Ally, Who son, of tohu, the son of Zeus and
Ephraim effect F recite. He had two wives, the name of
one was Hannah, and the name of the other was Pnina, I love the
poetic nature of this passage is so beautiful, and if you read it
like it's written, there are, there's this prophetic, poetry
that he culminates his comments. There's so many little punch
lines here and this is one of them and Panetta had children
and Hannah had no children. Now, this man used to go up year
after year from his City to worship and sacrifice to the
Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli hophni and
Phineas were Priests of the Lord, on the day, when elkanah
sacrificed he would give portions to Pnina his wife and
to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah, he gave a double
portion because he loved her though.
The Lord had closed her womb. Let's just pause there.
That is a troubling statement. The anointed inspired word of
God, States, clearly that the Lord himself had closed the womb
of Hannah It wasn't that they were seeing this wrong and they
were speaking culturally and just didn't understand what.
We Now understand in the New Testament, the text is clear.
God had closed this woman's womb.
And her husband, he loved her and so he would give her a
double portion when they would go up to worship verse 6 and her
rival used to provoke her grievously, to irritate her
because the Lord had closed her womb.
So we have this scenario, this man, this man had two wives,
Hannah and Pnina, Pnina had a bunch of kids.
Hannah had none elkanah loved both his Lives.
But there was a unique affection, he had for Hannah be
precisely because she hadn't produced any children.
And he knew how hurtful this was to her and it was during the
time of worship that thing would really rise up.
And it was that unique time. When they would go to the Temple
of the Lord, or the, the tent of the Lord to worship that Pnina
would grievously, irritate her and provoke her precisely
because she had no children. How hurtful?
And she was questioning there was, as you can imagine seeing
our culture. It's hard enough when you want
children and you have not been able to Bear children, but in
that culture, it was always attributed to a spiritual thing
and I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying that from that
cultural perspective and this situation, it's very clear.
God was the one who closed her womb.
And in that culture, they looked at as a spiritual thing and it
became an identity issue for the woman alkane.
Knowing that would give his wife a double portion and his heart
hurt for her and listen to what happened.
So, Pnina would provoke her and irritate her because the Lord
had closed her womb. So, what went on here, after
year, as often as she went to the house of the Lord, she she
used to provoke her, I find it interesting that it was in the
secret place. It was in the place of worship
that that provocation would rise.
And I believe there's a spiritual lesson for each one of
us in that that little observation.
Therefore, Hannah wept and would not eat.
Hannah's response was she would lose her appetite appetite.
She would fast but it wasn't a fast of choice.
It was almost imposed upon her out of the grief of her own
heart and she would weep and not eat and elkanah her husband said
to her Hannah, why do You Weep? Why do you not eat?
Why is your heart sad? And then he would say this, am I
not more to you than ten Sons? Now, his heart was hurting, he
was saying, honey, you're so fixated on this thing.
What about our relationship? I've given you a double portion,
don't? I mean more to you than
children, am I? Just a means to an end.
It was causing friction in their marriage.
After they had eaten and drunk and Shiloh.
Hannah Rose. Now, Eli, the priest was sitting
on the seat beside the doorpost of the Temple of the Lord.
She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept
bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, O
Lord, of hosts. If you will, indeed look on the
Affliction of your servant. And remember me, and not forget
your servant but give to your servant of sun.
Notice she wanted. She was very specific in her
request. She didn't say I just want a
baby. She wanted a son.
And that culture that was a bigger deal, not in this one.
And every man should say, Amen guys, I'm giving you an
opportunity here to get some points here it and that culture
was a big deal. Have a son that she said if you
will give me your servant of son then I will give him to the
Lord, all the days of his life and no razor shall touch his
head. What she was saying is Lord, I'm
going to, I will dedicate him unto you as a Nazarite.
He will be given unto you uniquely consecrated, even to
the point what she was saying is this God, if you will allow life
to come through me, I don't need to even raise this thing.
I'll give it to you. I'll give the fruit of my womb
back to you to use any way you please.
As she continued praying before the Lord Eli.
Observed her mouth. Now you got to understand.
You go on to chapter 2 and it's one of the most Heartbreaking,
but poetic passages in scripture.
Describing a backslidden condition.
Samuel came out of barrenness and a backslidden religious
system, and he single-handedly became the hinge upon which God
ushered in the greatest era in Israel's history.
So we need to have great. Hope you look around you.
What God's doing in the nation? I'm telling you ought of
barrenness and a backslidden state, God can raise up profits
that can become the hinged people to change history.
Israel's greatest, our came through the anointing on in
Samuels horn that he anointed king David as she continued
praying. He'll, I observed her mouth.
Hannah was speaking in her heart, only her lips moved in
her voice was not heard there for Eli, took her To be a
drunken woman. He lilac the discernment to even
recognize a woman in intercession.
He thought she was drunk. The next passage says, it
politically says that Eli had lost his eyesight and the King.
James version says, in are the lamp of God was about to go out
in the temple and the word of the Lord was rare.
A blind backslidden priest, who wouldn't correct his own sons,
who were profligate and were sleeping with that.
The, the girls that served at the temple and they were robbing
people, who would come to bring their sacrifice to the Lord, and
they would literally Rob the Lord, and the Lord, and, and Eli
would try to correct them, but he didn't do anything about it,
and it says that they didn't receive it, because it had
become the Lord's will to kill them.
Their sin was so great in the eyes of God, that God was going
to take him out. And God sent a prophet to Eli
and said the day on the same day, both of your sons will die
and it will be assigned to you that I've removed you.
It's a sobering thing. And in the midst of all that
description, it says, but Samuel served before the Lord, a boy
and a linen. Ephod panel of that The hope of
Israel was already in place a little boy.
Playing priesthood. But God had set him apart.
How was God able to accomplish that in such a backslidden?
Now, our of Israel's history, what he did is he closed the
womb of a woman who deeply desired to be used of God.
See you don't know if you're Barren unless you've known
intimacy. I mean I know that's obvious.
But we need to understand that. Baroness can only you can only
know it if you've known intimacy a barren woman has to have been
intimate with a man to realize her barrenness.
She was a woman who knew her husband, but nothing was coming
from it. There are a lot of believers.
Who attend the same church has as their fellow believers.
They, they go to the same prayer meetings, they've applied
themselves the same way, but God will withhold fruitfulness from
them for a season precisely because he's trying to deal with
something. He's there's a greater purpose
in mind. I really believe that much of
the barriers to Samuel becoming what he was called to be were
taken care of, in the intercessions of his mother.
Before he was ever conceived, Samuel started much farther down
the road than his peers because God withheld, something from his
mom so that her frustration would rise and that frustration
became the fuel of her intercession.
She began to lay hold of God, and she began to cry out to God.
She would fast and she would weep.
But notice from the text nothing happened.
Until she took the vow And The Vow was Lord, if you give me a
child, I don't even have to raise it.
Lord, I'm just asking let life come through me and you can have
the child. It's an amazing amazing story.
That's exactly what happened with Pnina sea, lice are
mumbling and said woman you know, put away your drink.
How long will you remain a drunk?
She should know my Lord, you don't understand.
I am I am in grief. I've wanted a child and he said
well, so be it unto you, as you know, let your prayer be
answered just off the cuff word from a backslidden priest and
her faith latch to hold of it. It says they went home and
induce He's and she conceived a child.
And then her husband was worried because they went to worship and
she said, I'm not going with you this year.
He knew her vow. She said I'm going to wait till
the child is weaned. And then I'm going to bring him
to the temple to the tent of meeting.
And I'm going to I'm going to leave him there.
He's going to be raised in the house of God and elkanah said,
okay? Just if you read the text it
seems to insinuate elkanah was worried.
She wouldn't follow through on her vow.
But she did, it's an amazing story.
A woman who so long to have a child, but God did such a work
in her that she was willing to surrender the answer to her own
prayer. Here's my point.
This is what I feel like the Lord wants to say to us this
morning. That there are times where
Believers will experience God, imposed barrenness and an area
of our life. It's not because of a lack of
intimacy. It's not because of a lack of
faith, it's because God has a greater purpose for your life.
He withholds from you, what he will give to others easily.
But the reason he does it is because he's wanting the
accumulation of that heart cry and those intercessions because
there's a greater purpose that he wants to bring through you.
And we've got to be so careful. Remember what elkanah said to
his wife? He said, don't, I mean more to
you than ten Sons I believe that's one of the great
Temptations when we're suffering out of barrenness in our life,
where there's an area of our life, where we know God, you
made me for so much more there. Something you want to bring
through my life. I'm not talking about just
latching hold of someone else's dream, I'm not talking, I'm
talking about, you know, in your heart that there's something
that God wants to use you. You for and you're not seeing
any movement out of that thing, and the matter what you pray,
other people are breaking into it.
And there's this frustration elkanah came to her and said,
don't, I mean more to you than ten Sons essentially, isn't my
love isn't what we share enough. And there was a temptation to
settle for this faulty. Consolation You see what had
happened is. God had provided provocation in
her life to bring to the Forefront, her own barrenness.
To highlight that area of her life.
When God begins to do something somewhere else, we don't need to
be jealous and and begrudge somebody else's blessing.
But there are times when it should provoke a hunger within
us where there should be something within us that says
God, if you're going to move their move here, Lord Lord, I'm
asking you feel it more there. But Lord, I'm asking.
You do it here. There was this provocation that
made her aware more acutely aware of her own barrenness, and
I find it interesting that she became very aware every time
they would go to the tent to worship.
And so she would cry out to the Lord and she refused to be
consoled. The words of Rachel, what?
She told her husband. I can't imagine being her
husband. She said, give me children, or I
die. He's like, I'm trying woman, but
there was something within her that is saying I need to give
birth to something. There's a shared exchange here,
that an expression of our love that I want to give birth to.
And that's really what intercession is there?
Something of our life? We want to give birth to to that
is an expression of us and God. And until that happens, there's
a sense of barrenness within us. It looks different for all of
us, but there's something of you God wants to birth into the
Earth. And there needs to be a hunger
and if you're finding that there's a sense of barrenness
then begin to cry out to him and realize that often God will
withhold the natural processes because he has a greater purpose
for what he's wanting to birth from us.
I've told this story before, but years ago I was it was a Monday
morning in that I had slept in. I was just laying in bed and I
grabbed my phone and I'm scrolling.
I started reading the word and I'm reading about John the
Baptist and how it says that John the Baptist, his his his
mom and dad have been praying for years now there she's beyond
the childbearing age, he's an old man but he grabs the law,
hit the lot Falls to him so So he's the one that goes into the
temple to offer the sacrifice and he goes in there, and an
angel appears to him. And the angel says, I am.
Gabriel I stand in the presence of God and he's like Judith
about them, he's scared spitless and the angel says, your prayers
have been heard. I love that.
Because I'm assuming I might be wrong, he might be such a man of
faith that he's still asking for a child even when they're beyond
the childbearing years that could be.
But I'm assuming that he had prayed and prayed and gave up,
but the prayers of yesteryear were still coming Before the
Throne. That those prayers never fell to
the ground and God was still listening to those prayers.
And now, the time had come and the angel drops in and says,
your prayers have Been heard. Your wife is going to be found
with child. And he will be filled with the
spirit from his mother's womb. It's an amazing story.
And remember Mary, you know, you got Elizabeth who's carrying
John and Mary, who's carrying this?
This is a great story. We don't have time because we
got to eat chili but I'm telling you this is this is a great
story. You've got the older generation,
who knew intimacy but never had fruitfulness.
You've got the younger generation who is a virgin womb
who has never even known intimacy.
He and the spirit comes on the younger generation, six months
after its come on. The older generation because the
older generation is carrying something that's going to pave
the way of what the younger generation is carrying the John,
the Baptist in the elderly womb, is going to prepare the way for
the Lord that Mary's caring. Now, that'll preach another day,
but that'll preach and I'm telling you, there are, there
are some of you who God is still Wanting to awaken your womb.
Some of you have said, hey, I've done my part.
It's now time for the younger ones to step forward.
Hey, we want a champion, the next, the next Generation matter
of fact, I have sensed it in my heart.
These last number of months, there is a Groundswell that's
coming of this Young Generation stepping in, and we're going to
build a platform for them for them to run.
But you know what? They're going to need the wisdom
of us gray hairs. Because something we carry is
going to pave the way for what they carry.
John the Baptist message prepared.
The way for Jesus. So I'm reading that passage in a
and it says and he was filled with this for the spirit from
his mother's woman and Mary walks in the room.
She's got her little baby bump and Elizabeth's got her big baby
bump and when Mary comes in, she says, how you doing and Hebrew?
Yeah. All said Elizabeth her baby
jumped. And he was filled with the
spirit. And this is what I asked.
The Lord God. Why don't you always do it that
way? I mean, wouldn't that solve a
lot of problems if every Mama carried a baby that was
Spirit-filled from the womb? Wouldn't that just solve a lot
of problems? I wish I'd have been
Spirit-filled from the womb. It would have saved my mom and
dad a lot of Heartache. And I just kind of said it out
loud. I didn't expect an answer, but
the Lord spoke to me. And he told me, he said it was
the years of barrenness that paved the way.
So what she carried could enter in early into something, because
the mom and dad had to wait so long, they entered in late.
So, their baby could enter in early the previous generation
had to wait much longer so that the Next Generation could get in
earlier. And it was because of this God
imposed barrenness. There are times where God will
withhold something from us because he's wanting the
accumulative Cry of our heart, the frustration and the prayers
in the fasting to ascend before the throne because he's doing
something in the spirit, he's Paving the way, he's removing
things so that they can enter in early.
And there needs to be something in the heart of every gray hair.
Even, if you color your hair, every true, you know where the
color at the roots. If you have gray roots, there
needs to be a cry within your heart.
God Pick Me, Lord. I am willing to pay the price
for the Next Generation. I will labor longer if they can
enter in earlier. And so I was meditating on that
and bed, not that, that is fascinating later on that day.
I got my car drove to Central Nebraska.
I'm preaching on a Ministry School that night and I get
there and I caught and then I'm just praying over the students
prophesying and, and I'm standing before this one guy
praying, and all of a sudden that came back to my mind and I
said, I need to share something with you.
I said, just this morning, I was laying in bed and the Lord began
to talk to me about how he Will at times imposed barrenness
because he's clearing the way later in life for that
individual. And I explained that principal
and he looked at me, his eyes got real big.
He said that is so crazy. You would share that.
He said my Mom and Dad tried to have a kid so many so long, they
couldn't get pregnant and I ended up being the child of
their latter years. They conceived me in their
elderly years. I was like a miracle.
And I told him on the authority of what God had told me that
morning. Listen, you're starting the race
much farther down the road than your peers.
There is a holy obligation that you carry because your mom and
dad's prayers accumulated and they paid a price God withheld
something. So he could clear the way for
you so that you could run hard. There were, there were battles.
Most people have to fight themselves that were fought for
you before conception so that you could run hard.
And I'm telling you that some of you, there's there's areas of
your life that have been Barren. Let me quote to you the prophecy
from Isaiah sing, O barren woman, sing O, barren woman.
You who have no children because more are the children of the
barren womb than she who has many children.
I could based on the word of God, add to that prophecy and
great are the children of the barren womb.
Because all through scripture, we see these Unique Individuals
popping up that were heroes in the faith that were the products
of barren wombs. and I'm telling you that some of you there has
been a god-ordained withholding in an area of your life, not
because God has something against you but because he has
something great for you and he wants you to not become
embittered or discouraged or or succumb to the faulty
consolations that you are loved, believe me, you are But more, so
what he wants to do is birth something through your life of
significance. The very area of our pain is
often the area where he wants to give us the greatest
breakthrough. You've heard it preached?
Your test becomes a testimony, your mess becomes a message.
It's the year of your pain. I'm going to ask the worship
team to come forward. I want us to close with this
song, the song that they sang. I couldn't believe it this
morning because I really was wrestling with what to preach on
this morning because Lou and Dean mess me up this morning.
I shouldn't have listened to that message.
And I got so rocked, but this last song pulled me back in to
what I feel like the Lord is saying to us this morning.
Some of you, there's an area of barrenness, there's an area of
pain, you feel like there's been a lack of breakthrough, you
know, is God's will, this is this, it's not God's will for
that thing to remain a fixture in your life, but no matter how
much you pounded on the door, it seems like it hasn't moved.
And I'm telling you, it's because there's a greater
purpose for your breakthrough, than just your own pleasure and
believe me, God cares about that.
But there's something greater for the fruit of your womb of
faith and that area. So I'm going to ask you to go
ahead and stand. And let's let's go ahead and
sing that song. Go ahead and stand and I want
you just to just receive this as a prophetic word, this morning,
single barren woman, single broken, man.
Thanks for listening to our podcast.
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