The Communing Citizen, Part 1 | Dr. Mike Woods, Sr. | Radah Church @Jackson

I'm going to continue this today. This is part 9 of this teaching. Um, if you have missed any of them, please go online and watch it. They are there. Amen. Um, it's important, Apostle, that we not just have great church. Come on now. It's important that we show up in the world as kingdom citizens. And this is what I've been saying the whole series. The question really becomes, how do you show up in the world? Do you, do you look like a kingdom citizen when you show up in the world? Not talking about how you dress. I'm talking about your behavior and your position as a citizen. The Bible says in Genesis 1:28, and I'm just reviewing, that he said to us, be fruitful. Somebody say fruitful. Multiply, replenish, subdue the earth, and have dominion in it. Our ministry is called Radah. The word dominion is Radah in Hebrew. We were created to be in control, not to just be second-class citizens. Interestingly enough, the church demographic— not just this church, but the body of Christ as a whole— is number one, the poorest demographic on the planet. It's quiet, but it's the truth. That's Google bull information. If you're going to Google it, Google it. The brokest people on Earth are church folk. I got a problem with that. Church folk work for people. Are y'all hearing this? When they ought to be running their own businesses. Amen. We're employed instead of deployed. That's not dominion. You're not operating dominion if you're an employee. And I'm not telling you right here, quit your job. What I am telling you is to discover your dominion purpose and assignment so you can show up in the world as a citizen and begin to take authority on that mountain. Are y'all hearing me? Yes. So we've been teaching this and we've been talking about how to show up, because the question is, if— and I've been proposing this throughout the series too— if you had 10 minutes with Don Lemon on CNN and he asked you how you show up in the world, what are you gonna say that will impact the world, that will influence them to follow God? Are you gonna sit up there and say, I'm saved, sanctified, Holy Ghost, Spirit of Fire baptized? That's not gonna be enough. That's, that's a statement of your positioning for eternity. But can I submit to you today that eternity wants to infuse or superimpose itself on life as we know it? So you should not just be living a mundane existence. You should be on top. Touch yourself. I should be in charge. Say I'm all that. I'm all that. I'm telling you, you are. You're a child of God. We learned that citizenship— and then I'm gonna get into today's teaching so you understand what kingdom citizenship is. Citizenship first is the ability to align yourself with the laws, the rules, the regulations of a country. Watch this. Obey those laws in exchange for freedom, protection, provision. Now, most of us are very good at being citizens in the United States. If you've never been to jail, you're a pretty good citizen. Hallelujah. And for those of us that have been to jail Glory to God. I've been— glory to God. Any apostle worth his salt has been to jail. You only got to say every apostle in the Bible been to jail. You only got to say nothing to me. So glory to God. Is there something that happened in jail that don't happen outside? Because you trying to get out. Listen, let me tell you something. Citizenship in the natural is great, but we must learn to align ourselves with kingdom governing laws so that we can obtain the projection— the protection, I'm sorry— the provision. And watch this, the family that comes along with being a kingdom citizen. We got heaven on our side. Most people don't understand kingdom. We talk about it. But we don't really understand what it is. The scripture said the kingdom of God— watch this— is within us. So God has an invisible kingdom that through his omnipresence— because he's a king, and so you can't have a kingdom without a king, right? The king is omnipresent. He's everywhere at the same time. Yes, he is. So when the King shows up in his life, in your life, my life, he brings the kingdom with him. Oh boy. Which means everything in the kingdom you have access to is in you. The Bible said that David had the keys to the kingdom. He had the key of David which unlocked the kingdom. Guess what he had? Worship. David was the greatest worshiper you'll ever study. So anytime you want to access the kingdom, go into worship. Worship— proskynasis, a Greek— prostrate your life and surrender and obedience to God, and the kingdom opens up to you. Watch this. Every failure in my life was in a moment where I was unplugged from the king. Y'all ain't got to talk. But every success in my life— oh God, thank God I got more successes than failures— hallelujah— is moments when I was plugged into my King and his kingdom. You carry the kingdom with you everywhere. And what we are— what we're called to do is the part of the kingdom that's in us is to manifest it on earth so God can rule the seen world from from the unseen world, and the seen world can give glory to our King. So today I want to talk about the communing citizen. It's important to have communion with God, not just at this table. Religion has— religion's about this. Yes, and they don't even know God. They don't even understand why this is done. The reality is communion brings us into face-to-face friendship with God. The word communion is from a Greek word, koinonia. Koinonia means fellowship. Or watch this, common union. Communion, common union, which means you develop things in common with the ones you fellowship with. So when I fellowship with God, I develop things in common with God. But guess what? When you fellowship with religion religious order. Come on, Apostle! Church folk. Just make up in your mind you ain't gonna be church folk. You need to be a saint. You need to be a citizen, somebody that has something in common with God. When I look at the church today, I see very little commonality with God. 'Cause we try to recognize God. Camille says God can never be recognized, he has to be revealed. Oh God, just because we see a cross, we think God, no. God ain't behind every cross. Y'all ain't got to say nothing. Just because we recognize it and it looks like it, we can walk in a big church and say, oh my God, this is God. Listen, I preach in churches with 5,000, 10,000, 2,000, 3,000, all sizes. I've seen God more in little churches. Come on now. Y'all ain't got to say nothing because Most people that assemble in large houses, if they're not taught avidly how to focus their attention on God, they end up focusing their attention on the man. And once you start worshiping a man, God will reveal to you and show you that he's not God. He'll show you his humanity. I haven't been there. Worship can't go toward gifts and anointings. Watch this. And prophecy. Worship is reserved for God. Say that with me. Say, worship is reserved for God. So the more I worship God, the more I become like God. Once you worship, you become like— you commune with— you have something in common with him. Yeah, watch it. He said he's the God of gods. If that ain't he wanting me to have something in common with him, I don't know what is. He's the big G God over the little g god. Y'all ain't got to say much. Listen, I don't deny that Buddha is a god. The God I serve just is the God of gods. I don't deny Sumo Lee is a god. But Jesus just is the God of gods. I don't deny that Muhammad is a god, but God is the God of God. I don't deny that you and I should be walking in God-like dominion and authority, and because we're communing with him, he's just the God of us. I didn't make that up, it's in the scripture. It's in the Bible. All right, so friendship means I have something in common. That's why Felicia was singing these friendly songs about we're friends of God. We really are. Go to Proverbs 16:24. Let's get in this. Say this, say friendship with God doesn't just happen. Say it must be cultivated through communion, through spending time with him. Let's read this, Proverbs 18:24. A man that has friends must first show himself friendly. Now let's deal with that in the natural first. If you mean as a rattlesnake and you show up in every relationship or friendship you show up to, to take— let me say this— if you didn't come to give, you came to take. Let me say one more time. If people show up in your life and all they do is have their hand out all the time, that's a lopsided relationship. Be friends that will show themselves friendly. They may not be able to give you what you can give, but they ought to bring something to the table, because otherwise you have nothing in common. The friendship is invalid. That's called being you. That person ain't your friend. They, you know, they say they're your friend, but moment you stop giving them what you give, you'll see if they really your friend or not. They know how to take wings and get out of here. Where's Paul Porter when I need him? He got two, two wings. Glory to God. They know how to fly away if they need to. Because some people, they're just takers. But if you want friends, the Bible said you got to show yourself friendly. You want God to be friends with you, he's not going to force a friendship. I'm the same way. I, I'll roll with anybody that's ordained to roll with me, but I'm not going to force a friendship with no one. Come on, I'm not going to be texting you and you'll never text back, calling you and then I got to wait 5 days to get a call. I'm not doing that. We're not called to be friends if that's how we rolling. We use that word too loosely. What do you think? How do you think God feel? You pray on Monday and then you don't show up again in prayer until Friday. That's a problem. Or you pray when you need something. Okay, most people pray intensely when they're in trouble. Can you pray with the same passion that you pray with when you're in trouble when there's no trouble? Sometimes you ought to go to God and say, I'm just coming to show myself friendly. I'm just showing up, God, because I want you to know you're on my mind. When the last time you went in prayer and asked for nothing? Most people go in prayer seeking his hand when really we should be seeking his heart, his image, his way of doing and being, his authority, his ability. We go looking for his hand. Oh God. But if you want to be a friend with God, the scripture say you got to show yourself friendly. If you do that, to be close, and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. That's heavy, which means this friend is going to stay with you longer than a family member would, your blood brother. I don't mean my brother's close. We grew up together. We're not that far in age, but it gives me peace to know that God will stick with me if he decides ain't gonna do that dude no more. See, God will stay with you when everybody else throws you away. Oh God, God will stick with you when people give up on you. Oh God, when everybody decides they're going to walk away, God is saying, I'm with you, hallelujah, 'cause I'm your friend and I'll never leave you nor forsake you. He said, I'll be with you always, even now and unto the end of the age. You put your stock in humanity and God is saying, I'm going to be with you when everybody else is gone, when the the dust settles, I'll still be there. Touch yourself, say, he'll never leave me. Let me give you a few things you need to foster this relationship. So again, how do I develop friendship? I got to show up and be friendly, right? I gotta gain things in common. So as a kingdom citizen, I have to become common with my king. So the first thing I do if I'm going to become common with him, I must embrace learning. Listen, if you're in a friendship and you can't learn nothing, that ain't a good friendship. Iron sharpens iron. You ought to be able to receive something from the people in your circle. Listen, if you— again, if you're the only one always pouring in and you didn't never walk away increased in knowledge, something wrong with that friendship. Me and my wife have a great friendship outside of our marriage. We're friends, so we're always talking, and I listen to what she has to say because I know there's a level of learning on things I can receive from her. Listen, don't you marry nobody you can't listen to. That's right. I got to talk. Amen. Jesus. That, that you need somebody with wisdom, someone that can exchange knowledge that you need. Okay, whatever. All right, so You gotta take a position of learning when it comes to spending time with God, because unlike our human friends, God doesn't change. Oh boy, you can have some friends, you can be rolling with them a while, and they— and stuff, life can change. You can have a friend and you may outgrow them. That's right. And you have to make the decision, okay, I can't hang as close to this one as I used to because I've outgrown. But here's the amazing thing about God. God doesn't change. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. So there's no life updates. God ain't about to get married because, you know, you got a friend that's— if you, if you both y'all single, one getting married That friendship can't be the same now. I gotta say you— You can't take girl trips no more like— Like you used to. Okay? I mean if you want to keep your husband— I'm just trying to help you! You— You can't do what you used to do because you're in homage to your mate. Okay? But God, the depth of his character is endless. He— if he does change, it's only in your perception. It's only a part of him that was revealed. So you enter into the relationship with God so you can learn more about God. Most people go to church because they want to learn more about church. They want to be religious and say, I went to church today. That's why we had this service here on Saturday, because we have to be back in Atlanta to our service on Sunday at 11. And eventually this church evolved to a Sunday church, but as we've been planning this church, we're doing it on Saturdays as the Lord has told us to do. Some people don't come because it's on Saturday, and they won't feel like they've been to church because they came on Saturday. Let me let you— let me let you in on the secret about that. The Bible said, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. So ain't nothing wrong with coming to church on Saturday. This is the holy day God told us to remember. Let me tell you why church started on Sunday, because the Bible said number 7 Sabbaths, and after the 7th Sabbath, that's right, the Sunday following would be your Pentecost. That's right. So Pentecostals, classical Pentecostals way back in the 1800s decided We gonna have church on Sunday because Pentecost happened on Sunday. So either day is a good day. Even better fact, it's— I go to church both days most weeks because there's nothing wrong with it, right? Are y'all hearing this? So I said to say this, whatever I said to say this, some people feel like I'm in love with religion. I don't want to learn anymore about God. Some people come and this Saturday ain't enough. They gotta go Sundays, not because they trying to get some more word. They're going because they just want to be in church on Sunday, when really, if you're getting word today and you get what you need, why relate— waste 2 hours being religious when you could be doing something else on your Sunday afternoon? Okay, that's okay. All right, I got you, I got you. They gonna stone me. Okay. Well, they don't have stones, Lord, but they got purses for real. They throw those. Say learning. Say I'm here to learn. Go to Hebrews 13:8. Let me, let me just go here real quick. Y'all getting anything so far? Please don't be mad if I don't turn up. Hebrews 13:8. I already quoted it, but I want to read the verse after. Jesus Christ— listen— the same yesterday and today and forever. Say, learn. Now, if you're dealing with somebody that ain't changed ever, you know it's a lot to learn about that person. Jesus is the same yesterday. So before you was born, he was the same. He's seen everything. He knows everything. So if you want to commune with him, you need to spend time trying to learn him and not religious activity. This is why verse 9, it says, be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. Strange doctrines. See, when you don't know God and you don't commune with God or spend time with God, you'll get carried with strange doctrine. You'll start believing it's okay for me to be a homosexual. You'll start believing it's okay for you to be a lesbian. If people are teaching that now, they're teaching the doctrine of inclusion. Are y'all hearing me? That says anything go. Because they're not learning about God who don't change. I don't care what year it is. Oh, y'all hear me? God don't change. It's not okay to be a whore. Come on now. Yeah, y'all looking at me funny. I didn't say ho. I'm trying to be better now. Y'all look at me right there. It's not okay. There's a way God's citizens are supposed to live. There's a behavior we're supposed to exhibit. Say, learning. Because we don't get carried away with this foolishness. You've got preachers, prominent preachers out here saying we need a new canon. We need a new Bible. We need to write a new set of scriptures. The devil is a liar. The God I serve, the scripture said he don't change. Sin is still sin. And the more I commune with God, the more I realize I don't want this in my life, because the very thing that separates you from God is sin. Oh Lord, help us. He said, watch this, for it is a good thing— here we go— that the heart be established with grace. Listen to this. The word heart is kardia there in Greek. That's the center of man's passions. That's the control center of his life. That's his intellect, his feelings. Watch this, that's the soul of man— his mind, his will, his emotions. So God is saying that your center, your intellect, your feelings, your ability, what you see, what you hear, what you taste— instead of establishing it in the world and the world's way of doing things and accepting what they say. He says accept it with grace. Grace is charis in Greek, which means that's a gift that empowers you to do God's will. We've appropriated grace as just forgiveness of sin. The reality is you should be appropriating that empowerment Because we spend so much time repenting, we never get to use the part that empowers us to do the will of God on Earth. Because all we use grace for is to get forgiveness of our sin. But God says this is a gift— charis, charisma, or charismatic— I give it to you so you can do what's right, so you can walk out your plan, walk out your purpose. So you gotta establish this in the grace that says, I'm moving forward, not in the grace that says, in case I fall, he got me. Which is true, he does, right? But our perspective on living in communion is, I want grace to soar. I want grace to achieve my very best. That's the charis that we should be walking in. Watch this. Not with meats, which is material things, which have not profited them which have been occupied therein. So I gotta learn something about God. Look at somebody, say, you're gonna learn today. Yeah. So that's the first part. Say, learn. Second thing, if you're gonna commune with God You commune with God by observing. When you're afraid, you're observing that person. You're trying to figure out if they're real or not. And if you've been stuck in the back before, you look real hard. And you're slow to trust. You observing. Even when your heart get to the place you open to it, but you still looking, 'cause you want to make sure you don't get stuck again like you got stuck before. Oh, say, I'm observing. Listen, when you're in friendship with God You should observe everything he has done. You know why? So let me just give you a point, Rivers. Every time you step out the house, you should observe his creation. My friend made that sun. My friend makes sure these trees are here. My friend causes it to rain. My friend put the clouds in place. It reminds you of his goodness when you look around and see just the simple things he You know, I'm so observing. Every time I take a step, Lord, I thank you that I can walk. Lord, I thank you that I can talk, that I can hear. I'm observing that none of this is me, but it's all you. See, see, some of us are too busy trying to watch everybody else. And get the latest tea and get the latest gossip. You know what? Y'all can make Larry Reid Live be shut down. Just stop watching it. Y'all ain't got to say nothing because everybody want to hear what somebody else have done. That— I mean, you spend time on your screen observing everybody else. Ah, glory to God. But when was the last time you, you thought about the fact that the reason you got a roof over your head, a car to drive, money in your account is because God did it, baby. Can I tell you something? The only reason you alive is because God has kept you alive. The only reason you can see— I got one of my best friends, man, Apostle Jerry Howard. I pray for him daily because he's struggling in his body and with his eyesight, and I'm praying that God would give him a miracle that he can see. But you know what? When I see him, I look at me, I'm saying, you know what, it could be me. So thank you, God. I observe your grace and your goodness. Y'all ain't got to say nothing, cuz because you live through stuff that other folk died in. I'll say that one more time. You have survived stuff that other folk died from. Glory to the name of God. And you ought to thank God that he covered you, he kept you, and you're still here. Just touch somebody, say, I'm watching him, I'm watching him. Yeah, yeah, go to Romans 1:20. Quick, quickly. Romans 1:20. I tell you, look at somebody, say, watch me while I watch him. Tell them, keep watching, cuz I'm coming out. I tell you, get somebody else and say, watch me come out. Glory to the name of God. I got my eyes on Jesus and I'm coming out of this. I'm coming through. I'm coming out with flying colors. Watch me, watch me. You watch me cry, you watch me trouble. You watch me go through, you watch me get rejected, you watch me go through what they talked about me. And I don't even keep watching me, cuz I'm watching God. And watch me, watch me come out. I wish you clap your hands and give God glory if you're about to break out, if there's about to be a prison break. You're about to break through, you're about to break in. Watch me, I'm coming out with power, I'm coming out anointed. I'm coming out more blessed than I ever been before. Watch me! Charlene, I don't know what you did in here last week. You got me acting crazy. Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus! I'm not happy trying to get y'all happy. I'm happy. 'Cause I believe this way. I believe that as long as I keep watching God and set my affection on things above and set my affection on the things in heaven, that God will take care of the things on earth. I promise you, if you take care of God's business, he'll take care of yours. Clap your hands and give him praise. I gotta get out of here. Lord have mercy. Romans 1:20. Here we go. He says, for the invisible things are him from the creation of the world are clearly seen. I don't care what man does. He can fabricate how the condensation in a cloud produces rain, but they're still baffled as to how the clouds formate. They can understand the interworkings of the sun and temperatures, but they baffle at How yet it still rises in the day. And the moon still comes out at night. That's the power of the Word. Are y'all hearing me? See, when God speaks a word, it is clearly seen how the things that he speaks to obey. He told the sun in the beginning, shine in the day. He told the moon, you shine at night. I never went outside and saw the moon shining in the day. Y'all ain't got to help me here. I never saw the sun out at night because his word is that powerful. Do you realize whatever God has spoke over your life and about you, there's nothing the enemy can do to stop you from going forth in what God has called you to do and where he has you going. Amen. His word is everlasting. See, this is what God wants to happen because there are some invisible things in your life that have not been seen yet. Which means it's not in alignment with this text. Because the Bible said the invisible things of him are clearly seen. You ought to work hard every day to get out of you everything you came to this planet with. You get the inside— whatever's on the inside, you need to get it out because somebody needs to see it. It comes through so they can observe. What happens when you observe? Being understood from the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. See, God's gonna bring you out so that the people that been mocking you being saved, you serving God, you going the way of God so that they'll have no excuse. This is why God does things in our life that we can only point to him. There are things in my life there's no way I would have got through them except God would have brought me out. I just told you, you live through stuff other folk died in. Say, observe me. Say, I fellowship Come on, say it. Say, I fellowship. I commune through learning, observing. Watch this. And also supporting. You can't have a friendship if you don't support your friend. What kind of friend is that? That when you're in trouble, you can't call and get some help. Support means I can trust you with my vulnerabilities. When you're supporting, that means I can call you when I ain't got it all together. As I'm going through right here, I'm struggling right here, I need prayer. And real friends will say, I support you, I'm gonna pray for you, and this stays right here between us. That's right. How many real people you got like that around that you can trust, that you can tell them your weaknesses, your deep secrets? Because most people are waiting for your vulnerable point so they can use it against you. And in this day and time, everybody's got a phone. Be careful, they'll even record your vulnerability and post it. You wonder how stuff go viral. It'd be some people around that the people trusted, and they were in a vulnerable moment, and somebody that's supposed to be supporting them, flipped out their phone and recorded. That's right. Be careful. We need support. Watch this, even if we're communing with God, we need support in our walk with God. We never were meant to walk alone. We need each other. Amen. Are y'all hearing me? Go to Galatians 6:2. Let me show it to you. Thank you, Lord. Let's— I'm going to start at 1 and then I'll read 2. Brethren, let me start right there. The word brother in there is a Greek word adelphos. Adelphos means comrade, friend, those that are in your circle. Yeah, in this day and time, Apostle, people use the word bro very lightly. People say, what's up, brother? I mean, um, I slow them down quick. I ain't your brother. That has to be proven. Come on, brethren. Watch this. Why does he even have to say this? If a man be overtaken in a fault, come on now, you which are spiritual, spiritual. Come on, Apostle. Let's start right there. First of all, in every friendship except your friendship with God, because he's never going to do you wrong or need your forgiveness, but in every other relationship there's gonna be two things: wronging and forgiving. I'll say that again. I know you think, ain't nobody gonna wrong me. Yes, you too. Yeah, keep living, it's gonna happen. My mother-in-law and my father-in-law, God rest his soul, who's gone, he went to see the Lord this year. How long they married, Felicia? 61 years. 61. I was sitting at the table with him one day, I said I said, "What's the secret?" Of course, my mother-in-law, very spiritual. She talked about how God kept them in just being there for each other, communication. My father-in-law said forgiveness. Learning how to forgive. That's right. Here's the problem. We're a community of Kingdom citizens. We should not be our own worst enemies. We are notorious for killing each other and our wounded. If somebody gets wounded, you don't kill them and make sure they're dead. Okay, we already down. Let me just stomp on them. But the church is notorious for this because we don't have a supporting spirit. Here's the problem: we're not spiritual. Because it says, you which are spiritual— come on now, watch this— the word spiritual there is pneumatikos in Pneumaticos means— maticos is to behave maturely. Pneuma is the spirit. So Spirit-filled people who behave maturely. So when you're mature and you see someone overtaken in a fault, you ain't gonna jump in there and try to find more fault. The Bible says here you're going to restore such a one. Restore. Say that one. Say restore. Come on, say this. Say restore. Restore. Katarizo in Greek. That, that word is powerful. It means do surgery. Surgery means something has to be opened up. Removed, adjusted, and put back together, stitched up again. So when you mature, you do surgery. You don't kill them, you take them in the operating room and you open them up and say, I'm here for you, I'm supporting you, I got your back. And you help them adjust whatever got them there in the first place. And then you stitch them back up as if nothing never happened. Come on now, it's good. Oh boy, only immature folk go back and say, you remember I opened you up? Come on now, remember I forgave you for that? But when you stitch them up, that's it. Because what— what's what the Bible said? If you do it in the spirit of meekness You're doing it in humility because guess what it says? Considering yourself. Oh boy. So when you're restoring people, it ain't even about them. The mature understands this could be me. That's right. I could have been the one that messed up. I could have been the one that was humiliated. So let me be like Jesus, because you do know Jesus knew all your struggles and he still saved you. Are y'all hearing me? He— the Bible said while you are yet a sinner, Christ died for you. He didn't wait for you to get it together. He died while you were in the hotel, while you were cussing a lot. Y'all ain't got to say nothing. He said, okay, I know they're cussing, they're lying, they're a whore monger, they gay, but I'm gonna die anyway. But those of us that carry his spirit and say we commune with him, why is it so hard for us to restore people? Oh boy. Verse 2 said, bear ye one another's burdens. Oh God, that's tall order. So if I'm communing and I'm supporting you, if you being weighed down by something, it ought to be a joy for me to help where I can. That's the truth. God never called you to be saved, you and your foe and no more. That's all people think about, is themselves. That's not what this is. A kingdom citizen that communes is supporting. Oh my God. All right, say this for me. Say, I commune with God by learning, by observing, by supporting. Okay, here's the next one. By making time. My wife probably would kick me out of our house if I didn't make time for her. I can't foster a relationship with her, go around the country, around the world, traveling from state to state trying to plant churches and never make time for her. That's dangerous. I'm not being a real friend. I'm not communing with her. People that really care about you gonna make time for you. If you really love God, you're gonna make time for him. Watch this. The proof of desire is pursuit. I'm gonna say it over here. The proof of desire is pursuit. You can't tell me you desire something you don't pursue. Here's what I tell my wife all the time. Here's what I learned about people. People do what they want to do. Oh Lord, we have the power and the propensity to take care of self first. And we always do it. But when you really want something, you'll make time for it. You can't tell me you want God and you don't make time for him. You never pray, you never study. If this is the first time you open the word this week, you don't desire God. You say, oh, I'm busy. I bet you open Facebook, you ain't that busy. I bet you open Instagram, you ain't that busy. Y'all hear me? Cuz guess what? You desire to get in other folk business. That's why you online, cuz people put their business on Facebook. You want folks out of your business, stop posting it, cuz everybody— that's what they doing. They making time for that. But how many times you open that Bible app on your phone? You know, if you got iPhone— Android users don't have this privilege— but if you got an iPhone, you can go in and see your screen time. You can see how much time you was on Facebook, how much time you was on IG, and your Bible app probably is not even an equation. Oh no, I read my real Bible. Okay, your real Bible on the coffee table covered up with Jets and Ebony. Y'all remember my— I don't know why my parents thought the coffee table was a magazine rack, so we had Ebony and Jets all over the coffee table, and then there was this big old family Bible somewhere in the midst of that. Listen, let's open that Bible and read it. Glory to God. You got to make time for it, just like you make time for everything else. Are y'all hearing this? It's not chameleon. Glory. Watch it go. You make time for him. At this time when I used to do a lot of lives from my phone I used to be so mad. I'd be in the area where I ain't got no signal. I'm like, this thing— that's the devil messing up my life. It don't be the devil, just ain't got no signal. But when you go to God and make time for him, there's no spotty service. His ears are forever open to the prayers of the righteous. You always got a good signal. You just gotta make time for it. Matter of fact, can I submit to you today— and I'm almost done— you gotta make some prime time for God. It's a prime time. Prime time means you meet him in the same place at the same time every day. Adam did it. He fellowship with God in the cool of the day. Some of us can sit up and watch Netflix and watch 20 episodes of something, and you'd be like, you know, them episodes an hour long, and you don't binge watch a whole show. How many messages can you watch back to back? Okay, all right, say I commune with God. Come on, say it. Through learning, through observing, through supporting, through making time. Here's the last one: you commune with God by believing in him when you can't see him. Real friends have trust, so they believe in one another even when they're out of one another's presence. You got a real friend you could trust when you ain't around, they got your back. Like me and my wife, we got— again, we got a close relationship. That's why I'm using this, which is funny because someone could try to come meet one of her family members and try to say something negative. I'm sorry, you need to shut that down. Because what you're not gonna do is get me to say nothing about her, and I'm not gonna stand here and let you talk about it. She ain't got to be around because I'm gonna have her back when she ain't around. You can't talk down to me about her, and I trust her that if somebody came to her that she gonna have my back because that's what real friends do. I trust her when I can't see her. She getting ready to go with her sisters and her mom next month to Woman Evolve, and they all flying out there. You think I'm worried about her? I trust that she's saved, number one. I trust that she loves me, and I also trust that she knows I'm crazy. So the reality is, I ain't gonna be sitting at home trying to figure out What she doing? Who looking at her? What she want? I'm gonna go somewhere and play some golf because you know what, she gonna be gone and I'll be able to do it as much as I want without hearing anything. Are y'all hearing this? What am I saying to you? You gotta trust God when you can't trace it. You gotta trust him when it seems like he's not working. When you pray for it, it ain't come yet. But when you're in communion with him, you got enough faith to believe that if he said it, he's gonna do it. Can I submit? Go to John 20:29, and I'm gonna get out of here. I'm gonna read this last scripture. John 20:29. Say, I trust God. Say, God's got my back. Say, I'm not alone. Say, if he said it, So be it. Watch this. Verse 29 said, Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because you saw me, you believe. But watch what Jesus said. He said, blessed are they that have not seen, but yet— in other words, Thomas, you needed to see to believe. Can I tell you something? You can't walk with God like that because he said, blessed when you can believe when you don't even see it, when it don't look like he's about to come through, but you still trust that he coming through. But listen, the word believe, there's pistuo in Greek. It means to have absolute confidence, total dependence and reliance upon. So you believe, you're totally reliant on the fact that God's gonna show up. You're totally dependent that this thing may be delayed, but it's coming. I don't see it yet, but it's coming. That's why I always tell people, stop saying you ain't got it, because when you're communing with God and got a citizen's relationship, you never say, I don't have no money. You say, I ain't got no money yet. But it's on the way. Y'all are talking. Don't say I ain't got no husband. I don't have a husband yet, but he's on the way. Don't say ain't got no job. I ain't got a job yet. You know what my testimony is? I ain't got a billion dollars yet, but it's on the way. You gotta trust God. Y'all ain't got to say nothing to me when you cannot trace him. I see that, God. I see a big sign sitting over this room. Glory to God. Is somebody watching this? This sign is present in your life is a big orange sign that say God working. And I don't know if you ever been driving— glory to God, yeah, I see that faith, glory to God— and see them sign that say men working, but you don't see men nowhere, but you keep driving past that way. Glory to God. And before long, whatever they were working on is fixed. God told me to tell you, I'm working. You may not see it, but I'm working. You may not know when it's coming, I'm working. It may not be happening as fast as you think, but I'm working. I'm working on your family. I'm working on your money. I'm working. Lord, I wish I could preach through here. I'm working on your ministry. I'm working on your business. I dare you, high-five somebody and tell them God is working. He's working, and I'm excited about it. If you keep communing, what he's working on is going to manifest itself. I came to tell you, don't you quit, don't you throw in the towel, don't you give up. God is working. I dare you, shout it! God is working! Clap your hands and give God praise. He's working. He's working. He's working. Come on, somebody! He's working on your healing. He's working on your deliverance. He's working on your children. He's working in your finances. He's working. He's working. Your body will never be the same. Your house will never be the same. God is working. I dare you, clap your hands and praise God for what he's working on. You prayed and it's working. Yes, God, I hear you. Get one person by both hands quickly. Come on, stand on your feet. Get one person by both hands. I'm telling you, he's working, he's working, he's working, he's working. He's working on your next, he's working on your breakthrough, he's working on your increase. It ain't over yet. God said, I'm still working. I am I am working. Look that person in the eye really quick and say, I decree and declare that God is working. There's another level of communion that God is bringing you into. Say, in the name of Jesus, you will observe You will support. You will believe when you don't see it. Say, you will press into the face of God and commune with him. Say, God is doing a new thing in your life. Say, God is working. Say, I'm getting ready to pray, and you're coming through. And by the time we're finished, what you've been praying for will be made manifest in your life. Now I want you to squeeze those hands and begin to pray right now. Come on, pick them up in the spirit. Come on, pray one for the other. The Bible declares that we should pray one for the other. Come on, open your mouth. Pray for them. Pray for that dream. Pray for that destiny. Come on, pray! We give you the glory. Come on, Father, we need you today. We're praying one for another. Father, I declare that your people today, as they pray, they'll move God. Into a deeper place, a deeper place of communion. Hallelujah! Well, they were moving to learning God. Well, they will learn more about you than they ever learned before. They were going to the deep places. I declare that as they pray deep, call into deep, they will learn more. They will be open, God, to know things about you that religion has not opened to, to go into the realm of the spirit. Hallelujah! And behold your back parts and behold your very presence. And in your presence will be fullness of joy, and at your right hand will be pleasures forevermore. I declare a new dimension of communion. That they will observe God. They won't take for granted the simple things like they can walk, they can talk, they can hear the creation of the clouds in the sky. They can see. They're in good health. They're not in the ICU. God, we thank you. We thank you, God. Eshatababa. For how good you've been to us. We're not overlooking those things, but God, as we pray one for the other, we observe your goodness toward us. You've been good to our families. They may not be perfect, but you've been good to our children. You've been good, God, and we observe it, God. We may not be super rich, but God, you kept us. God, you covered us. And God, we give you glory for what you've done. It was you. It was you, God. Thank you for a deeper dimension through supporting one another and supporting you, God. God, supporting your cause, supporting your plan, supporting those that need our help. God, we're communing with you when we help somebody that can't help themselves. We're communing with you, God, when we become servants. God, when we get off of our high horse and humble ourselves and serve God. A deeper level of communion by making time. I release prime time in this room, prime time in worship, prime time in prayer, prime time in study. I release a remnant of 5 o'clock prayers that will rise up early and seek your face early, God. A remnant that'll make prime time God. Then like Adam, you'll come down and you'll fellowship with us. I release a faith in this room that will move mountains. A faith that will conquer anything, that will believe with his heart, that will believe when it gets tough, that will believe and trust and totally depend and rely upon you and your word. In the name of Jesus. Come on, keep praying, keep praying. Come on, that's a soul, that's an assignment, that's a purpose. Pray! Come on, don't you dare play! Pray! We recognize there is more We recognize there is more. We recognize there is more. And we will commune with you. Come on, commune, commune, commune. The heavens are open. The blessing of God is upon this place. God is working for you. Hey, God said, as we are praying one for the other, the invisible thing concerning your life that has not yet been seen, God said, now it shall be made clear and you shall tangibly handle for what he has promised for your life. Come on, loose your hands and go for yourself and shout about it. Open your mouth! Come on, shout in this place. Come on, shout about it. Come on, shouting is not dancing. It's an attitude of your voice. Shout! Shout! With a voice of triumph. Shout!