"Focused Faith" | Dr. Mike Woods | 21 Days of Fasting + Prayer

Well, praise the Lord, and grace and peace every one of you be multiplied from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is day 12 of 21 Days of Fasting Prayer, and welcome to our 12 noon teaching. As always, I am super excited to teach this word to you, and I believe that there's something very strategic that God wants to say to you so you can go out and deliberately apply what he is saying. So We've been on this kick, man. We're fasting in 3 tiers. Very interesting how the Holy Spirit has taken us. We had some plans to teach some different ways, but God has had me really for real stay in this vein of faith, man. Um, yeah, quite interesting because without faith you can't please him. Hebrews 11, it And so you can't really have overflow of superpower in the supernatural. You can't really have an overflow of finances nor an overflow of faith if you don't have faith. And so we got to be taught how faith looks, what it looks like, how to move in it. So we've been talking about Bulldog Faith. Glory to God. So we're continuing in that today. Um, I'm super excited today. We're talking about focused faith. Bulldog faith is focused. So I want to look really quick, praise God, at James. Glory to God. James. The Bible is so amazing. I love the word of God, man. But let's go to James, praise God. James chapter number 1, and we're gonna look at verse number 2. 2 through 8. Praise God. Verses 2 through 8. The Bible says this: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing this— watch this— that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Verse 4: But let patience have a perfect work— oh my God— that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, verse 5, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraid him not, and it shall be given. Verse 6, but let him ask in faith. Watch this, let him ask in faith. Listen to that, nothing wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. Verse 7, for let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord, for a double-minded man, watch this, who is unstable in all his ways. The word double-minded, oh my God, here is ak-at-astat. And this word literally means, praise God, I mean, unstable. I'm sorry, the word unstable is asatatos, and it literally means to be inconstant, to be restless, to be confused, to be without direction. Oh boy. And when you lack faith and your mind is in two directions, where you double-minded and you're trying to believe God but you're trying to trust your flesh too, the Bible calls you unstable. Listen to that, in all of your ways. So I need you to understand today, and we're going to get in this, I'm gonna break those scriptures down a little bit. There's a direct connection, hear me, between focusing on the word of God. Listen, and the operation of effective results in faith. I'll say it again, because many of you are not getting results. You're praying, you're going through the motions, and you're just not seeing a manifestation of the promise because your mentality and your methodologies are offline. They're not aligned in faith, so they don't produce the manifestations or the results that you desire through believing God and through trusting God by faith. So there's a direct connection again in focusing on what God said in his word. Yesterday we talked, talked about how to walk in the word. And great way to start focusing on the word, the scriptures we gave yesterday. So make sure you go back and watch 12 Noon yesterday so you understand that walking in the word is essential to results. So that's what we want. We want effective faith results. We don't just want to say I'm believing God for something and it never happens. We really want to see effective faith results in our life. And I'm telling you right now, God really and truly wants to give us those effective faith results, but we got to want them just as bad as he wants to give them. Praise God. Hallelujah, hallelujah. So verse 6, we read in the text, said, but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. And some of you may say, well, God, I'm praying, I'm asking in faith, I believe you, I trust you. But I want to give you a clear understanding what, what he's really saying here when he says nothing wavering. That's literally saying you gotta focus. The Greek word for waver means to be at variance with yourself. So he's saying, let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. In other words, you cannot allow your selfish will, your selfish desire, your ways of thinking when it comes to faith and the will of God to interrupt— hear me— your praying, your focus. You can't allow what your, your thoughts to interfere with your faith focus. Let me read that same verse, verse 6, in the Amplified Bible. It says, only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering, no hesitating, no doubting. See, when you're— when you are not at variance with yourself, and you come in agreement with your flesh in prayer or your emotions in prayer, the Bible says here in the Amplified that you're gonna hesitate, you're going to doubt. But so you got to put— you got to lay your flesh to rest. That's why the Bible says mortify the members of your flesh daily. You got to put your flesh— you ought to be on a suicide mission every day to put your flesh to death so that you can pray in faith and live in faith with no doubting and no wavering. Oh my God, no hesitating. Which means immediately in every given circumstance of life, instead of applying self, you learn to apply faith. He said, for the one who wavers, hesitates, or doubts is like the billowing surge out of the sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. So that means when you hesitate, when you waver, when you move in doubt, it creates confusion, it's gonna toss you to and fro, and you're never really gonna get any results. And that, my friends, is not the plan. Let's read verses 7 and 8 again. The Bible said, "For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord, for a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." So that means, wait a minute, a single-minded man is stable in all his ways. So if a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, Single-minded man is stable in all his ways. Glory to God. Single-minded means to be focused. It means to concentrate on a thing. It means to give total and undivided attention to it. When you're single-minded, you're focused. When you're single-minded, you give your undivided attention to the thing you're focused on. And that, my friends, is what God wants you to do. He wants you to give your undivided attention to what you focus on. Bulldog faith is laser focused, is laser beamed focused on the desired result. It does not give up. So when you're moving in bulldog faith, you, you got this laser tight focus. You have this tenacious focus. Hallelujah! This tenacity like a bulldog. And you decide, I ain't going to let up until I see what I'm believing God for. You hold on to it, because guess what? You know God can't lie. Guess what? You know God, and you know that faith works. Glory to God! See, most people instead of having a laser beam focus, what they do is they sit there and they think about the dreaded outcome. They think about all of the bad stuff that could happen instead of focusing on what God said in his word. Again, remember, there's a deliberate correlation between focusing on the word and effective faith results. So you gotta operate like, okay, God hears me, glory to God, and he can't lie. And he told me this is my victory that overcomes the world, the cosmos, the system of the world, even my faith. So I'm gonna get a laser beam focus until I see the result that God promised. I'ma tell y'all, we got our faith laser beam focus. On purchasing 3 facilities debt-free in 2023. Somebody said, how in the world, Apostle, is you going to do that? My faith is focused. Glory to God. You know, we— listen, we know that faith works, and so we are laser beam focused to bring that to pass. We need worship facilities. God said he would supply our need according to his riches and glory. That's it. That's it. We don't need the bank, we just need the riches of heaven. Yeah, hallelujah! That's, that's what we need. We need it, and we need it debt-free. Glory to God! And it's going to pour out on us, and we're going to testify about it. Glory to Jesus! Hallelujah! Because our faith never disappoints. So focus becomes— glory to the name of God— so once you set a vision in faith Like we got a vision. One of our faith goals for this year is to buy those 3 facilities, right? So once you get a vision of what you want in faith— here it is, listen to me guys— faith becomes the bridge that the vision travels on. Now watch this, faith becomes telescopic in its approach Oh my God, to provide for you what you're trusting. A telescope takes what is far and brings it close. So when you believe in God by faith for what you see in the future and what the word said is yours. So my faith has called those— caused those buildings, hear me, to get on that bridge of faith and begin to come toward me telescopically. So The more I believe, the closer they get. The more clarity I get about how we're gonna ascertain them. Oh my God. So focus, man. And let focus be that driving force behind the faith that brings what you're believing for to you. You gotta have focused faith. Let focused faith be the bridge that brings the vision to you. Hallelujah. Let's look at Proverbs 4, praise God, and 20. The, the Bible says in verse 20, and this is the— this is what it would sound like in the Hebrew. I'm reading straight out of the, uh, Parallel Bible, and the Hebrew would read this in English. It says, mark well and pay attention to my words. So when you believe in God for something, I told you that there's a direct connection between focusing on the word and the operation of effective faith results. So here's the first thing: you got to pay attention to what the word of God says and not what your negative thoughts are saying to you in your mind. You got to pay attention to what God's word is saying to you. And not get distracted by what— where your mind is trying to lead you. You got to focus, focus on his words. The Bible said, pay attention to my words. Focus, mark it. So I am a lock in right here, and I'm gonna pay attention to this word. Verse 21 says, let them not depart from your eyes. What is he saying again? Stay focused. Drop down to verse 25. It says, let your eyes look right on with fixed purpose and let your gaze be straight before you. Oh my God, focus. Let your eyes look right on. Keep looking at the promise. Keep looking at what the word says about those buildings, what the word says about adding 365 souls to the church in 2023. Keep looking. Glory to the name of God. To what the the word says about your debt, what the word says about your healing, what the word says about you being a billionaire, a multi-millionaire, a millionaire. Keep focusing on the word. The NLT of the same verse, verse 25, Proverbs 4:25, says, look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you. I'm telling you, when you start walking like this, the enemy is going to throw everything at you but the kitchen sink to get you distracted and to break your focus. You know why? Because the only desire Satan has in a battle with you is to break your focus. I dare you, type in the comments right now, or if you're listening to the podcast, just open your mouth and shout, I am focused! Glory to God! Type it in the comments if you're online, just type, I am focused! Glory to God! And you got to make up in your mind you're going to stay focused. Let's read verse 26, Amplified. He says, consider well the path of your feet and let all your ways be established and ordered right. The Living Bible says, watch your step, stick to the path, and be safe. The safest place in the whole world is in faith. Glory to God. And you got to stick to the path, stay focused in the word, and watch your steps. Be focused. Don't, don't, don't step to the left or step to the right. See, you're going to stay accurate as long as you're in faith. One of the things we pray every day is, Lord, don't let me miss it to the left or to the right, but God, let us be accurate in all things according to your word. The reality is we don't want to miss it. We want to stay on what the word of God is saying about our life. All right, I'm going. Verse 27, the Bible says, turn not to the right hand nor to the left. From the word of God. Remove thy foot from evil. In other words, he's saying don't swerve in the road, don't get sidetracked from the word. Listen, it's so easy to resort back to your carnal way of thinking, your carnal way of doing things, to swerve in the road, to play on both sides of the fence. But let me tell you something, you're only doing yourself a disservice. Stay in the word, stay trusting God, stay in faith. I got to move. See, receiving from God is a gift. And again, when focused faith becomes the bridge that brings what you're trusting the word for to you, you gotta now start positioning yourself to receive this. And there's a law of receiving, there's a kingdom law of receiving, and here, here it is. This: whatever you major on with your eyes, your ears, and your mouth will come to you. Oh, I'll say it again. Whatever you major on with your eyes, your ears, and your mouth— why? We talked about this yesterday. Your eyes are a gate, your ears are a gate, your mouth is a gate. And so whatever you focus on with your eyes in faith, whatever you listen to in faith and let in your spirit, in your gates, whatever you speak out of your mouth in alignment with God's word it'll come to you. That's the law of receiving it. A lot of times we don't get it because we're not focused on it with our eyes, with our mouth, and with our ears. I'm focused on 3 buildings. I'm focused on 365 souls being added to the church in 2023. I'm focused, glory to God, on major revival happening in Jackson, Mississippi, Woodbridge, Virginia, and Atlanta, Georgia. I'm focused, glory to God, to being totally debt-free in all areas of my life, in business, in ministry, in everything I put my hands to, in my personal life. I want to see God do, glory to the name of God, amazing things in his kingdom. I am focused on being a billionaire. Yes, I am. Yes, I am. Because I know I need it to advance the kingdom. So my faith will not let up. Praise God. Mark 5, glory to God, talks about— and I'm moving, I could stay there all day, but you got to learn how to receive. Major on it with your eyes, major on it with your ears, major on it with your mouth. Mark 5, verse 35, the Bible says this: While he was still speaking, there came some of the ruler's house who said to Jairus, your daughter has died. Why bother and distress the teacher any farther? Verse 36 says, overhearing but ignoring what they said, Jesus said to— so faith always ignores negativity. And I'm gonna tell you something, when you do this, people are going to get offended by you. I, I'm— I, I find myself doing this a lot because I'm so focused on what God says in faith. When someone brings me negativity, I hear it and don't hear it, and I tend to ignore it. Glory to God, because my focus is in faith. Glory to God. So the scripture says, overhearing but ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear. Only keep on believing. In other words, Jesus told them, don't— stay intensely focused on me. Don't listen to the negativity. Don't listen to the rehearsal of the impossibility. He's saying, keep looking at me, who is the possibility. See, the moment you stop believing and you, you start focusing in on the impossibility that has arose in your life and start focusing in— glory to the name of God— on the thing that you think can't happen. That's when you get trapped in the position you're in and you never expand or increase and you never see effective faith results. But you got to stay intensely focus on the one that is able to provide. You got to stay intensely focused on him, and if you keep your eyes on him, he will bring to pass exactly what you need. Glory to God. Let's look at, uh, Hebrews 12:2. The Bible says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Wait a minute. The scripture tells us to focus on Jesus because he's the author and the finisher of our faith. So he gives us a measure of faith, glory to God, authors that faith in our life, gives us the ability to study the word, a desire, a heart to grow in the word. And he's authoring our faith throughout our life every time we practice it. But watch this, the finishing of our faith is when we see the manifestation of what we're believing for. Your faith is not finished one time. It's finished on every faith project that's before you. And you got to make up in your mind, I'm going to believe God till I see the manifestation of this. Hallelujah, Jesus. Glory to God. Look at verse 3. He said, for consider him who endures such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become very weary and discouraged in your souls. So he says, look, I— in the Greek means when it says consider him, observe fully. Oh my God. So you gotta stay focused on the way Jesus handles situations by faith. I'm gonna say that again. You got to stay focused on how Jesus handles situations by faith. Glory to God. Let's look at Mark 5:40. The Bible says, and they laughed and jeered at him. Still talking about Jairus and his daughter. But he pulled— put them all out. Wait a minute. So when people are not in alignment with your faith, you got to decide whether you're going to tolerate their presence, because sometimes you got to put people out. You got to remove them from the process who are negative against your faith. Jesus put them out. Taking the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and he went in where the little girl was lying. Listen, here's the result of focused faith. Jesus didn't listen to the laughter. Jesus didn't listen to the negativity. He put everybody out, stayed focused, and here's the result: the little girl was raised from the dead. See, again, I'm just trying to show you the difference in getting faith results through the operation of faith. Getting effective faith results is focus. You got to stay focused on the word, man. Let's look at a few scriptures about focus, and I'm closing. Uh, NIV version, Proverbs 17:24. The Bible says, a discerning man keeps wisdom in view, stays focused on wisdom. But a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth. Isaiah 14:24 Amplified. The Bible said, the Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, surely as I have thought and planned, so shall it come to pass, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand. He's making— saying, I'm focused on what I thought about, what I planned, and because I'm focused on it, it's going to come to pass. Isaiah 26:3 Amplified. The Bible says, you will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace. Oh my God. Whose mind, both his inclination and character, is stayed on you because he commits himself to you, leans on you, and hopes confidently in you. The prophet is saying, listen, God will keep us, protect us, give us perfect peace. Glory to God! When our character and our inclination is focused. Hallelujah! Because we're committed, we lean, we're— we hope confidently in God, not in the negativity. Isaiah 50:7, Amplified again: For the Lord helps me, therefore I have not been ashamed nor confounded. Watch this. Oh, therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. The prophet said, because I've set my face like a fire, totally focused on my God and what he can do, I will not be ashamed. Listen, I'm telling you right now, I've set my face like a flint on these 3 buildings. I'm focused. They're coming debt-free. Gloria, they're coming toward me. Glory to God. Hallelujah. And we'll have new facilities in Atlanta, Jackson, Mississippi— glory to God— Woodbridge, Virginia in 2023. The purchases will occur debt-free. My face is set because on what my Father can do I'm telling you, set your face like a flint on what God can do. Oh boy. Philippians 3:13-14, New Living Translation. Watch this. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God through Christ Jesus is calling us. Focus. He said, look, I'm not— epilothomai in Greek— I'm forgetting what's behind. Epilothomai. I'm extrapolating it from my memory, from my sight. I am not paying attention to the past. But he says, I'm focused, I'm set. I'm reaching to what's ahead. You can't reach for something you don't see, something you're not focused on. He said, my focus is so engulfed with where I'm going that where I've been can't hinder where I'm trying to go. See, it's a dangerous piece to try to press forward and hold yesterday at the same time. You got to be willing to release it. You got to be willing to let it go. Because there's a prize greater than what you've been holding on to. Listen, he says, I want to get to the end of this race. I want to get the heavenly prize that Christ has called us to. That happens through focus, man. I am on— my time is gone. I wish I had more time. Listen, I love you guys so much. I love you with the love of the Lord. Guess what? Ain't a thing, not one thing you could do about it. Thank you guys so much for tuning in today. This is day 12 of 21 Days of Fasting and Prayer. And again, perhaps you're not fasting with us. I want to challenge you to do it. Listen, it's not too late to fast with us. No matter when you're watching this, you can go on this fast. Just go to rhodachurch.com Fast 23. Download the fast guide, go back and watch the 5 o'clock prayers, watch the 12 noon teachings, read the Bible verses for every day, and, and grow with us. Glory to God, because we're trusting God on this fast for overflow. Again, rhodachurch.com, click the link that says Fast 23, download your guide today. I promise you, you'll be glad you did, man. So many great things are happening through this this fast already. I'm just loving what God is doing. Hallelujah! I'm loving— I'm loving the testimonies I'm hearing from others, and I'm loving the expanse that's happening in my life. Just an amazing thing. I'm appreciative to God for all that he is to us and through us, man. Y'all be blessed today. I love you. Father, I thank you for every person on this live today. I pray, God, that they will operate in focused faith. I decree and declare, God, that they will not waver to the left nor to the right, but they will trust you and stay focused. Help them to remember, God, that effective faith results has a direct connection to staying focused on the word of God. So Father, give them a heart and desire to study the word, to walk out the word, and God, to see a manifestation of the word in their lives and upon their situations. I bless you for it now, in the matchless name of Jesus I do pray. Amen. And thanks be to God. Listen, I love you guys so dearly. You're so wonderful, mighty, you're amazing. Glory to the name of our Lord. I like you nowhere. Glory to God. Y'all be blessed. Heaven smile upon you indeed is my prayer. Y'all have a good day. This has been day 12. Peace.